Letter to the Brethren – April 7, 2003

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Dear Brethren:

For the last several weeks, the ongoing war with Iraq has been the primary focus of the daily news. I had just arrived in Germany, when the war began. I was visiting my parents in Germany and I am very happy to report that my father (94) is doing much better. While there, I was able to experience first-hand the reaction of the people in Germany and continental Europe to the outbreak of the war — the reaction was a mixture of shock, anger, frustration, rejection and protest. Magazines and newspapers, as well as daily television newscasts, made European disagreement with the Bush administration widely known, and daily mass anti-war demonstrations around the world have become the norm, rather than the exception.

In the United States, the vast majority has been supporting the war against Iraq, since it began, although about half of the people had been opposed to it prior to its outbreak. A similar occurrence has been observed in Great Britain, where originally almost 80% were against the war (Recent reports show that presently 48 % of the British support the war, according to Der Spiegel Online, April 3). This switch in position has been explained as a result of patriotism and the need to support the troops.

In times like these, God’s people must be very careful that they are not being swept away by popular opinion. It behooves all of us to reflect on our real allegiance – especially in light of the fast approaching days of Passover and Unleavened Bread. We in God’s Church should know, of course, that the present events are occurring in direct fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Whether or not the Allies will win the war against Iraq, they have already lost in the public world opinion. The longer there is such an overwhelming presence of the coalition forces in Iraq, anti-American feelings will become stronger around the world, and even anti-war protests within the United States and Great Britain are expected to increase. Questions have been raised as to what will happen in Iraq, once the war is over. Many observers feel that America’s real troubles will begin at that time.

Several most influential spiritual leaders of the Muslims, including Iran’s Sheik Muhammad Abu AlHumud and Russia’s Talgat Tadshuddin, have already preached that the Koran demands of all Muslims to resist the “aggression toward Iraq by the Allies,” encouraging Muslims from all countries to help Iraq by participating in a “Jihad” or “holy war.” Much to the surprise of the Allies, many Iraqis, including civilians and Shiites, do not welcome them as liberators, but rather as imperialists. There is also the anxious desire of the persecuted Kurds in Iraq to create their own independent state — which poses another problem for the United States, as Turkey, an important ally, strongly opposes such an independent state.

At the same time, Arab voices have been heard asking for German involvement. While Germany is reluctant to do so at this point, Germany, France, and most of continental Europe are realizing that they need to totally unite in order to be able to speak with one voice – politically and militarily.

It is also noteworthy that the pope’s strong continued stance against the war with Iraq has been accompanied with a surprising rejuvenation of his health. One German magazine, Der Stern, even suggested prior to the war that the pope might be able to prevent the outbreak of the war, by moving to Baghdad. While this did not happen, one can easily see that there is, in the minds of Europeans, a need for an increasingly important and influential role of the pope.

Amazingly, it has been prophesied in the Bible thousands of years ago that the United States of America, as well as Great Britain, will ultimately find themselves in total world isolation. At that time, a “king of the south” – a mighty military and spiritual leader – will arise in the Arab world, while the Catholic Church will play an increasingly influential role within a powerful united Europe. The most recent events show how quickly prophecy is marching in this pre-determined direction.

God’s people, though, are not to be a part of the politics of this world. They are to observe what is happening, to be able to realize how near is Christ’s return (Matthew 24:32-34), motivating and inspiring them to make themselves “ready” (Revelation 19:7). They are to make sure that they will be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36).

While the people of this world may be cheering for or against military actions of the governments of “their” countries, God’s people must be different, as they are called ambassadors of a better, that is, a heavenly country (2 Corinthians 5:20; Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6; Hebrews 11:13-16). They are to – 2– make every effort to see to it that the Originator and Provider of their true citizenship – God – is pleased with them.

God the Father loved us so much, even when we were still His enemies, that He gave His only-begotten Son to die for us (John 3:16), so that we could repent and obtain forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation with God (Romans 5:10). When we repented of the ways of this world and accepted Christ’s sacrifice by becoming baptized, our allegiance changed. We became God’s children, forsaking what this world holds dear (1 John 2:15-17; 1 John 3:1-3). Since we are still living in this world, however, we must consistently be on the alert not to fall back into old habits and not to support wrong causes. It is very easy, in times of war and patriotism or nationalism, to cheer for “our” worldly countries. However, it is God who determines the outcome of wars. He is right now very angry with the modern tribes of the house of Israel, as well as with the rest of the world. God’s people are not to participate in the wars of this world – not even in their thoughts. Christ died for us so that we could live for Him – so that we could follow His directives. He told us to love our enemies – to do good to those who hate us. The way of this world, which advocates the killing of our enemies before they can hurt and kill us, is totally opposite to God’s Biblical instructions.

We are not to partake of the Passover “unworthily” (1 Corinthians 11:29), and we are to “walk worthy” or “worthily” of God in this world (Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12). In order to do so, we must examine ourselves to see whether Christ lives in us, and whether we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). Undue support of actions of war – even in our minds – may be indicative of the fact that we are not as close to God as we ought to be.

It is critical that we come out of this world, rejecting its ways and concepts, and replacing them with the way of God. We must learn to think as God thinks and to bring every thought “into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). We must forsake the religious and political Babylonian confusion of this world and be separate (Revelation 18:4; 2 Corinthians 6:17). For instance, God demands that we leave behind the pagan holidays of this world and that we keep instead His special Holy Days, including Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. Most people, even if they have heard the truth on this vital matter, refuse to do what God commands. God does not take such stubborn resistance lightly. This is, surprising to some, one of the reasons why the United States of America and Great Britain find themselves embroiled in another unpopular war.

Our new booklet, God’s Commanded Holy Days, addresses the vital question, as to how we are to live “worthily” in the eyes of God. In keeping God’s Sabbath and annual Holy Days, and in rejecting the pagan holidays of this world, we become “sanctified” and “holy” – we can view our future with confidence and hope, knowing that we have come under the wings of God’s protection. We are very pleased to enclose your personal copy of our new booklet. We are also busy developing our new web-cast program, and we are hopeful to be up and running later this month. This program, with its proposed title, “Standing Watch,” will be a weekly news and commentary video posting accessible from the Church’s web page (www.eternalgod.org). This new endeavor will aid us in preaching the gospel more effectively and to go through doors that God is opening for us. Please continue to pray fervently for God’s direction and help as we all seek to serve Him with renewed zeal through the power of His Holy Spirit.

We are wishing all of you a very meaningful and spiritually uplifting Passover season.

In brotherly love,

Norbert Link

Letter to the Brethren – March 5, 2003

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Dear Brethren and Co-workers:

We have just completed our second annual Ministerial Conference since the inception of the Church of the Eternal God. From the U.S., Edwin Pope, Norbert and Johanna Link, and Dave and Peggy Harris attended. In addition, Rene and Delia Messier from Canada, and Brian and Jill Gale from the United Kingdom were able to attend as well.

We discussed numerous important issues, including matters of doctrine and administration, as well as different ways to preach the gospel and to feed the flock.

All of us are thrilled by the possibilities that are set before us. In order to accomplish our part in this God-given task, we do strongly believe that God will revive His Work one more time, just before the coming of Jesus Christ to this earth. Habakkuk 1:5 tells us: “Look among the nations and watch—Be utterly astonished! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.” This will happen at the time when the beast power in Europe is about to rise (vv. 6-11). This prophecy is referring primarily to our time, and speaks mainly of the preaching of the gospel. In Acts 13:38-41, Paul quotes from Habakkuk 1:5 and applies it to the preaching of the gospel.

God’s great and powerful end-time Work will need to include a warning message to the nations of this world, before calamity strikes (compare Ezekiel 30:1-3; 38:1-11). Although the two witnesses and the third angel will undoubtedly play a major role in fulfilling this prophecy (compare Revelation 11:3; 14:6-7), God’s warning message must begin to reach the nations of this world before the two witnesses and the third angel appear (since their preaching will only commence after the Great Tribulation has begun).

The carrying out of God’s commission to the Church will also bring about a revival of the hearts of God’s people (Malachi 4:5-6). Many of God’s people have become careless and far too indifferent to all of the manifold aspects of God’s truth. We are living today in the Laodicean era, but we must not be Laodiceans. They will not be protected from the Great Tribulation to come. We must be on fire – zealous and determined to perform God’s Will – even though many in the different Church of God organizations today do not seem to see a need to continue to preach the gospel to the world. They do not understand the prophecy of Matthew 24:14. In becoming lax and non-committed regarding this vital aspect of God’s commission, they also lose zeal in regard to their personal lives. Mr. Armstrong taught us consistently that those who have their heart in the Work are those who overcome the most and the fastest. Those who don’t may even become guilty of actually delaying the return of Jesus Christ. Compare 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise [of Christ’s return], as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any [of us] should perish but that all [of us – those who have been called for salvation in this present age] should come to repentance.”

We cannot afford to fall into the trap of complacency. So, our conference reflected the consensus within the ministry to DO the Work – as much as God allows us to. How could we carry out our part of God’s commission, small as we are? Amazingly, God has set before us an open door of possibilities and potential, which was not even available in Mr. Armstrong’s days. (Revelation 3:8: “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied My name.”)

This open door to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12) includes the marvelous invention of the Internet. We in the Church of the Eternal God have already, for many months, taken advantage of this powerful tool by broadcasting live our weekly sermons on the Sabbath, and by posting the sermons, as well as all of our literature, on our Webpage. Through the invention of communication by email, we have also sent out 82 weekly Updates to our subscribers, informing them about important events in the world in light of biblical prophecy, as well as instructing them in the word of God through Editorials and Question and Answer sections. (If you don’t receive our Updates and would like to receive them, please let us know. If you don’t have email access, we would be glad to send you our Updates in hard copy form.)

These Updates have been enthusiastically received by many of you. This has led to the idea to produce a weekly telecast, to be posted and distributed via the Internet. These several minute programs will be presented by Norbert Link (an elder for several years, who was ordained during the conference to the rank of Pastor), who will speak about current world conditions in light of biblical prophecy. The production of these programs is scheduled to begin in April, after Mr. Link has returned from his trip to Germany.

We also discussed means to advertise these programs, as well as all of our literature. We are convicted of the need to reach beyond the confines of the greater Church of God community. We are already doing so, to an extent, through our Webpage, but much more needs to be done.

In order to be successful tools in God’s hands to do our part in preaching the gospel message in all the world and to feed the flock, we ourselves need to be pure. That is, both our individual lives and the official teachings of the Church of the Eternal God must be in harmony with the Will of God.

We, therefore, spent a considerable time during the conference to discuss questions that we had received from some of you pertaining to certain doctrines. These discussions included the understanding of divorce and remarriage, the use of gelatin, makeup, birthdays, and the use of the symbol of a heart. They also included the practical application of the command not to be unequally yoked together, and how to apply the command to eat unleavened bread for seven days during the Days of Unleavened Bread. We will address these issues shortly in more detail in our Question and Answer sections.

Another important event during the conference to foster unity and harmony amongst all of our ministers was the appointment of Rene Messier from Canada and Brian Gale from the United Kingdom to our Board of Directors. The Church of the Eternal God’s Board consists now of the following persons: Edwin Pope – President and Director; Norbert Link – Vice President and Director; Dave Harris – Treasurer and Director; Rene Messier – Director; Brian Gale – Director. In addition – Margaret Adair is serving as our Secretary. We also discussed various subjects to be covered in future booklets to be written and published this year. The next booklet, titled, “God is a Family,” has been written and is presently undergoing review. It was felt that the most important booklet to be written next is one on Baptism. Other topics will include “born again”; the sequence of events until the return of Jesus Christ; what is the Work of God?; Satan and the spirit world; and proofs of the existence of God. Additional subjects will be addressed in our weekly Updates, including questions such as, why do innocent people die in accidents?; what is a true Christian?; and what is the meaning of salvation?

Sometimes we receive questions as to whether or not we will be producing a magazine. Although we would like to do so, we are presently not able, due to our manpower and finances. However, it was pointed out during the conference that we already have a magazine of sorts – in the form of our weekly Updates. These unique Updates consist on an average of seven to ten pages each. Taken together, our weekly Updates now constitute a forty- to fifty- page monthly document or magazine.

Another question was raised whether we might start a Bible Correspondence Course. Again, we feel that we have already begun the equivalent of such a Course with our booklets. These booklets are very detailed and we recommend that the reader check and read the Scriptures for himself (herself), in order to understand these in-depth publications. (The same is true, by the way, for our Editorials and Question and Answer sections in our Updates). We have received comments from some of you, pointing out that the biblical depth of our literature cannot be found in other publications. To grasp and internalize the depth of our literature, however, it is necessary for one to study and re-study the quoted Scriptures.

We also discussed the danger of listening to, or attending with those who teach wrong doctrines. Longtime experience has proven that this is not the right course of action, as spiritual influences can and do affect the doctrinal soundness of the individual. Some think that they are so strong that they could not be influenced, but this idea has been proven to be a regrettable self-deception.

Another important topic during the conference was the means of advertising to new readers and listeners our literature and the upcoming broadcast. Several very good proposals were made, which we will be investigating. We are convinced that God wants us to use the most effective and least expensive way in doing so, and we believe that He has already revealed to us several options. More information on these exciting possibilities will be soon forthcoming.

As you can see, our part in God’s Work is cut out for us. Now is not the time to sleep (Romans 13:11), but to be sober and vigilant (1 Peter 5:8). This world is waiting for the manifestation of God’s children (Romans 8:18-23; 1 John 3:1-2). The time is short. Paul tells us, “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 4:15).

While this world grows darker and darker, God’s light will shine in and through those who are truly His. This light cannot and must not be hidden. God’s Work of light must shine into this dark world. We have all been called to participate in it. Let us not shrink away from our awesome responsibilities. With brotherly love,

Edwin Pope

Norbert Link

Dave Harris

Rene Messier

Brian Gale

Letter to the Brethren – February 11, 2004

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Dear Brethren and Friends,

By the time you receive this letter, the U.S. ministry will be close to finalizing the arrangements for the 2004 Feast of Tabernacles in the area of San Luis Obispo, this being our second year to keep the feast on the Central California Coast, a very beautiful and inspiring setting, giving us a foretaste of the millennium for this festival. As you will remember, the feast for the U.S. and Canada in the previous two years was kept in Canada in the province of British Columbia. The feast in England this year is being observed at Chatsworth.

We have had several proposals from a few brethren for a feast site in either Northern California, Oregon or Colorado. Having considered all the information we have received, for which we are thankful, we have decided that we cannot go to one of those areas this year because of time constraints in establishing a feast site. We understand the excellent reasons for considering one of these feast sites and plan to spend the required time to investigate whether to establish such a site for the feast in 2005.

Mr. Link, my wife Joan, and I were in the area of San Luis Obispo for a couple of days this week and are now considering the various options and will be in touch with you with final details in the very near future. In the meantime, we appreciate, very much, your continued co-operation, support, and prayers that we will be able to complete these arrangements for the 2004 feast very soon.

But now, as we draw near the end of the winter season with all its pagan holidays we must be preparing to get our spiritual houses in order in preparation for God’s Spring Festivals, which are just around the corner, Spring itself being just five weeks away and Passover, the first of God’s Annual Festivals, just two weeks beyond. Thus, God’s Spring Festivals actually begin less than two months from now. The question we need to ask ourselves is: “Are we ready, mentally, physically and spiritually for these days?”

We have had two sermons in recent months outlining our obligations in the areas of repentance and forgiveness. Of course, a proper attitude in this regard is required if we are to be ready for Passover. Immediately following Passover are the seven Days of Unleavened Bread, which represent the second of God’s Annual Festivals in the upcoming Sacred Year. The first day of the New Year falls on March 23 in 2004. These annual festivals have great significance for all of God’s people.

We must never forget that none of God’s festivals are merely suggestions that should the mood hit us just right we might attend and be a part of them. These days are a command of God Almighty, to be kept, each in its season (Lev 23:1-44; Deut 16:1-17). We are not to forsake the ó 2 ó assembling of ourselves together at the time of any of God’s festivals unless there are extenuating circumstances, such as serious illness or the like.

In preparation for these two festivals, we must each ask ourselves: “Am I doing all that I can do to keep sin out of my life” We know that sin begins in the mind. Sin begins as a seed – a thought. “Should I or shouldn’t I? Will I or will I not allow a particular thought to fester and build until sin is born?”

Satan was the first to sin. He is the author of sin (Isa 14:22). Satan made an attempt to take over the very Throne of God! Notice in Isaiah 14:13-14, that the problem began in Satan’s heart – in his mind. That is always where sin begins!

When Eve was enticed by Satan to eat of the forbidden fruit, where did the sin begin? Notice in Genesis 3:1-7, especially verses 6-7, that Eve saw, in her mind’s eye, that the fruit was good for food, as Satan had said, and she ate of it, going against the commandment of God. She then convinced Adam to try the fruit and rather than following God’s command, Adam followed his wife’s bad example, thus sinning as well. Yet God never gave man of that tree for food. God describes in Scripture what things are proper as food for man to eat. This fruit was especially not good, in that God specifically said, ìOf it, you shall not eat.î We must not, brethren, let our minds lead us in Satan’s ways, which are the ways of this world.

Paul tells each of us, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:2). If we follow this rule, sin will not have a birthplace in our minds. Otherwise, we are putting our spiritual lives in danger. We can overcome sin only through the Power of God’s Holy Spirit as it works in our lives. God has given us Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread to help instill within us this truth.

So we each need to begin preparing now for this upcoming season so that we are ready to observe the Passover and receive the instruction and help as we begin this season in God’s new Sacred Year. And we need to be mindful of our responsibility which God has given to each of us in this great calling we have received.

We must each do our part, and as we do God will do His part in building the righteous character that He desires in each of us. We must continue to overcome and master sin’s desire to use the instruments of our bodies for its selfish purposes.

God tells us in Genesis 4:7 that sin’s desire ‘s for you, but you should rule over it.’ If we do not rule over sin as it begins or develops in our minds – it will rule us! The Days of Unleavened Bread are a reminder that we must rule over sin in our lives!

In brotherly love,

J. Edwin Pope

Letter to the Brethren – January 10, 2003

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Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in God’s Service,

The Church of the Eternal God has now completed 18 months of operations since our inception on July 2, 2001. God has continued to lead and direct us and we have been able to help a number of brethren in staying focused, as the scattering of God’s Church has continued.

We recently received from an individual an inquiry I’d like to share with you – He wrote: “Who, or more to the point WHY, are you?? In today’s hawking climate of ‘Church of God Buffet, Get Your Itching Ears Scratched Here!’ I suppose that question sounds stupid to you. If you choose to try to answer it, and you fail to first acknowledge that God in His word soundly and unambiguously condemns division among His people, then don’t waste your time. You’ll have lost all credibility. My assumption is that you are yet one more crumb that doesn’t want to be a part of the loaf – ala Ezekiel 34.”

We, of course, do agree that God hates division. But what does God mean when He says He hates division? He speaks to us through Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, in 1 Corinthians 1:10, stating, “…that you all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” But, in 1 Corinthians 11:19, Paul notes, “…there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.” There were disagreements among these Corinthians because some upheld the truth, while others did not. This led to division. God hates division that is caused by those who oppose truth.

When there is a lack of unity in doctrine and in purpose, there is no way for two to walk together. Amos saw this in dealing with God’s people of his day (Amos 3:3). How can two walk together unless they are agreed? The implication in this scripture in the book of Amos is that they cannot. They could not do it in Amos’ day. The principle still applies – therefore – they cannot do it today!

Once Mr. Armstrong saw, in dealing with the people of Sardis, that they were unwilling to grow in truth, which God was revealing to him, he realized he had to separate from them. As God introduced truth to each of us, we came to the realization that we had to make a choice as to what we would do – obey God or no! And, more recently, when we saw the apostasy of this age begin to affect the direction of the Church, we had to make a move from the errors being proclaimed.

In Jeremiah 23:1-4, we see that God is angry with the shepherds of His people. Notice what He has to say about this: “ ‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!’ says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed my people: ‘You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,’ says the Lord. ‘But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor shall they be lacking,’ says the Lord.” Yes, God has allowed the scattering that has taken place amongst His people in recent years. And God will, in His time, bring them together again.

Ezekiel 34 describes God’s frustration with the shepherds to an even greater extent. But is God telling us in these scriptures that we must now all come back together into one group at this time, even as certain — 2 — shepherds continue to teach their own private interpretations of scripture? No, brethren, that is not what we are being told to do in this situation.

As Paul stated in his admonition to the Hebrews (Heb. 3:5-6), “…Moses, indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” Both Moses and Christ remained faithful to the hope that was set before them. Will we remain faithful, brethren, to the teachings we have received and the hope that is before us?

In 2 Timothy 2:14-19, Paul admonishes us to rightly divide the word of truth. And in verse 20 he notes that, “…in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.” The directive to us is to cleanse ourselves from the latter so that we become “sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work.”

In writing to Timothy, Paul states (2 Timothy 4:3-4), “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned to fables.” If we have itching ears, if we seek for ourselves teachers willing to turn us from the truth we have learned, and if we accept such an association, then God will not be pleased with us.

We know that God’s Church is not a corporate body, but is a spiritual body, comprised of all who have God’s Spirit. We do not see God at this time gathering together all of His people into one corporate group. What we do see is God testing His people to determine who will follow Him. We in the Church of the Eternal God are willing to cooperate with any who are faithful to the teachings we have all learned. Indeed, we pray that God’s Spirit will continually direct the course of all His people.

We in the ministry of the Church of the Eternal God ask that God will give us strength to remain diligent to continue in the true doctrines revealed from God and given to His Church (compare Revelation 3:11), and to continue to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). We welcome any who have been taught God’s truth to test the fruit of our ministry. It is easy enough to check us out and see what we teach. All of our publications and audiotapes are posted to our Web page. We have published 5 newsletters, 75 weekly updates, 15 member letters, and 10 booklets, with an additional booklet almost ready for the printers. We have posted to our Website 130 sermons and bible studies, available to any who desire to hear God’s truth. We have hard copies of our booklets available to those who ask, as well as tapes of sermons available to those not having access to the Web.

Our purpose is to continue to serve God’s people wherever they are as God directs us, using those resources God provides to accomplish this task, and we do look forward to that time when all of God’s people are together, having come to “the unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:13).

We will be having a ministerial conference here in San Diego the last week of February and will be planning our focus for the coming year. We ask for the prayers of all of you, dear brethren, that God will lead and direct the outcome of these meetings and our course as the year 2003 begins.

Your brother in Christ,

J. Edwin Pope

Letters to the Brethren – December 10, 2002

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Dear Brethren and Friends,

When Jesus Christ neared the completion of the work God had given Him to do, He focused on what lay immediately ahead. Those called at this time have the extraordinary blessing of understanding that the ongoing work of the church for this age will soon culminate with the return of Jesus Christ. That return will be ushered in against the backdrop of the most terrifying and tumultuous times in all of human history.

We must, in addition to the great hope for God’s rule of peace, focus on those clear admonitions and instructions we have been given from God’s word. Some of these things we need to be reminded of on a regular basis—they are things we must not turn away from. Yet, some have wandered from the truth, as they have been unwilling to truly heed the resolute and unchanging teachings from God. Nonetheless, we are to complete the job God has given to us. We have been called and entrusted with the truth of God. This is the truth that has set us free. Note Christ’s testimony: “ ‘And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ ” (John 8:32). Proclaiming this truth was part of the work given to Jesus.

These words were not well received by the self-righteous religious leaders in Christ’s day—in fact, they eventually so incited those who heard them that Jesus was rejected and murdered! Jesus fully understood the consequences of the work He was completing.

When we read in Matthew 24:14, “ ‘and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,’ ” we understand that the church has been given a job to complete—a task for which we are accountable to God. Jesus was able to say at the end of His life, “ ‘I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.’ ” (John 17:4). After His resurrection, Jesus said to His disciples, “ ‘As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ ” (John 20:21).

He promised His disciples, “ ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father.’ ” (John 14:12).
Has Jesus Christ sent us—not only those earlier disciples—but also those of us in the church at the present time? We can know! Consider the following: “ ‘But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me TO FINISH—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.’ ” (John 5:36).

And so it is with us, brethren. We have been given the ongoing work of Jesus Christ—the work of God—to finish. That work and our commitment to it bear witness of our calling, and God’s continued hand in leading His church. Furthermore, Jesus showed us how we could evaluate our relationship with God: “ ‘By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.’ ” (John 15:8).

The foundation of our role in the body of Christ is for us to be Christians—converted people through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. By this we can have the very mind, that is, the very same strength and outlook as our Savior (Compare Philippians 2:5; 1 Peter 4:1). Paul challenges each of us, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified (do not stand the test).” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

As we examine and test ourselves, let us consider what we are doing. In the spirit of the encouraging words of Christ in Revelation 3, we have struggled against compromise—and that even though we are by most standards a small and weak group. Verse 8 says, “ ‘…for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.’ ”

Furthermore, we have followed the charter established in Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” That has meant some really difficult choices have been made by each one of us, as we encountered these examinations and tests—both on our own part and from God.
We can also know from scripture that it is God Who is able to open doors for us to glorify Him even more. When we consider the traumatic events surrounding the sacrifice of Christ, we see disciples who were the talk of the nation suddenly being scattered in confusion. However, their story moves forward to the Day of Pentecost and the empowering of God’s Holy Spirit. Just as for them, we must remember that for us to finish the work God has given to us, it is “ ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6).

As we all proceed in fulfilling our various responsibilities within God’s church, we need to continually look to God’s word for guidance. In Hebrews 10, verse 22, we are told, “…let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Continuing, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (verses 23-25). And, in verses 35-36, these words: “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”

In every generation of God’s church, the message to those called was to finish their calling all the way to the end—whether that end is physical death or the end of this age and our being alive at Christ’s return. (Compare Matthew 24:13 and Matthew 10:22). We are admonished in Ephesians 6:9: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Paul addressed these issues in his second letter to Timothy. Here we find Timothy, who evidently grew up in the church to then serve in the ministry, needing to focus on the work of God that was imparted to him. In chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, Paul tells Timothy, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

When Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, he was a prisoner in Rome, and many who had been called had departed the faith. False ministers teaching false doctrines had gained a foothold within the church. Apparently, it was the few who really were overcoming and persevering in the faith. The great times of miracles, of the powerful witness of the original disciples who were taught by Jesus and of the remarkable commitment that grew out of “first love” had all but disappeared.

Paul felt it necessary to admonish and to encourage Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

Now, in the beginning years of this century, the recent history of God’s people reflects much the same kind of rise and fall in terms of love for the truth and an attitude of unrelenting commitment to finishing OUR PART in the work of God!

Brethren, you are part of the exception to those who have turned back into the world and who have compromised by letting the light of God’s Holy Spirit to become darkened and unfruitful. You have sustained your part in the work of God.

And God is examining and testing us—as well as blessing our efforts to both hold on to the truth and to begin to once again bear fruit in the work of God! The door is open for us to be even more productive, and for the Church of the Eternal God to reach out with the proclamation of the gospel. Among the various efforts of CEG, and in particular through weekly Updates, sermons and booklets via the remarkable tool of the Internet, God is allowing our work to move forward. Each Sabbath, we can “meet together” through live Internet broadcasts and participation in the “chat room.” These astounding and remarkable facilities were not available to the people of God just a few years ago. Now, we literally are able to assemble together in spite of our small size and widely separated locations.

Finally, in addition to reminding us of our role in the ongoing work of God—and let each of us in no way diminish the importance God places on our individual parts—let us also fervently stir up the gift of God’s Spirit to do individually what we are able, in whatever way we can!

In particular, we can follow the example of David in Psalm 62:8: “Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”

Brethren, our focus must remain on those things yet to be accomplished in the work, which God has given to us to complete. Our opportunities are boundless if we stay close to God—always seeking to obey Him and to do those things that are pleasing in His sight!

With all attentiveness, let us all heed these striking words from Jude, verses 20 and 21: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

In Christ’s Service,

David J. Harris

Letters to the Brethren – October 31, 2002

Dear Members and Co-Workers,
What amazing times we are living in today! For decades, the Church of God has forcefully and boldly proclaimed – even when it seemed “ridiculous” to do so – that the friendship between the United States and Europe, and particularly Germany, will cool off. We have also been told that when this happens, and when we see a mighty economically, politically, militarily and religiously unified power bloc developing on the European scene, we will know that the end is near.
My wife and I just returned from a one-month trip to Great Britain (where we kept the Feast of Tabernacles) and Germany. What we found during our travels was truly shocking – and sadly, not much focus is given to it on the news in this country.
On September 30, 2002, Der Spiegel reported extensively about the “German-American Breaking Test.” It asked the pointed question in its cover story, whether the two nations are now “Friends or Enemies.” It continued, “In five decades of German post-war history, the relationship between the United States and Germany seemed to have never been as shattered as in the past few weeks. With thundering pathos, Chancellor Schroeder… insisted that decisions regarding essential questions of the German nation could only be decided in Berlin. U.S. President Bush barked back, ‘Either you are for us or for the enemy.’”
Former UN-Ambassador of the United States, Richard Holbrooke, agreed. In an interview, published by Der Stern on October 2, he explained that the relationship between the United States and Germany has never been more shattered than now. He added that he regretted this fact, as “the Germans are the most important American allies.” Der Stern had already concluded on September 26, in its article titled, “The Love is Gone,” that “Germany is no longer considered a close ally of the United States.”
While Germany was celebrating its Day of German Unification (“Tag der Deutschen Einheit”) on October 3, President Bush congratulated German President Rau in a letter, but poignantly avoided addressing reelected Chancellor Schroeder, or to congratulate him on his slim electoral victory in the September election. (Bild, October 4). It is no secret that President Bush would have preferred Chancellor Candidate Mr. Edmund Stoiber to be Germany’s new Chancellor.
The alienation is not limited, however, to just the United States and Germany. It has been emphasized correctly in recent news that Germany has become the European leader in its opposition to American politics, especially in regard to the Iraq question. Since there is a leader, others will follow. In October, former President Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Carter’s disagreement with President Bush’s present Iraq policy, which concerns are shared, of course, by the German government and most of the German people, had been widely publicized. It should come as no surprise, then, that Gunnar Berge, Chairman of the Committee in Oslo, confirmed that the decision to give Mr. Carter the Nobel Peace Prize was also to be understood as a clear criticism of the present U.S. administration (Bild, October 12).
Die Frankfurter Rundschau stated in its article, dated October 16, that the “ways of Europe and of the United States are separating.” It pointed out that “Americans and Europeans understand each other less and less in important strategic questions. This situation is not just temporary – the differences are deep and cannot easily be cured.”
While in Germany, my wife and I were shocked about the overall increase in prices. In many cases, prices actually doubled, since the Euro became the only currency in continental Europe. This has understandably angered the Germans, as promises had been made that the introduction of the Euro would have no negative effects on German pocket books. In addition, Germans are becoming upset about the re-elected government’s handling of the German economic situation. Many feel betrayed, as promises had been made before the election, that there would be no tax increases. Chancellor-Candidate Edmund Stoiber already spoke about a terrible fraud and betrayal in the election campaign, and he predicted that the current government will not last for one year.
This anger, coupled with an increasing sense of uncertainty of Germany’s stance in the world, might lead to surprising developments. Newsweek stated in its edition of September 20, 2002, that the British don’t know “what Germany stands for anymore,” while the editor of a German newspaper is quoted as saying, “We Germans aren’t sure of our place in the world, or where we’ll end up.” By now, you should have received our new booklet on “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.” This booklet explains, from the Bible, where Germany, and the rest of Europe, “will end up,” and what will happen to the United States of America and other nations such as Great Britain. As long as there was a 2 — close friendship, especially between Germany and the U.S., certain end-time events, as depicted in the
Bible, could not have happened. But things are changing. New alliances are being formed, and a very powerful “Fortress Europe” is appearing on the scene.
In its October 2 edition, Der Stern alleged that the real victor of the German election has been German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. According to the magazine, he “celebrates a resurrection” and is now the “superstar of German politics,” “mightier than ever before.” Mr. Fischer’s advocacy for a strong Europe, a European Federation, and a centralized European government under a powerful European Presidency, has been widely publicized. Although he is known to have warm and friendly feelings towards the United States, he nevertheless stated in an interview with Der Stern: “The Chancellor and I have made a clear commitment…. Germany will not participate in a war against Iraq. Our position has not changed since the election…. We will not get militarily involved.” If other European nations – and perhaps the United Nations – follow Germany’s lead in matters such as the one involving Iraq, the United States and
Great Britain are going to be very soon isolated powers on the world scene, ever decreasing in political influence.
This present world system is coming to an end. We just celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, depicting a new and Godly world order, which is coming soon. Are we preparing for these awesome events which will take place, from all that we can see, within a few years from now? Satan is very angry. His time is short (Revelation 12:12). He will give his power and authority to the last resurrection of the ancient Holy Roman Empire, typical of what he had done in the past (Revelation 13:4) – only, this time, the ensuing destruction will stand unparalleled in the annals of human history (Matthew 24:21). The power bloc in Europe, once it has reached its final structure and configuration, will persecute the Church of God (Revelation 13:7; 17:6; 6:9-11). Some, who will have been counted worthy, will escape these terrible times (Revelation 3:10), while many other church members will not. In addition, the last resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire will begin a war against the United States and the British Commonwealth nations, as well as the modern state of Israel, with terrible consequences for those nations. The Bible clearly prophecies this coming war – and its outcome – and nothing that man may do or believe or say will change what has been preordained to occur.
Today, we are to warn the world, as much as God allows us to. We are to share with others the knowledge, which God has granted us. When we do so, and the more we do so, we are preparing for the Kingdom of God, and we may be counted worthy to escape all these things which are surely going to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36). As Mr. Armstrong told us time and time again, the more our heart is in the Work, the more we overcome our own problems, and qualify thereby for the Kingdom. This is true, as we are focusing on others – and not only on ourselves. Rather than concentrating on what our needs are, we are also looking at the needs of others – and this world NEEDS to be warned. Some WILL listen and respond – but they would not even have opportunity to repent, if the Church did not preach the gospel to them TODAY (Romans 10:14-15).
We could also describe this process of qualifying for God’s Kingdom and His new World, by saying, when we are involved in the work of God, we are thereby developing Godly love – since love is outgoing concern for the welfare of others. No one, who does not have Godly love, will enter the Kingdom of God, since God IS love, and since WE are to become as God is (Matthew 5:48). If, on the other hand, we are increasing in the work of God, which will help us in developing Godly LOVE (2 Peter 1:7), we will be granted a sure entrance into the everlasting Kingdom (2 Peter 1:10-11). What a glorious time awaits us if we continue today our fight and daily struggles, so that in the process, we can develop in our lives God’s very character. It’s well worth it – and the hope of our salvation is not far away. Christ tells us, “I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” (Revelation 22:12).
Rather than growing weary in well doing, we must increase in our diligence to do what God requires of us! Brethren, as the world around us enters its darkest days, we must continue to exhort and encourage one another, and that even more, as we see that the Day is fast approaching (Hebrews 10:25).
With brotherly love,
Norbert Link

The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord

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We hear more and more about earthquakes, famines, droughts, wildfires, disease and sickness, wars and rumors of wars, floods, hailstorms and tornadoes. We hear of an undetected asteroid that almost collided with our planet.

We watch as new political alliances develop on the world scene, and ancient empires rise with renewed influence to form new alliances and power blocs. Unexpected economic developments cause uncertainty among investors and erosion of confidence among consumers. Terrorist attacks become more commonplace—and closer to home. We look for peace, but there is no peace.

Why such unrest in a world that supposedly is making giant strides to help us live longer and make our lives easier? It is because mankind, as a whole, has chosen to turn his back on his Creator. Thousands of years ago a book was written that predicted these very events would occur in our time—right now—in our day and age. God clearly warns us through this ancient book—the Bible—that even more devastating events will come upon this earth very soon, unless we repent and turn to Him.

In this booklet, we’ll take a close-up view of the frightening prophecies that describe the terrible events that will take place during the time period of the “Great Tribulation” and the “day of the LORD.” We are compelled by God Himself to speak His words as written in His book, and to openly warn people that there is a way of escape, whether people choose to listen or not. We pray that God will give YOU ears to hear and a heart to heed His warning, and to act accordingly.

Part 1 – Jerusalem and the Jewish People in Prophecy

The Middle East, especially the city of Jerusalem, has been in the news for quite some time, and we expect that this will continue. Our focus must be directed to the City of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas because that is where history-making events will unfold—events that will soon engulf the region with indescribable human suffering, pain, and misery, to be followed by unimaginable prosperity and peace!

Yes, the Bible predicts that within a few short years explosive events will take place in Jerusalem, events that will lead directly to the return of Jesus Christ. You need to understand what these things mean as they happen!

In His famous Olivet Prophecy Jesus explained very clearly what would happen to Jerusalem at the very end of this age of man. Reading in Luke 21:20, 22–24, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near… For these are the days of vengeance [the Great Tribulation], that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

Matthew 24:21 adds this warning: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

Daniel 12:1 also prophesies that this will be the worst time ever in the history of mankind: “And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time.” When, exactly, will all of this happen and what will it lead to? Luke 21:27, 31 points out: “Then they will see the Son of Man coming [the Second Coming of Jesus Christ] in a cloud with power and great glory… So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.”

Jesus had just explained that, before He returns to this earth, the modern city of Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies. When this happens, its desolation will be near and there will be great distress because of the wrath to come upon the people of Jerusalem. Many of its inhabitants will be taken captive or killed in war. Gentiles will occupy the city—trample the city under foot—until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. How long will that be? Revelation 11:2 reveals: “…[Jerusalem, the holy city] has been granted to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months [three-and-a-half years].”

Does the Bible reveal who the Gentiles are that will attack and occupy Jerusalem? Indeed, it does, and we will discuss their identity in much more detail later in this booklet. At this point, we’ll focus just on the sequence of events.

Jerusalem will be occupied by Gentiles, led by a political and military personage–a powerful leader of a United Europe. This human military leader is identified in Scripture as the “Beast,” (compare Revelation 16:10); the “king of the North” (compare Daniel 11:40–41); or “King Jareb” of Assyria (compare Hosea 5:13; 10:6). “Jareb” means “fighter” or one who is quarrelsome. History does not reveal the existence of any Assyrian leader with the name or title of “Jareb.” This biblical reference is not to a historical leader of the past, but rather to a future leader of a modern Assyria. It could be the translation of an actual name, or more likely, the description of his character. You can read more about “King Jareb” of Assyria in the free booklet, Europe in Prophecy: The Unfolding of End-Time Events.

Historical records reveal that modern Assyrians can be found in the countries of Germany and Austria. And, as we will see in more detail, it will be this modern “King Jareb” of Assyria who will lead the Gentile armies to occupy the city of Jerusalem, trampling it underfoot for three-and-a-half years.

Initially, a somewhat peaceful relationship will exist between King Jareb and the Jewish people. But this peaceful relationship will change in time. We read in Hosea 5:13 that Judah will see his wound. This wound could be a reference to a serious military defeat in battle. King Jareb will, at that time, become an ally with Arab nations in a plan to destroy the Jews. He will enter into a confederacy—an alliance—with certain nations against the modern state of Israel.

Notice what is prophesied to happen in Psalm 83:2–8 and notice the identity of these modern peoples—revealed by modern archeology, by history and by biblical research: “For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate you lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more. For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You: the tents of Edom [Turkey] and the Ishmaelites [Saudi-Arabia]; Moab [part of Jordan and the western part of Iraq] and the Hagrites [mainly Syria]; Gebal [Lebanon], Ammon [Jordan and the PLO], and Amalek [the PLO]; Philistia [Palestinians from the Gaza Strip] with the inhabitants of Tyre [the city of Tyre is more fully discussed later in this booklet]; Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot [Jordan].”

However, this confederacy will not last long. A powerful United Europe, under King Jareb of Assyria, will soon find itself involved in a war with many of the Arab nations. Europe will invade the Middle East, the Holy Land, and the city of Jerusalem.

We read in Daniel 11:40–41: “At the time of the end the king of the South [an Arabic religious and military leader] shall attack him [“push at him;” i.e., the “king of the North,” also identified as the “Beast” and “King Jareb,” a military leader of a United Europe]; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab and the prominent people of Ammon.”

Notice that Edom [Turkey], Moab [part of Jordan and the western part of Iraq], and the prominent people or leaders of Ammon [Jordan and the PLO], will not be conquered by the king of the North. Notice, on the other hand in Daniel 11:42–43, which countries will be conquered by the king or leader of modern Assyria, or which countries will form an alliance with Europe: “He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt [where the Arabs dwell today] shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.”

That the Libyans and Ethiopians will “follow” the king of the North does not necessarily mean that they will be at war with him or that they will be beaten by him in war. Depending on what translation we use, we find the meaning conveyed as, they “will follow in subjection to him,” or they “shall be his servants,” or “ the Libyans and Nubians [will be] in submission” to the king of the North. Also, note, that the king of the North will have power over the gold and silver in the region, as well as all the precious things of Egypt.

Continuing in Daniel 11:44, we are introduced to a third power bloc which will play a devastating role in end-time events. “But news from the east and the north shall trouble him [the king of the North]; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.”

The king of the North will react to rumors from the east and the north. This is the location of a strong military Asiatic power bloc with an army of two hundred million people, referred to in the book of Revelation as the “kings from the east” (Revelation 16:12), or the “army of the horsemen” (Revelation 9:16). It will, in all likelihood, be a confrontation between a United Europe under modern Assyria and a confederacy of Asian nations, such as Russia, China, Japan, and India. The modern Medes are identified in Scripture as one of the mortal enemies of modern Babylon, or Europe (compare Isaiah 13:1, 17). The identity of the modern Medes will be explained later in this booklet.

Daniel 11:45 continues: “And he [the king of the North] shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain [Jerusalem]; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.”

The king of the North will occupy Jerusalem and rule from there, during which time the Holy City will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles. Then Christ will return. He will throw the king of the North into the lake of fire, which, at that time will be a place outside Jerusalem where criminals and sinners will be burned up (compare Revelation 19:20). 

Let’s note in more detail what is revealed about the fate of the king of the North–King Jareb of Assyria. We read in Isaiah 10:12: “Therefore it shall come to pass, when the LORD has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”

Isaiah 14:25 adds this thought: “… I will break the Assyrian in My land, And on My mountains tread him underfoot. Then his yoke [of slavery, or captivity] shall be removed from them, And his burden removed from their shoulder.”

Isaiah 30:30–33 continues: “The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, And show His descent of His arm, With the indignation of His anger And the flame of a devouring fire, With scattering, tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be beaten down, As He strikes with the rod. And in every place where the staff of punishment passes, Which the LORD lays on him, It will be with tambourines and harps; And in battles of brandishing He will fight with it. For Tophet was established of old, Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large; Its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, Kindles it.”

This passage describes the fate of the king of Assyria—he will be burned up in a place likened to a stream of brimstone, also referred to as “Tophet,” which literally means a “burning place,” or “a lake of fire.” We know from Revelation 19:20 that the military leader of the United States of Europe, called the “Beast,” will be thrown into a lake of fire and brimstone as well. Therefore, the “king of the North,” “king Jareb of Assyria,” and the “Beast” are one and the same.

Notice Isaiah 31:8–9: “Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of a man [Jesus Christ will personally destroy him and his army], and a sword not of mankind shall devour him… He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear, And his princes shall be afraid of the banner, Says the LORD, Whose fire is in Zion And whose furnace is in Jerusalem.”

God will deal in this way with the king of Assyria because of his evil intent (cp. Zechariah 1:15). When he attacks and overthrows Jerusalem, a terrible time will begin for its inhabitants.

Isaiah 3:1, 24–26 tells us: “For behold, the LORD, the LORD of hosts, Takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah The stock and the store, The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water… And so it shall be: Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; Instead of a sash, a robe; Instead of well-set hair, baldness; And branding instead of beauty. Your men shall fall by the sword, And your mighty in the war. Her gates shall lament and mourn, and she being desolate shall sit on the ground.”

God Himself will remove the protection of Judah, as Isaiah 22:8 tells us. Without God’s protection, Jerusalem will fall into the hands of her enemy. We read in Isaiah 29:1–7: “Woe to Ariel [an expression for Jerusalem, lit. Lion of God], to Ariel, the city where David dwelt… I will distress Ariel; there shall be heaviness and sorrow… You shall be brought down… Moreover the multitude of your foes Shall be like fine dust, And the multitude of the terrible ones Like chaff that passes away; Yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly. You will be punished by the LORD of hosts With thunder and earthquake and great noise, With storm and tempest And the flame of devouring fire. The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, Even all who fight against her and her fortress, And distress her, Shall be as a dream of a night vision.”

The prophet Jeremiah also describes in poetic terms the coming assault by the Assyrians on the city of Jerusalem. He tells us in Jeremiah 6:1, 22–23: “O you children of Benjamin, Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem… Thus says the LORD: Behold, a people comes from the north country, [remember that the military leader of the conquering nations is called, “the king of the North.”] And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth. They will lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”

Jeremiah describes the terrible future of the city of Jerusalem following the attack by the Gentiles with very vivid terms in the prophetic book of Lamentations. As will be discussed more fully later in this booklet, phrases like “in that day”, “in the latter days,” “in the day of the LORD,” or “in the day of the LORD’S anger” identify the time setting of the particular prophecy as relating to the period just prior to Christ’s return. Especially the phrase, “the day of the LORD’S anger” describes the time when God is very angry with the peoples at the end of this age (compare Revelation 11:18):

“Young and old lie on the ground in the streets; My virgins and my young men Have fallen by the sword; You have slain them in the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered and not pitied. You have invited as to a feast day The terrors that surround me. In the day of the LORD’S anger There was no refugee or survivor. Those whom I have borne and brought up My enemies have destroyed… The kings of the earth, And all inhabitants of the world, Would not have believed That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem” (Lamentations 2:21–22; 4:12).

We are told in Zechariah 14:1–2 that “all nations” will fight against Jerusalem, and that “half of the city” will go into captivity: 

“Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”

This describes a literal captivity of the Jewish people just prior to Christ’s return. This is not a reference to a “spiritual captivity of sin,” nor to a figurative “exile,” nor is this a description of something that has already happened to ancient Judah.

WHERE will half of the residents of the city of Jerusalem go? Generally, they will be transported as captives into many nations, some of which are specifically identified in Scripture. For instance, Micah 4:10 tells us, “Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, Like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, You shall dwell in the field, and to Babylon you shall go, There you shall be delivered; there the LORD will redeem you From the hand of your enemies.”

The reference here to the “daughter of Zion” is the modern generation of Jews, not ancient Judah. They—modern Judah—will be brought as captives to modern Babylon. As we will see in the remainder of this booklet, modern Babylon is identified as the power bloc of continental Europe, led by modern Assyria. This modern Babylonian system will, in turn, transport its captives into other countries as well.

Joel 3:1–3, 6 confirms this: “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land. They have cast lots for My people, Have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink… Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem You have sold to the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their borders.” The Bible clearly indicates that many of the Jews will be sold as slaves to modern Greece, who themselves will be aligned with a future United States of Europe.

Zechariah 10:6, 10 identifies other countries or regions where Jews will be held captive at the time of the return of Jesus Christ: “I will strengthen the house of Judah… I will bring them back, Because I have mercy on them. They shall be as though I had not cast them aside; For I am the LORD their God, And I will hear them… I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt [where the Arabs live today], And gather them from Assyria [modern Germany and German-speaking nations]. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, Until no more room is found for them.”

Yes, terrible times are in store for the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish people. But why is God going to allow this to happen? Isaiah 3:8–9 explains: “For Jerusalem stumbled, And Judah is fallen, Because their tongue and their doings Are against the LORD, To provoke the eyes of His glory. The look on their countenance witnesses against them, And they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.” Notice in verse 7 that the time setting is “in that day.” This is a reference to the “day of the LORD” just prior to Christ’s return.

Amos 2:4–5 elaborates: “Thus says the LORD: For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they have despised the law of the LORD, And have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray, Lies which their fathers followed. But I will send a fire upon Judah, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”

Let us state here, that although it does not give us any pleasure to say that these things are going to happen, we must be true to God’s Word and cite those scriptures that clearly show the reality of these events. We cannot shrink from our responsibility to proclaim what God Himself says is going to happen. It is our hope that at least some of you reading this booklet will heed the warning, repent of your ways, and turn to God so that you can be spared.

God does not pull any punches! He voices very forcefully and directly that Jerusalem and the Jewish people will face disaster and calamity because they have sinned against Him and have refused to repent. Jesus Christ would later weep over Jerusalem, thinking of the evil that would come upon it because of their refusal to repent and to accept Him as their personal Savior. In fact, the temple at Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., a forerunner of even worse tragedies that will strike Jerusalem in just a few years from now (compare Luke 13:34–35).

Do these prophecies conflict with Hosea 11:12 where we read, “… Judah still walks with God, Even with the Holy One who is faithful”? If modern Judah still walks with God, then why would God punish it? And why do other passages read that modern Judah has sinned against God and refuses to repent? Does the Bible contradict itself?

Actually, in this verse, there is a variance among translations. We quoted Hosea 11:12 from the New King James Bible, a translation that is reliable in the vast majority of cases. However, this particular scripture is not accurately translated in saying that Judah still walks with God because, according to many commentaries, the translators added a letter in the Hebrew that is NOT in the original. To clarify this, let’s read how other translations render this passage:

The New International Version: “…and Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One.”

The New American Bible: “Judah is still rebellious against God, against the Holy One who is faithful.”

The Revised English Bible: “Judah is still restive under God, still loyal to the idols he counts holy.”

So we see that Judah will be punished because of rebellion against God, and that His punishment on them is intended to bring about repentance and a return to Him. Even though terrible times await the Jewish people, Jesus Christ Himself proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom of God and what it entails, including a marvelous future for Judah and for all mankind. Jesus Christ WILL return, and when He does, HE will rescue Jerusalem from the Gentiles and call Judah to repentance.

Notice the prophecy in Isaiah 31:4–5: “For thus the LORD has spoken to me: As a lion roars, And a young lion over his prey… so the LORD of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, So will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over He will preserve it.”

The prophet Zechariah foresaw Christ’s fight against the Gentiles in a vision given to us in Zechariah 14:3–4: “Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.”

When Jesus Christ was taken up to heaven from the Mount of Olives, two angels assured the disciples that Christ would come back “in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). He will, indeed, return to the Mount of Olives and He will then strike out against the Gentiles who fought against the city of Jerusalem and occupied it. Zechariah 14:12–13, 15 gives a very graphic description of their fate: “And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. It shall come to pass in that day That a great panic from the LORD will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, And raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand… such also shall be the plague On the horse and the mule; On the camel and the donkey, and on all the cattle that will be in those camps. So shall this plague be.”

Additionally, Zechariah 14:11, 21 tells us in no uncertain terms: “The people shall dwell in it; And no longer shall there be utter destruction, But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited… Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the LORD of hosts… In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.”

The Jewish people will come to repentance—they will mourn when they see the returning Christ and when they come to realize the truth about Him and about themselves, as foretold in Zechariah 12:10–11: “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem…”

Returning to the book of Isaiah, let’s note additional prophecies describing a glorious future for the nation of Judah, once they have repented of their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and King. We read in Isaiah 4:3–6: “And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. When the LORD has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.”

God’s Word reveals that the Jewish people will be taken captive by a United Europe under the leadership of modern Assyria, and while in captivity, they will come to their senses and turn to their Savior. Notice what happens next: “Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean Shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion… For thus says the Lord GOD: My people went down at first Into Egypt to dwell there; Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what have I here, says the LORD, That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them Make them wail, says the LORD, And My name is blasphemed continually every day. Therefore My people shall know my name; therefore they shall know in that day That I am He who speaks: Behold, it is I.” (Isaiah 52:1–2, 4–6).

The Jewish people, as well as most professing Christians, do not realize that it is Jesus Christ Himself who is speaking these words. They do not understand that the God of the Old Testament was not God the Father, but was actually the One who later became a human being—Jesus Christ—born in the flesh of the virgin Mary. Christ came to reveal the Father (Matthew 11:27). The Jews of His time did not know the Father. Christ said that the Jews had never seen the Father’s form, nor did they hear His voice (John 5:37; 6:46). But some DID hear God’s voice and saw His form (Numbers 12:8); however, it was the voice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God—predominantly referred to in the Old Testament as “the Lord,” meaning, “the Eternal.” The time will come when Jews and Christians, as well as those who follow other religions, will come to understand who and what God really is.

Along with acceptance of Jesus Christ as our personal Savior comes blessings, prosperity, and peace. Note HOW blessed Jerusalem will be, once she accepts her God and begins to live in accordance with His words: “Thus says the LORD: I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the LORD of hosts, The Holy Mountain” (Zechariah 8:3).

When reading this passage, we are reminded of the famous prophecy in Isaiah 2:2–4: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, That the mountain of the LORD’S house Shall be established on the top of the mountains [other major nations], And shall be exalted above the hills [smaller nations]; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law; And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Imagine that! No more wars! The ENTIRE WORLD will live in REAL PEACE! Jesus Christ will return to this earth and will rule from Jerusalem, and ALL nations will want to learn from Christ how to live righteously. What a different world that will be! Wouldn’t YOU like to be there?

Continuing with Zechariah 8:4: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit In the streets of Jerusalem, Each one with his staff in his hand Because of great age. The streets of the city Shall be full of boys and girls Playing in its streets. Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, Will it also be marvelous in My eyes? Says the LORD of hosts. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east And from the land of the west [a reference to areas to which modern Babylon transported their captives]; I will bring them back, And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people And I will be their God, In truth and righteousness” (Zechariah 8:4–8).

Once they are in captivity, they will turn to God and begin to accept Christ as their personal Savior. They will become God’s people in the true sense of the word, and God will become their God. We will see in a moment why they will turn to God, and how they will even know to whom they should turn.

Zechariah 8:13–15, 23 continues: “And it shall come to pass That just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah… So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear, Let your hands be strong. For thus says the LORD of hosts: Just as I determined to punish you When your fathers provoked Me to wrath, Says the LORD of hosts, And I would not relent, So again in these days I am determined to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear… Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

Again, what will bring about this change in the people of Judah? What will convince them that Jesus Christ is, in fact, their promised Savior, just as He is for all mankind? 

The Bible prophesies that the message of captivity and conversion of the Jewish people will be preached powerfully to them just prior to the return of Christ. Today most of the Jews—actually, most of the people in the world—do not want to hear this very critical, life-saving message. But when the events that were announced to them actually do take place, they will finally come to their senses and realize that the prophetic word of God had been in their midst.

What this means then, for the true Church of God, is that it needs to obey God by proclaiming what will truly and certainly come to pass. This message is to be boldly proclaimed by God’s Church, and indeed, IS being proclaimed in this very booklet. We pray that those of you reading this will heed the warning and act accordingly.

Read and meditate on the following selected passages from God’s Word that reveal this part of His commission for His end-time Church:

Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the trumpet in the land; Cry, Gather together, And say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities… Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring disaster from the north [brought about by the king of the North], And great destruction. The lion has come up from his thicket, And the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place To make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, without inhabitant…And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD, That the heart of the king shall perish, And the heart of the princes; The priests shall be astonished, And the prophets shall wonder… O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, That you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?… Make mention to the nations, Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, That watchers come from a far country And raise their voice against the cities of Judah… Because she has been rebellious against Me, says the LORD. Your ways and your doings have procured these things for you. This is your wickedness, Because it is bitter, Because it reaches to your heart” (Jeremiah 4:5–18)

In addition to this warning, the Church is also to proclaim Judah’s peaceful and glorious future following her repentance and conversion: “Comfort, yes, comfort My people! Says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1–2).

“How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news [the gospel], Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, Your God reigns! Your watchman shall lift up their voices, With their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye When the LORD brings back Zion” (Isaiah 52:7–8).

“O Zion [Zion can refer to the actual city of Jerusalem but it can also refer to the Church of God], You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem [a reference here to spiritual Jerusalem—the Church of God; it can also be a reference to the fact that the word of God will go out from Jerusalem once Jesus Christ lives and rules from there (Isaiah 2:2–4)], You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God” (Isaiah 40:9).

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:6–7).

YOU could be among those watchmen with us. YOU could have a part with those who are called by God to proclaim His message—the GOOD NEWS—to the Jewish people and to the world, warning them of their grim future and showing them that peace and prosperity await them after they repent of their sins and turn to Jesus Christ. The Bible predicts that this message WILL go out. It is your choice as to whether or not you want to have a part in proclaiming it with us.

Part 2 – The Modern House of Israel in Prophecy

Many falsely believe that the house of Israel and the Jewish people are one and the same. Nothing could be further from the truth. Judah, from whom the Jewish people descended, was just one tribe of the descendants of Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel long ago (Genesis 35:10). In due time they separated from their Israelite brothers and, along with the tribes of Levi and Benjamin, formed the “house of Judah.” The other tribes then became known as the “house of Israel.” The “house of Israel” went into captivity first, never to return to the “Promised Land.” Today, they are known as the “lost ten tribes.” The “house of Judah” also went into captivity but did eventually return to Palestine. Many descendants of the house of Judah are living today in the state of Israel. In due time, as history and archeology reveal, the lost ten tribes of the house of Israel migrated to and settled in Europe and the British Isles. One tribe in particular, the descendants of Manasseh—the older son of Joseph—migrated from there to the United States of America, where they still are today. The descendants of Ephraim—the younger son of Joseph—can still be found in Great Britain and the Commonwealth Nations, including Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Bible contains many predictions about the future of the modern house of Israel (not to be confused with the Jews or the house of Judah). Israel refers to the modern house of Israel—especially the leading tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh—in many different ways, including “the remnant of Jacob.” As we will see, the coming great and mighty economic power bloc in Europe, under the leadership of modern Assyria, will have a devastating influence, not only on the modern house of Judah, but also on the modern house of Israel.

We know that when this power bloc establishes itself on the world scene, the time will be short. Do we realize that this gigantic power bloc is already forming in front of our very eyes? During a recent ceremony in Aachen, celebrating the arrival of the new European currency, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi stated that the Euro is the beginning point for further European developments. He stressed that the need for Europe to react in a unified fashion toward crisis situations outside the European Union becomes more obvious day by day. It was also stated during the celebration that the Euro has become the symbol for the European vision, having done more to give stability to and confidence in the political unification of Europe than all of the previous European treaties combined.

At the beginning, the modern house of Israel will have a friendly relationship with this European power bloc. And, as we will see more closely in Part 3 of this booklet, they will even trade with them, including agricultural products and technological developments. Hosea 12:1 talks about an economic covenant that those two power blocs will enter into.

But will this friendly relationship last? No! Incredible as it may seem, the United States and Great Britain, as well as other Commonwealth nations, will be overthrown and enslaved by their former ally and friend—the United States of Europe, led by the modern Assyrians. Not only will Assyria be instrumental in fighting against and enslaving the modern house of Judah, they will—apparently at the same time—fight victoriously against and enslave the modern house of Israel. We will cover this in detail later in this booklet.

But first, let’s take note of a remarkable prophecy in Micah 5:5–6 (Micah 5:7 shows that the people referred to here are identified as “the remnant of Jacob,” and are, in fact, the modern house of Israel, particularly the United States and Great Britain.): “…When the Assyrian comes into our land, And when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princely men. They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, And the land of Nimrod at its entrances; Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, When he comes into our land And when he treads within our borders.” 

Let’s see how this compares to history. In 1940, modern Assyria, under the leadership of Adolph Hitler, did attack Great Britain in World War II, but God gave victory to the British. Hitler was very reluctant to fight against Great Britain, as he considered the British people to be part of the master race. Nevertheless, he did assault England by air—known as the Blitz—from September 7 to November 13, 1940. Germany, however, was devastated, and most of its cities were destroyed by the end of the war.

God also protected the United States from the Assyrians at least twice more in modern history.

First, let’s look at a remarkable revelation that has recently come to light. German Kaiser Wilhelm II had a plan to attack the United States about 100 years ago. He was going to attack New York and Boston with 100 ships and 100,000 soldiers. At that time, the United States only had 54 military ships. His ultimate goal was to establish and possess colonies in South America and in the Pacific, and to gain control over the Panama Canal. The plan, though 10 years in the making, was not carried out. Instead, Kaiser Wilhelm II led Germany into World War I in 1914.

In addition to Adolph Hitler’s attack on Great Britain, he also declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941. This was just two days after President Roosevelt announced that Germany was as guilty for attacking Pearl Harbor as was Japan. Hitler then ordered the destruction of all American ships, wherever they could be found.

Hitler lost this war, as he fought too many battles at the same time—Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and the United States. But we can realize how the plan of the Europeans—especially the modern Assyrians—to attack the United States had entered their minds. This same plan will be pursued again, and next time, it will be successful.

At the end of his life, Hitler made this remarkable prophetic observation: “With the defeat of the Reich and pending the emergence of the Asiatic, the African, and perhaps the South American nationalisms, there will remain in the world only two Great Powers capable of confronting each other—the United States and Soviet Russia. The laws of both history and geography will compel these two powers to a trial of strength, either military or in the fields of economics and ideology. These same laws make it inevitable that both powers should become enemies of Europe.” (Klaus P. Fischer, Nazi Germany–A New History, 1995, pp. 563–564).

Micah 5:7–9 continues to describe the modern nations of the house of Israel, referred to as the “remnant of Jacob.” They are pictured as being powerful, like a lion among other nations. They are wealthy and prosperous; and they are victorious in battle.

But as we read in verses 10–15 of Micah 5, things will start to change. Note how and why they will change: “And it shall be in that day [recall that this phrase is always a reference to the very last days, or the day of the LORD when God begins to actively intervene in human and political affairs], says the LORD, That I will cut off your horses from your midst And destroy your chariots. I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds. I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you shall have no soothsayers. Your carved images I will also cut off, And your sacred pillars from your midst; you shall no more worship the work of your hands; I will pluck your wooden images from your midst; Thus I will destroy your cities. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury On the nations that have not heard [or, “obeyed”].”

The term, “in anger and fury” is a reference to the wrath of God, described in vivid terms in the book of Revelation as a time when God’s wrath is poured out on the last generation of man. God will begin His punishment with the modern house of Israel, “the nations that have not obeyed,” such as the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. And this time, these nations will be destroyed. God has prophesied it, and it WILL happen.

Jeremiah 30:3 sheds additional light on what is soon to happen. “For behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah, says the LORD. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.”

We already know from Part 1 of this booklet that the modern house of Judah will go into captivity. Now we learn that the modern house of Israel will also be taken captive by a foreign power. We will see in a moment that it is, in fact, the same power that will enslave both the Jews and the modern house of Israel. But the prophet Jeremiah is inspired to tell us that it is God who will eventually free Israel and Judah out of captivity and they will return to the land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Historically, the house of Israel never returned to the Promised Land—only some of the Jews did. This, then, is still a prophecy for the future.

Jeremiah 30:6–7 goes on to make very clear exactly when those events—the modern warfare and captivity, and ultimate deliverance from slavery—will take place: “Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale? Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.”

As we already know, the phrase “that day is great” is a reference to the GREAT DAY OF THE LORD, a time that is still in the future. This “day” will be unique—no time will be like it. We are reminded that the same has been said about the great tribulation at the very end of this age. We see, then, that the Great Tribulation and the day of the Lord both refer to the same general time period. Technically, the Great Tribulation lasts two-and-a-half years, followed by the day of the Lord that lasts for one year. The total time then is three-and-a-half years that the modern house of Israel will be punished and the Gentiles will tread Jerusalem underfoot.

This time is especially identified as the time of Jacob’s trouble—referring to the modern house of Israel. We are told that God will save them OUT OF that terrible time—showing that they will have to first go through it!

Jeremiah 30:8 continues: “For it shall come to pass in that day [the time of God’s intervention], Says the LORD of hosts, That I will break his yoke from your neck, And will burst your bonds; Foreigners shall no more enslave them.”

At the time of God’s intervention, “his yoke” will be broken from their neck, indicating that they were under a yoke of slavery at that time. We already know that the Jews will be under a yoke of slavery, enforced by modern Assyria, and that they will be freed by God at Christ’s return. The terminology, “his yoke,” strongly suggests that Assyria will have placed his yoke of slavery, not only on the house of Judah, but on the house of Israel as well.

God will free them from that yoke of slavery. Notice the next sentence: “FOREIGNERS shall NO MORE ENSLAVE them.” So then, foreigners, or a foreign power, did enslave them, and they are still enslaved when God intervenes. Jeremiah 30:9 reveals when all of this will take place: “But they shall serve the LORD their God, And David their king, Whom I will raise up for them.” These events will take place at the time of the resurrection of the just, which will occur at the time of the return of Jesus Christ to this earth.

Jeremiah 30:10 concludes: “Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob, says the LORD, Nor be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from afar, And your seed from the land of their captivity.”

At the time of Christ’s return and the resurrection of the just, Christ will save the SEED of Jacob, the end-time descendants of Jacob—the modern American and British peoples—from the land of their captivity. What land is that?

The answer is in Jeremiah 23:7–8: “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that they shall no longer say, As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, but, As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them…”

God will bring back the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country [where the king of the North came from], and from all the countries where He drove them—where God permitted the foreign power to take them. They will be enslaved in a country north of Jerusalem—a particular country somewhere in Europe. They will also be driven, or taken, into other countries who will hold them captive. Note that the Assyrians especially, both in ancient and modern times, transported their captives from their own country to other countries.

Those who claim that such terrible things as captivity and slavery of entire nations could not possibly happen in our sophisticated 21st century, forget that these kinds of actions did happen less than a generation ago.

Listen to these remarkable quotes from Fisher’s book on Nazi Germany, pp. 498, 486, 487, 488: “(p.498) Most of these grandiose plans [to conquer and enslave occupied peoples] reflect the Assyrian nature of German policy toward conquered peoples… (p. 486) Heinrich Himmler … declared that ‘whether nations live in prosperity or starve to death interests me only insofar as we need them for slaves for our Kultur…’ (p.487) By the end of 1941 almost four million foreigners worked in Germany, most of them Poles… [F]oreigners [were rounded up] in town squares, churches, cinemas, or other places where people congregated in great numbers and ship[ped]… back to Germany in freight cars…. As to workers from eastern Europe, the German conquerors treated them essentially like slaves… (p. 488) The rest were either incarcerated in concentration camps, sent to the Reich as slave laborers, or simply allowed to starve to death. Of at least five and half million Soviet prisoners of war, half died.”

Jeremiah 23:8 concludes their ultimate return: “…And they shall dwell in their own land.” After the house of Israel was taken captive by the ancient Assyrians, they never returned to the Promised Land. So again, this is still to take place in the future.

Some argue that the Bible does not really mean to convey that modern Israel and Judah will literally be enslaved. Is that true? We saw that a “yoke” will be placed on the modern house of Israel, as well as on the modern Jews (cp. Isaiah 14:25 and 52:2).

What exactly is meant by the word, “yoke,” and who enforces it on the modern house of Israel? Let’s look at the biblical definition of the word “yoke.”

We’ll begin by noting a prophecy in Isaiah 47:1: “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called Tender and delicate.”

The prophecy is directed at the “virgin daughter of Babylon,” not ancient Babylon, but a daughter—a descendant. “Babylon” here refers to a modern European system—an economic, political, military, and religious power soon to arise on the world scene.

Note Isaiah 47:6: “I was angry with My people: I have profaned My inheritance, And given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.”

The “yoke” here describes literal slavery. Modern Babylon will put her yoke of slavery VERY HEAVILY on the houses of Israel and Judah—much more so than had been intended by God.

And so, we read in Isaiah 47:9, 11: “But these two things shall come to you [modern Babylon] In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments… Therefore evil shall come upon you; You shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, Which you shall not know. ”

This passage tells us that modern Babylon’s destruction will happen very suddenly—“in a moment, in one day.” The book of Revelation describes the downfall of modern Babylon in great detail, which we will discuss in Part 3 of this booklet. Suffice it to say here that Revelation 18:8 & 10 also explains that “her plagues will come in one day” and that “in one hour your judgment has come.” Since Babylon did not show mercy when placing the yoke of slavery on the neck of the peoples of Israel and Judah, neither will she receive mercy from God, and she will be destroyed very quickly.

We find another reference to the house of Israel’s yoke of end-time slavery in Deuteronomy 28:47–51: Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you [Again, we see that the term “yoke” refers to literal slavery.]. The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.”

“The Assyrian nature of the German peoples,” as Klaus Fischer put it, revealed itself during World War II as well, when considering how conquered nations were treated by their conquerors. Note this quote from Hermann Göring (quoted by Klaus Fischer, Nazi Germany, p. 486): “‘In the old days, the rule was plunder. Now, outward forms have become more humane. Nevertheless I intend to plunder, and plunder copiously.’”

Hitler himself declared: “‘Our guiding principle must be that these people have but one justification for existence—to be of use to us economically. We must concentrate on extracting from these territories everything that is possible to extract.’” (Fischer, ibid.)

Deuteronomy 28:68 predicts: “And the LORD will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall never see it again. And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

The modern nations of the houses of Israel and Judah will go back by ships to “Egypt”—a symbol for slavery. It does not say here that all will go back to the land of Egypt. We will see the reason for the omission of the word “land” very soon.

We note, as a forerunner of what will happen on a much greater scale, the following example of what already occurred in World War II in Hungary (Klaus Fischer, Nazi Germany, p. 511): “The Nazis also halfheartedly experimented with a new technique—selling Jews to the Western world, a plan, unfortunately, that, as a result of Nazi duplicity and the indifference and bureaucratic obstructionism of Western governments, never really worked.”

As predicted in Deuteronomy 28:68, captives from the houses of Israel and Judah will be offered for sale, but “no one will buy” them.

The prophet Ezekiel clearly predicts, as well, that the modern house of Israel—the United States and Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and other Commonwealth nations—will be defeated in a coming war with a modern enemy‑continental Europe. This will be a unique time in the history of man—a time of calamities and terrible atrocities that have never happened before, and which will never happen again (cp. Ezekiel 5:9). It will be a time of GREAT TRIBULATION!

In Ezekiel 6:1–2 God tells Ezekiel to speak to “the mountains of Israel.” Then in verse 6 God says: “In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate…” This has not happened yet! Never, in the history of ancient Israel, were their cities laid waste in all their dwelling places. In fact, when the Assyrians conquered Samaria, they saw to it that the cities were not laid waste, but inhabited.

Continuing with Ezekiel 6:7: “The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” Modern America, Britain, Canada and Australia don’t really know God, nor do they know that God is against them. But they will come to realize that God forsakes us when we forsake Him. They will ONLY learn this lesson, however, when God leads them into the Great Tribulation and the day of the LORD, ultimately saving them out of it when Jesus Christ returns to this earth. If Jesus were not to return as He said He would, not even one person would survive (Matthew 24:21–22).

God has not left the modern house of Israel without warning. He told them in His own words thousands of years ago that He would first bring natural disasters on their lands—disasters such as extended periods of drought and resulting famines. We are already experiencing unprecedented droughts and insect plagues in Canada and large parts of the United States. These droughts are warnings to wake the nations up, and to announce to them at the same time, that worse things will happen if they don’t repent of their sins.

God tells the modern house of Israel in Amos 4:7–9: “I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me, Says the LORD. I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, The locust devoured them; Yet you have not returned to Me, Says the LORD.” Read the next two verses and you will see that God next pronounces WAR and TOTAL DEVASTATION.

A similar warning can be found in Deuteronomy 28:23–24, 38–39 & 42: “And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed… You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them… Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.”

Droughts are not to be taken lightly. God has used droughts before to try to awaken sinning people and to teach them lessons (compare Haggai 1:11), and He will do so again (compare Zechariah 14:17; Revelation 11:6). He is doing it right now. Can we see it?

Ezekiel 6:8–10 makes it very clear what will happen next to the modern house of Israel if they don’t wake up: “Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.” These are warnings from God Himself! Are we listening?

Ezekiel 39:21–29 confirms that God will ultimately free Israel from their captivity—once they repent—and that He will bring them back into the land that was promised to their fathers: “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward. The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword…. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name—after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD.”

God drove them into slavery, and God will bring them back out of slavery at the time He pours out His Spirit over them. This has not happened yet—this is still in the future.

Like Ezekiel, the prophet Jeremiah also has much to say regarding the destiny of the modern house of Israel. Let’s turn to a few passages, proving without a doubt, that disaster is decreed for the modern nations of the house of Israel, as well as a glorious future, unparalleled in the history of any nation.

Jeremiah 30:18–24 states: “Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents, And have mercy on his dwelling places; The city shall be built upon its own mound [or, ruins], And the palace shall remain according to its own plan. Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving And the voice of those who make merry; I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be as before, And their congregation shall be established before Me; And I will punish all who oppress them… You shall be My people, And I will be your God… In the latter days you will consider it.” 

This is a prophecy for the future—for the latter days—when the modern house of Israel repents of their sins and are freed from slavery by God Almighty Himself.

Now notice the continuation in Jeremiah 31:1–9: “At the same time [that is, in the latter days], says the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel [including the Jews, as they are also descendants of Jacob], and they shall be My people. Thus says the LORD: The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness—Israel, when I went to give him rest…For thus says the LORD: Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel [this is not talking about ancient Israel, but a remnant in modern times after their defeat in war]! Behold, I will bring them from the north country [where they had been held captive], And gather them from the ends of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there. They shall come with weeping… For I am a Father to Israel, And Ephraim [Great Britain, Canada, and the other Commonwealth nations] is My firstborn.”

Jeremiah 32:37–40 continues: “Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath [speaking about the wrath of God at the very end of this age]; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant [the New Covenant] with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.”

What this passage clearly tells us is that God will free the enslaved modern Israelites out of captivity and that He will, at the same time, give them His Holy Spirit—a prerequisite for entering into the New Covenant. Again, we see that literal captivity and slavery are prophesied for the modern house of Israel. And not only for the house of Israel, but the house of Judah (the Jews, the Benjaminites and the Levites) will also go into captivity—apparently at the same time—and both houses will be freed by God when Christ returns.

Notice this again in Jeremiah 33:7–9: “And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return [note that the house of Israel, when they were enslaved in ancient times by the Assyrians, never returned to the Promised Land], and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. Then… they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.”

The captives of Israel and the captives of Judah will return together and God will forgive their sins. This has NEVER happened before in the history of these two houses.

Again, Jeremiah 46:27–28 confirms that God will free the modern house of Israel from captivity: “But do not fear, O My servant Jacob, And do not be dismayed, O Israel! For behold, I will save you from afar, And your offspring from the land of their captivity; Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease; No one shall make him afraid. Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, says the LORD, For I am with you; For I will make a complete end of all the nations To which I have driven you, But I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, For I will not leave you wholly unpunished.”

God promises to save Jacob’s offspring, that is, the modern descendants of Jacob—the house of Israel—from the land of their captivity. Is all this talk about captivity and enslavement for real?

Some argue that God does not predict a literal captivity of the house of Israel, but that He is only pointing out that the house of Israel will live “in exile” prior to the return of Christ—in other words, that they will not have possessed the Promised Land. However, the Bible very clearly predicts a literal captivity. For example, in the above-quoted passage in Jeremiah 46:27, the word for “captivity” is “shebi” and can only mean, “captivity” or “captive.” [The words that can also mean “exile,” depending on the circumstances, are “golah,” or “galuth.”]

Some have raised the objection that the Bible only predicts a “spiritual” captivity for the house of Israel, since all of mankind is held spiritually captive by sin and by Satan the devil, the “god” of this world and the prince of the power of the air. Although it is true that we are presently “captives” of Satan and sin, unless God frees us through His Holy Spirit, the Scriptures speaking about captivity of the modern houses of Israel and Judah do not refer to such a “spiritual captivity.” Let’s look at the biblical perspective of this issue.

First of all, we have already established from many scriptures that modern Judah will clearly go into a literal captivity. Note that in many cases, God names the houses of Israel and Judah together when describing their captivity, not making any distinction between a literal captivity of the house of Judah and a spiritual captivity of the house of Israel. In addition, the Scriptures differentiate between the “captivity” of the houses of Israel and Judah and the “freedom” of other unconverted Gentile nations—an odd distinction, indeed, if the captivity of Israel and Judah were to describe only a spiritual captivity of Satan and sin. Clearly, such captivity would apply to every modern nation.

Jeremiah 50:4–5 repeats and confirms what we just read: “In those days and in that time, says the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping [showing their heart-rending repentance] they shall come and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant [i.e., the New Covenant] That will not be forgotten.”

Both the modern house of Israel and the modern house of Judah will come together in a repentant attitude, to enter into the New Covenant with God. Obviously, this is a future prophecy, as this has not happened yet.

From what region will they come? Jeremiah 50:8 explains: “Move from the midst of Babylon, Go out of the land of the Chaldeans; and be like the rams before the flocks.” This is not talking about ancient Babylon and the ancient Chaldeans, but a modern political and military system that is arising in Europe right now, as will be explained in much more detail in Part 3 of this booklet. The captives of Israel and Judah will be freed from the slavery of modern Babylon at the return of Christ. Jeremiah 3:18 also clearly shows that the prophecy is still awaiting future fulfillment: “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.” Both houses will return together out of their land of captivity “in the north.”

Jeremiah 50:33–34 summarizes these future events this way: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: The children of Israel were oppressed, Along with the children of Judah; All who took them captive have held them fast; They have refused to let them go. [This cannot possibly be talking about a spiritual captivity of sin.] Their Redeemer is strong; The LORD of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case, that He may give rest to the land, And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.”

The captors—the modern Babylonian system—will have enslaved both Israel and Judah and will not want to let them go. In ancient times, the Babylonians took only the house of Judah captive; the house of Israel had already been taken captive some time earlier by the Assyrians. It is God Himself who will free both the house of Israel and the house of Judah from their literal captivity when He returns to this earth.

As if this were not proof enough that God predicts a literal captivity of the modern house of Israel in a future war prior to the return of Jesus Christ, we’ll look at what God spoke through another Old Testament prophet, Amos.

Amos addresses the actual time of the “day of the LORD” in Amos 5:18–20. In verse 25 it shows that he is talking to the “house of Israel.” And in verse 27 he makes it very clear what will happen to the modern Israelites during the soon-coming time of the “day of the LORD”: “Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus, Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.”

God repeats His warning to the modern house of Israel—especially the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh—in Amos 6:3–7: “Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, Who cause the seat of violence to come near; Who lie on beds of ivory, Stretch out on your couches, Eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall; Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David [As an aside, is it mere coincidence that our “modern music” played with electric guitars was invented in, and then popularized from Ephraim and Manasseh—Great Britain and the United States?]; Who drink wine from bowls, And anoint yourselves with the best ointments, But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.”

In the ninth chapter of Amos God again confirms that HE will send the modern house of Israel into captivity, and that HE will ultimately free them when Christ returns and they repent of their sins. Listen to these encouraging words: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them, Says the LORD your God” (Amos 9:13–15).

This is another clear prophecy for the future. Up until now the house of Israel has NOT returned to the land that was promised to their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But they will return out of a literal slavery when Christ comes back to this earth.

There is yet another witness in the pages of the Old Testament who predicts the end-time fate of modern Ephraim and Manasseh—the prophet Hosea. He proclaims in Hosea 9:3, “They [the tribes of Israel, cp. verse 1] shall not dwell in the LORD’s land, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, And shall eat unclean things in Assyria.”

As we know from what we’ve read so far, both of the modern nations of Israel and Judah will go into captivity. The land of slavery for the house of Israel, especially Ephraim, is mainly modern Assyria. There, they will eat unclean things. The house of Israel will also go back to “Egypt,” as we read here, but not to the land of Egypt. Notice Hosea 11:3, 5: “I taught Ephraim to walk… He shall not return to the land of Egypt; But the Assyrian shall be his king, Because they refused to repent.”

Egypt, then, is a symbol for slavery. The captives will return to Egypt, that is, into slavery, but notice that it doesn’t say they will return to the “land” of Egypt. Rather, they will be enslaved by Assyria, under “King Jareb.”

When Christ returns to free them, notice where they will come from. “They [the reference is still to the people of Ephraim] shall walk after the LORD. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, Then His sons shall come trembling from the west [In the Hebrew, there is no term for “northwest.” Therefore, some passages talk about the land of captivity as being west of Jerusalem, while most other passages designate it as being north of Jerusalem. Taking all of these passages together, the reference is to a country “northwest” of Jerusalem. Germany is situated northwest of Jerusalem.]; They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt [again note, it does not say the land of Egypt], Like a dove from the land of Assyria. And I will let them dwell in their houses, Says the LORD” (Hosea 11:10–11).

Now let’s return to the book of Isaiah and read a few more prophecies about the future of the houses of Israel and Judah. Isaiah predicts a time of trial, followed by a time of great prosperity and peace.

Isaiah 11:11–12 points out, “It shall come to pass in that day [the time of Christ’s intervention] That the LORD shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar [Babylon], From Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.”

We are all familiar with how God freed the Jews from Babylon and allowed them to return to the Promised Land. The house of Israel, though, never returned. When Christ comes back to this earth, He will set His hand not only to free Judah the second time, but also modern Israel, as well, from captivity. This has not yet happened.

Notice how Isaiah 11:16 emphasizes where most of the captives will be held: “There will be a highway for the remnant of His people Who will be left from Assyria, As it was for Israel In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.”

Isaiah 27:13 says that, at the time of Christ’s return, the house of Israel will be enslaved in the land of Assyria, while the Jews will be enslaved in the land of Egypt: “So it shall be in that day [the day of Christ’s return and His intervention]: The great trumpet will be blown; They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria [the house of Israel], And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt [the house of Judah], And shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.”

Could it REALLY happen?

Looking at the present day, some may say that Europe could NEVER attack and successfully conquer Great Britain and the United States. They forget, however, that there have already been plans to do so, and the ONLY reason that it did not happen at the time was because God did not let it happen. Many times, God intervened by sending bad weather to prevent German attacks on British or American troops. Once God withdraws His protection, these things WILL occur as prophesied.

In the last Great War, Hitler did not succeed in his attacks against Britain and the United States because he was entangled in warfare in Europe and Africa, and also against Russia. The next time, Europe will be united and will not have to worry about fighting against Russia, China, and the other powerful nations in the Far East. THAT war will come later, AFTER modern Europe—with their Arab allies—successfully overtakes the United States and Britain. It is most important to understand, though, that in this overthrow God will cease from protecting the house of Israel and He will allow Satan to carry out his plan of destruction.

Additionally, the Bible predicts that the peoples will be astonished when they see the ancient Roman Empire forming again as a very influential European power bloc. When Hitler’s Third Reich disappeared from the world scene, most thought that Germany would never rise again. Klaus Fischer writes in Nazi Germany on page 560: “Yet, having entrusted their future to a criminal leadership, they had no choice, certainly not after July 20, 1944, except to follow their leaders into the abyss.”

Europe will not stay in the “abyss.” It will awaken one more time. The European system, referred to as the “Beast” in the book of Revelation, will come out of the abyss for a tenth and final resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire to create havoc on this earth. All nations will be astonished when it shows its ugly head one more time.

God says that He will use Asiatic hordes, or armies, to punish and destroy the United States of Europe—modern Babylon. We find a reference to the eastern powers in Daniel 11:44; in Revelation 9:13 (at the time of the sixth trumpet); and in Revelation 16:12. We will describe these battles in more detail in Part 3 of this booklet, but for now, notice carefully that these battles will take place between the kings of the East and the Beast of Europe. These battles do not involve the United States of America, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, because by that time, those nations will have been enslaved by Europe.

When Christ returns He will free both Israel and Judah from captivity and bring them back—for the first time since the fall of ancient Samaria and Jerusalem—to the Promised Land. Once they have returned to the Promised Land and live in safety, powers from the east will lunge a surprise attack on them. This attack is described in detail in Ezekiel 38 and 39, and, as we will see, this attack takes place AFTER Christ’s return. Rightly understood, these prophecies also prove that the modern houses of Israel and Judah will go into a literal captivity prior to Christ’s return, and that Christ will free them at the time of His return.

Notice Ezekiel 38:8: “After many days you [a Eurasian prince, called “Gog of the land of Magog,” who is commanding a vast army of eastern peoples] will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.”

This Eurasian army will come against Israel in the latter years. Verse 16 says in the latter days. The phrase “latter days” CAN refer to the time after Christ’s return, as it does here, but it is always a prophetic term for the future—beginning with the time just prior to Christ’s return—it does not refer to events in the ancient past.

At this time, then, the Israelites will have been gathered from many peoples—they will have been brought out of slavery. They will be dwelling safely, implying that they did not dwell safely before. At no time prior to Christ’s return‑at least not since the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001—could this be true for the United States of America.

Verse 11 of Ezekial 38 continues: “You [the prince of Gog] will say, I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates…”

The nations of Israel will be living peacefully at that time without walls, having neither bars nor gates. This cannot possibly be a description of the U.S.A. today, where crimes and murders run rampant—at least in big cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco. Our cities may be without walls, but we certainly do not live safely, nor in peace.

Then verse 12 says: “…to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.” The places where Israel will dwell had formerly become as wasteland and uninhabited due to the destruction of the Beast power.

Verse 21 continues: “I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains, says the LORD God. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.” Note that modern Israel will not fight. Rather, the armies of Gog and Magog will fight each other.

Verse 22 tells us: “And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.”

It is God who will supernaturally intervene and destroy this army. Another picture of fire and brimstone is painted, reminding us of the lake of fire and brimstone into which the beast—the military leader of Europe—will be thrown at the beginning of the Millennium. A similar fate awaits Gog and his cohorts because they operate with the same evil mindset.

Ezekiel 39:3 continues: “Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand [the hand of prince Gog], and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand.”

Notice the kinds of weapons described here: These are bows and arrows—weapons of wood. These can be easily made after God destroys the sophisticated weapons of war at the time of Christ’s return. It is true that sometimes terms like “bows” or “arrows” can be a figurative reference to sophisticated modern weapons such as guns or nuclear missiles, but this is not the case here.

Verses 9–10 tell us: “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them, says the LORD God.”

These weapons are not missiles or atomic bombs. Rather, they can be easily burned and used for firewood. One would certainly not try to burn nuclear missiles to use them for firewood. But these weapons of wood will be burned for firewood, it says, for seven years.

A similar event will happen again at the end of the Millennium, as described in Revelation 20:7–10, when Satan is released from prison and deceives “Gog” and “Magog.” God will destroy these attacking armies by throwing down fire from heaven and devouring them. Notice, though, that in the episode in Ezekiel 38, it was not Satan who influenced Gog and his army. Satan will be in prison at that time. Rather, we read in Ezekiel 38:10 that thoughts will arise in Gog’s mind and that he will make an evil plan. Man can do wrong things without Satan’s influence.

We saw that the Church of God has been given a commission from God to proclaim in advance to the modern house of Judah, what the Bible predicts is going to happen to them. Likewise, the Church of God has also received a commission to tell the modern nations of the house of Israel what awaits them—in the hope that at least some will listen and repent before it is too late.

Notice God’s word to His end-time Church in Amos 3:13–14: “Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, Says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, that in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel… [modern Israel’s false religious worship ceremonies].”

The Bible tells us that the Church will, indeed, accomplish its commission. Notice in Hosea 5:9: “Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.”

Hosea 7:11–12 adds: “Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—They call to Egypt, They go to Assyria. Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them [to capture them, to make them captives]; I will bring them down like birds of the air; I will chastise them According to what their congregation has heard.”

In Hosea 8:1–4, God again gives His Church a very specific commission as to what to include in its preaching to the house of Israel: “Set the trumpet to your mouth! [What follows is the warning message, to be proclaimed like a trumpet to the house of Israel (compare Ezekiel 33:1–20)]. He shall come like an eagle [remember that the symbol of Assyria—ancient and modern—is the eagle] against the house of the LORD, Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law. Israel will cry to Me, My God, we know You! Israel has rejected the good; The enemy will pursue him. They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.”

God’s commission to His Church to warn modern Israel and Judah, along with the rest of the world, while, at the same time, proclaiming the wonderful news of the coming Kingdom of God and how we can enter into it, is an on-going commission. We don’t read anywhere that the assigned task of the Church ends prior to the return of Christ.

Quite to the contrary! Note Christ’s words to His disciples in Matthew 28:19–20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Most people who hear the message will not accept it. Their reaction will be one of hate and rejection, and even persecution. Christ told us very clearly: “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake [all will hate you when the gospel is preached in all the world, to all nations]. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes” (Matthew 10:22–23).

Even when we are being persecuted, we must not stop preaching God’s word and warning the people. Luke 21:12–13 prophecies: “But before all these things [the increase of great earthquakes in various places, famines and pestilences, and frightful sights and great signs from heaven, verse 11], they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.”

Remember that Paul was brought before kings after preaching the gospel. Why? Simply BECAUSE OF PREACHING THE GOSPEL! He was accused of having turned the whole world upside down because of his preaching. He was HATED by many because of his preaching. So also will be God’s Church and those who follow the commission, as the apostle Paul did, to proclaim God’s word in all the world as a witness, or testimony.

Again, we have a choice. God wants us to BOLDLY PROCLAIM His warning message to the modern house of Israel, as well as to the rest of the world, in the hope that some will listen and change their ways. How about you?

Part 3 – Ancient and Modern “Tyre” in Prophecy

The Bible contains a series of remarkable prophecies regarding the end-time religious, economic, and military system we have been discussing throughout this booklet, and which is forming right now in continental Europe. This system, as we already know, is referred to in the book of Revelation as “Babylon” and is also sometimes called “the Beast.” [Note that the term “Beast” can refer to the entire system, as well as to the end-time political leader ruling over this system.] The Bible also symbolically refers to this system as “Tyre.” Some of the prophecies that include the entire system, as well as the end-time leadership of that system—both on a human and a spiritual level—can be found in chapters 27 and 28 of the book of Ezekiel. We’ll take a look at Chapter 26 of Ezekiel first to set the stage in regard to the ancient city of Tyre—the historical forerunner of the end-time system.

God says in Ezekiel 26:2–3, “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.’ Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.”

The ancient city of Tyre was a famous port city of the Phoenicians. It is called “Sor” in Hebrew, and “Sur” in the Arabic language; it means “rock” in both languages. It was already an important Phoenician city in the 15th century B.C; Joshua 19:29 refers to it as “the fortified city of Tyre.” It is mentioned again during the time of David as “the stronghold [or fortress] of Tyre” (2 Samuel 24:7).

Tyre was a dual city—part of the city lay on the coast and part was situated offshore on islands of rock. We read in verse 3 that many nations would come up against Tyre, just as the sea causes its waves to come up—one after the other. In verses 4 and 5, notice that many nations, not just one, would destroy the walls of Tyre. Verse 4 emphasizes specifically that “they” shall destroy the walls.

Verses 7–11 explain in detail how the first conqueror of Tyre to bring about its desolation would be Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. Verse 12, however, uses the plural, stating that “they [more than one nation or emperor] will plunder your riches… and lay your… soil in the midst of the water. Historically, Nebuchadnezzar did not destroy the part of Tyre that was offshore. He only destroyed “Old Tyre,” the part on the coast, about 609B.C. The Persians allowed that destroyed part of Tyre to be rebuilt exactly 70 years after its partial destruction.

Later, Alexander destroyed both Old Tyre and New Tyre (on the island). At that time, many people from Tyre fled over the sea to Carthage in North Africa. That city had been established by the Phoenicians as a trading post in the 9th century B.C. Later, many people from ancient Tyre fled to Tarshish in Spain. Others settled in Italy—especially the Chaldeans and the Phoenicians—where they founded Venice.

But parts of Tyre were subsequently resettled. Tyre had again become a thriving port by the time Jesus was here on the earth (Mark 7:24–31). It was here where Christ healed the young woman whose mother said that even the dogs eat crumbs from the table of their masters (Matthew 15:21–28). Also, Tyre is mentioned in Acts 12:20–21, where king Herod died, being eaten up by worms because he did not give God glory.

In time, other nations came to attack and plunder Tyre, including the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Crusaders, and the Mamelukes. (The Mamelukes were originally purchased slaves who converted to Islam. They advanced to high military posts in Egypt. From them came the Turks, the Mongols and the Circassians. Today, they can be found in Nubia, in North East Africa). Some of the inhabitants of Tyre migrated to Italy, where they settled in Rome. The name “Tyrrhenian Sea”—one of the seas or oceans surrounding Italy—has derived its name from the inhabitants of Tyre who settled in Italy.

Today, Tyre is still a minor port and inhabited by Islamic Arabs who fled Palestine when the state of Israel was formed, and who settled in southern Lebanon.

In Ezekiel 26:13–14 God states, “I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more. I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken, says the Lord GOD.”

This prophecy is still to be fulfilled, even for the ancient city of Tyre. Notice what God Himself says, “I will put an end to the sound of your songs…I will make you like the top of a rock…” Verses 19–21 give further details as to what exactly God did to the ancient city of Tyre and what He will do to the modern city of Tyre.

The focus then changes in the 27th chapter of the book of Ezekiel. Notice that it no longer describes the ancient city of Tyre. Rather, it speaks about a powerful, modern economic system that is comparable to the wealth and prosperity of ancient Tyre. Just as the Bible uses “Babylon” to refer to an ancient city, as well as to a modern city, the Bible also uses “Tyre” in similar ways. Modern “Tyre” in Ezekiel 27:1–9 is described as a great merchant ship—a symbol of its importance as an economic power. This refers to the modern European system—still in the future—and is, in fact, the last resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire.

This system is also described as a military power in Ezekiel 27:10–11. Beginning with verse 12, Ezekiel returns to his description of the system of modern Tyre as a wealthy economic power. This switch from an economic to a military power, and then back to an economic power, MIGHT suggest that the real economic wealth and prosperity that originally existed to an extent, is going to be heavily increased by military actions and not by peaceful means.

Notice how this European economic system is described in Ezekiel 27:12–13, and note also, the areas and countries—as identified by archeology and history—with whom this system will trade. “Tarshish [city in Spain—symbolic of the economic power of Spain] was your merchant because of your many luxury goods. They gave you silver, iron, tin, and lead for your goods. Javan [Greece, perhaps Japan], Tubal and Meshesh [nations or peoples originally between the Black and the Caspian Sea, which could be a reference to the Russian cities of Tobolsk and Moskow] were your traders. They bartered human lives and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.” Yes, even human lives—slaves—will be traded within this system.

Continuing with verses 14–16: “Those from the house of Togarmah [Siberia, some have felt, this might be a reference to Armenia] traded for your wares with horses, steeds, and mules. The men of Dedan were your traders; many isles were the market of your hand. They brought you ivory tusks and ebony as payment [or “forced tribute,” suggesting occupation and enslavement]. Syria was your merchant because of the abundance of goods you made. They gave you for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidery, fine linen, corals, and rubies.”

Now notice in verse 17 who else will have—to an extent—an economic relationship and trade arrangements with this European system, at least at the beginning: “Judah and the land of Israel [wherever the house of Israel is today—including the British Isles, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia] were your traders. They traded for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, millet, honey, oil, and balm.” The modern houses of Israel and Judah will export wheat, millet and other grains and goods, as well as medical supplies—symbolized by the word “balm”—to the European economic system.

Ezekiel 27:18–23 reveals the other nations that will be trading with this European system. The tribe of Dan [modern Ireland] is specifically mentioned in verse 19, with its main trade of cane or sugar. The Arabs are identified in verses 20 and 21. Verse 23 mentions “Assur and Chilmad.” Some translations have here “Assur and all the Medes.”

Notice that verses 25 and 26 refer to the fact that the modern European system is somehow situated “in the midst of the seas.”

But something is going to happen to this system. It will be destroyed in one day, through the “east wind,” as we read in verses 26 and 27: “…But the east wind broke you in the midst of the seas… Your mariners and pilots… All your men of war who are in you, And the entire company which is in your midst, Will fall into the midst of the seas on the day of your ruin.”

Read the entire prophecy of modern Tyre’s downfall and destruction in Ezekiel 27:28–36, and see the correlation to an almost identical description of the fall of this military/economic system—referred to as modern “Babylon”—in Revelation 18:9–21. In Scripture this system is sometimes called the “daughter of Babylon,” which identifies both its origins and the future time of its ultimate destruction (Jeremiah 50:42; 51:33).

In order to bring about the destruction of this modern military and economic system, God will use powers of the East and the North (Daniel 11:44), mainly the “Medes,” to attack modern Babylon or Tyre—the European power bloc.

Notice the following passages by the prophet Jeremiah that identify modern Europe’s foe with great clarity: “Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against [modern] Babylon to destroy it, Because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance for His temple… Prepare against her the nations, with the kings of the Medes, Its governors and all its rulers, All the land of his dominion. And the land will tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant” (Jeremiah 51:11; 51:28–29).

Notice, too, the following prophecies in the book of Isaiah: “The burden against Babylon… Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it… A distressing vision is declared to me; The treacherous dealer deals treacherously, And the plunderer plunders. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All its sighing I have made to cease… And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen. Then he… said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen!” [showing that it would fall twice–in ancient times, and, as the book of Revelation predicts, at the time of Christ’s return] (Isaiah 13:1, 17; 21:2, 9).

Who were the ancient Medes and who are they today? In ancient times, the Medes lived in present-day Iran. Originally, under Assyrian rule, they revolted against and expelled the Assyrians and imposed their rule over the Persians. They then attacked Niniveh and overthrew the Assyrian Empire. Under Cyrus the Great, the Medes and the Persians were considered as one people. The Encyclopedia Britannica (ed.1959) points out that at least some of the Medes were not Iranians or Indo-Europeans, but perhaps connected with the numerous tribes of the Caucasus. The modern Medes, then, are to be found in modern Russia and surrounding areas.

Ultimately, God Himself will destroy modern Babel, or Tyre, at the time of Christ’s return. And at that time, He will also directly destroy the modest remains of the ancient city of Tyre.

In the 28th chapter of Ezekiel, we find a description of a leader of Tyre, primarily a modern leader of the modern European system—not the ancient leader of the ancient city of Tyre. This modern leader is referred to as the “PRINCE of Tyre.”

Ezekiel 28:2 identifies this modern leader—someone who will become known on the world scene very soon—as follows: “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, I am a god [or, I am God], I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas, Yet you are a man, and not a god [or, not God], Though you set your heart as the heart of a god [or, Though you make your heart as the heart of God]…”

This man speaks like the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4. This personage, also referred to as the “false prophet” in other passages, claims that he is sitting “as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Ezekiel 28:2 describes, then, the religious leadership over the European system of modern “Tyre.” [Compare with Revelation 17:3, picturing the religious system as a “woman” sitting on the “beast.”] The religious leader originally sits “in the midst of the seas.” Italy, with its capital of Rome, is located between, and surrounded by numerous seas or oceans—the Ligurian Sea, the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the Adriatic Sea.

But, as other Scriptures reveal, this religious leader—together with the military leader or the “Beast”—will move its capital to the city of Jerusalem. By that time, it seems, the Jews will have built a third temple—maybe on the Temple Mount—where they will bring sacrifices, but the European system will take away those daily sacrifices (Daniel 8:11–14; 11:31; Matthew 24:15–22), perhaps in order to pacify the Arab nations.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 also strongly suggests that the false prophet will sit in that very temple, claiming to be God Himself. The Greek word for “temple” is “naos” and means “inner sanctuary.” Although this word can apply to a spiritual temple (Christ spoke of the temple, “naos,” of His body in John 2:21), this word can also apply to a literal temple. Revelation 11:1–2 shows that the “temple of God” is to be measured. Yet the court outside the “temple” was not be be measured because it had been given to the Gentiles, who will tread the holy city underfoot for 3½ years (compare Luke 21:24). So it appears that the false prophet will be sitting in a literal temple in Jerusalem at that time.

Ezekiel 28:4 describes this religious power as being very rich, prosperous and wealthy. Verse 7 predicts that strangers will come against it and against the religious leader himself: “And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor.” Those foes are identified as “the most terrible of the nations” or “the most violent nations.” Verse 7 describes the fate of the religious leader, as well as the religious system he represents and rules over. But who are those strangers—the “most terrible of the nations”?

Notice this interesting passage in Ezekiel 7:24: “Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles [against the land of Israel, verse 2], And they will possess their houses.”

Who are the “worst of the Gentiles” to attack Israel? We know that the European army will attack and enslave the modern nations of Israel and Judah. We must, therefore, conclude that the “worst of the Gentiles” will, indeed, be the European army that destroys the European religious system.

Confirmation that the term “worst of the Gentiles” or “most terrible of the nations” does, in fact, refer to the armies of Europe under the leadership of modern Assyria, can be found in Ezekiel 30:10–11. There, the term “the most terrible of the nations” applies to the ancient Babylonians in their fight against Egypt. Both Ezekiel 31:12 and 32:12 use the same term, also applying them to the ancient Babylonians. In the same way, the Bible applies this term to the modern Babylonians—the modern European system.

Is there additional biblical support for the conclusion that the modern Babylonians—the European army—will attack the European religious system? Indeed, there is. Revelation 17:16–17 reveals: “And the ten horns [ten final political leaders in continental Europe] which you saw on the beast [the resurrected ancient Roman system], these will hate the harlot [a religious power called “Babylon the Great” (verse 5), but also a city (verse 18) sitting on seven mountains or hills (verse 9)], make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast [both a system, as well as a political leader over the system], until the words of God are fulfilled.”

We are told in this passage that the military power will ultimately destroy the religious power and confiscate her riches and burn her up, that is, extinguish her existence.

How and why could it happen that the political and military system of Europe will turn on and actually destroy the religious system of Europe? Does this not contradict the thought that Jesus Christ Himself will throw both the religious leader of that system and the military leader alive into the lake of fire that will burn outside of Jerusalem?

Remember from Revelation 17:16 that the ten horns, or military leaders of the political system under the “Beast,” will hate the woman—the religious system, as well as the city of Rome—and make her naked and desolate and eat her flesh. One possibility for their conduct is that they might feel betrayed by the woman, as she had been promising them peace on earth and invulnerability. When they see, instead, that they themselves are going to be overrun by Asiatic hordes, they might change their minds about the woman. In any event, we are told that it is God who will move their hearts to fulfill His purpose (Revelation 17:17).

One reason why the ten horns will not destroy or kill the false prophet is that the false prophet—together with the beast—will be living in Jerusalem. So, it may be that the ten European military leaders may find enough courage to go after the city of Rome, while lacking courage—or even opportunity—to go directly after the false prophet (although they will most certainly attack him with words). We may recall that Adolph Hitler was going after the Catholic Church in Germany, as well as in occupied countries, but he did not fight directly against the Pope himself.

We find another prophecy in the 23rd chapter of the book of Isaiah that also describes the religious aspect of the modern European system referred to as “Tyre.” Isaiah 23, verses 1 and 4 tell us: “The burden against Tyre… [T]he sea has spoken, The strength of the sea, saying, I do not labor, nor bring forth children; Neither do I rear young men, Nor bring up virgins.”

Here, Isaiah describes in prophetic and poetic words the time—still ahead of us—when “the strength of the sea,” the great and influential religious power situated in continental Europe, is no longer considered to be the mother church capable of bringing forth children.

Isaiah 23:7 continues: “Is this your joyous city, Whose antiquity is from ancient days, Whose feet carried her afar off to dwell?” This is a reference to the historical fact that many of the inhabitants of the ancient city of Tyre migrated to another city and settled there—the famous city of Rome.

Isaiah 23:13 elaborates on this historical development: “Behold, the land of the Chaldeans, This people which was not; Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert. They set up its towers, They raised up its palaces, And brought it to ruin.”

Isaiah has in mind here that the people from the land of the Chaldeans would settle in Italy after they were no longer a people in their ancient land. Recall that the people who fled from ancient Tyre settled in numerous places, including Carthage, Tarshish, Venice and Rome. They gave the name “Tyrrhenian Sea” to one of the seas surrounding Italy. Many of those who lived in Tyre were Phoenicians. The Phoenicians founded Carthage and they later founded Venice when they settled in Italy. They are still living in Italy today, along with the Chaldeans. They will play an instrumental part in the modern United States of Europe. Modern Europe was founded in Rome. The modern Europeans have been accurately described many times in the press as “modern Romans.” Historians understand that the heritage of modern Europe is the ancient Roman Empire. Assyria had originally founded Chaldea, but God says, looking at the end of the matter, that Assyria had really founded it for wild beasts to dwell there. The same fate awaits modern Tyre or Babel (Revelation 18:2).

Isaiah contains another interesting prophecy—dual in nature—applying to both ancient Tyre and its modern religious counterpart. We read in Isaiah 23:15–18: “Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of a harlot: Take a harp, go about the city, You forgotten harlot; Make sweet melody, sing many songs, That you may be remembered. And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world in the face of the earth. Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for fine clothing.”

Historically, the ancient city of Tyre was forgotten and lost all influence over other nations for 70 years, from the attack by Nebuchadnezzar in 609 B.C. until the fall of ancient Babylon in 539 B.C. Then Tyre began to become known and influential once again. But this prophecy in Isaiah is also an end-time prophecy for the modern religious system of Tyre, as understood by the phrase, “in that day,” referring to the “day of the LORD”—the time of Christ’s intervention in human affairs—still ahead of us.

Note how this prophecy applies to our time. In 1859, Garibaldi united the Italian states and, by all standards, destroyed the power of the Catholic Church (referred to in Isaiah 23 as “Tyre.”). But in 1929, exactly 70 years later, Mussolini signed a concordat with the almost bankrupt Catholic Church, enabling it to again become very prosperous and powerful. Verse 18 of Isaiah 23 also tells us that the wealth of that religious power will be used in the Millennium for good purposes.

Note how the end-time activities of this prosperous religious power—called “Tyre” in the Old Testament—are described in Revelation 17:4, 5, 9, 18, and 18:3, 7, and 8. In these New Testament passages the religious power is referred to in several ways—“a woman,” “Babylon the Great,” and “the great city,” among others.

Returning to Ezekiel 28, recall that the focus of verses 1–10 is on the end-time religious leader of that religious system. He is called in other passages “the false prophet” or “the man of sin.” He will be slain by Christ Himself. Christ will throw him alive, together with the military leader—the “Beast”—into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20).

God asks this religious leader in Ezekiel 28:9, “Will you still say before him [better, “Him,” Jesus Christ] who slays you, I am a god? [better, “I am God?”]. But you shall be a man, and not a god [or, “God”], In the hand of him [better, “Him”] who slays you.”

Back up to verse 8 and let’s notice what God prophesied through Ezekiel about the end-time religious leader: “They shall throw you down into the Pit, And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas.” Verse 8 explains that the “false prophet” will be thrown into the pit—the abyss—and his influence on the nations will cease and he will die the deaths of those that are slain in the midst of the sea. In other words, as they die, so will he.

Verse 10 continues, reading from the Authorized Version: “Thou shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hands of strangers.” In other words, this religious leader will die in disgrace. Christ will throw him into the lake of fire.

We find an interesting distinction of personages in Ezekiel 28:11. Until this verse, the prophet Ezekiel spoke about “the prince of Tyre” (verse 2). Now, we are introduced to the “king of Tyre” (verse 12). In studying this passage, we can see that God is not describing a human being. Rather, this king of Tyre is none other than Satan the devil. He is the power BEHIND the prince of Tyre—the end-time religious leader—as well as the religious system itself. In fact, he is behind all aspects of the system, including its economic and military forces. Satan wanted to BE God—the Most High (Isaiah 14:12–14). When he failed, he began to use human instruments, influencing them with the same evil desires, to take prerogatives from God, which only God can give us.

It becomes clear that God is describing Satan the devil in Ezekiel 28:11–17. Before his fall, Satan was “the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” (verse 12). He was “in Eden, the garden of God” (verse 13). He was “created” on a particular special day (the end of verse 13). He was “the anointed cherub who covers” (verse 14). He was “on the holy mountain of God” (verse 14). He was “perfect” in his ways “from the day” he was “created, till iniquity was found” in him (verse 15). When he “sinned,” God removed him, “the covering cherub,” from the midst of the fiery stones” and cast him out “of the mountain of God” (verse 16). Clearly, all of these passages do not describe a human being—the prince of Tyre—but an angelic being—a cherub—who sinned and fell from heaven—Satan the devil.

The second half of verse 17 reverts back to the prince of Tyre—the religious end-time leader, the human instrument in Satan’s hands—describing his fate again in verses 17–19. Verse 18 tells us that this man will be “turned… to ashes upon the earth,” and, indeed, he will be—in the lake of fire.

We read in verse 19 that this man—“the prince of Tyre”—“shall be no more forever.” This does not necessarily mean “for all eternity.” The word “forever” can refer to the time of an age; for instance, the age of the Millennium. The false prophet, being thrown into the lake of fire at the beginning of the Millennium, might very well be brought back to life at a future time, at the time of the second or third resurrection, depending on what
fate awaits him (Revelation 20:4–6, 11–15).

God warns His people not to get entangled with this military and religious system soon to arise again with great power. Both in the Old and New Testaments, He admonishes us to “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4; Isaiah 48:20; Zechariah 2:7).

If you want to understand more about modern “Tyre” or “Babylon,” and how you can obey God’s command to “come out of her,” please request a free copy of the booklet, Europe in Prophecy: The Unfolding of End-Time Events.

Part 4 – The Day of the Lord

Throughout this booklet we have been reading prophecies that refer to the “day of the LORD.” We have seen that this term describes the time of Christ’s intervention in human affairs. This is not necessarily referring to just one particular 24-hour day, although this is one meaning of the phrase—the actual day of Christ’s return (Zechariah 14:1,6–7). It also refers to a particular time span longer than one day.

One prophetic book in particular focuses a great deal on the “day of the LORD.” This little known and almost totally misunderstood Old Testament book is Zephaniah, one of the so-called “minor prophets.” Zephaniah’s name means, “Whom the LORD has hidden.” He received the Word of God at the time of King Josiah of Judah (Zephaniah 1:1), whose reign is described in II Kings 22 and 23, and in II Chronicles 34 and 35.

Zephaniah prophesied at the time of King Josiah, and although he announced calamity to ancient Judah, which did occur, the book of Zephaniah mainly describes a future calamity to befall this entire world. The destruction of ancient Jerusalem was a forerunner of the terrible times prophesied to happen on a worldwide scale just prior to Christ’s return.

The prophet Zephaniah is dead and gone. His prophetic word has survived. It is to be announced today, prior to the disaster that will strike this earth soon. We would do well to prayerfully review these stern warnings of Almighty God as recorded in the book of Zephaniah, where God reveals to humankind what will shortly come to pass, and why.

Zephaniah 1:2–3, 7 describes, in no uncertain terms, the future of this end-time generation of man: “I will utterly consume everything From the face of the land, Says the LORD; I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, The fish of the sea, And the stumbling blocks [idols] along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land [or, ground], Says the LORD… Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD; For the day of the LORD is at hand, For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests.”

As we can see from this passage, the book of Zephaniah describes events that will take place at the time of the DAY OF THE LORD, referring to the future. Notice how some commentaries understand the meaning of this phrase.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,” Vol. 2, p. 799, summarizes the term, “the day of the LORD” as a very common Old Testament concept that describes the establishment of the kingdom of God. In the New Testament it is referred to as the Day of Wrath or simply as “the day” or “that day,” without any further qualifications, as if this day is the only day that really counts in the entirety of the history of the world. The commentary goes on to explain that this day focuses on Jesus Christ and the establishment of the everlasting kingdom of heavens.

Unger’s Bible Lexicon,” p. 249, describes the “Day of the Lord” as the prophesied period that begins with the second coming of Christ and ends with the purification of heavens and earth by fire, and the creation of new heavens and a new earth that will last forever. The commentary points out that the day of the LORD includes the time period from the end of the Great Tribulation until the end of the Millennium.

Notice the frightening description of the events during the “day of the LORD,” as found in Zephaniah 1:14–18: “The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers. I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the LORD; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse. Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the LORD’S wrath; But the whole land [or, earth] shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land [on the earth].”

Notice in this passage that the day of the LORD is called a “day of wrath,” a “day of trouble and distress,” and a “day of darkness.” This certainly does not describe a pleasant time. We had better take God’s warnings seriously, because what God has purposed to do, He will do.

Zephaniah is addressing, in particular, the punishment of modern Judah. We read in Zephaniah 1:12: “And it shall come to pass at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And punish the men who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, Nor will He do evil.”

The book of Lamentations also describes the time of God’s punishment of Jerusalem with frightening details in chapter 2, verses 21–22. All of this will happen during the time of the “day of the LORD,” or, as Lamentations puts it, “the day of the LORD’S anger.”

But, the day of the LORD is not confined to the punishment of the modern house of Judah. It also includes punishment of other nations, such as the nations of the modern house of Israel, whose name was originally Jacob. Recall from Jeremiah 30:5–7 that the day of the LORD “is the time of Jacob’s trouble.”

The second chapter of the book of Isaiah sheds additional light on God’s punishment of the modern house of Israel during the time of the “day of the LORD.” Verse 3 specifically addresses “the house of Jacob” and verse 12 specifies the time as being “the day of the LORD.” The warning is to the modern descendants of the house of Israel, in no uncertain terms: “(Verse 6) For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with eastern ways… (verse 7) Their land is also full of silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures; Their land is also full of horses, And there is no end of their chariots. Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands.”

In reading the entire second chapter of Isaiah, however, we notice that it is not only directed at the modern house of Israel. It also describes a terrible punishment that will come over ALL nations. Notice the following statements: “(Verse 12) For the day of the LORD of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up… (verse 14) Upon all the high mountains, And upon all the hills that are lifted up; Upon every high tower, And upon every fortified wall… (verse 17) The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; The LORD alone will be exalted in that day… (verse 20) In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver And his idols of gold, Which they made, each of himself to worship, to the moles and bats, To go into the clefts of the rocks, And into the crags of the rugged rocks, From the terror of the LORD, And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily.” 

So, we see that at the time of God’s intervention, mighty earthquakes will shake the earth. Recall that in Jesus’ famous Olivet prophecy, He warned of the increase of earthquake activities prior to His return (Matthew 24:7). Notice the following interesting comments taken from a book authored by Stephen Skinner entitled, Millennium Prophecies, published in 1997. Quoting from pages 142–143: “Earthquakes, famines and troubles have always been with us, but there has certainly been an increase in earthquake activity over the last decade… Earthquake belts are so extensive that a concerted upheaval could destroy most of the Pacific rim, southern Europe, the Near East and southeast Asia. Even Britain is not immune, having had an earthquake registering 5.2 on the Richter scale as recently as 1990. In recent years earthquakes have been occurring in previously stable areas… Some observers are convinced that the number of earthquakes has roughly doubled in each of the decades since 1950. The side effects of future earthquakes might include nuclear spillage, as some Eastern European reactors have been built along fault lines.”

Let’s also note a frightening and sobering prophecy in the seventh chapter of the book of Ezekiel, primarily addressing the modern houses of Israel and Judah (verse 2), and describing events that will take place during the time of the day of the LORD: “(Verse 10) Behold, the day! Behold, it has come! Doom has gone out… (verse 11) Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness… (verse 12) The time has come, The day draws near… (verse 15) The sword is outside, And the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field Will die by the sword; And whoever is in the city, Famine and pestilence will devour him… (verse 19) They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the LORD.”

In verse 15, God indicates that pestilence will make an ugly comeback, while new disease epidemics will emerge (Deuteronomy 28:27–28, 35, 58–61), and their terrible clutches will not only embrace the modern Israelites and Jews. Christ warns in His Olivet prophecy that “pestilences” will occur “in various places” (Matthew 24:7).

Let’s take note of the following quotes from Millennium Prophecies, pp. 148–149, discussing the sudden rise of ancient plagues, as well as new ones: “It is slowly dawning that the triumph of medical science over disease is no longer as inevitable as it seemed back in the 1950s… Tuberculosis, which kills 3 million people a year worldwide, is beginning to acquire antibiotic resistance. In the USA a dangerous alliance has been formed between AIDS and tuberculosis. Another former scourge, malaria, is now making a comeback, claiming 2 million deaths per year worldwide… But drugs are not winning the race, and even in industrialized countries thousands of people are dying every year from antibiotic-resistant infections which they pick up in hospital while receiving treatment for less serious conditions… The food industry’s practice of using every last piece of slaughtered animal has meant that unwholesome remains now re-enter the food chain as food for another animal. Recent outbreaks of ‘mad cow disease’ have been caused by this practice, the brains of infected animals being recycled and fed to cattle. This would never normally occur in nature; left to their own devices, cows would not eat meat.”

The quoted article also relates, in a separate box, a frightening case of the comeback of “the black death” in the 1920s in England: “Workmen engaged upon building a railway cutting near Lewes, in Sussex, unwittingly dug into an old plague pit, undisturbed for centuries. Before long the men began to succumb to an illness which was initially diagnosed as pneumonia. Several of the workmen died before the authorities realized that they were dealing with something a great deal more sinister and hastily quarantined everyone in danger. Eventually the crisis was brought under control, but it is sobering to realize that the seeds of death in the form of plague bacteria can survive in the soil for centuries.”

As already mentioned, God’s punishment on the day of the LORD will be directed against all nations (compare Obadiah 15; Joel 3:12–14). Additional scriptures reveal specifically that God will punish Egypt and other Middle Eastern nations during the time of the “day of the LORD.”

Ezekiel 30:3–5 explains: “For the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. The sword shall come upon Egypt, And great anguish shall be in Ethiopia, When the slain fall in Egypt, And they take away her wealth, And her foundations are broken down. Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.”

Also, modern Babylon is expressly identified as one of the nations, or power blocs, that will be dealt with by God during the “day of the LORD.” We read in Isaiah 13:1, 6–9: “The burden against Babylon…Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty…Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.”

But, again, God’s punishment will not be limited to the Babylonian system of modern Europe. God’s anger will be poured out over all flesh during the time of the “day of the LORD.” Notice verses 11–13: “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity… I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold… I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.”

Let’s also note God’s coming punishment of Edom, or modern Turkey, as prophesied in Isaiah 34:5– 8: For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom… For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom… For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”

We might mention here that this passage is one of the scriptures indicating that “the day of the LORD” will commence immediately following the Great Tribulation, one year prior to, and culminating with Christ’s return (cp. also Isaiah 63:3–4 and 61:1–2, equating the “day of vengeance” with “the year of the LORD.”). In addition, as Zechariah 14:6–7 and many New Testament scriptures point out (discussed below), the day of the LORD can refer to a literal day of 24 hours in describing Christ’s return. And finally, 2 Peter 3:7–13 applies the term “day of the LORD” to the 1000-year reign of Christ on this earth, as well as the time after that, showing that it refers to the time when God begins to actively intervene in human affairs on a worldwide scale. Once He does so, His rule over man will never end.

As stated repeatedly, God’s anger is against all nations. And God wants all nations to hear and heed His end-time warning (which you are reading right now in this booklet). As Isaiah 34:1–4 states: “Come near, you nations, to hear; And heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, The world and all things that come forth from it. For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, And His fury against all their armies [showing that true Christians should not be serving in the armies of this world]; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter… All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree.”

Let’s also notice the following interesting comments in the book, Millennium Prophecies, on pp. 50 and 150, discussing how those heavenly disasters described in the book of Isaiah and in other places could possibly come about: “The Apocalypse [Book of Revelation] describes earthquakes, the removal of the ozone layer (‘the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up’), meteorites (‘the stars of heaven fell upon the earth’) and many other natural disasters… One event of particular interest is the fall of a meteorite called ‘Wormwood’ [Revelation 8:10–11], which will poison all the rivers and many people; it is also possible that ‘Wormwood’ will turn out to be a man-made bomb… Possibly a fall of great comets or meteors is indicated in ‘the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind” ([Revelation] 6:13). The shaking might refer to a wobbling of the Earth’s axis, which is likely to accompany the arrival of these destructive heavenly bodies. With the destruction of the ozone layer which ‘departed as a scroll when it is rolled together’ humankind will be forced to seek shelter wherever it can find it. The next verse [Revelation] (6:15) tells how at that awful time everyone, from kings and rich men down to ordinary free men, will hide ‘themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains’. In the recent past this verse was interpreted as the population escaping nuclear fallout in underground shelters. [It could also refer to] some ecological disaster.”

In the book of Joel, we read more about the events immediately preceding, and continuing during the day of the LORD. Joel 2:11, 30–31 points out: “For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?… And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.”

The heavenly signs on the sun, moon and stars could very well be the result of volcanic eruption. Notice these interesting thoughts, again from Millennium Prophecies, pp. 154–155: “The Apocalypse…does not use the word volcano [and neither does the above-quoted passage in the book of Joel], but nevertheless has some pretty accurate descriptions of phenomena that we would recognize as volcanoes… It may take months [after extensive volcanic activity] for the dust and rock particles to finally settle out of the atmosphere, but the sulphuric acid droplets can ride the winds for years. The resultant ‘dust-veils’ cause beautiful sunsets and strange optical effects [like the turning of the moon into blood].”

For more information on the meaning of Biblical passages, dealing with the “heavenly signs,” please request our free booklet, The Theory of Evolution—A Fairy Tale for Adults?

We should also take note of another important prophecy that must be fulfilled before the day of the LORD—culminating in Christ’s return—can come. And amazingly, you and I have an important role in regard to that prophecy.

Malachi 4:5–6 tells us: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse [or, with utter destruction].”

We also read in Matthew 24:22 that if it weren’t for God’s elect, this world would be totally destroyed. NO HUMAN BEING—NO FLESH AT ALL—would survive the coming dreadful day of the LORD.

We read in Luke 1:14–17 about the first fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy, where John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the people of his time for the first coming of Jesus Christ. However, Malachi speaks primarily about the time just prior to the day of the LORD, which is still in the future. Therefore, another “Elijah” must come to prepare this world for the second coming of Christ.

God has given this role of an end-time Elijah to His end-time Church. There should be no doubt that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, who is considered by many as an apostle and who served as Pastor General of the Church of God until his death in 1986, began to fulfill this role. But God’s commission to His Church is ongoing. God expects His Church to continue to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers,” so that the day of the LORD’s return can come, and so that this earth will not have to face total and complete destruction.

(If you want to learn more about this part of the Church’s commission and how these aspects of Malachi’s prophecy are being fulfilled today, request our free booklet, The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families.)

In most of the Old Testament prophecies the events taking place during the day of the LORD are described as dealing with all of the nations of this world. In the New Testament though, additional emphasis is placed on the spiritual nation of God—the body of believers—and what the day of the LORD should mean to them. In John 6: 39 Jesus Christ applies the term “the last day” to the 24-hour day of His return.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:1–4–9 the apostle Paul states that for us‑the true follows of Christ‑the day of the LORD should not be one of wrath as it is for the nations of this earth, but rather a day of joy, as we are going to attain salvation—eternal life—at that time. The same thought is conveyed in 2 Thessalonians 1:3–10 and in 2 Timothy 4:8, referring to the day of the LORD as “that Day.”

Paul was convinced that he would meet Christ at His return (Philippians 2:14–16), referring to the day of the LORD as the “day of Christ.” It was his earnest hope and expectation that those whom he had taught would be there with him and meet Christ as well (Philippians 1:6, 10). He expresses the same desire in 1 Corinthians 1:4–8, where he refers to the day of the LORD as “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Nothing was more important to Paul than to know that the brethren would be counted worthy to stand before the returning Son of Man, even if it meant drastic correction for the present in order to bring a sinner to repentance (1 Corinthians 5:1, 4–5).

We see, then, that we each have a responsibility to live up to the standards given to us by God, and shown to us by Jesus Christ. We will discuss a little later in this booklet that God promises us shelter and safety in the future if we are, in fact, counted worthy to escape all these things that will surely come to pass.

There is another frightening prophecy given in the pages of the New Testament that reveals events to occur just prior to the coming of the day of the LORD.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–3, 8–9 tells us: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ [NU: the Lord] had come. Let no one deceive you by any means: for that Day will not come unless the falling away [apostasy—a falling away from the truth of God] comes first, and the man of sin [NU: lawlessness] is revealed, the son of perdition [the false prophet discussed earlier in this booklet] … And then the lawless one will be revealed [or become manifest] whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming [by throwing him, together with the Beast, into the lake of fire]. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders.”

This religious leader—the false prophet—will receive power to do miracles from Satan himself (compare Revelation 19:20). He, and the system that he represents, is described in Revelation 13:11 as a beast with “two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.” He “performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs” (verses 13–14). This system is also described as engaging in “sorcery” (Revelation 18:23). We are warned in Matthew 24:24 that some of those “signs” will be so convincing that, if it were possible, even the elect of God would be deceived.

Historical records establish the fact that Simon Magus, who had been baptized but had never truly repented (Acts 8:13–24), became a leader in the early Babylonian system. He had been a sorcerer, regarded as “the great power of God” (Acts 8:9–10).

Quoting from Millennium Prophecies, p. 59, let’s learn more about Simon Magus and the Satanic powers which he allegedly possessed. This should make us a bit more prepared for what is going to happen in the future and why the false prophet will be able to deceive so many people with his sorcery: “The Samarian-born Simon Magus (15 BC–AD 53), son of a Jewish sorcerer, was educated in the cradle of Gnosticism, Alexandria. He was a disciple of Dositheus, who had been a follower of John the Baptist and contended with Jesus Christ for the title of Messiah. Simon traveled widely in Persia, Arabia [and] Egypt to learn all he could about magical lore. He was accompanied by a sorceress called Helena, whom Simon claimed was a reincarnation of Helen of Troy. In Samaria, even Christians spoke of Simon as ‘the great power of God’… Simon Magus performed many miracles, including healing the sick, raising the dead, walking through fire, flying through the air, turning stones into bread, creating phantom banquets, making himself invisible, animating stone statues, changing his own shape and, of course, reputedly commanding elemental spirits or possibly demons to do his bidding.”

Simon Magus was not the only leader within the Babylonian system who practiced sorcery. Millennium Prophecies tells of another famous sorcerer, Pope Silvester II, who lived at the end of the first century. Quoting from pp. 68 and 69: “Tradition has it that he was an advanced student of the black arts… It was said that he regularly conversed with the Devil… he was credited with possessing a ‘brazen head’ that spoke to him and could prophecy future events… [He] learned… to summon ghostly figures from the lower world… [The] demons obeyed him in all that he required of them day and night, because of the great sacrifices which he offered, and his prayers and fastings and magic books and great diversity of rings and candles.”

The false prophet—the last leader of the religious system called “Babylon the Great” in the Bible—will appear soon on the world scene. He will be able to perform mighty miracles because Satan will give him the power to do so. Many will be deceived by those signs and will follow the wrong teachings of this man. May God protect YOU from doing so.

A series of remarkable prophecies that deal with the time of the day of the LORD can be found in the book of Revelation. In fact, the whole prophecy covers events pertaining to or leading up to the day of the Lord (Revelation 1:10).

Revelation 6:12–17 describes cosmic disturbances—culminating in the day of the LORD—referred to in that passage as “the great day of His [the Lamb’s, that is, Jesus Christ’s] wrath” (verses 16–17).

The book of Revelation emphasizes time and time again that God the Father and Jesus Christ will be very angry, or filled with wrath, at the time just prior to Christ’s return (Revelation 11:17–18; 14:9–10, 19; 15:1, 7; 16:1, 19; 19:15).

The reason WHY God will be so angry becomes clear when we consider the attitude of people at that time and the kind of society they are involved in. They will have “shed the blood of saints and prophets” (Revelation 16:6). They will “blaspheme the name of God” and refuse to “repent” (Revelation 16:9, 11, 21). Due to the influence of this modern Babylonian system, the sins of all of the nations will have “reached to heaven” (Revelation 18:3–5). This very Babylonian system that people will follow is responsible for “the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Revelation 18:24), and God Himself will “avenge…the blood of His servants shed by her [the great false system of Babylon]” (Revelation 19:2).

When God begins to intervene in human affairs, mankind will not want him to do so. In fact, people will be so deceived that they will actually try to fight against the returning Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:19). So then, God must speak in a language that man will understand.

Considering these terrible times ahead of us, we might wonder, “Is there a way of escape, or will everyone experience the wrath of God? Do we all have to go through the times of the Great Tribulation and the day of the LORD? What can we do?”

The answer is, God has promised us protection from the terrible times to come, if we are faithful to Him. Christ tells us in Revelation 3:10: “Because you have kept My command to persevere (to have patience), I also will keep you from the hour of trial [tribulation] which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

Notice Christ’s additional admonition and promise in Luke 21:34–36: “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Recall that the name of Zephaniah means, “Whom the LORD has hidden.” We are told in Zephaniah’s message, as well, that WE can be hidden, or protected, in the day of the LORD’S anger. Yes, there is a way! Notice this remarkable promise in Zephaniah 2:3: “Seek the LORD, all you meek [humble] of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the LORD’S anger.”

King David, himself a prophet, also understood that God would hide and protect those who faithfully trust in Him. Listen to these encouraging words: “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of your wings…” (Psalm 17:8).

“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in his pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5).

“Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which you have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues” (Psalm 31:19–20).

King Solomon confirms, in Proverbs 14:26, that God’s people will be protected in the coming times of trial: “In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge.”

This place of refuge is more clearly described in Revelation 12:14, promising the end-time Church of God her place in the wilderness—on this earth—prepared by God, a place where she will be nourished for 3 ½ years and protected from Satan the devil. Compare this with Isaiah 33:16, describing the righteous person (verse 15) as dwelling “on high; His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will be sure.”

God gives us the same promise in Isaiah 26:20–21: “Come, My people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. For behold, the LORD comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain.”

Through all this, we can take great comfort from God’s promise for His people, as recorded by the prophet, Joel. We can be protected, if God looks at us as His people and counts us worthy to escape the terrible times ahead of us. Joel 3:14–16 reads: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness. The LORD also will roar from Zion, And utter his voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; But the LORD will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel.”

Yes, God has promised shelter and protection to those whom He counts as worthy to escape the horrible times to come. But in order to be worthy of God and His kingdom (2 Thessalonians 1:5), we must continue to be God’s witnesses by actively supporting His work of proclaiming His message (Luke 24:46–48; Acts 1:8), and we must be willing to suffer for it in the process (Acts 5:40–42). If we shrink back from this God-appointed duty and responsibility, God will have no pleasure in us. In effect, we will be showing Him that we do not really care for others and that we are only concerned about how WE can escape tribulation. God promises protection only to those who “sigh and cry” over all the abominations which are being done (Ezekiel 9:3–6), showing a genuine concern for others and praying that they also would repent of their ways and turn to God.

God wants us to become like Him, a God of LOVE. He has outgoing concern for the welfare of others. He wants us to have that same kind of love. He, in fact, GAVE His only begotten Son for this world, so that those who believe in Him could have everlasting life. Christ was willing to DIE for us—to give up His life for us—while we were still sinners and His enemies! Do we LOVE the world in the same way? Do we PROVE our love by SHARING the knowledge we received from God (compare Colossians 1:9–12)? Do we labor in the Work of God (Luke 10:7), preaching the gospel as we are instructed to do (Acts 13:2; 14:26; 15:38; 1 Corinthians 16:10; Philippians 2:29–30)? Are we effective coworkers with God (2 Corinthians 6:1) for the kingdom of God (Colossians 4:11)?

If we are, in fact, fully declaring the Work of God (Jeremiah 51:10), as we should be doing, we are Christ’s disciples, indeed, and we WILL BE counted worthy to escape the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord and to ENTER into the Kingdom of God. For more information about the great master plan God reveals in His Word, the Bible, and how you can understand the potential of mankind’s ultimate destiny, please request our free booklets, And Lawlessness Will Abound… along with The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

And Lawlessness Will Abound…

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Introduction

Almost two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, under the inspiration of God the Father, prophesied that the very last generation of mankind would be so evil and wicked that it would be willing to even destroy “all flesh” in a worldwide war (Matthew 24:22). At that time of impending cosmocide “the love of many”—even in God’s Church—“will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). There is a reason for such indifference and God tells us in the same verse what the reason is, “…because lawlessness will abound.”

At that very time it will be as if people were to say, “The law is no more!” (Lamentations 2:9). Instead, they will have been misled by the “mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7). This mysterious concept was already at work in the days of the apostle Paul but it grew worse and worse over the centuries. Just prior to the return of Jesus Christ, a religious personality, referred to as the “lawless one,” will appear (2 Thessalonians 2:8). The overwhelming majority, not having “received the love of the truth,” will accept, support and even worship that man, thinking that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

How could this be, given the fact that most people, especially in the Western World, are professing Christians, and as such, supposedly embrace the teachings of the Bible? Don’t they agree with, and keep, the fundamental and, we might say, constitutional law of the Bible, the Ten Commandments, as well as God’s statutes and judgments that further define and explain the Ten Commandments? How could professing Christians be referred to in the Bible as people who follow “lawlessness”?

Most professing Christians do not believe that the Ten Commandments are still in force and effect, so they don’t see a need to keep them—neither in the letter, nor in “spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Before you disagree with this statement, consider the fact that the Bible nowhere authorizes replacement of the weekly Sabbath with Sunday worship. The fourth commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). The Sabbath (the time from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) is the last or seventh day of the week. God Himself set aside the Sabbath at the creation of man, thereby making it holy. He subsequently required that man keep it holy as He made it. It is still in force and effect today. Sunday is not the Sabbath. Sunday is the first day of the week, not the last day. But how many professing Christians keep the Sabbath holy? Only very few. It was the Catholic Church that “changed” the Sabbath law, fulfilling a prophecy in Daniel 7:25 that describes a church that would, in fact, “intend to change times and law”—that is, the “law” regulating holy “times.” But God did not approve of this man-made change. And by following the lead of the Catholic Church, many were made to “stumble at the law” (Malachi 2:8).

Apart from the rather obvious discrepancy between biblically-commanded Sabbath observance and humanly-invented Sunday worship, how many Christians do you know who really believe and keep even the other nine of the Ten Commandments?

How many do you know who are determined, for example, never to lie, never to kill, never to take God’s name in vain, never to worship idols, never to steal, and never to desire his or her neighbor’s wife or husband, or something that belongs to a neighbor?

It is obvious that not many have this determination not to violate God’s law. This is why our carnal minds that are incapable of being subject to the law (Romans 8:7), have invented seemingly convincing “logical arguments” that “prove” from the Bible that God’s law is indeed “no more.”

What Sin Is!

The Bible teaches us from beginning to end that sin, unrepented of, will prevent us from entering the Kingdom of God. God expects and requires of us to overcome sin. And if God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us, we can become victorious over sin—that is, we can stop breaking God’s law. We read in Romans 8:4, in the Living Bible, “So now we can obey God’s law, if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us.”

When we obey God’s law, we don’t sin. Sin is defined as “the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4, Authorized Version). We could also say, sin is lawlessness. Those who live in and follow after lawlessness, live in and follow after sin. We are also told that all unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17). Conversely, if we keep God’s commandments, we live in righteousness, as God defines all of His commandments as “righteousness” (Psalm 119:172, Authorized Version).

But what exactly is the “law” that we break when we sin? Is it some “New Law” that Christ brought, while doing away with His Father’s commandments? Or is it the very same law that defined sin from the outset—the Ten Commandments?

We read in Matthew 19:16–19 about a young man who once came to Christ with an interesting question. He asked Him what “good thing” he had to do in order to “have eternal life.” Christ responded by saying, “…if you want to enter into [eternal] life, keep the commandments.” The young man asked what many professing Christians might want to ask today, “Which ones?”

Notice, carefully, Christ’s answer. Did He say, “Why, of course, not the old ancient ones that Israel received at Mount Sinai! Not those Ten Commandments from the relic past. Rather, you need to keep the New Law that I am bringing to REPLACE those burdensome Ten Commandments!”?

Not at all! His response is recorded in verses 18 and 19: “…You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and your mother, and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Christ quoted from the last six of the Ten Commandments, which define our love toward neighbor. He did not quote from any of the first four of the Ten Commandments, which define our love toward God. Did He tell the young man that he did not have to love God anymore? Of course not! It is obvious that, although Christ quoted just some of the Ten Commandments, He wanted it to be understood that we can only obtain eternal life if we keep them all. As the same section goes on to show, Christ was addressing this individual in direct response to what his underlying lack involved. As a Jewish citizen of that day, he knew the command to keep ALL of God’s commandments—and he claimed that he had done so from his youth (Matthew 19:20). However, Christ showed him that he really lacked the love toward neighbor and toward God, as he placed his riches before God and neighbor (Matthew 19:21). He stumbled at Christ’s challenge to rid himself of his great wealth and give it to the poor, and to follow Christ. His riches had become the most important aspect of his life, and he was not able to put service and surrender to God and neighbor FIRST in his life (Matthew 19:22).

The Law of the Ten Commandments

Some, though, would want to disagree and argue with these clear words of Christ. They allege that, since Christ only quoted some of the Ten Commandments, only those need to be kept, and since He did not specifically refer to the Sabbath commandment, that law no longer needs to be kept either. (Remember, though, that Christ quoted none of the first four commandments!).

Those who reason this way overlook a very important biblical principle. The apostle James, who is the half-brother of Jesus, explains this principle and, at the same time, silences those who claim that we today do not have to keep all of God’s Ten Commandments. Let’s read his decisive answer in James 2:8–12: “If you really fulfill [that is, keep] the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep [or, fulfill] the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.”

The Ten Commandments as a Package!

James tells us that we sin if we break just one provision of the “whole” law. He makes it clear that the “law” he is talking about is, in fact, the Ten Commandments. He illustrates this point by selecting two of the Ten Commandments—the law against murder and the law against adultery. He explains to us that, if we violate even one of the Ten Commandments, we are still a “transgressor of the [entire]LAW.” Note that James uses the word “law” as a summary term to include all of God’s Ten Commandments.

We do the same today in human affairs. A person might have violated a specific traffic regulation and the police officer might tell him, “You have violated the law.” The officer would be right, as that particular traffic rule is indeed part of the entirety of man’s law. When Christ told the young man that he had to keep the commandments, and then cited some of the Ten Commandments, especially focusing on the last six, He made it very clear that He was referring to all of the Ten Commandments, treating them as a “total package,” as did the apostle James.

Did Christ Abolish God’s Law?

Some, having given themselves over to the arguments of the carnal mind—which is hostile toward the law of God—have used this “package” concept, to “prove” that the entire law of God was abolished. Their absurd “argument” goes something like this: Since certain scriptures show that a “law” is no longer in effect, all of God’s Ten Commandments (it is alleged) have been done away with, and Jesus Christ brought a “New Law,” which happens to include nine of the Ten Commandments, while omitting the Sabbath commandment.

This seemingly “clever” argument to get away from God’s specific commandment to remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy is “supported” by the misuse of the following scriptures: Galatians 3, Romans 5, and Hebrews 10. Correctly understood, however, these three passages do not at all support abolishment of the Ten Commandments—rather, they prove the opposite—that the Ten Commandments are still in force and effect for us today! Let’s analyze these aforementioned scriptures.

Does Galatians 3 Abolish the Ten Commandments?

Reading from Galatians 3:17–19, 22, 24–25: “And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator… (verse 22) But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in [of] Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe… (verse 24) Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

Does this passage teach us that the Ten Commandments have been abolished, as some claim? Does Paul even have the Ten Commandments in mind when he talks about the “law” that “was added because of transgressions”?

In order to understand this passage properly, we must recognize that the Bible sometimes uses the word “law” for just a portion of the entire law system. We must consider the context of the particular passage in order to ascertain whether the word “law” refers to the entirety of God’s law system, or just a portion, and if just a portion, which portion.

We do the same today in human affairs. We might say, “the law requires you to do this or that,” and we may be speaking about a particular provision in the Civil Code, or the Criminal Code, or some administrative law.

We learned from Galatians 3:17 and 19 that “the law” was “added” “four hundred and thirty years” after God’s covenant with Abraham. This “law” was added “because of transgressions.” We also learned in verse 22 that the Scripture confined everybody “under sin.” We know already that sin is the transgression of the law. The law referred to in Galatians 3 was added because people had sinned—because they hadtransgressed God’s law.

Paul’s use of the word “law” in the third chapter of the book of Galatians then does not relate to the Ten Commandments at all, but to an altogether different set of rules.

The Bible does not contradict itself. One Scripture does not “break” or “make of no effect” another Scripture (John 10:35). A law was added because of transgressions. This law cannot be the Ten Commandments. Rather, because people had transgressed the law of the Ten Commandments, an additional law was given to the people. What this additional law was will become clear very soon.

Ten Commandments in Force and Effect Since Creation of Man

The Bible consistently teaches that people transgressed the Ten Commandments long before the added “law” mentioned in Galatians 3 came into existence.

We read in 1 Timothy 2:14 that “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” Eve sinned when she violated God’s law. This means that God’s law of the Ten Commandments was already in effect long before Abraham or Moses, because Paul tells us in Romans 4:15, “…where there is no law there is no transgression.” And remember, if we sin, we are “convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:9).

Adam and Eve transgressed the law of the Ten Commandments when they took of the forbidden fruit. They sinned by disobeying God, by stealing from Him and by lying to Him about it. They also committed idolatry by following Satan, desiring to have something that was not theirs. Later, Cain sinned by murdering his brother Abel (Genesis 4:7–8). The men of Sodom were “sinful” against God (Genesis 13:13) in violating His commandments and principles pertaining to marriage (Genesis 18:20).

God prevented two pagan rulers, both referred to as Abimelech, from sinning against Him by having an adulterous relationship with Abraham’s and Isaac’s wives (Genesis 20:6; Genesis 26:10). Later, Joseph refused to commit adultery with Potiphar’s wife, knowing that this would be a sin (Genesis 39:7–9). Jacob sinned by deceiving, or lying to, his father Isaac (Genesis 27:35). Jacob knew that stealing was sinful (Genesis 30:33; 31:39). Joseph later explained that kidnapping a person was stealing and therefore sinful (Genesis 40:15). His brothers understood, too, that stealing was sinful (Genesis 50:17; Genesis 44:8).

Fornication was understood to be a sinful act long before God spoke the Ten Commandments to Israel (Genesis 34:7, 31; 38:24). Murder also was declared to be sinful (compare also Genesis 49:6–7), and the midwives refused to kill the Israelite baby boys because they feared God (Exodus 1:16–17).

Prior to arriving at Mount Sinai, God clearly identified the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath as a law that had to be obeyed (Exodus 16:4–5, 22–30). After all, it had been in effect since Adam and Eve were created (Genesis 2:2–3).

We see, then, that the Ten Commandments were in force and effect since the creation of man. In breaking them, man sinned and fell into transgression. And because of such transgression, another law was later added.

Does Romans 5 Abolish the Ten Commandments?

In Romans 5, as in Galatians 3, people misinterpret Paul’s statements about the law, not realizing what “law” he is referring to. We will see here that Paul again writes about a “law” that was “added”—he is not at all talking about the Ten Commandments.

Romans 5:13–14 reads, “For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

Paul tells us clearly that there was already sin in the world before “the law” came. Sin, we know, is the transgression of the LAW. Therefore, there was a law in effect that was broken before this additional “law” came.So, the law that came or was added must have been different from the law that was already broken; in fact, this particular law was added because another law had been transgressed.

We also read about the transgression of Adam. Adam sinned—sin being the transgression of the law. Others sinned too—although perhaps not to the same degree that Adam sinned—because we read that death reigned from Adam to Moses. Romans 6:23 tells us why death reigned: “For the wages of sin is death.” When we sin or transgress God’s law, we have to pay a penalty—death. This is confirmed by the apostle James in James 1:15: “…sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

We understand, then, that a law was added “because of transgression”—because God’s Ten Commandments had been transgressed. What “law” is it, then, that Paul talks about in Galatians 3 and Romans 5 that was added because of transgression or sin?

Does Hebrews 10 Abolish the Ten Commandments?

The answer can be found, paradoxically, in Hebrews 10—the very scripture that some would use to “prove” that the Ten Commandments are no longer in effect. But, the tenth chapter of the book of Hebrews does not refer to the Ten Commandments—rather, it identifies the law that was added because of transgression.

In discussing the “earthly sanctuary” that Moses built according to God’s instructions, Paul explains in Hebrews 9:9–10, “It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices were offered which cannot make him who performed the sacrifice perfect in regard to the conscience—concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.”

Here we find described the “law that was added.” It was only a temporary law—it was only imposed until the time of reformation, that is, until the time of Jesus Christ’s perfect life without sin (Hebrews 4:15), His sacrificial death and His resurrection to eternal life. Since Christ paid the penalty for our sins through His death, we are no longer under the tutor referred to in Galatians 3. We are no longer under the law that was added that dealt with fleshly ordinances and rituals. This temporary law can be summarized as the sacrificial law—it regulated sacrifices, food and drink offerings, certain washings, and other rituals dealing with the flesh. This was the law that was added after Israel made a golden calf—after Israel had sinned against God’s Ten Commandments and fallen into transgression.

This sacrificial system is clearly referred to as “the law” in the Bible. Let’s note this in Hebrews 10:1, 8–9, and let’s also note that it is that law that was abolished when Christ died for us: “(verse 1) For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect… (verse 8) Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the law), (verse 9) then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second.”

Acts 13:38–39 explains that those who now believe in Christ are the ones who receive the forgiveness of sins and are justified (made perfect through living as Christ lived). Verse 39 also shows, by contrast, that no one “… could be justified by the law of Moses.” We will explain later that the “law of Moses” included the sacrificial system. Contrast this with the response by Jesus when the young man asked what he must do to gain eternal life—“keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17).

Christ took away the LAW of sacrifices, washings, and rituals—He abolished the entire sacrificial system. This was the law that had been added—not the Ten Commandments. The physical sacrificial system had been given to the people because they had sinned against God’s spiritual law—the Ten Commandments. The ritual law was a “tutor” to bring us to Christ. It was laborious work and the people were motivated through this kind of work to avoid sinning, at least to an extent.

But the sacrificial law could not forgive sin, as Paul stresses in Hebrews 10:4: “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Paul adds in verse 11: “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.”

This sacrificial law is not binding for Christians today. It was a law that was added because of sin, until Christ came to forgive sin, upon repentance of sin and belief in His sacrifice. That’s why we read in Hebrews 10:18, “Now where there is remission [forgiveness] of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.”

This sacrificial law that was added and then later taken away did not affect the Ten Commandments. This means, for example, that the fourth commandment, regarding the keeping of the Sabbath, is still valid and in force today. Note that the Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27) at the time of the creation of man (Genesis 2:2–3). It is referred to as a law to be kept prior to Mount Sinai (Exodus 16:25–30). It is still a binding commandment for all of mankind today, as are the other nine of the Ten Commandments. The sacrificial system, which was added one year after God spoke the Ten Commandments to the people, did not enact or bring into existence the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath commandment. And since it did not enact the Ten Commandments, it could not void them when the sacrificial system itself became obsolete.

We have seen, then, that the word “law” used in the Bible can refer to all of God’s laws, or it can refer to just a portion of God’s laws. We always need to study the context to see how the word “law” is to be understood in any given situation.

The Word “Law ” in Biblical Context

As this is such an important issue, we will take some time now and analyze several passages from both the Old and the New Testaments to show that the word “law” does not always refer to the entirety of God’s laws. In fact, many of the passages that we will look at apply the word “law” exclusively to the sacrificial system or provisions within the sacrificial system. Once we have this truth firmly in mind, it will not be possible to fall for, or be fooled by, “clever” arguments that try to convince us that Christ did away with all of the laws of the Old Testament and replaced them with an entire set of new laws.

The Word “Law” Applies to Sacrificial System

Notice the following examples from the Old Testament, applying the words “the law” strictly to a portion of the sacrifical system that pertains to different kinds of offerings:

“Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering… This is the law of the grain offering… This is the law of the sin offering’” (Leviticus 6:9, 14, 25).

“‘Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering (it is most holy)… This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer to the LORD… This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering, which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai’” (Leviticus 7:1, 11, 37–38).

In addition, let’s notice the following examples from the Old Testament that apply the words “the law” strictly to certain ritualistic washings and purification. For instance, there were in existence specific rituals that had to be fulfilled when a child was born:

“When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle dove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then he shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female” (Leviticus 12:6–7).

There was also a statute that had to be obeyed regarding the purification of a leper or infected garments and buildings. This statute is clearly referred to as “the law of leprosy”: “‘This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing… This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford the usual cleansing… This is the law for any leprous sore and scale, for the leprosy of a garment and of a house, for a swelling and a scab and bright spot, to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy’” (Leviticus 14: 2, 32, 54–57).

We are also introduced to another ritualistic procedure, referred to as the “law of jealousy,” to determine whether a wife had committed adultery or not:

“This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself, or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife; then he shall stand the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute all this law upon her” (Numbers 5:29–30).

Another example from the Old Testament notes a ritualistic law of purification regarding a person who was in or entered a tent in which a man had died:

“This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days… on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be clean” (Numbers 19:14, 19).

All of these examples serve to illustrate the point that the words “the law”—based on the context in which they are used—can apply to just a portion of the entire law of God, and when those particular laws are abolished, they do not nullify the rest of God’s laws.

The word “law” must always be viewed in context. This is true for both the Old and the New Testaments. We already saw that the word “law” in Galatians 3, Romans 5, and Hebrews 10 does not refer to the entirety of God’s laws, nor to the Ten Commandments at all. Rather, they refer to the laws or the legal system pertaining to washings, rituals and sacrifices. This became evident as we viewed those passages in context with the rest of the Scriptures.

This biblical principle must be applied throughout. For instance, some have carelessly assumed, when reading the 21st chapter of the book of Acts, that Paul was accused of not living by the Ten Commandments. A careful review of this passage will show, however, that it does not deal with the Ten Commandments at all.

Paul Was Not Accused of Doing Away With the Ten Commandments

We read in Acts 21:18–24, “On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and be purified with them, pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.’”

What “law” is this passage talking about? The law of the Ten Commandments? Note that the specific context is circumcision, purification, and other rituals in connection with the making of a vow. Consider also what Paul actually did do when following the “customs” of the Jews: “Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them” (verse 26).

The reference to the “law” or the “customs” is solely in regard to that portion in the writings of Moses that dealt with sacrifices, washings and rituals—in other words, the “law that was added,” and not the Ten Commandments at all.

We might add here that it was of course not sinful for Paul to participate in these customs, although they were no longer required. Paul said that he became a Jew to the Jews in order to win some (1 Corinthians 9:20). And, although he had made it clear that circumcision was no longer required [see the detailed discussion later in this booklet], he still circumcised Timothy, for the Jews’ sake, in order not to place a stumbling block before them (Acts 16:1–3).

Biblical Distinction Between the Law of the Ten Commandments and the Law of Sacrifices

We have seen, from the previous examples that the word “law” must always be examined in context. It can refer to the entirety of God’s laws or it can refer just to a portion of God’s laws. We learned that the word “law” sometimes refers to the sacrificial system that was established or “addedone year after God spoke the Ten Commandments to ancient Israel.

If one does not differentiate between God’s spiritual laws (including the law of the Ten Commandments) and the laws of sacrifices and rituals, one is bound to make devastating mistakes in understanding the Bible. Let us therefore note a few more examples that clearly distinguish between God’s spiritual law that existed since the creation of man, and the ritual and sacrificial law system “that was added” at the time of Moses.

God makes this distinction very clear in Jeremiah 7:22–23: “For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices [In fact, those commands God gave one year later]. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’”

God Himself is teaching us an important concept here. He commanded the Israelites to walk in all His ways—and this did not include the bringing of sacrifices! God’s spiritual law—the Ten Commandments—and the statutes and judgments that further define God’s spiritual law, knew nothing about sacrifices. The sacrificial system was added because the Israelites did not obey God’s spiritual law.

In Jeremiah 6:19–20, God emphasizes this same truth: “Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people—The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it. For what purpose to Me Comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”

The people brought sacrifices, yet rejected God’s law. Obviously, God is speaking here about two different sets of “laws.” The Israelites kept the sacrificial law, but they did not keep God’s spiritual law of the Ten Commandments. Nowhere in all of God’s word is He ever displeased with those who do keep His great spiritual laws, including the Ten Commandments.

Another clear distinction between the system of sacrifices (that was added to bring people to Christ) and God’s spiritual law is made in Psalm 40:6–8: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”

Originally, it was not God’s will, nor was it part of God’s spiritual law, to bring sacrifices. Rather, the requirement of sacrifices was added after Israel had broken God’s spiritual law. Again, we see that the word “law” must be carefully examined, in context, in order to come to a correct understanding.

The Book of the Covenant

As we will discuss later in this booklet in much more detail, God made a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai. We read in Exodus 24 that the covenant was sealed with blood. When that happened, the covenant was final and could not be altered. The law of the covenant was written in a book, the “Book of the Covenant” (verse 7; compare Hebrews 9:19–20). At that time, the sacrificial system was not a part of the law—those ritual provisions had not been given yet—and they were not written in the Book of the Covenant. The only sacrifice that is mentioned as a required sacrifice is the Passover (Exodus 23:18; Exodus 12). Yet, even this Passover sacrifice found its fulfillment in the death of Jesus Christ. Christians do not now offer lambs in sacrifice for Passover—rather, Paul shows: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

There is also a reference to an altar on which offerings could be made (Exodus 20:22–26), but these offerings were not part of a mandatory sacrificial system. Even before Sinai, people gave voluntary offerings (Cain and Abel, Genesis 4:3–5; Noah, Genesis 8:20–21; Abram, Genesis 15:9–11; Abraham, Genesis 22:13; Jacob, Genesis 31:54; 35:14; Israel, Genesis 46:1). The offerings mentioned in Exodus 20 were voluntary—they are identified as burnt and peace offerings (verse 24). Interestingly, sin and trespass offerings are not mentioned. They are only described as a part of the sacrificial system—to remind the people of their sins and trespasses—for the first time in Leviticus 4 and 5.

The covenant at Horeb originally did not include the sacrificial system. Neither did the Book of the Covenant contain such ritual regulations. But as time went on, ritual laws were added, including the laws regarding the Levitical priesthood and penalties or curses for violations of God’s spiritual law, and those did find their way into the Book of the Covenant, which is also called the Book of the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 28:58, 61; 29:20–21, 27, 29; 31:9).

This Book of the Law was placed outside or beside the ark of the covenant (Deuteronomy 31:24–26). The tablets with the Ten Commandments, however, were placed inside the ark (Deuteronomy 10:4–5; Hebrews 9:4).

Later, all the laws that had been written by Moses into the Book of the Law were engraved on massive stones (Deuteronomy 27:2–3, 8; Joshua 8:30–32, 34). The laws that were written on the stones included the Ten Commandments, along with the statutes and judgments, and also the rules and regulations regarding sacrifices and other rituals. We find a reference to those stones and the laws that had been engraved on them in 2 Corinthians 3:7–8, “But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious… how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?”

The reference to the ministry of death includes the death penalty for violating God’s spiritual law. The penalties were first written in the Book of the Law of Moses and then engraved on massive stones. Since Christ died for us, we don’t have to pay the death penalty, if we repent of our sins and obtain forgiveness. In addition, the ritual sacrificial laws, which were among the laws written on stones, could not forgive sins—they only reminded the sinners of their sins. The Levitical priesthood was, in that sense, a ministry of death, as people would still not be able to obtain eternal life, even though they brought sacrifices.

The Works of the Law

With that background, we should be able to better understand what Paul is telling us in Galatians 3:10–13, where he speaks about the “works of the law.” In reading this passage, remember to consider the context to see what specific law this passage has reference to. Beginning in verse 10, “For as many as are of the works of the law [including the sacrificial and ritual works that had to be performed] are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’ Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them [i.e., the rituals and sacrifices] shall live by them [that is, God did not kill them as long as they lived within the sacrificial system.].’ Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’).”

Anyone who did not continue in everything, which was written in the Book of the Law, including the regulations pertaining to washings, rituals and sacrifices, was cursed. Although the Book of the Law included, of course, the Ten Commandments and its spiritual statutes and judgments, it also included the physical works of the law, that is, the sacrificial system, as well as the death penalties for the violations of God’s law.

Paul’s statement, then, that the law was added because of transgression (Galatians 3:19), refers to that part of the law or laws in the Book of the Law which have to do with sacrifices and other rituals, as well as the curses or penalties for violating God’s spiritual law.

We need to keep firmly in mind that “the Book of the Law of Moses,” sometimes referred to as “the law of Moses,” included all kinds of laws. We must therefore be careful not to draw hasty conclusions when we read about the Book of the Law in the New Testament. Again, we always need to analyze in context, which particular and specific lawsthe author is talking about.

For instance, we read in Acts 15:5, “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them [Gentiles who became Christians], and to command them to keep the law of Moses.’”

The context of the discussion shows us that they were not arguing about the Ten Commandments—including the Sabbath—but whether circumcision and other rituals contained in the Law of Moses were mandatory for Gentile Christians. Now, notice, how this question was decided in the first ministerial conference in Jerusalem. Notice that it is James who is saying these words—the same apostle who later talked about the Ten Commandments as a package, saying that we are guilty of violating them all if we break even one of the Ten: “‘Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood’” (Acts 15:19–20; compare also Acts 15: 28–29).

James was not talking about the Ten Commandments. But, why does James specifically mention that the Gentiles must abstain from idols, sexual immorality, strangled meat and blood? These four aspects in the Law of Moses were mentioned here in connection with rituals and sacrifices (Leviticus 17:7, 10). Gentiles would often times drink blood with their sacrifices, or they would eat their sacrifices with the blood still in the meat (as happens when animals are strangled), or they would commit fornication with temple prostitutes. So that there would be no misunderstanding, the apostles and elders clarified to the Gentiles that those laws, although mentioned in the context of the sacrificial system, were still valid and binding on them.

Christ Did Not Come To Destroy the Law!

Christ did not come to do away with God’s spiritual law of the Ten Commandments. He stated in Matthew 5:17 that He had not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it—to magnify it, to exalt it and to make it more honorable (Isaiah 42:21), to fill it up with its intended meaning, to show how to keep it perfectly in the flesh. The Greek word for “fulfill” is “pleroo.” It literally means “to fill” or “to make full” (Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible). In Matthew 3:15 it is used in this context: “…it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

In Philippians 2:2, Paul states, “…fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love.” Further, Paul reminds the saints in Colosse that he became a minister to “fulfill the word of God” (Colossians 1:25), and he admonishes Archippus to “take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it” (Colossians 4:17). None of these passages convey the thought that something has ended—rather, the obvious understanding is that something should be continued to be filled with meaning, or to be brought to perfection.

Since Christ did abolish the sacrificial system, He did not talk about that law in Matthew 5:17. Rather, He stated in that passage that He had not come to do away with God’s spiritual law—the Ten Commandments and all the Old and New Testament statutes and judgments that define and magnify the Ten Commandments even more.

After all, we read that God’s spiritual law, as defined in the Ten Commandments, the statutes and the judgments, “stand[s] fast forever and ever” (Psalm 111:7–8), and that it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away “than for one tittle of the law to fail” (Luke 16:17). A tittle is the smallest stroke in a Hebrew letter.

Some quote a statement in Romans 10:4 to support the idea that Christ did away with God’s spiritual law. We read there, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Here the word for “end” in the Greek is “teleos” and means, “goal, aim, result.” James 5:11 states that we saw the “end [teleos in Greek] intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” In 1 Peter 1:9, we are told to “receiv[e] the end [teleos in Greek] of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”

Therefore, the law did not end with Christ, but rather it was the end result of the law to lead us to Christ. The law then helps us to become like Christ. And the living Christ in us helps us to become righteous and live in righteousness (Romans 8:3–4).

Others quote Romans 6:14, stating that we are no longer “under law but under grace,” saying this means we don’t have to obey the law anymore. However, the correct meaning of this passage is that when we violate the law, we are no longer under the curse of the law—the death penalty—as the blood of Christ, given to us by grace, has covered and forgiven our sins—has paid the death penalty that we earned. Paul explains in the very next verse (verse 15), that this does not mean that we can now continue to sin—that is, to break God’s law. Rather, we are now to be “slaves of righteousness” (verse 18), in keeping God’s law.

The Tithing Law—Still in Effect Today!

We find another interesting reference to a “law” in the seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews. As we will analyze this passage, we will clearly see that it does not address the Ten Commandments at all. Rather, it discusses tithing. Many who read this passage become confused, believing that God did away with His command to tithe, that is, to give to God ten percent of our income. But God had told His people in Malachi 3:8–10, “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this, Says the LORD of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

Jesus Christ confirmed that the tithing law was still in effect at the time of His first coming. While emphasizing that tithing is not an end in itself, He nevertheless endorsed its validity: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Matthew 23:23).

Some say that Christ did away with the law of tithing when He died. They support their claim by referring to the seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews. They misunderstand, however, what this passage tells us. Let’s read Hebrews 7:5 and understand what it says: “And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law.”

The law referred to here is the law of the Levites—that portion of the laws of God that regulates the collection of tithes through the Levites. Note how that portion of God’s laws is referred to in Nehemiah 12:44: “And at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites.” The Levites had been given the right, from God, to collect tithes. God had issued a specific law to grant them such responsibility.

Back in Hebrews 7, let’s continue in verses 11–12: “Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change in the law.”

The law that was changed had to do with the Levitical priesthood. It is referred to as “the law of a fleshly commandment” (Hebrews 7:16), as the Levites were human beings—flesh and blood. That portion of the entirety of God’s laws giving authority to the Levites to collect tithes was “annulled,” as we read in verse 18, “because of its weakness and unprofitableness.” The Levites were weak by reason of human nature. The law that gave them the right to collect tithes “made nothing perfect” (verse 19). But the “change of that law for the Levites” did not do away with the commandment to give tithes—it had only to do with who has the right today to collect tithes from God’s people.

In fact, the tithing law was in existence long before the law was given to the Levites to collect those tithes. Notice Hebrews 7:9: “Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.” We read about this incident in Genesis 14:20, where Abraham gave Melchizedek “a tithe of all.” Later, Jacob told God that he would accept God as His God and give Him a tithe if He were to bless him (Genesis 28:20–22).

God’s people, we see, paid a tithe of their income long before there were Levites to collect tithes. And today, it’s no longer the Levites who have the responsibility to collect God’s tithes. This right has now been given to “another priest” who arose “according to the order of Melchizedek”—Jesus Christ. He is the everlasting High Priest who collects the tithes today—and He does it through His spiritual body, the Church.

Notice Hebrews 7:28: “For the law [regulating the collection of tithes through the Levites] appoints as high priests men who have weaknesses, but the word of the oath, which came after the law [pertaining to the Levites], appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.”

Christ, who is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (verse 17), was none other than Melchizedek himself. Melchizedek is described as the “king of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remain[ing] a priest continually” (verses 2–3). It is said about Melchizedek that he “receives them [tithes], of whom it is witnessed that he lives” (verse 8).

We are still duty-bound to pay tithes; otherwise, we rob God and are under a curse. But it is no longer the Levites who are to collect the tithes. That part of the law was changed. It is now Christ—through His Church—who has the responsibility of collecting God’s tithes. The word “law” in Hebrews 7 does not talk about the abolishment of collecting the tithes—it only refers to the identity of the one who is charged today with collecting them.

We have seen so far that the key scriptures that have been quoted to support the idea that the Ten Commandments, as well as the statutes and judgments, are no longer in effect today, do not at all prove such a concept—in fact, they prove the opposite.

Did the Ten Commandments Disappear With the Old Covenant?

Still, the carnal mind—which is hostile toward the law of God—does not give up easily. Inspired by Satan who hates God and His law, humans have come up with another idea as to why they think that they don’t have to obey God. And this is essentially how that argument goes:

God’s Ten Commandments are no longer in force today, as they, as well as all the other Old Testament laws, are allegedly identical with the Old Covenant, and since God abolished the Old Covenant, He also abolished the Ten Commandments and all the other Old Testament laws. Christ, so the argument goes, replaced the Old Covenant (allegedly identical with all of the Old Testament laws) with a New Covenant, and this New Covenant is allegedly identical with a New Law. This “New Law” allegedly includes, for instance, nine of the original Ten Commandments, but it leaves out the fourth commandment (to keep the Sabbath holy), as well as the statutes regarding the annual Holy Days, tithing, or clean and unclean meat, just to name a few.

Surprisingly, many have fallen for this argument and have concluded that they do not have to keep the Sabbath or the annual Holy Days anymore, and that they don’t have to tithe nor refrain from unclean meats.

What about this argument? Is it valid? Or can it be proven to be wrong from the Bible? Is—as the advocates of this argument claim—the Old Covenant identical with the Ten Commandments? As we will see in the remainder of this booklet, the answer to this question is a resounding, NO!

What Is a Covenant?

Quite frankly, the idea that the Old Covenant is identical with the Ten Commandments is rather silly and only shows an absolute ignorance of what a covenant is. The word “covenant,” as used in the Old Testament, is a translation from the Hebrew word “berith.” The meaning of this term is “covenant, agreement or contract.”

The Bible mentions numerous covenants or contracts. Technically, it is incorrect to say that the Bible only speaks about the “Old” and the “New” Covenants.

Webster defines a “covenant” as a “usually formal, binding agreement between two or more persons, to do or not to do something; a document containing the terms of the agreement.”

Today, we still use this kind of language in legal matters to show what a covenant is. It is very common to begin a written lease agreement as follows, “We hereby covenant and agree…”

Rienecker, in Lexikon zur Bibel, writes, “The Bible knows quite a few Godly covenants…”

Once we understand that a covenant is merely a contract or an agreement, the fact that the Bible speaks about more than just one or two covenants should not surprise us. Neither should we be surprised by the fact that a covenant is not identical with the law—rather, a covenant or contract is based on law.

Let’s take an example. You might want to buy a car from me, and we might reduce our oral agreement to writing. The document might say, that you buy a used car from me for the amount of $3,000.00. The document might also say that California law applies to this transaction. Assume that you don’t have the money to pay for the car. Under those changed circumstances, we might declare the contract to be null and void. In other words, I don’t have to deliver the car to you and you don’t have to pay me money (that you don’t have, anyway). But, when we annul the contract and tear apart the written document, have we thereby invalidated the California law on which the contract was based? Of course not.

We can learn from this example a very important lesson: When a contract or a covenant, which is based on law becomes invalid, it does not automatically invalidate the law on which the contract is based. The abolishment of a covenant does not affect the validity of the law on which the covenant is based.

As we will see, the Bible confirms the basic truth that a covenant is not identical with the law. In fact, God entered into covenants with people because they had kept the law!

God’s Covenants With Man

Let us take a closer look at the many covenants, which God has made with man over the centuries. We will see that there were numerous covenants in effect before God ever made a covenant with the nation of Israel at the time of Moses.

God’s Covenant With Noah

One of the most famous covenants that God made with man is the covenant with Noah. While God destroyed the entire earth through a flood because of the wickedness of all flesh, He spared Noah, his wife, and his three sons and daughters-in-law, as well as certain land animals, by protecting them in an ark.

Notice how the covenant is described in Genesis 9:9–17: “‘And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you… Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth… (verse 15) and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ And God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have establishedbetween Me and all flesh that is on the earth.’”

God explained very clearly in the preceding verses what a covenant is. It is a contract or an agreement between two or more parties. In today’s language, we would say, God made a contract between Himself and Noah, which included benefits for third parties (i.e., Noah’s descendants and all the animals). The subject matter of this contract was the fact that all flesh would never again be destroyed through a worldwide flood. The length of time or duration of this contract was forever—never again would God bring a flood over this earth to destroy all flesh. To put it differently, as long as there would be flesh on this earth, God would not destroy it through a worldwide flood. In addition, there was also a sign of the covenant—the rainbow. Every time God would see a rainbow in the sky, it would remind Him that He promised to Noah—by and through a covenant with him—that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood.

Why was it that God even made a covenant with Noah? Did Noah’s lifestyle have any influence on God’s decision to make a covenant with him? Was it immaterial to God how Noah lived—what kind of a person he was?

Genesis 6:8–9 and 7:1 reveal: “…Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God… Then the LORD said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.’”

While the “wickedness of man was great in the earth, and… every intent of the thought of his heart was only evil continually,” (Genesis 6:5) Noah was “righteous.” We already know that righteousness is defined as the observance of all of God’s commandments (Psalm 119:172). God saved Noah and made a covenant with him because Noah was righteous—because he kept God’s law. And Noah stayed righteous, or obedient, even after God announced to him that He would make a covenant with him (Genesis 6:18, 22; 7:5, 16).

Recall that a covenant is not identical with the law, but that it is based on law. God made a covenant with Noah because he kept God’s laws. However, the covenant itself that God made with Noah does not mention any laws. This fact alone proves that God’s covenant with Noah was not identical with God’s laws.

Notice an interesting passage in Isaiah 24:5–6: “The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left.”

The prophet Isaiah tells us that the inhabitants of the earth have transgressed the laws—that is, they have sinned—and that they have broken the everlasting covenant. Isaiah is not stuttering here or repeating himself. To break the laws and to break the everlasting covenant are two different things. But what everlasting covenant did Isaiah have in mind? The only covenant mentioned in Scripture that is between God and all the inhabitants of the earth is God’s covenant with Noah. God made this covenant with man after He had brought on the flood as punishment for man’s sins.

Since man would continue sinning, God announces in Isaiah 24 that He would bring a curse of FIRE over the earth. We see, then, that God keeps His covenant with Noah—He will not destroy all flesh again through a worldwide flood. But sin has its price, and God will bring FIRE over this earth, at the time of Christ’s return, to devour those who do not live as Noah had lived (2 Thessalonians 1:6–8).

God made a covenant with Noah because Noah had obeyed God. God’s covenant with Noah did not establish or bring into existence any laws, but it was made, of course, on the basis of existing law.

Clean and Unclean Animals

Let’s also note, in passing, that the laws of clean and unclean meat were already in existence at the time of Noah—they did not come into existence at the time of Moses. Noah was specifically told by God to take with him into the ark “seven each of every clean animal, a male and a female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and a female” (Genesis 7:2. Compare also verse 8). Noah offered a burnt offering to God “of every clean animal and of every clean bird” (Genesis 8:20).

The covenant that God made later with Israel had no effect on the laws of clean and unclean animals—they were already in force long before that covenant was made. And nowhere does God teach us that we are now permitted to eat unclean animals. Notice the curse that God pronounces over those who, at the time of Christ’s return, eat swine’s flesh (Isaiah 66:17; 65:3–4).

God’s Covenants With Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

In due course, God chose to make another covenant with man—this time with Abram.

God’s First Covenant With Abram

We are introduced to that covenant in Genesis 15:18, where we read, “On the same day the LORD MADE a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.’”

Notice that God actually MADE that covenant—or contract—with Abram on that very same day when He said those words. The subject matter of that covenant was the conveyance of land to Abram’s descendants.

God’s Second Covenant With Abram

As time went on, God would make an ADDITIONAL covenant with Abram. We read about this next contract in the 17th chapter of the book of Genesis: “(verse 1) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I WILL MAKE My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly… (verse 4) As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. (verse 5) No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. (verse 6) I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. (verse 7) And I WILL ESTABLISH My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.”

This is a new covenant with Abram. It is not the same covenant that God had made with Abram earlier. Though the subject matter of this new covenant includes the conveyance of the land of Canaan to Abram’s descendants (verse 8), it goes beyond that—it involves the promise that many nations and kings would descend from Abraham, and it includes the promise that the Eternal would be God for Abraham and his descendants.

We are also told in Romans 4:13 that God’s covenant was not limited to the land of Canaan; rather, God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants would ultimately include the whole earth.

God’s Third Covenant With Abram, Now Called Abraham

Returning to Genesis 17, we find that God made with Abraham a third covenant—the covenant of circumcision. Beginning in verse 10, “This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised.” We see here that circumcision was a separate covenant. The deacon, Stephen, would later explain to the Jewish council that God gave Abraham “the covenant of circumcision” (Acts 7:8). It is true that circumcision is also referred to as a sign of the covenant (Genesis 17:11) that God was about to make with Abraham (as described in Genesis 17:1–7). This reminds us of the rainbow, which was a sign of the covenant between God and Noah. Nevertheless, circumcision was also a separate covenant between God and Abraham.

God’s Fourth Covenant With Abraham

Realize that, in addition to physical promises of national greatness and kingship, God’s covenant relationship with Abraham also included spiritual promises. Notice Acts 3:25–26, “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquity” (Luke 1:72–75).

It is noteworthy that these spiritual promises that God gave to Abraham in a covenant are not mentioned in the 17th chapter of Genesis. They are mentioned, however, in Genesis 22:16–18 and in Genesis 26:4. From this, it is apparent that God made even an additional covenant with Abraham, pertaining to spiritual matters, subsequent to His earlier covenants that dealt with physical matters.

It was promised to Abraham that his Seed—Jesus Christ—would give Abraham and his descendants spiritual blessings. In the book of Galatians, Paul made it clear that all the promises to Abraham—physical and spiritual—were also made to Jesus Christ, as the Seed or Descendant of Abraham, and to us, if we are Christ’s and therefore “Abraham’s seed”:

“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘and to your Seed,’ who is Christ… And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:16, 29).

God’s Covenants With Isaac and Jacob

In Genesis 17:21 God promised Abraham that He would make a covenant with Abraham’s son, Isaac: “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” And so He did, and subsequently, God made another covenant with Jacob whose name was later changed to Israel.

It is important to recognize that God made these covenants with Isaac and with Israel on an individual basis, just as He had entered into different covenants or agreements with Abraham. This again shows what a covenant is—simply a contract or an agreement, based on law, but not identical with the law.

Notice the following scripture that tells us about the covenants that God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: “I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land” (Leviticus 26:42).

Although the subject matter of these three covenants was identical, God still made individual covenants with Abraham, his son, and his grandson, as the parties were different.

Why God Made Covenants With Abraham

Why was it that God made a covenant with Abram or Abraham in the first place? We saw that God made a covenant with Noah because Noah was righteous. Can the same be said about Abram?

We read the following testimony about Abram, before God made a covenant with him: “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Afterwards, God made a covenant with him (Genesis 15:18).

Abram’s faith was one of obedience (Romans 1:5; 16:26). We read that “by faith Abraham obeyed” (Hebrews 11:8). Abraham’s righteousness was by faith, which motivated him to keep God’s commandments and not to sin. We are told in Nehemiah 9:7–8: “You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram, And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name Abraham; You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him to Give the land of the Canaanites… to his descendants. You have performed Your words, For You are righteous.”

We see that God first found Abraham’s heart faithful, then, He made a covenant with him. After God had already made His covenants with him, Abraham stayed loyal and faithful, as Noah had done. Abraham did not refuse to obey God in the most difficult of circumstances, and because of his ongoing obedience, God told him, in Genesis 22:18: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” We also read in Genesis 26:3–5, that God made His promises, by covenants, to Abraham, “because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (verse 5).

We see, then, that God made covenants with Abraham because he had lived an obedient life. God knew that Abraham would teach his descendants God’s law and that, as a consequence, Isaac and—to an extent, Jacob—would also live righteously. He said in Genesis 18:19: “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” But it was because of Abraham’s faith and righteousness that God entered into a covenant relationship with Abraham and his descendants. God gave Abraham an unconditional promise that He would make covenants with Isaac and Jacob, and later with the entire nation of Israel, to give that nation the Promised Land. The nation of Israel was not to inherit any spiritual blessings, but they were to possess the physical land of Canaan, and they would be allowed to dwell there—but only as long as they stayed obedient.

Abraham is actually called the friend of God in numerous places (James 2:23; 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8). This means that Abraham agreed with God as to how to live, because two cannot walk together unless they are agreed (Amos 3:3). Abraham lived in obedience to God’s laws, and that is why God called him His friend and entered into agreements with him.

We understand, then, that the covenants God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not identical with God’s laws, but they were made because Abraham had kept God’s laws.

God’s Covenants With the Nation of Israel, Under Moses

As time went on, the nation of Israel found itself enslaved by the Egyptians. God sent a deliverer, Moses, who was used to bring Israel out of slavery and to lead them to Mount Zion. At that time, God began to enter into a covenant relationship with the people. As we will see, God made several covenants or agreements with the nation of Israel—not just one. And there was a particular reason why God made such covenants with the people—covenants that included God’s promise to bring the nation into the Promised Land.

Moses tells the people the reason in Deuteronomy 9:5: “It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Later, God had Jeremiah explain this same reason to the nation of Judah. We read in Jeremiah 11:3–5, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God, that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.’”

God made a covenant with the nation of Israel at the time when He brought them out of slavery to fulfill His unconditional promise that He had made, through a covenant or agreement, to Abraham, later to Isaac, and then to Jacob. But, as we will see, God expected of the nation to obey Him—at least in a general way. Since God never offered them the gift of the Holy Spirit, He knew that they could not obey Him in the same way we can today. Still, God expected obedience to an extent. In fact, when they refused to do so, He expelled them from the land. Let’s note the specific circumstances and conditions under which this agreement between God and the nation of Israel was entered.

God’s First Covenant With the Nation of Israel

We read in Exodus 19 that God instructed Moses to make the people an offer of a covenant or an agreement. We also read that the people accepted the offer; thus an agreement was reached. Exodus 19:5–6 says, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Note the people’s response to God’s offer in Exodus 19:8: “Then all the people answered together and said, All that the LORD has spoken we will do. So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.”

God and the people had agreed, in principle, on the terms of the covenant. God then explained the foundation of this covenant—what the covenant would be based on—by speaking the Ten Commandments directly to the people and by giving Moses additional statutes and judgments to be communicated to the people (Exodus 20:1–Exodus 23:33). These were the “words of the LORD” that Moses wrote down in the Book of the Covenant.

And, as is the case with many contracts today, something else was necessary to make the covenant binding and “enforceable.” Today, we may need notarization of a written agreement. At the time of Moses, the covenant had to be sealed with blood of animals, as noted in Exodus 24:3–8: “So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered [again, a second time] with one voice and said, All the words which the LORD has said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD… Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of the oxen to the LORD… Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said [for the third time], All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with youaccording to all these words.”

So we see that the blood of the covenant “sealed” the contract—now it was confirmed or legally binding. Galatians 3:15 explains that no subsequent unilateral changes can be made, even to a contract between humans, once it is sealed and delivered: “Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.”

The subject matter of God’s covenant with the nation of Israel at that time was simply this: If Israel were obedient to the words of God, which formed the basis of the covenant, then they would become a kingdom of priests. Note in verse 8 that God made the covenant with the nation “according to all these words.” The New International Version and the Revised Standard Version translate, “…the covenant that [or, which] the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Lamsa and the Authorized Version say, “…the covenant which the LORD has [or, hath] made with you concerning all these words.” Moffat reads, “This is the blood of the compact which the Eternal has made with you, on all these terms.” The Revised English Bible states, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you on the terms of this book.”

A Covenant Is Based On Law

All of these translations show clearly that the covenant, a contract or agreement, was made based on God’s words. God’s law was the basis of, or foundation for the covenant. The covenant did not bring God’s law into existence, nor was it identical with God’s law—rather, the contract or covenant was made on the basis of certain terms, in accordance with God’s law. The phrases “according to” or “in accordance with” can also be translated as “based on” or “based upon” or “pursuant to” or “founded upon” or even, “because of.” The German Luther Bible translates Exodus 24:8, “This is the blood of the covenant that God made with you because of all of these words.” The German Menge Bible translates it in a similar fashion: “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD made with you because of all of these commandments.” The German Elberfelder Bibel translates it this way: “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD made with you on all of these words.”

So, we understand that God made the covenant with the nation of Israel BASED ON God’s law, including the Ten Commandments. This covenant did not bring the Ten Commandments into existence. This covenant was not identical with the Ten Commandments, nor were the Ten Commandments the only law on which the covenant was based. It was also founded on additional judgments that had been announced to the people.

God’s Second Covenant With the Nation of Israel

Shortly after they had made this agreement with God, the people sinned. When Moses delayed his return from the mountain, they decided that they needed another visible “leader”—and so they built a golden calf to lead them back to Egypt (Exodus 32:1–6). Moses, upon his return, in anger, broke the two tablets of stone on which were written the Ten Commandments (Exodus 32:19). God had Moses cut out two new tablets of stone on which God would again write the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:1).

Notice what else God said He would do. “Then the LORD said: ‘I AM MAKING a covenant with you’” (Exodus 34:10, NIV). This is indeed the proper translation of the tense—God is referring to a new contract that He was about to enter into with the people. The Living Bible says it in a similar fashion: “This is the contract that I AM GOING TO MAKE with you.” The New American Bible states, “‘Here then,’ said the LORD, ‘is the covenant I WILL MAKE.’”

After Israel sinned against God and broke the first agreement, God was now entering into a second contract with them. There is something else we can learn about this second contract that God was about to make with the people. We read God’s words in Exodus 34:27–28: “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’ So He was there with the LORD [another] forty days and forty nights [that is, a second time, after he had broken the tablets]; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He [that is, God] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”

Covenant Not Identical With The Ten Commandments

Some say that this last passage proves that the Ten Commandments and the covenant were identical, as it says that the Ten Commandments were the words of the covenant. But we just read in the previous verse that God’s covenant was made “according to the tenor” of those words—that is, it was BASED on these words. The Ten Commandments existed already before this covenant was made—so they cannot be identical with the covenant. They are called here the “words of the covenant,” because they were the heart and core—the basis—of the covenant.

Some say that Deuteronomy 4:13 proves that the Ten Commandments and God’s covenant with Israel were identical. But does it? Let’s read it: “So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.”

But as is the case with the scripture in Exodus 34:28, this passage in Deuteronomy 4:13 only shows that the Ten Commandments were the heart and core, or the basis, of God’s covenant with Israel. Note how the Revised English Bible translates this verse: “He announced to you the terms of his covenant, bidding you observe the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets.”

In addition, note the very next verse, “And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess” (Deuteronomy 4:14). These additional statutes and judgments were not written on the tablets of stone, but they were written by Moses, in a book, and they, too, were part of the terms of the covenant and had to be obeyed.

Covenants and Laws Are Not Identical!

We read earlier in Isaiah 24:5–6 that God made a distinction between His Law and His covenant with Noah. Through His prophet, He pointed out that the inhabitants of the earth were violating His laws and that they were breaking His covenant. The following additional Scriptures will prove beyond any doubt that the Bible teaches that a covenant and the law on which the covenant is based are different and distinct.

For instance, we are told in Joshua 7:11, “Israel has sinned [remember that sin is the transgression of the LAW], and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them.”

Also in 2 Kings 18:11–12, in the Revised English Bible, “The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them… in the cities of Media, because they did not obey the LORD their God but violated His covenant and every commandment that Moses the servant of the LORD had given them; they would not listen and they would not obey.”

We are also informed in Hosea 8:1, in the New American Bible, “… they have violated my covenant, and sinned against my law.”

Further confirmation of the truth that the law and the covenants are distinct from each other can be found in Romans 9:4: “…who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises.”

So we can see that God’s law and God’s covenants are separate and distinct. If God does away with a covenant, that does not mean that He thereby does away with the law on which the covenant was based.

Consequences for Breach of a Covenant

In any given contract, there is a penalty for breach of contract. This is just as true today, as it was at the time of ancient Israel. The legal penalty might be monetary compensatory damages, it might be specific performance of the commitment that had been agreed to, and it might be punitive damages. The contract might even agree in advance to specific damages in case of a breach. We read that God held the nation of Israel accountable for breach of their covenant with Him. Moses prophesied in Leviticus 26:25 that this would happen: “And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant.” Or, as the Moffat Bible reads, “I will let loose the sword of war on you, in punishment for your breach of compact.”

And so we see that God made two covenants with the nation of Israel, under Moses. He made a second one, after they had breached the first one. But, it may come as another surprise that God subsequently made additional covenants with the people of Israel, under Moses.

God’s Third Covenant With the Nation of Israel

Just prior to crossing over the River Jordan to enter the Promised Land, Moses addressed the younger generation. He said in Deuteronomy 29:1, “These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.”

This is an additional covenant or contract. Notice with whom it is being made, verses 14–15: “I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today.” This covenant, then, included future generations as well.

As was the case with the previous covenants that God made with the nation of Israel, this third covenant was also made because of the unconditional promises that God had given to Abraham. We read in verse 13 of Deuteronomy 29 that God is making this covenant with the new generation, so “that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you, just as He has spoken to you, and just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

If one wants to argue that the Old Covenant is identical with the Ten Commandments, and that the Ten Commandments vanished when the Old Covenant was abolished, which specific covenant is one talking about? Is it the covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai before Israel sinned or after Israel sinned? Or is it the covenant that God made with the nation in Moab? Further, this third covenant was made on the basis of additional laws that had been written in the Book of the Law as time had gone on—laws that had not been the basis for the covenant(s) that God made with Israel at Mount Sinai a generation earlier. As we mentioned before, these additional laws had been added because of sin, and included sacrificial rules, rituals, and other ceremonial washings, as well as curses and penalties.

God’s Fourth Covenant With the Nation of Israel—The Sabbaths Covenant

But perhaps even more surprising, God made yet another covenant with the entire nation of Israel at Sinai, in addition to the covenants that He had made earlier. We are introduced to that separate covenant or agreement in the 31st chapter of the book of Exodus. The subject matter of this covenant was the Sabbath, but this covenant did not bring the Sabbath into existence. This covenant was made long after the Ten Commandments had been announced, and, as we saw earlier, the Sabbath commandment was already in existence since the time of the creation of man. So, we see again that a covenant is not identical with the law, although it is based on law.

We read in Exodus 31:16, “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.”

In addition, the Sabbath law was now designated as a sign between God and Israel. Verses 13 and 17 tell us, “Surely My Sabbaths (this word is in the plural and refers to both weekly and annual Sabbaths or Holy Days) you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you… It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever…”

By observing and being mindful of this sign, Israel would understand that it is God who sanctifies them, and Israel as a nation would become a sign to the other nations of this world, as the keeping of God’s Sabbaths does single one out.

This separate Sabbath covenant between God and His people was never abolished—neither were the laws of God commanding us to keep His weekly and annual Sabbaths holy. And, since Christians are to be spiritual Jews (Romans 2:28–29; Galatians 6:16; Revelation 2:9; 3:9), they have a two-fold obligation to keep God’s Sabbaths—first, because God commands us to do so; and second, because they are under a specific covenant or agreement that God made with both physical and spiritual Israel, for all generations.

God’s Covenant With Aaron And His Descendants

At the time of Moses, God chose to make still another covenant with a part of the nation of Israel—Aaron, of the house of Levi, and his descendants. This additional covenant needs to be examined very closely, as its importance and significance has confused a lot of people.

Numbers 18:19 calls this covenant between God and Aaron and his descendants “a covenant of salt.” The subject matter of this covenant was the Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial system, and especially the right of Aaron and his descendants to eat of the sacrifices. God says, “All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever.”

Compare also Leviticus 24:5, 8–9: “And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it…Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings of the LORD made by fire, by a perpetual statute.”

These offerings had to be made with salt to signify, among other things, the permanent validity or lasting effect of God’s covenant with the priesthood. Leviticus 2:13 tells us that “…every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.”

In time, the covenant with Aaron was transferred to, or made with, Aaron’s grandson Phinehas and his descendants. When God’s laws were flagrantly violated before all Israel, with at least the tacit approval of the people, Phinehas arose and turned away the wrath of God who was ready to consume the nation.

We are told in Numbers 25:11–13, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. Therefore say, Behold I give to him My covenant of peace; and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.”

God later elaborated by saying that Phinehas’ conduct “was accounted to him for righteousness to all generations forever” (Psalm 106:31). We read earlier that Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham DID something. He proved his living faith by his obedience. The same is true for Phinehas—he DID something that was righteous in the eyes of God—and as a consequence, Phinehas became the recipient of the blessings of the Levitical priesthood that had been bestowed on Aaron and his descendants through a covenant with God.

We find another reference to this covenant in Nehemiah 13:29–30 where Nehemiah was forced to reform the priesthood and cleanse it from pagan influences. We read, “Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service.”

God utters a very strict and stern warning in the prophetic book of Malachi, addressing specifically the failure of the Levites—both the physical descendants and the spiritual ministers of God—to stand strong for God’s law in the sight of adversity and compromise (Malachi 2:4–9). Beginning in verse 4, “Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue, Says the LORD of hosts. My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; so he feared Me And was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, Says the LORD of hosts. Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people, Because you have not kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law.”

This prophecy for our day tells us, in verse 4, that God’s covenant with Levi will continue. This means that it is still in force and in effect today. We find this confirmed in the 33rd chapter of the book of Jeremiah where there is an unconditional promise for the perpetual validity of God’s covenant with Levi (Jeremiah 33:18–22): “…nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually… Thus says the LORD: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be broken … with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply… the Levites who minister to Me.”

These passages clearly tell us that God’s covenant with Levi was to continue—that it is therefore still in force and effect today—and that it will remain so in the future. But how can this be, given the fact that sacrifices are no longer required since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that the Jews have ceased bringing sacrifices since the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.?

These passages in Malachi, and especially in Jeremiah, teach us that as long as and whenever biblical sacrifices are being brought to God in Jerusalem, they will be brought through the descendants of Aaron and Phinehas. And God gave those descendants the right to eat from those sacrifices. We also know that shortly before the return of Jesus Christ, the Jews will again start to bring sacrifices in Jerusalem, apparently in a newly-rebuilt temple. Daniel 12:11 refers to a future time when sacrifices that had commenced will be taken away again and the abomination of desolation will be set up at the holy place (Matthew 24:15). The Jews have recorded the genealogies of the Levites, so they know exactly who the priests are who will bring sacrifices shortly before the coming of the Messiah. We also know that at the beginning of the Millennium sacrifices will be brought again in Jerusalem. The 44th chapter of the prophetic book of Ezekiel explains this in great detail. Verses 15 and 29–30 tell us that “the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok,” will bring and eat from the sacrifices.

We must note that those Millennial sacrifices will not be brought for the purpose of forgiveness of sin. Christ’s blood did this once and for all. But God introduced the sacrificial system to ancient Israel because Israel had sinned. The sacrifices served as a reminder of their sins. Apparently, for the same reason, there will be sacrifices brought in the Millennium so that carnal, unconverted people can begin to appreciate the awesome purpose and meaning of Christ’s sacrifice and how God looks at sin. But, as we already saw, the necessity of bringing these sacrifices ceased for Christians with the death and resurrection of Christ. The millennial rule of Jesus Christ will be administered by spirit beings—those who are part of the first resurrection. Satan and his demonic followers will no longer be able to influence mankind. World government will emanate from Jerusalem. In addition, there will be an ongoing physical priesthood serving at that time. The physical sacrifices extant at that future time, which will be brought in Jerusalem at the temple, will be part of the new administration that God’s Kingdom will usher in.

The covenant between God and Levi, then, does continue to exist, that is, the Levitical priests will continue to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem for carnal, unconverted people, both prior to and subsequent to the return of Christ. But as we read, Jesus Christ became the High Priest for converted people. Unless one accepts the sacrifice of Christ, one has no part of that priesthood. However, once we do accept Christ’s sacrifice, our High Priest will then live in us, intervene for us, and lead us to perfection. The Levitical priesthood was not given the function or responsibility to lead carnal people to spiritual perfection. Rather, they presided over the administration of the sacrificial system as a reminder of sin—not for the purpose of forgiving sin.

The sacrificial system and the rules regarding the Levitical priesthood were added after God had made His covenant with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai or Horeb, because of Israel’s sin. When these regulations were added, they became part of an additional covenant that God made with the nation. The sacrificial system is, of course, not identical with the covenant, as laws—any laws—are different and distinct from covenants. But God made a covenant that now incorporated, or was based on, the additional sacrificial system administered by the Levitical priesthood.

God’s Covenant With David

There is another covenant that God made in Old Testament times, that has tremendous importance for us today and all mankind. That is the covenant that God made with king David of Israel. We read David’s last words as recorded in 2 Samuel 23:3–5: “The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, Like the tender grass springing out of the earth, By clear shining after rain.’ Although my house is not so with God, Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things and secure.”

Psalm 89:3–4 and 34–37 summarizes for us the subject matter of that covenant between God and David. We read that God says, “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations… My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me; It shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky.”

It might have appeared to the Israelites at times that God had broken His covenant with David when He punished them for their transgressions. The truth is that God never abolished His contract with David. He promised David, in a covenant with him, that there would always be a descendant of his sitting on the throne of David, until the very time of Christ’s return, and beyond. We read in 1 Kings 11:11–13 how God remembered His covenant with David, even though David’s son, Solomon, had terribly sinned against God: “Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, ‘Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant… However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.’”

God saw to it that one of David’s descendants would always sit on the throne of David. King Abijah of Judah reminded Jeroboam, the servant of Solomon, of this very fact, when he said “Should you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?” (2 Chronicles 13:5).

Later, we are told that God did not wipe out the house of David, even though they had begun to rebel against Him. 2 Chronicles 21:7 reads, “Yet the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.”

Earlier we discussed the 33rd chapter of the book of Jeremiah where God had made a covenant with the house of Levi, guaranteeing that offerings to the LORD would always be brought by the Levitical priesthood. This chapter also makes reference to God’s covenant with the house of David. Jeremiah 33:17 says, “For thus says the LORD: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel…’” Jeremiah continues in verses 20 and 21, “Thus says the LORD: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne…’” Then in verses 25 and 26, “Thus says the LORD: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’”

What God is telling us here is simply this: As long as the throne of David exists on earth, one of David’s descendants would sit on that throne. David’s throne is in fact on this earth today. Christ will return to an existing throne, and He, as a descendant of David, will then sit on it and rule from it. The angel Gabriel told Mary, the mother of Jesus, as recorded in Luke 1:31–33, “‘And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus… and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.’”

Christ will rule from Jerusalem, sitting on the throne of David. When He returns, He will be given that very throne. In the meantime, according to God’s promise, the physical line of David would continue sitting on it, until Christ’s return. Even before Christ’s first coming, as long as the kingdom of Judah existed, a descendant of the house of David sat on the throne of David, ruling over the house of Judah. When king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed the kingdom of Judah (the house of Israel had been destroyed before by the Assyrians), the prophet Jeremiah transferred the throne of David from Jerusalem to Ireland, in that he accompanied one of the daughters of king Zedekia of Judah to Ireland, where she married a descendant of David who lived there. The couple then ruled from the throne of David over Ireland. Later, the throne was transferred to Scotland, and in the process of time, it was again transferred to England where it still is today. Christ will be returning to an existing throne, just as God prophesied that He would. This throne will then be transferred to Jerusalem and Christ will rule from there.

Why did God decide to make a covenant with David? God explains in 1 Kings 11:34, “‘However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his [Solomon’s] hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David,whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes.’”

God chose David because David was a righteous man who obeyed God to the best of his ability. God referred to David as “a man after My own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22). And although David was not sinless—since there is no human being who does not sin (1 Kings 8:46; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8, 10 )—yet, overall he did please and obey God. Notice God’s additional testimony about His servant David, in 1 Kings 15:4–5, “Nevertheless for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” Psalm 51 shows that David deeply repented of this terrible sin, and he turned back to obedience to God.

So, we see again in regard to the covenant that God made with David, what we have seen over and over again—that a covenant is not identical with the law, but it is based on law. This law which was already in existence, David kept. It is because David kept God’s law that God made a covenant with him.

Additional Old Testament Covenants

The Bible, in fact, mentions many additional covenants that were made in Old Testament times. They were all based on God’s law—none of the covenants established laws, nor were they identical with God’s law. In many cases, these covenants were made because the people had transgressed God’s laws. They came to repentance and promised God that from then on they would be loyal to Him and keep His commandments. They promised God through a covenant with Him that they would from now on keep His laws. We read, for instance, about covenants made with God under Joshua (Joshua 24:19–25); under king Asa of Judah (2 Chronicles 15:8–15); under the priest Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 23:16; 2 Kings 11:17); under king Hezekiah of Judah (2 Chronicles 29:6–10); under king Josiah of Judah (2 Chronicles 34:29–32); and under Ezra the priest (Ezra 10:3). All of these covenants were contractual promises by the people to keep God’s laws that had been broken by them.

How clear it is, then, that a covenant is not identical with the law, but that it is based on law. Therefore, the abolishment of a covenant has absolutely no influence or effect on the law on which the covenant was based.

The New Covenant

Does all of this understanding change when we begin to analyze the New Covenant? Is it no longer true that the New Covenant is an agreement or a contract made between two or more parties, that is based on law?

Christ—The New Covenant?

Is it correct to say that Jesus Christ is the New Covenant, and that as long as Jesus lives in our hearts, we will automatically do what is right, so that we don’t even need any written laws or rules whatsoever? Some who support this last claim turn to Old Testament scriptures in the book of Isaiah that prophesy the coming of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 42:6 reads, “I, the LORD [God the Father], have called You [Jesus Christ] in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people.” They also refer to Isaiah 49:8, which says, “Thus says the LORD: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard You, And in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You As a covenant to the people, To restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages…’” But, since a covenant is a contract or an agreement between two or more parties, how can Christ, a being, be identical with a covenant? The obvious answer is, of course, He is not! Let’s understand, then, the meaning of what we just read in the book of Isaiah. To help clarify this, let’s read about the coming of Jesus Christ in Malachi 3:1, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts” (Authorized Version). In this passage, Jesus Christ is referred to as “the messenger of the covenant,” not as the covenant itself. He is the one who brings the New Covenant. How, then, do we understand Isaiah 42:6, and Isaiah 49:8? Let’s take a look at how some other translations render this passage. The Zürcher Bibel translates both scriptures this way, “I have given You as the messenger of the covenant for the people.” The Living Bible interprets the passages, “I have given you to my people as the personal confirmation of my covenant with them.” The real meaning is that God gave Christ, His only-begotten Son, to establish a New Covenant with the people. The Father gave His Son “FOR a covenant,” as the Lamsa translations brings it—in other words, to establish a New Covenant with man. Notice, too, that Paul identifies Christ in Hebrews 12:24 as “the Mediator of the new covenant.” Christ, then, is not identical with the New Covenant, nor is the law—any law—identical with the New Covenant. But as we will see, both Jesus Christ and God’s law have a major role in relationship with the New Covenant between God and man.

The New Covenant In “Old Testament” Scriptures

The New Covenant is not an isolated contract between God and man—without any connection with previous contracts that God had made. Rather, the Bible makes it very clear that God made or offered a New Covenant, which ties in specifically and directly with “Old Testament” covenants that He had previously made.

The New Covenant and Noah

In Isaiah 54:9–10, God compares the New Covenant with the covenant He made with Noah. We read, “‘For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’ Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.”

As we will see much more clearly in a short while, God is speaking here about the New Covenant, calling it His covenant of peace, but comparing it at the same time with the covenant that He had made with Noah.

The New Covenant and David

Let’s notice God’s prophetic words in Isaiah 55:3, “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—The sure mercies of David.”

Here, God refers to the New Covenant as an everlasting covenant. He places this covenant in relationship with His covenant that He had made with David. We will see in a moment why there is such a relationship, involving and including rulership over Israel.

More Old Testament Scriptures About the “New Covenant”

Isaiah 59:21 gives us further understanding regarding the New Covenant: “‘As for Me,’ says the LORD, ‘this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,’ says the LORD, ‘from this time and forevermore.’”

New Covenant Includes Spiritual Blessings

The New Covenant includes the fact that God’s Holy Spirit and God’s Holy Word will not depart anymore from the people with whom the New Covenant will be made, and this will even include the descendants of those people.

Now notice something remarkable and shocking in the book of Jeremiah. Many teach today that while the “Old Covenant“ was made with ancient Israel, the “New Covenant” will be made, or has been made, with the Gentiles. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s read Jeremiah 31:31–34, and note with whom the New Covenant is to be made:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

This is a critical passage that explains to us the nature of the New Covenant, and why there even had to be such a New Covenant. First, we read that the New Covenant is to be made with the houses of Israel and Judah—it does not say that it is to be made with Gentiles! Gentiles can become parties to this New Covenant, but only if they become spiritual Israelites or Jews, as we saw earlier when we discussed God’s Sabbaths covenant with the nation of Israel. Secondly, we read that ancient Israel and Judah broke God’s covenant, but that they will keep the New Covenant, because God’s Law will be in their hearts and minds. Rather than having God’s Law on tablets of stone, it will be within them—it will have become a part of them. But notice—it is the same law, not different sets of rules.

The problem with the covenants that God had made with ancient Israel at Mount Sinai or in Moab was not the law—rather, the problem was that God’s law was not in the hearts and minds of the people, so they broke the covenants by breaking God’s law on which the covenants were based.

Further, Jeremiah tells us that people who are parties to the New Covenant have obtained, and can obtain, forgiveness of sin—something the previous covenants did not offer—and they can have spiritual understanding of God through the Holy Spirit given to them—again, something that was not offered to such an extent in previous covenants.

Notice this additional prophecy regarding the New Covenant in Jeremiah 32:38–40: “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.”

By the fear of God, one departs from evil (Proverbs 16:6). God’s Spirit will be living in those people, so that they will not practice the way of disobedience any longer.

New Covenant Includes Physical Blessings

Although the New Covenant is mostly concerned with spiritual blessings, it would be false to assume that it does not include physical blessings as well. Notice Ezekiel 34:25–28, 30: “I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield their increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. And they shall no longer be a prey of the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid… Thus they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the LORD GOD.”

The New Covenant Is a Marriage Agreement

Let’s read the parallel passage in Hosea 2:16, 18–20, and notice some interesting additional information. Notice, too, in Hosea 1:10 that God speaks to the children of Israel. “And it shall be, in that day, Says the LORD, That you will call Me My Husband…In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely. I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD.”

We are introduced here to the concept that this New Covenant, which includes physical blessings of peace and prosperity, is compared with betrothal and marriage. We will discuss the concept of betrothal more fully a little bit later—it can roughly be compared with a binding agreement of engagement that can only be annulled through a divorce. God compared His covenant with ancient Israel at Mount Sinai with a marriage agreement (compare Ezekiel 16:8; Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 31:32)—but this marriage ended in divorce, as Israel broke the agreement and sinned against God (Isaiah 50:1; Jeremiah 3:8). Now, we are told that God, when making a New Covenant, will enter again into a marriage agreement with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. First, it will start with a betrothal. This is very significant, as we will see in a moment.

The New Covenant in the “New Testament” Scriptures

On the very night when He would be betrayed, Jesus Christ introduced the New Covenant to His disciples. We read in Matthew 26:27–28, “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’”

The New Covenant makes it possible, then, to have sins forgiven—something, as we will recall, that was not possible under the previous covenants that God had made with ancient Israel. Notice, too, in Hebrews 13:20, “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete…”

Through Christ’s shed blood of the New Covenant, the resurrection from the dead to eternal life has become possible. We are being sanctified or set aside for a holy purpose through the blood of Christ, which grants us forgiveness of our sins. Hebrews 10:29 explains, “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”

We obtain forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice. This makes it possible to receive God’s Holy Spirit—God’s power enabling us to overcome sin and to keep God’s law which has been written in our hearts (Hebrews 10:16–17, quoting Jeremiah 31:33–34). And since Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins, animal sacrifices are no longer necessary (Hebrews 10:18).

Christ came to enter into a new covenant relationship with those who are called by God, by forgiving their sins that had been previously committed. Hebrews 9:15 explains, “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

As we read earlier, it was the people who broke the first covenants—the fault was with the people—not with the Old Testament covenants. Paul says so, explicitly, in Hebrews 8:7–8, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says, ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.’”

The people broke the covenants—the fault was with them. And why did they break the covenants? Because God’s law was not in their hearts (Hebrews 8:10). But, God promises that it will be different in regard to the New Covenant. That is why Hebrews 8:6 says that Christ is “the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (compare also Hebrews 7:22).

What Are Those Better Promises?

First of all, before the New Covenant came, there was no forgiveness of sins—animal sacrifices do not forgive sins (Hebrews 10:4, 11). Also, there was no promise for receiving the Holy Spirit, which alone gives us the strength and power to overcome and conquer sin, and to obey and keep God’s law. The Israelites had the law written on tablets of stone (2 Corinthians 3:2–3). These tablets of stone never became part of their being—they never entered their hearts. As the tablets were of stone, so were their hearts. That is the reason why God, in a New Covenant, replaces our stony hearts with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19).

The ministry under the previous covenants led to condemnation, since people sinned and could not obtain forgiveness (2 Corinthians 3:9). On the other hand, the ministry under the New Covenant leads to righteousness, since the promises of the New Covenant include forgiveness of sins and the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit to live righteously.

But the promises of the New Covenant include more than that. Notice 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Through the Spirit of God, we are to be born into the Family of God. We are to become a glorified God being. THAT was never a promise given to ancient Israel at the time of Mount Sinai. In addition, we will enter into the covenant relationship between God and David, by ruling with Christ for one thousand years here on earth (as was promised to Abraham and his descendants) (Revelation 20:4; 5:10), and after that, for all eternity (Revelation 22:5).

Since the time that God made a New Covenant with Israel, the first covenants that He made with them are becoming obsolete and are growing old, ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13). But notice—it does not say that the law of God was growing old, ready to vanish away—in fact, God had just explained in Hebrews 8:12 that He will remember their LAWLESS deeds no more. God forgives the transgressions and sins previously committed, and He puts His laws in the minds and hearts of the people so that they do not continue with their practice of transgressing God’s laws and committing lawless deeds. The laws of God are still in effect—they have not become obsolete.

In What Way Is the New Covenant Established on Better Promises?

Returning to Hebrews 8:6, recall that the New Covenant is “established” on better promises. The New Revised Standard Version says here, “enacted through better promises.” The New Jerusalem Bible states, “founded on better promises.” The Greek word, translated as “established” or “enacted” or “founded,” is “nomotheteo.” The word “nomos” means, “law.”

In Hebrews 7:11, the same word “nomotheteo” is translated as “received the law.” In James 4:12, the noun “nomothetes” is used in the Greek and rendered there as “Lawgiver.” In Romans 9:4, the related Greek word “nomothesia” is translated as “giving of the law.”

When we take another look at Hebrews 8:6, we can now see what the obvious meaning of that passage is: Jesus Christ is Mediator of a better covenant, which, having better promises, is BASED or ENACTED or FOUNDED on God’s given law.

The New Covenant is based on God’s law, just as all the other covenants were based on God’s law, and the New Covenant is not identical with God’s law, just as none of the other covenants were identical with God’s law.

However, the New Covenant is not based on laws that God has decreed are no longer valid. The New Covenant is not based, for example, on the sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood, and other rituals and washings. But it is important that we understand why those particular laws are no longer valid. Not, because the “Old Covenant” was abolished, and with it all Old Testament laws. The concept that the “Old Covenant” ended, and with it all the laws of the Old Testament, is WRONG, as a covenant is not identical with the law, but it is BASED on the law.

What To Do When Laws Change

We saw that certain Old Testament laws are no longer binding because God tells us in the New Testament that they are no longer binding. Therefore, the covenants which God made with ancient Israel at Mount Sinai and in Moab are vanishing, because they were based, along with other laws, on ritual statutes and sacrificial regulations which are no longer valid today—and, of course, because Israel kept breaking the covenants.

We can relate to this, when we look at a modern day example. Assume that you enter into a contract and base it on certain laws, and that those laws, or at least some of them, later become obsolete. What happens to your contract? The parties might have several options at their disposal. They could agree to do away with the contract in its entirety, and make a new contract based on the laws, which are still in effect. Or, they could try to change or modify the contract, by considering the new circumstances and by determining what they would have done, if they had known that some of the laws on which the contract was based, would be changed.

How did God do it? Actually, He used both methods.

When analyzing His covenant with the Levitical priesthood, we find that He kept that contract alive, but He modified it, as the provisions or laws regarding the collection of tithes were changed. That right was transferred from the Levites to Christ. The remainder of the contract between God and the Levites, including the Levitical right to bring, and to eat from, the sacrifices, stayed in effect. As you will recall, it will be the Levites who will administer the sacrifices, which will be reestablished in Jerusalem for the Jews prior to Christ’s return (Daniel 12:44), and at the beginning of the Millennium for unconverted people (Ezekiel 44:15, 29–30).

When analyzing the covenants that God made with the ancient nation of Israel at Mount Sinai and in Moab, God did away with those covenants [except for the Sabbaths covenant with Israel, which remains in force and effect], as too many laws on which those covenants had been based, had become obsolete. Also, God wanted to make a new covenant that would include additional promises that were never a part of the previous covenants with the nation of Israel. So, God abolished the previous covenants with the nation of Israel because certain laws on which the covenants were based were changed or abolished.

We understand, then, that changes in the law can lead to the abolishment of a covenant or contract, which is based on such law, but, that the abolishment of a contract never leads to the abolishment of the law on which the contract is based.

As this is so, we need to consider the following, extremely critical point: In order to determine which Old Testament laws are no longer valid today, God must identify those to us in the New Testament. It is false to say, Old Testament laws are no longer valid, unless they are specifically mentioned in the New Testament. Rather, one must say that Old Testament laws remain in effect, unless the New Testament specifically states, through the letter or through the Spirit, that they are no longer valid today.

Which Laws Were Abolished?

And what are those laws that have been abolished? We have already touched upon them—the laws dealing with animal sacrifices, ritual washings, and the right of the Levitical priesthood to collect God’s tithes.

Some have asked for a specific list of the individual sacrificial or ritual laws mentioned in the Old Testament, which are no longer valid today. To discuss all of those laws here would go beyond the scope of this booklet. Future writings will go into these questions in more detail. In the meantime, any questions regarding the validity of particular laws could be directed to the ministry responsible for the publication of this booklet.

At this point, it may be sufficient to set forth important principles which need to be applied to determine whether a specific law is still valid, or whether it has been abrogated in the New Testament through the Spirit—at least insofar as its practical application for the Church and its members are concerned. We will also give a few examples to show how to apply these principles.

From a general standpoint, the laws in the Old Testament are divided into several categories. They may deal with temporary national or ritual circumstances, or they may address lasting principles to be incorporated in our personal lives.

For instance, Deuteronomy 20 contains laws and regulations about national warfare. These laws are clearly not binding for Christians today, as a Christian is not to participate in war (Matthew 5:44; 26:52; Romans 12:20; 2 Corinthians 10:3–4; James 4:1–2; 1 John 3:15).

In addition, God gave Israel certain national laws, for instance in Deuteronomy 16 and 17, dealing with the punishment and, in certain cases, the execution of criminals. Converted Christians are servants of the New Covenant, which gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). They are not to judge or condemn another person. Christ said that he who is without sin may cast the first stone (John 8:7). At the same time, we are told that nobody can claim to be without sin (1 John 1:8). Therefore, Christians are not to participate, for instance as jurors, in the judicial systems of this world. In addition, the Church today is not to carry out the death penalty, either. Rather, the ministry is to preach today reconciliation and eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:18–21).

Another “national” law, which is no longer in effect today, is listed in Deuteronomy 25:5–10. It is commonly referred to as the law of the “levirate marriage.” It stated that if a married man died without children, his widow was to be married to his brother, so that the name of the dead brother “may not be blotted out of Israel” (verse 6). One reason why this law is not in force for the Church today is that it may require a converted brother-in-law to marry an unconverted sister-in-law, or vice versa. This would be contrary to specific New Testament instructions in 1 Corinthians 7:39 and 2 Corinthians 6:14. Also, if the brother-in-law were already married, the application of the law would violate the New Testament teaching that a man is to be the husband of only one wife (compare 1 Timothy 3:2, 12).

To just give one more example of an obsolete “national” statute, turn to Deuteronomy 23: 1–8. This law excludes certain people with particular racial or national backgrounds, such as Ammonites or Moabites, or eunuchs, from access to the congregation. This distinction does not apply to the New Testament Church. True Christians may be from any nation and suffer any physical disability (Ephesians 2:19). This will be discussed more fully below.

Another category of laws, which are no longer binding for Christians today are the ritual laws of sacrifices and washings. Again, certain principles apply, showing us when a law is of a temporary ritual nature, or when it is still binding for us. For instance, the violation of a statute or a particular circumstance could make a person “unclean” for a certain period of time. Following ritual washings, that person could become clean again. Clearly, these kinds of laws are strictly ritualistic in nature, as no violation of a binding law was automatically cured simply by lapse of time and ritual washings.

For instance, while the laws prohibiting the consumption of unclean food are still valid (see discussion earlier in this booklet), the laws declaring someone unclean who touched the body of an unclean animal are not. This can be seen, as such a person was only unclean “until evening,” and he became clean again after washing himself, showing the ritualistic character of these laws (Leviticus 11:24, 27, 31). On the other hand, the eating of an unclean animal did not bring about only ritual uncleanness that ended in the evening after washing. There is no scripture, which tells us that a person who ate an unclean animal became clean again in the evening, after ritual washings. Many scriptures, however, tell us that a person who touched the carcass of an unclean or even a clean animal (Leviticus 11:39) became ritually clean again in the evening, after washings. This shows, then, the different nature of these two sets of laws.

Another temporary ritual law of a similar nature can be found in Deuteronomy 23:9–11, stating that an individual who contracts some ceremonial defilement during the night becomes ritually clean again by the next sunset. [This is not to say, however, that there were no physical health benefits attached to such laws, such as the prevention of possible transmission of diseases—the underlying principle of physical cleanliness is still very much applicable today.]

Many of these examples, which we have discussed so far, have shown us how we must view an Old Testament law with the eyes of New Testament spiritual principles. We must always look at the purpose and intent of a given statute—lest we become like the Pharisees who tried to uphold the “letter” of the law, while neglecting the “spirit.” For instance, Jesus said that David was guiltless when he was hungry and ate from the showbread, although the law said that only a priest could eat from it (Matthew 12:3–4). Christ was pointing at the spiritual intent of that particular statute—and it was never its intent to regulate a situation when someone was hungry and had nothing else to eat.

Another example would be a law contained in Deuteronomy 22:12, commanding that tassels be made on the four corners of one’s clothing. The reason is given in Numbers 15:38–40: “…that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD to do them… and so be holy to the LORD.” A similar law is found in Deuteronomy 11:18–20, commanding the writing of the Ten Commandments on the doorposts of our houses. Today, God’s Holy Spirit reminds us of God’s law. Ancient Israel needed those physical reminders, however, as the Holy Spirit was not promised or given to them. Under the New Covenant, those physical reminders should not be necessary, as the law of God is being written on our hearts and minds.

Let us briefly review a few examples of Old Testament laws, which are clearly still binding today, as neither the letter, nor spiritual principles of the New Testament, nor any ritual character of such laws would indicate otherwise.

For instance, Deuteronomy 22:5 prohibits cross-dressing. A man is not to wear women’s clothes and vice versa. This law deals with transvestism.

Deuteronomy 22:9 forbids sowing a vineyard with different kinds of seed. The principle is to plant seeds together that will each continue to reproduce after its own kind, in order to avoid substandard products or hybrids. There is nothing wrong, then, with planting peas or beans among corn, or planting two pasture grasses together. On the other hand, cucumbers should not be planted with watermelons because they will cross and produce a perversion. Likewise, various members of the muskmelon and cantaloupe family should not be planted near pumpkins or certain types of squash, as they will mix.

Finally, Deuteronomy 22:11 prohibits, correctly translated, the wearing of a garment “of different sorts, wool and linen mixed together.” [The words, “such as” have been added and do not appear in the original Hebrew.] Leviticus 19:19 contains the same prohibition. Wool is an animal product, while linen is a plant product. Such products should not be combined, as an improper blend, as they produce clothes of lesser quality.

In addition, as we have already discussed, laws that have NOT been abolished include the Ten Commandments, the commandments to keep God’s annual Holy Days and to tithe faithfully.

The Law of Physical Circumcision

There is one additional law that is no longer mandatory—the law regarding physical circumcision. And since this is so, the covenant of circumcision that God made with Abraham is no longer valid.

We read in Galatians 5:1–3, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.”

Here, the phrase “the whole law” refers to every law that God has ever given to man—including the sacrifices and the rituals. Paul is saying here, If you think that you can become justified just because you are physically circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing, because you still don’t understand the need to obtain the Father’s and Christ’s forgiveness of your sins (Galatians 5:4).

Gentiles—Part of the New Covenant?

We read earlier that the New Covenant is going to be made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Does this mean that Gentiles don’t have access to that New Covenant relationship with God? Of course they do, but in order to make the Gentiles a party to the New Covenant, the specific law of physical circumcision that was given in the Old Testament had to become obsolete.

Notice Ephesians 2:11–15: “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.”

What is that “law of commandments contained in ordinances” that was abolished? Which law was it that prevented the Gentiles from having access to the covenants of promise? None other than the law of physical circumcision and the rituals and ordinances related thereto. In doing away with that requirement, Gentiles could then become “spiritual” Israelites and Jews, and thus parties to the New Covenant.

Has The New Covenant Been Made Yet?

We saw that God made covenants with ancient Israel, and that God will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah “after these days”—that is, after Christ’s return. At that time, God will call the Israelites to repentance and He will resurrect those who have not been called to spiritual salvation before, to offer them the opportunity to become a party to the New Covenant.

But what about us today—converted Christians—spiritual Israelites and Jews?

We understand that the New Covenant is compared to a marriage agreement. Recall, too, that Jesus Christ already shed His blood, the blood of the New Covenant, for the remission of our sins. In the Old Testament, ancient Israel listened to the conditions that God gave them and they agreed to those conditions. Then, God sealed the covenant with blood.

Christ clearly told us the conditions of the New Covenant, and we accepted them at the time of our baptism. As ancient Israel said, we also said, “Everything that the LORD has said, we will do.” We also, of course, accepted Christ’s shed blood that forgives our sins, and we acknowledged that we had entered into a covenant with God at the time of our baptism.

Does this mean, then, that the New Covenant has already been made with us at the time of our baptism? Well, yes and no.

The New Covenant is a marriage agreement. The consummation of our marriage with Jesus Christ—the bridegroom and the Lamb—is still in the future. This is where the biblical concept of betrothal becomes important. In biblical times, the parties went through a period of “betrothal” before they actually consummated the marriage. Mary was already betrothed to Joseph when she was found to be with child (Matthew 1:18). Since they had not consummated the marriage, Joseph thought that Mary was guilty of fornication. But Mary and Joseph were already called, at the time of their betrothal, husband and wife (Matthew 1:19–20, 24; compare also Deuteronomy 28:30). Betrothal was a binding agreement or contract of marriage, and it could only be severed through a divorce. With this contract, the husband had promised his wife to consummate the marriage with her, after a certain period of time.

In the same way, we, when we became baptized, entered into a covenant with God, and into a contract of betrothal with Jesus Christ. The consummation of our marriage will occur, once Jesus Christ returns to establish His Kingdom. At that time, we will be immortal Spirit beings—born-again members of the God Family.

In addition, this marriage contract with Christ is also an agreement to inherit what had been promised, through covenants, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to their descendants. It is not only a will, or a testament that can be changed by the testator at any time before his death, but it is a legally binding, enforceable agreement. In any event, the testator, Jesus Christ, who inherited the promises from Abraham and his offspring, did already die, so His will, as promised to us by a contract, cannot be changed anymore. A will or a testament, in biblical times, was more like a mutual contract of inheritance. In fact, the Greek word for “covenant” and for “testament” is exactly the same, i.e., “diatheke.” Both parties had to agree to the terms of the covenant of inheritance. This contract could be based on certain conditions, and the agreement could only be carried out, and the inheritance obtained, if both parties fulfilled the conditions.

Also, such a contract of inheritance could very well say that the inheritance was not going to be obtained until a certain specified time after the testator’s death. In the meantime, the inheritance could be reserved for the heir and administered for him. And, of course, the contract of inheritance could say that the heir would actually come into possession of the inheritance only if he proved himself to be worthy of it. One of those conditions could have been that the heir had to be married at the time of taking possession of the inheritance.

When we consider these concepts and apply them to our situation, we reach the following conclusion: We, as spiritual Israelites, must be married in order to obtain the inheritance. The New Covenant tells us to whom we have to be married—Jesus Christ. But a marriage can only occur and last if both parties are willing to marry each other, and to remain faithful to each other. Christ has already made a marriage agreement with us—a betrothal—and He will spiritually consummate His marriage with us at His return, if we remain faithful (Revelation 19:7–9; Matthew 22:2; 25:1).

This is not to say that we cannot or will not sin today, even though we have already entered into the New Covenant relationship with God. The Bible tells us specifically that we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, if we say that we do not sin today (1 John 1:8). But, we do not practice the way of sin anymore. Rather, when we sin and “confess our sins,” God is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Christ will not reject us if we show Him in this life that we are willing to obey Him, even though we may sometimes slip and fall. He knows that only once we are born-again immortal members in the Family of God, we cannot sin anymore (1 John 5:18).

On the other hand, if we become disobedient and rebellious and begin again to practice the wrong way of life, Christ has the right to divorce us. Remember, Joseph, a just man, was willing to leave his wife to whom he was betrothed when he thought that she had become unfaithful to him (Matthew 1:19).

We can understand, then, what the New Covenant means for us today. It is a contract, which is based on God’s law. God called and chose us to become a party to His contract. By our obedience to God’s laws, we show Him that we want to become parties to His covenant (Acts 5:32). When we are baptized, we enter into a covenant relationship with the Father and Jesus Christ. This agreement contains conditions that we must fulfill. It promises us a certain inheritance in the future, including sonship in God’s Family, kingship over this earth and the universe, and priestly functions. This future inheritance is being preserved for us right now in heaven.

This contract is also a marriage agreement. We are already betrothed to Jesus Christ and we are to consummate the marriage with Him, when He returns to establish His Kingdom. In addition, this contract includes a will or a testament from the testator, Jesus Christ, to share with us the promises that He inherited as the Seed of Abraham. Christ’s will shows us how we must live worthy of Him, and it requires of us to do so, so that He will consummate His marriage with us, and so that we can take possession of our promised inheritance.

Therefore, as long as we stay faithful, as long as we do not trample the Son of God and His holy law under foot, and as long as we do not insult His Spirit of grace, Christ is going to consummate His marriage with us in just a few years from now, and we will inherit the promises that God made to us in the New Covenant. If we become obedient servants of our God, and remain so until Christ’s return, we will never have to hear Him say to us, “I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).

While lawlessness abounds all around us, let us be different! Let us obey God and His Word and thereby become shining lights of righteousness that will be noticed in this dark and evil world (Matthew 5:14–16; Philippians 2:14–16).

Letters to the Brethren – August 5, 2002

Dear Brethren:
We are warned in 2 Timothy 3:1-2 by the Apostle Paul, wherein he states: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.” Paul goes on in the next five verses to continue to describe the way of this world at the very time we find ourselves in today. This is the world we live in, brethren.
It is a world that is without gratitude for all the tremendous blessings that have come upon us because of the obedience of one man – Abraham. That, of course, is a totally different story. But why is the world ungrateful, unthankful , today? And what about the people of God? Those called to His Way of life? What does God expect of us in the way of thankfulness?
When I think of being thankful, I think of an incident that occurred with my two daughters several years after their mother and I came into the Church. It sets forth the whole concept about which I am writing today. This would have occurred around the winter season of 1966 or early spring of 1967. My eldest daughter was about six. Her sister was 3 years and 10 days younger. We were living in the State of Georgia at the time.
There had been a real downpour, which was typical of that time of year in Georgia. I was driving with my wife and our two daughters who were sitting in the back seat of the car. Suddenly we hit a dip in the road, the dip having been built to carry off water during such a downpour and the car stalled by virtue of the amount of water flowing through the dip. We slowly emerged on the other side of the dip without incident.
About that time as we moved away from the dip in the road and on down that back country road, (effectively a typical Georgia road we traveled each week in our 200 mile trek each way between Albany and Atlanta for Church services) my eldest daughter said to the younger, “Donna we just came through a flood. You ought to thank God!” My youngest, in her innocence, bowed her head and said, “Thank you God for the flood.”
The one daughter was thankful that God had brought us through this trial, while the other actually thanked God for the trial. We all must come to the point where we are able to do both!
The Apostle Paul gives some significant insight into what God expects when it comes to being thankful. He admonishes us in 1Thessalonians to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks”(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Notice, particularly, those last four words. “In everything give thanks.”In EVERYTHING  give thanks! That is a very substantial requirement for each of us who have been called of God! How is one to satisfy such a requirement?
We certainly must be thankful for the knowledge of God, of His Way of life, of His purpose for all of mankind! We must be thankful for His Word and for His Spirit that opens our minds to understand His Word, to be able to see and understand the very Nature of God. We must be thankful that God has called us at this time for a very special purpose, to actually begin putting on that nature in our very lives. But “…in everything give thanks.” Give thanks?
When we think of the difficulties we face in living life at this time; when we think of the adversities we all must address – especially in walking this way – how is it possible to give thanks in everything? How is one to do this?
It is easy to be thankful for our blessings – the food we are given to eat, the roof over our heads, a place to work, the love of those close to us, good health, hope and peace. But what about the difficulties of life – the loss of a loved one, sickness and poor health, the loss of a job, separation from dear friends, family problems in our marriages and with our children, the very problems of the Church at this time?
What does Paul mean when he says we are to give thanks in everything? “Everything” is the critical word here! The problem is we are not as diligent as we ought to be in giving thanks for our blessings. And if we are not thankful in our wonderful blessings then surely we are lacking in thankfulness for the difficulties we face daily. There is much room for reflection and correction here. It is through much tribulation that we enter God’s Kingdom. God allows us these trials so that through them we may develop His Holy Righteous Character. After all, that’s what life is all about! That is why He allows Satan to tempt us – allowing this pressure from Satan which along with the pressures of this world and of our own carnal nature, all effectively help us in developing the spiritual muscle we need in overcoming this world and its ways.
Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6 to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” And Paul says further in 1 Timothy 2:1, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” And in Ephesians 5:20: “…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There are no exceptions to this concept noted here.
We read in the book of Ecclesiastes that “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other..” (Ecclesiastes 7:14). Job’s wife, after reflecting on all that had come upon him, said to Job that he should just “Curse God, and die!” (Job 2:9). Job responded by saying: “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity [evil]?” (Verse 10). As we continue to read verse 10 we note that, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
We find in the epistle to the Hebrews these words of admonition: “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name ” (Hebrews 13:15). We are the elect of God. We must find a reason for gratitude in everything, as Paul states in I Thessalonians 5:18. We must, therefore, have this firm desire that “…in everything” we learn to “give thanks.”  To be more emphatic, this must be more than a desire on our part. It is for us a privilege! We must never forget, dear brethren, “…this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (verse 18).
We need to remember the calling God has granted us with thankful hearts, that He has called us and revealed to us His great and wonderful master plan. We must continue in fervent prayer, giving thanks to Him without ceasing for the magnificent opportunity to have a part in the glorious future He has promised to all who obey Him.
In Christ’s service,
J. Edwin Pope

Is God a Trinity?

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Introduction

Everyone in mainstream Christianity, it seems, “knows” that God is a Trinity—one God in three persons, namely “the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit.” The majority of professing Christians wouldn’t even consider questioning this teaching. Many will tell you that, unless you believe this doctrine, you are not a true Christian.

But What About You?

Have you ever wondered whether this teaching is derived from God’s Word, the Bible? We have clear proof from Scripture that the Father and the Son are separate persons or divine beings, and that they are God. The Bible refers to the Father and to Jesus Christ as God in numerous passages—but it never refers to the Holy Spirit as God, or as a separate divine person.

Why? If the Trinity is such an important doctrine, why is it not even mentioned in the Bible?

Did you know that this “key teaching” of “orthodox Christianity” was totally unknown in the early New Testament times and did not become generally accepted until several hundred years after Christ established His Church on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D.? And did you also know that the Trinity actually hides and obscures the fact of who and what God really is—and why God created you, and what your awesome potential is?

Let us briefly review what those who believe in, and teach the concept of the Trinity, tell us about it. This alone might be an eye-opener for you.

What Theologians Tell Us About the Trinity

The Swiss Protestant theologian Karl Barth wrote about the concept of the Trinity. Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia refers to Karl Barth as, “widely regarded as one of the most notable Christian thinkers of the 20th century.” He wrote in, “Doctrine of the Word of God,” p. 437: “The Bible lacks the express declaration that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are of equal essence and therefore in an equal sense God Himself. And the other express declaration is also lacking that God is God thus and only thus, i.e., as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These two express declarations which go beyond the witness of the Bible are the twofold content of the church doctrine of the Trinity.” (Emphasis added).

In other words, Prof. Karl Barth admits that the Bible nowhere states that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all God.

Karl Barth was not the only one who pointed out that the Scriptures do not expressly teach the concept of the Trinity. Listen to this quote from Dr. William Newton Clarke, who wrote a book entitled, “An Outline of Christian Theology.” He states, for instance, on page 167, when discussing the first few verses of the first chapter of the book of John: “There is no Trinity in [John’s prologue]; but there is a distinction in the Godhead, a duality in God.”

He continues on page 168, after having established that the New Testament does teach the divinity of Jesus Christ: “The New Testament begins the work, but does not finish it; for it contains no similar teaching with regard to the Holy Spirit. The unique nature and mission of Christ are traced to a ground in the being of God; but similar ground for the divineness of the Spirit is nowhere shown. Thought in the New Testament is never directed to that end.” (Emphasis added).

In other words, William N. Clarke is pointing out here that the Bible nowhere states that the Holy Spirit is a divine being.

Here is a statement from the German theologian Karl Rahner, who is described in Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia as “the leading Roman Catholic theologian of the 20th century.” This is what he had to say in a book called, “The Trinity,” on page 22: “…in reality the Scriptures do not explicitly present a doctrine of the ‘imminent’ Trinity (even John’s prologue is no such doctrine).” (Emphasis added).

Remarkably, the New Catholic Encyclopedia supports Professor Rahner’s and Prof. Barth’s statements. In an article entitled, “Trinity,” it first points out, in Vol. XIII, on page 574, that “[t]he Trinity is … the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit… The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet these three are not three Gods, but one God…co-eternal and co-equal: all alike or uncreated and omnipotent.”

Then, after having made such a sweeping statement, it goes on to admit: “The [Old Testament] clearly does not envisage God’s spirit as a person, neither in the strictly philosophical sense, nor in the Semitic sense. God’s spirit is simply God’s power. If it is sometimes represented as being distinct from God, it is because the breath of Yahweh acts exteriorly… “The majority of [New Testament] texts reveal God’s spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God…” (Emphasis added).

But then we must ask why the Trinity seems to be universally taught and accepted in Christianity today, when the Bible does not expressly teach it. How did it become part of Christian dogma?

How the Trinity Became “Christian” Dogma

The New Catholic Encyclopedia explains in Vol. 14, on page 295, in the article, “Trinity”:

“…when one does speak of unqualified Trinitarianism, one has moved from the period of Christian origins to say, the last quadrant of the 4th century. It was only then that what might be called the definitive Trinitarian dogma, ‘one God in three persons,’ became thoroughly assimilated into Christian life and thought.”

How did this happen?

The truth, as so often is the case, is stranger than fiction. In her book, “A History of God,” former Catholic nun Karen Armstrong gives us some interesting insight as to what transpired. She writes on pages 117 and 118, when describing how the Trinity found its way from Greek Orthodoxy into the Western World: “… the Trinity only made sense as a mystical or spiritual experience… It was not a logical or intellectual formulation but an imaginative paradigm that confounded reason… For many Western Christians… the Trinity is simply baffling [in other words, a “mystery”]…

“Logically, of course, it made no sense at all… Gregory of Nazianzus had explained that the very incomprehensibility of the dogma of the Trinity brings us up against the absolute mystery of God; it reminds us that we must not hope to understand him… It was no good, for example, attempting to puzzle out how the three hypostases [Greek for “persons”] of the Godhead were at one and the same time identical and distinct. This lay beyond words, concepts and human powers of analysis.”

Karen Armstrong goes on to explain that in the Western World, the Catholic Church’s Father Augustine introduced a slightly different concept of the Trinity. Rather than speaking about “one God in three persons,” he coined the phrase, “one God in three manifestations.”

We are also told that it was the renowned Thomas of Aquinas who made the teachings of the Greeks, such as Plato and Aristotle, popular in the Western World. And in so doing, Western Christians learned that Aristotle, too, had taught a trinity—but he had called the three persons or manifestations ‑ “thinker, thought, and unmoved mover.”

During the Reformation, the dogma of the Trinity was rejected by some of the reformers, but not, for example, by Luther and Calvin. For them, according to Karen Armstrong, “these traditional doctrines of God were too deeply embedded in the Christian experience for either Luther or Calvin to question.” (page 277).

And because of this thoughtless obedience to humanly devised ideas, Calvin began to persecute those who would point out problems with the concept of the Trinity. We read on page 280: “In 1553, Calvin had the Spanish theologian Michael Servetus executed for his denial of the Trinity. Servetus had fled Catholic Spain and had taken refuge in Calvin’s Geneva, claiming that he was returning to the faith of the apostles and the earliest fathers of the church, who had never heard of this extraordinary doctrineThe doctrine of the Trinity was a human fabrication which had alienated the minds of men from the knowledge of the true Christ… His beliefs were shared by two Italian reformers—Giorgio Blandrata… and Faustus Socinus…” (Emphasis added).

Criticism toward the concept of the Trinity continued. In 1699, Gottfried Arnold wrote a book, arguing that the Trinity, although regarded as orthodox, could not be traced back to the original church. (page 306). Puritan poet John Milton was also “doubtful about such traditional doctrines as the Trinity.” (page 308).

Karen Armstrong continued: “Christianity…retained many pagan elements in its description of God… Christianity… had turned its back on its Jewish roots and reverted to the irrationality and superstitions of paganism (p. 369)… Origen and Clement of Alexandria had been Liberal Christians… when they had introduced Platonism into the Semitic religion of Yahweh.” (pp. 383-384). (Emphasis added).

So we learn that the concept of the Trinity, “one God in three persons,” is derived, then, not from the Bible, but from pagan Greeks, having found its way into Christianity early on.

The concept remains a confusing issue, such that many Christians today who say they believe in the Trinity don’t even understand it. On page 201 of Karen Armstrong’s book she writes, “To all intents and purposes, many Western Christians are not really Trinitarians. They complain that the doctrine of Three Persons in One God is incomprehensible, not realizing that for the Greeks that was the whole point.”

But God’s Truth is clear. It must not be incomprehensible to His followers. Paul warned that we must be careful, though, not to be corrupted “from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Cor. 11:3). If one cannot understand one of the major doctrines being presented, then chances are, something is wrong with what is being presented. We must be careful, then, to let the Bible be the proof of what we believe.

Paul’s Greetings to the Churches

One of the most compelling proofs in the Bible that the Holy Spirit is NOT a divine person or a God being, and, therefore, the concept of the Trinity is wrong, is the fact that none of the writers bring greetings from the Holy Spirit. For example, the apostle Paul brings greetings from God the Father and Jesus Christ. Never once does he include greetings from the Holy Spirit.

Notice how Paul greets the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 1:1-3. “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In virtually all of Paul’s writings, you will find the same introduction (cp. 2 Cor. 1:1-2; Gal. 1:1-3; Eph. 1:1-2; Phil. 1:1-2; Col. 1:1-2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1-2; 1 Tim. 1:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:1-2; Titus 1:1-4; and Philemon 1-3). Nowhere is the Holy Spirit included in the greetings that Paul brings from God—the Father and Jesus Christ. This shows, clearly, that Paul was not inspired by God to reveal the personage of the Holy Spirit. What an oversight and insult this would be to the Holy Spirit IF the Holy Spirit were one of three persons—and a God being.

The Holy Spirit is Not God

Another Biblical proof against the Trinity is that the Holy Spirit is nowhere identified as God. No one is recorded in Scripture as having prayed to the Holy Spirit. Further, the Holy Spirit is never described as a separate being, either. Rather, the Holy Spirit emanates from God the Father and Jesus Christ. One could say, the Holy Spirit is part of God, as, for instance, the arm, the eye or the hand is a part of a human being, or of God, for that matter. But the arm is not a being by itself, nor is the arm a person—one could not say that the arm of the man is another man, or the arm of the Lord is another God being. Likewise, the Holy Spirit of God is not a separate God being or person within the Godhead.

Consider how God gave to Moses the Ten Commandments, written with His own finger on tablets of stone (cp. Ex. 31:18). God used His finger to give understanding to Moses, but this does not mean that God’s finger is a distinct person or a God being. God’s finger was part of God, but not separate from God. The same is true for the Holy Spirit. It’s part of God, emanating from God, but it is not God, nor is it a divine God being.

Who Begot Christ?

Jesus Himself prayed exclusively to the Father. Never once did He pray to the Holy Spirit. IF the Holy Spirit were a person, and a separate God being, then the human Jesus Christ would have prayed to the wrong person. How can we say this?

Consider that Jesus Christ was called the Son of God, not the Son of the Holy Spirit, even though He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Notice in Matthew 1:18: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”

God’s inspired Word tells us clearly that the Holy Spirit made Mary pregnant. Notice the words of an angel to Joseph, as recorded in Matt. 1:20: “‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived [or begotten, gennao in the Greek] in her is of the Holy Spirit.’”

Turn now to Luke 1:32 and 35, where we find more of the inspired words of the angel to Mary: “‘He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David… The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’” These Scriptures in Matthew and Luke tell us that, IF the Holy Spirit were a person and God, then Christ would have been the SON of the Holy Spirit, and NOT of the Father.

However, John 1:14 says that it was the Father who begot Christ: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Do we find, then, a contradiction here between the record of Luke, telling us that the Holy Spirit fathered Jesus, and the record of John, stating that it was God the Father? Not at all! Rather, we see that GOD the FATHER begot Christ through the power of His Spirit. This proves that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person—otherwise, we would have a contradiction here, with Christ having two fathers—the “Father” and the “Holy Spirit”—and with the “person” and third member of the “Trinity,” the Holy Spirit, being Christ’s “main” Father.

Remember, too, that the angel told Mary in the book of Luke that Christ would be called the Son of the Highest. If the Holy Spirit were a person, then the Holy Spirit by which Mary was impregnated would be the HIGHEST in the Godhead. This, of course, is absurd! No one who believes in the Trinity has EVER stated that the Holy Spirit is the highest! Quite to the contrary, they claim that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all EQUAL. That none is HIGHER than the other.

The fact that the Holy Spirit cannot be a divine person or God, becomes very clear when considering who in the Godhead is called the “highest.” The Bible shows us that it is the Father (and not the Holy Spirit) who is the highest in the Godhead. Notice Eph. 4:6: “…one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

This tells us that the FATHER is the highest, “above all.” The Father is higher than Christ (cp. John 10:29, “My Father…is greater than all.”) So, when Jesus Christ was called the Son of the Highest, He was called the Son of God the Father—not of the Holy Spirit. It was God the Father who, through His Holy Spirit, impregnated Mary. She was with child OF or THROUGH the Holy Spirit. God the Father, the highest within the Godhead, brought Mary’s pregnancy about through the power of His Holy Spirit. (Note that in Luke 1:35, the Holy Spirit is defined as the “power of the Highest.”)

The Father Created Everything Through Christ

It is also remarkable that the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in a passage like, 1 Cor. 8:6, where the Godhead is described. One would surely expect that the Holy Spirit would somehow be referred to here, if it were a person. But note what we read: “…yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”

IF the Holy Spirit were a person, why is it not mentioned here? We read that there is only one God—the Father—and one Lord—Jesus Christ. And we read that all things are THROUGH Christ. So it was CHRIST who created everything. Or, one could say that God the Father created everything THROUGH Christ. That’s what Ephesians 3:9 tells us, “God…created all things through Jesus Christ.” Col. 1: 16 confirms this: “All things were created through Him.” (There are additional Scriptures revealing this truth, such as John 1:1-3; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; and Hebr. 1:1-2). And how did Christ do it? Through the power of His Holy Spirit. But it was still Christ. If the Holy Spirit were a person, then God would not have created everything through the person of Christ, but through the person of the Holy Spirit. This shows that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person.

Spirit Compared with Water

Let’s now notice a passage in Acts 2 that shows, too, that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person. Acts 2:17 reads: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out OF My Spirit on all flesh.” The Holy Spirit cannot be a person, since one cannot “pour out” a person and one cannot divide a person, by sending something OF that person into someone else.

Turn also to John 4:10, 14, where the Spirit is compared with water. Jesus tells the woman at the well: “‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water… whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.’”

Later, the Bible makes it very clear that Christ was talking here about the Holy Spirit, comparing it with living water to be poured out. We read in John 7:37-39, in the Authorized Version: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive…”

Christ compares the Holy Spirit with living WATER. We read earlier that God pours out of His Holy Spirit—again the same analogy of water being poured out on or into people is being used. How can a person be compared with water to be poured out? Some say, this is just an analogy. For instance, God is compared with a consuming fire in Heb. 12:29, but He is not a fire.

However, God looks very much like a consuming fire when He reveals Himself to the eyes of man. Notice in Ex. 24:17. God is NOWHERE pictured, however, as water that is being poured out. Such a description just does not fit for a person, showingthat the Holy Spirit is not a person.

The Spirit of the Father and of the Son Dwells in Us

Acts 2: 33 states: “Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He [Christ] poured out this which you now see and hear.”

Notice, it says here that Christ received the Holy Spirit from the Father, and that Christ then poured out the Spirit from the Father. This is confirmed, too, in John 15:26, where we read Christ’s words: “‘But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of me.’” Again, we are told here that Christ sends us the Holy Spirit from the Father (cp. also John 16:7).

Notice also Christ’s words in John 14:16-17: “‘And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth…for He dwells with you and will be in you.’” Here we see that it is the Father who will give us the Holy Spirit. He does so through Christ, as we read earlier.

[We will address later in the booklet why the Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to with “He,” as is the case in the two passages just quoted. We will show that this does not prove at all that the Holy Spirit is a person.]

Titus 3:5-6 confirms that the Father gives us the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ: “[God] saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom [better: “which,” cp. Authorized Version] He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

We also see, however, in John 14:26, that the Father Himself sends us His Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. Christ said: “‘But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.’”

Notice that it is not only the Holy Spirit of the Father that dwells in us. We also see that it is the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us. Gal. 4:6 tells us: “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father.’” We see here that God the Father sent the Spirit of His Son, Jesus Christ, in our hearts, and because it is the Spirit of His Son, we can call God our Father. Notice it, too, in Phil. 1:19: “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Again, it is the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us—not a third person!

That the Spirit of the Father and of Christ dwells in us becomes very clear when reading Rom. 8:9: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Here we read that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and when we do not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, we are not even Christians.

So putting all those passages together, we can see that the Spirit of God the Father and of Christ dwells in us, and that both God the Father and Jesus Christ send us, or pour into us, the Holy Spirit. But how can that be? Isn’t there only ONE Spirit?

One Spirit

There is clearly only one Spirit, just as there is only one baptism, one faith, one hope and one body (cp. Eph. 4:4-5). But consider this: Although there is only one baptism, there are many individuals being baptized. And even though there is only one body, there are many members in that body (cp. 1 Cor. 12:14). And we know that the ONE God consists of the Father and the Son, that is, God is not just one person.

The same is true for the Holy Spirit. There is ONE Spirit, but both God the Father and Jesus Christ are Spirit beings, and the Holy Spirit emanates from both of them. That is why we read about the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of Christ. When we read that there is one Spirit, then the reference is to the oneness or harmony between God the Father and Jesus Christ. It is exactly the same when Christ said, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30). Christ did not mean, the Father and He were “one” being—but that they were “one” in purpose and goal and mindset and character. When Christ spoke these words, He was clearly a separate person from God the Father. Christ said in John 17:11, that we all should be one, as the Father and Christ are one in spirit—not in the sense that we all would become one being, but rather, that we all be of the same spirit. God the Father and Christ are one in spirit, and so are we to become one in spirit.

Notice Christ’s words in John 14:23: “‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’” Both the Father and Jesus Christ live in us. John 14:16-18 confirms too that not only the Father, but also Jesus Christ live in us, through the Holy Spirit, when Christ told His disciples, “‘I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper…, the Spirit of truth…[that] will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.’” God the Father and Jesus Christ have both come to us, and they both have made their home with us. They do this through the Holy Spirit that flows from both of them into us. This proves, as we will see in a moment, that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person.

First, though, let’s turn back for a moment to John 7:37-39. This Scripture is directly related to the passage in John 14:23 and proves, too, that the Holy Spirit is not a person. It reads: “On the last day, that great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom [better: “which,” cp. AV] those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Note that the word “given” is in italics—this means, it is not in the original Greek; it was added by the translator. Other translators present this passage quite differently:

The New Revised Standard Version: “…for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

The New American Bible: “There was, of course, no Spirit yet…”

The New Jerusalem Bible: “…for there was no Spirit as yet…”

The Moffat translation: “…as yet there was no Spirit…”

When we check this in the Interlinear translation from the Greek, which renders the original Greek word for word, we find the following phrase, “…for not yet was Spirit Holy, because Jesus not yet was glorified.”

The German translations are all fairly consistent in their renderings. The revised Luther Bible, the Elberfelder Bible, and the Menge Bible, all state, “The Spirit was not yet there…”

The Zuercher Bible even states, “…the Holy Spirit did not exist yet…” They point out in the Appendix: “Some have translated, ‘the Holy Spirit was not yet given,’ because they were offended by the literal original text.”

But how could this be? How is it possible to say that the Holy Spirit did not exist yet, or was not there yet, since Christ was not yet glorified?

The answer becomes clear when we consider that only a glorified God being can give His Holy Spirit to others. When Christ spoke those words, the Holy Spirit of the Father was clearly there and dwelling in Him — but Christ was referring here to Himself. He said, “Let him who thirsts come to ME.” And Christ was a man when He said that, and as a man, having given up His glory, He could not give the Holy Spirit, emanating from Him as a glorified God being, to others. Remember, it was the Holy Spirit of the FATHER (as distinguished from the Holy Spirit of Christ) that dwelled in Christ, and through which Christ did the marvelous works (cp. Acts 10:38-39).

For Christ to bestow His Holy Spirit on others, He needed to be glorified first. Christ made this clear, when He said in John 16:7: “…‘if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.’” This proves, then, several things: It proves that when Jesus Christ was here on earth, He was a man, FULLY flesh. He was NOT human and divine at the same time. He was not fully man and fully God. This passage proves that the Holy Spirit is not a person. Rather, the Holy Spirit emanates from glorified God beings. As long as Christ was not glorified, He had no Holy Spirit of His own to bestow on others. That’s why the Holy Spirit of the glorified Christ was not there yet—ONLY the Holy Spirit of the Father was there.

But then, after Christ’s resurrection and glorification, both the Father and the Son dwell in us through their Spirit—the Holy Spirit—which emanates or proceeds from both the Father and the Son.

The passages in John 14:23 and John 7:37-39 (discussed above) show us then why the Holy Spirit cannot be a separate or distinct person or being within the Godhead: Since the Spirit of the Father and of the Son lives in us, two persons would live in us, and the Godhead would not consist of only three persons, but of four—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit of the Father, and God the Holy Spirit of the Son. But no one teaches, to our knowledge, that God consists of four persons. And so we see, no matter how we look at it, the whole concept of the Holy Spirit being a separate person has no biblical basis!

One Mediator

Jesus is our Mediator, our only Mediator, between us and God the Father. Turn to 1 Tim. 2:5-6, and note: “For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a human being, Jesus Christ.” (New Jerusalem Bible).

God the Father never became man, but Christ did. So, Christ is the only Mediator between God and man, as Christ can sympathize with our weaknesses, having been tempted in all points, when He was human, as we are today. Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Let’s turn now to Rom. 8:26, where we are told what the Holy Spirit does for us: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Authorized Version).

 Here we read that the Spirit makes intercession for us, in other words, that it is a “mediator” between God and man. So, IF the Holy Spirit were a person, we would have two mediators, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Let’s see, though, what is meant by the statement that the Spirit makes intercession for us. Continuing in verse 27 of Romans 8 we are told: “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” And who exactly is it who searches the heart and who makes intercession?

The answer is in Rom. 8:34: “It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

Notice it, too, in 2 Cor. 3: 17: “Now the Lord IS the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

So we see that it is Christ, through His Spirit, who makes intercession for us. (cp. Heb. 9:15; 7: 25; 1 John 2:1). Both the Father and the Son are Spirit beings. We are told by Christ in John 4:24 that GOD IS Spirit. We are also told in 1 Cor. 15:45 that Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, became “a life-giving Spirit.” Jesus Christ was God. He was a Spirit being before He became a man, and He became God, a life-giving Spirit being, at the time of His resurrection (cp. Titus 2:13).

Let’s briefly address here how Christ, through His Spirit, makes intercession for us. Although God the Father and Jesus Christ ARE Spirit, they have form and shape, a body, hands, arms, eyes, and so on, but they are composed of spirit, not matter. We see God the Father and Christ described as sitting on a throne. But Christ is not always in heaven. He appeared to man before His birth as a human being, and after His resurrection. He will return visibly, riding a white horse. So, in that sense, He is at a certain place at a certain time, but He IS omnipresent, that is, at all places at every time, through His Spirit. Spirit can be compared with the air that surrounds the globe. Air is everywhere. So is Christ, through His Spirit, and it is through His Spirit that Christ can intercede for us before the Father at any time, regardless of where He may be.

We have seen, then, that Christ intercedes for us through His Spirit. That shows that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person, because otherwise, Christ would not be the only Mediator between God and man—the Holy Spirit would be another or second mediator.

Proofs for the Trinity?

There are some Scriptures that might seem to “prove” the concept of the Trinity, but a closer study of those Scriptures reveals that such is not the case. Let’s take a closer look at these Scriptures.

Does 1 John 5:7-8 Prove the Trinity?

1 John 5:7-8 is probably the most frequently quoted text to “prove” that God is a Trinity. The New King James Bible translates it this way: “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”

The way this passage is translated in the New King James Bible is considered a proof text by some that the Holy Spirit is a person. But this is not true at all. With that rationale given to verse 7 (“there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one”), it would follow from verse 8 (“there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and these three agree as one”), that “water” and “blood” would also have to be persons. But nobody claims that.

In addition, most scholars agree that the words in verse 7, “in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one,” were later added by the Catholic Church to “prove” the Trinity, and that these words were not in the original writings. Many Bible translations and commentaries state that this particular phrase, referred to as the “Comma Joanneum,” is “not contained in the best authorities and constitutes a late addition in the Latin Text.” [Pattloch Bible, Appendix, page 85].

The Zürcher Bible comments in a footnote that “this passage was added in the fourth century in the Latin Text, and only in the 15th century in some Greek Texts.” The NIV adds in a footnote that this particular phrase is only contained “in the late manuscripts of the Latin Bible and that it is not found in any Greek manuscripts before the 16th century.” Other commentaries point out that these words are clearly a falsification and that they have therefore been correctly omitted, even as a footnote, in many modern translations. So this passage is clearly not proof at all that the Holy Spirit is a separate divine person.

Does Matt. 28:19 Prove the Trinity?

If there is any Scripture, besides the one in 1 John 5:7-8, which has been quoted more frequently than any other, in order to “prove” the existence of the Trinity, it would be Matthew 28:19. Let’s read this passage, in context, beginning with verse 18:

“(18) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.’”

These words by Jesus do not prove a Trinity. As the role of Christ in the baptismal ceremony is mighty important (cp. Rom. 6:1-4; Gal. 3:27), so also is the role of the Father. It was God the Father who gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us, so that we could have eternal life. Once we repent and believe we are then to be baptized as an outward sign of inner repentance, to “bury our old self.” Once we come out of the watery grave, we are to walk in newness of life. And, this can only be done with the help of God’s Holy Spirit.

We are to make disciples by baptizing them, and by teaching them to observe all things that Christ commanded. And, we baptize a person “in” or “into” [the Greek word eis can mean “in” or “into”] the “name” or “possession” [the Greek word onoma can mean “name” or “possession”] of the Father and of the Son who both are present through the Holy Spirit. The entire clause, “baptize in the name of,” in Greek, “eis (to) onoma tinos,” also conveys the meaning of coming under the “control” or “authority” of the Father and of the Son (cp. Strong’s, #3836; and William Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, p. 575). And as we will see in the next section, it is the Holy Spirit, emanating from the Father and from the Son, by which we have fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ.

When we are baptized in, or into, the name or possession of Jesus, we recognize that we are baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3). When we come out of the watery grave, and one of God’s ministers places his hands on our heads and asks God the Father for the Holy Spirit, emanating from both the Father and the Son, we recognize that it is the Holy Spirit of God flowing into us that enables us to walk in newness of life. We also recognize that we are entering, at that very time, the Family of God as begotten, but not yet born, children of God the Father and brothers and sisters of our elder brother Jesus Christ. In that sense, we become the possession or the “property” of the God Family. And all of this is made possible, then, through God’s Holy Spirit, dwelling in us. So rather than teaching the personage of the Holy Spirit, Matt. 28:19 teaches how God makes it possible, through His Spirit in us, to become a part of the Family of God.

Does 2 Cor. 13:14 Prove the Trinity?

2 Cor. 13:14 reads: “The grace of the Lord Jesus, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” Understand, now, that we obtain communion or fellowship through the Holy Spirit, but let’s note with whom we have communion or fellowship. 1 Cor. 1:9 tells us: “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Notice, too, Phil. 2:1, pointing out that “consolation in Christ” is the same as “comfort of love” and “fellowship of the Spirit.”).And 1 John 1: 3 adds, “[T]hat which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

Our fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ is accomplished through the Holy Spirit, flowing from God and joining us with God and our fellow brethren. The passage in 2 Cor. 13:14 does not teach us that the Holy Spirit is a divine being.

Does Acts 5 Prove the Trinity?

Some would use Acts 5:1-9 as proof that the Holy Spirit is God and the third member of the Trinity. By way of background, Ananias and his wife Sapphira decided to sell a possession and to give part of the proceeds to the disciples, falsely claiming, however, that it was all that they had received. Peter responded, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit…You have not lied to men but to God” (vv. 3-4). Later, he told Sapphira, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?”

Some say that Peter equated in this passage the Holy Spirit with God. But Peter didn’t do that. Rather, he was telling Ananias and Sapphira that God’s Spirit—“the Spirit of the Lord”—was dwelling in him and the other disciples, and that God was present through His Spirit. Ananias and Sapphira had not just lied to human beings, but to the Holy Spirit of God, dwelling in those human beings, and since God the Father and Jesus Christ dwell in us through the Holy Spirit, they had actually lied directly to God the Father and God the Son. Peter did not say that the Holy Spirit is God, but that through the Holy Spirit, God is present.

Remember—God is omnipresent through His Spirit. In Psalm 139:7, David makes it clear, too, that God is everywhere through His Spirit. He asks, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?” The Holy Spirit is not a distinct or separate God being, but it emanates from God, so that God, having form and shape, is omnipresent.

We hope by now that you can see how Scriptures can be twisted to provide so-called proof of something that is not true at all, and that the Bible itself provides the answers if one is willing to search and find those revealed answers—the real proofs.

Does Personification Prove the Trinity?

What about personifying or lending human attributes to something that is not a person? Is that proof of the Trinity? Some want to prove the Trinity, and especially the idea that the Holy Spirit is a conscious divine Person, by turning to Scriptures which seem to imply that the Holy Spirit does something, or that it thinks and speaks. Let’s take a closer look at some of these examples of personification.

The Holy Spirit vs. the Spirit in Man

One such example is found in 1 Cor. 2:10. The context here is that something that is not physical dwells in every human being. The Bible calls this non-physical component in every person the “spirit in man” or the “spirit of man.” This human spirit distinguishes man from animals in intelligence, mind set and abilities. Paul goes on to point out that every converted person also has within him or her the Holy Spirit, which distinguishes the converted mind from the natural, unconverted mind in spiritual understanding, comprehension, and ability to live by spiritual principles. Verse 10 reads: “But God has revealed them [the spiritual things] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”

This sounds as if the Spirit of God is a conscious, active, distinct being. But let us ask the question—is the “spirit in man” a conscious, active, distinct being? We know that it is not, because when man dies, the “spirit of the man” goes back to God, but neither that “spirit” of the dead man, nor the dead man, have any consciousness [For proof, ask for our free booklet, Evolution—A Fairy Tale for Adults?].

Let’s consider Psalm 77:6: “I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.” While both the Holy Spirit within us, as well as the “spirit in man” within us, makes diligent search, the “spirit in man” is not a distinct being. Neither does the passage in 1 Cor. 2:10 show, then, that the Holy Spirit is a distinct being.

Let’s continue in 1 Cor. 2:11, the last sentence: “…no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” This sounds again like a distinct, conscious being. But let’s read the first part of that sentence: “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him.”

So again, both the Spirit of God and the “spirit of man” “know” something. This terminology does not justify the conclusion that the Holy Spirit is a God being—otherwise, the “spirit in man” would have to be a being too, which it is not.

Note, too, this passage in Romans 8:16: “The [Holy] Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” [Authorized Version].

If the Holy Spirit is a person because it bears witness, then is the “spirit in man” a person, too, because it also bears witness? No, “the spirit in man” is not a person in addition to the man where it resides; i.e., there is not a person living in every person. Every human being has a “spirit in man,” regardless of whether the person is converted or not. But once converted, the person has in addition living in him or her God’s Holy Spirit. The result is described in 1 Cor. 6:17: “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.” In other words, they have become, or are becoming, one in mind and purpose. And that is why we read that both the Holy Spirit and our spirit bear witness to the fact that we are God’s children. This does not make either the Holy Spirit or our spirit to be persons. Rather, it’s a figurative way of saying that because of the Holy Spirit living in us, working on and guiding our human spirit, God calls us His children.

Human Wisdom and the Mind of Christ

Let’s continue reading in 1 Cor. 2, verse 13, to see how the Bible describes certain concepts to make them clearer for those who are called by God while others stumble at the Word. We read: “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” Both the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of man are described here as “teaching” something. But, just as man’s wisdom is not a distinct person, so, the Holy Spirit is not a distinct person, either. Consider verse 16: “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him [i.e., the Lord]? But we have themind of Christ.”

The Holy Spirit in us that teaches us and searches out spiritual things for us is the mind of Christ, since Christ lives in us through His Spirit. We now have a different mind set. We don’t have any longer the carnal, natural mind of man. And to make this point very clear, Paul personifies the Holy Spirit in us—as he personified both the human spirit and human wisdom. He wanted to show what a great influence these have for us spiritually, but, he did not mean to convey that all of these are, in fact, persons.

Paul’s Use of the Word “Spirit”

Notice how Paul, in his writings, uses the word “spirit.”

Turn to 1 Cor. 5:4, where we read: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan…”

Let’s ask again—Was the spirit of Paul, that was with the members in Corinth, while Paul dwelled somewhere else, a person that had left Paul? Of course not—otherwise Paul could not have written the letter, if the spirit had left him. We read in other places that once the spirit in man leaves the man, the man is dead (cp. James 2:26). So, what Paul is telling us here, is that his mind was with the Corinthians. Likewise, the Spirit of God is not a person either, but the mind of God that God wants to share with us.

We must be careful, when we read certain passages that seem to imply that the Holy Spirit acts or does things, not to conclude that those passages teach the personhood of the Spirit. In most cases, the truth becomes clear in the passage, if we read it in context, and if we don’t only quote from the passage selectively.

Let’s review another example, this time in 1 Cor. 14:14: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.” Is the spirit of Paul that prays a person? If not, why do some conclude, in referring to Romans 8:26, that the Holy Spirit must be a person as it is stated there that the Spirit “prays” (Note from our earlier discussion that, in any event, it is actually Jesus Christ who prays)? Further, let’s read 1 Cor. 14:15: “What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.”

So, if Paul’s spirit is a person, is then Paul’s understanding also a person? After all, Paul prays with the spirit, and with the understanding. But, the answer is, the mind and the understanding of the man are being personified here, and the same is true when the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit of God.

Notice 1 Cor. 16:18: “For they refreshed my spirit and yours.” This does not mean, of course, that the spirit of Paul and the spirit of all of the Corinthians were persons. Rather, their minds and whole entire beings were refreshed or comforted.

The Letter That Kills

Notice another example, dealing directly with God’s Spirit, in 2 Cor. 3:4-6. Let’s also see from the context, that this has to be a personification: “And we have such trust through Christ toward God… [O]ur sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Some say, here is proof that the Holy Spirit is a person because it says that the Holy Spirit gives life. But if that is so, is then the letter a person, too, because it also says, that the letter kills? It should be rather obvious that both terms are being used in a personified way.

The Flesh Bestows on Us Death

A similar example can be found in Gal. 6:8: “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Those who say that this proves that the Holy Spirit is a person, since it bestows on us everlasting life, must answer whether this then proves that the flesh is a person, too, as the flesh bestows on us death. Again, both terms are used in a personified way, to make a certain concept clear—if we follow our own fleshly desires, we will die, but if we follow God who teaches us through His Spirit in us, we will live.

But notice what this all means. Since all these abstract concepts, that are clearly NOT persons, such as the letter that kills and the flesh that kills, are personified, and they are being compared with the Holy Spirit at the same time, then this indicates strongly that the Holy Spirit is not a person either, but that it is likewise personified to get a certain thought across in the most powerful way.

We have seen, of course, from other passages, that the Holy Spirit is not a person. But those who use passages in which the Holy Spirit is personified to show that the Holy Spirit is a person don’t realize that their arguments go against them and that the very passages that they quote indicate the opposite.

The Holy Spirit Speaks to Us

Consider this passage in Hebrews 3: 7-11: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.” So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest.’”

The way this is worded, it is the Holy Spirit that speaks and says that the fathers have rebelled against Him, that He was angry, and that they would not enter His rest. But who actually said those words? Who was the one who became angry about the transgressions and rebellion of the fathers?

Note in Numbers 14:20-23: “Then the Lord said: ‘I have pardoned, according to your word, but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord—because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.’”

It was the Lord (Yahweh) who said it. As we know from other passages, the Lord of the Old Testament who spoke directly with Moses and others was Jesus Christ, not the Father. Christ pointed out that no one has ever seen God the Father (John 1:18). But Moses, for example, did see “the form of the Lord.” (Numbers 12:8). Moses, then, saw the second God being in the God Family—the One who would become known as Jesus Christ. And so, Christ was with the people of ancient Israel, through His Spirit.

Note this in 1 Cor. 10:4,9: “…For they [the Israelites under Moses] drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ… Nor let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents…”

Also, note 1 Peter 1:10-11: “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them, was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”

Therefore, the Holy Spirit that “speaks” in the passage in the book of Hebrews, or that testifies of Christ’s sufferings and glory, is the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit is not a person, but the person of Christ was present amongst the Israelites through His Spirit, and Christ spoke to them through His Spirit. That the Holy Spirit, emanating from both the Father and the Son, cannot be a person, becomes clear when considering that Christ’s Holy Spirit (as distinguished from the Father’s Holy Spirit) was not present when Christ lived here on earth as a human being, as we already saw. It was Christ’s Holy Spirit that dwelled in the prophets of old, but Christ’s Holy Spirit did not exist, when Christ gave up His glory to become a man. Therefore, theHoly Spirit of Christ the Son cannot be a person.

The Holy Spirit Witnesses to Us

Note this in Heb. 10: 15-16: “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after He had said before, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’”

We are told here first, that the Holy Spirit says something, but then, that the Lord says it, and then again, that the Holy Spirit says it. So the Scriptures use here the terms “the Lord” and “Holy Spirit” interchangeably. Obviously, it is the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ that witnesses—in other words, Christ speaks through His Spirit.But that does not make the Holy Spirit a person.

Some have pointed out that the Holy Spirit speaks to the different churches in the book of Revelation, and concluded that this must mean, then, that the Holy Spirit is a person. Consider first, though, the fact that the book of Revelation speaks consistently about the Father and the Lamb, Jesus Christ, but the Holy Spirit is never mentioned once as a person or a being. Both the Father and the Lamb will live in the New Jerusalem—but no mention of the Holy Spirit.

When we read that the “Spirit” speaks to the churches, we must realize that the revelation comes from God the Father who gave it to Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1). So, the Spirit that speaks to the churches is again the Spirit of Christ—it is Christ, through His Holy Spirit, who reveals and passes on the message that He had received from the Father.

The same can be seen from the book of Acts. In Acts 16:6 and 7, we read that the “Holy Spirit” forbade the disciples to preach in Asia, and to even go to a certain place. In Acts 20: 22-23, we read that the Holy Spirit testified to Paul in every city that chains and tribulation awaited him. But how did the Holy Spirit do that?

Acts 21:4, 11 give us a clue. We read: “And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem… When he [a certain prophet] had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, “So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’””

We see that people spoke, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Let’s turn now to Acts 23:11, to find out who actually gave these prophecies through the mouths of those prophets: “But the following night the Lord stood by me and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.’”

It was Jesus Christ who, through His Spirit, inspired people to talk. These passages that we have read do not tell us that the Holy Spirit is a person.

The Holy Spirit Teaches Us

Some claim that the Holy Spirit must be a person because the Bible says that the Spirit teaches us. But this argumentation is not convincing. Let’s note 1 John 2:27, which some have quoted to support their claim that the Holy Spirit must be a person. It reads, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

We understand that the anointing spoken of here is a reference to the Holy Spirit. But note, again, who actually teaches us. Turn to 1 Thess. 4:9: “But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.”

When used without clarification, the reference to the person of “God” in the New Testament is usually a reference to the Father. (However, the word “God” can refer to Jesus Christ as well. Cp. Titus 2:13). Note in 1 Cor. 3:23 and in John 6:45: “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.”

It is God the Father who teaches us. And since God the Father and Jesus Christ are one, and God beings, and since Christ only teaches us what He has heard from the Father (cp. John 8:28), it is also correct, then, that Christ is teaching us (1 John 5:20). Both do it through the Holy Spirit emanating from them. So they teach us through the Holy Spirit—but that does not make the Holy Spirit a divine God being.

The Holy Spirit a—”He”?

Some claim that the Holy Spirit must be a person and a God being, because it is referred to in the Bible in numerous places as “He.” However, as we will see, this argument is really one of the most uneducated ones. First of all, we should notice that several Bible translations have deliberately chosen to render certain passages in such a way as to imply that the Holy Spirit is a person, while other translations are, in general, much more accurate and true to the original text. For instance, if you read Rom. 8:16 in the New King James Bible, or in many other modern translations, you find the following rendering: “The Spirit Himself bears witness…” This could give the impression that the Holy Spirit is a person. The Authorized Version translates, however, “The Spirit itself beareth witness…” This translation is accurate as in accordance with the Greek and English grammar.

In many languages, every noun has a gender that is masculine, feminine, or neuter. It’s strictly a matter of grammar. For instance, in the German language, the word for “horse,” “Pferd,” is neuter, whereas the word for “dog” “Hund,” is masculine, and the word for “cat,” “Katze,” is feminine. In addition, the word for “tree,” “Baum,” is masculine, as is the word for “car,” “Wagen,” whereas the word for “fir-tree,” “Tanne,” is feminine, and the word for “pig,” “Schwein, “is neuter. More confusing, perhaps, the German words for “breath,” “wind,” and “spirit,” i.e., “Atem,” “Wind,” and “Geist,” are all masculine. We can clearly see, then, that the gender of the noun does not tell us anything about the nature of the noun—whether it’s a person, an animal, a plant, an object, or a thing.

The same applies to the Greek. The Greek word for “spirit,” “pneuma,” is neuter. Therefore, all pronouns referring to “pneuma” should be accurately translated as “it” in the English language. Those who have arbitrarily decided to translate the pronouns as “he,” or even “He,” rather than as “it,” when referring to the Holy Spirit, have only done so in order to convey their false beliefs in the personhood of the Holy Spirit. In addition, if the translators would be consistent, they would have to translate many pronouns of Hebrew words referring to the Spirit as “she,” as in the majority of cases, nouns with a feminine gender describing the Spirit are used in the Old Testament.

There is one particular noun that refers to the Holy Spirit and that is masculine in the Greek. This noun is “parakletos” and has been translated into English as “Helper” or “Comforter.” (cp. for example, John 14: 16-17). Since the noun is masculine in the Greek, the pronouns referring to it are also masculine in the Greek. But this is strictly a matter of grammar, not of meaning. To translate those pronouns as masculine into English, however, gives a totally wrong impression.

Questions of grammar and gender of nouns in a particular language do not determine whether the nouns are persons, plants, things, or objects. Wrong or misleading translations must not be used for doctrinal conclusions.

Personifications of Dead Objects

We saw already that the Bible sometimes personifies the Holy Spirit. This should not come as a surprise. We should all realize that the Bible often personifies dead objects, or concepts, or speechless animals—attributing to them speech, feelings, action or other conscious conduct. It should, therefore, not come as a surprise that the Holy Spirit of God is sometimes described this way. But, as we have seen, this does not prove that it is a distinct person, or a God being within a Trinity.

Let us take note of some of those Biblical examples of personification.

Godly Wisdom—a Person?

In Proverbs 1, “godly wisdom” is described. Wisdom, of course, is not a person, but let’s see what we read about it, beginning in verse 20: “Wisdom calls aloud outside. She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses… She speaks her words.” And then, beginning in verse 22, we actually read what “wisdom” is saying to us in direct quotes. So, we see that God’s wisdom is personified here, but it’s clearly not a person.

We see the same repeated in Proverbs 8. Beginning in verse 1, we read, “Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice? … (3) She cries out by the gates…” And, again, verse 4, we find what exactly wisdom is saying. It is given in quotes with wisdom speaking for herself, exclaiming, “‘(30) The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way… (27) When He prepared the heavens, I was there… (30) I was beside Him as a master craftsman… (32) Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways.’”

And, again, Proverbs 9:1-6 personifies wisdom and lets it speak to us, as if it were a separate being. But, it is not. Wisdom is one of the characteristics of God. And it is God who must give us His wisdom, if we want to live by God’s standards. Let’s notice this in Proverbs 2:6: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Can we see how parallel the relationship between God and wisdom is with the relationship between God and His Holy Spirit? After all, we receive Godly wisdom through God’s Spirit. Both wisdom and the Holy Spirit are personalized, but, neither one of them is, in fact, a person.

The Love of God—a Person?

Since we are talking about some of God’s attributes or characteristics that the Bible sometimes personifies to make clear to us the importance of the same, let’s note another example in 1 Cor. 13: 4-7. In this passage, the love of God is described in such a way as if it were a person, but it is, of course, not a person:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Only a person or a being can refuse to envy, behave in a certain way, think, rejoice or believe. Here, love is described as doing that, as if love was a person. It’s not a person, of course, but the one and foremost characteristic of God, that is given to us, through God’s Spirit living in us. And, so, as love is not a person, but personalized, so is God’s Holy Spirit not a person, either.

The Faith of God—a Person?

Notice now an additional example. We find another one of God’s characteristics described as a person in 2 Timothy 1:5: “I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.”

The faith of God is described here as dwelling in a person. Other translators even say that the faith is living in them. Only a person, not an abstract concept or an attribute of someone else, can dwell or live. So, here, God’s faith is personified, but the faith of God is clearly not a separate person or being within the Godhead.Neither is the Holy Spirit a separate person, although we read many times that the Holy Spirit dwells or lives in us.

Sin—a Person?

However, not only the attributes of God are sometimes portrayed in a personified way. Likewise, wrong concepts, which we must overcome, are also personified. Notice this in Romans 6:12, 14: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, that you should obey it in its lusts… For sin shall not have dominion over you…”

Sin is portrayed as a ruler, an enemy that must not conquer us. Rather, we are to conquer it, as if it were a person. We are reminded of a similar admonition that God gave to Cain in Genesis 4:7: “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

The Blood—a Person?

We also find an interesting mixture of conscious beings and unconscious concepts, attributes, or ideas in Hebrews 12: 22-24. And while some of those things mentioned herein are clearly not persons, they are all described as if they were: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”

For instance, the blood of sprinkling does not speak per se; neither does the blood of Abel. But the Bible pictures it that way, as if the blood were a conscious being. And God had introduced that thought early on, in Genesis 4:10: “And He said: What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” Again, the blood is personified here, as having an actual voice, to show the enormity and seriousness of what Cain had done.

The Heavens, Earth, Rivers, Hills—All Persons?

There is quite a number of places where the Bible gives attributes, personality and consciousness to things which don’t possess them—but they are personified, as if they would act or conduct themselves as human beings would.

Note Romans 8:22: “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Creation is portrayed here as a woman in labor. It’s personified, personalized. But it’s only a picture.

Notice it also in Isa. 49:13: “Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out into singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted.” Again, we see how feelings and emotions and personal conduct are ascribed to God’s creation.

Note, too, Isa. 55:12: “…The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” This is clearly a picture, of course. Trees don’t clap their hands, and hills don’t sing. Everybody understands that this is a picture. But when we read that God’s Holy Spirit speaks, then suddenly people assume that this must mean that the Holy Spirit is a person.

The book of Psalms is filled with personified descriptions. Let’s just look at a few:

Psalm 96:11-13: “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad… Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.”

Psalm 148:2-4, 7-11: “Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light! Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens… Praise the Lord from the earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; Mountains and all hills; Fruitful trees and all cedars; Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl; Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth…”

In this passage, angels, men, animals and plants, as well as lifeless or unconscious objects such as water, planets and stars, are all asked to praise the Lord, as if they all were persons. Yet, nobody would assume that water, for example, is a person with feelings, emotions, or ability to reason. It is understood that this passage in Psalms pictures the greatness of the Creator God.

The God Family is Destined to Grow

The false concept of the Trinity does not only convey a totally wrong picture of God—it also hides the purpose of man’s existence. Most don’t understand and believe that it is man’s destiny to become God.

God is a Family—presently consisting of the Father and the Son. Through the power of His Holy Spirit, we can become a part of God’s Family. Rather than being a closed Trinity for all eternity, God is enlarging His Family by reproducing Himself in us. True Christians are already called God’s begotten children if His Spirit dwells in them. We are not yet glorified or born again, and it has not yet appeared or become manifest what we will be—namely, born again children of God. We do know that when Jesus Christ appears, we will become born again children of God—we will then be like Him and see Him as He is—the firstborn among many brethren (cp. 1 John 3:1-2; Romans 8:29).

The concept of the Trinity that teaches that God is—and that He has always been—Father, Son and Holy Spirit, hides and obscures the fact that God is a Family. In the beginning, there were two God beings—one being referred to as the Word or the Spokesman, as well as another being, referred to as God (John 1:1). But the Word was God, too, as “God” is a family name. The Word became flesh—He became known as Jesus Christ (John 1:14), while the other God being, the “highest” in the Godhead, became known as the “Father.” Christ became born again as the Son of God in the resurrection (Romans 1:1-4). Before New Testament times, God was not known yet as the “Father,” and the Word was not known yet as the “Son.” But Christ is now the Son of God—and, He is also the firstborn amongst many brethren. You, too, can become a begotten and, at the time of the resurrection, born again “son of God.” The false concept of a closed Trinity totally hides this awesome truth. If you want to know more about your ultimate potential, please write for our free booklet,“The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.”

We have seen in this booklet that God is not a closed Trinity. Rather, God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son are a loving Family. The Father gave His only-begotten Son for us so that you and I can join His Family and have eternal life. God wants us to worship Him in “spirit and in truth (John 4:24).” Let’s make sure that we do.

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