📡✞ The Bruisers (2 Part Series): An In-Depth Bible Study

📡✞ The Bruisers (Short): An In-Depth Bible Study 🔗

[Watch the Short] https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx1dRhorD6YAO2bpJyn5LaA7NrrBxZt0kw

Summary

The video lecture delves into biblical teachings centered around the conflict between the divine and the adversary, specifically focusing on Satan's role as the "adversary" and how scripture—particularly from the books of Genesis and Matthew—demonstrates the importance of understanding scripture accurately. The speaker emphasizes the significance of Genesis 3:15, which foretells the cosmic struggle between the seed of the woman (representing Christ) and the seed of the serpent (representing Satan). He references Matthew chapter 4, where Satan tempts Jesus by quoting scripture, underscoring that while Satan can quote God's word, he manipulates it, showcasing a critical aspect of his deceiving nature.

Using Psalms 91, the lecture illustrates the protective power of faith in God amid tribulations and challenges posed by deception. The teachings stress that believers should arm themselves with God’s word to navigate through life's adversities and resist Satan’s deceptions. The speaker discusses the significance of personal reliance on God, illustrating that the true understanding of scripture is crucial in combating negative influences and fortifying one’s faith. The message culminates in a call to acknowledge God as the ultimate refuge and strength, reinforcing the assurance that those who keep their faith in God's ways will be preserved and guided.

Highlights

- 🐍 **Satan as the Adversary**: The speaker describes Satan's role as the adversary in the biblical narrative, emphasizing the need for Christians to be informed and vigilant.

- 📖 **Scriptural Manipulation**: The lecture discusses how Satan quoted scripture during Jesus' temptation, illustrating the importance of understanding scripture accurately.

- 💭 **Faith as Protection**: The teachings from Psalms 91 underscore reliance on God for protection against deception and tribulations.

- 🔄 **Bruising the Serpent's Head**: The concept of "bruising the serpent's head" reinforces the idea of overcoming evil through faith and God's word.

- 🗣️ **True Understanding of God’s Promises**: The speaker emphasizes that believers are encouraged to trust in God's assurances documented in scripture.

- 🕊️ **The Importance of Fellowship**: The call to fellowship and support among believers strengthens the communal aspect of faith.

- 🌍 **Understanding Current Events through Prophecy**: The lecture encourages understanding contemporary issues through the lens of prophecy, highlighting that preparation is essential.

Key Insights

- 📜 **Satan's Deceptive Nature**: The speaker highlights that while Satan has significant knowledge of scripture, his mastery involves twisting the words to sow confusion. This serves as a warning to believers about the importance of developing a deep understanding of their faith. It suggests that someone can use scripture to mislead, hence Christians must distinguish between true and false interpretations.

- 📆 **Historical Context of Temptation**: By paralleling the experience of Jesus in the wilderness with the Israelites’ fear of giants in the Promised Land, the speaker encourages believers to confront their fears and trust in God’s promises. This insight draws a direct line between historical biblical events and contemporary faith challenges, encouraging reliance on God’s truth rather than societal rumors or fears.

- 🚀 **Navigating Modern Deceptions**: The point made about abiding in God underlines the essential need to maintain spiritual health by distancing from negativity. In an age filled with misinformation, believers are reaffirmed to hold steadfastly to faith and biblical truths for mental clarity and peace of mind amid chaos.

- 🛡️ **God as the Ultimate Refuge**: The relentless reassurance that God is a refuge provides comfort against existential worries. It reflects the biblical promise of protection and deliverance, encouraging believers to lean on God during crises rather than allowing fear of the unknown to govern their actions.

- 🔍 **The Role of Personal Responsibility in Faith**: The speaker reiterates the personal aspect of faith—believers are encouraged to actively seek a relationship with God through prayer, study, and meditation on scripture. This personal engagement is essential for understanding God’s nature and will.

- 📣 **Collective Faith through Fellowship**: The discussion about the necessity of fellowship among believers taps into an important aspect of Christianity—community. Engaging with fellow believers not only strengthens individual faith but also reinforces collective understanding and support.

- 🌟 **Prophetic Awareness in Actions**: The speaker emphasizes the necessity for believers to be aware of current events in light of biblical prophecy, thereby urging them to not only recognize potential fulfillments but also to prepare accordingly. This sense of vigilance is a call to action for believers to embrace their role as witnesses within their communities.

Overall, the lecture serves as a profound reminder of the depth and intricacies of faith as anchored in scripture, while also addressing real-world implications and applications of those teachings in navigating life's challenges and Satan’s attempts at deception.

📡✞ The Bruisers (Part 1 of 2): An In-Depth Bible Study 🔗

[Watch] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cevmbET0Lo4&list=PLcK3ZkGY_ffqnJ4ab88cLkz0mJ3c4ZZpk

[Transcribed]

Lecture by Dr. Pastor Arnold B. Murray:

It is written in Genesis 3:15, when the woman had conceived, He said, "I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed," meaning Satan. And I'll turn there real quickly to get a correct quote because we're going to be drawing from this even in the next lecture. It says, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise"—I want you to make a mental note of the word "bruise"—"it shall bruise thy head." In other words, the woman's seed will bruise the serpent's head, that is to say, Christ.

"And thou shalt bruise His heel," and of course, this is when Christ was nailed to that cross. So, the conflict began in that garden, and Satan—always that—what does Satan mean? It means "adversary." That's what the word means when translated rather than transliterated: adversary. And indeed, he is the adversary. He's your adversary, and that's why you must be wiser with the teachings of Christ than the serpent. But what is his weakness? It certainly isn't knowing Scripture, for he can quote Scripture. And I want you to turn with me to Matthew, chapter 4, and we're going to read a scripture. But he has a little habit. His habit is that he twists Scripture, and unfortunately, most Christians are not sharp enough in God's Word to know when he does twist something. You can take an absolute fact and twist it just a little bit; it throws the whole thing off course, and you're as good as lost. By that, I mean as far as sticking to basics and facts the way—but not to set the stage—Christ has fasted 40 days and nights here in the wilderness, even as our people, we were discussing yesterday, wandered in the wilderness 40 years because they were afraid of those giants over the hill. And as we discovered in the Scripture, there weren't any. There were no giants over there; they had been gone for years. It was just rumor, and they were frightened. But Satan—Christ, simulating that 40 years by this 40 days—He could make it; they couldn't. All right, they ultimately made it out, but I mean He succeeded. He overcame. He had the victory over Satan.

So Satan tempts Him here in verse 6, and I want you to concentrate on it very carefully. And he said unto Him—this is Satan speaking to Christ—"If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written..." You know, there's old Satan quoting Scripture. So Scripture is not necessarily his weakness, but then, on the other hand, it is. God's Word is his downfall; it is his weakness. That's why it is your strength. That is why Jesus said, "Be wiser than the serpent," and that's why when you understand the Word of God, then you can take those pitfalls out of your life—call it the negative part of your life, if you like; doesn't matter—for Satan is negative. Put those thoughts out of your mind. Don't waste your time on negative thoughts or anything that is negative. It is far better to think positive. "It is written," he states, "He shall give His angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up." Oh, that's right on line; that is very scriptural. He's quoting the 91st Psalm. Here's where he goes wrong: "Lest at any time..." He told a lie there. That's not what it says. That's not what the Scripture says at all, nor does it imply that. Satan lied. How many Christians would be sharp enough to know that, though, to understand? That's why I mean it isn't—it is not possible for every Christian to understand every Scripture, but it is when Satan speaks them. He speaks them—he quotes them, rather—for a reason, and you want to be at least sharp to that extent. "Lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." That was incorrect.

I want you to turn with me, if you would, at this time to the 91st Psalm. We're going to understand why it is correct—incorrect, rather. I'm just going to begin reading with verse 1 of that 91st Psalm, and we'll work down to the verse that he quoted so that you understand why Satan was frightened even of that Scripture. That's why he sparred with it, for a very simple reason: these very Scriptures tell of his downfall. For as it was promised from the very beginning in the garden, "He's going to bruise your head." Therefore, number one, Satan's head is his weakness. Therefore, spiritually, what are we saying? You do not combat necessarily, as a unit, the tail. All right, that is to say, the political—I mean, you keep aware of them, but you go for the head, and that always is the spiritual leader. You be aware of that head, okay? And Psalm 91 reads, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Do you want a secret place that you have—comfort, silence—that God can lead you, that He can talk to you? It's under the wing of God. Those of you that are familiar with the Song of Moses, which the overcomers sing in Revelation 15, you'll note that God quotes in that Song of Moses, "I'll put you under My wing, and those of you that are lame, I'll put you up on My wing, and I'll carry you." He loves us; He truly does. That's where your protection is: in Him, with Him.

Verse 2: "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him will I trust." Beloved, put your trust in none other. Oh, love your families with all your heart, but you must love our Father. He is your true Father; He is your closest relative. Now, don’t anyone read into what I said there and say, "Well, boy, I can tell my mate to go hang it now; he said..." No, I didn’t say that. Spiritually, He is the creator of your soul, and His very law states that you’ll get along with your family, okay?

Verse 3: "Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence." That’s the tempest or the tribulation, if you want to write it in there in the column; that’s what it means: Satan’s tribulation. Because we’re going to be getting to this old Satan, this old dragon, in just a minute. He will deliver you from it. As we discussed in the last lecture, there’s no giants out there because He protects us.

Verse 4: "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." You remember, in the last lecture we did, in Matthew 23, Jesus said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have taken you under My wing, and you would not." He wants to; He’s willing, but people are not.

Verse 5: "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night." In the Hebrew, this is really—there’s no hunter’s trap that’s going to trap you in the night or in the darkness. Of course, Satan is that night and darkness. "Nor for the arrow that flieth by day." That wing of God protects you. "Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday." In other words, beloved, when you accept Christ, you become a child of light, and there is no night for you; you’re a child of the day. "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee." What is Satan’s main weapon in the end times? It’s deception. If you have the truth in your mind, there can be a thousand on this hand be deceived by it and a thousand on this hand be deceived by the one-world system—and the humanists as that being a tentacle, if you would, of that head aforementioned—you will not be deceived by it. For it shall come to pass exactly as it’s written; it always has, it always shall. That’s why you must grow familiar with the Word of your Father. He left this letter for you. Read it; understand it. You’ve heard me say many times, if you wrote one of your children a letter and they set it on a shelf and never read it, how would you feel? It’s a very personal thing; it’s real. Tell Him you love Him occasionally. Take His letter and read it, for it’s written to you.

"Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked." That is, if you have eyes to see. If you have eyes to see, you will see that reward, for it really comes today. There is no reward in the mental attitude and the nervous system of someone that is wicked through usury or other means and captivates or takes away the rights of innocent people. They’re a nervous wreck. In other words, they pay part of their price today; they don’t sleep good at night, if nothing else. Greed causes them—it’s a disease: more, more, more, more. Now again, this has nothing to do with the blessings of God’s richness. If God’s blessing you because you’re living right, it has nothing to do with that. There’s nothing wrong with being rich, and don’t ever let anyone sell you that bill of goods. It’s rich for the wrong reasons that is—that I will show you a very unhappy person. Eyes deceive him in verse 8.

Verse 9: "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation." In other words, this is you: because you have made the Lord your refuge, because you have made Him your habitation, your tabernacle.

Verse 10: "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." That’s why, if you’re in the real truth, prayers are answered. "For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." You recognize that Scripture; we read it before in the New Testament. But what did Satan say? He said, "at any time." But the Scripture says, "in all thy ways." What is "the way"? The way is God’s path, God’s way, God’s law, God’s manner of doing things—not "any time." "Any time" is like a spur-of-the-moment quick thought: jump off the building. That’s stupid. Is that God’s way to run? Is that the way Christians are supposed to impress people: to go to a high building and jump off "at any time"? No, the angels are not going to keep that. If you jump off of a 10-story building, you’re going to bounce just a little bit—not much—and that’s it, all right? Because it’s dumb; that’s not in God’s way. But Satan would sure like to have seen Him try that, you see. So Satan has a way of twisting just a little bit—but not enough that most people know. Now, that one’s easy to spot. There are other things in your daily life that he still attempts, and if you’re not careful—if you’re not careful—you know, one of the greatest weapons that Satan likes to use on someone, he likes to camouflage it with love or what would appear to be love. Look at Peter when Jesus told him, "I’m going up to Jerusalem, and they’re going to crucify Me." Peter, because of his love for Christ, said, "No, Lord, we’re going to get an army together; we’re going to prevent this." And the Lord said, "Get thee behind Me, Satan." You see, that was Satan using Peter’s love for the Lord to try to interfere with the way of God. The way of God was that crucifixion for you—for you—to pay that price. He was paying off all your sins, friend. He loves you that much, paying for your shortcomings, your sins. So we see Satan in his way; we see a weakness. You can predetermine many times the way he shall operate, okay?

Let’s continue with the quote then. Verse 12: "They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Well, you see, he had already taken away the logic of the Scripture. This is as it should be: as long as you do it God’s way, you’re going to be blessed. The angels will protect you; the saints will protect you—the saints being departed people which are now angels. Understand, your angel always has the face of God, quoted from Matthew; it’s a fact. "Thou shalt tread upon the lion." Now, this is the part that Satan’s afraid of—you shall, for me, this is why this was on his mind—"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder." You know what an adder is? That’s a snake. "The young lion and the dragon"—the dragon is the name used for Antichrist, the role Satan plays in the Book of Revelation, meaning the unveiling; we’re talking about Antichrist—"the dragon shalt thou trample under feet." In other words, you’re going to bruise his head, all right? You’re going to bruise his head.

Verse 14: "Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high." And the Almighty Father has, when He rose from that cross, "because he hath known My name." He was not tricked. That even goes to His many-membered body today; by deception, "he shall call upon Me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation," which this really is just a long way of saying, "I’m going to issue eternal life because of Him, because of that price."

Psalm 92: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High." That’s what we’re going to do this morning in taking Holy Communion: that is praising Him, showing glory to Him—an act of obedience and love, saying, "I believe." Because you don’t believe just a little bit; you either believe, or you don’t. There’s no partway. If you believe a thing, it’s a fact; and if not, you just don’t believe, though you may claim you do—you don’t. It is a reality. "To show forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning and Thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the psalm, upon the harp with a solemn sound." That means meditation—meditation. There’s a ten-stringed instrument you’re going to be playing on in a spiritual sense before very long, and there’s ten crowns, and they’re not going to come out very smooth; it’s not going to come out in harmony, all right? I speak of Revelation, chapter 13:1 and 2.

Verse 4: "For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work; I will triumph in the works of Thy hands." Beloved, you’ve got the victory if you just reach out and claim it. If you will keep the negative things out of your family and life, you will have no problems that you can’t just handle. You can have problems—as an example, a good marriage is not a marriage that never fights a little bit—I mean, argues. A good marriage is a marriage that can put together a marriage after an argument, because there are very few marriages that never have an argument. And if you can’t put it together, you really don’t have a good, strong marriage. There’s only one way you can put it together, and that’s to be positive in His Word. Because you see, as we learned in that first lecture, those four winds—which "ruach" in the Hebrew tongue, the spirits—can even change the minds of people with your prayers. It can instill love where there’s troubled waters; it can smooth them for the angels we spoke of. And I don’t want you to create a new angel religion; it’s just the fact that they do—they’ll help you for your benefit when you follow God’s way, not Satan’s way—God’s way, meaning path, okay?

What verse we got to? Verse 5: "O Lord, how great are Thy works! And Thy thoughts are very deep." Truly they are, but they’re simple in the simplicity in which Christ taught—so very simple that sometimes the worldly wise don’t understand. "A brutish man knoweth not, neither does a fool understand this: when the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever. But Thou, Lord, art Most High forevermore." Eternal. "For, lo, Thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, Thine enemies shall perish." Two times for emphasis. "There’s no giants, beloved; they perish. All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn shalt Thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn; I shall be anointed with fresh oil." What is this anointing? It is—and what is the oil? The anointing is taking the oil of our people, the olive oil, and in faith, in obedience, using it. Anointing—the oil does not accomplish the miracle; the oil simply shows your obedience to Him, and His love pours forth, spills over you. You can actually feel His wing—understand, I speak in a spiritual sense—encompass you as He takes you into His heart because you understand His letter and love Him for having written it. "Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me." Going to hear them fall is what it says in Hebrew. "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." That always being symbolic of what Satan wanted to do, if you understand the idioms of the Hebrew. But he was a plain old "tiasha," which in the Hebrew tongue means "box cedar"—didn’t amount to much. "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." Personal care—you’ll read of it in Ezekiel, chapter 44: the Zadok, God’s elect.

Verse 14: "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing." In other words, this has to do with the—I suppose we could call it a metaphor that Christ used when He was carrying the cross up the hill to Golgotha. He said, "If they do this to the green tree," meaning while the blood was circulating in His veins, "what will they do to the dry?" It means you will have life abundant—a life that we can only get a glimpse of at this time: eternal life, life evermore.

Verse 15: "To show that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." You got that, beloved? There is in us, but there is not in Him. That’s why you must go to Him, not man, necessarily. Oh, it’s good to have fellowship—don’t misunderstand me—and love your brothers, but He—in Him, there is no unrighteousness. He loves you; He is sincere about your betterment. He’ll take care of it; He’ll handle it. He wants to handle it. It is His will that all be saved, but "will" means it is His wish that all be saved. They’ve still got to love Him, or they won’t be. They’ve still got to love Him.

Now, why did Satan come here? Why was he afraid of this? He knew the Word of God when it said "bruise the head" or "trample with the feet the dragon." He knew very well what the Scripture was saying—what God was saying. Therefore, there comes a warning in the 94th Psalm to you. God inserted it to you—94:17, I believe that’s right. Yes, in closing, 94:17: "Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence." In other words, I’d have been in a silent old grave; that’s all it would have been to it. "Grave" most often is translated "hell"; it means dust to dust, and that would have been it—no more. "Ashes" in Hebrew is also an idiom that means "forever and ever." In other words, when you burn something and it is consumed, the elements return back to what they originally were, basically forever, which means you don’t exist—just a touch. If you ever wonder what a burning hell is, that’s what it is: it turns the soul to ashes, and it’s forever and ever, okay?

Verse 18: "When I said, ‘My foot slippeth,’ Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up." He’ll do it, you see; this is the promise. Satan tried to destroy this by saying "at any time." "And in the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul." Just meditate on Him. I don’t mean 24 hours a day, and sometimes one person—it takes more meditating than it does others. Just be comfortable; find your speed, find what it takes to comfort you, and do accordingly—and those around you. Always be thoughtful. A Christian is strong enough that a Christian can be thoughtful of his fellow man. You can afford to be generous in giving of time, etc., to the rest of your families. If you happen to have a non-Christian, you can be generous because you can set an example. If you really, truly do it His way, He’ll comfort you, even in that. "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee?" Aha, what is the "throne of iniquity"? Have you ever read 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, where it states that the son of perdition shall come and sit in Jerusalem on a throne and claim to be God? That’s the dragon, friend; that’s Antichrist. "Shall it come to pass?" And you can have no fellowship with it. "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee, which frameth mischief by a law?" In other words, they take the law of the land—one-worldism—and frame mischief against the Godhead itself, such as using an atheistic nation as a superpower in the end times to bring great pressure upon a world system that will ultimately make his throne a reality because of that law.

Verse 21: "They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood." They even condemn Christ, for He was the only innocent blood. We may feel sometimes that ours is—I’m sorry, it isn’t; only in Him, only in Him. He is the innocent blood. "But the Lord is my defense, and my God is the rock of my refuge." Remember, in that Deuteronomy 32, the Song of Moses I mentioned earlier, God makes it very clear. He said, "God—their rock," meaning the Kenites, the sons of Satan, and those that would follow this throne—"their rock is not our Rock." And in the Hebrew, a small "r," if I may use that terminology. But our Rock, with a capital "R," is God. "Ti" in the Hebrew tongue means "rock." Ezekiel 28 tells of his kingdom—Satan’s kingdom, that is. "And He shall bring upon them their own iniquity and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off." That is the time of eternity. The negative part of God’s plan will be fulfilled; it shall run its course, and Satan will accomplish that that he must. But they will be cut off. How many are condemned to death at this time? Only one, plus some of his renegade angels—and that is to say, Satan. And many people would say, "Well, I know an old boy died, and he is the mean—I know he went to hell; he just ain’t around." Not so, friend; he’s in paradise awaiting judgment. You’ve got to have judgment before a sentence can be passed, all right? And until that judgment, there’s hope—there’s hope. So I thank God for that Rock and the fact that He is your protection. You can go into Him; you can be in a business meeting and have a crisis arrive that most people’s minds—their eyeballs would click, and they would show white, and perspiration would come upon them, and they would try to look like, "I’m cool, man; I’ll handle this." But when you’ve got Him, you can just reach up—just press His seal there in your forehead just a little bit—and go into Him, and those words will start coming forth, and He will lead you through that like a king or a queen when you believe, you see. It’s not a religion; God’s not a religion—He’s real; it’s a reality. So put your faith in Him—not man, not in a religion, not in a society, but in your Father—for He is the one that you can always depend on. I don’t care if it’s business or what; you can be the coolest cat in the congregation—all right?—of business, and also the most successful. And people will even say, "Where does he or she get their strength from?" And it’s so simple: He’s our Rock. That is why He said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven," that is to say, "Understand My Word, and I will add all these things unto you." It’s so simple, and it’s so real.

Let us pray: "Heavenly Father, we thank You, Father, for Your Word. We thank You, Father, for being that wing, Father—that wing that hovers over us in times of trouble. And Father, we know of a surety that in Thee we have that peace and that contentment and the only true happiness and joy in this world. We just thank You for it, in Yeshua the Messiah’s name. Amen."

Dr. Pastor Arnold B. Murray

📡✞ The Bruisers (Part 2 of 2): An In-Depth Bible Study 🔗

[Watch] https://x.gd/jbsFu

[Transcribed]

Lecture by Dr. Pastor Arnold B. Murray:

"The bruisers"—I apologize before even teaching this that I really wanted more time to prepare it, but the Father only gave it about a day and a half ago, so you’re going to get it in kind of a rough form. I think He’s got a reason for that; I think He wants you to do part of the research as well. This takes us on and beyond in the 11th chapter of Daniel, where we see where we came to the place that the Shah’s son would make an appearance—at least, we say, "Watch that." It would appear we said that two and a half years ago, and believe it or not, as you’ll probably notice on the bulletin board, B—the Shah’s son—did slip back into Iran. He took a television transmitter with him and told his people to be ready; he was returning. So the Father’s Word, inasmuch as in Daniel 11—if you’ll turn there—those of you that have not studied the tape "What Happens Next" or the last revision or updating on Daniel, it will—you will find it in the 11th chapter. And I apologize if you haven’t; I’ll just real briefly touch your—remember the four winds that we spoke of in the first lecture of this meeting fellowship? In chapter 11, you’ll note in verse 4: "And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven," stating that that same divine agency will have a purpose and will be part of the driving force within that. Then we had the King of the South and the King of the North that were involved—Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdom—which are known as the North and the South. The North—let’s put it in common English so that we understand what we’re talking about—is the modern-day Persia, which is—I should say—modern-day Iran. Daniel was taken to the river—to the river Hiddakel, which is today’s Tigris, right on the 750-mile front now between Iran and Iraq. It continues on, and it tells in verse 6 of the King of the North and the South that were pretty good friends. And you will all remember Sadat, and you’ll all remember the Shah of Iran; they were good friends. As a matter of fact, the Shah of Iran went to Egypt and died there with the protection of Sadat. Sadat also took the sons of that King of the North to Egypt with him. Many of them have traveled back—not many of them; there’s not that many—but made many trips back and forth, even to this nation. And you will find that the King of the South shall come into his kingdom—that would have been Sadat at that time—in the ninth verse of this 11th chapter: "and shall return into his own land. But his sons shall be stirred up and shall assemble a multitude of forces." I wonder how many of you remember that day that the army of Sadat—those forces which he called his sons—passed before him, and he was gunned down like an animal by his own. It came to pass. And then CIA, of course, comes into the picture back in the fifth verse. We’re not going to cover all of this; it’s—I’m not going to say it’s old hat for everyone, but you’ll have an opportunity through those tapes to understand that according to this prophecy, if we take verse 18 in this 11th chapter, then: "And this"—this being Khomeini, the King of the North—"it would appear that he almost conquers Iraq." I feel that is on the horizon within, say, six months—not necessarily totally conquer, but he shall move further into the territory of Iraq. "And this shall he turn his face unto the isles and shall take many; but a prince on his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him." I feel this is the Shah of Iran, who is at this moment making every drive he can to unseat Khomeini. You don’t hear much of it; you hear quite a bit of it on the Reuters wire service and in some of the national presses. You can find somewhat—again, without repetition—an article on the board now, and we even have film clips of the Shah’s son as he pleaded with his people to "make ready." You know that in contest in Kuwait—I believe it was—that four Iranian weightlifters defected, and it is believed that they defected to Iraq to help join the fight against Khomeini. You’re hearing of this more and more. So Khomeini certainly is going to get news from home when he makes that drive.

Listen to verse 19: "Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall and not be found." That will be the end of Khomeini. Now, as I stated, this is supposition; it’s teaching you how to watch. These events have come to pass exactly as the Scripture has called them to happen; it is history also. Now, when we get to verse 21, it becomes future prophecy, even to where we are now, and that’s what we’ll be covering today. But when the Shah’s son comes into power—verse 20: "Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom"—that is, of the old Persian Empire—"but within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle." In other words, he’s going to be removed peaceably by a greater figure, which, of course, would be Antichrist. He is spoken of in the next verse. Now, with that thought in mind—and I pray that you’re familiar with that—in other words, we did cover about two hours’ teaching there in about three minutes, so I know most of you have been through it, but be that as it may.

Now, what happens next? Verse 21: "And in his estate shall stand up a vile person." This is even a creature, if you would, in the manuscripts, because he is not necessarily a flesh man, human man; he is a supernatural—the dragon—"to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom; but he shall come in peaceably." This is why so many people will be deceived by Antichrist, expecting war, contention, bloodshed—hey, it’s just the opposite. He’s coming as Savior; he’s coming as the deliverer of this world. He’s coming saying, "I’ve come to rapture you people away," and to the Muslims, he’ll be saying, "I am your leader; return to sit on the throne of the Rock," and they’ll allow it—"and obtain the kingdom by flatteries." Flatteries—saying what? The statement just made: "I’m it; I am super." He will perform miracles in their sight. They will not be mentally prepared to even give a second thought to not receiving him, because the people of today are not prepared to see miracles performed. Revelation 13 says he’ll snap his fingers, and lightning will come down from heaven. Hey, that’s quite a feat. People will go buggy over stars—you know, people, flesh men. Wait until you see this one: the most beautiful of the archangels standing, saying he is deliverer, he is Christ, he is the anointed. The only trouble is, it’s just not with God’s oil; it’s his own oil, okay? "And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant." This is to say, those that do follow the true God will not have an opportunity to even talk to the people, hardly, because they’re not going to listen. They will not listen when they have a supernatural entity to listen to. That’s why it is important that the prophecy be understood before the fact; the prophecy be declared before the fact, because nobody will believe you after it happens. Do you understand? A prophecy is not a prophecy if it does not come forth before the fact. That’s what gives a prophecy power—I’m speaking of God’s prophecy.

Verse 23: "And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully; for he shall come up and shall become strong with a small people." This word, as you know—and you’ve heard me teach before—is in the Hebrew tongue, and it is those Kenites, his own sons, his own children. It is obvious, even today, those that fight against Christ—those Christ taught about in Revelation 2:9: "those who claim to be of Judah and are not and do lie and are the sons of Satan," or the synagogue of Satan. Not my words—God’s Word, okay? "He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province"—that’s the richest—"and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, the spoil, the riches; yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds, even for a time." What are his devices? Deception, lies—the very lie that he is God, as it is written in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. He’s the son of perdition—alias Satan—stands in the holy place claiming to be God. Where is the holy place? Don’t be fooled; it’s the Rock—the Rock from which Christ rose, the Rock which Abraham offered Isaac up as a sacrifice, the Rock that the Islamic faith believes that Muhammad ascended—the holy place. That’s where he intends to sit. Does it need a new building? No, the Rock. He’s going to claim to be the Rock. "And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the King of the South with a great army; and the King of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they"—underline the word "they"; it’s the small people, the Kenites—"they shall"—deception and lies almost instantly, as long as it takes the signal to go up and come back down. For you are watching live pictures now of the very building they’re meeting in, in Iceland. So, you see, people sometimes forget miracles are happening—would have considered them miracles 50 years ago, but no longer.

Let’s continue on and see what happens. Verse 27: "And both these kings"—that is to say, the King of the South and the King of the North—"that Gorbachev being representing Esau, even to the point that God has placed—Esau is Edom, which means ‘red,’ and God has placed a birthmark on Gorbachev’s head that the whole world can see, and being a scholar of God’s Word should recognize that it’s a sign from God: this is the one; at least you’d better watch it, okay?—"both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper, for yet the end shall be at the time appointed." In other words, God’s in control; it’s not going to happen until He’s ready for it to. You might say, "Well, President Reagan wouldn’t speak lies." Well, when you’re defending your country and when you’re bargaining with atheists, you speak many things that are fed into the machine, and so it goes, unfortunately. You and I know that the "they" of verse 25 feeds much of the information that the two kings are saying in this day are right, but underline the point: your Father’s in control; it’s set for a time appointed.

Verse 28: "Then shall he return"—now we’re back to Antichrist, okay?—"then shall he return into his land with great riches, and his heart shall be against the holy covenant"—against those that hold out for God, those that hold out for the true Christ—"and he shall do exploits and return to his own land." He will keep as much confusion as he can but yet remain in control, whereby neither superpower makes a stand. Do you understand? There will not be a total—even agreement reached, possibly on paper, but there will still be that suspicion. And from Ezekiel 38, we know there was some one-sided dealing, because Russia ends up with an army and we don’t through the dealings. That’s definite; we don’t even have to speculate about it—it’s a fact. For it is that army that comes against us at Hamon-Gog, and God destroys it—not us; God destroys it, okay? So we have them talking, and it gives you rather a strange feeling that this was going on—heart speaking. We didn’t plan it that way; it just happened that way—that it happened this Feast of Tabernacles.

Verse 29: "At the time appointed he shall return and come toward the South." He’s going to come toward God’s people, "but it shall not be as the former or as the latter." Now, what this means in the manuscripts is this: in the first, that is to say, he was successful; he had a victory; he overflowed; he took over. In the latter—in verses 41–43 to the end of the chapter—he fails. So what it means is this: he’s not going to win as he did in the first, nor is he going to lose in this approach as he did at the end, all right? We have an interim here, and that’s what’s important to you now. And that interim is what we’re going to discuss in God’s Word.

Verse 30: "For the ships of Chittim shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved." Who shall be grieved? The dragon—Antichrist, this vile creature—"and return." He shall be grieved and return "and have indignation against the holy covenant; so shall he do." He’s going to be very upset, and that’s when some people are going to start being delivered up, as it is written in Mark 13, that they are not to premeditate what they say beforehand but to speak what God gives them at that instant. "He shall even return and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant." In other words, he will have intelligence with those that have their fly-bye-bye suits on, that are ready to be raptured out at any moment. The intelligence will be, of course, not to your benefit. Now, think back on the verse we just read: What troubled him? What troubled him? Read it for yourself; I want you to look down as I say it: "For the ships of Chittim grieved him." What’s Satan’s weakness? What grieves Satan? Now, "Chittim"—let’s don’t transliterate; let’s translate. "Chittim" means "the bruisers." I want you to remember the verse I gave you this morning from Genesis 3:15: between thy seed and his seed, there would be a contention; "he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his feet." Therefore, it is necessary that we have bruisers. Now, let’s read that verse as it is read in the manuscripts. Man has only translated part of this; the other—"Chittim"—he transliterated for you, and with an English mind, you can’t grasp that. I want your English mind to grasp the full weight of it: "For the ships"—that is to say, the vessels—"of the bruisers shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved in return and have indignation against the holy covenant." Because it is the holy covenant that is the bruisers; it is Christ’s many-membered body that shall bruise his head. And that’s the way it should have been translated. What is your body? Is it a vessel, or is it not? Of course it is. And altogether—this is not to single anyone out—it is the entire body, then, that makes up the ship and are the vessels of the bruisers. And I’ll tell you one thing further: it is even the ark of the end days, if you would like to know. For you’ll be on that ship of the bruisers, or you’ll be having intelligence with the wicked one—it’s that simple. Is this written in other places in God’s Word? Yes, it is. That’s why I said I wish I had—wish God had given me a week to research this after giving me the truth of it, but He didn’t, so that means you’re going to, okay?

Turn with me to Numbers. Understand—let me, before we leave Daniel, you’ll understand that—let’s just read just another verse or two before we—how does he put this in play? "And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate." That means Antichrist shall actually, in this vein of thought, appear on the scene, and he takes away the daily sacrifice—which is your communion, but of course, in the overall, it was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, for there was no longer a daily oblation, or that is to say, a daily sacrifice. And it continues on as to how some—some of the believers will stand, even to the end, to make some pure, if they would hear. Now, I don’t have to go into that; you know who that’s talking about. You know that is God’s elect that will stand up at the end and allow the Holy Spirit to speak through them, as it is written in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21.

Now, turn with me to Numbers 24. One Gary told you all about Balaam the other day, and I promise you I’m not going to redo Gary’s ground there; I won’t need to. But we are back in Balaam’s territory, okay? Real good. Verse 14 of chapter 24, Numbers: Balak had been trying to get Balaam to do a little false prophesying for him, okay? And we pick it up: "And now, behold, I go unto my people; come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days." That means in the end times. "And he took up his parable and said, ‘Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said’"—those that have eyes to see—"‘he hath said, which heard the words of God and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance but having his eyes open.’" In other words, God was making it known: "‘I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not nigh. There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab and destroy all the children of Sheth.’" There’s a deliverer coming—the true deliverer. What does He accomplish?

Verse 18: "And Edom"—again, Edom is the land of Esau; it is the word "red" in the Hebrew, the same as Adam is "reddy." Edom in the Hebrew tongue is "red"; it is that red nation of today—Esau’s country; it’s Russia, okay?—"Edom shall be a possession; Seir"—that’s Esau’s mountain—"also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city." Of course, that deliverer is Jesus the Messiah when He returns as King of kings. "And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable and said, ‘Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he perish forever.’" There’ll never be that nation again. "And he looked on the Kenites"—look at it close: K-e-n-i-t-e-s; that’s the sons of Cain; that’s the little "they" in the reading of Daniel—"and took up his parable and said, ‘Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock. Nevertheless, the Kenite’"—or "smith," Goodspeed translates it "Cain," for that’s what it is in the manuscripts—"‘nevertheless, Cain shall be wasted until Asshur’"—this is the Assyrian, and you know that the Assyrian is one of the names of Antichrist from the Book of Ezekiel; your Companion Bible will document that and verify it—one of the many names—"‘shall carry thee away captive.’" "And he took up his parable"—I want you to note, underline "parable"; we’re talking in a parable—"and said, ‘Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?’" I can tell you: you will. "‘And ships’"—ooh, there’s that word again—"‘shall come from the coast of Chittim.’" Now, let’s read it like it is; let’s complete the job of translating: "And vessels shall come from the coast of the devourers—the bruisers—and shall afflict Asshur"—or the Assyrian—"and shall afflict Eber." Eber is the base root, in part, of "Hebrew"—those across the river, those that get taken in, those that are ready to fly away—"and he also shall perish forever." I want you to know this would sound like, "Boy, those people are going to be bombed out even before the judgment." We’re not talking about people, beloved; we’re talking about nations, all right? Do you know why they’re not going to ever be a nation again? Because Jesus Christ is coming as King of kings, and you’re going to be part of that nation—or they won’t be a nation—unless you be one of the kings or queens of the nations He chooses; you won’t be. "And Balaam rose up, and he went and returned to his place."

Now, we’ve been talking about the Middle East; we’ve been talking about Iraq and Iran; we’ve been reading all that in just on the strength of Daniel. Surely you would have to have another witness before you would do that. Let’s see—where was it? Let’s go to Jeremiah, okay? Jeremiah, chapter 2. I’m going to say—and that’s right—Jeremiah, chapter 2, and we’re going to pick it up along about the seventh verse. Let me set the stage so you understand what we’re doing: God’s telling Jeremiah, "Hey, those people are going into Babylon; they’re going into confusion. They’re not going to believe you, but you go tell them anyway." And I want you to remember the character of Jeremiah. God, in verse 1, chapter 1, said, "I knew you before you entered your mother’s womb." He had chosen this one when God created the soul; He chose that one. And He’s telling them how that Israel would rebel, how His people would rebel. And in verse 7: "And I brought you unto a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled My land and made Mine heritage an abomination." Even if you would, down to today, that abomination of desolation that was set. "The priests said not"—they didn’t warn anybody—"‘Where is the Lord?’ And they that handle the law knew Me not." They didn’t know the true Lord, but it slips into your mind because they had all taken on the false lord. "The pastors also transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal." They were all prophesying towards Satan. Remember, Baal is the king of Babylon, and Babylon in Revelation—the unveiling—is Satan. "And walked after things that do not profit." It doesn’t profit to serve Satan—Antichrist—even if you think you’re serving God; it will not profit. There’s only one way you can have eternal life, and that’s in the true Christ—the One that paid with the blood on the cross.

"Wherefore I will yet plead with you," saith the Lord, "and with your children’s children will I plead." "Children’s children" means from umbilical cord to umbilical cord to the last generation. I think you’re it, because of the parable of the fig tree; I really think you’re it—the final generation. How long that generation is, I don’t know, nor does anyone else, but you’d better watch, for prophecy is being fulfilled before your very eyes.

Verse 10: "For pass over the isles of Chittim"—there we are again. "Isles" means "coast," all right—"and see." Now, let’s—well, let me finish reading, and we’ll back up and translate: "And send unto Kedar and consider diligently and see if there be such a thing." You see, by transliterating those two words, you really lose it. "Kedar" in the Hebrew tongue means "dark skin"; it is the name of all Ishmael’s children—that is to say, the Arabian tribes, all of Ishmael’s princes. It is the name used in the Old Testament that relates to all Arab nations. Now, Persia, as you well know—Iran today—they are not Arab; they are Persians. They’re a different people; the Arabs know it. And this is one reason that Iraq is so hurt at Syria, because Syria is an Arab nation, and they have sided with the Persians. And the Arabs most always—most usually always—stick together. They try; they fight all the time, but basically, overall—now listen closely—from generation to generation, the umbilical cord to umbilical cord. Let me translate rather than transliterate verse 10: "For pass over the isles of the bruisers and see." You go out from where the bruisers are and look "and send unto the Arab nations and consider diligently and see if there be such a thing." That’s a little plain, isn’t it? We were just taking Daniel, and Daniel said, "Go to the Arab nations and look," and here we’re finding in Jeremiah also that the bruisers—that is to say, those that shall bruise the head of Antichrist as the many-membered body—should look there and see if it’s happening yet. Is it? You know it is—at least it could be. Were you not to recognize there is an 85 to 90% possibility at this late date that this is the time, then you would not be a very good student or watcher of God’s Word. The odds are closing that this is it, so watch. "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit." That’s Satan; that’s Antichrist. They changed from the true Christ to Antichrist.

"Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate," saith the Lord. "For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters"—they’ve left the true Jesus, who is the Fountain of Living Waters; we’re in the Old Testament, but you know who it is—that’s Jesus Christ; He is the Living Water. They left Him—"and hewed them out cisterns"—that means you—"broken cisterns that can hold no water." That’s what Antichrist is, for he can’t save you; he can only mislead you; he can only deceive you, okay? For the sake of time, let’s—well, we’ll follow this thought in Jeremiah. I would request that you request that you cover most of this chapter.

Let’s read on ahead to—well, what is He doing? Verse 21 of this same chapter—chapter 2, I’m sorry—chapter 2, verse 21: "Yet I had planted thee a noble vine"—speaking to His people again—"wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me?" Who’s the vine? Christ. You’d better be careful, friend, who you hook your vine into—I mean your branch, rather. It’s serious in these end times. And do you understand this pulls right in with the parable concerning—Romans, chapter 11—why the branches were cast off so that the other branches could be grafted in? Don’t forget it. "For though thou wash thee with nitre and take thee much soap"—if you use lye and then try to wash that off, then with soap—"and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me," saith the Lord. "How canst thou say, ‘I am not polluted; I have not gone after Baalim’?" "I didn’t; I wasn’t deceived." "See thy way in the valley; know what thou hast done. Thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways." In other words, you’re a camel in heat, and nobody can turn you back—that’s what the Hebrew says, just to put it plainly. I don’t apologize for God’s Word; I like to teach it like it is so you can understand what’s said. I’m not too nice for God’s Word; He wants the point made. "A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure"—that means at her time when she is in heat—"in her occasion who can turn her away?" This is—and that’s enough; we’re going to skip on a little further. That’s the way they chase after Antichrist when he appears, beloved. You might as well get set mentally for it. You could get in front of him with a Mack truck, and they’d smash you; they’re going after him, in other words, okay? I think God made that very clear there, okay?

Now, let’s go to verse 15 of chapter 3 here, and I want you to cover all of this—please do—and you analyze it and take it in for yourself. And this is chapter 3:15: "And I will give you pastors according to Mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." Bless your hearts, this is the bruisers—and you’re the bruisers; you are those pastors. Don’t look at me; I’m just a teacher. He’s looking for a people that He’s calling out, and they’re from all over the nation. "And when this comes to pass, He wants them to have the courage to stand up and know there’s no giants in the land, and He’ll be with you, and you’ll win; you’ll have the victory. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days," saith the Lord, "they shall say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord’; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more." You know why? He’s going to be with us, so that—you know, this is the end. The reason they won’t be calling for the ark of the Lord is the Lord will be here Himself. Next verse will document: "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord"—in other words, a throne is not a throne unless the King’s on it; understand—"and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart." Bless your heart, you have a part in making that come to pass—of teaching truth. For the world is in for a deception soon like never before; it’s being—the imagery is being created by "they" now. Understand, I’m not teaching hate against them; God said, "Leave the tares alone; they’re doing the negative part of My plan, and I don’t want you to hate them, but I want you to know the truth and know what they’re going to do, whereby you can at least recognize it when it comes to pass." You can have a part in that and become one of God’s elect and, as it is written in Ezekiel 44, have a special place—well-earned.

Chapter 4—you remember I use this chapter of Jeremiah quite a bit to document the world that was, because it speaks of the world that was. Let’s—He’s telling—He’s telling you how that you are to go about this, the bruisers, that is. Verse 5: "Declare ye in Judah and publish in Jerusalem and say, ‘Blow ye the trumpet in the land; cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.’" That’s sound the battle cry, the alarm. That’s what we do with this old trumpet out in the backyard: we try to teach the truth through it, and it covers one-third of this earth’s surface. We could not have done it without the blessings of God through the bruisers that you—and praise God for that. "Set up the standard toward Zion." Do you know what your standard is? It’s Christ; that’s the only standard you need, beloved—the true Christ. "Retire, stay not, for I will bring evil from the north and a great destruction." God’s going to do the destroying, so don’t get nervous. If you get nervous about it, read chapter 38 and especially the first five verses of 39, where God says, "I’ll stop them at your border; they’re not going to touch you." "The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles"—that’s Satan—"is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate, and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant." In other words, Michael has booted him out of heaven, and he is on earth—not now, I mean when this comes to pass, all right? "For this, gird ye with sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us." He’s going to boot him out on this earth, but beloved, you are equipped whereby it won’t bother you in the least. He’s coming in peaceably; he’s not coming in to kill anybody or make war. He’s coming in to make them think he’s the prettiest, best little old Jesus this world ever saw, okay?—if I can just put it that way.

"And it shall come to pass at that day," saith the Lord, "that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder." You know what they’re going to be wondering when they see this come to pass? "Where did we go wrong?" I’m talking about the false prophets—you know, not the prophets of God—"Where did we go wrong?" "Then said I, ‘O Lord God, surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people.’" God didn’t do it; they saved themselves.

Skip on with me, if you would, to verse 20: "Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled; suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment." That’s when Antichrist appears. What God is about to say here is, "If you don’t think I’m going to bring about this destruction, then don’t think it any big deal, because I did it once before." That’s why the scientific community can prove that this earth is millions of years old—because it is. Christianity should teach that it is; the Hebrew text states that it is, but it is not taught. And what God’s going to say here in a moment, He said, "I did it then, and I’m going to do it again; I’m going to bring in a new earth age, okay?" Listen to it.

Verse 21: "How long shall I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?" Beloved, we must answer that: until God tells us to shut it off. The bruisers must continue to bruise, and we’re bruising until God says, "Shut it down," or Antichrist gives us free time—one or the other. And you’re going to get free time because when you’re delivered up—but still, even that—do you know what it is? "I’m going to be delivered up, Lord; that sounds scary." No, it’s going to be the biggest revival you ever attended in your life. The people are going to be encouraging, "Accept him, accept him; he’s the Lord." And your own relatives that believe he is the true Christ are going to say, "Lord, don’t be too hard on my little old sister out there; she really thinks you’re Antichrist. Forgive her, won’t You, Jesus?" And the Antichrist will even spot that sister because the other turned her in—which is as it’s written: "Mother shall betray the daughter to death, the father the son, etc."—not to a physical death, to a spiritual death, should they do it. Follow it—Mark 13, Matthew 24. That trumpet must sound, and it’s going to.

"For My people is foolish; they have not known Me." No, they’re more familiar with the other side. "They are sottish"—that means they’re stupid; just write "stupid" there; that’s what the word means in Hebrew—"stupid children, and they have none understanding. They are wise to do evil"—not intentionally, beloved; you understand that. They don’t mean to; it’s that they have left the truth—"but to do good they have no knowledge." They really don’t know how. And then He tells of before—what He’s saying here, as I told you earlier: "They’re stupid; I’m kind of a little bit tired of it; My wrath’s building." And He’s saying here, "I did it before; listen to it: I beheld the earth"—I looked at it—"and, lo, it was without form"—that’s "tohu" in the Hebrew—"and void; and the heavens, and they had no light." I mean, this is not Noah’s flood; there were birds on the ark, and there was even an ark. What void? "Tohu" in the Hebrew means flat—nothing, all right? When God destroyed this earth—that’s why you see the signs of the upheaval. You can go out here in these Ozark Mountains and even look at a cutaway of a bank, and you can see signs of it—or anywhere in this world, you can see signs of it. "I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly." He said, "I can shake it harder," you understand? "I beheld, and, lo, there was no man"—not one, beloved; He destroyed that world that was. Noah’s flood—there was Noah and his sons, their children—and I have no doubt that China was not touched by that flood. That world flood was only to cover the cosmos—that part of the world that was inhabited by giants, all right?—that had—where the fallen angels had cohabited with the daughters of Adam, and offspring were given to them. "I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord by His fierce anger." Yes, there were even cities at that time; I’m sure they were beautiful cities. This is why you can go up to Alaska and in the tundra dig up the remains of—of—uh—yeah, I’m going to call them dinosaurs; I like to call them dinosaurs, all right?—find dinosaurs with buttercups still in their mouth and their stomach, frozen in the tundra. Used to be a swamp—beautiful place, I guess, you know, with your little old dinosaurs out there grazing. It’d be beautiful; I might be a little shaky too, I don’t know, but anyway, it was there, you know, for that’s a fact, see? And God’s telling you how that He destroyed that—He shifted—I, and this is only an opinion now, I feel He shifted the earth to the point that true north should be where magnetic north is. That’s how far we’re off, and that’s why we have storms instead of the original umbrella that was around this earth—the veil that caused this to be a very healthy place where you didn’t have skin cancer, etc.

Verse 27: "For thus hath the Lord said, ‘The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.’" I’m not going to do it for the remnant’s sake; I’m not going to destroy it. "For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it"—He said, "I did it once before, so you’d better listen; tell them, Jeremiah, I did it once before"—"I have purposed it and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it." What He’s saying: "I’m going to do it." You’ll read of that shaking in the 12th chapter of the Book of Hebrews; we’re not going there—I’m going to stop; you’re on your own. The bruisers shall come; the bruisers will bruise the head of the serpent—the Serpent. And do you know something? We’re bruising it already. Satan does not like, even a little bit, the fact that God has given us the platform whereby we can teach His Word without offending anyone—you know, that’s the beauty of it. I want you to understand that, in a sense, we don’t even offend the Kenite; we only teach truth—that’s what God’s Word relates to it. We certainly don’t teach hate—God forbid—for our Father is in control. But the bruisers—there are many other places where they are mentioned—well, not many; there are other words that have been changed from it but that carry the same thought. It’s beautiful, and I want you to continue to research it. You’ll find them in Ezekiel, and you will find in Isaiah a most beautiful scripture concerning "Chittim," because it works Satan’s old "tiasha," as it is written in—don’t write the note I’m about to give as a reference to this because it won’t stretch—but "tiasha" used in the Hebrew in Ezekiel 31, where Satan was the box cedar. He wanted to be a tree of Lebanon, but he was a plain old box cedar. There are no giants, beloved. If you are bold and you teach God’s Word truthfully, factually, God’s angels will protect you in His way—not yours—His way, when you are doing His work.

So, who knows? Next Passover, maybe He’ll give us another look; maybe He’ll lift the veil a little, and we can see further in. You can carry that 11th chapter of Daniel quite a bit further now if you’ll stop and think with the information we’ve been given here; we can carry that research on considerably. I’m sorry—you’re going to have to do it; He didn’t give me time. So I love you all, and that’s kind of going to be the end of the prophecy in this meeting. We’ll have a little more this evening, possibly, but I think it’s fantastic, and I thank our Father for opening doors for us, for showing us a little further, giving us a little more understanding. For you see, in 35 years teaching, I have read that verse in Daniel hundreds of times; I’ve taught it to some of you in this room probably five times in the Book of Daniel—over and over and over. It’s very simple; it’s a simple word in the Hebrew tongue: "Chittim"—the bruisers—that God would not let my eyes see it, and apparently not yours. But He knows the time appointed and the moment when He calls these things to our attention. So what I’m telling you is, it’s not—it’s not I that do it; it’s not you—it’s who? It’s Almighty God. When He’s ready for us—we’re all intelligent—well, yes, yes, the Irish is coming out; it’s getting wicked—but God does it. And I praise God for His guidance and His direction. And you know something? I wouldn’t want it any other way—would you? Man messes up everything he touches, but God at least has a plan, and He’s holding to it.

This fall meeting is about—this is the Feast of Tabernacles, the actual biblical date—and that’s the time of harvest. And bless your hearts, we’re beginning to harvest what God really intended us to harvest, and that’s souls. Many people get impatient; they’ll say—like there was one gentleman called in yesterday, and he said to one of the ladies, "Nobody will listen to me, so you sit down at that phone, and don’t you try to get rid of me, and you listen." He said, "Nobody will listen to me; I want to—I want one person to convert, just one." He said, "All that’ll listen to me is my wife and my four children." You see how sometimes we can—we can’t see the forest for the trees? He already had five souls, including his own, listening to him, and he wanted more. And many times, two men won’t see alike, and he had that—that’s a blessing, you know? Sometimes you can’t see the blessings, you know, for being over-greedy. But don’t be like this gentleman, because it’s not time yet, all right? Your time of witnessing is coming down the road, and don’t worry—they’re going to be knocking your door down to get of the truth. They want to know. There’s a time coming; they’re going to wake up and realize that God’s truth is the most precious, valuable thing in this world age, and you’ve got it. When you grow skilled in His Word and can speak for our Father—or allow our Father to speak through you—it’s the most important thing in this world. They’re coming, so be patient; this is not the time. My goodness, if we went out and converted the whole world right now, we couldn’t look forward to defeating Antichrist; he’s got to have his day. But we can—we’re going to have the victory, primarily. That’s what’s going to be the theme of the studies we’ll be doing in this meeting, in a sense, of strengthening you to show you that in the Word we have the victory; we have promises. And I want you—listen—don’t just take hold of them; believe in your heart, in your spirit, in your body, for they are true. God is not playing church in these times; He’s looking for a people that can face reality and say, "That doesn’t bother me; I can understand that everybody’s got problems. I’ve been there, and when it’s too rough for everybody else, that’s just the way I like it; I operate good under pressure." Now, that’s the frame of mind—not that it’s going to be that rough—but bless your hearts, we’ve got it made. God has touched our minds; He’s given us the truth; we can understand His Word. Why should we worry? We don’t have anything to worry about.

So that will be the theme of this fall fellowship—but the main thing is the fellowship. I know many of you are out there by yourself; you don’t have anyone to fellowship with that can understand what you’re saying, what you’re thinking. So make sure that you take advantage of that; enjoy each other. You’re a precious family. I figure if we could turn the clock back about 14,000 years, you would see a group of people that would have been in a conflict once before. Hey, if we did it then, we can do it again—I’m talking about God’s elect that He chose before the foundations of this earth age. And to some, that would be a weird statement; believe me, it isn’t. Father is the same yesterday, today, and He’ll be the same forever. And thank God we’re going to be with Him. And you know something? God’s elect will always be together, and that’s precious—absolutely precious. And I like to be around people that don’t have a security blanket other than the Spirit, you know? A lot of people have to take man’s traditions and write in a rapture theory; they have to write in this salvation and that salvation—he

y, He’s enough; He can handle it His way. And quite frankly, I don’t—I look forward to being able to serve Him at that moment; I really do. Now, a lot of people might say, "Well, you’re weird, man; who in the world would want to face Satan?" Hey, we’ve been—it’s nothing new; we’ve been facing him all the time. This way, we can get our hands on him—no, say we can get him face-to-face. Now, it’s foolish to make a statement like that; it really is, because we’re not to premeditate or even think what we’ll say when we do face him, because we’re not going to get to talk—it’s Him, all right? But I don’t see how anyone could help but relish the thought of being able to serve your Father in that way; I really don’t. And it disappoints me when I see people that say, "Oh, I want—I want to get out of here." Well, the world’s bad, but it’s not that bad; mostly it is an illusion.

So we’re going to work on that this weekend: the fact that much—you’ll notice on the schedule—don’t listen to rumors. Do you know what rumors will do to you? They’ll jar you clear off your hinges; you just won’t be able to think right. You cannot concentrate on rumors—and why would you want to when you have the facts in His Word? You see, you can operate with the greatest intelligence that has ever been gathered concerning an operation before the operation even begins.

Dr. Pastor Arnold B. Murray