TEXT FOR PRAYER

This afternoon I shall read from Christs Object Lessons page 40, paragraphs 1 and 2. -2TG4 10.1

…In the sermons from many pulpits of to-day there is not that divine manifestation which awakens the conscience and brings life to the soul…. There are many who are crying out for the living God longing for the divine presence…. Let the word of God speak to the people. Let those who have heard only traditions and human theories and maxims hear the voice of Him whose word can renew the soul unto everlasting life. Christs favorite theme was the paternal tenderness and abundant grace of God He dwelt much upon the holiness of His character and His law He presented Himself to the people as the Way the Truth and the Life. Let these be the themes of Christs ministers. Present the truth as it is in Jesus. Make plain the requirements of the law and the gospel. Tell the people of Christs life of self-denial and sacrifice of His humiliation and death of His resurrection and ascension of His intercession for them in the courts of God of His promise I will come again and receive you unto Myself. -2TG4 10.2

We need to pray for help to learn how to teach as did Christ how to value the teachings of the Spirit above the teachings of men and how to present the Word as It is in Jesus making plain the Truth. This is our great need. -2TG4 10.3

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Our subject today is found in Ezekiel chapters 37 to 39. These chapters are long and time will not permit us to read every verse nor even to comment much on them. And so we shall not try to cover all the verses in chapters 38 and 39, nor say all that can be said. The verses we omit however really need no comment for with this light at hand as you study the chapters at your own leisure the truth of them will stand out brightly. -2TG4 11.2

Ezek 37:1-12 — The hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones and caused me to pass by them round about: and behold there were very many in the open valley and lo they were very dry. And He said unto me Son of man can these bones live? And I answered O Lord God Thou knowest. Again He said unto me Prophesy upon these bones and say unto them O ye dry bones hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones Behold I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you and will bring up flesh upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you and ye shall live and ye shall know that I am the Lord. -2TG4 11.3

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So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied there was a noise and behold a shaking and the bones came together bone to his bone. And when I beheld lo the sinews and the flesh came up upon them and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said He unto me Prophesy unto the wind prophesy son of man and say to the wind Thus saith the Lord God Come from the four winds O breath and breathe upon these slain that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army. -2TG4 12.1

Then He said unto me Son of man these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold they say Our bones are dried and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them Thus saith the Lord God Behold O My people I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. -2TG4 12.2

Here we see how the dead are to be raised: First the bones are gathered together bone to bone. Next the flesh is added then covered with skin and finally breath is given them. In The Genesis we are told that Adams body was made from clay then breath was put into his nostrils and he became a living soul. By combining air with the clay the man became a living soul. So the Scriptures reveal that the resurrection is but a re-creation. Man receives a new body out of the old but in order to be the same man that once lived and died then made alive again he necessarily is given the former intellectual knowledge and memory of his lifes experience. Truly the living know that they shall die but the dead know not anything all the while they are in their graves. Eccles. 9:5, 6. -2TG4 12.3

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Ezek 37:13, 14 — And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves O My people and brought you up out of your graves and shall put My Spirit in you and ye shall live and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it and performed it saith the Lord. -2TG4 13.1

Not only will He raise His people from their graves but He will also bring them into the land of Israel. The dead to live again is indeed a miracle but not much greater than for a worm to bury itself in the ground or to inclose itself in a cocoon or the like then to go in the state of unconsciousness change its form and become a beautiful butterfly cruising through the air instead of crawling on the ground. This and other wonders do not seem miracles because they are common daily occurrences. If in the beginning God could create the earth out of nothing He can re-create man much easier when to start with He at least has mans bones and his intellectual knowledge of good and evil. -2TG4 13.2

Ezek 37:15-19 — The word of the Lord came again unto me saying Moreover thou son of man take thee one stick and write upon it For Judah [the two-tribe kingdom] and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick and write upon it For Joseph the stick of Ephraim [the ten-tribe kingdom] and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick and they shall be come one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee saying Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them Thus saith the Lord God Behold I will take the stick of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel his fellows and will put them with him even with the stick of Judah and make them one stick and they shall be one in Mine hand. -2TG4 13.3

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Here we are plainly told that the two ancient kingdoms the types He is to restore and join — and so bring out the antitype. -2TG4 14.1

Ezek 37:20, 21 — And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them Thus saith the Lord God Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen whither they be gone and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land. -2TG4 14.2

The faithful from among the descendants of Israel that were scattered throughout the nations will we are concretely told be gathered and brought back into their own land. These descendants of the tribes of Jacob we must not however construe to be the unbelieving Jews of today who are trying to gain possession of Palestine. The Kingdom here predicted you note is to be made up only of converts to Christ mostly from the tribes who were scattered and lost sight of among the Gentile nations including the descendants of those who made up the early Christian church — of those who no longer called themselves Jews but Christians. These besides those of the Gentile nations who join Christ are obviously to make up this premillennial Kingdom in the Promised Land. -2TG4 14.3

Ezek 37:22 — And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. -2TG4 14.4

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This consolation you note is permanent. And since there are no sinners in It it obviously as shown elsewhere in our literature is the result of the Judgment in the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17) — the Judgment for the Living the purification of the church the separation of the bad fish from the good (Matt. 13:47, 48) the cleansing of the sanctuary (Dan. 8:14) — the harvest of the firstfruits: the 144,000 that stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb (Rev. 14:1) — the remnant. Then follows the ingathering of the second fruits. -2TG4 15.1

Your knowledge of these things though will not benefit you if you do not make a desperate effort to be one of or one with the 144,000. You moreover must have this extra oil in your vessels (Matt. 25:1-12) now while it is so freely dispensed. To get it later will not profit you for the late comers will find the door closed. Their knocking on the door will only cause them to hear the Master say Depart from Me I never knew you. (Matt. 7:23). Indeed you must immediately avail yourselves of this light-giving oil now while It is brought to your doors if It is to do you any good. -2TG4 15.2

Ezek 37:23 — Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols nor with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned and will cleanse them: so shall they be My people and I will be their God. -2TG4 15.3

After the subjects of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel are gathered from among the heathen nations and they themselves become a nation and a kingdom then they are to be cleansed and not before say the Scriptures. From these you see that this is the work of the cleansing of the Sanctuary (Dan. 8:14) the purification of the church ( Testimonies Vol. 5, pg. 80) — the cleansing of the temple (Mal. 3:1-3) — the harvest time blotting out the sins and defects of the penitent and doing away with the impenitent. It is the Judgment for the Living that purifies the church. It sets her apart from the world and fits her for the gathering of the people (Rev. 18:4) — makes her the ark for today a place of refuge for all who wish to escape the plagues. Thereafter the saints remain clean. They sin no more. They are Gods clean and faithful people forevermore. There has never therefore come to Gods people a more important message than this. -2TG4 15.4

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Ezek 37:24-28 — And David My servant shall be king over them and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in My judgments and observe my statutes and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant wherein your fathers have dwelt and they shall dwell therein even they and their children and their childrens children for ever: and My servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them and multiply them and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea I will be their God and they shall be My people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. -2TG4 16.1

Plainly then all these things take place in the sight of the heathen that they may see and know what God has done for His people. Thus will they know that He has loved them. -2TG4 16.2

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Ezek 38:1, 2 — And the word of the Lord came unto me saying Son of man set thy face against Gog the land of Magog the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal and prophesy against him. -2TG4 17.1

Gog is here said to be the chief prince the king of Meshech and Tubal. These two cities Meshech and Tubal were anciently situated in Asia south of the Black Sea where the Turkish Empire now is. -2TG4 17.2

Ezek 38:8 — After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword and is gathered out of many people against the mountains of Israel which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations and they shall dwell safely all of them. -2TG4 17.3

The many days after which Gog is visited are the thousand years. The latter days in which Israel return to their land and the time in which Gog shall go against them are premillennial. -2TG4 17.4

Ezek 38:9 — Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land thou and all thy bands and many people with thee. -2TG4 17.5

The expression to ascend and come like a storm suggests that these things are to take place in the time of the airplane. -2TG4 17.6

Ezek 38:10-12 — Thus saith the Lord God It shall also come to pass that at the same time shall things come into thy mind and thou shalt think an evil thought: and thou shalt say I will go up to the land of unwalled villages I will go to them that are at rest that dwell safely all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates. To take a spoil and to take a prey to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations which have gotten cattle and goods that dwell in the midst of the land. -2TG4 17.7

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As the land of Israel shall have no visible human protection whatsoever it will appear to Gog that he should have no difficulty robbing the people of the land. -2TG4 18.1

Ezek 38:13 — Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all the young lions thereof shall say unto thee Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold to take away cattle and goods to take a great spoil? -2TG4 18.2

These neighboring countries and people that ask Gog to tell them his mission evidently are not allied with him. -2TG4 18.3

Ezek 38:14-17 — Therefore son of man prophesy and say unto Gog Thus saith the Lord God In that day when My people of Israel dwelleth safely shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts thou and many people with thee all of them riding upon horses a great company and a mighty army: and thou shalt come up against My people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land it shall be in the latter days and I will bring thee against My land that the heathen may know Me when I shall be sanctified in thee O Gog before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? -2TG4 18.4

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Clearly this Kingdom of Israel is set up in the latter days in the days before the millennium for after the Kingdom is set up Gog opens war against It. Indeed this cannot be after the millennium for then all the nations from the four corners of the earth Gog and Magog with them shall encompass not the mountains of Israel but the new Jerusalem. Furthermore at that time the slain shall not be buried but burned to ashes (Rev. 20:9, 10 Mal. 4:1). -2TG4 19.1

Ezek 38:23 — Thus will I magnify Myself and sanctify Myself and I will be known in the eyes of many nations and they shall know that I am the Lord. -2TG4 19.2

Ezek 39:1-7 — Therefore thou son of man prophesy against Gog and say Thus saith the Lord God Behold I am against thee O Gog the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: and I will turn thee back and leave but the sixth part of thee and will cause thee to come up from the north parts and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel thou and all thy bands and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it saith the Lord God. And I will send a fire on Magog and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord. So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel and I will not let them pollute My holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am theLord the Holy One in Israel. -2TG4 19.3

Gog you see shall fail to rob Gods people. He will instead perish in the mountains of Israel. -2TG4 19.4

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Ezek 39:8-15 — Behold it is come and it is done saith the Lord God this is the day whereof I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth and shall set on fire and burn the weapons both the shields and the bucklers the bows and the arrows and the handstaves and the spears and they shall burn them with fire seven years: so that they shall take no wood out of the field neither cut down any out of the forests for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them and rob those that robbed them saith the Lord God. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The Valley of Hamon-gog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them that they may cleanse the land. Yea all the people of the land sall bury them and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified saith the Lord God. And they shall sever out men of continual employment passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. And the passengers that pass through the land when any seeth a mans bone then shall he set up a sign by it till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. -2TG4 20.1

As these verses need no comment we pass on to -2TG4 20.2

Ezek 39:22-29 — So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against Me therefore hid I My face from them and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them and hid My face from them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel and will be jealous for My holy name after that they have borne their shame and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against Me when they dwelt safely in their land and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people and gathered them out of their enemies lands and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations then shall they know that I am the Lord their God which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide My face any more from them: for I have poured out My Sprit upon the house of Israel saith the Lord God. -2TG4 20.3

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I do not know of any chapters in the Bible that are more explicit than these chapters of Ezekiel. They need no interpretation whatsoever. But in spite of it the Denomination ignores them as though they were not in the Bible. And even now rather than teaching the soon fulfillment of these chapters the setting up of the Kingdom the ministers are doing all they can to confuse the laity and to enshroud the Scriptures in mystery So there is evidence upon evidence that the angel of the church of the Laodiceans is blind and yet knows it not. -2TG4 21.1

Now at this crossroad the eternal destiny of all Gods servants is to be settled. Now they must take either the step that Paul was forced to take on the way to Damascus or the step that Judas took in the upper room after the Master washed his feet. This is you see not mans talk it is Gods the Bibles. -2TG4 21.2

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You are now given the opportunity to be a Daniel a Job a Stephen a Luther a Miller or a White. I hope that none of you choose to be a scribe or a Pharisee. They were geniuses to find fault but too stupid to see Truth. Such you know have never led anyone into Truth but have ever kept even whole nations away from It. They are geniuses at their wicked profession. -2TG4 22.1

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The Cloud and Fire

As of old when the hosts of Israel Were compelled in the wilderness to dwell Trusting they in their God to lead the way To the light of perfect day. -2TG4 23.1

To and fro as a ship without a sail Not a compass to guide them through the vale But the sign of their God was ever near Thus their fainting hearts to cheer. -2TG4 23.2

All the days of their wand rings they were fed To the land of the promise they were led By the hand of the Lord in guidance sure They were brought to Canaans shore. -2TG4 23.3

So the sign of the fire by night And the sign of the cloud by day Hov ring o er just before As they journey on their way Shall a guide and a leader be Till the wilderness be past For the Lord our God In His own good time Shall lead to the light at last. -2TG4 23.4

–C.A. Miles

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