God bless you brethren. I'd like to continue where we left-off the last time we were studying together. You'll recall we identified Ezekiel's "Gog" from historical records, from Scripture and from the Word of God's prophet, the late William Branham. Let's spend a little more time on this study.
I'd like you to turn in your Bibles to Numbers 24:7, "Israel shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted."
Balak king of Moab had heard how Israel defeated the Edomite tribe of Amalek (Exodus 17:8-16; Genesis 36:12, 16), and fearing for the security of his kingdom, hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel. But Balaam could only prophesy in the Name of the Lord the Words God placed in his mouth, and in accordance with God's promise to Abraham, he altogether blessed Israel and foretold the eventual doom of the nation of Moab (Genesis 12:3).
Unbeknownst to himself, Balaam was prophesying primarily of things that will come to pass through Messiah from His birth to the millennium when the kingdom will be restored to Israel. All Scripture has a compound meaning and these prophecies of Balaam did not pertain strictly to his day. Israel will realizes its destiny only in Messiah in Whom the kingdom is restored and in Whom the kingdom is truly higher than Agag, the representative of the hostile world power.
You'll remember Agag was Amalek who is Esau/Edom, representing the self-styled Jews in the natural realm, and the false church in the Spiritual. Having forsaken their birthright, and reaching a place of no more repentance, their names are removed from the Book of Life. At enmity with God and His elect, they type Agag and reflect his doom.
Psalm 89:27, "Also I will make Messiah My firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." Jesus Christ is "the firstborn from among the dead," and "the beginning of the [new] creation of God" less than 2,000 years ago (Colossians 1:15-18; Revelation 3:14). Jesus is "higher than the kings of the earth" (Ephesians 1:20-23). Or as Balaam prophesied, "Higher than Agag" who will be their ultimate ally.
Some time ago we found that "the kings of the earth" are the Black Nobility or the Khazar Jew Venetian Oligarchy that married into the Royal Houses of Europe.
The Books of Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation describe how Rome will rule the world after the Gentile dispensation closes with earthquakes that split the mount of Olives and sink Los Angeles and a 1,500 by 300-400 mile segment of earth's crust beneath the ocean. We learned that Russia will attack and invade the United States, and how the Pope will restore peace, refinancing the US dollar with gold backing and be acclaimed the inaugural president of one world government: a revival of the old Holy Roman Empire which will see the withdrawal of Russian troops.
God's unchanging Word instructs us that Rome will be supported by these "kings of the earth," and make an agreement with the International Jews to refinance the dollar (Daniel 9:27). In the midst of Daniel's Seventieth Week, when with the finance of the world under control and the global economy prospering, she will break that covenant and force the mark of the Beast.
Then the European kingdoms will "hate the whore" and abandon Rome. Eastern Europe will revert to Judaeo-Communism and bomb Vatican City State from the face of the earth (Revelation 18:8-20), and Russia will do likewise to the USA.
As God raised-up Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem, He has raised-up Communism to destroy the false church. And it will. The "kings of the earth" will ally against Rome with the revived Communist power. Communism is political Zionism championed by the non-Semitic anti-Semitic self-styled Jews whom Ezekiel calls "Gog." Gog is Esau/Edom who is at enmity with Jacob naturally as it despises Christianity spiritually. Rome, the Jews and Communism have always been bitter enemies.
Psalm 89:27, "Also I will make Him, My firstborn, higher than the kings of
the earth."
Numbers 24:7, "Israel's King shall be higher than Agag, and His kingdom shall be exalted."
Christ utterly destroys Agag and the kings of the earth by His manifested Word. Armageddon will leave them neither root nor branch (Malachi 4:1-3). When the glorified Jesus returns, He comes back with the glorified saints of all Ages who step out upon the ashes of the wicked.
Have you seen something? Agag the leader of the Edomites is "Gog." Revelation 17 and 19; Ezekiel 38�39; Psalm 89:27 and Numbers 24:7, are all speaking of one and the same event. It is the outcome of the enmity between two brothers�Esau/Edom and Jacob/Israel. The clue was revealed to me as I was preaching from Numbers 24:7 last week. Please open your Bibles at that verse.
"Israel shall pour out an abundance of water; His offspring [not natural Israel but Spiritual Israel: the seed of Jesus Christ], will dwell in many places, [as God told Abraham: "In Christ shall all nations be blessed"�Genesis 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; Psalm 72:17; Galatians 3:8; on the other hand Israel can only dwell on one place], and his King [Messiah] shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted [all things are under our feet]."
 Now the clue was that word "Agag." Scholars dispute whether it is the title of the Amalekite kings�as Pharaoh was the title of the Egyptian, and Abimelech the title of Philistine kings�or if the word should actually read "Gog" as it is translated in the Old Latin, Septuagint, Modern English, Moffatt and Aquilla Bibles, and by the Samaritan Pentateuch.
As I pointed out, Balaam is speaking of Christ's kingdom, which is fully realized after the defeat and destruction of Israel's enemy in "the battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Revelation 16:14). We've proved throughout Scripture that Israel's greatest enemy was his brother Esau, the self-styled 'Jew.' This battle is with Gog who is Esau. In Numbers 24:7 and 20, Balaam's prophecy is contrasting Israel's overcoming, enduring Kingdom with the doomed kingdom of Amalek who is Agag, Gog, or Esau/Edom, who are the self-styled Jews trying to steal back the birthright they sold to Jacob/Israel and regain the dominion. They are the Communist power that will rule Russia and her confederacy at the end, after the present "peace offensive" launched by Nikita Khrushchev in 1956. The meaning of the name "Gog" is "to surmount." It gives a clue to his nature and denotes one who sets himself like the roof in the midst of heaven and earth, between God and men. Gog leads Magog which represents a whole complex of nations under subjection as vassals.
 Brother Branham said, Scripture does not play with words. Whatever is in the Record is there for the anointed eyes to see. It is there for a purpose"(An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, p. 105:2). For instance, the last person mentioned in Cain's antediluvian genealogy was Naamah, the Serpent's seed (Genesis 4:22). And it's not usual to mention a female in the genealogies. Naamah is listed because she was in the Ark as Noah's wife, and reproduced Cain's lineage on this side of the Flood. Naamah was not the mother of Noah's three sons.
I Chronicles 5:1-4 is another Scripture for "anointed eyes to see." Verse 1, "Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright".
To the very last, Reuben's seed will bear the disgrace of his sin (Genesis 49:4). The natural types the Spiritual. As Reuben defiled his father's bed naturally, his children defiled the Temple or resting place of their Spiritual father by idolatry. The spirit of physical fornication is the same spirit that lies in idolatry.
Reuben, Gad and Manasseh occupied the land on the East of Jordan and were the first to be taken captive; they were transported in about 733BC by King Pul (Phal-luka) and his son Tiglath-Pilesar III of Assyria (II Kings 15:29). This occurred because of idolatry with the gods of the Land they had conquered by the hand of God.
I Chronicles 5:25-26, "They transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, who carried away the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, to this day".
By defiling his father's concubine, Reuben forfeited his birthright which went to Joseph, the double portion being divided between his two sons who became the half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
Hebrews 11:21, "By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff".
Jacob blessed Joseph, saying, God, before Whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long to this day . . . Moreover I have given you one portion above your brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow".
The birthright and double portion went to Joseph, but the dominion went to Judah. Genesis 49:10, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler from between his feet, until He to Whom it belongs shall come; to Him shall the gathering of the people be".
Micah 5:2, "Oh, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are just a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of My King; whose Coming has been foretold from the beginning, from eternity".
In I Chronicles 5:1-2, which is in parenthesis, the sacred historian explains why, although Joseph was entitled to the precedence, Ephraim and Manasseh were not mentioned first in the genealogy. The Tribe of Judah who were invested with pre-eminence over all other tribes is mentioned first in Chapter four, followed by Reuben and the two tribes by his standard. "Hence the genealogy was not to be reckoned after the birthright".
Reuben follows after the first in the genealogy, which is a higher privilege of dominion given to Judah. "If you too are Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). The seed or offspring of Christ have precedence over the Tribes of Israel who are servants to the Bride. I Chronicles 5:2, "For the Tribe of Judah excelled the other Tribes in number and power; of Judah came the chief ruler, David and his successors, then Messiah, which is a far greater privilege than the birthright which was Joseph's".
After Judah, Reuben's first-born head the list of Jacob's children together with the two Tribes by his standard. The Chronicler next names Levi (chapter 6), as the priests always went before Israel with the Ark. Levi also was godly, and did not transgress in the matter of the golden calf; therefore the priesthood was taken away from the children of Reuben, and on their account from all the firstborn, and given to Aaron and his sons. The custody of the sanctuary belonged to the Levites, but the birthright belonged to Joseph.
There also seems to be a righteous and moral reason in Joseph, finally becoming heir to the birthright in as much as he was the eldest child of Rachael, Israel's real love, and who, but for deception and sharp practice, would have been his first wife.
Verse 3 is also interesting, or should I say telling? "The sons, of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were, Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi." Considering the prominence of Hezron and Carmi among the clans of Judah, it is remarkable to find their names recurring among the main branches of Reuben. It might be instructive to bear in mind a duplication of the names of Seth's descendants in Cain's lineage after the birthright he claimed was forfeited. (But unlike Reuben, Cain was not a son of Adam).
The blessings of the birthright were reserved for the two Northern Tribes, the priesthood was given to the Levites, and the dominion promised to Judah. So it is understandable that at some time the descendants of Reuben might yearn to assert their former pre-eminence as the firstborn of Israel.
There was a rebellion against Moses and Aaron by the Levites led by Korah, and a body of laymen under the Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16). Korah was a Levite who saw the precedence of the Aaronic priesthood as an annoyance, and sought an equal right. This is the spirit of Communism or Laodicea that rules the world today. Dathan and Abiram were descendants of Reuben, the Tribe which once possessed but had lost the primacy. In some way, not particularly defined in this record, they disputed the supremacy of Moses and joined Korah's conspiracy against his authority. The crowd desired a dissolution of all authority: anarchy. And the leaders enticed the whole nation with the lure of freedom and equality. And isn't this what has been happening in Laodicea?
What interests me most, however, is I Chronicles 5:4, "The sons of Joel; Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son." This fellow Gog, this descendant of Reuben, isn't mentioned just to fill up space in the Bible. I suspect he may be the Gog from whom Ezekiel's Gog was named. Ezekiel's Gog is not a man but a people named after an historical figure in the same pattern as the nations he leads are named after their progenitors. His father, Esau lost his birth right, as Reuben, father of the original Gog, lost his birthright, and both men were profane persons (Hebrews 12:16).
However, as I haven't found more of Gog's life history from which to draw a type, or recognized further clues to his character other than his name which means "to surmount," I'll lay just it aside. I think we've established that Gog is Esau/Edom. Now let's return to Ezekiel.
In Ezekiel 38 we see that after the State of Israel is restored in the Promised Land and repopulated by a mixed multitude, God will "cause Gog to return to Israel, putting hooks into his jaws," forcing him from his own land at the head of a mighty army whose nucleus are Scythians, or Russians, but which includes Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, Turkey and many other peoples. According to Brother Branham, Russia's motive in attacking Israel is to gain control of the mineral wealth of the Dead Sea (COD 77:111; 294:530; Daniel, 122:157; Isaiah 60:5).
"God says, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, My fury will come up in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have said, 'Surely in there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel (Ezekiel 38:18-19)." This shaking is the earthquake of Zechariah 14:3-4, Isaiah 29:5-7 and Revelation 16:19.
Now Isaiah 66:18-20. In Daniel's Seventieth Week, says God ". . . I will gather all nations and tongues against Jerusalem. And they shall see My glory when I will perform a mighty miracle against them, and I will send their survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put (Libya) and Lud (Turkey) that draw the bow, to Tubal (Georgia) and Javan (Greece), to the distant shores that have not heard My fame, nor seen My glory. There shall they declare My glory among the Gentiles (Ezekiel 38:23). This news will restore all your brethren as an offering to the Lord brought honourably from all nations to My holy mountain Jerusalem, as the children of Israel bring an offering in consecrated vessels to the house of the Lord."
The days of grace to the Gentiles have ended. Survivors of the armies that came against Jerusalem return to their lands with news of God's miraculous stand for Israel, rousing revival in the heart of expatriate Israelites whom they assist to return to the Land of the Covenant, as Cyrus assisted in Judah's return to Jerusalem. The only place God ever has, ever can, or ever will deal with Israel, is in the Promised Land. Any Israelite outside the Land is outside the Old Covenant, excluded from relationship with God.
Joel 3:15-17, "The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining."
The Son of God will turn from the Gentiles; the apostate church will reflect darkness and blood, and the partial Word of the seven stars or Church Age messengers that produced the new birth in the saints of their dispensations will no longer be Light but the glare of an Age gone by. This has already come to pass since "that which is perfect has come" in the revelation of the Seven Seals (I Corinthians 13:10). We must walk in the Light God is shining for this day. We can't be written epistles of the Light He revealed for a day gone by.
[The Jews impersonate the Light of Moses, yet It was fulfilled 2,000 years ago. Lutherans, Presbyterians and Episcopalians (Anglicans) are impersonating the Light Luther shone in the Sardis Church Age. It gave the new birth to the saints predestinated to that Age, but It won't make a saint in this day. The Methodists and Baptists are impersonating the Light God shone through Wesley's Message to the saints of the Philadelphian Age, but that part of the Body was completed in 1906. The Pentecostal denominations are impersonating the Message of William Branham to the Laodicean Church Age, but it ended in 1963.
We must recognize our day and it's Message. Only when we see that part of the Word manifesting through us can we know we are born-again, or "Christians." Outside of that revelation we are not even called to at all.
Very soon now, the Gentile dispensation will end. God will turn to Israel, and 144,000 elect Israelites in the Promised Land will hear His Voice through the Message of their two prophets, and be born-again. Any outside that number are not His elect people].
"The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His Voice from Jerusalem [not London, New York, Moscow or Berlin] and the heavens and the earth shall shake [the heavens were shaken by the ministry of the prophet of Malachi 4:5-6 and Revelation 10:7 that restored the apostolic faith, finished the mystery of God and is calling God's people out from all man-made systems into the unity of the faith. The earthquake was foretold in Ezekiel 38:19 and Zechariah 14:3-4, and marks the close of the Gentile dispensation]: but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. Thus shall they know that I am the Lord their God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and no strangers shall pass through her any more".
Once again the Hebrew word used to describe "strangers" is zuwr, used in connection with enemy aliens or a foreign race [Serpent's seed] with no rights whatsoever in Israel even if they do call themselves Jews. And as if to make a point, two verses down we read of the impending doom of Esau/Edom for their violence against the blood descendants of Judah.
Joel 2:20-25, "I will remove the northern army, and will drive him into the barren wasteland, half towards the Dead sea, and half toward the Mediterranean, and his rotting stench shall cover the land, because God has performed a miracle."
"Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord has done great things. Be not afraid, you beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness have sprung up, for the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and the vine yield their full strength."
"Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He has given you the former (or autumn) rain moderately, [which Israel rejected and the Gentiles received], Once more He will send down for you the rain, the former rain, [in the ministry of William Branham which restored the apostolic faith or original teaching rain to the Gentiles], and the latter rain in the first month [which will be the former or teaching rain for Israel, and the latter anointing for the resurrection of the Church Age saints and the manifestation of the Sons of God]."
"And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil [Word and Spirit in the anointed ministry of the Israel's two witnesses]. And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you".
Paul declared, "if the casting-away of natural Israel resulted in the reconciliation to God of the elect Gentiles, Israel's restoration will result in the first resurrection and millennium" (Romans 11:15).
Yes sir, Israel will receive two prophets. One with the anointing that was upon Moses, who will restore them back to the Law and prophets whence they have fallen. The other, with the anointing that was upon Elijah, will direct them to their place in "the present Truth" in their "former rain." Their latter rain will be the "parousia" and baptism with the Holy Spirit, or new birth to Israel.
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