We'll turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 38 and we'll read through it this morning. Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39. These particular verses are very important considering what time we are right now and discovering what time we are right now. And in history, biblical history, which is real history, right now we're in a time of the uncounted portion of time that Daniel gave us. And we don't know exactly that time framework that it is, but we are passing that time to a time beyond this age that we're in right now. There's another age coming. and that will be a seven-year period of time. What do we call that? Great tribulation. We're about to enter into the great tribulation. Now, I don't know if it's going to be today or tomorrow or whatever. The Lord's kept it from us for good reasons, which are definitely way beyond any of my capability of evaluating. But I think I've got some views on it that might be helpful, but that's not what we're gonna worry about today. We're looking at the coming of the end of this time into the Great Tribulation. Now, there are several things that are associated with that that we have taught over the years, and I'm not going to, develop a biblical evidence behind this today. I'm going to do that in the next couple of Sundays. But we're looking for the resurrection. You and I, as Christians, those of you who are actually Christians, actually born again children of God, You're going to suddenly disappear from this earth, but you'll be ascending to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to come for us. He's not going to come to the earth. He's going to come in the air, and we're going to be caught up, and we're going to be with Him. Now, we're going to be with Him during the time of the Great Tribulation. I read these because I believe that they show us that we're very close to that time of the resurrection. And the end of this order of things, you see, and we're going to point out the evidences that this shows that we are in the time just before that resurrection and that time that this order of things comes to an end and we will now start a new order that lasts for seven years. And here's what it says. Prophecy against Gog. 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 Meshush and Tubal, and prophesy against him. Now, could I imagine, could I come to a conclusion as to what that particular verse tells us? Set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog. Now, I did find, ancient references to the word Gog and Magog. Gog implies or would have the idea in the ancients of a king of the north. And the Magog refers to the king of the south or the kings of the south. Remember that. Remember that. Something is going to be north, something is going to be south. And say, thus saith the Lord, behold, I am against thee, O Gog. It's an enemy of God. It's an enemy of God. Gog is. The one coming from the north. Chief prince of Meshes and Tubal. Now, I've associated the word Mishish as ancient Moscow, and it is north. Now, Pete, would you put the picture up? Now here, notice there's Russia right up there. See it? I want us to go from Russia right down to where Israel is. And Israel is going to be a little further down. Well, it's about right here where it says Georgia, I think. Right there, right there. Now go directly north and just about, no, it's about right there. So go almost straight up that way and it's north. It's almost directly north. Moscow is from Israel. See that? Get you a better map. I'm sorry. We got a little bit out of range of what I need, but it's enough to get that to your brains, all right? Don't forget that. And I will turn, Prince of Mesias, and I will turn thee back and put hooks into thy jaws. In other words, they're gonna come down from the north. And it's gonna be a negative thing. It's gonna be against God. And I will bring thee forth. In other words, God is really the, person who is bringing this to pass. And because he's going to use this coming of these people for several significant purposes. And I'll try to point some of those things out as we go through it. And I will bring thee forth and all thine, now it says army, horses, etc. We're not talking about actual horses and that type of thing. What it's talking about is the tools of war. They just didn't have things to associate with as it would be in our time. But it is going to be our time. It is our time here is my, is my, one of my thesis coming out of this. And it says, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields and so forth. And it's saying that they're well equipped, not just equipped to stand around and shoot at things, but to roll over things. And then it says, with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. And then it says, Persia, Persia, now Persia is what? What country is that now? What's that? Iran, that's right. It's Iran. Iran. Now, where have I heard of that before? Isn't that something that's really going on right now? Isn't it? They're right in the middle of the main thrust of things that are passing by us right now. Is it not right now doing that? And then it says Ethiopia. Now, Ethiopia. Now, where is Ethiopia? Well, they're south. They're south of Israel, down into Africa, into the south. It's south underneath Egypt. That's where it is today. And Libya, where is Libya? Do you know? All right, pretty much you all know where Egypt is. Have a map of that come into your mind? You've got Egypt. Let's see here. Well, we won't do that again. Ethiopia is south of Egypt. Here's Israel. Here's Israel on the map. And you go south, down, and you hit Egypt. next to Israel, right close to it. Then you go south, but more to the east, more to the east, southeast. And then you go, you hit Egypt, and then it's right next to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Now, does that help? Can you see that in your mind? Very important. Ethiopia and Libya, with them, all of them, with shield and helmet. They�re all armed. Gomer and all his bands. Gomer, which talks about the south. Torghama of the north quarter. So the south is coming from the north, and all his bands, and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company, that are assembled unto thee, and thou a guard unto them. In other words, there is a leader. Who is the primary leader of this event? Who's gonna be the principal brain behind all this? Satan. So it is going to be a war guided by Satan against, and these are the people that are on his side, and they're gonna have a war against Christ as the leader. the brains behind it, you see, and Israel. Now, that's going to happen twice, once during this event and again against after the millennial reign. There'll be another issue similar to that, except instead of just these few nations going against Israel, it will be all the nations gathered together. Are you with me? Does that sound familiar to your ear and your thoughts? It's got to be something that if you're going to respond to what we are faced with right now, that's mundane, what's going to happen and how therefore we should respond to it and be motivated because it's right there in our face historically. Are you with me? It's time to quit fiddling around with other gadgets and widgets and priorities in our lives if this is something that's going to be affecting us. And we have to deal with it. It's in our time. So what are we dealing with? And many days thou shalt be visited in the, now he's putting it historically, what a historical time, latter days. Now from his standpoint, we're talking, when you say latter, you're talking about the very end of an order. It's going to be right down to the last thing that's going to happen before the next order, which will be the great, the terrible, well, tribulation. Are you with me? We're going into the tribulation next. That's what it's telling us. Thou shalt be visited in the latter years, just at the end of this particular order that we're in right now. The latter years of this order. Are you with me? Thou shalt come unto the land that is brought back from the sword and is gathered out of many people against the mountains of Israel. In other words, Israel has been regathered. Now, when did that happen? Give me the year. 1948. Isn't that correct? Now, they've got the materials to build a new temple. They've got the calves, the red calves for the beginning of the rituals. Is that not right? It's right happening, right? And you say, oh, well, I heard about that. It's significant to you knowing who you are and where you are and what it's all about. It may change your priorities, mightn't it? Against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste, but it is brought forth out of the nations. They shall dwell safely, all of them. There they are. Are they safe? They shall be. They shall be. Before this is over with, before this dialogue is over there, they'll be safe against the nations around them. But they will not know Christ yet. So they're still going to have problems. They're going to have to go through the great tribulation. They're going to have to go against the beasts that are people who are sad. Well, their position is going to be in the temple. And the Jews are going to go into that period of time and they will see these people in the temple whom they are going to believe are on their side. But they're not. They're snakes in the skin of lambs. And it's in their trouble with them, not the nations, but their own people. But that's going to be the point in their history where they will discover the Lord Jesus Christ as to who He is. When? Right in the middle of the seven years. Say, Brian? Woo! Yep, I've got biblical backing for that. We'll share it with you, but not today. We're just getting our point where we are in history. Then shall thou shalt Ascend and come like a storm, meaning the people that are gonna come and do bad things to Israel. Thou shall be like a cloud to cover the land. Now, what are the states, what are the nations that'll be coming? It'll be Russia. Iran. That's right. And Libya, we know that. And where are they right now? They're all communist nations, or not just communist, but another, what? Islamics. Russians aren't, they're communists. Iran is Islamics. And so are the people of Ethiopia and Libya. That's where they are now. Right now. Now, you say, that's peculiar. Why would you say that? Well, listen, it didn't give us Egypt. Isn't that peculiar? The Lord left out Egypt. Why? Well, so you know that this is a timely thing. We know it's this time because Egypt is not with him. It gives us the particular one nations that are against Israel. They're there now. They're right now eyeing and hating Israel. The whole world does, but these people are right there to be used of God to go over to Israel as they have recently come to their nation. Isn't that a very real strong thing? It didn't include the United States, didn't include Italy, It didn't include the other people of the Middle East. Huh? Does it? Syria? None of those. Does it? Isn't that peculiar? Isn't that specific? In turning, the Lord helping us to come to the place where we realize when this takes place. It's going to take place any day. Now, look and see what's happened in history right now. There has been the taking away of the bombs, supposedly, right? And what are we doing? What is our leadership doing? They're hoping that they can come to an agreement, right? You think they're going to come to an agreement? Right now, you think, oh, I believe they're going to come through it. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. If they don't, if they do come to an agreement with us, that's valid. And Russia comes to an agreement that's valid, then there's going to be more time. But this is still going to happen. It'll just be down the road a little further. Do you agree with that? If I were to put on a block and say, I'm going to put my money on a particular guess, I'm thinking it's closer than further. Here we are, we're looking to see what's going to be the outcome of our effort to bring the Iranians who don't hate us, just the population, 20% of them are Christians right now, right? That's what one of our speakers this morning had gathered, that information. About 20% of the population are Christians. That'd be great. That'd be great if something should happen that would bring the whole nation of Iran to Christ. You'd never get them all, right? But more of them, more of them throughout the Muslim world. more of them in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, India, China, Japan. And what's going to happen here is intended to draw them in. And also, we're going to see Israel come to know Christ in the middle of this period of hatefulness. Now, I hate to use that term, of hardness, difficulty, in which God is going to tear down this order. He's going to tear it down. Then He's going to replace it with a millennial reign. Okay, got all that again? I'm going to do it, I'm going to say it, I'm going to assume that I have to do it over and over again so that it takes, stop, it takes in your brain. You'll remember it. You'll be thinking about it. It'll be a factor in your decision making and your priorities, as I said. 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. 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. In other words, we're gonna send the motivation, and thou shalt say it's something in their mind. Where do you think it's coming from? Well, it's actually coming not from Satan, but the Lord. And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages, I will go to them, unwalled villages. Now that's another issue of timing, is it not? It's in a time when the cities do not have walls anywhere. You say, well, that may be because of the, you know, it's peaceful. No, it's not. They're in the middle of a war. They're in the middle of danger. It has to do with the timing. When walls are no help against bombs and cannons, and almost all the weapons that are there. And so no city anywhere in our time, and we're trying to find the time, are we not, that walls are not around any city except things that are kept just for people to see what it used to be like, but not to help them against an enemy. So it's telling us what time it is. What is the timing of this event to take place? It's in a time in history when there are no walls. We're in that time. 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 or gates, to take a spoil and to take a prey to turn... Now, that's how they would have been thinking back then. But that's not as it is right now. And it says, to take a spoil and to take a prey to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited. In other words, they came into a land Israel did that was just sandy, nothing growing, and they made a paradise out of it. They have. It's a remarkable thing what the Lord has allowed them to do and the kind of people that can do that. the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods and dwell in the midst of the land, Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish. These are the people, nations, and institutions. Tarshish is more of an institution than a place, where they, back in those days, They were where people gathered that wanted to process stuff that they were going to sell and send it around various Sunday places. So it's the business community, basically. And Eden and the merchants of Sheba, 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? Pray, P-R-E-Y. Like take away something worth something from somebody else. To carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil. Yes, that's our motivation, uh-huh. Therefore, son of man, prophesy. Now this was, This came out of Ezekiel about 600 years before the Christ, our Lord, came on. And now we're 3,000 years almost. Well, 600 and 2,500 is 3,100, over 3,000 years ago, right? Over 3,000 years ago! Huh? And He's telling us what's going to be happening 3,000 years, and we're at that point. That's impossible for humanity, isn't it? That's a supernatural evidence that whoever wrote this didn't do it in the wisdom of man or the knowledge of man. It's from God. And it says, therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto God, thus saith the Lord God, in that day, when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it. You won't know. It looks like an easy thing to be done. Why would it be easy? Well, it would have to mean that the US wasn't going to do anything about it, right? Why not? Well, look at what we've seen in our culture. It's wide and spread. They are anti-Israel. Not now in terms of the people that are really in, well, no. It permeates us. It permeates this country. Does it not right now? Hatred of Israel. And they have gotten themselves into high positions with many resources. Well, that would nearly have to be that way, wouldn't it? If they come into this place and nobody says anything but, oh, man, look what's going on there. In fact, we'll probably have a whole lot of people in the U.S. going with Russia, Gog and Magog, which is the north and the south, people that's coming to overcome Israel. It'll probably be loaded with Americans. Probably, right? We'll be on their side. the ones who have power, what does that say? Well, if it's going to happen right away, that means the president that we've got is out of office or out of life, out of opportunity to do anything. and to overcome all of that, right? Right? That's likely to happen. That is likely to happen. That's why whenever I did those two sermons on the, well, I called it the old men dream dreams, but it's actually, they've been entitled, well, how did we entitle them? Well, it has—it's—well, I can't remember what those titles are at this moment, but they're back in several months ago. And I pointed out we'll have a respite. I didn't say we were going to have a great revolution and a great happening of Christianity rising up. in a large way, giving glory to God. We have had that, and I think we have had a respite. We will have some more respite, but it's not looking good based on something, this particular biblical account that applies itself for this time. You see? Does that make you a little more interested in how to respond to what's going on? What your priorities are going to be with the time that you've got? Because it is something we have to consider, is it not? Because of what God has left us in Ezekiel and some other places in the Bible. As a matter of fact, several places. And then it says, And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, or in other words, highly equipped for a mobile 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. Now, when you say latter days, what are we talking about? The very end of it. It's going to be the very end of what? This order of things that we're in right now. Right? It's going to be, they're going to be coming from the far north and from the south. And we've got the specific nations that are going to be at the center of that and providing the armies. And it's given those specific things and it's left out those that will not be a part of that in their arms. That's considerable, like all telling, is it not? It isn't, 3,000 years ago, they named who would be the enemies that would come in the armies and left out that those that were not coming for that purpose and what the general attitudes and things that happen with the nations that are looking on. Many nations, all the nations are looking on. Now it says, And I will bring thee against my land, and the heathen may... And what is the purpose in that? Here it is, here it is. And I will bring thee against thy land, that the heathen may know me. They're gonna see this. And God is giving a testimony in this event to show the world who He is. You see? It's going to keep Israel from being haggard around again. But like I say, they're going to go into a very difficult situation because they're going to have to face the two beasts. But as I say, I think our time's up, isn't it? Hey, wake all that crew up back there, would you? No, I didn't see anybody fall asleep. All right, I'll finish this off next week. And it means I'm going to have to take four weeks, more weeks, three more weeks instead of two. Don't be surprised if it turned out to be five or six, but don't forget where we come from today. This is a point that you need to be standing on as we go forth with the rest of these things, and I think it's going to be very significant to you. I want it to be. From our children to all the mamas and daddies and grandpas and grandmas. And then hopefully it'll go out over our website and maybe generate a little bit of uh-oh. Uh-oh. Because everybody's looking right now, they're thinking, well, we've got a really a good leader. And he has, oh, he's done some fantastic things. He has gotten us a respite for a period of time, for four years perhaps. But even right now, he's He's taking away the rights of schools to take up over our kids or the government take over our children and not allow us to know the truth and the propaganda and what they're putting out there. The culture is hostile against Christianity and it's so powerfully impacting upon our kids to go to hell. You understand? But I think if you understand what I'm getting here, it could change your, what you think is more important than what we have in our thoughts and our minds and our attitudes now. Did it help a little bit? I hope so.