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8:3

@@@^@0@9Ezek. 36:17-27 — “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before Me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured My fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: and I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned My holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of His land. But I had pity for Mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.@7@^“Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.”

15:1

@@@^@0@9Micah 3:12; 4:1, 2 — “Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest:... But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”@7@^As emphatically as all the prophets before him, Micah declares that after the destruction of the Lord’s ancient “mountain,” (the kingdom), comes the reestablishment of it in the last days, and that peoples and nations shall flow unto it because the Law and the Word of the Lord shall go forth @9from Zion and from Jerusalem@7. Shall you now close your ears and eyes against this promise? or do you as servants of God intend to get there with the first fruits? I hope it is the latter. We now come to the prophecy of Nahum:

22:2

@@@^@0@9Zech. 8:7, 8 — “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save My people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, in Truth and in righteousness.”@7@^In these verses we see that God is promising to save His people not from the land of ancient Babylon, where Zechariah then was, but from the east and from the west, and to bring them to Jerusalem. They are to be His people, not by virtue of their ancestry, or by some other, but in Truth and righteousness. Now, since the promise in these verses did not meet its fulfillment in Zechariah’s day, nor at any time thereafter, it stands to reason that it must meet its fulfillment sometime in the future. Let us read—

25:2

@@@^@0@9Zech. 8:7, 8 — “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save My people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, in Truth and in righteousness.”@7@^Zechariah predicts the gathering of the saints out of all nations into God’s purified and Truth-filled church, the Kingdom, just as the parable of the harvest teaches, only the wheat is to be put into the barn, church. There is to be no mixed company of saints and sinners in the “holy mountain of the Lord.”

28:2

@@@^@0@9Zech. 8:22 — “Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.”@7@^It is interesting to envisage the expansion of God’s Truth as outlined in this chapter: First, one individual speaks the Truth to another individual. Then one city communicates It to another city. Finally, one strong nation invites another nation to join the Lord. Thus will the harvest continue until the gospel work is finished, until God’s faithful people stand on the Lord’s right side (in the Kingdom), and the hypocrites with the heathen stand on His left side (in the condemned Gentile world that is ready to perish).

30:3

@@@^First and most important of all, we have learned that the promises contained in Zechariah’s prophecy are to be fulfilled in our day, and that very shortly wonderful things are to happen; that at one time the Lord had to forsake Jerusalem and scatter His people throughout the world, but now He is to return and gather His elect from the four corners of the earth; that Jerusalem is to be called a city of Truth and of joy — no fear, no accidents, no sorrow there; that God’s people are to enjoy peace and prosperity; that they are to speak well of everyone, no longer will they waste their breath or time talking of the sins of others; that never will they busy themselves with other people’s concerns; that they are to manage their own, and execute judgment and peace in their homes; that God’s Truth is to expand rapidly: at first one individual speaking the Truth to another; then one city communicating It to another city; finally one strong nation is to invite another nation to join the Lord.

3:3

@@@^The latter rain of Truth, therefore, is the very last, the one that is to develop the people of God for the harvest, for the time in which God separates the wheat from the tares (Matt. 13:30), the wise virgins from the foolish ones (Matt. 25:1-12), the good fish from the bad (Matt. 13:47, 48), and the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32, 33). In short, the harvest is the day of cleansing, the day of Judgment, the antitypical Day of Atonement, the day in which the sinners are cut off. This spiritual latter rain is, therefore, to do to the church just what the natural latter rain does to the field. Without this latter rain the saints could not develop for the heavenly garner, neither could the tares for the fire. By the “latter rain,” therefore, is illustrated the last shower of Truth. And, too, this last portion of Truth must come as freely to every member of the church who lives just prior to the harvest time as does the rain come to every grass in the field. Just as soon as this final touch of development is accomplished, the sickle is to be put to the precious golden grain. But let us remember that it is not left in the field to rot, it is put into the “barn,” (Kingdom) while the tares are burned, so says the Lord (Matt. 13:30). What is symbolized by the “latter rain? Is it miracle-working Truth, or is it miracle-working power? — The prophet Joel explains that the miracle-working power comes after both the “former and the latter rain.” Says he:

5:3

@@@^Then, too, spiritual “latter rain” must fall as freely and without cost to the recipients as does literal rain. Thus it is that never before has the world witnessed so much absolutely free literature scattered away as this literature is. Millions! So it is that these small comprehensive publications, the bright clouds, laden with present Truth, are now being scattered as leaves of autumn throughout Laodicea to every church member, “to every one grass” in the vineyard of the Lord. The final results? “More than one thousand,” attests Inspiration, “will soon be converted in one day, most of whom will trace their first convictions to the reading of our publications.” — “Review and Herald,” Nov. 10, 1885. Accordingly, along with the world’s dark clouds that now hover over those who are pessimistic about the promises of God, there are these bright clouds that hover over the faithful believing and trusting children of God.

13:4

@@@^The outstanding events of each group are these: (1) Jerusalem is to be made “a cup of trembling” and the nations of the earth are to be “in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” (2) “In that day” the nations are to gather together against them. (3) “In that day” the Lord is to “smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness,” and He is also to open His “eyes upon the house of Judah.” The governors of Judah are then to say in their hearts, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.” (4) “In that day” Jerusalem is to be inhabited again. (5) “In that day he that is feeble among them” is to be as David; and the house of David is to be as God. (6) “In that day” the Lord is to seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. He will then pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications. (7) “In that day” there is to be a great mourning in Jerusalem.

2:3

@@@^“Thank God, we are not left alone. He who ‘so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life,’ will not desert us in the battle with the adversary of God and man. ‘Behold,’ He says, ‘I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.’

10:2

@@@^M.B. p. 174 — “The last like the first sentence of the Lord’s prayer, points to our Father as above all power and authority and every name that is named... Amid national strife and ruin, the steps of the disciples would be beset with perils, and often their hearts would be oppressed by fear. They were to see Jerusalem a desolation, the temple swept away, its worship forever ended, and Israel scattered to all lands, like wrecks on a desert shore. Jesus said: ‘Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.’ ‘Nations shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.’ Yet Christ’s followers were not to fear that their hope was lost, or that God had forsaken the earth. The power and the glory belong unto Him whose great purposes would still move on unthwarted toward their consummation. In the prayer that breathes their daily wants, the disciples of Christ were directed to look above all the power and dominion of evil, into the Lord their God, whose kingdom ruleth over all, and who is their Father and everlasting Friend.”

10:3

@@@^The disciples expected Jerusalem in their time to become the capital of God’s great Kingdom. But contrary to their expectations, Jesus proclaimed that Jerusalem would become a desolation, and the temple a ruin! Thus again and again we are led to see that we finite beings never know God’s plans. Indeed, we need to pray for His Spirit to lead us on and on, and to point out the right way at every turn as we journey onward to Eternity. Let us now pray that the knowledge of these truths will make us just what we ought to be.

27:2

@@@^@0@9Verse 9 — “Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of My people shall spoil them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.”@7@^While Moab and Ammon become as Sodom and Gomorrah, go out of existence, the captivity of God’s people is turned away. They become an independent nation and possess all the wealth of the people round about.

12:2

@@@^The title of God’s people, you note, is “Judah.” They are counselled to behold the messenger of God who at the fulfillment of this prophecy brings to them good tidings, tidings of peace...the message of the Kingdom of peace (Isa. 11:6-9). The Lord counsels them to be honest with Him, honest in their profession of faith. They are, moreover, assured that at the fulfillment of this prophecy the destroying angels are to remove the wicked from the midst of the righteous. Thus will the wicked be “raptured” away and be no more.

3:3

@@@^@0@9Mic. 3:12 — “Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.”@7@^Because there was nothing more that could have been done to convince Judah that she was in the wrong and that she was in need to return to the Lord, the Lord finally forewarned that her palace ground was to be plowed as a field, and that her palace and city were to become heaps. The fulfillment of this part of Micah’s prophecy is a faithful witness before all nations, and the punishment of that people is a fair ex-ample for all people to know that God means just what He says. God did not, however, cast aside His faithful few and their descendants forever. To them He left this comforting promise—

16:1

@@@^@0@9Verses 1, 10-15 — “Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops:...and it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: and I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.”@7@^These verses present a group of people — good and bad commingled — whom God is to cleanse. Then the scripture closes with God’s promise to execute vengeance upon the heathen. The mixed group of people, “wheat” and “tares,” very obviously constitute the church that is approaching “the time of the harvest” (Matt. 13:30), the time in which all idolators are to perish. “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.... Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matt. 13:49, 43.

19:1

@@@^@0@9Verses 4, 5 — “And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.”@7@^When the children of the daughter of Zion return to Mount Zion, they are to abide forever. Never again are they to be cast out among the Gentile nations. Never are they to be given up. The Lord is thus to make Himself “great unto the ends of the earth.” When she that travaileth shall have brought forth, then the saints are to raise against the Assyrian “seven shepherds, and eight principal men”; that is, all God’s shepherds and all His principal men, including Christ, the eighth.

5:1

@@@^@0@9Verse 4 — “For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.”@7@^God is speaking to us who are the descendants of the prophets, of the apostles, and of the disciples who through the years of servitude among the Gentile nations have lost our national identity. Though we may not call ourselves Israelites, Jacobites, or Jews, God does so call us.

6:4

@@@^@0@9Verses 6, 7 — “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”@7@^From these verses it is apparent that the unfoldment of these scriptures brings a revival and reformation among God’s people such as the world has never seen: Those who receive the Truth in Its fullness, humbly confess that they are sinners and that they wish to know the worst of their case. They gladly sacrifice anything and everything; to them no sacrifice is too great that would bring them closer to the Lord. As soon as their pride of opinion leaves them, as soon as they humbly inquire how to come and bow before the Lord, just that soon the answer comes to them:

7:1

@@@^@0@9Verse 8 — “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”@7@^To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God is the greatest gift one can bring to the Lord. In order to learn how to do justly, how to love mercy, and how to walk humbly, we are emphatically told: