(Continued from chapter IV)

"And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Speak unto the birds of every sort, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 And ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord Jehovah" (Ezek. 39:17-20).

When God's stroke of judgment annihilates the invading hosts of Gog in the land of Israel, He will invite the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the fields to come and literally to eat the flesh of the slain. This has been done in the past and will be repeated at the time of the great day of God, at the end of the tribulation. On this point read Revelation 19:17,18.

"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God; 18 that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men both free and bond, and small and great."

VI. THE GLORY OF JEHOVAH AMONG THE NATIONS

"And I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am Jehovah their God from that day and forward. 23 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I unto them; and I hid my face from them" (Ezek. 39:21-24).

The Shekinah of Glory dwelt in the midst of Israel. The horizon of Ezekiel's prophecy, in great contrast with former ideas, embraces the entire world. Thus it is said that God will set His glory among the nations. In the light of these facts it is evident that he was speaking of the time that the glory of God shall encircle the earth as the waters cover the sea, when Messiah shall reign in Jerusalem in glory and administer a righteous government. Zephaniah was given the privilege of seeing the same vision as foretold in the following passage:

"Sing, O daughter of Zion; O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem 15 Jehovah hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not fear evil any more. 16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; O Zion, let not thy hands be slack. 17 Jehovah thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing" (Zeph. 3:14-17).

God will set His glory among the nations by sending Christ back to earth to reign over the world. Then not only Israel, but also all nations of the world will understand fully God's past dealings with the Jews in His punishing them because of their sins and in His scattering them among the nations because of their having rejected Messiah. Furthermore, all will acknowledge that God was righteous and just in His dealing thus with His Chosen People.

VII. THE MANNER OF CONVERSION OF ISRAEL

"Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. 26 And they shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid; 27 when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. 28 And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them unto their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; 29 neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah" (Ezek. 39:25-29).

In the preceding section we got a glimpse of the glorious Millennial Age which will be ushered in, as we have already seen, when Israel repudiates her national sin, accepts the Messiah as her Redeemer, and pleads for Him to return. After giving us the vision of this glorious era, the prophet, in the paragraph quoted at the beginning of this section, foretells that God will gather the whole house of Israel and resettle His people in the land of their fathers. This regathering, of course, is completed after God has purged out all the wicked, punishing them for their transgressions and for their sins.

When Israel is thus converted and restored to her own land, then God will never again hide His face from His chosen beloved people.

They will then become the channel of blessing to the world. Israel then will be a holy race, a royal priesthood. She will be recognized as the ministers of our God.

"And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. 5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. 6 But ye shall be named the priests of Jehovah; men shall call you the ministers of our God; ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. 7 Instead of your shame ye shall have double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be unto them" (Isa. 61:4-7).

In view of the position to which God called Israel in His "purpose of the ages," it behooves the people of God today to do all they can in spreading the Gospel among these future ministers of our God. To this end, may the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies, grant to each reader of this book, a clearer vision of the future, especially of Israel's place in His plan.

May He give each of us grace and strength to work for Him during the yet remaining short time. The Lord be with each one, and His richest blessings rest and abide with all.

(Continued on the next page)