The Mystery of Ephraim

Russia didn’t blow up gas pipeline, the Nord Stream boss said. RT January 26, 2023. The culpric seems extremely cunning and elusive!

The book of Amos is an encrypted message to the United States today in which the prophet warns of the impending judgement, beginning with the ancient house of Israel; then Israel’s neighbors, then upon the house of Judah, and by way of climax describing the prophetic utter ruin and devastation of the endtime house of the Anglosphere.

And God says to Ezekiel, “Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, the days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? The vision that he seeth is for many days, and he prophesieth of the times far off” Ezekiel 12:22, Ezekiel 12:27; that is, the message is for the endtime, our time.

For more on Ephraim and Manasseh, or the Ox without the Unicorn.

Amos 7

¹ Thus hath the Lord God shown unto me: And behold, He formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.

— thus hath the Lord God showen unto me in visions by the Spirit of God, and, behold, he formed grasshoppers or locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth of the second crop of the season;

— and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings; the first crop, apparently, belonging to the king as a part of the nation’s revenue. The time of the grasshoppers’ coming, therefore, was very unfortunate since the first crop had been delivered as the law required and the second crop was bound to be ruined;

— or, when the first grass was mowed down and the first crop gathered in for the use of the king’s cattle; as the later grass was just springing up and promised a second crop these locusts were forming which threatened their harvesting.

² And it came to pass, when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, “O Lord God, forgive, I beseech Thee! By whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small.” — and it came to pass that when these locusts had made an end of eating the grass of the land all the plants which came up at that time in the rest of the season,

— then Amos said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech Thee; by whom shall Jacob arise? maintain his ground, not be annihilated altogether. For he is small (refers to only a remnant of Jacob left behind: Amos 5:15, greatly weakened by one calamity or another), even now reduced in numbers and strength.

³ The Lord repented concerning this. “It shall not be,” saith the Lord. — the Lord regretted for this; it shall not be, the Lord saith, who is willing to spare the people and the land upon the intercession of the prophet;

— it shall not be: this explains the former; that sore famine likely to be caused by these locusts didn’t come as Amos prevailed by prayer, and the judgement was diverted.

⁴ Thus hath the Lord God shown unto me: And behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep and ate up a part. — thus the Lord God showed Amos a second vision; and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire,

—that is, God directed that the punishment was to be made by fire and it devoured the great deep, the great ocean itself and did eat up a part, the heritage of God, which is Israel. It was a picture of the Lord’s devouring anger directed against his own remnant.

⁵ Then said I, “O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee! By whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small.” — then said Amos, O Lord God, cease, I beseech Thee; by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small (refers again to only a remnant of Jacob left behind: Amos 5:15), the prophet Amos thus once more interceding in behalf of a few remnants left.

⁶ The Lord repented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” saith the Lord God. — the Lord repented for this; God heard the prophet’s prayer and desisted from going on with the threatened destruction; this also shall not be, saith the Lord God; the whole land shall not be destroyed, only a remnant of it remains carried as captives.

⁷ Thus He showed me: And behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. — thus God showed me in a third vision; and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line, one which was built upright and according to all the rules of the craft with a plumb-line in his hand.

⁸ And the Lord said unto me, “Amos, what seest thou?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then said the Lord, “Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. — and the Lord inquired, Amos, what seest thou?

— and Amos replied, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel, the object, in this case, like in II Kings 21:13; Isaiah 34:11, being to tear down a building. God will not again pass by them any more;

— the Targum says, “behold, I will exercise judgement in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not add any more to pardon them.” God was determined not to show lenience any longer.

⁹ And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” — and the high places of Isaac, in this case, Esau and Jacob, shall be desolate and the sanctuaries of both Esau and Israel the various places devoted to idolatrous purposes;

— shall be laid waste; and God will rise against the house of Jeroboam II in this instance representing the entire kingdom and royal family with the sword. Thus the dissolution of both nations, Esau and Jacob, was definitely foretold and the prophet did not dare to intercede any more in behalf of his people; (but who is Esau that ‘shall be desolate’? see Obadiah)

¹⁰ Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. — then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, the false priest in charge of the sanctuary of idolatry at Bethel, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel;

— lying, Amaziah charged Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel, namely, by announcing the coming punishment of the Lord; the land is not able to bear all his words.

¹¹ For thus Amos saith, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.’” — for thus Amos saith, Jeroboam II shall die by the sword, for this was actually included in the warning statement of verse 9; and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

¹² Also Amaziah said unto Amos, “O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophesy there. — go, flee thee South into the land of Judah; to which he belonged and where the Temple stood and where the Jewish king, princes and people, were on his side of the question;

— and where Amos’ prophecies should be received; for he thought, if he stayed down there, Amos may be at liberty to say what he pleases in his own country: predictions of Israel’s fall might not be acceptable at Bethel; surely not at Jeroboam’s capital;

— and there eat bread and prophesy there: Amaziah implies that prophecy was a trade or profession. Already in early times we know that those who consulted a rô’eh paid a fee for his advice (1 Samuel 9:7-8);

¹³ But prophesy not again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the king’s court.” — for it is the king’s chapel; or “sanctuary” where a false temple was built for the idol calf; offering calves for worship, much like Hinduism today; and where the king worshipped it and attended all other religious service:

— and it is the king’s court; or “the house of the kingdom” the seat of where the king of Israel dwell at Samaria; often coming hither to worship it being nearer to him than Dan, and by prophesying to interrupt him either in his religious or civil affairs; and therefore advises him by all means to depart if he had any regard to his life or peace.

¹⁴ Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. — then answered Amos in a humble way: “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son,”

— that is, he was not born to that honor nor did he attend any school of the prophets, but he was an herdman, a shepherd of humble position and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, that is, of the sycamore-fig-tree.

¹⁵ And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, ‘Go, prophesy unto My people Israel.’ — but the Lord took him as he followed the flock; or “from behind” it a description of a shepherd such an one Amos was and in this employ when the Lord called him and took him to be a prophet;

— Amos did not seek after it nor did he take this honour to himself; by which it appears that his mission was divine and that he did not enter on this work with lucrative views: thus God took a lowly David in a similar humble state of life and made him king of Israel; and Elisha from the plough and made him a prophet;

— and the Lord said unto Amos; go, prophesy unto my people Israel, the Northern Kingdom; for so they were by profession and notwithstanding their apostasy; as yet they were not tallied “Loammi” [that is, Not My people] Hosea 1:9; to these the prophet was bid to go out of the land of Judea where he was a herdsman and prophesy in the name of the Lord;

— wherefore what Amos did was in obedience to the command of God and he did to fulfil his duty; and what he in this verse and Amos 7:14 declares, is a sufficient vindication of himself: his character, conduct and duty;

¹⁶ Now therefore, hear thou the word of the Lord. Thou sayest, ‘Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.’ — Amaziah then warned Amos not to say any word against Israel, nor the house of Isaac; say nothing against either of them, and is a rebuke by Amaziah to prophesy against the ten tribes that descended from Isaac in the line of Jacob;

— so the Targum paraphrases it, “thou shalt not teach against the house of Isaac” or deliver out any prophecy or doctrine that is against them or threatens them with any calamity. Amaziah of the house of Israel only want to hear smooth sayings, not warnings!

¹⁷ Therefore thus saith the Lord: ‘Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword; and thy land shall be divided by line, and thou shalt die in a polluted land. And Israel shall surely go into captivity forth from his land.’”

— thus saith the Lord; Amaziah’s wife shall be an harlot in the city: either of Bethel or Samaria; probably through force, being ravished by the soldiers upon taking and plundering the city;

— and Amaziah’ sons and daughters shall fall by the sword; either of Shallum, who smote Zachariah the son of Jeroboam with the sword before the people, among whom this family was; or of Menahem, who slew Shallum, with their inhabitants and ripped up the women with child; or in the after invasions by Pul, Tiglathpileser, and Shalmaneser, II Kings 15:10;

— and Israel shall surely go into captivity; as he had before prophesied and confirms here; and which was fulfilled in the times of Hoshea king of Israel by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, II Kings 17:6; but then again, such a prophecy are often dual, and could accur again.

Amos 8

¹ Thus hath the Lord God shown unto me: And behold, a basket of summer fruit. — there are three visions in the former chapter, thus another vision, which is the fourth:

— and, behold, a basket of summer fruit; this symbolically denoted that Israel’s sins were now ripe for judgement, not of the first ripe fruit but of such as were gathered at the close of the summer when autumn began. So the Targum says “the last of the summer fruit.”

² And He said, “Amos, what seest thou?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then said the Lord unto me: “The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. — and Amos said, a basket of summer fruit; some render it “a hook” such as they pull down branches with to gather the fruit;

— then said the Lord unto Amos; by way of explanation of the vision: the end is come upon my people Israel; of their state; of all their outward happiness and glory; their “summer has ended” and Jeremiah 8:20; all their prosperity was over; and as the Targum says, their “final punishment was come,” the last destruction on its way.

³ And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day,” saith the Lord God. “There shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.” — there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence under the terrible severity of the divine judgement, saith the Lord God;

— and the songs of the temple, (some say “the palace” instead of “the temple” as the word היכל, signifying palace as well as temple) originally intended to convey the spirit of the highest rejoicing, shall be howlings in that day, cries of the deepest grief and mourning over the large number of the slain;

⁴ Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, — be warned of this, O ye that behave like a beast after its prey, eager to devour; panting after the poor in their anxiety to destroy them, adding field to field and to grasp their property, even to make the poor of the land to fail in order to take their property by a show of might,

⁵ saying, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit, — saying, when will the festivals of the new moon, the day to sell more thing, or do more business, being appointed and used for religious service;

— that we may sell corn and wheat; speculating at the expense of the poor in the land and the Sabbath, opening their storehouses in order to make unjust gains; making the ephah small, giving the people short measure and the shekel great by raising the price which they charged those in need, so that they sold below weight, their scales having been arranged to cheat.

⁶ that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes, yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?” — that we may buy the poor as slaves for silver; they might purchase them and theirs for slaves at so small a price as a piece of silver, or a single shekel; and this was their end and design in using them after this manner; see Leviticus 25:39.

⁷ The Lord hath sworn for the pretensions of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their works. — the Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, that is, by himself; Surely he will never forget any of their evils.

⁸ Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? And it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. — shall not the land tremble for this; for this wickedness committed, in using the poor with so much inhumanity?

— may not a great flood from climate change or hotspots of torrential rains from God be expected? or that the earth should gape and swallow up these men alive guilty of such enormities? or shall not the inhabitants of the land tremble at such judgements which the Lord hath sworn he will bring upon it?

⁹ And it shall come to pass in that day,” saith the Lord God, “that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. — and it shall come in that day, that God will cause the sun to go down at noon, to express the overwhelming calamities which are to befell upon the earth;

— and God will darken the earth in the clear day by a terrible catastrophe, the picture being well applicable to the fate of a nation or of the earth when it is destroyed while in the very midst of its misfortune and calamity.

— a parallel Scripture in Isaiah says, “The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard” Isaiah 24:20.

¹⁰ And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

— God will turn your feasts into mourning; he despise your feast-days: (a) Easters (Jeremiah 44:17-25); (b) Christmas (Ezekiel 8:15-16); and he will bring up sackcloth upon them upon their solemn assemblies;

(a) Easters, a celebration of the Queen of heaven: Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility and sex. Her symbols (like the egg and bunny) were and still are fertility and sex symbols; and to those who actually think eggs and bunnies have something to do with the resurrection; Jeremiah 7:18 the women knead their dough to make cakes to the Queen of heaven; in Egypt, Jeremiah 44:17-19, 25, this is Ishtar: pronounced ‘Easter.’

(b) Christmas; Ezekiel 8:16 five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple; their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east; Christmas, which honor Mithraism, birthday on December 25th – a form of nature worship based on the Sun-Goddess Mithra who on the darkest night of the year (December 20/21), gives birth to “Light” causing each day thereafter to grow longer until the Summer solstice.

— and God will turn your feasts into mourning, why? because Jeroboam had changed the feast of Tabernacles from the seventh to the eighth month and from Jerusalem to Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:26-33); offering calves for worship, much like Hinduism today;

— hence God is not just taking away all joy, but all their songs into lamentation and he will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, the usual garment of deepest grief; and baldness upon every head, for shaving the head was a sign of the deepest mourning;

— and he will make their mournings as the mourning of the death an only son as in the day of Egypt, a most intense sorrow which cannot be appeased and the end thereof as a bitter day, one whose objectionable taste would not soon be forgotten.

¹¹ “Behold, the days come,” saith the Lord God, “that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. — many wonderful prophets were yet to speak the message of threatened doom and the call to repentance upon Israel;

— but Amos here definitely prophesied an end to his mission. This was most remarkably fulfilled during the inter-testamental period between the OT and the NT when no prophet spoke anything at all to the wayward and rebellious people of Israel;

— this hearing the words of the Lord; the word of prophecy and this blessing the ten tribes were deprived at their captivity and have been ever since; and the Jews, upon their rejection of Christ, have had the kingdom of God, the word of God taken from them and remain so to this day; the seven churches of Asia have had their candlestick removed out of its place and this famine continues to this day;

¹² And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. — and they shall wander from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean, and from the North even to the East, to the limitless extent of the Arabian Desert, they shall not find it.

¹³ “In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. — in that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. After the word for want of that grain and wine, which make young men and maids cheerful, Zechariah 9:17; but being destitute of them should be covered with sorrow, overwhelmed with grief and ready to sink and die away.

¹⁴ They that swear by the sin of Samaria and say, ‘Thy god, O Dan, liveth,’ and, ‘The manner of Beersheba liveth’ — even they shall fall and never rise up again.” — they that swear by the false religion of Samaria; the calf at Bethel which was near Samaria and which the Samaritans worshipped; offering calves for worship, much like Hinduism today;

— and was set up by their kings and their religious leaders; worshipping at Dan and Bethel and encouraged by their example which is called the calf of Samaria, Hosea 8:5; and say, thy God, O Dan, liveth; the other calf which was set up in Bethel, liveth;

— even in our days, these idolatrous cult shall fall and rise up again; now the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, same as Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, both Hindu, both worshippers of calves regarding them as sacred. They made pilgrimages to these spiritual cities, Dan and Bethel, where the altars of idolatry were erected and refused to heed the words of the true God.

Amos 9

¹ I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and He said: “Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake, and wound them on the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword. He that fleeth from them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth from them shall not be delivered.

— and Amos saw the Lord standing upon the altar; either upon the altar of burnt offerings in the Temple of Jerusalem where he had removed from the cherubim; signifying his being about to depart and that he was displeased: so the Targum says “said Amos the prophet, I saw the glory of the Lord removing from the cherub, and it dwelt upon the altar;”

— and the vision may refer to the destruction of the Jews, their city and Temple, either by the Chaldeans or by the Romans: or rather, since the prophecy in general and this vision in particular seems to respect the ten tribes only, it was upon the altar at Bethel the Lord was seen standing as offended at the sacrifices there offered and to hinder them from sacrificing them as well as to take vengeance on those that offered them, I Kings 13:1;

— and the Lord said, either to the prophet in vision or to one of the angels or to the executioners of his vengeance; either the house of Israel or the enemies of Israel: but the Targum below confirms the former;

— smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake; the upper lintel on which pomegranates and flowers were carved and therefore called “caphtor” this was the lintel of the door, either of the Temple at Jerusalem; signifying the destruction of the whole building in a short time and that none should be able to go in and out:

— and cut them in the head, all of them; and God will slay the last of them with the sword; which shows that the lintel and doorposts are not to be taken literally but figuratively; and that the smiting and cutting of them intend the destruction of men; by the “head” the king, the princes and nobles, or the priests; and by “the last of them” the common people, the meanest sort, or those that were left of them;

— he that fleeth of them shall not flee away; he that attempts to make his escape and shall flee for his life, shall not get clear, but either be stopped or pursued and taken: and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered; those that destroy with the sword shall not be delivered from death but shall die by famine or pestilence;

— the Targum says, “and he said, unless the people of the house of Israel return to the law, the candlestick shall be extinguished, King Josiah shall be killed, and the house destroyed, and the courts dissipated and the vessels of the house of the sanctuary shall go into captivity; and the rest of them I will slay with the sword,” referring the whole to the Jews and to the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem.

² Though they dig into hell, thence shall Mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. — though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; that is, the remnants of the house of Israel that endeavour to make their escape from their enemies, though hell, the repository of the dead; they would not succeed;

— though they try to climb up to heaven, God will bring them down; the summit of the highest mountains and get as near to heaven and at as great a distance from men as can be; yet all in vain;

— the Targum says, “if they think to be hid as it were in hell, from thence their enemies shall take them by my word; and if they ascend the high mountains, to the top of heaven, thence will I bring them.”

³ And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from My sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them.

— God will search and take them out from thence by directing their enemies where to find them: so the Targum says, “if they think to be hid in the tops of the towers of castles, thither will I command the searchers, and they shall search them;”

— and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, get into ships, like Jonah did, going by sea to distant land; or make their escape to isles upon the sea afar off where they may think themselves safe:

— thence will God command the serpent and he shall bite them; the dragon that is in the sea, Isaiah 27:1; the great whale in the sea or the leviathan, describes as very monstrous, horrible and terrible, and which not only devours other large fishes but men; and having such teeth with great propriety may be said to bite;

— the Targum paraphrases it, though hid “in the isles of the sea, thither will I command the people strong like serpents, and they shall kill them.”

⁴ And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them. And I will set Mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.”

— thence will God command the sword and it shall slay them; or them that kill with the sword as the Targum says; so that though they thought by going into another country or into an enemy’s country of their own accord to escape the sword of the enemy or to curry favour with them yet should not escape;

— and God will set his eyes upon them for evil and not for good, which are everywhere, in heaven, earth and the sea are set upon them for their ruin and destruction; and there is no fleeing from his presence or getting out of his sight or escaping his hand. The Targum says, “my Word shall be against them.”

⁵ And the Lord God of hosts is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise up wholly like a flood, and shall be drowned as by the flood of Egypt. — this is the third of Amos’ doxologies, the other two being in Amos 4:13 and Amos 5:8-9;

— the purpose of all three being quite clearly that of a reminder that the Lord, was indeed all-sufficient and powerful to bring to pass exactly that which he promised. The intent of these verses is to strengthen his threat and Amos proceeds to describe Yehovah as the Lord of heaven and earth who sends judgements upon the earth with omnipotent power.

⁶ It is He that buildeth His spheres in the heaven, and hath founded His troop on the earth. He that calleth for the waters of the sea and poureth them out upon the face of the earth—the Lord is His name.

— it is he that buildeth his spheres in three elements: fire, air, and water; the orbs, one above another; a word near akin to this is rendered “his chambers” which are the clouds, Psalms 104:3;

— perhaps the heaven and the heaven of heavens which are three spheres high may be meant; we read of the third heaven, II Corinthians 12:2; and particularly the throne of God is in the highest heaven; and the “ascents” to it as it may be rendered. The Targum says, “who causeth to dwell in a high fortress the Shekinah of his glory;”

— he that calleth for the waters of the sea and poureth them out upon the face of the earth either to drown it as at the general deluge; or to water and refresh it; now all these things are to show the power of God and that therefore there can be no hope of escaping out of his hands.

— the Lord is his name; the Lord isn’t his name; Yehovah (יהוה‎) is his name (More on God’s name at the end)

⁷ “Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel?” saith the Lord. “Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? And the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? — are ye, O children of Israel, not as children of the Ethiopians unto me? saith the Lord;

— and therefore had no reason to think you should be delivered because you were the children of Israel: of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; since you were no more to God than the children of the Ethiopians, that you could no more change your course and custom of sinning than the Ethiopian could change their skin, Jeremiah 13:23;

— have not God brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and therefore it was ungrateful for you to behave as they have; nor can you have any dependence on this or argue from hence that you shall be indulged with other favours or be continued in your land since the like has been done for other nations.

⁸ Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” saith the Lord. — behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom of Israel; God is omniscient and his eyes are everywhere and upon all persons, good and bad,

— and upon all kingdoms especially upon a sinful nation: “the sinning kingdom” or “the kingdom of sin” as it may be rendered; that is addicted to sin where it prevails and reigns; and other sins complained of in this prophecy; and that not for good, but for evil, as in Amos 9:4; in order to cut them off from being a people;

— and God could destroy it from off the face of the earth: so that it shall be no more, at least as a kingdom; as the ten tribes have never been since their captivity by Shalmaneser; this of all the kingdoms of the earth, being sinful, the eyes of God are upon them to destroy them excepting the kingdom of Israel;

— saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord; and so it is that though they have been destroyed as a kingdom, yet not utterly as a people; there were a few of the ten tribes that mixed with the Jews, and others that were scattered about in the world; and in the latter day all Israel shall be saved; see Jeremiah 30:10;

⁹ “For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as corn is sifted in a sieve; yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. — for, lo, God will command and he will sift the house of Israel, shaking them as in a colander, or sieve;

— among all nations like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth; the nations of the world are the sieve by which Israel is cleaned of the chaff found in its midst of the godless people that claimed back heritage of the Promised Land;

— here is a parallel from Ezekiel 6:3

and say: ‘Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys: Behold I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. — this message to the “mountains of Israel;” these mountains refer to the United States, UK and France. . . .

“and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys;” — the hills: Ireland, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Finland, and Iceland; and the valleys, the low countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg;

“and to the rivers;” — where during the nineteenth century, the British Royal Navy were known to “Rule the Waves;” and the United States having been plowing up and down the five oceans with her Seven Fleets since the British left the scene.

¹⁰ All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘The evil shall not overtake nor come before us.’ — all the sinners of the house of Israel shall die by the sword; by the sword of the Assyrians and of others into whose countries they shall flee for shelter, Amos 9:1;

— even all such who are notorious sinners, abandoned to their lusts, obstinate and incorrigible; live in lies, and continue lying convulsively; repent not of them, disbelieve the prophets of the Lord and defy his threatenings and put away the evil day far from them;

— these evils, if they came at all would not in their days; they would never come so near them or so close to their heels as to overtake them and seize them and stop them fleeing from them; they promised themselves impunity; so daring and impudent, so irreligious and atheistical, were they in their thoughts, words and actions; and therefore should be destroyed.

¹¹ In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old, — in that day, in the great Messianic age to which the entire Old Testament looks forward, will God raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, which parallels Ezekiel 37;

— the monarchy and family of David and close up the breaches thereof; and God will raise up his ruins, and he will build it as in the days of old so that the kingdom of the son of David would once more be secure, established forever,

¹² that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the nations that are called by My name,” saith the Lord that doeth this. — that they may possess the remnant of Edom and of all the nations which are called by My name, rather, “upon whom My name is called,” that is, all those whom He had chosen from all the people of the earth, saith the Lord that doeth this.

— called by My name; the Lord isn’t his name; Yehovah (יהוה‎) is his name (More on God’s name at the end)

¹³ “Behold, the days come,” saith the Lord, “that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. — behold, the days of harvest are coming, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed;

— by spreading it by print, web and broadcast so fruitful would the land be that the ripe grain would be cut while the plowman was still preparing the soil for the seed and the harvest of grapes would be so plentiful that it would take till seeding-time to tread out the grapes;

— and the mountains shall drop sweet wine so that new wine would be continually dripping from them and all the hills shall melt, dissolving themselves in blessings.

¹⁴ And I will bring back the captives of My people of Israel, and they shall build the wasted cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

— and God will bring again the captivity of his people of Israel, all those who accept the deliverance from the powers of evil being assembled in the congregation of the Lord’s people;

— and they shall build the waste cities, being secure in their citizenship and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them.

¹⁵ And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them,” saith the Lord thy God. — and God will plant them upon their land and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which he have given them, saith the Lord;

— thus the prophet Amos, in the conclusion of his book, under the type of Israel restored to its land, pictures the peace and prosperity of the true spiritual Israel in which every nation is a garden in order to bring peace to the hearts of poor sinners all those withoutn hope throughout the world.

~~~

More on God’s name, Yehovah.

God’s name is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה‎ YHVH Yehovah, which are embedded in the Masoretic text over 6000 times, yet when translated into our English language most had been translated as Lord, or LORD, which are titles, but not his name. His name is יהוה‎ Yehovah, or YEHOVAH (but there are no capital letters in Hebrew).

It wasn’t until 1524 that Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian Renaissance grammarian, invented the letter J that this new letter started to take a hold in the writings of western Europe. Even in 1611 when the English Bible the King James has our subject of study by the prophet Jeremiah, he was known as Ieremiah. So Jehovah is a very late invention.

The following verses with the LORD erred in translation. His name Yehovah should be used:

I am the LORD; that is My name. And My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:32

“I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not. I said, ‘Behold Me, behold Me,’ unto a nation that was not called by My name. Isaiah 65:1

When we call our God, the LORD, we err, because his name is not the LORD, which is a title. His name is YEHOVAH! May We all ask for his forgiveness, and may Our merciful God forgive us all.

~ by Joel Huan on January 29, 2023.

Posted in Minor Prophets