God's Word, TribulationPeriod1.com, House of Israel

Prophecy Update 21 ended by stating that in prophecy update 22 we would cover two military strategies, which could drive Israel into the Negev. However, it would be best to first look back into Israel’s past to understand the nature of this still future attack. The activities of nations in the past often determine their future conduct. In this update we will take a look at one of Ezekiel’s prophecies from about 592 B.C. that was, to a large extent, fulfilled in the last century, but still has future applications. In Ezekiel 37:1 we are told: “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.” And, in Ezekiel 37:11, we are advised: “Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.” These two verses describe Ezekiel being carried to the approximate center of a valley filled with disarranged bones of countless men and women. The valley represents the world, and the bones represent “the whole house of Israel.”

In Ezekiel 37:2 he writes: “And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley, and, lo, they were very dry.” In this verse Ezekiel is led to make an inspection tour of the bones. He discovers two things as he passes through the valley representing the whole world: (1) the bones are “very many” (whole house of Israel); and (2) they are not just dry, they are “very dry.” This verse, coupled with verse 11, represents a prophecy that the day would come when the nation of Israel would not just be dead, but would be very dead, without hope, cut off from all its parts. Ezekiel made this prophecy in about 592 B.C. It was fulfilled more than 600 years after it was written, during the period A.D. 70 to 135. In A.D. 70 the Roman General Titus led an Army of Romans, Syrians, and Arab Mercenaries against Israel, and the destruction was almost complete. What was left of Israel as a nation was finished totally by the Roman Hadrian and his armies in about A.D. 135. From than time until May 14, 1948, there was no recognized nation of Israel in the great open valley of the world. For more than eighteen hundred years, the dead nation of Israel existed only as very dry bones scattered across the great Gentile valley known as the world.

In Ezekiel 37:3 the Lord poses a very interesting question to Ezekiel, as he asks: “And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.” I appreciate Ezekiel’s honesty. It is apparent he does not have the foggiest notion, so he shifts the answer back to the Lord as he states, “O Lord God, thou knowest.” “As I am repeatedly faced with questions of life I cannot answer, I simply say, O Lord, thou knowest.

In Ezekiel 37:4,5 God answers his own question: “[4] Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. [5] Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:” The answer is Yes! God is going to transform these disarranged, very dry, dead bones in an open valley into a living nation of Israel recognized by most of the world’s nations. He speaks His Word to the bones, and as He speaks they hear and obey. Verse 5 gives a preview as to what the end result will be – a living, breathing nation of Israelites gathered home to the land he gave their father Abraham – the promised land of Israel. But this transformation from dead bones (a dead nation) to a living nation of flesh, blood, and breath was not to be done instantly, but rather in a series of stages as one would perform in building a human body over a skeleton frame. Lord willing, in Prophecy Update 23 we will begin to describe these body building stages that eventually will lead us to the present situation in Israel.

John, in Revelation 17:12, spoke of ten horns that would arise out of his beast in the last days, as he wrote: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” I have already provided a listing of the most likely nations over which these kings will reign in previous prophecy updates, which may be found in our prophecy archives. In this update I would like to present three Islamic nations to the immediate east, southeast, and southwest of Israel, who will not be among the nations represented by the ten kings.

Last month Saddam, our old Euphrates thorn, advised the world he was going to cut Iraqi oil production unless the U.S. dropped its efforts to tighten selected U.N. sanctions. However, he backed off when Saudi Arabia immediately announced it would make up the difference in order to keep prices stable, which was, of course, a move that greatly pleased the U.S. During the recent Gulf War, the sending of American forces to stop the further push by Saddam into Saudi, after he conquered Kuwait, caused the U.S. & Saudi relations to be strengthened. Since that time Saudi has supported two U.S. goals by (1) Monitoring their production to provide stable prices, and (2) Supporting the U.N. sanctions promoted by the U.S. against Iraqi. However, due to the violent conflict between the Palestinians and Israel, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah recently vowed to avenge Islamic blood shed on Arab land. In spite of this vow, the Saudi – U.S. ties, that came out of their joint military actions in Operation Desert Storm, have soured most of the Arab world against Saudi Arabia. And for this reason it is not, nor will it be, trusted enough to be privy to secret meetings of the coalition of the ten Islamic nations that will conduct a surprise attack against Israel.

Egypt, the first Islamic nation to make peace with Israel, and Jordan, the second to do the same, have never been forgiven by Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, and the other militant Arab nations. For this reason they, along with Saudi Arabia, will not have access to the secret closed door meetings, in which plans for the future surprise attack will be made.

Jordan, home of the descendants of Edom, Moab, and Ammon when Daniel wrote his prophecies, is to be by-passed as a neutral nation by the King of the North. He will sweep southward across the glorious land of Israel with his coalition. This is prophesied in Daniel 11:41 as he writes: “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.”

Egypt, immediately after Israel is driven into the Negev, is to be quickly conquered by the ten nation coalition. This is prophesied in Daniel 11:42,43 where he writes: “[42] He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. [43] But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.”