And greetings friends. This is Herbert W Armstrong with the Good News of the World Tomorrow.
Now we’re living in the most serious, the most momentous times of the history of this world. We’re living in the times that are very near, and approaching, what is known as the ‘end of the world!’ It isn’t the end of the earth; it’s the end of the world. It’s the end of this age; it’s the end of this civilization; the civilization that was started very shortly after the Flood. You find an account of it, a very, very abbreviated account of a part of it, back in the tenth chapter of Genesis in your Bible. It was started by Nimrod and his wife, Semiramis.
We’ve been born into this world. We have grown up with its beliefs and its customs supposing that they are the customs of God, because we’re told we live in a Christian nation.
And I tell you, my friends, it’s about time now that we blow the dust off of the prophecies in our Bible, and realize that one-third of the entire Bible is prophecy, and that about ninety-percent of all prophecy pertains to our time now, much of it in the dual sense, a sort of a two-fold sense, of mentioning either historic events or events that would occur very shortly after the writing of the prophecy: perhaps nineteen hundred years ago, perhaps twenty-five hundred, or thirty-five hundred years ago.
And yet the main message, the main meaning, was the anti-typical event of which that was merely a forerunner and a type, the anti-typical event to happen now in this latter half of the twentieth century AD. And directly, or indirectly, about ninety percent of all prophecy pertains to our time.
God Almighty has said through Jesus Christ, as Christ Himself said 1900 years ago, that there was going to come a time of world trouble. There would be wars and fears of wars, finally climaxing in world war; nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom. That, He said, was only just the beginning of a terrible time of world trouble and tribulation (Matthew 24:6-8). We have had the first two world wars, but it’s going to be worse.
And finally He said there would be a great trouble, world trouble, tribulation, such as had not happened since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be, or shall happen; a time of world trouble greater than anything that has ever happened before, or ever shall happen afterward (Matthew 24:21). Now that’s coming. I have seen it on the way in Europe; it is coming.
And Jesus Christ said: “Except those days should be shortened, [that is those days of trouble; not ‘except those days be prevented.’ The days are coming, but except the days of this terrible trouble, the greatest that the world has ever known, be cut short…] no flesh should be saved [alive]: but for the elect’s sake [He said], those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:22)
There is the good news of the World Tomorrow. And God Almighty is going to send Jesus Christ again to this earth to intervene and to take over the reigns of government of this world. And that, my friends, is the only hope of this world: absolutely the only hope.
Now just a little further along in this same twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, if you will notice now the thirty-seventh verse, Jesus Christ said this about this very time that He is foretelling; the time that’s coming.
“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:37 KJV)
And this is all at His coming. His coming is the thing that will climax, that will put an end, to the trouble of man destroying man.
Effects of Man’s Way
Well what about it now; is there any violence today? The apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament, in the third chapter of Romans…
“Destruction and misery are in their ways. [he was writing about the people of this world]. Their feet, [he said], are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways.” (Romans 3:15-16)
In other words, their ways are leading to destruction and misery. The way of mankind, the way that man is living cut off from God, man who has rejected the laws of God, men that hate the government of God and won’t submit to the government of God, and are influencing you people that way; it is the way that is leading to destruction and misery!
“And the way of peace they have not known.” (Romans 3:17)
God says through Jeremiah: {1}[Isaiah] “Oh that thou hadst kept my commandments [if we had kept His commandments we would’ve had the way of peace]! and our peace would have been [He said] as a river” (Isaiah 48:18). If we had kept His commandments.
I tell you, my friends, it’s time we begin to study; it’s time that we begin to think. There is no hope for this world, now, but God Almighty. And God help us to wake up and to realize it.
I have started in with the book of Jeremiah: one of the great, major prophets. I do not intend to go through the entire book of Jeremiah at this time on this series, but I had intended to go through, at this time, the first seven or eight chapters of the book of Jeremiah; about the first seven chapters of the book of Jeremiah which contain prophecies pertaining to our time and our people, the United States of America today. And it’s about time we begin to wake up and to realize what they say.
Now I’ve shown you Jeremiah was called when he was a very young man. And his ministry lasted until he was an old, white-haired patriarch. He was called some little time before the invasion of Judah. It was over a hundred years after the invasion and captivity of Israel.
Israel Divided into Two Nations
As I have mentioned, and you must have this in mind, that the children of Israel were divided into two different nations. They had started out as one nation under Moses, but they came along after the time of King David, and then King Solomon, and after Solomon died, the people rejected Rehoboam as their king. But the tribe of Judah retained him because he was, of course, of their tribe. And so Judah seceded and formed a separate nation in order to retain the king that the majority of the people of Israel had rejected.
And Benjamin and Levi went along with Judah making three tribes that had seceded and now set themselves up as the Kingdom of Judah. The remaining ten tribes, and there were ten tribes because there were two tribes of Joseph, both Ephraim and Manasseh forming tribes, and they were the most numerous in population of any of the tribes. It left ten tribes so that, in a sense, there were thirteen tribes, because Joseph had his double portion. And the ten tribes were known as the House of Israel, and their capital was Samaria.
But they had been invaded over a hundred years before Jeremiah’s prophecy was written; and they had been taken into captivity. And by this time they had even migrated from the land of Assyria and were traveling, at this very time, up north-west and into north-west Europe, and even into the British Isles and up into North Ireland. And we have evidence that Jeremiah went up into North Ireland with the daughter of King Zedekiah.
However, the point I want you to realize is that there are the two nations and they are never called by the same name. Never does the term ‘House of Israel’ refer to Jewish people.
The first place in your Bible where the word ‘Jews’ occurs is II Kings 16:6 where you find that Israel was fighting against the Jews. And the Jewish people were invaded by the ally of the House of Israel. And their town, Elath, was captured by the ally of the Israelites fighting against the Jews, believe it or not. That’s in your Bible.
And if you want the truth about that, and if you haven’t had it, write in for our free booklet: ‘United States in Prophecy.’ You must know where we are identified in prophecy. You cannot understand the Bible, you cannot understand its prophecies otherwise. It is a definite key. Write in for that booklet. There’s no charge for it. Check it with your Bible, prove it with history. You can check it if your mind is open and you’re heart is willing.
Now in the beginning of Jeremiah’s prophecy is a warning of the invasion that was to come on the Jewish people there, among whom he was living in the land of Judea. Remember this was over a hundred years after Israel had been taken captive. They had been moved out of their homes in the northern half of Palestine. And Gentiles had been put in their homes, their farms, their cities, and their villages. And it was inhabited by Gentiles at this time, but the Jews were still in the southern part of Palestine: the land of Judea.
And so he is telling what is coming on the Jews. But even then it is a type of what is coming on the United States and the British Commonwealth of nations today. And much of his prophecy is addressed to the House of Israel, which never means the Jewish people! And I’m going to show you that he speaks of both the House of Judah and the House of Israel. And he shows very plainly, in the portion that I hope we’ll come to in this present broadcast, that he is speaking of two different nations altogether.
And remember that the House of Israel had already gone into their captivity and there has never been a captivity of the House of Israel since. And so anything he says about a captivity coming to the House of Israel must be one yet to come, because it has never happened from that time ’til now!
Prophesy Smooth Things
Why is it, my friends, I know of no other voice on the face of this earth that is warning you of these things; and that sees these prophecies of the Bible and understands what they mean; and is giving you the true understanding as the Bible itself interprets its own self. It doesn’t need interpreting! We don’t interpret the Bible. Other people try to interpret it which means they put their own meaning into it!
And just as Jeremiah says over here in this twenty-third chapter of Jeremiah. Here’s what most of them seem to see today. Here it is; it’s verse sixteen that I wanted.
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets [that’s the preachers, or the ministers] that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the [Eternal]. They say still to them that despise me, The [Eternal] hath said, You shall have peace [see, no harm’s coming; you’re not going to have any of this trouble; this isn’t coming]; They say, You shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walks after the imagination of his own heart [that is after his own conscience and believes that your conscience will show you when you’re wrong] no evil can come upon you.” (Jeremiah 23:16-17)
What do they teach you today? They say that sin is the transgression of your conscience; and if you just follow your own conscience no evil can come upon you. And they say we’re going to have peace in the world.
I tell you, my friends, that you’re conscience is no guide. “Sin is the transgression of God’s law” (I John 3:4). God is the Supreme Ruler.
And I tell you that there is trouble coming on this earth that’s going to wipe you and your family, your home, your children off the face of this earth if God Almighty doesn’t intervene. And that the only protection that is offered you now, is that of God Almighty.
And if this nation as a whole will not turn to God and come under His protection, that you, as an individual, can be saved from all of this. No plague will come nigh your dwelling; no thing of this kind can happen to you! You will be taken to a place of safety. Jesus Christ has promised that too.
But you’ll have to completely change your life; you’ll have to really repent of your transgressions against God. You’ll have to come out of this world, because this world is going down in flames, and it’s going to its own end and its own destruction! You’ll have to forsake this world and come out of it, and turn to God Almighty and to His ways, and let Him change your whole life.
Now if you do that you can have divine protection and it isn’t going to happen to you. And if you don’t do it, I’m telling you it’s more certain than the rising and setting of tomorrow’s sun. And this is by authority of Jesus Christ.
Now I’ve started the last few days showing you what Jeremiah is prophesying for our time, for our nation, our people, and this time, this latter half of the twentieth century AD.
Now in verse four of chapter two, as we saw in the preceding broadcast, he says:
“Listen to the Eternal’s word, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 2:4 Moffatt Translation)
That does not mean the Jewish people, and is an expression that is never used to refer to the Jewish people. The Jewish people are referred to as ‘the men of Israel,’ or ‘people of Israel’ in the Bible, because they are, individually, Israelites, but they are not of the nation that has the national name, ‘house of Israel,’ or ‘kingdom of Israel.’ And that is a national name; a national name that never applied to the Jewish people.
It’s just like all Californians, if they are really Californians, are Americans, but all Americans are not Californians. You know, we go over to Texas and we find they don’t think they’re Californians, at all, over there. They think we’re foreigners over here in California when you get into that great big state of Texas – and so all Americans are not Texans, either. But all Texans, if they’re real Texans, are Americans. And I hope they all realize that.
Sometimes I think, you know, we laugh and joke about Texas calling the rest of us, ‘foreigners,’ but really, down deep, all of our Texas folks over there know they’re Americans, just the same as we out here in California know we’re Americans, too.
And so all the Jews are Israelites, but all Israelites are not Jews. Now I hope that’s plain.
A ‘Christian’ Nation?
Then in verse fourteen we have this mentioned…
“Is Israel a defenseless serf, a home-born slave that he should be plundered, and his towns laid waste? [the towns were not laid waste in the former captivity of Israel. That is speaking of a time when his towns will be laid waste]… and they will lay his land desolate [verse fifteen] empty of inhabitants.” (Jeremiah 2:14-15 Moffatt Translation)
Now coming on over to verse twenty-three, God says:
“How dare you say, I am not stained; I have not sought the Baals?” (Jeremiah 2:23 Moffatt Translation)
We’re not in Babylon; we’re not in this Baal worship; we’re not in any sun worship; we have Christianity. That’s what we claim today. And God says, “How dare you claim that?”
We put the label, ‘Christianity,’ on pagan ideas and pagan customs which we are blindly following! We have been born into a world following those things! And I tell you, my friends, look into history; look into the encyclopedias that you can get in any library, if you don’t have them in your own home. You can have the truth if you want it. You don’t need to take my word; you can check it; you can verify it if you wish.
Oh, I meet people all the time, and almost everyday someone comes here, or I meet someone that says, “You made me real angry when I first listened to you on the air.”
You know the truth is very upsetting; it makes people angry. And some say, “I was really mad!” So they were mad enough that they just took the challenge to check up and to find out.
And so many of them say, if they’re honest, “Well we have never found you wrong yet.”
Now if you do I wish you’d tell me about it, because if I’m wrong, I don’t want to be. I want to get right. I’ve been doing that for a long, long time, admitting where I was wrong. Have you? Well if you haven’t, you’re not a real Christian, because that’s what it takes is real repentance; the ability to acknowledge it when we are wrong.
And, you know, if you’ll do that, after about fifty years, as I’ve been on this course, you finally get to the place that you don’t have to admit it so often any more because you have corrected most of the errors finally.
Well our people seem to think that we’re a Christian people, and our land is filled with churches, and, “Oh God couldn’t punish us!”
God says: “How dare you say, ‘I am not stained; I have not sought the Baals?’ [and then again in verse thirty-five God says:] You say, ‘I am innocent; surely his anger is over.’ (Jeremiah 2:23, 35 Moffatt Translation)
God says, “I will condemn you for saying, ‘I have not sinned.'”
And then He talks about our depending on foreign allies in war instead of depending and relying on God. And he said that the Eternal has rejected those that we rely on, and nothing will we gain by, or through, them.
Then Jeremiah goes back a little bit from the prophecy, back to his own lifetime, and even back before, and the time when God called Israel under Moses, and shows a little of the history then, because they are our forefathers.
Divorce and Remarriage
And then he comes on down in this third chapter to the time of the end, and our time, and the time of the Second Coming of Christ again. He says…
“If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her?” (Jeremiah 3:1 Revised Standard Version)
You see under the Old Testament law, Moses did allow them to divorce their wives. And the wife could go and marry another man.
Now Jesus Christ said, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted that, but from the beginning it was not so (Matthew 19:8 paraphrased);” and it is not so now in the New Testament time under Christ as our High Priest. And God is the One who determines what is righteousness and what is adultery; what is sin and what is not sin.
And I want to tell you that there are a lot of people living in a very vile sin today. It’s vile in the sight of God, but it’s alright in the sight of today’s governments, and of today’s society, that has departed so far from God Almighty.
Well if you’re going to be angry, and you don’t want the truth of God, why just go on; God allows you to. You can live any way you please. You can live in all the adultery you want as long as the law of man allows you to. God will allow it, but He’s also going to let you reap what you sow! And there’s a judgment day coming. And if you fear that, and if you tremble before the Word of God and if you want the truth, you can have it.
Now the Eternal, here, was married to Israel, to both houses of Israel, before they divided into the two nations. And He’s speaking of that. He said…
“Can she return to him? Would not that land be greatly polluted?” (Jeremiah 3:1 paraphrased)
And you find back in the law of Moses that after such a marriage, and if the wife went off and married another, that she couldn’t return to her first husband, because it would be abomination; it would pollute the land.
Now He says: “You [speaking to Israel; he’s going back to the beginning now] you have played the harlot with many lovers [lovers means allies in modern language; in other words, having alliances, military alliances with other nations. Well, God says:] you have played the harlot with many lovers; and would you return to me?’ says the Eternal.” (Jeremiah 3:1 Revised Standard Version)
Well now later we come on down here to verse six:
The Eternal said: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel; how she went up onto every high hill, and under every green tree, and there played the harlot?” (Jeremiah 3:6 Revised Standard Version)
The high hills and the green trees are places of pagan worship! He’s referring there to paganism – and the very kind of paganism that infiltrates into what we call Christianity today! and I say, why don’t you look into this thing? you’ve been born into this world; you’ve taken it for granted; you’ve been taught by the books written by men. Why don’t you look into the word of God?
Now He says here to Judah: “Have you seen what that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree and there played the harlot [getting into the abominations of the heathen, of paganism]? And her false sister, Judah, saw it. And she saw that for all the adulteries of the faithless one, Israel, I had sent her [Israel] away and given her a decree of divorce. Yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot too.” (Jeremiah 3:6-8 RSV)
Now there is certainly the two nations, Israel and Judah. Israel had gone into captivity over a hundred years before these words were written. And now Judah has turned away from God and into the ways of the pagans too. And Judah was looking down to Egypt, and making an alliance with Egypt, against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon about this time.
Verse eleven: “And the Eternal said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say [now comes the prophecy for our time. There he went back into the history; now He comes into our time, listen] ‘Return faithless Israel [this isn’t the message that Jeremiah took to them then; this is a message that a modern Jeremiah has got to read out of this book, and tell you in your ears, as I’m doing now!] Return faithless Israel [and we’re faithless Israel today if we can wake up and realize it] faithless Israel… ” (Jeremiah 3:11-12 Revised Standard Version)
Now there is an Israel that is a converted Israel, begotten of God by the Holy Spirit. And they’re all Israel, even a Gentile becomes an Israelite by spiritual adoption if he is converted.
But this is speaking, not of converted Israel, not of the Church, but faith-less Israel: Israel without faith. And without faith it’s impossible to be saved! This is not those that have salvation.
He says: “Return faithless Israel, says the [Eternal]. For I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the [Eternal]. I will not be angry for ever. Only acknowledge your guilt” (Jeremiah 3:12-13 Revised Standard Version)
There’s the thing! We say, “Oh we’re not guilty; we’re a Christian nation; we’ve done no wrong.”
God says, “How dare you say that?”
He says: “Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the [Eternal] your God and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree [that’s more idolatry; that green tree], and that you have not obeyed my voice.” (Jeremiah 3:13 Revised Standard Version)
Wholehearted Obedience Toward God
People don’t want to obey the voice of God. They want to follow the way of the pagans and of the heathens and of the great crowd – the broad road that’s so pleasurable and the road of the crowd that is going to lead to destruction, instead of the strait and the narrow, the difficult, the hard, the rutty, the persecuted way that leads to eternal life; and few there be that find it.
He says: “Return faithless children, says the [Eternal], for I am your master.” (Jeremiah 3:14 Revised Standard Version)
That is Lord and Ruler, your Master. The whole secret of the whole thing is God will not save a single soul that He does not rule; a single one that He does not govern in every way. In every way.
You know a question came to me, and I think the person who gave me the question will not object because I want to help a lot of you out there. There are about a million of you, or more, listening.
This person said, “Alright, I understand that Christmas is a pagan holiday.” Now if you don’t understand it, write in for our booklet: ‘The Truth About Christmas ,’ and you can have all the facts, and you can check up on everything. But she said, “Wouldn’t it be alright if I just send Christmas presents, or just Christmas cards? You know, can’t we just go a little way?”
Now that was an honest inquiry. But let me tell you, my friends, a lot of us are just as honest as we can be, and sincere, wondering if we can’t go just a little way with these things.
Well my advice is: you get just as far away from this world and the paganism as you can possibly get because, even though it’s only a little way, it’s on the side of sin; and it’s just a little bit of rebellion against God.
Now is just a little bit of rebellion against God alright as long as it isn’t a great big bit? What do you think about that? What’s God going to think about it? God wants our whole hearts, my friends; He wants our WHOLE obedience. He wants our unconditional surrender, no conditions whatsoever, and if you’re not willing to give that to God Almighty, He is not going to give you of His Holy Spirit. And He’s never going to save you; and you’re never going to have any salvation I can tell you that, “…but a fearful and a certain looking for of judgment and fiery indignation that will devour the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:27)
Well I want to hasten because there’s more in this chapter I have to get to before we close, and only a few more minutes to go here.
Now God says: “…only acknowledge your guilt that you will rebel against the Eternal your God, and scattered your favors among the strangers [and all of that sort of thing] Return, for I am your master; I will take you one of a city, two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” (Jeremiah 3:13-14)
And, my friends, that’s speaking of the Second Coming of Christ. This is a prophecy for our time; it’s a warning to our people; the very generation that’ll be living at the Second Coming of Christ.
Now let’s go on and read the rest of that beginning now with verse fifteen. I’m going to go back to the Authorized (King James) Version right here.
He says: “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding [that is if we will repent and if we will turn to Him. He will give us that kind of pastors]. And it shall come to pass, when you be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the [Eternal], they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the [Eternal]; neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.” (Jeremiah 3:15-16)
No they’re not going to have the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant. This is speaking of the New Testament time, and the coming of Christ. This is the prophecy for now!
Listen – verse seventeen, the third chapter of Jeremiah…
“At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the [Eternal]; and ALL nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the [Eternal], to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk anymore after the imagination of their evil heart.” (Jeremiah 3:17)
In other words: according to human conscience. How many are telling you today, “Well sin is the transgression of your own conscience; as long as you only do what you think is wrong, you’re alright: if you do what you think is alright, that’s alright with God?” That is not the Word of God, but exactly the antithesis.
Now: “In those days the house of Judah [now get it; here’s the Jewish people – the house of Judah] in those days the house of Judah shall walk WITH the house of Israel [there are the two different nations spoken of as two different nations, in that day, in those days: the time of the Second Coming of Christ], and they shall come together out of the land of the north [the north where their captivity was and out of their captivity] to the land that I have given an inheritance to your fathers [that’s the land of Palestine]. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the host of nations? And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shall not turn away from me. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says the [Eternal].” (Jeremiah 3:18-20)
Now there it is right in your Bible; that’s exactly what God says we have done! He is going to bring us back at the time of the Second Coming of Christ.
Now: “If you will turn back [beginning with chapter four] If you will turn back, O Israel, if you will turn to me [then He says] Then shall the nations seek their bliss through him, and glory in him.” (Jeremiah 4:1-2 Moffatt Translation)
Then He comes to a message to Judah of that time; the warning of what is going to happen to the Jewish people. Now we’re coming to that part of the scripture that some people believe says the whole earth is going to be desolate and without an inhabitant for the period known popularly as ‘the Millennium’ – a thousand years after the Second Coming of Christ. That’ll be in the next broadcast.
Footnote:
{1} Mr. Armstrong references Jeremiah at this point, but this quote is found in Isaiah, chapter 48.