God always does things in an orderly way and without confusion.

God does not evolve or change.

The Scriptures are written so that the world cannot understand them before it is time for them to understand.

Isaiah 6:

9   The Lord] said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Isaiah 28:

10   For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

John 12:

40   He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted.

Amos 3:

7   Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants…

Brethren, you and I are slated to be among the firstfruits in the resurrection.

As spiritual beings, we will reign and rule on the earth throughout the millennium with Jesus Christ.

Revelation 5:

10   And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth... 

We, as spiritual beings, will be the ones who will say to the physical citizens of the world tomorrow, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” 

Isaiah 30:

21   “This is the way, walk ye in it.”

Beginning after the tribulation, in the world tomorrow, there will be a small remnant of physical people who will multiply and fill the earth once again.

Jeremiah 30:

3   For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

That is the land of Palestine.

Who are they?  Where do they come from?  How do they possibly survive the great tribulation?

God has given us a vision of where current events are leading, and what will soon happen to the nations of Israel, the people of Israel, that have been scattered around the world.

We are nearing the end of 6000 years since God renewed the face of the earth and began with Adam and Eve.  Jesus came to this earth at the 4000 year point – and that was about two thousand years ago.

Have you ever wondered how God will choose the selection of physical individuals who will survive the tribulation and then begin to populate the seventh millennium?

We are nearing the day when Jesus Christ is going to return and establish His Father’s Kingdom on this earth…

But before that takes place, this present evil world will go through unprecedented turmoil, war and tribulation.

Who will live over into that Wonderful World Tomorrow?

How will they be protected from that evil day?

God says in:

Jeremiah 23:

3   And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

4   And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: [As we saw in Isaiah 30:21, the shepherds will teach them and guide them saying  “This is the way, walk ye in it.”] and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

The soon coming World War will see so our young men and women carried away captive into all parts of the world.

Our defenses have been spent in vain.  An enemy will sweep across this nation and spare not – except for the young and strong who will be useful to them and captured slaves – to work their mines, factories and slave labor camps.

How will they survive throughout the tribulation to be able to see a new-day in the Kingdom of God on earth?  To be protected, they must be sealed by God.

We are given an example in the Old Testament of a people who were spared from annihilation when a terrible destruction came upon all Israel because of the abominations of the nation.

Ezekiel 8:

4   And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

God is going to show Ezekiel the great abominations that are going on in Jerusalem, in particular, and the Land of Israel in general.

Remember that Israel and Judah went into captivity for Sabbath breaking and idolatry.

Ezekiel 8:

12   Then said [the Lord] unto [Ezekiel], Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD sees us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

Israel had left off the true worship of God.

Ezekiel 8:

13   He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

Ezekiel 8:

16   And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

That was Easter sunrise services going on in God’s house!

That’s Idolatry, that’s Paganism, that’s false worship, that’s an abomination to God.

And that is exactly what we have in America today.

Ezekiel 8:

17   Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

There is an emendation of the Sopherim here that changed the Scripture from what God is saying: “You stick your obelisks and steeples up my nose” is a better translation.

God says that He will wipe them out for these abominations.

Ezekiel 8:

18   Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

It is all over for them – God says.

Brethren, do you see that America has come to the same place – rejection of the true God and false worship.

I saw last week where a school teacher was fired for giving a student a bible.

We see here as we begin Chapter 9, that at God’s call, His servants appear to inflict punishment on the ungodly and to execute judgment on Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 9:

1   He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.

2   And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lies toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

3   And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And [the Lord] called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;

* 4   “The Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.”

God is looking for a certain attitude.  Most people will be going right along with the abominations of the land.  They prostitute themselves – which is spiritual adultery.  That disqualifies them from receiving the mark or seal of protection.

The mark or sealing signature, shaped like a door frame, on the forehead of those who were mourning and weeping over the idolatrous conduct of the nation was reminiscent of the blood on the doorposts and lintel of the homes of those who were safe and out of danger when the death-angel passed over the Children of Israel.

The sign or seal of blood on the door caused the death-angel to Passover those who are obedient.

In the same way in Ezekiel’s day, the sealing Mark on their foreheads afforded them protection – and their lives were spared.

Ezekiel 9:

4   depicts a vision in which the Hebrew letter “Tav” plays a Passover role similar to the blood on the lintel and doorposts of a Hebrew home in Egypt. 

In Ezekiel’s vision, the Lord has his angels separate the good from the evil by going through Jerusalem and inscribing a mark, a Tav, “upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.”

In Ezekiel's vision, then, the Lord is counting Israelites with the mark of the Tav as worthwhile to spare, but He counts the people who lack the Tav, because of their evil attitude, to be worthy of annihilation.

Notice what God is doing.  He is sealing some in their forehead for divine protection from what is about to befall all the evil inhabitants.

Ezekiel 9:

5   And to the others [the slaughterers] He said in mine hearing [Ezekiel says], Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:

6   Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

8   And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?

Matthew 24:

21   For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Only those who are to live over into the millennium need to be saved alive.

The saints will be in the place of safety or else they will be martyred – in any case they will enter the millennium as spirit beings.

Matthew 24:

22   And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Ezekiel 9:

9   Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD sees not.

Because of the greatness of the iniquity of Israel, God will not spare.

The abominable acts of Israel in rejecting the True God call for merciless punishment – the entire nation deserves destruction.

Ezekiel 9:

10   And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.

11   And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

Let’s jump forward to the immediate future.

When the tribulation comes and the trumpet plagues come upon the entire earth, the faithful converted saints will be protected by God because they will have been already sealed in their foreheads.

2 Corinthians 1:

22   Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts…  

Ephesians 1:

13   In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.

So we see that the true saints of God already have the Tav [Taw] – they are marked or sealed by God already.

But, here is the big question we are looking at in today’s message, how will a physical remnant of Israel survive the tribulation to live-over into the world tomorrow?

The survivors of the tribulation will be the physical remnant of Jacob or as we see most often – the physical remnant of Israel. 

They will mostly be strong young men and women who had been carried into the captivity of slave labor camps of enemy nations.

Ezekiel describes the paring off and scaling down of great numbers to a very few.

What is the population of the Israelitish people – the sons and daughters of Jacob?  …300 million Americans,  200 million Brits around the world – I’m just guessing.

Ezekiel 5:

1   And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

These hairs represent the end-time population of the Israelitish nations.

We are shown that the enemy will kill 1/3 of the population in the initial attack.

Ezekiel 5:

2   Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.

Another 1/3 die shortly and the last 1/3 is carried away into the captivity of enemy nations all around the world.

Ezekiel 5:

3   Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.

Then, most of the final 1/3 will perish under the hand of harsh taskmasters.

Ezekiel 5:

4   Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. [All around the earth]

But God knows His own people.  God will not totally destroy His covenant people – not ever – for His own Name’s sake.

Amos 9:

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.

Even with hundreds of years of migration and in the end –scattered around the globe in slave labor camps – God knows where each and every one of His people are.

Amos 9:

Most of the weak and elderly will not survive the rigors of the captivity, exportation and slave work camps.

Isaiah 10:

20   And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob [USA, England, etc.], shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21   The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

22   For though thy people Israel [USA and the UK etc.],  be as the sand of the sea, yet [only] a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

We’ve seen over and over that God’s retribution, for the abominations of Israel, is coming.

Isaiah 10:

23   For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

24   Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

25   For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

We are going to see next that God acts again as He did in Ezekiel’s day to preserve a people unto Himself.

Let me ask you this brethren.  Where in the Bible can we find a passage that clearly shows physical Israel in the end time being sealed by God as He did in Ezekiel’s day? 

Be thinking about that as we come to Isaiah 11:11

Isaiah 11:

11   And it shall come to pass in that day [Day of the Lord], that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left [alive], from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

Israel has been carried captive into every foreign nation.

Isaiah 11:

12   And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Let’s jump to the New Testament where we find these four corners.

Let’s see what this chapter is talking about.

How and when will this physical remnant be sealed so that they may be afforded protection from the destruction which will come upon all the earth?

Perhaps we are given a clue, if not the answer, in Revelation Chapter 7.

Revelation 7:

1   And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

2   And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

3   Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed [mark of preservation]  the servants [interestingly this word is slaves] of our God in their foreheads.

Wow!

Remember

Ezekiel 9:

4   The Lord said … set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations. 

Revelation 7:

4   And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

That is not speaking of today’s Church of God – the physical tribes of the children of Israel are modern day America, England, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand etc.

“Sealed,” in the previous verse means that a select number of people will be protected during the tribulation, as they were in Ezekiel’s day, because they worshipped the true God.

Elsewhere, at a different time, the Scriptures speak of a spiritual 144000, and a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne of God, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes.. that is spiritual Israel…

But the Scriptures do not speak of them being sealed in the same way.  That happens only here in Revelation 7

But here in Revelation 7 we are looking at a preserved physical remnant who are sealed by God and will be preserve over – for the millennium reign of Christ and the saints.

Revelation 7:

5   Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

6   Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

7   Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

8   Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

These tribes of the Children of Israel are today’s physical citizens of the English speaking nations.

When our children, the tribes of the Children of Israel, see the destruction of the world taking place, they will sigh, cry, mourn and weep for the abominations that are in the land.

Our children will remember what they learned in Church services, or they will know of the work of the Two Witnesses, or they will possibly remember their training.

Proverbs 22:

6   Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Revelation 7:

9   After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude… When you study this next section you will find that they are not sealed for physical protection.

When we study the chronology of events surrounding those who have washed their robes, and those who have been protected, we can see that a physical remnant is preserved alive at the last possible moment.

Revelation 7:

13   …Who are these in white robes?

14   And I said unto Him, Sir, thou know. And He said to me, these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

These converted saints referred to in this verse have died in the persecution of the tribulation, having been previously sealed with God’s Spirit of promise.

There will be a new nation, made up of our children, gathered to Palestine to once again grow into a glorious People of the Lord.

Isaiah 43:

5-7   Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed [children] from the East, and gather thee from the West;  I will say to the North, Give up; and to the South, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for My Glory.

End: Sigh, Cry, Mourn and Weep

***

Sermon:

"Sigh, Cry, Mourn and Weep"