Come out of her my people!
Come out of her my people!
It’s a tough challenge to change the institutionalized doctrine of the Christian faith, especially when they seem to have served us well up till now. However, if we don’t reexamine the message of God’s word, we are going to miss God’s call:- Come out of her my people! This is one of the most repeated messages of prophesy, perhaps second only to God’s call for us to obey his law, so I have listed the scriptures here for you to consider, beginning with the common thread between the prophesies of Revelation and Jeremiah. What you need to look for is the meaning and relevance that these prophesies have for you and I right now, in 2009. Here is what God says concerning you, me, and Babylon;
Come out of her my people, so you will not share in her sins, so you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Revelation 18:4 By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. [also see Ezekiel 13:17-23] In her were found the blood of the prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth. After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants. Revelation 18:23 – 19:2
Come out of her my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD…..heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon….. Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the LORD in a distant land, and think on Jerusalem. [God's future throne on earth.] Jeremiah 51:45-50
Return, faithless people, declares the LORD, for I am your husband. I will choose you – one from a town and two from a clan – and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart [the house of David], who will lead you with knowledge and understanding….. At that time they will call Jerusalem the Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. Jeremiah 3:14-17
Note; fulfillment of this prophesy coincides with the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. For example; In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Isaiah 2:2 and Micah 4:1 Also see Zechariah 14:16-18
When the LORD returns to Zion they will see it with their own eyes. Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. [Compare:- Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. Revelation 1:7] Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the LORD. But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Isaiah 52:8-12
Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. Jeremiah 51:6
Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock. Jeremiah 50:8
Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD, for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven, declares the LORD. Come O Zion! Escape, you who live in the daughter of Babylon!… Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you, declares the LORD. [Compare:- I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. John 16:22] Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. Zechariah 2:6-11 [Compare:- At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:1]
If only you had paid attention to my commands [Specifically:- Remember the law of my servant Moses... Malachi 4:4], your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like it’s numberless grains; their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me. Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, the LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob [Israel]. Isaiah 48:18-20
Note; this prophesy includes the suggestion that Babylon is a worldwide entity, as does the following; How Sheshach will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! What a horror Babylon will be among the nations! Jeremiah 51:41 It is also an ageless entity, given that Babylon is guilty of the blood of “….all who have been killed on the earth.” [Revelation 18:23] Of more concern though, is that we, Zion, the children of God, are Babylon, or are up to our eyeballs in Babylon, a fact which may be evident from the common thread of the following two prophesies;
Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you O Daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his arms hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor. Jeremiah 50:41-43
Look! An army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bow and spear; they are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you O Daughter of Zion. We have heard reports about them, and our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor. Jeremiah 6:22-24
In similar fashion, the following prophesy for Moab is similar to the prophesy for all earths inhabitants;
Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the LORD. Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of Moab, declares the LORD. Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring upon Moab the year of her punishment, declares the LORD. Jeremiah 48:42-44
Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of the earth. Whoever flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare. The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls – never to rise again. In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below… The moon will be abashed, the sun ashamed, for the LORD will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders, gloriously. Isaiah 24:17-23
Concerning Moab; Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert. Jeremiah 48:6 [bush; see Jeremiah 17:8]
Making sense of prophesy;
The prophesies are a riddle [Numbers 12:8, Psalm 49:4] or are written in the form of parables [Psalm 78:2]. What should be apparent from the few I have presented here is that the ancient prophesies are more relevant for us today than they ever were, as we draw nearer to the coming judgment, and God’s eternal kingdom. Hopefully, these few prophesies are enough to show that we mustn’t ignore God’s warnings addressed to Zion, Jerusalem, Israel, Babylon, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Egypt, Tyre, or any of the ancients, because God is well capable of hiding his truth for us within these ancient prophesies. I know without doubt that they are all interwoven to form a picture of God’s plan for mankind;
The sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7
[Now] the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as announced to his prophets. Revelation 10:7
So the answers for mankind are there in prophecy, but are not necessarily evident to us unless the Spirit of God enables us to receive it;
I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in it’s time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:10,11
For you this whole vision is nothing but words on a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, “Read this please,” he will answer, “I can’t, it is sealed.” Isaiah 29:11
To this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. Deuteronomy 29:4
However, this is no reason not to search God’s word for his plan for you. Being Israel makes you eligible for God’s promises, but it also entails struggling with God to receive his blessing. We have these promises for those who are prepared to search the prophesies;
I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, Seek me in vain. I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right. Isaiah 45:29
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search a matter out is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25:2
And if you accept that we are in the “end times”, as I do, then we stand a good chance of unraveling some of God’s mysteries; For the revelation awaits the appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Habakkuk 2:3
There are numerous barriers to receiving God’s word through the prophets. If you are satisfied with your current beliefs and your current walk with God you probably won’t discover anything new. This would put you in the category of the “complacent in Zion” [Amos 6:1]. The best thing you could possibly have is a desperation to find God, and a genuine fear of God, whereby you “tremble at his word” [Isaiah 66:5] and not dismiss the prophesies as irrelevant or ancient history, as I myself have done until the last few years. You should need no other prompting than Jesus words; Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. [Matthew 5:17] If you believe that the Law and the Prophets are still God’s word for us today, you are in a good place to “Come out of her my people” and to reject the three major fallacies upon which the Christian religion is based;
1. God has changed his plan, and has rejected the natural descendants of Israel in favor of the Gentiles. Not true. See; Amos 3:1,2, Psalm 33:11,12, 89:34, 145:13. God’s plan for the Israelites is still the only plan, but now days all mankind is descended from Israel, including the Gentiles [which means uncircumcised, and has nothing to do with nationality]. See Psalm 81:8, Matthew 13:33, 10:23.
Note; It seems that the ancient saints who did not carry the bloodline of Israel will be adopted into Israel “the tribe of God’s inheritance.” [Jeremiah 10:16, 51:19] This may be evident by reading Psalm 68. “God sets the lonely in families” [68:6] and “The tongues of your dogs have their share.” [68:23] The latter is the only scripture I have seen that resembles the words of the Syrophoenecian woman, to whom Jesus initially refused to minister because she was not an Israelite; “…but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” [Mark 7:28]
2. We are under a new covenant, which abolished the Mosaic covenant. Not true. The new covenant will be established when Jesus returns and Israel is gathered. It will empower us to keep the Mosaic covenant faithfully. [See Ezekiel 37:15-28, 36:24-32, 11:17-21, Jeremiah 31:23-34, 32:37-41]
3. All of the bible is the word of God. Not true! The letters of the apostles are the interpretations of men, not the word of God. Quite a bit of it is wrong, especially the work of the apostle Paul, and specifically, anything that says we are not obligated to obey the Mosaic Law. Paul himself states that his word is not God’s word; “To the rest I say this [I, not the Lord]…” [1 Corinthians 7:12] Paul may be excused for misinterpreting the prophesies from his standpoint in history, but you and I have no excuse except complacency, especially considering we have a superb compilation of prophesies, including the book of Revelation, which Paul did not have. He may not have had the gospels either.
Start by believing this; “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets…. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven…” [Matthew 5:17-19]
“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?… “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” [Matthew 19:16, Mark 10:17, Luke 18:18]
God is about to reestablish his temple in Jerusalem, and call us to return to his law. This will be the message of the two witnesses [Revelation 11:3-12, 14:6,7] which is God’s first call to “Come out from her my people.” There will be a second call [Isaiah 11:11], but not until after we have ignored his first call, and have been severely disciplined as a result. [Jeremiah 30:11, 46:28] I hope you’ll give your spare time to studying the prophesies, so that you can discover the significance of God’s temple for yourself. The prophesies do not state this succinctly. If you have previously ignored the importance of prophesy, the best chance of realizing that a return to temple worship is what God now requires may be to closely examine all of Zechariah, and Ezekiel 34 to 48. Even better is to read all the Law and prophesies over and over again, believing that they are God’s word for you today – which is exactly what Jesus said. It takes time and application to recognize and eliminate a false belief.
My change of doctrine began two years ago, following debate with a Jehovah’s Witness. I could not agree with his doctrine, even though he showed me scriptures that seemed to support them. When I showed him scriptures that contradicted his doctrine, they were completely ineffective – he had already made up his mind who God was and what he required. Eventually we gave up, having gotten no closer in our beliefs. The great outcome for me however, was that I saw myself in him, and realized I had no advantage over him in interpreting God’s word – I believed what I had been taught to believe. From this realization, I resolved to look at the bible again with the attitude that I didn’t know the answers.
Now days I carp on and on about obeying the Mosaic law. I’ve quoted Matthew 5:17 twice in this article, but that is not where my current doctrine started. In fact, I had previously read that scripture over and over to no effect. The issue for me was the seventh day Sabbath. After reading Isaiah 56, 58, and Jeremiah 17, I reasoned; “How could this not be important to God now, when it was so important to God in Isaiah and Jeremiah’s day? Isn’t God an unchanging God?” So I obeyed God by keeping the Sabbath, and from that point on it was as if God had given me new eyes, plus an insatiable appetite for reading the prophecies. I don’t know what issue will spark your interest in prophesy, but you need to find it soon, because it’s the only safe place to hear God’s word, and we are running out of time.
The Christian faith has served us well up until now. It has enabled us to exercise faith, obedience, justice, mercy, and humility – the fundamental righteous requirements of God. But if you and I remain complacent, we will not recognize the message of the two witnesses as coming from God, will reject God’s call, and will become party to the great rebellion. This will be a disgrace for all of us who call ourselves children of God, and cause for God to sorrow; “I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me.” [Jeremiah 3:19]
When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8
When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Isaiah 50:2
I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD. Ezekiel 22:30,31
I gave Jerusalem a messanger of good tidings. I look but there is no one – no one among them to give councel, no one to give answer when I ask them. See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion. Isaiah 41:28,29
The LORD will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free. He will say; "Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in….?" Deuteronomy 32:36,37
Getting to grips with Ezekiel;
Ideally, this is probably not where you would start studying prophesy, but it is the book that had the greatest impact on my own doctrine, so this might be true for you also. All three of my heretical statements against the foundational doctrine of Christianity came largely from studying this book. Here are a few scriptures from Ezekiel that I consider especially noteworthy;
The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. The end is now upon you and I will now unleash my anger upon you. [7:2,3] The day is here! It has come! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! The Violent One has become a rod to punish wickedness; none of the people will be left, none of that crowd – no wealth, nothing of value. The time has come, the day has arrived. [7:10-12] Wail and say, “Alas for that day!” For the day is near, the Day of the LORD is near – a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. [30:2,3] It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken of. [39:8]
If that is not enough to persuade you that the whole book is describing the end time judgment, and the future kingdom of God, you might compare Ezekiel 39:17-20 with Revelation 19:17-21 [the pre-millennium judgment] and Ezekiel 38 with Revelation 20:7-9 [the post-millennium judgment].
Although I sent [Israel] far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while [2730 yrs!!] I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. [11:16]
I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by. [20:25 – For example:- But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Cor 2:16 This is incorrect, none of us can live up to this.]
They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees…..David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them…. I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever. 37:24-28
[The temple] is the place of my throne… This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. When they placed their threshold next to my threshold…. they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger…. describe the temple to the people of Israel,[see 40, 41, 42] that they may be ashamed of their sins. [43:7-10]
Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die O house of Israel? [33:11]