December 2000

The Lord's elect are becoming a prepared people with a holy, kingdom purpose to fulfill in the earth and for the whole creation. The Lord's elect are also growing in the Spirit to know who they are, where they came from, where they are going, and how they relate to all the Lord's anointed and chosen people throughout Biblical and spiritual history. In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us, by the inspiration of the holy Spirit, that "the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises," belong to Israel (see Rom. 9:4-5). What this really means is that in order for us to receive the adoption, which is the actual placing as God's sons, partake of His glory, enter into His covenants, receive His law and His word, as well as the service of God as kings and priests, and inherit all the promises of God, we must become Israelites.

This does not mean that we must all be born as natural Israelites in the flesh, as many of us are. But we become Israelites by faith when we are saved. When Christ comes into our lives, we become Israelites by faith in Him. We become Abraham's seed and heirs of the promises of God (Ga. 3:29), regardless of our racial or national heritage or identity. And since we are spiritually identified as Abraham's seed, we should know more about our fathers in the faith and their remarkable history. When we understand Israel's history, we will also understand more of our Father's glorious plan for the restoration of all things.

Israel's Judgment, Repentance, and Restoration

In Old Testament warnings and prophecies, the Lord reminded Israel of the way the Egyptians and other nations lived. The people of Israel had seen the sinful customs and practices of those nations as they traveled through the wilderness to their first promised land. They saw the abominations of the heathen, and their many idols. So the Lord warned them not to worship idols or commit the abominations of the heathen. If they took on any of the sinful ways of the heathen, the Lord warned them that all the curses resulting from their disobedience would come upon them. If they turned against the Lord and His word and He judged them, the Lord said the other nations would understand that He did it because they disobeyed Him (De. 29:24-28).

History tells us that Israel did indeed take on the ways of the heathen. They rebelled against the Lord and His word and became as abominable as the heathen. "And the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, AS IT IS THIS DAY" (De. 29:27-28). Some of us may be familiar with the history of Israel, which is full of disobedience and rebellion, and of broken covenants and laws. This resulted in the Israel people, who are chosen of God to be His servant people, being driven from their land by heathen armies. But all this dark and dismal history is behind us now! We are living in the day when Israel is returning to the Lord, and God is beginning to restore His people. He is making a new covenant with us now, for we are the true Israel of God. It is a covenant that cannot be broken, for it is based on the "I wills" of God, rather than the "thou shalts" of man's responsibility and works.

In spite of Israel's rebellion and disobedience in history, the Lord declared His purpose to restore and regather them. He said to them, "And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee" (De. 30:1-3).

The blessings and the curses have indeed come upon Israel in history, resulting in the scattering of the nation. Generally, natural things take place first, followed by the spiritual fulfillment. Thus Paul wrote, "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual" (1 Co. 15:46). This principle applies to our full salvation as well as to other aspects of the kingdom of God. But let us consider briefly the natural, historical fulfillment of God's word to Israel. The wise will appreciate history, while the carnal minded would like to ignore it, or worse yet, try to change it or deny it. Our knowledge of the history of God's people is vital and necessary if we would properly understand our Father's plan for the kingdom of God on earth and the restoration of all things. Jesus said, "every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old" (Mt. 13:52). Both old and new things make up the wondrous treasures of the kingdom of our Father.

Israel was literally scattered and driven from their land, and sent of God to wander westward. The scattering, dispersion, or "diaspora," of Israel in history, naturally and literally, is well documented, some in scripture and some in historical records. The Lord said that if Israel disobeyed His word, He would scatter them abroad, and that is exactly what happened. Israel was driven out of Palestine and scattered many centuries ago. At the death of Solomon in about 926 BC, Israel was divided into two kingdoms: the northern ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel, and the southern two tribes of the kingdom of Judah (see 1 Ki. 12:16-20). Later, in four invasions between 762 and 676 BC, the Assyrians conquered, deported and scattered the northern ten tribes of Israel and most of the people of the southern kingdom of Judah. Jerusalem was spared due to the repentance of Hezekiah (2 Ki. 19).

Those captive Israelites, estimated to be about six million in number at that time, were transported by the Assyrians, in four captivities, hundreds of miles northeast to the land of Media near the Caspian Sea, in what was then northern Mesopotamia. Those Israelites never returned to Palestine, but became lost to history. The sole surviving tribe of Judah was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in about 587 BC. Those Judeans, of the house of Judah, then became known religiously as "Jews," a name that has never applied to any of the people of the lost ten tribes of the house of Israel.

The ten tribes were considered "lost" because they were stripped of both their identity and their God, as a result of the Lord's judgments due to their rebellion and unbelief. God raised up prophets in Israel to warn the people of their sins, and of the Lord's judgments upon them. But the messages of the prophets went unheeded, and Israel continued to go her own willful way. The prophet Hosea prophesied around 785 BC, more than twenty years before the first Assyrian invasion. He warned Israel of going their own willful way, and told them what God would do about it. His prophecy of warning took a strange form. The prophet Hosea was told by God to marry a harlot, according to the whoredoms of Israel, and that is what he did (Hos. 1:2). Hosea's wife gave birth to a son, who was named Jezreel (meaning, God soweth) by the Lord. The birth and name of this son illustrated the truth that God would avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and end the kingdom of Israel (Hos. 1:4). But the name Jezreel meant much more than that, as we shall see.

Next, Hosea's wife gave birth to a girl, who was to be called Loruhamah, meaning, not having obtained mercy. The name of this child illustrated the truth that the mercy of God for Israel had ended. The next child born to Hosea's wife was named Loammi, which means, not my people. By naming these two children as He did, the Lord was saying to Israel, "ye are not my people, and I will not be your God" (Hos. 1:9). With this, the Lord divorced Israel (Jer. 3:8). Since they were no longer God's people for a time, the name Israel, meaning prince with God, was taken from them and completely removed from their minds. Not only that, but God was no longer their God and they were no longer His people. Thus, the divorce between the Lord and Israel was complete. And when Israel was captured by Assyria and scattered, they became a people without a national name, without a religion or a form of worship, and without God.

Earlier we wrote that the Assyrians took those captive Israelites, about six million of them in four migrations, to the land of Media near the Caspian Sea, which is now part of Iran. According to sources who have documented this information, those forced migrations took place during the years of 762-676 BC. But that was all a part of the plan of God, just as everything else is! In the years that followed, those God-divorced, no-name people wandered northward into Eastern Europe. The only close, land route northward available to them was through what is now part of Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the country of Georgia (formerly part of the Soviet Union), to cross the Caucasus mountains. The Caucasus are a range of mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. As our Israelite forefathers wandered westward from there, a seed of them were left in the nations through which they journeyed. But remember, those wandering Israelites had lost their name, their national and family identities, as well as their worship, their religion and their God, due to unbelief.

Most likely when they saw those no-name, unidentified Israelites coming over the Caucasus mountains into Europe, the people of that area of Eastern Europe began calling them "Caucasians," a name that has remained with us from that day to this. According to an older Funk and Wagnalls dictionary (printed in June of 1947), the skull of a white man was found in a grave in the Caucasus mountain range. That discovery helped to identify those people, who were believed to be the "lost," no-name, wandering Israelites who were captured earlier by Assyria, and removed from their first promised land of Palestine.

Then those God-divorced Israelites made their way westward, into Western Europe, and Britain, eventually continuing their westward trek to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Thus, the word of the Lord in judgment upon the rebellious nation was fulfilled. Israel was truly scattered and dispersed, just as the Lord said they would be (see 2 Sam. 7:10 & Ez. 36:17-20). And most of Israel has not been in the so-called "holy land," or in their first promised land of Canaan or Palestine, since then.

When David was seated on his throne on Mt. Zion in the literal city of Jerusalem, and all Israel was with him in Palestine or Canaan, which was Israel's first promised land, God gave His word to Israel through Nathan the prophet. He said, "Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more: neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime" (2 Sam 7:10). All twelve tribes of Israel were in the first promised land of Canaan or Palestine. But the Lord gave His word, declaring that He was going to appoint a place, specifically another place, for His people, Israel.

In their new appointed place, Israel would never move again, nor would they be afflicted anymore by the children of wickedness, as they had been in the old promised land of Palestine. According to some accounts, that prophecy was given in 1042 B.C. but was fulfilled centuries later. Since that scattering of Israel to their appointed place has already happened, most of Israel is no longer in the old, so-called "holy land." When this glorious truth breaks in upon our enlightened minds, by the mind of Christ, we will then know that Israel's present homelands are far more "holy" than their previous land in old Canaan or Palestine ever was. The Lord has sanctified Israel's move to these new lands with several, glorious outpourings of His precious holy Spirit during the past century, making their new lands much more "holy" than was their first promised land (Jerusalem, Judea, etc.)

The scattering or dispersion (Greek: diaspora) of Israel was well known to Jesus, to His disciples, and to the apostles (see John 7:35, James 1:1 & 1 Pet. 1:1-2). But while the Lord was fulfilling His judgments on Israel for their disobedience, He was also doing a very positive work, leading to their own restoration and the ultimate restoration of the whole world of mankind. God was sowing them as seed among the nations. This is the greater fulfillment of the name of Hosea's first child, "Jezreel," which means God soweth. O that we might learn and fully comprehend the great truth that the Lord turns every negative event and situation into something more glorious and positive, for His greater glory. The Lord has sown Israel among the nations as the seed of restoration, which is a promise that is soon to be fulfilled. We are living in the great Day when the seed of God, which we are, that was sown in the earth among the nations throughout the history of the world, shall bring forth the fruit of the full, spiritual restoration of all the nations of the earth.

Remember, those blinded Israelites had no name, no national or family identity, and no religion or form of worship, for God had divorced them. This was all a part of our Father's sovereign plan of redemption and restoration. But while Israel was in that state of blindness, the Lord continued to fulfill His word through them. He arranged circumstances among the nations whereby Israel was removed from their original homeland in old Canaan by their enemies and then scattered as seed among the "Gentiles," or among other nations, according to the meaning of the name Jezreel (God soweth). And as the ten tribes of Israel were making their new homes among the nations of the West in the centuries that followed, they were being awakened spiritually to know the Lord and His truth.

In due time, Jesus was born of the tribe of Judah in Bethlehem of Judea, for a remnant of the tribe of Judah was still in the old promised land. He came unto His own (Judah), and His own (Judah) received Him not (Jo. 1:11). But while Judah, or the Jews, rejected Jesus Christ and His word, the ten tribes of Israel did receive Him and His word. The Lord thus began restoring the ten tribes of Israel spiritually, by giving them ears to hear. It is believed that a remnant of those restored ten tribes, also called the "dispersed" (John 7:35), were among those "devout men, out of every nation under heaven," who came to receive of the moving of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:5-11).

Since then, Israel has been the seed of God among the nations of the world, providing spiritual Life to all around them. As a result of Israel's spiritual restoration we now see that God has a firstfruits people, whom He has called forth out of every kindred, tribe and nation under heaven (Rev. 5:9). Also now, a remnant of Israel has returned to the Lord. Paul referred to them as "a remnant according to the election of grace" (Ro. 11:5). It is as if we are witnessing a people coming forth out of the grave. Thus, Paul wrote, "For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead" (See Romans ch. 11). What a Day and time this is! The earthly realm of the kingdom of God is unfolding before our eyes, and it is doing so without observation!

God has a firstfruits people from every nation, kindred and tongue on earth, as well as a firstfruits of Israel. They are the holy and set apart remnant of the Lord, sown as seed among the nations for their deliverance. And if the firstfruits of Israel, or the root of the nation, which we are, are holy, so the "lump," or the whole nation, is holy also (Ro. 11:16). In other words, our nation and people are holy and set apart for His purposes in God's sight by the righteous walk we have with the Lord. Because of our righteousness in Christ, the nations of our present sojourn are considered righteous also. As we wrote on page one, every person who becomes a Christian, by the will, purpose, and calling of God, regardless of their racial ancestry, become Israelites by faith in God, as the Spirit through Paul said they would.

Thus it is written, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Gal. 3:26-29). All who are apprehended of God become Israelites by faith, according to the word of the Lord. And in becoming Israelites by faith, we are all obligated to obey the covenants God made with Israel, rather than do our own thing. The blessings, covenants, promises and the adoption, or sonship, all belong to Israel (Ro. 9:4-5). As heirs of those covenants and promises, we must fulfill them in God's way and time, by the leading of His Spirit, including the new covenant given in Hebrews 8:10-12. We have no choice but to do God's will His way in His kingdom!

While natural Israel wandered in blindness, they forgot the God who still loved them. But they remembered the altars of stone they built in the former days when they worshiped according to the laws of the old covenant. Wherever they traveled, those Israelites built stone monuments, which will have a wonderful, redemptive story of restoration to tell us that is hidden in the mysteries of each of those stone structures. One day God shall reveal the mysteries of those stone monuments scattered all over the earth, such as Stonehenge and Avebury in England, others in Mexico, and the Great Pyramid in Egypt, and many others, and will reveal those hidden secrets to His people. Get ready saints of God, you are about to be deluged with truth that will both amaze and bless you! God is on His throne of power and glory, and this is the beginning of great days of restoration!

The people (Caucasians) we are talking about are natural-born Israelites. But many of the millions of Israelites in the world today do not know that they are Israelites, YET! If we try to tell some of God's people today that they are Israelites, they will vehemently deny it, for they are still in partial blindness. Thus Paul wrote, "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that BLINDNESS IN PART is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in" (Ro. 11:25).

Many of the Lord's precious people today are still in that state of "BLINDNESS IN PART." The word "blindness" has a very pointed and descriptive meaning, one that applies to every one of us. According to Strong's Concordance, that word is taken from two Greek words "porosis," meaning, stupidity or callousness, and "poroo," meaning a kind of stone, to petrify. I am sure it pleases no one to realize that they have dense and calloused minds that are as hard and impenetrable as petrified stones. But that is the truth of God's word! Blindness in part has happened to Israel, for many among us today do not know that they are natural descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, due to unbelief and the darkness of their carnal, calloused minds. But the wonderful work of God today is that of removing all blindness and darkness from our minds, and revealing the truth of God to all, beginning with His chosen elect.

This is a new Day! Man's day is over! We have come to the end of the age, and the beginning of the new, or to the "fullness of the Gentiles." The six days or ages of man's work is finished. The natural is fulfilled! Now the greater spiritual aspects of God's promises are to be fulfilled (1 Co. 15:46). This is a new Day filled with hope and promise, light and glory! During this wonderful new Day, it is God's plan and purpose to remove all the blindness, with its carnality and callousness, from the minds of His elect, changing our minds from being like petrified stones, to become renewed sources of the pure light and glory of God. Our Father would have us to be filled with the Light that He is. This means that all the darkness and partial blindness of the past must be removed from us by the Spirit of God. And we are living in the great Day when God shall do all that for us and more. Our God shall deliver every one of His elect of this blindness in part! Then He shall fill us with the Light that He is, thus turning this long, dark night into endless Day! And unless the Lord's elect receive the glorious Light that He is, the darkness of this long night shall only continue.

After all the curses were fulfilled to Israel, and a remnant of them returned to the Lord in repentance, the Lord said, "then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee." (De. 30:1-3) This prophecy has both a natural and a spiritual fulfillment. There is evidence to indicate that the United States is the gathering place of a remnant of all the thirteen tribes of Israel. (The tribe of Joseph was replaced with the families or tribes of Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, making thirteen tribes, see Gen. 48:22, Jos. 14:4, 16:4, & 17:17.)

This country started with thirteen colonies signified by the thirteen stripes in our flag. And there are many thirteens in our national heraldry. Therefore, by these signs, we believe this nation is the home of the many millions of people from all thirteen tribes of Israel. And now, the descendants of those six million Israelites, who were scattered by Assyria in the 8th century BC, have worked their way westward. They and their children have multiplied to bring forth many more millions of natural Israelites in the world since the eighth century BC. We believe that a remnant of all the thirteen tribes of Israel are now here in the United States, thus fulfilling the natural aspect of God's prophetic word of truth to His people, Israel (2 Sam. 7:10).

Israel's gathering in this country, under one head, is the natural fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy: "Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel" (Hos. 1:11). This prophecy clearly shows that both Israel and Judah, which have been separate nations shortly after the death of Solomon in 926 BC, are to be united in one country, with one head. And that one country may be our country, the United States of America. "The day of Jezreel" is a reference to Israel's scattering by the Lord in judgment. But "the day of Jezreel" is also the period when the Lord sowed Israel as seeds of restoration among the nations, for the name, Jezreel, means, God soweth.

Then there is the greater, spiritual fulfillment of the prophetic word of the Lord! The Lord had compassion on the ten tribes of Israel and returned to them to become their God. He turned their captivity and then spiritually gathered them/us from the many "nations" of man's rebellious ways. Our loving Father took us out of man's distorted and perverted religious systems and made us at home in Zion, which is His holy mountain, the realm of the throne of the Lord. Then He gathered us together, spiritually speaking, and united us under the one, true spiritual headship of Christ! The spiritual gathering of the Lord's elect is far more important than the natural, yet the natural fulfillment has significance also. If we can see the restoration of Israel in the natural, we shall also be able to see the ultimate restoration of all the other nations and peoples of this world (1 Co. 10:11). Soon we shall witness a work of the Spirit that will dwarf anything God has done in the past. And there is every indication that He is beginning that mighty, kingdom work of restoration here in this country. We know this to be true by the witness of the Spirit in the hearts of His elect!

The prophet Isaiah prophesied of desolations upon the land of the Lord's people, Israel. It is a description of the spiritual condition of our country and people today. This condition of spiritual lack and desolation was to continue "until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever" (Is. 32:15-17). This prophecy gives a clear description of the kingdom of God on earth, for it begins with this wonderful, kingdom declaration: "Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes (the sons of God) shall rule in judgment." At this time of the reign of Christ the King and His co-kings with Him, "a man (the new creation Christ-man) shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (Is. 32:1-2).

We are living in the wonderful age when God will provide us with His righteousness and its blessings, as well as abundant fruitfulness and peace. For this to take place, God must change the hearts of all mankind and impart His righteousness and peace to them all. Then righteousness and peace shall prevail everywhere. Then "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it." (Mic. 4:3-4) These conditions describe the kingdom of God on earth as it shall surely be in due time!

There is first the natural fulfillment of the prophetic word of the Lord, and then there is the second and greater, spiritual fulfillment. The Lord, in His great wisdom, placed us geographically just where He wants us to be. He may, and often does, use changing situations in our lives to process us and cause us to grow in Him. But the natural usually precedes the spiritual, as Paul said it would in 1 Co. 15:46. He gathers us naturally where He wants us to be, and then spiritually gathers us unto Himself, bringing us closer to Him, that we might receive more of His light, truth and glory. This truth is portrayed in Israel of old! The natural gathering of Israel took place in history, and so also has much of the spiritual gathering taken place. Now, we await yet a greater, spiritual gathering unto Him, which shall make our union with Him in fullness more glorious and complete.

All the prophets foretold of the punishment to come upon Israel and Judah for their disobedience and rebellion against God. But they all likewise predicted Israel's repentance and return to the Lord, resulting in the restoration of both Israel and Judah. The judgments of the Lord on our people are now fulfilled. A remnant of Israel has repented and returned to the Lord. And now the greater, spiritual restoration of all things is before us, to be fulfilled in God's time and way. The prophet Hosea predicted this restoration to come. He prophesied that the Lord would "allure" Israel and Judah, bring them into "the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her" (Hos. 2:14). In the natural, all the countries where Israel was scattered by the Lord were literal "wildernesses" when they got there, including our own country. As they entered those strange, new lands, the Lord spoke "comfortably" to our forefathers in history. From the spiritual standpoint, every one of us have had our own "wilderness" experiences, where the Lord did indeed speak comfortably to us. And in speaking comfortably to our innermost beings, the Lord thus raised us to higher realms of greater, spiritual maturity in Him.

Then Hosea prophesied that we would call our Lord "Ishi," meaning "My husband," "and shalt call me no more Baali," meaning "My lord," or "My master." Some put far too much emphasis on the names of God that we speak and use. But the names we use are only important as they express our RELATIONSHIP with our Father. Our terminology is not important, but our relationship with God is of utmost importance! When Christ becomes "my husband," He then is the controlling power of my life, He is my all in all. He is not just another lord or master in my life, but He is MY Head, MY Lord, and MY King. The Lord also has taken away the many names of Baalim (meaning lords) out of our minds, indicating deliverance from the many lords, or the many carnal, Babylonish leaders of the religious and earthly systems of this world (Hos. 2:14-17).

Then Hosea prophesied, "And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely" (Hos. 2:18). This is a prophecy of the kingdom of God coming to the earth. This is the covenant the Lord is making and affirming now between His elect and the earth. God is saying here that He will make a covenant with us and with the whole creation, a covenant giving promise of an end to all wars and strife everywhere. Only when God breaks the bows, the swords, and the desire for battle or war in the hearts of all mankind, can the beasts, the fowls, the creeping things of the creation, and all mankind "lie down safely."

Then, the prophet prophesied more of the word of the Lord. He said to God's people, "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord" (Hos. 2:19-20). What wonderful promises are given in this prophecy! Our Father is betrothing us unto Himself forever! In doing this, He is replacing the many weaknesses of our flesh with His own, omnipotent power.

In every area where we have miserably failed Him, the Lord assures us of our union with Him, especially in those areas of our greatest need. We certainly were not very righteous, according to God's standard of righteousness. But He has betrothed us to Himself "in righteousness." We also lack true and righteous judgment, lovingkindness, and mercy, but the Lord betrothed us to Himself in each of those areas in which we once lacked. And then, as if to emphasize His people's lack of faithfulness in history, the Lord specifically said He would "even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." It was due to Israel's unfaithfulness that the Lord judged the nation and punished them by scattering them among the nations. And now He has become to us that which we most lacked, for His glory and honor! The Lord has entered into a contract with us, similar to a marriage contract, or a covenant, or an engagement, to join Himself to us, thus filling in all the areas of our greatest lack or need.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel (meaning, God soweth). And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God" (Hos. 2:21-23, see also Ro. 9:25-26 & Eph. 2:11-13).

These are some of the things that shall come to pass "in that day," which has really become THIS DAY. This is THAT DAY! It is the great DAY of the kingdom of God on earth. On this Day, the Lord declared that He would HEAR. And when God hears something, it means He also sees it, heeds it, and pays attention to it. The Hebrew word used here also implies that the Lord will respond to what He hears, and will then speak it forth to bring it into being. And what will God hear? He will "hear the heavens," or the realm of the Spirit. As we fulfill our high calling in God by ministering to Him in the holiest of all within the heavenly sanctuary, we are leaving spiritual messages that God shall hear. Our words, uttered in prayer and praise to the Lord in the heavens of His Spirit and according to His will, are recorded in the heavenlies, to be answered in Father's perfect time and according to His perfect will.

We are told that our prayers are kept and preserved as odors, or as incense, in "golden vials" in the realm of Spirit. When it came time for the Lamb to open the "book" of His kingdom purposes for the earth, the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, "having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours (or, incense), which are the prayers of saints" (Rev. 5:8). Every prayer we have ever prayed by the Spirit and in the will of God, are preserved as incense in golden vials in the heavenlies. Some of us have come to the place, spiritually, where we have no words of our own to pray. We do not know what to pray for as we ought, so we allow the holy Spirit to pray for us. And when the Spirit makes intercession for us, we can only lament "with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Ro. 8:26). The Spirit is then making "intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (vs. 27). And this Spirit-begotten intercession is being kept as incense in those "golden vials" in the heavenly realm of Spirit, to be answered in Father's time.

Perhaps the most urgent, spiritual prayer expressed by the intercession of the saints is this prayer from the words of Jesus: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Mt. 6:10). In this brief and simple prayer, every need of mankind and of the whole creation is presented before the Father. When the kingdom fully comes to earth, and God's will is done everywhere and in every situation, there will be no need, no lack, anywhere. But all mankind and the whole creation shall then know the salvation of the Lord, and the peace, joy, righteousness and love of God. Every need we have is met in the kingdom of God! This truth will be borne out and fully manifested when the will of God is done in all the earth. When we fully comprehend this great truth, we will cease our vain, religious babblings, and will then seek His kingdom, and for His will to be done in our earth, as well as in the earth all around us.

According to Hosea's prophecy, there is a time appointed of the Father, called "that day," when the Lord shall hear the heavens, including every prayer that has ever been prayed in the Spirit. And then, after the Lord has heard the heavens, the heavens "shall hear the earth." The earth and everything of it are groaning for release from this bondage. Every created thing, from a blade of grass or a leaf on a tree, including the animals, birds, fishes, creeping things, and all mankind, in all of creation, are groaning for deliverance. It is that deliverance the sons of God shall provide when they are fully manifest. When Heaven truly hears the earth, a union between Heaven and earth shall then be established, for Heaven will have fully come to the earth in the power and glory of the kingdom of God (Rev. 3:12, 21:2).

Then Hosea said, "And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil." Spiritually, corn, wine, and oil speak of the many blessings of the Lord on the land (Joel 2:19). So the prophet is saying that the earth shall HEAR and receive the many blessings of the Lord, as His will is done in all the earth and His kingdom comes to earth. And when the earth hears the blessings of the Lord, everything of it, including especially all mankind, will pay attention to the Lord; they will hear what He has to say, and will respond positively to His blessings and to the revelation and manifestation of His glory, His power, and His word. Then, "they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth." "They" is a reference to all mankind. People of every class, creed, kindred, tongue and nation shall then HEAR Jezreel. The term, "Jezreel" refers to the remnant of Israel - to those sons of God whom the Lord has sown as seed in the earth. The time is approaching when the whole earth and everything of it shall HEAR Jezreel, or the remnant of Israel. And in hearing Jezreel, all mankind will pay attention to them/us, and will respond positively to them/us as they/we manifest Christ in all His glorious fullness.

Hosea's prophecy gives us a clear picture of the open channel of the Spirit of restoration, as His Spirit flows from God, through the heavens, and then to the earth and everything of it. That open channel began with God hearing the heavens, followed by the heavens hearing the earth, and concluding with the earth hearing the blessings of the Lord and the manifestation of Christ from Jezreel, or the elect of the Lord. In this wonderful, new Day all creation shall have hearing ears. There will be no barriers between God and the heavens and the earth, for the temple in the heavenlies of His Spirit shall be fully opened and sent to the earth, to dwell among all mankind (see Rev. 21:1-4).

The heavens will no longer seem as brass. But everything everywhere will be in wonderful, rich, spiritual communion and correspondence with God and His kingdom. The veil of darkness that covers the earth and enshrouds the minds of all mankind shall then be removed, opening every created thing everywhere to the mighty movings and the dynamic workings of the Spirit and power of God. And when all the channels of Love, Life and Truth are totally restored and opened by the Spirit of God, the glory of the Lord shall then be fully manifest, covering the whole earth as the waters cover the sea. Then, all shall know Him from the least to the greatest.

Hosea's prophecy, which we quoted earlier, concludes with this word, "and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God" (Hos. 2:23). When the Lord divorced Israel due to their rebellion and disobedience, He said to them, "ye are not my people, and I will not be your God" (Hos. 1:9). But now, the Lord has judged a remnant of His people and brought them to repentance. As a result of their repentance and return to the Lord, He reinstated natural Israel to become His people once again.

He Who divorced Israel in history now declares Himself to be their "Ishi," meaning, my husband, thus canceling the divorce decree that was issued by the Lord many centuries ago (see Is. 50:1, Jer. 3:1-20). Also, because of Israel's disobedience, the Lord said to them, "I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel" (Hos. 1:6). This truth was also illustrated to Israel with the birth of Hosea's second child, Loruhamah, meaning, "not having obtained mercy." But when Israel repented in response to the Lord's judgments, the Lord then said, "I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy." To the people who were divorced from the Lord for a time, but who repented and returned to Him when He called, the Lord now says, "I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God" (Hos. 2:23).

The ultimate restoration of all mankind and of all things was first demonstrated by the Lord to Israel. God took that nation, delivered them out of Egyptian bondage, and gave them the law at Sinai with a covenant of promise. He took them through the wilderness with the same shoes and clothes they started their journey with, led them to their first promised land, and established them as a people unto Himself. But they disobeyed His law, broke His covenants, and turned from Him to worship the idols of the heathen. Then the Lord divorced them and scattered them among the nations. He also led them to their final promised lands, and pledged to return to them to be their God again when they repented. A remnant of Israel did indeed repent, and the Lord returned to Israel to become their God once again. Thus, Paul said, "and so all Israel shall be saved" (see Ro. 11:26-29). All Israel shall indeed be saved in fullness, for Father has a firstfruits remnant among them who are preserving them all unto ultimate and complete salvation and restoration. And all that the Lord has done and shall yet do for Israel, He shall surely do for all mankind in due time!

The return and restoration of all Israel was foretold by the prophet Hosea. "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David (Christ) their king: and shall fear the Lord and his goodness IN THE LATTER DAYS" (Hos. 3:5). Paul also quoted the prophets Hosea and Isaiah, when he wrote of Israel's restoration, "I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children (or, the sons) of the living God. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha" (Ro. 9:25-29).

What a marvelous demonstration of the abundant mercy and grace of our Lord! Our Father raised up His remnant saints, by the Spirit, and made them/us sit with Him in His throne. He set aside and reserved this holy remnant for Himself, to fulfill His eternal purposes in all the earth. These elect and chosen ones do not bow their knees to the false images of Baal, which are the many lords of man's worldly and religious systems. Indeed, they cannot bow to any other thing or person, for they have one Husband, one Head, one Lord, and one King. While the rest of Israel is in blindness, the elect remnant are receiving their abundant, spiritual portion of Life and Truth, which they shall share with all in due time (Ro. 11:4-12). And then the Lord sowed them among the nations of the earth. That sowing may not yet be complete, for it is likely that God will yet sow many more of His elect among all the nations, after we have received of His fullness.

Paul looked ahead to this day and time when he quoted Isaiah's prophecy. The Lord has graciously left us as a seed of restoration in the earth. Otherwise, the whole earth would soon be judged like Sodom and Gomorrah was, because of the many sins of man. You may think you are of little value to the Lord and His kingdom, because you are not doing the religious works of man. But you are the salt of the earth! As salt flavors and preserves all it touches; so also are you and I a part of that Life that flavors this world and preserves it unto ultimate and complete restoration. There are many in the religious systems of man who are falsely prophesying the destruction of the world, due to the gross darkness that is in the world and also within their own minds. But they fail to see the darkness in their own hearts, which is the source of all those erroneous, negative predictions.

There is one great truth those false prophets of doom do not yet know. And that is the blessed truth that God has sown His remnant in the earth as seeds of restoration, to be fulfilled in due time. We are that remnant! We are that SEED of restoration! And we may be absolutely certain that this earth and everything in it and of it are being kept and preserved unto full restoration, by the Spirit of the living God. This is true because of what the Lord has already done with us, and because of what He is doing now through our "greater works" ministry within the holiest of all in the heavenlies of His Spirit. And so we praise the Name of Him Who is the world's only, true Potentate, our reigning King of kings and Lord of lords! Amen, and blessed be the great Name of the Lord our God forever and ever!

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