THE KEY TO PROPHESY

                      Reverend Bertrand L. Comparet

Today we easily see how each of the great events of the Old Testament days was prophesied long in advance. Yet, the people were strangely blind to it when the events were coming upon them. Today it is the same; the prophecies concerning the end of the age are being fulfilled; yet the people in most churches cannot make head or tail of it. They wait expectantly for the smallest things to happen, meanwhile being blind to what is actually happening to them. This is because they don't know to whom the prophecies apply, so they look to the wrong people, in the wrong place, for their fulfillment.

Yahweh did not prophecy indiscriminately about everything and everybody. The great empires of China, India, the Inca, Maya and Aztec nations of South and Central America, were never noticed in the Bible, for they had nothing to do with Yahweh's people nor His religion. To understand prophecy, you must know to whom the prophecy is addressed. Bible prophecies are grouped into certain main lines, each with its own subject.

(1) Messianic prophecies concerning Yahshua. They foretold His virgin birth, the place where He would be born, many details of His ministry, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind. All the details of His betrayal and crucifixion were given, and His resurrection on the third day, etc. Obviously, only Yahshua could fulfill these, if you waited for someone else, you could reach only doubt and confusion. All the other main lines of prophesy are also directed specifically to some one subject and cannot be fulfilled by anyone but the people concerning whom they were written.

(2) Prophecies concerning the 12 tribes of Israel.
As we know, Israel split into two nations upon the death of Solomon in 975 B.C. and the two nations then had their separate histories and different destinies to fulfill. Either one alone of the two nations it became and of course, not by any Gentile people cannot fulfill prophecies relating to the whole house of Jacob.

(3) The two tribed nation of Judah.
Judah and Benjamin remained when the ten tribed Israel split away from it. These prophecies deal with the short-lived nation foretelling its captivity in Babylon for 70 years. Then it tells about the return of a remnant to build the 70 weeks nation foretold by Daniel, which would fulfill and outlive its purposes in 490 years. It was to provide the sanctuary for Yahshua's first coming and His sacrifice for us on the cross. After that it served no further purpose and within one generation it disappeared from history. Just as it is obvious that China, Rome or Argentina could not fulfill any of these prophecies, neither could the house of Judah fulfill prophecies that do not concern her.

(4) The house of Israel.
Beginning as the ten tribed nation, which broke away from Judah, they had a separate destiny. It was to be Yahweh's dominion. It must become a great nation and a company of nations. It must be Yahweh's battle-axe and weapons of war, with which He broke up the evil, pagan nations of the earth. It must become a great seafaring people, from the Norse Vikings of the several centuries following the decay of the Roman Empire, down through the mighty navies of Great Britain and the United States. Its people must multiply like the stars of heaven in number and they must receive the new covenant and become Christians. They must possess and develop the lands, which other people had allowed to remain desolate. They must take Yahweh's religion and civilization to many lands, to show forth His praise in the earth. All these prophecies concern the house of Israel only and nobody but the Anglo Saxon, Scandinavian and Germanic nations have fulfilled them. These we know to be the living generations of Yahweh's people Israel.

If you watch for fulfillment of these prophecies by Egypt, the Congo, Russia, China, India or South America, you not only waste your time in vain, while watching the empty ring, you overlook the performance going on in the active ring.

(5) The Jews.
Here, willful blindness of most churches has utterly confused their religion. They persist in applying Yahweh's prophecies about Israel to the Jews. Since the Jews never did and never could fulfill any of these, such churches have to make excuses for the apparent failure of prophecy and their faith is badly weakened. They must pretend the time has not yet come for fulfillment of any of these prophecies, so the Jews can do these things in some indefinite future. This blinds them to the fact these prophecies have already been fulfilled by the real Israel. These have been fulfilled so far that nothing is left to watch for but the Russian and Chinese communist attack on the unwalled cities of Israel, then the second coming of Yahshua, for which they are not prepared.

In Isaiah 65:15 Yahweh said to the Jews, "Ye shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen, for Yahweh shall slay thee and call His servants by another name." Yahweh said in Jeremiah 24:9 the Jews would become "a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. Yahweh prophesied that they would be recognized by their faces. Isaiah 3:9 describes the Jews thus, "The show of their countenance doth witness against them and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not". They would be scattered, as wanderers and their conduct would keep them under attack. Ezekiel 5:11-12 describes what will happen to the Jews. "A third part shall fall by the sword around about thee; and I will scatter a third part unto all the winds and I will draw out a sword after them".  All these things have happened, but this has been overlooked by those who were watching only for that which the Jews couldn't do because Yahweh had foretold that only Israel could do it.

(6) The throne of David.
In these prophecies Yahweh promised the throne of David would always rule over at least a part of His people. That the house of David will never lack a descendant to sit upon that throne. Finally, Yahshua, who is born of the house of David, will return to rule the entire world from that throne. We know that the royal families of Britain and the Scandinavian countries are descended from David. In all these centuries, these prophecies have never failed for even one day; the final fulfillment of Yahshua's return is drawing near.

(7) The Babylonian succession of empires.
This is told principally in Daniel and Revelation. Their rise to power, their brutal character, their satanic but futile opposition to the nations of Israel and their fall, all occurred as prophesied. The final stages of these prophecies are happening before our eyes today when you know who is who.

(8) The kingdom of Yahweh.
This is not something to begin in the vague future. Daniel's continued prophecy, after foretelling the Babylonian succession of empires, beginning with King Nebuchadnezzar to whom he spoke, is recorded in Daniel 2:44. "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever." The kingdom of Yahweh was set up on earth centuries ago, in the days of the kings of the Babylonian succession of empires. It is still here and most of you who hear my voice are living in it.

(9) The church.
This is not a nation; it has no armies or navies. It rules no territories, it conducts no commerce, it is not as numerous as the stars, but it is a little flock. It is the spiritual center of the nations of Israel, but it fulfills only its own prophecies and none of the prophecies of Israel are transferred to it.

These nine main lines of prophecy are like as many different trains, coming from different places with different passengers and arriving at the depot on different tracks. You will miss your train if you wait at the wrong platform. Never in all eternity will a Gentile train arrive on an Israel platform, nor will an Israel train arrive at a Jewish platform, nor a kingdom of Yahweh train at a church platform. The only key to the understanding of prophecy is to watch for each train of prophecy at its own platform.