Our 2020 Mission Work to Exalt Christ
Opening Note: The year 2020 – What is in store for the Israel nations. And the World. Will this be a year of plenty or a year of chastisement? 20 + 20 equals 40 – 40 means trials, probation and testing. Looking at the what has happened so far in January, we might have not made probation and this year we might be tested quite severely. I think this is one of the most important articles I have ever written but you be the judge. Of course, I suppose before the end of 2020, “time will be the only true judge.
I suppose all of us in the Israel Truth Movement have once or more been met with cries of derision. Scornful remarks like, “Why do you pretend to be Israel”, or, “You’re just a small cult” or, “If you are the Israel Truth, then why have so many of your associations closed their doors in the past 50 years” and “Brooks, why have the numbers of your local association declined so drastically in the past two decades”? Sadly, the last two of these assumptions is true, we have seen membership decline worldwide and I suppose if we added up the active membership of all the Movement associations world-wide, the total number might be less than 5,000. Fortunately, our websites might add double, perhaps triple, maybe more, regular loyal believing readers but there is no doubt that Paul’s words to the Thessalonians in Chapter 2:3 came to pass decades ago, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first …”
Well, we have to accept it, the falling away, particularly amongst the youth, has picked up considerable speed over the past 70/80 years and together with the continuing demise of the old stalwart supporters, and sadly, those older members who have just lost interest, we are but a shadow of the Movement that stood tall during the early 1900’s. Conventional churches has seen membership decline as well, albeit at a slower pace than us because many have employed rock music or some other means to bolster attendance. And most have adopted a soft message to retain numbers. Then, some false doctrine sects point to their continued growth, but these are as stated, “false doctrine” adherents. Proudly, the Israel Truth Movement has not used gimmicks to attract followers, only the inspired Word of God as given us in the Holy Bible. The notable difference is that knowing the identity of True Israel, every word in the Scriptures makes sense to us.
Still, we do wonder why more people can’t immediately open their eyes to the wondrous Israel Truth. An enquiring studious mind is the answer, of course, this is what the Apostle Paul suggests in 2 Tim 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”. I wish there was room in our magazine to include all of what Evangelist Ed F. Vallowe wrote on the subject of our study but let me share one very astute point. He began by quoting Matthew 4:19.
“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then, he explained the meaning. He wrote, “It is literally, “Come behind”, and shows us that if we are to be used in God’s service, we must be hidden behind Him.” Evangelist Vallowe emphasized that “Our work is to exalt Christ, and that the messenger must be hidden in Him”. So, let’s not worry that others can’t see what we can see. God will open their eyes in due course. It’s enough to know that the work we do with our conferences, our correspondence, our magazines and our internet sites are just ways to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ; we are not televangelists, our work is lowkey but at some point at a time when God needs us, we will be there to help open eyes of our brethren seeking the truth, as opposed to the glitter and glare of conventional churchdom and the less than altruistic televangelists.
In late January, our Bible study group decided to study Joel Chapter 2 and we set the stage with Chapter 1:15, “Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come”. Then, in Chapter 2, it outlines some very frightening events, fierce war; disasters and so on. Verse 10 is particularly scary, as it could be nuclear war, volcanic/earthquake eruptions, perhaps a combination of all of them.
“The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:”
Verse 11 depicts the Lord’s determination and the severity of the Lord’s Day:
“And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?”
Then, in verse 12, the LORD is basically telling us to turn to Him and keep coming to Him with all our hearts, until every hindrance is removed, and the broken fellowship is restored. That we may understand the means by which to serve Him.
Returning to Evangelist Vallowe’s excellent book, it’s interesting to read his interpretation for the number 119, although I should mention that E.W. Bullinger, another great scholar of numbers in the Bible, makes no mention of it. Nevertheless, Vallowe begins with the loving Saviour’s invitation to the burdened sinner via the following verse from (Matthew 11:28)
“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Vallowe goes on, “Because of His work on the cross, and of that glorious Resurrection on that glad SEVENTEENTH day of the SEVENTH month, the Saviour can give relief from the burden of sin, and [receive] sure hope of a joyful resurrection.
You will note that the Greek word “AGAPE” — “love” — occurs SEVEN times in John’s Gospel and in the Epistle of John it is used SEVENTEEN times, thus linking up these TWO numbers, in John’s writings, to bring out the truth that God’s love to man is clearly revealed by what happened on that SEVENTEENTH day of the SEVENTH month, when the Lord Jesus Christ was raised for our justification!”
So, in linking the two numbers together (7 x 17) Vallowe arrives at 119. In his seven-page explanation of the number 119, he goes into other examples, but I shall leave it here.
Accordingly, he interprets 119 as “The Resurrection Day” or “The Lord’s Day”.
Therefore, it would seem to me that 119 years before the Lord’s Day, something like an earth-shattering pattern would have taken place in the Israel nations, particularly the Birthright tribes of Ephraim Britain and Manasseh America. Certainly, events like WW1, the great depression, WW2 and many other such events might qualify, so we could be looking at anywhere from 2033AD to 2060AD for the wonderful event to take place.
“That’s just too long a wait”, one Christian friend remarked, she said, “I see it happen far earlier than this, perhaps even this year because of the 119 years, which is something I never heard about before, I studied a little about it last evening”.
Still, what I have learned over the years is that you just cannot interpret prophecy, that Bible scholar Howard Rand was very astute when he wrote, “Prophecy has not been given to men to make them prophets but rather for the purpose of confirming God’s Word and the Word of His Son, [after the fact] and thus to enable men who walk by faith to know and recognize the truth”. Besides, it seems to me that so much still has to happen before the Great Event, just two examples being the fulfillment of Isaiah 17:1, (the city of Damascus being utterly destroyed); or the two invasions of Ezekiel 38. Then too, “what about the economic collapse followed by the fall of Mystery Babylon described in Revelation 18?” Or that period from 1913 to 1918, the beginning of the accelerated growth period of the Esau Dominion.
Well, could a worldwide economic collapse happen so quickly, for if it did, it could quickly lead to war, and if war, then how quickly would nuclear weapons appear, from countries like North Korea and Iran, wanting to conquer sanctions to gain badly needed food, etc. Astonishingly, there are many well-known voices looking for a 2020 collapse and/or major correction; among others are Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan, both former Chairs of the Federal Reserve; and well known Jim Rogers who said, “Debt is everywhere, and it is much, much higher now” and [the collapse] “will be the worst in our lifetime”. Then, there is the “Coronavirus” that is already having an effect on economies and sky-high equity markets. So, as far-fetched as it sounds, anything can happen in 2020. Obviously, we can never project what is in the Plan of God.
As an aside, it is rather frightening to read the headline of “The Big Wobble” website in documenting to what they referred to as the most important decade in the history of Mankind, “Behold A Pale Horse! January 2020: Probably one of the most historic months in the history of mankind”. They then went on to document every significant event that highlighted the full month.
So, I suppose the projection of 2020 being the entry date of the Lord ‘s Day is as good as the aforementioned 2033-2060. And by now, you have deducted the 119 from the year 2020 and arrived at 1901. So, what earthshaking events took place in that year to suggest it was an important terminal point for Ephraim Britain and Manasseh America. Let’s examine them.
Britain in 1901
Let’s first look at Ephraim Britain. In 1901, the great monarch, Queen Victoria, Queen of England and Ireland, also the Empress of India, and at the time was the longest reigning monarch of England (nearly 64 years). During her popular reign many new lands were added to the formidable British Empire, where it was said, “the sun never sets”. She died on January 22nd, 1901, leaving a nation of great strength, great wealth and an unequalled position in the world.
Her nation didn’t have enemies of consequence during her reign but after her untimely death internal enemies and mostly weak leaders (Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher were certainly exceptions) reared their unwelcome heads and sadly, over the years, the great empire lost one possession after another and both wars and internal descent sapped their financial strength. Then the weakest and most deceptive of leaders led the nation into what became known as the EU. The “way down” accelerated as the EU began raping the nation of her wealth and changing the make-up of her non-Christian population through their legislation.
Consequently, enough of her people had had enough! So, in July 2016, they voted to leave the EU and after many delaying tactics, a new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, tackled it with more vigor and after an election when he obtained a massive majority, negotiations with the EU began with intensity. And so, on January 31st this year, Ephraim Britain left the EU, once more a free country. So, finally, after more than forty years, the Britishers heeded God’s message, (Rev 18:4) “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye not be partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues”.
Now she’s out and until Christ returns, wealth will very likely begin to flow back to the nation, more so if more and more Britons embrace the God that made them great in the first place.
America in 1901!
It was September 6th, 1901, a few months earlier William McKinley was re-elected as President of the United States and he promised to follow the same policy that had brought peace and prosperity to the nation from when he was first elected in 1897. He was holding a reception at the Pan-American Exposition when he was shot down; he died eight days later on the 14th. It gave some solace to the Christian when it was learned that as he was dying, he was mouthing the words of his favourite hymn, “Nearer My God To Thee”.
The things to remember is that he was Christian, a successful president wanting prosperity for his nation, a nation with little and manageable debt and he oversaw a successful Republican government.
America in 2020
In 2020, America is also led by a Christian Republican president, Donald Trump, and like McKinley, his policies have brought great prosperity to the nation in a relatively short period of time. Like McKinley, Trump is an “America first” president and as such, he has angered the globalists within the government. And so, his enemies want him out. He has just overcome impeachment charges, but certain Democratic powers have plainly declared they will impeach him over and over again if necessary. It will be interesting to follow events during the year leading up to the November election to see what happens. One thing is certain, President Trump seems to be a strong courageous leader bent on his goal of making America even greater and it would seem that only an economic collapse or some other major calamity can stop him.
Of course, we cannot project if 2020 will be a magnificent year for America and the United Kingdom, or just another year where the falling away keeps the two nations from achieving their full potential. There are so many unknowns at the time of this writing to look ahead with any confidence, but one thing is certain, we must get closer to our God Almighty. You know, each night in my prayers, I also recite Psalm 23 because it is such a wonderful personal prayer. If I may, I will end this article with my thoughts on what the Lord is revealing to me, and to you, in this beautiful prayer.
The Lord is my Shepherd
That is
He is my Comforter, My Protector and my Guide,
I shall not want
That is
He is my provider
He maketh me lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside still waters
That is
He provides me with all the necessary blessings I will need in life
He restoreth my soul
That is
He forgives my sins
He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name’s sake
That is
This is the same path our Lord trod but He is perfect, I am not and so I will stray from the path from time to time
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
My life from birth to death and it will be during my life, of course, that I will stray from the path of righteousness
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me
The Holy Spirit is with me and employing the Laws and Commandments of God, encourages me to get back on the path of righteousness and so, to try to stray less
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies
You have offered me eternal life through my coming under the Blood of Christ
Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over
The more I keep from straying from that path of righteousness, the more He will treat me as a special person and bestow on me additional blessings—indeed my cup will run over
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever
The more I keep from straying from that path of righteousness, my life will be far more peaceful and being under the Blood of Christ, I shall be in the Kingdom
Amen
