The prophecy of the Fall of Egypt is examined from Ezekiel chapters 29 to 32, in five sections. This little understood prophecy has enormous implications for the last days and the wars of the end. The five part series consists of an overview with four sequential developments explaining in detail the time-frame presented in the overview. The nations mentioned are examined. Egypt is seen to have experienced a detailed prophetic sequence of activity, which shows that God is going to deal with that country as part of a sequence in the subjugation of the nations shortly to occur. Understanding of this prophecy is important to the general framework of the return of Messiah and the wars of the Host and the end of the times of the Gentiles.

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The prophet Ezekiel was given a vision of a pivotal prophecy in world history. It concerned the nation of Egypt. Egypt was used as a key nation in world history for a number of reasons. Firstly it was one of the most ancient of kingdoms and secondly because it represented the conflict of world systems, which were typified in Daniel under the headings, the king of the North and the king of the South. The prophecy concerning Egypt is found in Ezekiel 29:1 to 32:32. This prophecy is followed immediately by the warning of the watchmen in Ezekiel 33:1 ff. This is a warning to Israel following on from the prophecy concerning the fall of Egypt. This is done to reinforce the point that the fulfilment of the prophecy concerning Egypt is pivotal to the last days. The prophecy has been held up to be a failed prophecy for reasons, which shall be explained.

The real reason behind such assertions is because the meaning has been hidden in a key, which is understood in the last days and revealed to the nations by explanatory warnings. This is of itself a prophecy given in Jeremiah 4:15 f., as coming from the mountains of Ephraim.

This prophecy interrelates to a series of other prophecies. Any of the well-known prophecies, for example Daniel Chapters 2 and 7, could have been chosen to illustrate the sequence and this work could have formed an explanatory rather than a framework text. This was not done in that manner precisely because this text is considered by modern scholarship to be the weakest of the prophecies. For that reason it is used to show the power of prophecy and the far reaching nature of the word of God.

The prophecy concerning Egypt follows on from the prophecy concerning Tyre in Ezekiel 28:1 ff. This prophecy relates to the fall of the Anointed Covering Cherub (Ezek. 28:14), the Morning Star Azazel or Satan (the RSV etc attempts to make it appear that the entity was placed with a guardian cherub, but the KJV is correct, see also The Interlinear Bible). Thus the fall of Satan is preliminary to the problems of Egypt, but also becomes interrelated to the fall of Babylon as we will see from Isaiah 14:1 ff. below.

The interrelated nature of the prophecies is perhaps exemplified by the placement of the text of Ezekiel 28:25 to 29:21 between Exodus 9:35 and 10:1 in the Soncino commentaries. There are a number of important observations to be linked with this text. Ezekiel 28:25-26 talks of the restoration of Israel and the restoration is seen as being linked to the fall of Egypt from these texts. The commentaries by Kimchi on verse 25 hold that it declares the retribution of the Lord on those who had harmed Israel. Rashi holds verse 26 to My servant Jacob to refer to:

The warning to Egypt commences in Ezekiel 29.

The great dragon was held to refer to the king of Egypt with the Nile representing Egypt itself (by Rashi and Kimshi, Soncino). We are thus dealing with the concept of rulership of Egypt. The real rulership of Egypt stemmed from the angelic Host as they were given dominion over the nations by God (see below). The rulership of Egypt rested in Prince Mastema according to the midrashim and traditions (see esp. Jubilees 48:13 ff.). Thus Yahweh fought the battle between the forces of God and the forces of the fallen Host under Mastema. The Canaanite Rulership was in Prince Yam and the battles in the wilderness and for Israel occurred between Yahweh and the Host on behalf of God.

The concept of the El Elyon as Yahovah (Jehovah) of Hosts being superior to Yahweh (or Yahovah) is a very old concept from the Pentateuch and which is painstakingly disguised. Hayman Monotheism: A Misused Word in Jewish Studies, Journal of Jewish Studies 42, 1991, pages 6-7 and also Mark S Smith The Early History of God, Harper, San Francisco, 1990, page 7 both note the texts in question. Smith contends that the original God of Israel was El. This is because El is not a Yahwistic name. Hence El was the original chief God of the group named Israel. Smith finds support from Genesis 49:24-25, which presents El names separate from the mention of YHVH in verse 18. Also he notes that Deuteronomy 32:8-9 casts YHVH in the role of one of the sons of El here called El Elyon:

The Soncino translates the Masoretic Text (MT) as according to the number of the children of Israel. Thus the nexus is confined to the twelve tribes and the Canaanite territories.

Rabbi Rashbam holds that The Most High assigned to the peoples their allotted territories separating them after the death of Noah. No mention is made of the size of the territory belonging to the other descendants of Noah. Thus, the extensive nature of the allocation is acknowledged even by the MT and commentaries. However, the text appears to have been altered. The MT reads bene yisrael where the LXX reads aggelon theou and the Qumran reads bny 'ilhym [or beny eliym] (cf. Smith n. 37 noting also Meyer, and Skehan BASOR 136 (1954): 12-15). Hayman also (p. 6) in claiming support for a transition from Yahweh to Elohim holds the original text to have probably read:

Hayman notes that:

Footnote 23 has the assertion that it identifies the number of the nations (Gen. 10) with the number of Jacob's (Israel's) sons (Gen. 46:27).

That is not the interpretation of the commentaries. The number of the sons of Israel was 12. The number was also that of Canaan and his eleven sons (Sh). From above Rashbam clearly distinguishes the other territories. Hayman is thus in error. Hayman also holds verse 9 of the MT to identify Yahweh with Elyon by reading %&%* 8-( *, whereas the LXX presupposes a Hebrew text which had %&%* 8-( *%*&. Hayman notes Lemche as saying:

Hayman sates that:

Hayman thinks the idea that God assigned the nations is of Canaanite origin having similar ideas in Greek religion. He supports this by reference to the seventy sons of Athirat in the Baal/Anat epic, (J.C.L. Gibson Canaanite Myths and Legends, Edinburgh, 1977, p. 63). The association with Greek religion is drawn from Martin Hengel Judaism and Hellenism, London, 1974, Vol. I, p. 187. This idea that God assigned each of the seventy nations of earth to one of the angelic Host is not Canaanitic in origin. From the references the Greeks also held the view. The Israelites also used the structure to establish their system of government at Sinai before they entered Canaan. The entire system was designed as a copy of the celestial structure as we see from Hebrews 8:5. The seventy elders were modelled on the concept of the outer council of the Host. This number itself forms the basis for the allocation of the nations. The idea is also exilic being found in Daniel. Michael was held to be one of the chief princes (Dan. 10:13). Messiah is prince of princes (Dan. 8:25). Hence Messiah is not Michael as is wrongly supposed by some.

There was held to be a prince of the nation of Persia who withstood the Angel of God for twenty-one days (Dan. 10:20). These princes are part of the fallen Host as they fight against the Lord's messengers, establishing in sequence the empires prophesied to occur in Daniel 2 and 7. Daniel 10:20 states there was also a prince of Grecia that would come after the prince of Persia. The being that spoke to Daniel had only Michael in support.

Hayman says the knowledge of who these angels originally were is lost in the tradition, although Enoch seems explicit enough. He seems to incorrectly limit the concept. Moreover the use of Yahweh is not confined to one entity as we have seen from the texts above. There is also a superior Yahweh of Hosts and a subordinate Yahweh of Israel. This subordinationist concept runs throughout the Bible. It is expressed in the terms Son of God or Sons of God. There is no doubt that the God Most High is held to have had sons from Genesis 6:4 and Job 2:1 where Satan is among the Sons of God. Job 38:7 shows the elohim were in ranks of Morning Stars and Sons of God generally. Certainly from Proverbs 30:4, God has a son in particular. From Proverbs 30:5, God is identified as Eloah. From Job 40:2, Eloah is the Almighty. From Job 37:22-23 Eloah, the Almighty, is terrible majesty. Thus the word for God in the singular refers to God the Father. Job 37:14 appears to relate El and the works of El to the disposition of Eloah who caused the light of His cloud to shine. Thus the El here is the El of the Cloud who is subordinate to Eloah. Hence El who is the cloud of Israel (and hence the Angel of YHVH) acts at the disposition of Eloah or Elyon.

Thus the later rabbinical commentaries appear to seek to elevate the Yahweh of Israel. Hayman translates the text on the Shema from Oxford MS. 147 as edited by Saul Lieberman (Midrash Debarim Rabbah, Jerusalem, 1940, p. 65):

Two points follow from this text. The first is that from the text was understood the allocation of the nations to the Host as being beyond the twelve tribes where it is attempted to be confined by a superficial view of the MT. This seems to show that the MT has been altered post Qumran. Also the commentary seems to reverse the allocation from the nations to the princes to that of the nations choosing whom they would worship and more particularly that Michael and Gabriel would allow such activity in areas of their concern. Hayman points out the danger of the identification of Michael and Gabriel with pagan gods. The text in Daniel clearly states that Michael stands for Israel, hence the rabbinical commentary may perhaps be an observation of an aberrant practice elsewhere.

Also the Midrash (and also from Deut. R cf. Lieberman, p. 68. cf. P Schäfer, Rivalität zwischen Engeln und Menschen, Berlin, 1975, pp. 47 f.) as quoted by Hayman noted that Holy One as descending to Sinai. Thus the Holy One of Israel is confused with the subordinate Yahweh (Yahovah) of Israel that is being discussed.

Hayman considers that there was a real and practicing Jewish system of Angel worship mentioned in non-Jewish texts. Hayman notes (30) the Kerygma Petrou quoting:

The purpose of the midrashim was considered to downgrade the angels and stress Israel's superiority over them. The concept is like that of the fundamentalist sects of today, that lay stress on the inferiority of the angelic Host and their subjection from the misuse of 1Corinthians 6:3 ignoring Christ's comment in Luke 20:36 regarding their equality. Moreover, there is a requirement to be confessed before the angels of God from Luke 12:8-9. Thus they could hardly be considered of inferior status from the NT. Hurtado (One God One Lord, SCM Press, 1988, p. 39) ably refutes the contentions of Jewish Angel worship from the Kerygma Petrou (p. 33; aimed at refuting the feasts). He argues correctly that divine agency operates where God is a unique figure over beings who act at His behest as for example the grand vizier of the imperial court and that this concept operated within the traditional Jewish concern for the uniqueness of God. In other words the Angel of Yahweh acted as vice regent at the behest of God and all angels acted as rulers under divine agency. None of the chief agent figures were seen as sharing the unique veneration due to God alone, or that Jewish Monotheism was fundamentally modified by the interest shown in these figures (Hurtardo, p. 19).

Ezekiel 29 continues:

Rashi and Kimshi hold that the words the fish of thy rivers refers to the fact that the princes and the common people will perish with the king (or the ruler here represented as a dragon; see Soncino). Job 41:15 states quite categorically of Leviathan, that his scales are his pride. Thus the removal of the dragon is also the downfall of his host who adhere to him in pride, perhaps of his strength or self-reliance or elevation of will in rebellion (there is no softness in the scales of his underbelly (Isaiah. da Trani)).

The text into the wilderness is held by Kimshi to refer to the fact that the people are to fall in land battles. Fish cannot live on dry land and thus the removal of their basis of support underlies this concept. The spiritual nature of the support in that the river is a spiritual system and the fish are representative of people is not fully developed, but is nevertheless understood by the great Jewish authorities.

Israel had, throughout its history, looked upon Egypt instead of God. Generally this was when they were to be dealt with for their sins using the nations, which God had chosen to raise up from the north (see also Soncino; and cf. Isa. 36:6).

Ezekiel 29 continues:

Once a man's support is gone he is forced to stand alone so says Rashi and Kimshi (Soncino).

This period of forty years (cf. Ezek. 4:6 where the desolation of Judea is predicted for a similar period) is a key to understanding the prophecy. There is also an understanding that this period relates to the promised famine in Egypt. Egypt was prophesied (according to tradition; the Midrash), to have forty-two years of famine in the days of Joseph; but at the end of the second year (cf. Gen. 45:6) Jacob migrated to Egypt and the famine ceased. Rashi and Kimshi held that the remaining forty years would be suffered over this period; see Soncino. The significance is that this text was always understood to have a split meaning or dual application. The concept is that Israel is a deliverer, in the form of Messiah in the last days, as the seed of Jacob. The recovery of Egypt was foretold through other prophets (cf. Isa. 19:24; Jer. 46:26).

The state of desolation in Egypt will be so extreme that it will appear patently so even in comparison with other lands which have been ravaged by an invading army (Soncino).

The Soncino makes the following comment on this text After forty years Egypt will be restored, though only to rank as a weak kingdom with its former pride shattered. The restoration at the end of the period named probably coincides with the decline of the Babylonian empire. The end of both systems is thus coincidental – one being used to destroy the other.

I will restore the fortunes is rendered in the Soncino I will turn the captivity (the dual meaning is noted in Ezek. 16:53). Land of their origin is rendered by Rashi and Kimshi as the land of their sojourn. Pathros or the south land was the name of Upper Egypt. Herodotus considers it to be the place from where Egyptian rule developed (Soncino).

Kimshi notes this as a lack of trust in God by putting their trust in Egypt (Soncino). Because Egypt was a source of pride and stumbling to Israel, they would be made so low that they would never again be equal to other nations. They would not only be low but inferior to all (Soncino; see also Ezek. 21:28 and Num. 5:15). The phrase they will know is taken (by Metsudath David) to be the nations in general.

The removal of the ancient system is to be removed and no trace is to be left. This will become obvious as global warming and the wars of the last days coupled with earthquake and tsunami wipe out the civilisations of this world.

The text they wrought for me or because they worked for me is curiously interpreted as because of the evil they wrought unto Me in becoming the unreliable support of Israel (R, K following the Targum). These commentators, following the Targum, thus transpose the concept of God using the nation, which is of itself a Gentile system, as a punishment on Egypt. A.J. (Soncino) does not, thus understanding that all nations were God's instruments, including Babylon.

Kimshi understood the text to refer to Cyrus who is termed God's anointed, i.e. the Messiah (cf. Isa. 14:1; see Soncino). Kimshi understood that the restoration of Egypt was to coincide with the dawn of Egypt's release from captivity. Thus the rabbinical commentators understood that this was a dual prophecy, which related to the restoration. The Soncino notes that:

Thus the sequence was understood to go beyond the Babylonians. Here we have the pivotal point of the prophecy being established. This attack on Egypt can be established with absolute historical accuracy and of itself forms the commencement of the dating system. The year in question is 605 BCE. Egypt had in fact been given into the hands of the Assyrians from 669-663 BCE. This Assyrian invasion was to be taken up in the prophecy, but did not of itself form the pivotal date and thus was mentioned after the subsequent invasion by Nebuchadnezzar and not before that invasion as one would have expected. The explanation will become obvious later. Again and importantly from these conflicts it is highly unlikely that an Israelite resettlement from 667-665 BCE would have taken place with a major campaign under way in the south.

More importantly it is from these invasions that a horn springs forth in Israel (Cyrus to the rabbis; but as the Lord's anointed it was sequential over the nations) and speaks so that the nations know that God rules (v. 21). Ezekiel was dumb and his speech was held for prophecy. God was also silent until He dealt with Israel (from Ezek. 3:26-27 and 24:27). The prophecies concerning other nations were from Ezekiel 29 to 32. Ezekiel 33 then is the Watchmen chapter for the warning of Israel. The warning of Israel in the last days and the subsequent restoration is the major subject of Ezekiel's prophecies. It is absurd to suggest that the prophecies of the nations from Ezekiel 29 to 32 are confined to 669-525 BCE, and are incomplete and then suggest that Ezekiel deals with End-Time and Restoration or Millennial prophecies. Ezekiel is by this reasoning rendered meaningless. Ezekiel 30 continues:

No date is assigned for this prophecy. This text is similar wording to Joel 2:1-2 speaking of the last days. We are dealing here with the time of doom for the nations. This passage does not refer to a nation but to nations. God dealt with Egypt but this prophecy is expansive and refers to the time when God will deal with the world nations and their system of which Egypt was archetypal. Hence the prophecy refers to the time of the end. Thus the prophecy extends over a long period and not just over the immediate conquests from 605 BCE as might have been supposed. Egypt, a world power and centre of pagan worship, is to lose both attributes. Babylon is the instrument (see Soncino).

The day of the Lord in verse 3 is understood to be:

Ezekiel continues:

Lofthouse comments God speaks as though He had come in person into Egypt, like another and more terrible Nebuchadnezzar. The Jewish commentators more correctly explain that it is at My will, on My orders (Soncino).

The consensus appears to be also that the tidings of the approaching doom will be as much concern to the Ethiopian as it was at Egypt's collapse. The Ethiopians and the lands to the south will not escape this terror.

This prophecy then relates directly to the Babylonian invasion of 605 BCE – thus establishing the concept of an extended time-frame pivotal to that invasion. Ezekiel continues:

Egypt is thus sent into captivity because it has been a source of religious stumbling to Israel and the world.

The actual wording of the text is found in the Soncino. The concepts are not understood by the commentators because the meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphs was not available to them. The Book of the Dead is as we now know, The Chapters of the Coming Forth By Day. Thus the adversaries of by day had a religious significance not understood at that time.

All the cities enumerated from verses 13-18 were centres of different forms of idolatry. The reference here in verse 18 is to the covering of Egypt by a cloud and her daughters shall go into captivity. Specifically it states there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt. But there were princes after the fall of Egypt. This is either a false prophecy or it deals with an extended time-frame involving the last days. Bearing in mind that we are dealing with the sequence from the fall of the Covering Cherub symbolised by Tyre and that Egypt which is symbolic of the world systems was destroyed as the wages of the labour involved in the destruction, the symbolism develops and should be interpreted to be the sequence leading up to the Messianic advent, where he would preach deliverance to the captive etc. and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk. 4:18) as a primary activity within the period involved and finally take captivity captive (Eph. 4:8). Israel under the Cloud, which was and is Messiah would be set in its own land and joined with aliens who will cleave to the house of Jacob. The peoples will take captive those who were their captors and they will rule over those who oppressed them (Isa. 14:1-2). This action commenced from the invasion of the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, but the end result will be also the final destruction of the Babylonians and their religious system (Rev. 17:5 and 18:2) and the whole world will be at peace (Isa. 14:3-7).

This prophecy in Isaiah 14 is the well-known prophecy, which relates not only to Babylon but also to the destruction of Satan, the current Morning Star or Lightbringer, in the Messianic advent (Isa. 14:8-21). The city referred to in Josephus Acts of the Jews XV, II, 2 was another city on the Tigris adjoining Baghdad, both of which were also later referred to as Babylon. When Revelation 18:2 was written Babylon had been long destroyed yet it was referred to in latter-day prophecy. Similarly Peter wrote from Babylon (1Pet. 5:13) where Satan's seat was. Thus the prophecies connect the entire structure of Daniel's statue of Daniel 2 as extensions of the Babylonian system. Revelation could hardly be referring as a future event to something that had happened some 600 years beforehand. That is hardly prophecy. Moreover, we are talking about world religious systems, which are conjoint with the civil empires. There is no doubt whatsoever that the empires referred to in Daniel 7:3-8 are explanatory to the structure in Daniel 2 and that they embrace the Roman system as the empire of iron and that the empire of iron and clay was its successor. That empire can only have been the Holy Roman Empire. Moreover, Daniel 7:9 shows that these systems proceed into the last days and the casting down of the thrones before the Ancient of Days and the subsequent judgment.

Daniel 7:11 also interprets who the horn of Israel was as referred to in Ezekiel 29:21. The little horn of Daniel 7:8,11 was the false prophet at the last days and the destruction of the beast. The other beasts or nation systems of Daniel 2 were allowed to live a little longer, but their dominion was taken away. This is the millennial restoration of Messiah.

Ezekiel 30 continues:

The key to the prophecy is given here. The arms of the Egyptians are broken. Both arms are broken and one arm was broken beforehand to weaken Egypt. The symbolism is given this way to make it evident that the prior break under the Assyrians was not the pivotal invasion to which the prophecy referred. It is axiomatic that a nation’s arms are broken by the defeat of its forces, which are themselves referred to as arms of that nation's force. Thus we are looking at three invasions of Egypt; the first one being a preliminary action. Egypt was conquered by the king of Nubia in 750 BCE, who became the first pharaoh of the 25th dynasty. (See Colin McEvedy World History Fact Finder, pp. 20 ff. for easy references). Thus the Nubians were involved.

The Soncino holds that the prior break was the advance of Pharaoh Hophra to relieve Jerusalem, while it was besieged by the Babylonians. The Egyptian army withdrew and the Babylonians renewed the attack (Jer. 27:5 ff.). Egypt's decisive defeat at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar is recorded in 2Kings 24:7. The scope of the prophecy is larger than this would allow. The prophecy involves the Assyrians who were defeated and absorbed by the Babylonians, hence the break, which was irreparable, probably preceded the minor defeat of Hophra mentioned in Soncino.

Egypt had become a powerful kingdom after Ahmose, prince of Thebes had defeated the Hyksos (c. 1600-1500 BCE) and expelled them from Egypt and thus founding the so-called 18th dynasty, which marks the beginning of Egypt's New Kingdom. Pharaohs Tutmoses I and III of Egypt (1500-1400 BCE) took Egyptian power to its greatest extent by conquering Palestine and Syria up to the Euphrates and Nubia up to the fourth cataract in the Nile (McEvedy, p. 16). The 18th dynasty lost Syria and petered out with the religious reformations of Akhnaton and his son Tutankhamen. The 19th dynasty was commenced by Rameses (Ramesses) I. Ramesses II attempted to reconquer Syria in the 13th century BCE but was rebuffed by the Hittites. In the 12th century BCE the Egyptians under Ramesses III, first pharaoh of the 20th dynasty, rebuffed an invasion of the Pereset or Peoples of the Sea who then settled in Israel. Israel had to recognise their supremacy as the Philistines. Their success seems to have been due to iron weapons. Thus the iron-age began.

In the 11th century BCE Egypt became divided between the pharaohs of the 21st dynasty ruling from Tanis in the Delta and the High Priests of Thebes ruling Upper Egypt. Nubia was independent. This period saw and perhaps enabled the emergence of the monarchy under Saul in Israel. Saul's task was formidable, as he had to unite Israel and free it from the overlordship of the Philistines. The task was thus set by God as being one of systematic consolidation of the Levant, firstly by Saul and then by David, so that the Temple could be built by Solomon.

The period under David and Solomon saw Israel at its greatest. However, the unity could not exist without sound leadership. In 924 BCE Shishonk first pharaoh of the 22nd dynasty extracted tribute from Judah and Israel. Egypt's weakening of Judah and Israel in fact sowed the seeds of its own destruction.

The 9th century BCE saw Assyria make a new bid for supremacy under Shalmaneser III who fought a coalition, under Hadad, of Hadad of Damascus, Irhuleni of Hamath and Ahab of Israel.

In 879 BCE Assurnasirpal II built the second Assyrian capital at Kalah (modern Nimrud) replacing Nineveh.

In 841 BCE Shalmaneser III takes tribute from the Levant including Israel. In 806 BCE Adadnirari III took Damascus but Assyrian supremacy in the Levant collapsed because of the war with the kingdom of Urartu or Ararat, north of Assyria, which had formed as a power in the 9th century BCE (see McEvedy, p. 19).

Thus we return to the conditions that set the scene for the emergence of the major power struggles between North and South in the 8th century BCE. As we said in 750 BCE the king of Nubia conquered Egypt establishing the 25th dynasty. In 732 BCE the Assyrian Tiglath Pileser III annexed Damascus making Israel and Judah tributary states. In 729 BCE Tiglath Pileser III annexed Babylon and Shalmaneser V (from 724-721 BCE) annexed Israel in 722 BCE. His successor Sargon II deported the ten tribes.

In 710 BCE the Cimmerians invaded trans-Caucasia from the Russian steppes. They devastated Urartu and the kingdom of Phrygia in Anatolia. In 705 BCE Sargon II was killed fighting the Cimmerians. In 701 BCE Sennacharib's army unexpectedly withdrew from a punitive campaign in Judah. In 720 BCE Sargon II had established the Assyrian capital at Dur Sharrukin or Fort Sargon. In 701 BCE Sennacherib abandoned Fort Sargon and made Nineveh the capital again. There is thus a seeming reconcentration on the prophecies concerning Nineveh.

In 669-663 BCE the Assyrian empire reached its furthest extent with the conquest of Egypt by Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. A satellite 26th dynasty was established at Sais in the Egyptian Delta.

During the 7th century BCE with the rising power of Assyria the Phoenicians recognised the suzerainty of Carthage among the western colonists. The Scyths also invaded trans-Caucasia during this period. The Assyrians were also under threat from the Elamites, one of the tribes to the east in Persia.

In 646 BCE Assurbanipal crushed Elam which was occupied by the Persians on their retreat.

In 626 BCE the downfall of the Assyrian empire began with the revolt of Babylon on the death of Assurbanipal.

In 614 BCE, Assur was sacked by the Medes. In 612 BCE, Nineveh was sacked by the Babylonians and Medes. In 610 BCE, the Babylonians overthrew the last Assyrian army at Harran and ended the Assyrian state.

This phase marked the pivotal point in the empires of history. The prophecy of Daniel 2 deals with the emergence of the new world kingdoms commencing with the Babylonian head of gold under Nebuchadnezzar. The background to the later empires were emerging from behind the scenes. During the period 750-701 BCE there had been waves of Greek immigrants to southern Italy and Sicily founding Syracuse, Catania, Reggio, Tarentum and Sybaris. In the 7th century BCE they emigrated to the shores of Propontis or the Sea of Marmara: this period saw the foundation of Chalcedon, Byzantium, Abydos and Lampascus.

Rome had been established, traditionally, from 753 BCE being associated with the emergence of the Etruscan city-states to the north. Thus the stage is set for the emergence of the empires of Daniel 2, the four great beasts of Daniel 7 and 8. The sequence is first set by the detailing of the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. This kingdom was to be bound as a stump and left until seven times had passed over it (Dan. 4:25) so that it could be demonstrated that the Most High rules the kingdom of men (Dan. 4:26).

This prophecy was kept in the first instance for seven years, but the time sequence of seven times refers to the period of seven times 360 days (a prophetic year) or 2,520 years. This prophecy is important and will become evident as we progress.

The major or key battle for the prophecy then begins from Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BCE. Thus, the first arm of Egypt was broken by the Babylonians, having been broken previously by the Assyrians. Pharaoh Necho had marched to support the Assyrians at the battle of Harran in 610 BCE being subjugated by them in 669-663 BCE. He was opposed by Israel and killed king Josiah at Megiddo (609 BCE). Thus the significance of Megiddo is established in the last conflict.

In 605 BCE Necho of Egypt was defeated by the Babylonian king at the battle of Carchemish. Thus, Egypt was conquered but was not entered by the army. This key battle marked the invasion by the Babylonians, which then involved a structured period of some forty years. Egypt then began to build its independence again. In 567 BCE, some 38 years after the first defeat, Nebuchadnezzar again defeated Egypt. Thus the first forty-year period of the broken arms was completed.

In 598 BCE Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem and deported Jews to Babylonia but left the Jewish state intact. In 587 BCE he again took Jerusalem and destroyed the first Temple. Thus the significance of the prophecy can be seen to have direct relation to the Temple and cover the key nations involved. The full significance will emerge as we develop the prophecy.

Babylon was itself conquered by the Medes and Persians under Cyrus whom God raised up for the purpose not only of destroying the Babylonians, but also of restoring Israel and establishing the basis for the reconstruction of the Temple.

This activity involving Cyrus was also pivotal in the understanding of the sequence of the last days. From this restoration and reconstruction, the period for the ministry of Messiah was to be determined and interlinked to the Sign of Jonah and the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

The restoration and the destruction of Jerusalem followed on from the prophecy of the seventy weeks of years (Dan. 9:25). The seventy weeks of years ceased with the destruction in 70 CE. It did not end in 27 CE as is wrongly taught by modern Christianity.

The forty years, from Messiah's death to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 CE, thus completed the second element of the first phase of the sign of Jonah (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13)). The phases of the Sign of Jonah span the last forty jubilees of the 6,000 year period, a cycle of some 2,000 years. The symbolism of the three periods of forty jubilees totalling 6,000 years was identified in the life of Moses as outlined in the paper Moses and the Gods of Egypt (No. 105).

Ezekiel 30 continues:

Thus the power of Egypt was to be broken. From Ezekiel 30:26, their power was broken so that they might know that God is the Most High God. Assyria, itself proud and the example of self-exaltation and arrogance, was held up to Egypt as the example or prototype of Egypt's doom. Ezekiel 31 continues.

This text refers to the subterranean reservoir of waters from which the trees drew their nourishment. The Soncino continues this thought process that the great rivers not only filled the great rivers for the cedar but also filled the smaller canals which nourished the other trees. Thus Assyria received an exceptionally large supply so that its might was increased above theirs. Thus the allocation of the strength of the nations is being discussed. The concept of the nation systems is not the thing being discussed; it is the rulers of those systems which derived their power, originally, from the Spirit of God.

The confusion caused by this text is significant. Assyria is used as a prototype of the fall of Egypt and yet the inheritors of the Assyrians, namely the Babylonians, whom the Greeks termed also Assyrians, were to be the instrument. Furthermore the Babylonians were to be the head of gold of Daniel 2 which was the start of a series of empires, which themselves would be destroyed and replaced by the Messianic kingdom. The significance is thus difficult to follow in the simple terms of nation against nation. It must be understood that God appoints the Host and allocates power and punishment.

This text shows a much deeper meaning to the prophecy than at first might be supposed.

The significance of the rebellion of the Host is clearly alluded to by the bracketing of the key texts with direct references to the Anointed Lucifer or Lightbearer; the current Morning Star. The drinking of water is a direct reference to the allocation of the Holy Spirit from Jesus Christ to mankind. The Host had that Spirit and rebelled, attempting to overthrow God. The Spirit, channelled through the elohim of the Host, caused the trees or stars of the Host to grow great. Mankind will be given that Spirit and will be guided by the horror of the results of the rebellion. The fact that the Spirit was given to the Host and caused them to grow great, should not be misconstrued as contributing to the pride of Satan and hence a cause of evil. The greatness of the Host attributed to the Holy Spirit is not a cause of evil. The fact that the elect can sin in spite of their possession of the Spirit is the same concept. The Spirit is not a cause of evil. Free moral agency does not cause sin; it merely permits the misuse of power even in those who have the Holy Spirit. Thus Satan and Christ could sin and Satan did sin.

The elect are to partake of the waters of the Spirit, which is referred to as waters.

God's promise to Jacob was given at Isaiah 44:3 where God said:

The Spirit is poured out being likened to water. These springs of water are noted in Isaiah 49:10 which is quoted in Revelation 7:16 where the Lamb shall lead the elect to living fountains of water. This is a direct reference to the Holy Spirit and the fact that it is channelled through the intermediary elohim of the Host. The Lord is the fountain of living water (Jer. 17:13). This is the river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1). From God it is then channelled to each of the Host through His intermediary elohim, in our case Jesus Christ. Christ said that from him living waters flowed (Jn. 4:10-14; 7:38 cf. Isa. 12:3; 55:1; 58:11; Ezek. 47:1) speaking of the Spirit (Jn. 7:39). Christ developed the concept of the perennial waters of the restoration from Jeremiah 2:13 and 17:13, where God was the fountain of living water and also Zechariah 14:8. Christ's voice is as the sound of many waters (Rev. 1:15). In the restoration those fountains of living waters shall flow from Jerusalem (Zech. 14:18) issuing from the sanctuary (Ezek. 47:12). There is an angel of the waters from Revelation 16:5.

The comments in Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Revelation have a literal and a spiritual connotation. Israel is spiritually cleaned by water from Ezekiel 36:25. The elect partake of the water of life without price (Rev. 22:17). This is the foundational understanding of baptism and rebirth in the Holy Spirit as referred to in Matthew 28:19-20.

The struggle of the spiritual powers is also noted in Zechariah 9:9-17 in direct reference to Messiah. Messiah will liberate Israel and establish it forever. The significant references in this text are in verse 11:

The reference to the pit where there is no water is again a reference to the waters of the Spirit, which is withheld from the pit and the fallen Host; thus giving emphasis to the concept in Ezekiel. The conflict that is specifically mentioned in Zechariah is that of Israel and Greece in verse 13. We are referring to the spiritual battle that was to ensue for the minds of the elect using Greek systems to undermine the spiritual understanding of the elect through theological structures, which impugned the nature of God and the biblical position. Trinitarianism is directly the result of Greek philosophical structures, which have no biblical basis.

The end result of this struggle is seen from Zechariah 9:15.

They will be full of the Holy Spirit and they will be points of safety as were the horns of the altar. They will be the priesthood of Israel.

This time at the end sees the absence of shepherds (Zech. 10:2). The anger of the Lord is kindled against the shepherds and against the goats (Zech. 10:3). The war of the last days is detailed also in Zechariah 10:3-12. The houses of Judah and Ephraim are made as mighty men and the Lord will call Ephraim. The Lord says in Zechariah 10:8-12:

The concepts in this passage refer to the wars of the end and the restoration of the millennial or Messianic Kingdom. The new exodus and gathering of Israel takes place with the destruction of the world systems, which are typified by Egypt and then Assyria. The deeps of the river drying up is a direct reference to the Nile being dried up as it is stated in Ezekiel 30:12. The desolation of Egypt from Migdol to Syene refers to the stretch of the Nile to Assouan or Assawan at the dam site. This has yet to occur.

The struggle of the spiritual powers of the Host are further detailed in the analogy that is used between Israel, Egypt and Babylon. The prophecy of the destruction of the world powers, and their angelic overlords, is shown to be replaced with the Messianic Kingdom. This can be seen also from Ezekiel 17:1-2.

This riddle (or perplexing problem put forward for solution) is combined with a parable (which is the comparison of one thing with another). Thus this text is a divine mystery which demands solution and which compares type against anti-type. This text refers firstly to Great Eagles. This is traditionally inferred as the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon is not just a physical king. It refers also to the prime type of the supernatural rulers. The Great Eagles are the Cherubim (Ex. 25:20; 37:9) or Archangels of the Elohim. The Great Eagle of Israel was Jesus Christ the Angel of Yahweh upon whose wings Israel was brought out of Egypt (Ex. 19:4) and which helped Israel as the Church in the wilderness (Rev. 12:14). Similarly, when the Son of Man comes in glory, there will the (angelic) eagles be gathered (Mat. 24:28; Lk. 17:37). The punishment for idolatry and disobedience in Deuteronomy 28:49 was to have a nation brought against Israel as swift as the eagle flies. These nations under the angelic Host are used to punish nations. The meanings of the text are examined below.

Traditionally this refers to the captivity of Jehoiachin whom he took to Babylon (Jeconiah or Coniah) (see also v. 12 and Jer. 22:23-24).

This text traditionally refers to the establishment of Zedekiah as the vassal king of Israel.

This refers to Egypt and Pharaoh Hophra. Zedekiah had given his oath of allegiance to the Babylonians but turned to Egypt. Ezekiel 17 continues:

The destruction of Zedekiah is recorded in Jeremiah. Israel did not want to obey the directives and punishment of God. They had sinned and God had punished them; yet He would have spared the Temple and the position of Judah if they had kept His statutes and obeyed those whom He had raised up.

They did not obey and turned to the Egyptian system for aid in overcoming the empirical system which God had allowed to be established and which He had shown through Daniel that He would allow to continue until the restoration under Messiah, which is the event depicted in Daniel 2. The great figure has differing parts of the body in different metals representing different qualities of the empirical systems. But they are all part of the same body, which continues over the entire period of the Gentiles, until that empirical system is destroyed by Messiah. Thus the stump of the Babylonians was bound for seven times. However, the stump was a composite of the Assyrians, the Medes and the Persians who succeeded Nebuchadnezzar. That Aryan system which had taken over from the semitic Babylonian entered Europe as the Roman and then the Holy Roman Empires, in the north, in Central Europe.

The body of Daniel 2 is not composed of separate bodies; it is one body comprised of different parts. Its greatest power is achieved in the last days when the greatness of the Assyro-Babylonian system is again restored to deal with Israel who became again an apostate people. The restoration of Israel occurs through the Branch (which is also referred to in Zech. 3:8 and 6:12).

This Branch is himself the cedar or spiritual ruler of Israel. Ezekiel 17:22-24 continues:

This end result is the taking of the highest branch of the cedar that is Israel. This royal lineage is to become Messiah who is the goodly cedar. Under Messiah shall dwell all living things. The systems of the world are to be destroyed. The cedar that was the original Morning Star (the covering Cherub Azazel or Satan) is replaced by the line of David, the new Morning Star who is Messiah (Rev. 22:16). Those who dwell under his branches are given to share in the Morning Star (Rev. 2:28).

The sequence of this transition is given in the parables of the fall of Egypt and the ultimate use and destruction of the Babylonian systems. Satan's rebel systems are used against Satan's systems.

It is then easier to see the symbolism of the cedars and the use of the analogy of the Pit and of Sheol or the Grave and the ultimate sequence of the resurrections. The watercourses deal with the control of the nations through the channelling of the Spirit, as it is available to the Host. Ezekiel 31:15-18 thus has greater significance.

There are a number of concepts here. The trees of Eden referred to are those who once were partakers of the divine nature but rebelled. They went down to the Pit. All of the nations likewise go down to the Pit, to Sheol, in death. Eden is not used here in reference to Assyria on the basis that Assyria encompassed the areas of Eden. Eden was the Levant. It fed both the Tigris-Euphrates systems and also the areas of the South into Egypt and North Africa. Eden is not and has not been used to refer to Assyria. The drinkers of water will be comforted in the nether world.

Thus we are dealing with the concepts of the various stages of the resurrection determined by the Holy Spirit. The allocation of waters is also allocated to, and is stopped from being accessed by, many. Thus the uncircumcised and the trees of Eden lie with the world's system and their rulers both physical and spiritual. It should be obvious that physical trees are not comforted in the nether world.

Our battle is against spiritual wickedness.

It should thus be obvious that we are dealing with a major spiritual struggle for the restoration of the Kingdom of God. That struggle involves supernatural powers, which are the powers that actually rule this world. The prophecies thus deal with those entities as actual realities. Modern Christianity seeks to deny the reality of the fallen Host as rulers of this world. They have the words of the faith but deny its power. There is going to be a titanic struggle for the restoration of this planet, which will almost destroy it. That work is not for the faint hearted. You have seen already some who seek to deny the reality of the prophecies and who hope to avoid the struggle by pretending that it will not happen. You saw this attitude pandered to in previous Churches, where the various strategies employed involved places of safety or raptures or earthly kingdoms of the Church.

God is our strength and the rock of our salvation. For the elect's sake He will intervene to save this planet and for no other reason. He has declared His will and He will accomplish it. The reason that people will not repent over this process is that they deny the reality of what is happening to them. It was for this reason that they sought to kill the prophets. They shot the messenger in the mistaken belief that if they pretended that it was not going to happen then it would not happen. They shut their ears so that they would not hear and so God will shut His over that period.

We are now able to see the significant battles that are being waged in the Host over a continual period. The war we face is not a physical battle, but is rather against principalities and powers that are in rebellion to the will of God. The wars are detailed for us in Bible prophecy and we have a responsibility as stewards of the Mysteries of God to understand and expound those mysteries. As previously explained this prophecy was chosen as the central framework precisely because it is held up as failed prophecy and precisely because it is not understood by mankind. The framework could as easily have been Revelation or Daniel or Isaiah using all of the others to explain the sequence. The fact of the matter is that they are all interrelated and point to the Kingdom of God. That Kingdom will be established on this planet in power and glory. It is however, necessary to warn the world of the process. As explained in the paper The Warning of the Last Days (No. 44) God does nothing before He warns those concerned through His servants. This prophecy was given in a sequence over 2,000 years ago. It is being fulfilled on a continuing basis. Nothing will stop that.

In this text we are given the same sequence as that for the last days. Christ says much the same thing in Matthew 24:29-31.

The expression from one end of heaven to the other is not to be taken to infer some heavenly rapture. The text refers to the four corners of the earth. They will be gathered to Zion.

Luke 21:24-27 states that Christ will come in a cloud in power and great glory after the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. The people will be led into captivity from Jerusalem, and it will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled:

The texts here reflect the sense of Revelation 5:12-13.

Also Isaiah 13:10 says:

God is specifically detailing the day of the Lord here. The build up to the prophecy in Isaiah 14 is thus for the end of the age and Messianic. Isaiah 14 has direct application to Ezekiel 28. The sequence in Ezekiel 29 to 32 relates to the period between the times of the Gentiles and the days of the Watchmen in Ezekiel 33. These chapter grouping are not without significance. The period of these prophecies are the same periods dealt with in Daniel 2 which show beyond question that the sequence commences with Nebuchadnezzar but ends with the destruction of the ten king system of the empire of iron and clay in the last days, thus beginning the millennial reign of Messiah.

Also Joel 2:10 states of the day of the Lord at this end time:

Also Zephaniah 1:15 states:

Daniel 7:13-14 reflects Luke 21:27.

The reference at verse 14 to making the waters clear and their rivers run like oil refers again to the Holy Spirit using the analogy of the pouring out of the oil into the lamps of the elect. Here it is to the nations after the restoration and the Spirit is poured out on mankind.

We are looking at the nations, the Gentiles chanting over the demise of the Egyptian system. This is thus not an ordinary captivity or an ordinary destruction.

The Lord delivers the second judgment in Ezekiel 32:17, which details the nations involved in the destruction. The nations are mentioned in this prophecy, which was actually given before the first half of the chapter and had been arranged in the later order, perhaps because it seemed that was more logical an arrangement. However, the extended time-frame involved is disguised further by this arrangement.

Here the prophecy commences to include other nations not part of the early groupings. Elam went into Egypt also when the Medes and Persians had conquered Egypt. This conquest was the second phase or the other arm of the conquest. This occurred in 525 BCE under Cambyses. In 550 BCE Cyrus of Persia (The Lord's anointed Isa. 45:1) defeated the Medes and became paramount king of Iran (hence Persia). In 546 BCE he defeated Croesus and took Lydia. He annexed Babylonia in 539 BCE and established the supremacy of the Persian Empire in the East. In 525 BCE Cyrus' son Cambyses succeeded him and invaded Egypt. Thus the second arm of the first prophecy was fulfilled.

Ezekiel 32:24 continues.

The question arises as to why Elam is distinguished in the prophecy and made to stand distinct when the nation formed only part of the Medo-Persian Empire. Elam was the oldest of the kingdoms and had not been annexed to the Assyrian empire. With the demise of the Assyrians, Elam fell prey to the Persians under Prince Sispis, or Teispes of the Achæmenidæ, who placed himself on the throne at Shushan (Historian's History of the World, Vol. 1, p. 437). Thus Cambyses inherited the throne of the Elamites.

The answer as to why Elam is distinguished in the prophecy is, more probably, that it has dual application and refers to an extended order of peoples outside of the Medo-Persians or Iranians proper, as there is some question as to the extent of the Elamites.

The Median hordes were undisciplined and no match for the Assyrians. Cyaxares the Mede remodelled the army based on the Assyrian. The Medians then invaded and besieged Nineveh. The siege of Nineveh was forced to be abandoned by the invasion of Media by the Scyths from the north. Thus a second siege had to be made from 609 BCE. The Median army under Cyaxares besieged Nineveh with the aid of the Babylonians (according to Berosus the Chaldean). The Babylonian king's son Nebuchaddrezzar (or Nebuchadnezzar) had married the daughter of the king of the Medes. Thus the Medes were the major force in the destruction of the Assyrians and not the Persians, who were not involved in this siege and indeed told Herodotus nothing of it.

With the fall of Assyria, the dominion of the north and the countries of Asia Minor as far as the Halys passed to the Medes. All other provinces of the Assyrians as far as the Mediterranean Sea, including Asshur, Harran and Carchemish fell to Babylonia (Historian's History of the World, ibid., p. 444).

Thus the Babylonians themselves were the inheritors of the Assyrian and the Greeks referred to them as Assyrians (ibid., p. 445).

The semitic empire of the Assyrian-Babylonians could only be propped up by the force of the power of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors were inadequate for this task. They could neither prevent the spread of the Medes nor the Persians. With the Persian conquest of the Elamites and under the genius of Cyrus who had been selected and named by God, an empire was founded which embraced the four ancient empires – the Median, the Elamite, the Assyrio-Babylonian, and the Egyptian. Thus the sceptre of western Asia passed to the Aryans (ibid.).

At this point the prophecies found in Nahum (see esp. Nah. 3:19) and Zephaniah 2:13-15 were completed in their first application. These prophecies have a latter day application.

It is also worthy of note that the prophecies of Nahum regarding the fall of Assyria were seen, by the first century Jewish community, as involving Ephraim and Manasseh in the last days. Manasseh was held to be referred to as Amon (Nah. 3:8a) with the rivers being or referring to its great men. Manasseh was to go into captivity (from Nah. 3:10) before the wicked of Ephraim (Nah. 3:11a). Their men would die by the sword (see Vermes The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, pp. 232-234).

The prophecy in Ezekiel appears to break down here as the next text involves nations, which were not remotely on the scene during the period of the first two forty-year periods. The next group is that of Meshech and Tubal. This nation group did not occupy Egypt in the invasions from 605-525 BCE, and had no part in Egypt until the 20th century.

This sequence of nations is a later grouping. The failure of the text as a completed prophecy has led some biblical scholars, in the face of the claims of the sceptics, to rationalise the text away by attempting to explain the nations referred to as being subsidiary groups allied to the ancient nations. The concept that this prophecy is pivotal and ongoing is far too uncomfortable for most Bible students.

The text reads that they do not lie with the fallen mighty men of old. Thus we are dealing with a later aspect of the prophecy. The concept of not lying with the mighty men of old clearly has the implication that they went to the pit in two stages. We are also dealing with a distinction between the types of warfare involved. The mighty men of old went down to Sheol with their weapons whereas this seems not to be the case in these later groupings.

The assertion that the mighty men of old refers to the Nephilim or the giants of Genesis 6:4 does not solve the problem, but rather compounds it and opens up the argument to the application of the offspring of the fallen Host being separated in the process of the resurrections. Isaiah 26:13-14 in fact denies the resurrection to the Rephaim or Nephilim. Rephaim was in fact interpreted as deceased or dead.

The word for deceased here is Rephaim (related to and associated with Nephilim, the offspring of the fallen Sons of God) and the Companion Bible states that it is a proper name and should not be translated. The Rephaim refers to the other lords of verse 13. Where it is translated, it is always rendered giants or dead (Job 26:5; Ps. 88:10). Job 26:5 should read:

Isaiah 26:13-14 denies the resurrection to the Rephaim, yet all men are to be resurrected from Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Acts 23:6-8; 24:15; 1Corinthians 15:22; Revelation 20:4-6,13. Hence the Rephaim are separate to modern man. The Nephilim are now extinct although being exhumed often.

There is no doubt that the Judaic interpretation at the time of Christ and at the time of the compilation of the New Testament held that the fallen Host had committed fornication with the human creation from Genesis 6:4 and also Jude 6 and that was the reason given for the requirement for women to wear long hair in 1Corinthians 11:10. The fornication of the Host is found in the Ethiopic Book of Enoch and in the Genesis Apocryphon in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Pseudepigraphical writings. The destruction of all humanity in the flood was thus instituted because of the Nephilim or Rephaim. They were destroyed then or later as the Anakim.

The question that must be then asked is: Do we have evidence that they existed? The answer is Yes! The second question is: Does that evidence fit the Bible narrative? The answer is again Yes!

The Bible testimony is that there were giants in the earth in those days and afterwards. This concept is derived from the Genesis account (Gen. 6:4). The word used here is .*-v1 (nephilim) which is derived from the proposition to fall. Hence we have the term feller. This proposition then becomes a bully or tyrant (see SHD 5303, cf. 5307). The same word is used in Numbers 13:33. From this text the word gibbowr or gibbor and also geber being a valiant or mighty man.

The Bible has been deliberately misconstrued as a result of Augustine's treatment of the proposition in Genesis 6:4. In The City of God, Book XV, Chapter 23 he advances the proposition that the Sons of God also termed Angels of God were the sons of Seth. This error involving the propositions advance of the Sethite and Cainite lines of the human race tidied up human anthropology so that the priesthood could have a convenient and tidy explanation for human creation. This left humanity totally unprepared for the archaeological finds of the recent past. Consequently the theory of evolution could be propounded, because the Bible students had no answer from within their accepted paradigm (cf. the paper Creation: From Anthropomorphic Theology to Theomorphic Anthropology (No. B5)).

The fundamental error is in assuming the creation of Adam was as the first humanoid. He was not. The same instruction was issued to Adam in Genesis 1:27-28a as it was to Noah at Genesis 9:1. Both were to fill (male' or mala'') the earth and this did not preclude a pre-existent Host or tsaba'.

The comments by Cain in Genesis 4:14 show absolutely that there were others on the planet. If the Augustinian account is correct, Cain had just killed one of the only two other men on the planet. The last one left was his father. Yet Cain said to God:

It is possible that the term exile derives from this land, as the word is not the prime root (see Cox, ibid.). The fact of the matter is that there were other people that Cain had to be protected from and Seth had not yet been born. More importantly Cain built a city, which he named after his son Enoch (Gen. 4:17). These simple facts should have made it obvious that there were others in the earth in those days. Yet people were deliberately resistant to such a concept.

The Nephilim have been found now in great numbers. The evidence is now so overwhelming that there were humanoids on the earth before Adam that the Genesis account has been dismissed. That is not the fault of Genesis. It is the fault of the blind guides and narrow-minded bigots that epitomised Bible literalism over the past century.

The best example we might use is that of the Australian excavations. We have found, here in Australia, evidence of humanoid occupation going back some 40,000 years. The evolutionists claim that the Aborigines have continuous occupation here, yet they know that the evidence contradicts the assertion. The ethno-linguistic characteristics of the Australian Aborigine show that they came here in eight successive waves. There is no connection between them and the races here previously. The evidence presented for the continuity is non-archaeological. R.M. and C.H. Berndt show the diversity of opinion on the matter and show that there is a body of opinion that holds that the Australian Aborigine is a recent migrant to this country from West Asia and is related to the Dekkan Hill tribes and Ancient Egyptian stock, or is pre-Dravidian of Mediterranean origin spreading into India, and the Malayan region with affinity to the Veddas of Ceylon (Aboriginal Man in Australia, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1965, pp. 31,33). Montagu (1965) included the Ainu in this grouping (ibid., p. 34). All of the arguments are based upon the supposition of evolution and migration over long period. However, it is assumed that the use of boats was necessary (Berndt, p. 39).

Recent archaeological evidence shows the more of less continuous occupation of areas such as the Arunka burial grounds in the Murray basin. This area was occupied from about 18000 BCE to some 5,000 years ago. Similarly, the recent finds in the Murray Darling basin show continuous occupation of a race of people over seven feet tall, from about 6000 BCE to 4000+ BCE. The Lake Nitchie male was of giant proportions and had the front two teeth extracted. He was buried in a shallow grave with teeth obtained from some 47 Tasmanian devils (now extinct on the mainland) around his neck. He was dated to around +/- 6000 BCE.

The Kowe swamp people were also pre-adamic and had elongated heads. Their total dissimilarity to the Australian Aborigine has been explained as the result of possible head binding. Perhaps, but the evidence is missing.

The archaeological record shows discontinuous occupation. Lampert The Great Kartan Mystery, ANU, 1981 is perhaps a very good example of such archaeological research. Lampert follows Jones (1973) in suggesting that the second phase of the colonisation of Australia began about 20000 BP (p. 166). This would follow from the settlement at Arunka and what we know elsewhere. However, there is no evidence that these people were related to the Aborigine and no intensive DNA comparisons are available. It is my contention that they will be shown to be dissimilar in a functional way. Bowdler (1977) assumes a maritime economy for the explanation of the transmission of the tool technologies (Lampert, ibid.). One of the factors, which inhibits the gathering of evidence is that during the Pleistocene period the low sea level coast would have assisted travel but is now under water. At the Willandra Lake sites the dates of occupation vary from 24000 BP to nearly 33000 BP. The diet was predominantly vertebrate fish and shellfish with land fauna being exploited less. This appears to be a coastal form of economy, which if transported would leave the major occupation below the present sea levels. The drying up of the Willandra Lakes around 17000 BP saw the adaptation of the technology to provide for seed grinding around 15000 BP.

Regardless of the interpretation there is little doubt that occupation of the Australian mainland occurred some 30,000 years before the appearance of Adam.

The evidence indicates that the Nephilim are now extinct and that all humanoids on this planet are the descendants of the same human group, which is listed as descended from Adam. The more thorough the research the more likely it is to demonstrate that fact. Thus the varying occupation of Jericho over some 9,000 years does not disprove Genesis – it merely demonstrates the validity of the concept of the Nephilim (cf the paper The Nephilim (No. 154)).

The position is that now all mankind are of the one descent and that all will face a resurrection.

The resurrections are discussed from Isaiah 26:13-14 and follow on into the time-frame outlined in Isaiah 26:15-18.

This is the nation of Israel that is being increased – the future nation of Matthew 21:43. This nation was the woman that travailed as in childbirth in Revelation 12:17 where the seed of the woman was both Jew and Gentile and all of Israel. The Dragon poured out water as a flood from his mouth after the woman. The entire spiritual activity or power of the serpent was poured out or expended in the destruction of the woman. However, it was not enough to destroy the elect.

The significant aspect here is that Isaiah is saying that the elect failed to bring deliverance to the earth or to bring the earth to repentance or to destroy its systems. This sequence is immediately prior to the end as the next text (Isa. 26:19 ff) goes on to discuss the resurrection.

The period of the prophecy is thus over the term called the times of the Gentiles and spans an enormous period of history. More particularly the end of this period deals with a number of concepts. The resurrection of the dead is grouped. Jeremiah refers to the dead at the end of the period of the world systems as being God's dead men and that he also was with them in that resurrection. Thus the prophets are in the first resurrection. Secondly the people of God then enter into chambers prepared for them and the doors are shut about them.

This is the shutting of the doors referred to in Matthew 25:1 ff. Here the parable of the wise and foolish virgins was used to show that the wise virgins, the elect, were full of the Spirit at the coming of the bridegroom. These are the virgins referred to in Revelation 14:4 which interrelates to Revelation 7:3, where the earth and sea were not to be hurt until the servants of the Lord were sealed. These were sealed for the nation of Israel referred to in Isaiah 26:19 ff. above.

These elect of God were grouped with the Lamb until the nations were overthrown. The time-frame of this prophecy deals with the day of the Lord which covers the period of 1,000 years, from the first resurrection until the second resurrection, when the earth discloses its blood and no more covers its slain. Thus Isaiah 26:19-21 covers the 1,000 years of Revelation 20:4 ff., or the Millennium.

The state of the dead is silence (Ps. 115:17) and darkness (Ps. 143:3). There is no eternally existing soul. One fate comes to all people (Eccl. 9:3). The dead know nothing (Eccl. 9:5).

Some of the ancient dead have no resurrection (Isa. 26:14). This is examined above.

The dead of the saints are termed sleeping or those who have fallen asleep (see Mat. 9:24; Mk. 9:35; 1Cor. 15:6,18; 1Thes. 4:13,15; 2Pet. 3:4).

God does work wonders for the dead and the dead rise up to praise Him (Ps. 88:10a), but the Rephaim do not rise. His steadfast love is declared from the grave (Ps. 88:11) when the dead are resurrected. For Job knew that his redeemer lives (Job 19:25) and at last he will stand upon the earth. After Job had been destroyed, he knew that from his flesh he would see God, who would be on his side, and his eyes should see Him and not another['s eyes] (Job 19:25-27).

Christ raised the dead that we might know that he is the Messiah (Mat. 11:4-5). Lazarus was an example of this power (Jn. 11:11). This concept of the resurrection as attributed to the Messiah was well known and expected (Mat. 14:2).

It was understood that we should not all sleep but that we should all be changed at the last trumpet (1Cor. 15:51). Thus the brethren will pass over generations and fall asleep but at the last days the Messiah will come while others of the saints live. Thus all will be changed into immortal spiritual bodies (1Cor. 15:44 ff.). Those who have fallen asleep will be raised. Those who are alive who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep (1Thes. 4:13-15). The Lord will descend from heaven with the archangel's call and the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead will rise first and we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together and thus always be with the Lord (1Thes. 4:16-17).

From the resurrection, the millennial rule of the saints will commence. The saints will rule the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:26-27).

In the resurrection there will be no marriage (Mat. 22:31).

The saints will be raised as spiritual entities. Christ died for us so that when we wake from sleep we might live with him (1Thes. 5:10).

It is important that we understand that only the righteous pertain to the first resurrection. Righteousness and justice in Hebrew are the same word (tsedek). They are understood to be the same thing. Thus unrepented perversion of justice precludes the elect from the first resurrection.

Mankind is subject to a system of righteous training. It is God's desire that no flesh should perish but that all should reach repentance (2Pet. 3:9).

If God took back His spirit then all flesh would perish together and man would return to dust (Job 34:15) – thus the soul is non-existent.

The whole of mankind not raised at the first resurrection, which is a better resurrection (Heb. 11:35), will be raised from the dead at the second resurrection after the millennial reign of Messiah. This process is a period of judgment, which appears to extend over 100 years (Isa. 65:20). The resurrection of judgment (Jn. 5:29) is one of correction and teaching so that all mankind might be prepared to receive eternal life. The word for judgment (kriseoos) (rendered damnation in the KJV) has the meaning of decision. The sense is that of correction stemming from opinions or decisions given concerning actions. It can carry the concept of punishment or of retribution, however the general populace that has not had the opportunity of knowing God can hardly be punished for that fact. The wicked shall be subjected to intensive training. If they do not repent after the period of 100 years allowed from the second resurrection, they will be allowed to die and their bodies will be destroyed by Gehenna fire (Mat. 5:22,29,30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mk. 9:43,45,47; Lk. 12:5; Jas. 3:6).

There are three words in the New Testament, which are translated as hell. These are SGD 86 hades, which approximates SHD 7585 sheol, or the pit or the grave – the place where dead bodies are placed. The two other texts are SGD 1067 gehenna, which is of Hebrew origin for the valley of Hinnom. This was a rubbish pit where refuse and dead animals from Jerusalem were burnt. Thus Christ used it figuratively in referring to the disposal of the dead, both body and soul (Mat. 10:28), after judgment. The third is SGD 5020 tartaros, which is the abyss where the angels were confined after the rebellion.

The eternal punishment (kolasin, a penal infliction) referred to in Matthew 25:46 is in opposition to eternal life. It is simply death. The sense of punishment such as in timoria in Hebrew 10:29 stems from the sense of vindication. 2Corinthians 2:6 uses the word epitimia from esteem as citizenship. Hence punishment has this sense of removal of esteem as a citizen.

Thus there is no place of eternal torment of the dead. The saints will be called to the first resurrection to do a job of teaching in the Millennium so that the demons might be judged against their performance and the world might have a comparative standard by which it might measure the results.

These will not die in the sense that they are judged now. The rest of the world is not being judged now. The rest of the world will be raised and corrected under supervision at the second resurrection (Rev. 20:12-13). There is no other resurrection or punishment other than the second or general resurrection. The repentant will be granted eternal life with the saints of the first resurrection and the unrepentant will simply die and their bodies will be burnt. After this the state or condition of death and the grave, or hades, will be done away with (Rev. 20:14). The wicked who are alive at the return of Messiah will be killed (Mal. 4:3) and consigned to the second resurrection.

This was the punishment inflicted on Judah because of their rejection of Christ. They were the sons of the kingdom who were thrown into outer darkness (Mat. 8:12). They were consigned to the second resurrection instead of partaking of the divine nature (2Pet. 1:4) and the first resurrection. These were not chosen to partake of the first resurrection. Many are called but few are chosen to undertake this task (Mat. 22:13-14). Many who espouse Christ, but mistreat his elect, or who are not diligent (Mat. 25:30) will in fact be consigned to the second resurrection (Mat. 24:51; 25:30) for there are many excluded (Lk. 13:26) and even those in the first resurrection are relocated in order of precedence (Lk. 13:30).

The question of the resurrection is thus developed from the process of the destruction of Satan and his system. The creation of the pre-Adamic humanoids was part of the process of the development of this planet within the purposes of the Elohim who controlled it. Thus the god of this world has been systematically dealt with over a long period of time from the creation of Adam. Thus the 6,000 year plan of salvation is of greater significance.

Isaiah 27 goes on to discuss the slaying of Leviathan in the day of the Lord. This Leviathan, the piercing and crooked serpent, the dragon that is in the sea shall be slain or bound as in Revelation 20:4. Then shall Israel take root throughout the world. In that day the Lord will beat off or harvest as one would olives, the Children of Israel from the channel of the River, or the Tigris-Euphrates, to the stream of Egypt.

Isaiah 27:13 says:

Isaiah 28 then goes on to talk of the crushing of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim. Thus the end days involve war in Ephraim. The prophecy is clearly interrelated to that of Ezekiel and the destruction of Egypt. Moreover the last days are indisputably involved and developed.

The nations that are involved in the fall of Egypt and seem to be distinguished from the earlier groupings, involve, as we have seen, Meshech and Tubal. Meshech and Tubal were the sons of Japeth (Gen. 10:2). They were identified with the Gomerite peoples of the steppes now known as the Russians. Included in this group of Gomerites where the Ashkenazi who formed the later Khazar Jewish kingdom. The song of ascents spoke of the problems had with these people in Psalm 120:5. Ezekiel 38:2 identifies Gog and Magog as chief