In a few moments, we will study the subject of the fear of the Jews, but before we do this, let us pray and ask the Lord to help us understand what we are going to study from His Holy Word.

Father in heaven, as we are now going to open your Holy Book, we know that we are but dust and ashes.  We know that we cannot comprehend spiritual things, unless your Spirit is poured out upon us to enlighten our eyes and help us to understand what we read.  So we pray that your Spirit will be here, that your Spirit will teach us and guide us to an understanding of truth, but most of all, give us a heart to obey and follow you.  Help us to never turn our back on your counsel.  We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

In the Hebrew Bible, II Chronicles is the last book in the Bible.  If we turn in the Hebrew Bible to II Chronicles, chapter 36, the last chapter in the Hebrew Bible, we find this statement in verses 15 and 16.  It says: “And Jehovah God sent to their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising early, and sending; because he had pity upon his people, and upon his dwelling place.  But they mocked his messengers [that is the messengers of God], and they despised their words, and they scoffed at his prophets, until it came up the wrath of Jehovah upon his people, until there was no healing [no remedy].”

We see, in this passage of Scripture, the reluctance of God to bring judgments, to bring punishment upon His people.  In an effort to avert the punishment, He sends messengers to them to tell them what is going to happen, if they keep going in their sinful way, and to appeal to them to repent.  To repent means to change your mind, to turn around and go a different direction.  This passage says He rose up early and sent messengers, many messengers, to try to get His people to repent, because it says He had pity on His people.  But then it says they would not listen.  Not only would they not listen but they scoffed at His messengers, they despised their words, and finally it says there was no healing; there was no remedy; and the lightest punishment that a merciful God could send upon His rebellious people was to send them into captivity.

We find that a large portion of the Old Testament—what we call the Old Testament—was written during that period just before, during, and after the captivity.  For example, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied during that time.  Daniel prophesied in Babylon during that time and not a long time before it happened, Isaiah was sent to appeal to the people that they might turn around.  There were also prophets like Hosea and Micah and Amos who were sent to God’s people with a message of warning, but as we just read in II Chronicles 36:15–16, God’s professed people, His chosen people, would not listen.  As a result, doom was approaching, doom that could not be averted.

So we will understand the significance of what we are going to read, we need to understand that these Old Testament prophecies were not just given to tell us the history of God’s people in ancient times.  The prophecies were given to describe to us what is going to happen in our time and to warn us about what will happen if we give the same regard to the prophets, the messengers that God sends to us, as they did to the messengers that He sent to them.

In the book Prophets and Kings, 416, 417, we read: “Let none who claim to be the depositaries of God’s law flatter themselves that the regard they may outwardly show to the commandments will preserve them from the exercise of divine justice.  Let none refuse to be reproved for evil, nor charge the servants of God with being too zealous in endeavoring to cleanse the camp from evil doing.  A sin-hating God calls upon those who claim to keep his law to depart from all iniquity.  A neglect to repent and to render willing obedience will bring upon men and women today as serious consequences as came upon ancient Israel.  There is a limit beyond which the judgments of Jehovah can no longer be delayed.  The desolation of Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah is a solemn warning to modern Israel, that the counsels and admonitions given them through chosen instrumentalities cannot be disregarded with impunity.”

So the desolation of Jerusalem, Ellen White says, is a solemn warning to modern Israel.  Please think that through; what does that sentence mean?  Here is another very similar sentence from The Signs of the Times, February 12, 1880:  “The desolation of Jerusalem stands as a solemn warning before the eyes of modern Israel.”  Doom was approaching.  Let me tell you friends, doom is approaching modern Israel today.

In those days, when Jeremiah was prophesying, he was in constant danger.  Once he was placed in prison; once he was placed in a dungeon; a number of times his life was threatened.  The rulers went to the king and said, have this man put to death because he is weakening the arms of the people.  But at the same time Jeremiah had been beaten and was in constant danger of his life or imprisonment, there were false prophets that were very popular among the people.  This might seem ironic or paradoxical to the person who is not a student of sacred history, but anyone who has studied the Bible from the beginning to the end knows that this is the standard reaction among God’s professed people.  They love the messages of the false prophets, and they hate the message of the true prophet.  Peter says that this is the way it was going to be in the future, when he wrote his last letter to the Christian church in II Peter.  

He talks first briefly about what happened back in Old Testament times:

 “And there were false prophets among the people, as also there should be among you false teachers, which will secretly bring in heresies of destruction, even denying the Sovereign who purchased them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow after them in sensuality  or in licentious living, through which the way of truth will be evilly spoken of.”  II Peter 2:1, 2. 

So Peter says it is going to be in the future exactly the same way as it was in the past.  The false prophets, of course said, do not worry; the Lord is going to break the power of the king of Babylon, you are not going to go into captivity you are going to stay right here; there is going to be prosperity; there is going to be peace.

Jeremiah is just one of the prophets.  Ezekiel said the same thing.  He said these false prophets would say peace, peace when the Lord hasn’t spoken peace.  Both Isaiah and Ezekiel talk about that.  Do you remember the story in Jeremiah 28 where the Lord told Jeremiah to take the yoke of wood and put it on his neck and go and prophesy?  He was to go not only to the children of Israel, but also to the other nations, and tell them that God had given them to serve under the king of Babylon, and they should submit to it and not rebel against it.

The false prophets did not like this.  Hananiah, for one, became so angry he went and took the wooden yokes off Jeremiah’s neck and broke them!  He said listen, the Lord’s going to break the power of the king of Babylon.  So the Lord told Jeremiah you go prophecy again and go take with you yokes of iron this time, not yokes of wood, and tell them that the Lord is going to place these yokes upon them; they are not going to be broken.  In fact, Jeremiah said even if the entire Babylonian army was wounded they would still rise up and take the city captive. 

Also, Jeremiah had a message for the false prophets.  He said, concerning Hananiah because he had spoken and the Lord had not given him a message, that he would die within the year.  He died two months later.

It is the false prophets who prophesy peace when there is not any peace. Will the same thing happen in our time?  Well, it has been happening for a long time already, and Ellen White predicted that this would happen.  People say, Oh, don’t worry; everything is going to be all right.  I have heard people say we are going to stay here until the Lord comes.  That is what the false prophets then said to those people—we are going to stay here ‘til the Lord comes.  Jeremiah said that no, you are not going to stay here; you are going to Babylon. 

Ellen White wrote, “The patience of God has an object, but you are defeating it.  He is allowing a state of things to come that you would fain see counteracted by and by, but it will be too late.  God commanded Elijah to anoint the cruel and hateful Haziel king over Syria, that he might be a scourge to idolatrous Israel.  Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love.  Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches.  It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, “Peace, peace,” when the Lord hath not spoken peace.  I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write.  It may be that ere long all prophesying among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers.  When God shall work his strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be on the people.”  Testimonies, vol. 5, 77, 78.  It is the false prophet that cries peace, peace when the Lord has not spoken peace.

The message of the false prophet is more popular because then you do not have to stand, alone like Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets did.  Are you willing to stand alone for God’s truth?  Ellen White wrote, in 1888: “It does not seem possible to us now that any should have to stand alone; but if God has ever spoken by me, the time will come when we shall be brought before councils and before thousands for his name’s sake, and each one will have to give the reason of his faith.”  Review and Herald, December 18, 1888.

Are you ready for that?  Are you ready to appear before councils, before thousands for Jesus’ sake, to stand all alone and give the reasons why you believe what you believe?  Can you do it?  Are you ready to do it? 

She wrote in 1893: “Many will have to stand in the legislative courts; some will have to stand before kings and before the learned of the earth, to answer for their faith.  Those who only have a superficial understanding of truth will not be able clearly to expound the Scriptures, and give definite reasons for their faith.  They will become confused, and will not be workmen that need not to be ashamed.  Let no one imagine that he has no need to study, because he is not to preach in the sacred desk.  You know not what God may require of you.”  Ibid., February 14, 1893. 

Are you ready?  Are you ready to stand alone and give your testimony?  You will never really be alone; the angels of God will always be with you, but from a human point of view you may not be able to see anybody, with your natural sight, that is with you.  

The church has yet to see troublous times.  Any preacher who is not warning you of this is giving you the message of the false prophet.  Ellen White wrote that they spoke peace, peace when the Lord has not spoken peace and God has not spoken peace today, friends.

Until Christ shall appear in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, men will become perverse in spirit and turn from the truth to fables.  The church will yet see troublous times.  She will prophesy in sackcloth.”  Testimonies, vol. 4, 594.

So the church will yet see troublous times.  Some people think that when the church prophesied in sackcloth  was from 538–1798.  Yes that is true, but notice what we just read.  The church will have to prophesy in sackcloth again.  Some people say, oh, that was the Babylonian captivity that was back in Jeremiah’s time.  Yes, it was.  Or somebody says the Babylonian captivity in the new covenant times was during the time of 538–1798.  Yes, it was, but we are going to see in a few minutes that the Lord predicts that there will be a time like the Babylonian captivity again at the end of time.

God had not spoken peace.  He wanted to appeal to the people to repent.  The time came when, because of their sins, the lightest punishment that could be given was the Babylonian captivity, and even then God decided to make their lot lighter by telling them to co-operate with their conquerors.  In fact, if you read through the middle chapters of the book of Jeremiah, you will find out over and over again that right up to the last the Lord appealed to them.  The Lord appealed to the leaders, to the king, to listen, to obey, to turn around.  The last chance is given in Jeremiah 38:17.  “And he said, Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Thus says Jehovah God of hosts, God of Israel: If you will indeed go out to the rulers of the king of Babylon, your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire; you will live and your house.”

There it is.  There is the last chance.  Jeremiah tells him, if you will surrender, this is what the Lord is telling you to do.  If you will do what God is telling you to do, then this city will not be burned with fire; then you will live—not only you will live but also your house will live.  Now, you would think, that if you knew the God of heaven was speaking to you and that if you would listen to Him you, your family, and your house would live, and the city would be saved from destruction and not be burned with fire, that would be the thing to do.  But the king did not do it.  Why?  Because of fear of the Jews.  Notice what it says in verses 19 and 20.

“And he said, the king Zedekiah to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews, those who have fallen out to the Chaldeans, less they deliver me into their hand, and they abuse me.  And Jeremiah said, Not they will deliver, not they will give you.  Please listen to my voice, the voice of Jehovah, just as I am speaking to you, and it will be well with you and your soul will live, but if you refuse to go out, if you refuse to do this . . . .”

Now from our point of view, we would say, why would not he listen to what God told him to do?  Why would not he do it?  Well, he said why he would not do it.  He was afraid of the Jews.  He was afraid of the people around.  He secretly wanted to know the truth, but he was not willing to obey it.  Why was this king not willing to listen to divine counsel, even when he believed the fact?  You read through the account.  Over and over again he would secretly send for Jeremiah, and he would say, tell me, is there a message from Jehovah for us?  Tell me, I want to know.  When he received the message, he did not say, I do not believe it.  He did not do it for fear of the Jews.

How did this terrible fear take such hold of his mind that he eventually lost everything?  There was a terrible price to pay.  Look what it says in Jeremiah 39:4–7.  “And it was just as Zedekiah the king of Judah saw and all the men of war [they were seeing the walls of the city broken down and the armies coming in] fled and went out by night from the city by the way of the king’s garden, in the gate between the walls.  And they went out by the way of Arabah  [that’s through the desert], but they pursued the army of the Chaldeans after them, and they overtook Zedekiah at Arabah and Jericho.  And they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he gave him there judgments, and the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes. And all the rulers of Judah he slaughtered [that is the king of Babylon did this], and the eyes of Zedekiah he blinded [or put out], and he bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.”

It is a terrible story is it not?  The city was burned.  Thousands of God’s people were killed.  The rulers were slaughtered.  Zedekiah watched his own family be slaughtered and then his eyes were put out and he was taken to Babylon.

Ellen White wrote, in Letter 281 in 1905, about this: “The calamities came, because he would not, through obedience, place himself under the protection of God.  With his eyes put out, he was led in chains of captivity to Babylon.  What a sad and awful warning is this to those who harden themselves under reproof, and who will not humble themselves in repentance, that God may save them!”

Why did this happen?  Well he would not humble himself and obey.  Of course, part of the reason was because of the false prophets.  The false prophets were very popular with the people and with the rulers; Jeremiah was not, but the false prophets were very popular.  There are still false prophets who are very popular, more popular than God’s servants are.  Ellen White writes about them in Testimonies, vol. 4, 185: “There are many false prophets in these days.”  What does she say?   She says “There are many false prophets these days, to whom sin does not appear specially repulsive.  They complain that the peace of the people is unnecessarily disturbed by the reproofs and warnings of God’s messengers.”  What do they do?  They say, you are disturbing the people by giving all these reproofs and warnings; you are rebuking people too much.  “As for them, they lull the souls of sinners into a fatal ease by their smooth and deceitful teachings.  Ancient Israel was thus charmed by the flattering messages of the corrupt priests.  Their prediction of prosperity was more pleasing than the message of the true prophet, who counseled repentance and submission.  The servants of God should manifest a tender, compassionate spirit and show to all that they are not actuated by any personal motives in their dealings with the people, and that they do not take delight in giving messages of wrath in the name of the Lord.  But they must never flinch from pointing out the sins that are corrupting the professed people of God, nor cease striving to influence them to turn from their errors and obey the Lord.  Those who seek to cloak sin and make it appear less aggravating to the mind of the offender are doing the work of the false prophets and may expect the retributive wrath of God to follow such a course.”  Ibid. 

The false prophets said, why are you making these poor people to be continually reminded of their sins and threatened with punishment?  By giving messages like that they strengthened the people to resist the message of the true prophet.  That is one of the reasons, not the only reason but one of the reasons, that the message of the true prophet was rejected, because the message of the false prophet was so much more flattering and sounded so much more wonderful, predicting prosperity. 

Here is another reason.  Concerning Zedekiah it says, in Prophets and Kings, 450, that he “rebelled against the prophets, against his benefactor, and against his God.  In the vanity of his own wisdom he turned for help to the ancient enemy of Israel’s prosperity, ‘sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people.’ ”

What was the problem?  He turned to the vanity of his own wisdom.  There is no insanity so dreadful as human philosophy and wisdom unaided and undirected by the wisdom and knowledge of God.  That was the problem that King Saul had.  That was the problem that Haziel had; he was wise above what is written; he was wiser than the prophet.  And that became the problem for Zedekiah, the vanity of his own wisdom.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians, that if anybody among you seems to be wise let him become a fool so that he might become wise.  (I Corinthians 3:18.)  That was the third reason.

First reason the king did not humble himself and obey.

Second reason was because of the influence of the false prophets.

Third reason was because the king trusted to his own wisdom.

A fourth reason is given in Prophets and Kings, 440.  “Through Jeremiah, Zedekiah and all Judah, including those taken to Babylon, were counseled to submit quietly to the temporary rule of their conquerors.  It was especially important that those in captivity should seek the peace of the land into which they had been carried.  This, however, was contrary to the inclinations of the human heart; and Satan, taking advantage of the circumstances, caused false prophets to arise among the people, both in Jerusalem and in Babylon, to declare that the yoke of bondage would soon be broken and the former prestige of the nation restored.”  Notice, the truth was contrary to the inclinations of the human heart, so Satan took advantage of the situation.

Friends, it is predicted that that will be the exact same situation in the last days.  The apostle Paul wrote about it in II Thessalonians 2:7–12:  “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only the one holding back [or restraining] until now, until he shall be taken out of the way, and then shall be revealed the lawless one whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.  Whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders, with all unrighteous deception among those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And on account of this God will send them powerful delusion, that they might believe in the lie in order that they all might be condemned who do not believe in the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Oh friends, people today want a religion—not just people of the world but people that say they are Christians, people that say they are part of God’s remnant people.  They want a religion that agrees with the inclinations of the human heart, but the Bible religion does not agree with the inclination of the human heart.  That is why Jesus said, if anyone will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  (Matthew 16:24.)  That is why the apostle Paul said that the old man has to be crucified, as you can read in Galatians 2 or Romans 6.

The religion of the Bible is contrary to the inclinations of the human heart.  The truth is contrary to the inclination of the human heart, and people want a religion that is agreeable, that is not contrary to their human inclinations.  That is why the false prophets have always been more popular than those that are preaching the message of the Bible.

Our last reason concerning why Zedekiah was afraid, why he did not accept the message that he actually believed was true, is found in Prophets and Kings, 457: “Even to the last hour, God made plain His willingness to show mercy to those who would submit to His just requirements.” 

Had the king chosen to obey, the lives of the people might have been spared and the city saved from conflagration, but he thought he had gone too far to retrace his steps. 

Interesting!  I wonder if anybody right now is in that situation.  Preachers meet a lot of people in that situation.  These people have gone contrary to what God has said to do for so long that they think there is no hope.  Now there was hope; Jeremiah told it; we just read it.  He said, and this is when it was about all over, if you will just submit to the king of Babylon, you will save your life; this city will not be burned with fire; you will save your family, and you will all live.  But he thought he had gone too far to retrace his steps.

Friend, the devil is the one that is trying to get you to think that you have gone too far to come back to Jesus, that you have gone too far to repent.  Jesus says, “He that comes to me I will in no case cast out.”  John 6:37.

None are so vile or have fallen so low but they can find deliverance in Christ.  (See The Desire of Ages, 258.)

Zedekiah could have found the same deliverance. He could have stood up and said, I am going to make an about face; I have been living in rebellion and transgression of what Jeremiah has been saying, but I am going to follow and do what the Lord says; I believe it is right.  If he would have stood up and had the moral backbone to do it, he would have saved his life, saved his eyes, saved the lives of his children, saved the city from being burned, and saved the lives of thousands of other people who would have followed his example.  But he thought he had gone too far to retrace his steps. 

How is it with you?  I wonder if there is some father—maybe your children are already teenagers, maybe they are already rebelling because they have not seen the example of a godly parent, a godly father, a godly mother.  It may be very late, but if you will stand up for the right now, you will have a better chance than anything else you can do to redeem the time.  But so many people feel that they have gone so far that they cannot turn around; they cannot retrace their steps.  That is what Zedekiah felt like.

In addition to that, he was afraid.  He was afraid of the Jews around him who had been influenced by the false prophets.  Are you afraid of people around you that have been influenced by false teachers?  That is the fear of the Jews.  He was afraid of the Jews; he was afraid of their ridicule; he was afraid he would lose his life.  He had been rebelling against God for years, and he thought it would be too humiliating to have to say, I have been wrong all this time.  It would be too humiliating to say I am going to accept the Word of the Lord; I am not going to war against the Word of the Lord anymore.

Oh, friend, how is it in your home?  Are you willing to say to the people in your family, you know I have gone the wrong way for a long time; I have set you a bad example for a long time, but I want to turn around.  I am choosing to turn around; from now on I am going to set you a godly example.  I am going to obey what God says to do, and I hope the other people in my family will go with me.  But whether they do or not, I am going to stand for God and obey Him no matter what.  You are going to have to be willing to stand alone.  If you will stand alone, through your influence God will use you to save some other people. 

Zedekiah did not want to do it, and as a result, the city was burned; he saw the rulers of Judah slaughtered; he saw his children slaughtered; then he had his eyes put out and was taken to Babylon.  These false prophets, of course, during the time building up to this final crisis, were creating confusion and rebellion by prophesying lies and encouraging people to look upon sin as a light thing.  When the terrible results of the evil deeds were made manifest, they sought to put the blame back on Jeremiah.  Ellen White says, concerning this, “To the end of time, men will arise to create confusion and rebellion . . . .  When the terrible results of their evil deeds are made manifest, they will seek, if possible, to make the one who has faithfully warned them, responsible for their difficulties.”  Prophets and Kings, 442. 

It will be that way until the end of time.  If God has called you to preach or to teach His people, remember this, if you preach the truth, those who are preaching lies will blame you for everything that is going wrong.  They will blame you for discouraging the people.  They will say you are reproving them so much that you are making them discouraged.  You have got to be a little easier.  You cannot be reproving all the time.  You have got to talk more about the love of God; do not reprove people all the time.  That is what they said about Moses; that is what they said about Jeremiah; that is what they said about all the prophets.

It is so easy for people to read what we have been reading in the Bible and simply think that they are reading a story, an ancient story about what happened to God’s people long, long ago.  But the time of Zedekiah, the captivity of God’s people into Babylon, is not just a story of long ago.  It is something that will happen again in the future. 

“The desolation of Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah is a solemn warning to modern Israel, that the counsels and admonitions given them through chosen instrumentalities cannot be disregarded with impunity.”  Ibid., 416.   

Again we read: “The church will yet see troublous times.  She will prophesy in sackcloth.”  Testimonies, vol. 4, 594.  Is there going to be another Babylonian captivity?  Yes, there is.

There was a Babylonian captivity in Jeremiah’s time.  There was a Babylonian captivity predicted in Revelation 11 that occurred from 538–1798.  It said they will trample the Holy City, that is the church, for forty-two months.  (Verse 2.)  But friends, there is going to be another Babylonian captivity at the end of time.  Are you ready for it?  Do not listen to the voices that say oh do not worry; everything is going to be all right; we are going to be right here until the Lord comes.  How do you know you are going to be right here till the Lord comes? 

Another Babylonian captivity is coming friends; the Bible clearly predicts it.  If you want to read it in your own Bible, turn to Micah 4:1:  “And it shall come to pass in the last days.”  Stop right there.  Are we living in the last days?  Is this a prophecy about the last days?  Yes!  This is a prophecy about the last days.  The very opening words in the chapter are, “It shall come to pass in the last days.”  Then it talks about the great worldwide, international religious peace movement.  It describes it in language very similar to the way Isaiah described the great, international religious peace movement in the last days.  Isaiah described it in the second chapter of his book.  Micah describes it here in the fourth chapter of his book.  Notice what he says in verse 9.  Speaking here to God’s people about the last days, he says: “You, why do you cry, why do you cry out?  There is no king among you.”  Zedekiah was the last king.  After Zedekiah, you can read in the book of Ezekiel, the Lord says there is never going to be a king over my people again until he comes who is right, and I will give the kingdom to him.  That is the Messiah.

“You, why do you cry, why do you cry out?  There is no king among you.  Your advisors have they perished?  Because it has seized you, or taken hold of you, labor pains as a woman giving birth.  Have labor pains and give birth, O daughter of Zion, as a woman giving birth, because now you shall go out from the city, and you shall abide or dwell in the field.  (Verses 9, 10.)

You are going to go out from the city.  People say we are going to stay right here.  That is what they said; that is what the false prophets said—you are going to stay right here.  The Lord says no, you are not going to stay here; you are going out.  You are going to go out from the city; you are going to dwell in the field.  Some of God’s people are already dwelling in the field; some of them have already been cast out of the city, driven out of the city, but that is not all.  It says because you should go out from the city you should dwell in the field, and you shall go even to Babylon.  Are God’s people going to go to Babylon again?  Yes, they are.  You shall go even to Babylon; there you shall be delivered.  Jehovah will redeem you there from the hand of your enemies.

Where is the Lord going to deliver His people; where are they going to be when He delivers them?  They are going to have been driven out of the city; they are going to be in a field, and then they are even going to go clear to Babylon and from there, the Lord says, I am going to deliver you; I am going to redeem you.

There is coming a time, friends, when some of God’s children will be driven out of the city into the fields, the rocks, and the mounts.  Some will be down in Babylon, down in the belly of the beast.  Some of them will be in dungeons somewhere.  But from there the Lord is going to deliver them, going to redeem them.  There is another Babylonian captivity coming.  The church is going to see troublous times; she is going to prophesy in sackcloth.  Do not let any false prophet tell you otherwise.  In verse 7 it says, “I will make the lame for a remnant, and she who has been removed for a strong nation, and Jehovah will reign over them in the mountain of Zion from now even for ever.”

Oh, the people that are lame, the people that have been removed.  The Lord says I am going to take those people and make them for a remnant, for a strong nation, and I am going to reign over them.  Are you going to be one of that remnant?  Oh, friend, not all who profess to be Israel will be saved, in fact very few.  Only a remnant will be saved.  That is what the Bible says.  Another time of trouble is coming; troublous times are coming when the church is going to prophesy again in sackcloth, are you ready for it?  Do not say, well everything is going to be all right; do not listen to the false teachers that are telling you not to worry about getting ready.  It is coming, whether you are ready or not.

What is going to happen to the people that are afraid of the Jews, like Zedekiah was?  Read the story of Zedekiah again yourself.  What happened to him we already read.  He lost his life; thousands of people who were God’s professed people around him lost their lives; his family lost their lives; his rulers lost their lives; and he had his eyes put out and was brought to Babylon.  Why?  Because of the fear of the Jews he was not willing to stand up alone for the truth.  How is it for you?  Are you waiting for someone else to stand up or are you willing to stand up yourself for truth and say Lord help me to never have the fear of the Jews, the fear of man, again.

There is a reason, friends, that the Three Angels’ Messages opens with the words fear God.  As we approach the end of human history, the end of this world’s history, all of us are going to be in one of two categories.  We are either going to fear God and obey Him and be obedient to His Law, or we are going to fear man and be obedient to him and obey his laws, even when they are contrary to the laws of God.  Where are you going to be?  How are you going to stand for the truth then, if you cannot stand for the truth now?

You see, friends, every day you are making decisions that are going to determine your eternal destiny, and when the Babylonian captivity comes, the final one, where will you be?  Will you be with the great majority who, because of the fear of the Jews, are afraid to do anything, afraid to stand alone and end up losing your life?  Will everybody around you lose their life because you are afraid to stand up for the truth?  That is what happened to them.  That is what will happen today with those who listen to the false prophets. 

Troublous times are coming; now is the time to get ready.  Now is the time to be studying your Bible and saying Lord, teach me the truth to be ready so that I can give witness for you to anybody in the world—the king, a legislature, government, the learned men of the earth, anybody.  If we do not know our Bibles, the wisdom of the world’s men will be too much for us.  Now is the time to get ready and not to be afraid of the Jews. 

Let us pray.  Father in heaven help us to learn the lessons of the past.  Help us to realize that these stories in the Bible were written for our admonition upon which the end of the world has come.  Help us to realize that the church is going to prophesy again in sackcloth; there is going to be a time again when your people are driven out of the city.  They will abide in the field, and they will go to Babylon from where they will be delivered.  Oh, Father in heaven, we pray that you will help us that we may not be afraid of what is happening around us but that we may simply stand for truth and leave the consequences with you and be faithful to what you have told us in your Word.  Save us, we pray from the fear of the Jews.  We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.