Hello and welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News, this is Tim Billington joining you.

Isaiah 30:27, AV
“27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:”

God's name is important to him.  More than any other, Ezekiel is full of phrases like "the heathen shall know that I am the LORD". It could also be translated "...BECAUSE I am the LORD".

When Islamic terrorists commit their acts they yell Allahu Akbar.  They are trying to declare that their god is great.  On September 11 2001, a Jew, Nehemia Gordon, was in Jerusalem checking Hebrew text against the Aleppo Codex for accuracy.  He believed that there was no known case of the scribes preserving the pronunciation of Hod Hay vav hay, God's eternal memorial name.  The scribes left one vowel out, leaving it unpronounceable as written.  As the first plane flew into the first tower, he discovered an exception.  A case in the Aleppo Codex with full vowels.  It was:

Ezekiel 3:12, AV
“12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.”

But what if this was a scribal error?  He hurried to look for a second witness.  As the second plane flew into the second tower, he found a second witness. 

Ezekiel 28:22, AV
“22 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.”

The case with the full pointing is the first one.  This is especially interesting because it follows "Adonai".  The Jews substitute Elohim when the name follows Adonai, so this would require not only a scribal slip-up to include all of the vowels, but also to point for the wrong word.  That is unless they were actually pointing for their understanding of the proper pronunciation of name.

Without getting too stuck in the weeds of the Hebrew, the vowelling affects the meaning of the words.  These full vowels indicate and unusual tensing.  It becomes He Who Was Is and Will Be.  In a world that tries to erase creation, this is significant.  Prophecy fulfilling around us provides evidence that the creator is still in control and ever will be.

Not only that, but this is a passage about Sidon, a major city of Lebanon.  Lebanon is the modern host for the largest anti-Israel terrorist proxy of Iran in existence.  The entire prophecy is as follows:

Ezekiel 28:21-26, AV
“21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it, 22 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her. 23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 25 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.”

This pricking brier against Israel must be stopped, and we may be witnessing that come to pass right now.

God's name is about his character and there are many attributes which are associated with his name, that we would think of as positive, as we learn in Exodus.  However, we also learn that he "will not clear the guilty"

There are positive developments in the world that demonstrate God's goodness and mercy, especially in Israel.  So we see verses like:

Ezekiel 36:23, AV “23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.”

But also Ezekiel 38:

Ezekiel 38:23, AV “23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.”

This comment is after the destruction of the Northern host, including Iran (Persia).  Today we see the Americans trying to deal with this murderous regime that attempts to kill anyone and everyone that stands in its way.  From young girls protesting in the street to Donald Trump himself. Any nation who doesn't toe the line is a target, Islamic or not, but especially the nation of Israel and the Jews.  The ancient Persian people are not going away, and God has indicated that they will be part of the anti-Zionist, antisemitic, anti-God attack spoken of by the prophets.  The present temporary preservation of the current regime fits that end, but Ezekiel also describes a time of great peace in Israel before the battle, which Iran is presently a major obstacle to.  For both of these things to be true, we might expect the current regime to be either suppressed to the point of not being perceived as any threat, or being replaced by a government that is friendly to Israel, only for the pendulum to swing back later.

Similarly we know the end of the story for Russia.  Ezekiel writes, "Ezekiel 38:2, AV:

“2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of (or prince of Rosh,) Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,”

Magog has been linked to the Scythians, whose ancient lands are more in Ukraine than anywhere else.  The Rosh or Rus are also associated with both Ukraine and Russia today.  They are very closely associated peoples.  Whatever the government(s) of these people look like in the future, we know it must, at that final day, be opposed to the developments in Israel, and, because he comes "against my people of Israel" in the land of Israel, he must also be antisemitic.

The higher Zion rises, the greater the opposition will become.  Israel is God's witness.  As Ezekiel foretold, they are standing up "an exceeding great army" (Ezekiel 37:10)

Israel took another small step this week as they have been gradually becoming bolder in their steps to possess the land.  Netanyahu announced that Route 60, the ancient trade route that runs right through Israel's central mountain ridge, would be named "The Biblical Highway".  This is on top of legal changes to land purchase and civil administration, dropping the term "West Bank" in favour of the Biblical and historically accurate terms "Judea and Samaria", founding and legalizing more communities in the area and more.

God declared in Joel that when he beings back the captivity of "Judah and Jerusalem", he would also gather the nations to battle.

Isa 30 that we started with goes on: 

Isaiah 30:28-31, AV
“28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel. 30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. 31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.”

The end of these things will be that "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."  God's glory is associated with his name, as Exodus 34 declares.

And all will know that the God of Israel who was, also is and will ever be.

Please come back for more at www.bibleinthenews.com next week, God willing.