The US in Joel & Zephaniah

by C.O. Stadsklev

Joel
Chapter 1

The book of Joel starts by revealing
that this is a prophecy of “The word of
the LORD that came to Joel....” .
To begin with, let us look at some time indicators,
which point out the time when this
prophecy was to be fulfilled. Let us, also,
note some characteristics of the people
Joel foresaw in his prophetic revelation.
In verse 2: we read:“Hear this, ye
old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants
of the land. Hath this been in
your days, or even in the days of your
fathers?”

Joel indicates that what he sees in his
vision from God is something different,
something that has not been in the days of
the fathers nor in his time
.
Verse 3: “Tell ye your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children another generation.”
This verse definitely suggests a long range
prophecy, one which would not have
an immediate fulfillment, but would be
fulfilled many generations hence. And
here we are today in the generation when
Joel's prophecy is being fulfilled!

In verse 5: of this first chapter, Joel
foresees something very interesting:
“Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and
howl, all ye drinkers of wine,...” Can
you imagine a prophet envisioning the
United States of America today without
noticing the drunkenness in our nation?
One of the first things he sees as he
beholds this land is the preponderance of
drunkards and drinkers of intoxicating
liquor. This really needs no further comment.

Verse 6: prophesies: “For a nation is
come up upon my land, strong, and
without number, whose teeth are the
teeth of a lion,....”
In other words, Joel foresees the threat
of World Communism; he sees the subversives
swarming over our nation infiltrating
every department.

He continues to describe this condition
in the following verses (7 through 13)
and gives in symbolic language what it
has done and what it is doing to our land.
Verses 14 and 15 bring out another time
indicator: “Sanctify ye a fast, call a
solemn assembly, gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
into the house of the LORD your God,
and cry unto the LORD”

Here is a call to a nation of
Christendom to pray to their God for
intervention, deliverance and help. None
other than a nation of Christendom could
be addressed in this manner. “Alas for
the day! For the day of the LORD is at
hand, and as a destruction from the
Almighty shall it come.”

This prophecy is to be fulfilled in the
day of the Lord. Every student of Bible
prophecy knows we are now in the day of
the Lord.

Some people imagine this “destruction
from the Almighty” will come upon the
good people, but let me reassure you it is
to be a destruction of the wicked — the
anti-Christ forces.



Joel
Chapter 2

As I mentioned earlier, this prophecy
deals almost exclusively with our nation,
the great Zion nation that was to arise in
the last days. The second chapter opens
this way: Verse 1: “Blow ye the trumpet
in Zion, and sound an alarm in my
holy mountain:....”
The trumpet symbolizes trouble and
danger, the gathering and the building up
of military forces. The prophet Joel calls
to the civil leaders of this nation to alert
and prepare the people.

The words “holy mountain” or “holy
nation” do not mean a nation that is sinless
any more than the phrase “holy men
of old” signifies that these men were sinless.
One would not say that Solomon and
David were sinless, yet they were called
“holy” because they were set aside, used
and blessed of God. This great nation, the
United States of America (symbolized
here by a mountain), is spoken of as being
holy because it, too, has been set aside,
blessed, favored and used of God.

“....let all the inhabitants of the land
tremble: for the day of the LORD
cometh, for it is nigh at hand;”
The threat that Joel foresees is one
which involves all the people. It is not,
merely, a conflict of one army against
another, affecting only the military forces.
All the inhabitants of the hand are
involved. This verse also gives the time
indicator: “the day of the LORD.” This
term identifies the particular period in
which we live, the closing of the church
age and the ushering in of the kingdom
age. Some prophets call it the “great and
dreadful day of the Lord” while others
simply call it “the day of the Lord.”

Verse 2: “A day of darkness and of
gloominess, a day of clouds and of
thick darkness,....” We have here phrases
which indicate Joel actually foresaw
the tremendous, literal clouds which have
been created by atomic and nuclear explosions.
He, also, saw the gloominess and
fear of the people.

Verse 3: speaks again of the threat of
World Communism: “A fire devoureth
before them; and behind them a flame
burneth: the land is as the garden of
Eden before them, and behind them a
desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing
shall escape them.”

The prophet foresaw the desolation,
the terrible destruction, bondage and misery
that would follow the spread of World
Communism. All one need do is to remember
(compare) East and West Germany;
the first a wilderness in every sense of the
word — literally, spiritually and physically.
Note what is described in Verse 4:
“The appearance of them is as the
appearance of horses; and as horsemen,
so shall they run.” Joel does not
say these men mount horses — he says
they look like they are running to mount
horses.

In Verse 5: he tells us they crawl into
chariots, which fly or heap on the tops of
the mountains. In other words, Joel saw
men running to their planes, crawling into
the cockpits and then describes these
planes as leaping over the mountains. He
even heard the noise. He says the noise is
“....like the noise of a flame of fire that
devoureth the stubble, as a strong people
set in battle array.”

Joel, of course, had never heard the
roar of a plane, but in his vision and revelation
from God, concerning our nation
and the threat of World Communism, he
actually heard the noise. He calls it the
noise of a stubble fire, with which he was
familiar.

Verse 6: “Before their face the people
shall be much pained: all faces shall
gather blackness.”

We are constantly hearing the warning
that a nuclear war means total warfare,
involving not only the military forces of
the nation but all of the people. Joel foresaw
this threat of a great air armada coming
to attack the entire nation.
In verses 7, 8, 9 and 10, he, again tells of
the infiltration of the satanic, anti-Christ
Communistic forces, but beginning in
verse 11, through the balance of the chapter,
he relates how God will intervene and
deliver this great Kingdom nation, the
United States of America.

( Editor's note : Pastor Stadsklev teaches
that America is the Israel of Joel's book,
not Israeli in Palestine.)

Joel 2:11: “And the lord shall utter
his voice before his army: for his camp
is very great: for he is strong that executeth
his word: for the day of the
LORD is great and very terrible; and
who can abide it?” Although the armies
of the true Israel people are
spoken of as the armies of the Lord
throughout Scripture, God's armies are
not limited to men; God also has angels, a
heavenly army. This may be what is
referred to in verse 11.

To my mind the most important verse
in the entire book of Joel is verse 12 of this
chapter. Here we are given the reason
from God's viewpoint for all that threatens
and afflicts us from the Communists
and the hordes of heathendom and from
all the subversive and anti-Christ forces
within our land. The Almighty is allowing
these tremendous troubles for just one
reason. Would to God His people would
understand His hand and purpose and see
His working.

Verse 12: “Therefore (in other words,
because of all that we find in chapter
1 and 2 up to verse 12) also now, saith
the LORD, turn ye even to me with all
your heart, and with fasting, and
with weeping, and with mourning:...”
Who is to turn and repent? The good
people, the conservatives, the rightists,
the fundamentalists and the full-gospel
people. God insists these people must turn
to the Word of God for this nation in this
hour. The only way to turn to God is to
turn to His Word, and today we must do
more than turn to Christ for personal salvation.
We must honor the national message
of the Scriptures and turn to God's
will and ways for the nation. God will
compel us to do this.
What will happen when we do? "... for
he is gracious and merciful, slow to
anger, and of great kindness, and
repenteth him of the evil.”
Joel 2:13
Someone may ask why God allows distress
to be poured upon our nation and
other nations of Christendom if He is gracious
and merciful and of great kindness.

Why has He allowed World War I, World
War II, the great depression, Korea,
Vietnam?
The answer (and the cure) is simply
this: “Therefore also now. . . turn ye even
to me.” God will turn the Communists
(our enemies) upside down and inside out
forever when we do what He desires and
decrees that we shall do. We will turn to
Him — that is turn to the gospel of the
Kingdom, for the Kingdom Age is moving
in upon us.

Still another call is addressed to the
Zion nation (the U.S.A.) in verses 15
through 17: “Blow the trumpet in Zion,
sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly... .”
These are the very same words that
opened the second chapter. However,
while verse 1 is addressed to the civil
authorities, these three verses are
addressed to the religious leaders, to the
church. Many of our civil and political
leaders have done a much better job of
alerting, informing and warning the citizens
of the threat of World Communism
than have the clergymen.

Verses 15-17: very clearly describe
this Zion nation as one that has congregations,
elders, priests, ministers and altars
— in other words, a Christian nation (not
a nation of Christians). And the people are
told what to pray for in verse 17:
“....Spare thy people.....” Spare the
United States of America from what?
“....Spare thy people, O LORD, and
give not thine heritage (the Israel
people) to reproach, that the heathen
should rule over them:...” The whole
program and goal of World Communism
(whether the work is done through the
United Nations or other avenues) is to
subjugate, subvert, undermine and rule
over the United States of America.

The Lord through the prophet Joel calls upon
Zion to gather the people in their churches
to pray and turn to the Word of God.
Verse 18: is very comforting because it
states, “Then will the LORD be jealous
for his land, and pity his people.”
When we do what? When we do as we are
told in verse 12 — turn to the Word of God
for the nation. And I repeat, the only way
the nation can turn to God is to turn to the
national message of the Bible. It is one
thing for an individual to turn to the Lord
for personal salvation. It is something else
for a nation to turn. All that God asks us
to do, indeed all we can do, is to turn and
receive the Gospel of the Kingdom. As a
nation we can do no more about our
national sins of the past than individuals
can do about personal sins of the past. All
God demands of us as individuals is to
turn to Him for mercy and forgiveness,
and that is all He asks of us as a nation.

Verses 19 and 20: contain one of the
most fascinating revelations of all Bible
prophecies. They state that God will intervene
and destroy the great heathen horde,
mustered by World Communism, to come
with their all-out attack against the
United States of America. He will destroy
them and wipe them off the face of the
earth.

Our enemies are busy disarming us
now, but according to Bible prophecy they
will be led (in the providence of God) to
move against us. God's purpose in it is
very similar to His purpose in hardening
Pharaoh's heart and causing him to
attack our forefathers at the Red Sea.
That event was the greatest demonstration
up to that time of God's power, dominion
and faithfulness. God used it as an
example throughout history. As we come
to the end of this age, we will have an
experience similar to that of the Israelites
at the Red Sea but on a much larger scale.
(Isaiah 10:26 .... after the manner of
Egypt") The Israelites were helpless and
hopeless then, but there was Divine intervention.

Note verse 20 of Joel 2: “But I will
remove far off from you the northern
army, and will drive him into a land
barren and desolate, with his face
toward the east sea, and his hinder
part toward the utmost (or the western)
sea....” The prophet Joel in his vision
of our day saw a great air armada coming
between the east and the western seas
(the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans) and
down over the barren, desolate, waste
lands of the Canadian Rockies and
Alaska. According to the prophecy of
Ezekiel 38 and 39, this is the location
where they will, actually and literally, be
brought down. God promises to meet
them, rout them and defeat them using
the elements.

Verse 21: “Fear not, O land; be glad
and rejoice; for the LORD will do
great things.” This is addressed to our
land, the United States of America, this
great Zion nation. This will be the greatest
Divine intervention in all human history,
a demonstration of God's power that
will frighten and turn the whole heathen
world. It will mark the ushering in of the
kingdom age.

Verse 22: “Be not afraid, ye beasts of
the field, for the pastures of the
wilderness do spring, for the tree
beareth fruit, the fig tree and the vine
do yield their strength.” This verse
seems to be the answer in Bible prophecy
to the scare propagandists who insist that
nuclear warfare will be the result if we
arm and make a stand against World
Communism. And if there is nuclear warfare
they insist it will mean the destruction
of pasture lands and vegetation —
that all life will be destroyed. However,
this is not true; it is not in the purpose of
God.

Verse 23: (still speaking to the people
of the United States): “Be glad then, ye
children of Zion, and rejoice in the
LORD your God:....” If we were going to
be subjugated, annihilated and enslaved,
there would be little to be glad about. But
we are not going to be subjugated; we are
not going to be overcome and overwhelmed.
We will be punished and frightened;
we will be made to stand helpless
and hopeless; and we will be placed in a
position where we as a nation must pray.
When we pray and turn to the Word of
God then God will undertake.

One cannot rejoice today over what the
politicians or the clergy are doing; but one
can be glad and rejoice if he knows the
Gospel of the Kingdom, if he believes that
the United States is Zion and sees God's
promises and purposes for Zion.
“... for he hath given you the former
rain moderately, and he will cause to
come down for you the rain, the former
rain, and the latter rain in the
first month.” In other words, Joel
addresses himself to a nation that has
been greatly blessed, since rain symbolizes
the blessing and favor of God. Again,
this nation is the only one that fits this
prophecy. God's blessings in the realm of
the material and physical, as well as the
spiritual, have been ours to a greater
degree than any other nation in all history.
And this is just the beginning. God is
going to give this the latter rain, the
greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit
that any nation or generation has ever
experienced.

The promises continue in Verse 24:
"And the floors shall be full of wheat,
and the fats shall overflow with wine
and oil.” This country already has this
abundance in a great measure and it will
increase progressively; it will not come in
the twinkling of an eye. Christ comes in
the twinkling of an eye, but the Kingdom
comes over a period of time. (Mark 4:26-
29)

Verse 25: contains another very interesting
prophecy: “And I will restore to
you the years that the locust hath
eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar,
and the palmerworm, my great
army which I sent among you.” If we
are to see the meaning and significance of
this scripture, we must refer to what we
find in the first chapter, verse 4. For while
great beasts (such as the lion, the leopard
and the bear) symbolize great heathen
monarchies and heathen systems of government,
locusts, cankerworms, caterpillars
and palmerworms symbolize the
bureaucrats, the commissars (Tzars ) with whom
we are afflicted in this nation. We are
troubled with appointed people who take
over the authority and responsibility of
our elected representatives.
They have taxed us and taxed us. Just
like worms, they work in the dark behind
the scenes, and they undermine and
weaken the nation. However, their work
comes to a sudden end, and God promises
He will make restoration. I believe the
restoration will take place when we adopt
and institute a scriptural medium of
exchange which pays money into circulation
at the bottom, interest-free and debtfree.
Our citizens will have returned to
them, that which the bureaucrats have
taken away through their debt money system.
They have taken our sons, our
money, our wealth and our resources; and
they have built up Communism and
Socialism all over the world. There has
been little we could do about it.

Not until we turn to the Word of God and accept,
preach, teach and conform to the Gospel of
the Kingdom will we have the Lord's
deliverance, intervention and restoration.

Verse 26: “And ye shall eat in plenty,
and be satisfied, and praise the
name of the LORD your God, that
hath dealt wondrously with you: and
my people shall never be ashamed.”

This is addressed to our great Zion nation;
and this glorious, marvelous, prophecy
will be fulfilled and realized when we do
the one thing we have repeatedly referred
to in verse 12 — when we turn unto the
Word of the Lord for our nation and for
our time.

In Verse 27: we read: “And ye shall
know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the LORD your God,...”
God is in the midst of the United States of
America by His Spirit, His blessing and
His inspiration more than in any other
nation in all history. But in the great final
crisis, we will all know that our deliverance
and our protection come from the
Almighty. We will all realize then that
God's hand and purpose is in the United
States and that this country is, literally,
the beginning of the restitution spoken of
by the prophets, the beginning of the new
order that will develop into the kingdom
of God on earth.

Verse 28: “And it shall come to pass
afterward, that I will pour out my
spirit upon all flesh; and your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy,...."
Those who insist that all light has
been given years ago are mistaken,
because God's revelations are progressive.
This does not mean we depart from the
fundamentals of the Christian faith — it
means that more light and truth is
revealed as we come closer to the end of
the age. This is prophesied in Daniel, and
throughout the Scripture.
“...your old men shall dream
dreams, your young men shall see
visions:” This prophecy is already being
fulfilled. Some limit this promise to spiritual
dreams and spiritual visions, but I
believe that some of the almost human
machines that God, in His mercy and His
kind providence, has allowed men to discover,
devise and manufacture come from
the quickening of God's Spirit upon the
minds of these men. Our nation is full of
new things — they are coming in as a
flood upon us in this particular generation.
The reason is that we have come to
the end of the church age and to the beginning
of the kingdom age when the curse of
heavy toil is to be lifted, bringing leisure
and abundance. Some of the inventors are
not born-again, but the Spirit of God uses
them in whatever way He sees fit, as He
has used people all through history.

Verse 30: “And I will shew wonders
in the heavens and in the earth, blood,
and fire, and pillars of smoke.” Joel
undoubtedly foresaw (as we mentioned
earlier in connection with verse 2) some of
the atomic and nuclear explosions; he saw
the clouds; he saw the bloodshed of World
War I, World War II and of today.

In Verse 31: he, again, gives the time
indicator: “....the great and dreadful
day of the Lord.....” Verse 32: “And it
shall come to pass, that whosoever
shall call on the name of the LORD
shall be delivered: for in mount Zion
and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,
as the LORD bath said...”
Mount Zion is the United States of
America (— but you ask, what about
Jerusalem?) When we come to the word
"Jerusalem" we must always ask ourselves
if it is the old Jerusalem or the new
Jerusalem that is referred to. The Bible
speaks of the New Jerusalem and it, also,
speaks of the daughter of Jerusalem. The
daughter and the mother are not the same
and neither are the new and the old. Our
great nation is the new Jerusalem,
the nation that the Apostle John saw coming
down from heaven, the same being
built upon the Old and the New
Scriptures. (When you read the book of
the Revelation remember it is written in
symbols.)

Who built this United States of
America? None other than the descendants
of ten-tribed Israel, who, came from
Europe. How did they build it? They built
it upon the writings of the prophets and
the apostles. The United States, then, is
Mount Zion; it is the daughter of Zion, the
daughter of Jerusalem and the New
Jerusalem. All of these terms refer to our
nation.

Will our land be destroyed, taken over,
annihilated and subjugated? No, we will
be so harassed and find ourselves in so
much difficulty and distress that we will
be forced to turn to the Word of God. We
are the same Israel people today as the
days of the Old Scripture, and when
things got bad enough, the Israel people
turned to the national message of God's
Word. They turned to the Gospel of the
Kingdom, and when they did, God intervened
and delivered them. Peace and
prosperity, tranquility and security then
came to the nation.

Let us now turn to Joel 3:9 which
states: “Proclaim ye this among the
Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the
mighty men, let all the men of war
draw near; let them come up ....”
Immediately one recognizes that this
describes what the Communists and anti-
Christ forces are doing all over the world:
they are stirring up hatred and animosity
against one particular nation, the United
States of America. Communism is
inspired by Satan, and Satan certainly
knows by this time the identity and the
significance of our nation. Consequently,
there is a satanic hatred against us.
Verse 10: “Beat your plowshares
into swords, and your pruning hooks
into spears; let the weak say, I am
strong.” Small, weak heathen nations
hate and defy our great nation. There are
also many satanic forces, within our
nation, binding, sabotaging and hindering
our effort. However, there is comfort and
hope in the following words from the
Almighty, as He speaks through the
prophet Joel.

In Verse 11: we read: “Assemble
yourselves, and come, all ye heathen,
and gather yourselves together round
about: thither cause thy mighty ones
to come down ....” In other words, he
prays for Divine intervention.

Verse 12: “Let the heathen be wakened,
and come up to the valley of
Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to
judge all the heathen round about.”
The valley of Jehoshaphat is not the name
of a geographical location, but the description
of a world condition. It simply means
a valley of judgment and a valley of deliverance,
judgment upon the heathen and
upon Communism but deliverance for the
nations of true Israel.

Verse 13: “Put ye in the sickle, for
the harvest is ripe: (You will remember
that Jesus said the harvest is the
end of the age.) come, get you down;
for the press is full, the fats overflow;
for their wickedness is great.”

This nation has plenty of wickedness
so far as individual sins are concerned,
but the wickedness of Communism and
heathendom far exceeds the national evil
in our nation.

Verse 14: “Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision: for the day of
the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”
Two great multitudes are mentioned
here; one multitude on the side of freedom,
righteousness and liberty and the
other multitude on the side of
Communism and heathendom. Both are
in the valley of decision. As we go into the
day of the Lord, the Almighty will decide
who will win this war and who will take
over the world — Communism or
Christianity. Thank God, Christianity will
be victorious.

Verse 15: “The sun and the moon
shall be darkened, and the stars shall
withdraw their singing.”

Verse 16: “The LORD also shall
roar out of Zion....” In symbolic language
this means that in this great Zion
nation the Almighty will demonstrate
Himself as King and Lord over all the
earth. Indications are, too, that the Lord
will actually speak in an audible voice to
His kingdom people in this end time.
“....and utter his voice from
Jerusalem;....” What happens in the old
Jerusalem after Christ comes is one thing;
what happens here in the United States of
America (the new Jerusalem) before the
revelation of Christ, is something else.
“...and the heavens and the earth
shall shake: but the Lord will be the
hope of his people, and the strength of
the children of Israel.”

Please note the contrast here: God's
judgment is poured upon the people of
Communism and heathendom, but His
Holy spirit and intervention comes to the
people of Christendom, especially this
great Zion nation.
_______________
The United States
in
Zephaniah

In the balance of this book we shall
consider the prophecy of Zephaniah,
which is very similar to the prophecy of
Joel. As mentioned previously, both Joel
and Zephaniah are short prophecies of
three chapters and both deal with our particular
time and nation. Zephaniah gives
some history and short-range prophecy,
also, but it is primarily an end-time
prophecy and largely-devoted to the
United States of America.

Zephaniah in the first two chapters
sets forth his vision and revelation of the
evils, wickedness and corruption of our
day and our nation. But, in the last part of
his book he reveals the same truth that
Joel does: namely, that there will be
Divine intervention when this great Zion
nation turns to God. This new order of the
ages will be cleansed, and there will be a
tremendous demonstration and manifestation
for the heathen world of God's
faithfulness and reality, as He delivers us
from both internal and external enemies.

Let us begin by reading from Verse
14: “The great day of the LORD is
near, it is near, and hasteth greatly...”
In other words, everything is speeded up
— more happens now in a week than previously
happened in perhaps 10 or 12
years. Again, may I mention that the
expression “the great day of the LORD”
refers to the time in which we now live,
the closing of the church age and the ushering
in of the kingdom age.“....even the
voice of the day of the LORD: the
mighty man shall cry there bitterly.”
This is a very challenging statement
because there is no question that mighty
men throughout the world today, have
wept bitterly as they have seen their
nations one after the other, being subverted
betrayed, double-crossed and taken
over. I can well imagine that some of our
military leaders have certainly wept on
the inside. Perhaps, many have shed literal
tears as they realized how our boys
were being sacrificed, and as they have
had to send precious, young men into battle
with their hands tied. Perhaps this is
what the prophet saw.

Verse 15: “That day is a day of
wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a
day of wasteness and desolation, a
day of darkness and gloominess, a
day of clouds and thick darkness....”
God is angry with the United States of
America because we are not turning to
His Word. Zephaniah speaks of “wasteness
and desolation” and one thinks of the
desolation poured upon Germany, Great
Britain and France, and now upon other
parts of the earth. The prophet, also, sees
great clouds arise, a result of atomic and
hydrogen explosions. All of these things,
concerning our day and time, were seen by
Zephaniah in his vision and revelation.

Verse 16: “A day of the trumpet and
alarm against the fenced cities, and
against the high towers.” The words:
“trumpet and alarm” give the same
thought that Jesus brought out when He
said there would be wars and rumors of
wars. “Fenced cities” and “high towers”
are symbolic terms referring to military
might.

Note Verse 17: The Almighty speaking
through the prophet says, “And I will
bring distress upon man, that they
shall walk like blind men... .” When
one sees the negotiations, agreements and
concessions we make to our enemies, one
must agree that we certainly are blind.
Here is the reason for all of the difficulty
we are in: “....because they have
sinned against the LORD: and their
blood shall be poured out as dust, and
their flesh as the dung.” Many good
people seem to imagine that God does not
care any more; some act as though God is
dead; others seem to think He is not what
He used to be, that He can no longer handle
the evil forces as He did in the days of
the Egyptians and Babylonians and
Israel's other enemies. According to some
people, we must rally and save God. No,
my friend, God is still sovereign.
God's hand of judgment is upon us
because we will not turn to His Word for
our nation and for our day. We continue to
insist that the Jews are Israel and that
the church is the kingdom. These teachings
cancel out, completely, everything the
Bible actually teaches concerning our
nation. If the Jews are Israel and if the
church is the kingdom, then the prophecies
of Joel and Zephaniah are not what
Joel and Zephaniah claimed they were.
May I emphasize that this 17th verse says
"they have sinned," referring not to our
enemies and the Communists but to the
good people of this nation. One would
think after reading a passage like this, we
would begin to ask ourselves if we are sinning
against God.

We are the people with whom God is
now dealing with. God will make quick
work of our enemies, (the Communists)
when they have accomplished their purpose
in His plan to turn the United States
to the Gospel of the Kingdom. Speaking of
this time of world upheaval and the judgment
of the nations in which we are in,
Zephaniah prophesies:

Verse 18: “Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver
them in the day of the LORD'S wrath;
but the whole land shall be devoured
by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall
make even a speedy riddance of all
them that dwell in the land.”
This does not mean that God will
destroy all human life in the particular
land that Zephaniah foresaw. It means He
will make a speedy riddance of certain
people. Who are these people? It says of
them, “Neither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them in the day of
the LORD'S wrath.”
If you are familiar with the history of
money and the history of wars, you know
that those who have manipulated and cornered
the silver and gold (especially the
gold) have generally been able to hide,
protect and shield themselves in past
times of distress, war and judgment. They
have been able to take advantage of war,
violence, upheaval and emergency, but not
at this time when the age is closing and
we are moving into the day of the Lord.
Thank God they have had their day and
their days are numbered.

According to the prophecies of Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Ezekiel, gold
and silver will no longer be used as a
means and method whereby a handful of
people can control and dictate the policies
of an entire nation. Gold and silver will no
longer be the basis for issuing money.
Money will be issued on the wealth and
goods and services of the nation. It will be
issued to match the population and the
increase in the population. Gold and silver
will have nothing to do with the amount of
the medium of exchange the people of a
nation may have.

Using gold and silver as a basis for
issuing money is an old pagan fetish; it is
something that is forbidden, condemned
and cursed throughout the entire
Scripture. This is brought out in the writings
of Moses and Joshua and throughout
the historical books of the Bible. All of the
prophets and apostles condemn, what we
know today, as the gold standard money
system.

Do not become frightened and do not
panic. What we have said does not mean
that your money and wealth will have no
value. Goods and services maintain their
value no matter what happens to gold and
silver.

There will come the greatest physical
and material release that mankind has
ever known, when we have a change in
our money system. Isaiah prophesied that
gold and silver would be cast to the moles
and to the bats. One does not throw real
money and real wealth to the moles and
bats. What did Isaiah mean?
He meant that the day will be gone forever,
when gold and silver will be used as
a basis for money and as a medium of control.
There will no longer be a system
whereby people can be enslaved and
starved, where money can be made scarce.
The judgments of God will bring this to
pass.
_______________
Zephaniah 2
"Seek Ye The Lord,
All Ye Meek Of The Earth."
Let us turn now to the 2nd chapter of
Zephaniah, where we find something very
interesting in view of current events
throughout the earth.
Verse 1 reads: “Gather yourselves
together, yea, gather together, O
nation not desired...” Recall that in the
original Old Scriptures there were no
chapter divisions, so this verse immediately
follows verse 18 of Chapter 1. As we
read in the margin, this verse speaks of a
people who have no shame, no feeling or
regard for people in distress. No matter
how many home-owners these money
powers foreclose upon, no matter how
many businesses or institutions they take
over or how many banks they are harming
by tight money, they have no shame. No
matter how many people go without adequate
food and clothing, no matter what
happens to the aged or to the youth, “we
must have tight money and high interest.”
This is satanic — and God's judgment is
upon it.

Incidentally, the 5th chapter of James
brings out the same truth. Please remember
the judgment is not upon industrial
capitalism. Industrial capitalism is a godsend
and a blessing. Zephaniah is prophesying
against financial capitalism and
the manipulators of money.
Verse 2: “Before the decree bring
forth, before the day pass as the chaff,
before the fierce anger of the LORD
come upon you, before the day of the
LORD'S anger come upon you.” I have
called your attention to this before, but I
repeat it again for emphasis. According to
Bible prophecy, when God pours out His
judgment and wrath upon the antichrist
forces and World Communism, upon the
haters of the Lord Jesus Christ and those
who are opposed to His kingdom principles,
then He also pours His Holy Spirit
upon His kingdom people, the Isaac sons.

Verse 3: “Seek ye the LORD, all ye
meek of the earth....” There are millions
of people in this nation who are meek and
humble, who desire only to live and let
live. And God does make a difference —
He did in the days of Noah and Lot, and
thank God He will again. So He admonishes
the meek to “Seek ye the LORD.”
Seeking the Lord simply means to seek
His Word. The only place one can find God
and the will of God is in His Word. One
does not walk around and try to seek the
Lord physically — we seek Him when we
turn to His Word.
“.... which have wrought his judgment;
(those who desire the judgments of
God pertaining to the nation; that is, a
scriptural, righteous civil administration)
seek righteousness, seek meekness: it
may be ye shall be hid in the day of the
LORD'S anger.” This is the teaching of
Bible prophecy, of the Apostles and of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord said, “as it
was in the days of Noah, so shall it be
also in the days of the Son of man.”
Who were destroyed in the days of Noah?
Were Noah and his family destroyed? No
the wicked were destroyed and taken
away.
What happened when God poured
judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah?
Was Lot destroyed? No, Lot remained and
lived through the destruction; he was protected
and spared. The wicked were
destroyed, and so it will be at the end of
this age.
_______________
Zephaniah 3
"My Determination Is
To Gather The Nations."
In the first several verses of chapter 3,
the prophet Zephaniah sees the corruption,
the oppression, the wickedness and
the evil in Christendom in this end time.
Verse 1 reads: “Woe to her that is
filthy and polluted, to the oppressing
city!” A city here does not refer merely to
some local city — it refers to the religious,
political and economic systems. When he
speaks of “her” he is speaking to a nation
and people who are officially Christian.

Verse 2: “She obeyed not the voice;
she received not correction; she trusted
not in the LORD; she drew not near
to her God.” This is the condition of
Christendom as a whole. We have not
received correction in spite of all the judgment
that has been poured upon us.
Neither have we drawn near to the Lord
nor turned to His Word.

Verse 3: “Her princes within her
are roaring lions; her judges are
evening wolves; they gnaw not the
bones tilt the morrow.” In other words,
the condemnation is upon the leadership.
God does not condemn the people, but
rather the leadership in Christendom. He
condemns the princes and the judges for
the iniquity, oppression and wickedness in
the realm of religion, politics and economics.

Verse 4: “Her prophets (that is, the
clergy or preachers) are light and
treacherous persons: (They are neither
students of Bible prophecy nor
diligent men in the Word of God) her
priests have polluted the sanctuary,
they have done violence to the law.”
And certainly this generation of preachers
have done violence to the law by teaching
that there is no national message and that
God's laws set forth through Moses for
civil administration are not for us today.
Just the opposite is true — they were
given primarily for us today.

We read in Verse 6, as God speaks
through the prophet, “I have cut off the
nations.....” Scores of nations in our lifetime
have actually been cut off. Their
rulers, dynasties and administrators have
been overthrown as the Communists have
taken over one nation after the other.
Continuing with this verse we read:
“their towers are desolate....” In other
words, their defenses crumbled; they were
not adequate. Nation after nation has
found itself unable to stand against the
hammer and the sickle, God's judgment
upon the wickedness and corruption in
Christendom today.
The verse further says, “I made their
streets waste....” And He certainly did.
One thinks of the cities of Germany and
Great Britain and other nations - they certainly
were made waste and desolate and
were destroyed ( Editor's note : consider
the wastelands of our American cities given
their current condition ) .

Verse 7: “I said, surely thou wilt
fear me, thou wilt receive instruction;
so their dwelling should not be cut off,
howsoever I punished them: but they
rose early, and corrupted all their
doings.”

This has been our reaction. In spite of
Korea and Vietnam, in spite of all the
judgments, distress, anxiety and trouble
that the nations of Christendom are in, we
are not receiving instruction. We are not
turning to God; we do not see the hand of
God; we do not see His purpose because
we will not study the Scriptures in the
light of what is taking place, in the light of
Bible history and prophecy.

In view of all of this, the Almighty
declares in Verse 8: “Therefore wait ye
upon me, saith the LORD, until the
day that I rise up to the prey: for my
determination is to gather the
nations....” This, my friend, is what the
Almighty is doing and what He has
already, largely, accomplished. He has
gathered representatives from over 100
nations here in this great kingdom nation.
Their strategy and design is to take over
the United States of America, but the
strategy and design of the Almighty is to
bring them together for a dreadful and
terrible judgment.

This same thought is brought out in
Mathew 25, where the judgment of the
nations is foretold. The Lord gathers the
nations and then separates the sheep
from the goats, the left from the right. He
separates the nations who have fed and
helped those in distress and need, and He
tells these people to go into the kingdom.

Continuing with Verse 8 in
Zephaniah 3: “....that I may assemble
the kingdoms, to pour upon them
mine indignation even all my fierce
anger: for all the earth shall be
devoured (or cleansed) with the fire of
my jealousy.” As the Lord has gathered
the nations, we find the world divided into
two great kingdoms: (1) the kingdoms
under Communism and heathendom and
(2) the nations under Christendom and
free enterprise. These are the two great
kingdoms. Please rid yourself of the
idea that some antichrist will come and
take over the kingdom of the Lord.
This, my friend, is not true — it
is not the teaching of the Scriptures. The
antichrists, thank God, have had their
day and we are now moving into the day
of the Lord when He gathers the nations
to pour upon them “all His fierce anger.”

Beginning in Verse 9, we have the
contrast between God's dealing with the
nations of Communism and heathendom
and His dealing with His covenant kingdom
people. As we found in Joel (and as
brought out, also, in Isaiah, Jeremiah and
the other prophets) at the time of the
judgment upon the anti-Christ camp, God
pours His Holy Spirit upon His Israel people.
It will be the greatest outpouring of
the Holy Spirit this old world has ever
seen.

Verse 9: “For then will I turn to the
people a pure language, that they may
all call upon the name of the LORD, to
serve him with one consent.” One of the
things God will do for His people is to give
them a pure or common language. It is
phenomenal the way the English language
has now become the universal language.
Note that the purpose is “that they
may all call upon the name of the LORD,
to serve him with one consent.” The Lord
has already begun to make English the
common language throughout the earth in
order that the truth and light of the gospel
of the kingdom might go out to all nations
of the earth.

Verse 10: “From beyond the rivers
of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the
daughter of my dispersed, shall bring
mine offering.” This is a tremendous
scripture with a startling revelation.
There are three identification marks here
that identify the United States of America
as the nation that Zephaniah foresaw.
First of all, we have the phrase “From
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.” Standing
where the prophet stood as he looked
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, his gaze
would fall upon the United States of
America in the region of North and South
Carolina.
Next the people are called “my suppliants”
by the Lord Almighty. This is the
only nation in at least 2500 years that was
established by people who were suppliants,
people who prayed. The Pilgrims,
the founding fathers, the Puritans were
people of prayer. They prayed before they
left the Mayflower; and as they landed on
our shores, the first thing they did was to
pray.
The third identification phrase is
“even the daughter of my dispersed.” This,
too, is very meaningful because the people
of this nation are the descendants of the
Israel people who were dispersed. Tentribed
Israel, the Isaac sons of the northern
kingdom, were dispersed into Europe.
They became the Germanic tribes, moving
on into Britain, Scandinavia, Scotland,
France, etc. They became the peoples of
Christendom.

What does the prophet mean when he
says, "they shall bring mine offering"?
Perhaps it is the same prophecy that we
have in Isaiah 18:7 where we read, “In
that time shall the present be brought
unto the LORD of hosts of a people
scattered and peeled,....” I believe the
prophets saw in vision that this nation
(located beyond the rivers of Ethiopia and
founded by praying men and women, by
the descendants of the people of Europe)
would do something that no other nation
in all history has done. It has spent billions
of dollars as an offering, as a gift to
people in distress all over the world

It is a phenomenal thing. Every other
great world power has used its power to
demand tribute and to enslave and
oppress people. We have spent billions of
dollars to do just the opposite. Why? We
are the beginning of the new order of the
ages. We as a nation certainly have not
had our cleansing nor our baptism of fire;
but we are on our way. Look at the next
Verse 11: “In that day (the great and
dreadful day of the Lord) shalt thou
not be ashamed for all thy doings,
wherein thou hast transgressed
against me: for then I will take away
out of the midst of thee them that
rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no
more be haughty because of my holy
mountain.”

The expression "them that rejoice in
thy pride" is a strange one. What does it
mean? It means that the subversives, corrupters
and anti-Christ forces, who
appeal to pride and carnality and to the
lower instincts of a human being, will be
taken out of our midst. There will be a
real cleansing in this nation, as set forth
in the kingdom parables and in the
prophecies of Jeremiah, Isaiah, and
Ezekiel. It is coming! The pendulum will
swing just as far in the positive direction
as it has swung in the evil, negative direction.

Verse 12: “I will also leave in the
midst of thee an afflicted and poor
people....” We are already an afflicted
and poor people. Consider your indebtedness.
Consider the indebtedness of this
whole nation. Consider the deficit spending,
where we are actually mortgaging
and selling into bondage our children in
order to have a medium of exchange. As a
people we have not yet had sufficient distress
to cause us to turn to the Lord and to
His Word. But we will.
The verse continues: “....and they
shall trust in the name of the LORD.”
We will shortly discover that we have
nothing else in which to trust. We will
realize we have been betrayed to the
extent that we are completely disarmed
and helpless before our enemies. That discovery
will be God's opportunity to give us
and the whole world a demonstration of
His own power and reality.

Psalm 2 tells us that God sits in the
heavens and laughs. Why do you suppose
He laughs at what is going on? Simply
because what the Communists are doing
to us will drive us to our God. And when
we turn to our God, we will see the end of
World Communism and of all the anti-
Christ forces.

Verse 13: “The remnant of Israel
shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies;
neither shall a deceitful tongue be
found in their mouth: for they shall
feed and lie down, and none shall
make them afraid.”

“The remnant” refers to the people who
are left, those who survive this ordeal and
those who are not deported nor executed
(and there will be many executions and
deportations from this nation when the
cleansing of the kingdom comes). We will
no longer be troubled with all the lying
propaganda now being poured upon us.

Starting with verse 14 of this third
chapter of Zephaniah, we come to one of
the most beautiful and precious portions
of Scripture in the entire Bible. And it is
addressed to our nation, the United States
of America. If our nation were going to be
destroyed and taken over and if the
enemy were going to communize and
socialize us, these next several verses
would make very little sense. Thank God
this will not be the case.

Verse 14: “Sing, O daughter of
Zion; (the United States is the daughter
of Zion) shout, O Israel (this
nation is the land of Israel's regathering);
be glad and rejoice with all the
heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.” Why
does this verse speak of the United States
as the "daughter of Zion" and the "daughter
of Jerusalem"? The answer is very
plain and simple when one knows Bible
history. And I must mention that those
who do not know Bible history cannot possibly
understand Bible prophecy.
This nation is spoken of as the “daughter
of Zion” because Zion was David's civil
headquarters. Our nation has patterned
its civil administration closer to that of
King David than any other nation in 2500
years. And we are spoken of as the “daughter
of Jerusalem” because David's religious
center was in Jerusalem. David was a
believer in Christ; he was a Christian and
had the joy of salvation. Our nation is a
Christian nation. All of the citizens are
not born-again believers, but neither were
they all born-again believers in the days of
Moses and Joshua. The religion of the
nation, however, is Christian; and our
civil laws and the Constitution come closer
to the laws of God than those of any
other nation since the time of Ezra and
Nehemiah.

This 14th verse quoted above
tells us we are to sing, to be glad and to
rejoice. The reason is given in Verse 15:
“The LORD hath taken away thy judgments,
he hath cast out thine enemy....” This is
the great cleansing that will come to
the United States of America.
The awakening will come when we begin
to understand the Gospel of the Kingdom
and the national message of the Bible.
“....the king of Israel, even the
LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou
shalt not see evil any more.” The Lord
by His Spirit has been in the midst of this
great, phenomenal nation. His blessings
are here (spiritually, materially and physically)
more than in all nations of history
combined. This, my friend, is the beginning
of the kingdom and of the restitution.

This Divine intervention and deliverance
is possible because Christ died not only for
the personal salvation of "whosoever will,"
not only for the church, the body of Christ.
He died also for the redemption of Israel;
and we here in this great land are, literally,
the regathering of the Israel people
.
Before we leave the thought brought out
in verse 15 that “the LORD, is in the
midst of thee,” let me call your attention
to Verse 5 in Haggai chapter 2:
“According to the word that I
covenanted with you when ye came
out of Egypt my spirit remaineth among
you: fear ye not.”
What was the covenant that God made
with the Isaac sons, our forefathers, when
they came out of Egypt? Let me quote
from Exodus 29:45 and 46: “And I will
dwell among the children of Israel,
and will be their God.” — “And they
shall know that I am the LORD their
God, that brought them forth out of
the land of Egypt, that I may dwell
among them: I am the LORD their
God.”

Do you see any significance in these
verses? The Anglo-Saxon people have recognized,
honored and worshiped the true
and living God. What is the reason? As
God covenanted, His Spirit has been in
the midst of the Isaac sons, the Anglo-
Saxon people, more than in any other
people all through history -in fact, we have
had more of the light and illumination
that comes from the Spirit of God than all
other peoples of history combined.

Let me give one more reference relative to
the Spirit of God dwelling in the midst of
the Isaac sons.
1 Kings 6:11,13: “And the word of
the LORD came to Solomon, Saying. .
. And I will dwell among the children
of Israel, and will not forsake my people
Israel.”
Let us now go back to Zephaniah 3
Verse 16: “In that day it shall be said
to Jerusalem, (and this is not the old
literal city in Palestine, but the new
Jerusalem right here in this great
American wilderness) Fear thou not:
and to Zion, (the United States) Let
not thine hands be slack.” We are
spending billions of dollars and sacrificing
thousands of our best young men in an
effort to maintain peace and order
throughout the earth, but we are not acting
in harmony with the Word.

The Almighty speaks further to us in
Verse 17: “The LORD thy God in the
midst of thee is mighty: he will
save....” This is not personal salvation;
this is the deliverance of a nation that is
threatened as we are.
“.... he will rejoice over thee with
joy; he will rest in his love, lie will joy
over thee with singing.” This is beautiful.

In verse 14, we are told as a people to
sing, to be glad and rejoice. And in this
verse we are told that God, Himself, will
have joy and rejoicing over what He will
do and what He has already done in this
great nation.

Here is God's promise in Verse 18: “I
will gather them that are sorrowful
for the solemn assembly, who are of
thee, to whom the reproach of it was a
burden.” There will be much sorrow
before the final showdown is over. What is
the “solemn assembly” spoken of here?
Perhaps it is a scriptural United Nations
Organization. Bible prophecy makes it
very plain that the Isaac Sons will come
together into a solemn assembly as we
come up to the end of this age.

Verse 19: “Behold, at that time I
will undo all that afflict thee....” This
short sentence speaks volumes. We are
being afflicted not only by the
Communists throughout the world, but by
satanic forces in our own nation. These
enemies will have an “undoing.”
Reading on: “....and I will save her
that halteth, and gather her that was
driven out; and I will get them praise
and fame in every land where they
have been put to shame.” The prophet,
Zephaniah, foresaw in his vision and revelation
the shame, the insults and accusations
hurled against this nation from all
over the world. But, he notes that this situation
will be changed to “praise and fame
in every land.”

The prophet closes with this marvelous
promise from the Almighty in
Verse 20: “At that time will I bring you
again, even in the time that I gather
you: for I will make you a name and a
praise among all people of the earth,
when I turn back your captivity (fortunes)
before your eyes, saith the
LORD.”

By the late
C. O. Stadsklev