Sermon Tone Analysis

YAHWEH'S BATTLE AXE

As all of our regular students know, I lay great emphasis on Bible prophecies and their fulfillment.

Both Old and New Testaments repeatedly say this is proof of the genuineness and inspiration of the scriptures, as well as vital for our guidance.

Many of these prophecies deal with war.

Not only of the wars of the wicked against us, but also with our duty to have our part in Yahweh's wars against the wicked.

There is no pacifism in the Bible.

Only under Yahshua's personal government of the world, can there ever be peace.

I want to delve into the matter of our duties in the meantime, in this imperfect world.

Yahweh knew that we must defend ourselves against the wicked.

He promised His help at these times of conflict.

Deuteronomy 20:3-4 tells us, "Hear, O Israel: ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies.

Let not you hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them: for Yahweh your God is He that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies to save you."

In Deuteronomy 2:25 Yahweh said, "This day will I begin to put dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble because of thee."

Repeatedly Yahweh tells us, "Ye shall not fear them: for Yahweh your God, He shall fight for you."

To get the greatest protection, we must obey Yahweh.

In Leviticus 26:3,6-8 He says, "If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments and do them; * * I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land; neither shall the sword go through your land.

And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword."

Let there be no doubt about this, Yahweh is a God of peace to those who love and obey Him.

However, to the wicked who try to overthrow all His rule in this world, He is a man of war, as Exodus 15:3 states.

Psalm 24:8 reminds us, "Who is this King of glory?

Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle."

In Psalm 18:32,34,& 39 David says, "It is Yahweh that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by my arms.

* * For Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me."

II Samuel 1:18 records David required that the men of Judah be taught to use the bow.

There was more to this than just the mere defense of ourselves against direct attack.

It is our job to be Yahweh's policemen in this world, and we must be ready, willing and able to do this.

In Jeremiah 51:20 Yahweh gives us our orders saying, "Thou art My battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I destroy kingdoms."

Yahweh will use His great power to see that we are victorious.

However, we can't hide under the bed at home, while His work is done.

We must do our part of it, with absolute confidence in His protection.

In Isaiah 54:15,17 Yahweh says, "Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me: whosoever shall gather against thee shall fall for thy sake.

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness is of Me, saith Yahweh."

Remember, keeping the world in order is doing Yahweh's work so we must do it, for He has said we shall.

If we decide that we are so much more righteous than Yahweh, that we can make our own rules and say surrender to evil is better than enforcing the right, then we should remember the terrible warning in Jeremiah 48:10.

"Cursed be he that doeth the work of Yahweh negligently, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood."

To be the instrument in Yahweh's hand, by which He brings righteousness and justice into an unwilling world is an honor, and that is what Yahweh calls it.

Psalm 149:5-9 states it clearly.

"Let the saints by joyful in glory: let them sing aloud on their beds.

Let the high praises of Yahweh be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand: to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people: to bind the kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron: to execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints.

Praise ye Yahweh!"

At this point, I can see some of you protesting that this is from the Old Testament.

You think Yahweh was all wrong, and all of this was done away with by the New Testament.

I have a surprise for you, Yahweh was right, He didn't have to change His mind or be taught higher ethics by men.

Let's see what the New Testament has to say.

In Matthew 10:34 Yahshua says, "Think not that I come to send peace on earth: I come not to send peace, but a sword."

In Luke 22:36 Yahshua told His disciples, "He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."

Yahshua didn't have to change His mind either.

In Revelation 19:11 we read this about Him.

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war."

Peace never comes by cooperation with Satan, or with Satan's children and followers.

You can't coexist with a cancer, either you must cut it out completely, or it will kill you, both cannot survive.

Therefore the Prince of peace must be in complete control over a world from which evil has been driven out.

Only then can the words of Micah 4:1-3 be fulfilled.

"But in the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of Yahweh shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

And many nations shall come, and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

Note this doesn't come through the might of Russia and the wisdom of Tito, or in that parliament of evil the United Nations.

It is done only by the might of Yahweh.

Therefore we read how this will be done in Isaiah 66:15-16.

"For behold, Yahweh will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.

For by fire and by His sword will Yahweh plead with all flesh: and the slain of Yahweh shall be many."

Whether we like it or not, Yahweh has said to us, "Thou art My battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms."

Those who serve Yahweh willingly receive the reward.

But willing or not, we must obey Him.

If we obey the laws of Yahweh, and follow confidently where He leads, we may be sure of His blessings.

One of these is, "Five of you will chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight."

I would rather face Russia and China on this basis, than to have to face them anyway as a punishment because we have defied Yahweh and sought coexistence with Satan.

I started this lesson with the statement that I place great emphasis on Bible prophecy and fulfillment.

What about these prophecies I have quoted to you? Have they been fulfilled?

Have the tribes of Israel and their later descendants the Scythians, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Angli and the Saxons fulfilled these prophecies?

In modern days, these people are known as the Anglo Saxons, Scandinavian and Germanic nations.

Yes indeed, these nations have fulfilled these prophecies in every detail.

It is strange that the clergy, who claim to teach the word of Yahweh, have not honored Him with proof that He always keeps His word.

Remember, we have traced the people of Israel, after their deportation by the Assyrians, into the lands around the Caspian Sea.

There they became known to the Greeks as Skuths, to the Romans as Scythians, and to the Persians as Sakka.

In the course of time the name Sakka became Sacasones, then Saxons.

Other tribes became known as the Angli, yet others as the Goths, who divided into the Ostrogoths, or the East Goths, and the Visigoths, or West Goths.

Now let us see what these Israelite tribes did.

A generation sufficed for them to fully throw off the Assyrian yoke and they became a numerous and powerful people.

Their constant warfare of the Scythians against the Assyrians was not enough to fully conquer Assyria, but it did bleed the Assyrians white, as the saying is.

Finally the Scythians became allies of the Medes, their neighbors to the east.

The allied Median and Scythian armies captured Ninevah in 606 B.C., and the Assyrian empire disappeared from ancient history.

About 550 B.C., Cyrus the Great of Persia, conquered Media and absorbed Media into the greater Persian Empire.

By this time the Babylonian captivity of Judah had been in effect for a whole century.

Remember Nebuchadnezzar=s dream of the great image, which the prophet Daniel interpreted for him?

The image's head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar=s own Babylonian empire, the first of the four great heathen empires, which dominated world history.

The image's breast and arms of silver represented the Medo-Persian Empire.

The belly and thighs of brass were the Greco-Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great.

This empire extended from Greece through all western Asia, even into northern India.

The legs of iron were the Roman Empire.

Scythians were allies of the great Medo-Persian army of Cyrus, which conquered the Babylonian empire and released a few thousand of the captives of Judah and Benjamin, so they could return to Palestine.

What happened to the many other people of Judah and Benjamin, who did not return to Palestine?

History records that the Scythians swooped down on the region around Babylon and took most of the people of Judah and Benjamin back with them, leaving the few who went back to Palestine.

The fall of Babylon was not solely the work of the Israelite Scythians.

The prophesied rise of the Medo-Persian Empire at this time required that the glory should go to it.

Yet, Scythian Israel did play some part in it, though not a large one.

However, Cyrus was ambitious, greedy and ungrateful for the help his Scythian allies had given him.