|
|
America and
Israel in Bible Prophecy |
|
|
|
|
Go to Homepage
Our Spiritual Walk: Are you Born Again? The kingdom of God? Age of accountability? Apostasy Alert! Snake handlers,Poison,Healers Does God Always Heal? Is What You Say What You Get? Did Jesus have to go to Hell?
Religion in America Freedom of Religion God and Government? A Bit of American History Roy Moore About the Author Brother Tommie My Visions and Experiences And He Opened My Understanding Contact information:
|
About the
four banners of Israel I wish I could take credit
for discovering who or what these four banners were. But, I cannot. It was
Clarence Larkin sometime during the first part of the twentieth century.
God has blessed this man with so much knowledge about the word. He is gone
to be with Jesus but his memory will always be with us in the great things
that God revealed to him. We read about the banners
of Israel in the second chapter of Numbers. But God never tells us in
these scriptures what was on these banners, what kind of ensign or emblem
or whatever. In these scriptures God calls these banners standards. God
will reveal to us what they are through the prophet Ezekiel. You will not
be able to find this information in history books or Bible dictionaries.
This is something that God has kept secret for a very long time. God
revealed to Clarence Larkin what they were but did not reveal to him what
significance they had when it comes to revealing scripture and mysteries
today. It simply wasn't time to know. God told Daniel to seal up the Book
until the time of the end. This is not about Daniel but it is part of the
revealing that God is doing to show us what is about to happen in Bible
Prophecy. Below is a picture that
came from Clarence Larkins book called Dispensational Truth on Page
159. Here we see the banners of Israel
the way that God showed Clarence. The position of these banners with
their emblem is this: The Lion on the East, the Ox on the West, the
Eagle on the North, and the face of the man on the South. Ezekiel 1:10: As for the likeness
of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a
lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the
left side; they four also had the face of an
eagle. We must see these creatures from Ezekiel's
position in order to understand who they are. When it says on the right
side, or the left side. We must realize that it is talking about from
Ezekiel's standpoint. The scriptures do not say; on their
right side or left side, but it says, on
the right side or left side. Which gives us a
better understanding. It means on Ezekiel's right side or left
side. The first thing that almost anyone who has
any basic Bible knowledge should recognize is that the Lion is the banner
of the tribe of Judah. Remember in Revelations chapter five? Rev. 5:5: And one of the elders saith
unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of
David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals
thereof. The Lion in this scripture turns out to be
the Lord Jesus himself. All of these faces represent Jesus in different
aspects of his person. The Lion represents his strength, authority, and
royalty. But it is also given to remind us that He would come from Judah,
He would be the son of David who would reign on the Throne. In Solomon's
porch we see six steps that lead up to the throne. On each step were two
Lions, one on each side. There were twelve Lions all together. This
represented all twelve tribes under the kingship of the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. These being one step after step revealed to us that it would be
a while before it would come to pass. When Jacob blessed Judah this is
what he said in Genesis 49:8-10. 8: Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren
shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's
children shall bow down before thee. I can't help but wonder. Is there any doubt
that this would be the emblem of Judah. We can't prove it with history
books, but you know, I believe that the Bible is the best history book in
the world. If the word tells it then it has to be true. The next thing that we should take note of is
the Ox. This one is not quite as obvious as the Lion because we are not as
familiar with the understanding of it. But the scriptures will identify
this one as well. Deuteronomy 33:13-17 Moses blessing on
Israel. 13: And of
Joseph he said, Blessed of the
LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for
the deep that coucheth beneath, Hosea 10: 11: And
Ephraim is as
an heifer that is taught, and
loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will
make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
Jeremiah 31:18: I have surely heard
Ephraim bemoaning himself thus;
Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a
bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and
I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. In Solomon's temple there were twelve oxen
sitting beneath a huge water tank called a sea. These 12 oxen under the
sea are facing the four different directions of the compass. They
represented Israel under the leadership of the tribe of Ephraim. Israel
would soon be divided into two nations, the Northern Kingdom and the
Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom would be ruled by kings from the
tribe of Ephraim, the Southern Kingdom would be led by kings from the
tribe of Judah. God knew this would happen. Inside the Temple were many
decorations of Lions and Oxen. This was also in reference to the two
Kingdoms of Israel. Oxen could be either male or female cattle. God was calling Joseph and
his son's bovine, or cattle. The ox is their Emblem. Since Ephraim is the
carrier of Joseph's birthright his emblem is the Ox. Now let's go back to Ezekiel's four faces on the living creatures; We
have identified the Lion which was Judah on the right side, and the Ox
which was Ephraim on the left side. I don't believe that there is really
any room for doubt about this unless we would be determined to try to
discredit the Bible in some way or other. At this point it is impossible to identify the face of the Eagle and
the face of the Man. Since we know that the Lion is Judah and the Ox is
Ephraim we must also realize that these faces are about Israel in some way
or other. We have seen Israel as the number twelve. We have seen Israel as
the number two in the two nations, or kingdoms. But this is showing four
faces. When was Israel ever in four divisions? That's right, when they
were in the wilderness under Moses. God divided them into four groups and
placed the standard or banner over the leading tribe of each group over
them. Now let's use some simple deduction. Judah was camped on the East Side
of the Tabernacle. Ephraim was camped on the West Side of the Tabernacle.
They were exactly the opposite of each other, which is exactly the way the
faces of the four creatures are. The Lion is on Ezekiel's right and the Ox
is on Ezekiel's left. This is more than just a coincidence. Looking at it
from this position we would have to be standing on the South Side of the
Tabernacle looking North. This means that the face of the Man would be
Rueben's emblem, which would be South since it was the face of the Man on
the living creatures that were facing Ezekiel. Then the Eagle, which would
have been on the back of the creature, was the emblem of the tribe of Dan
who was the leader of the encampment on the North Side of the Tabernacle.
This places every one of these emblems in the exact order of the banners
of the 12 tribes of Israel. They are set in their four groups around the
Tabernacle in the wilderness. We must also remember that all though all
twelve tribes of Israel had individual banners, God commanded them to be
placed under the banner of the leading tribe in each group of three
tribes. For example Ephraim was placed over the tribes of Manasseh and
Benjamin. These three tribes were camped on the West Side. Since Ephraim
was the leading tribe of this group the other two tribes were compelled to
submit to Ephraim's banner, or standard.
Clarence Larkin was a very blessed man to
receive and understand this mystery in his day. Now that we know that
these banners represent the nation of Israel, all twelve tribes, we
realize that the four creatures in the book of Revelation is Israel as
well. The mysteries that are found there go even deeper into the truth
that has been hidden for centuries. By looking at these creatures in
Revelation we get a better understanding of God's plan for Israel in these
last days. Your brother in Christ, |
