Exploring the Prophecy of Agur

“Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man (Proverbs 30:2).” To get understanding from Agur’s prophecy, it is best to start by understanding God’s parable use of the word, brutish. In scripture, the word "brute" refers to a person that considers himself to be wise in his knowledge of the Lord, and yet he is failing to demonstrate godliness. “Every man is brutish by his knowledge (Jeremiah 51:17).” In other words, a brutish person is conceited, and no one can persuade him to rethink his interpretations and understandings of scripture. “He that hates reproof is brutish (Proverbs 12:1).” So, if a priest is behaving brutishly, then no one will be able show him the newly revealed truths of prophecy. “They are altogether brutish and foolish (Jeremiah 10:8).” Eventually God will send evil and brutish messengers to come against brutish priests, as a judgment, and for punishment, and to correct them. “Pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and their flocks shall be scattered. Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons (Jeremiah 10:21-22).”

God delivers new instructions and guidance unto priests through his messengers, for their good, as well as for the good of the congregation (2Timothy 2:24). Therefore regardless of what a brutish priest thinks or believes, if he refuses correction, or if he mistreats God's messengers, then he will not escape God's judgments. “If a man strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully (2Timothy 2:5).” Eventually brutish priests will be delivered into the kingdom of God, but not before they repent of their mistakes and they understand God's message, and not until they have bore the punishment of their err. When they stand corrected, then God will judge their persecutors. “I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee (Jeremiah 51:36).” “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness (Micah 7:9).” 

God's word never returns void. "My word that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it (Isaiah 55:11)." This means that the newly truths of prophecy will even have an impact on brutish priests. When a brutish priest hears the newly revealed truths of prophecy, he will begin to passionately work at strengthening his congregation in the philosophy of their own religious beliefs. Scripture likens this occurrence, to fire. “I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them (Jeremiah 5:14).” Fire is a form of purification, and this increase in their passion will be used to help purify, and cleanse God's people. “The day cometh that shall burn as an oven (Malachi 4:1).” The day of the fiery oven is here and now, because brutish priests have heard the covenant message, and they are now working harder than ever before to promote their own understandings of scripture. Their fiery passions have already cleansed God’s people. “In that day will the branch of the Lord be beautiful… when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion… by the spirit of judgment, and the spirit of burning (Isaiah 4:2; 4:4).” 

Brutishness is relevant to Agur's prophecy, because Agur is the epitome of a brute. His words convey the very thoughts of a brute. The prophecy begins with Agur making a confession concerning who he is. He testified, “I have not the understanding of a man.” These words confess that Agur is not a priest. Agur also testified that he has never devoted much time to studying the scriptures. “I neither learned wisdom, nor have knowledge of the holy (Proverbs 30:3).” The confession also reveals that Agur loves the Lord, and that he has considerable respect for God's word. “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him (Proverbs 30:5).” 

After identifying who Agur is, then the prophecy lists some of the questions that will be bothering every brute on Salvation Day. These questions are not just any questions, but they are a compiled list of concerns which will bring brutes back to the house of the Lord. What is this talk about God making a new covenant? And, Why are priests changing their teachings after centuries of maintaining their long standing religious beliefs? The initial thought of brutes will be to rise up in defense of traditional religion, and its teachings. Evidence of this is heard in the sting of Agur's rebuke. “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar (Proverbs 30:6).” 

Consider some of the questions which will be provoking brutes, and causing them to come back to the house of the Lord. “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?” Brutes will want to know, Whom did God quicken and bring up from the grave of spiritual death? And whom did God cast down into hell? This question will be plaguing brutes, because on Salvation day God will pour is Holy Spirit upon congregations whose priest's affirmed and taught them the newly revealed truths of prophecy, and they will be blessed: and many of them will be brought up from the grave of spiritual death (Psalm 119:40). “Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth (Psalms 71:20).” On that same day, God will withdraw his Holy Spirit from priests and prophets which received the covenant message, but failed to believe, or promote it. This group of leaders had doubts, as well as fears and concerns, so they did not confess the message before their congregation. On Salvation Day they will lose the Holy Spirit, because not only were they unprepared, but they failed to bless and affirm their congregation (Ezekiel 26:20; 31:16).  

Another question that is troubling Agur: “Who hath gathered the wind in his fists?” The word "wind" is a parable in prophecy, and it represents a movement which is occurring within God’s house. It is a movement wherein the speeches of believing priests and prophets are working to gather the religious denominations into one understanding. There are four winds of heaven: the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian winds, with a separate wind for the priesthood. “He stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind (Isaiah 27:8).” These four winds have been working to gather God's people by breaking through the strongholds of every religious denomination, and reproving their errs. Their efforts have been very fruitful. “The ungodly are… like the chaff which the wind driveth away (Psalm 1:4).” “He causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow (Psalm 147:18).” Nevertheless, the wind's teachings are riddled with falsehoods. “Our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6).” “The prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them (Jeremiah 5:13).” Despite their mistakes, God will accomplish his will through the four winds. “The wind passeth, and cleanseth them (Job 37:21).” Was the wind really anything at all? “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind (Proverbs 11:29).” Agur is seeking to understand how every religious denomination is coming together in agreement? The truth is, it was God, and his word that gathered the winds into his fists, for his own purposes, and for his own glory (Isaiah 10:5-15). 

Agur's third question is, “Who hath bound the waters with a garment?” In other words, Who is responsible for keeping the covenant message a secret? According to God’s word, the covenant message was to be debated and  kept secret for seven years (Isaiah 27:8; Daniel 9:27). Nevertheless, its counsel was to be used to prepare believers for change. There are scripture verses which reveal that the covenant message was to have been be bound up by the swearing of a few of God’s own people (Ezekiel 5:3). “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples (Isaiah 8:16).” These men swore oaths of secrecy, but they did it in unbelief. “It shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths (Ezekiel 21:23).” But whether there is unbelief, or even an oath, there is nothing that can stop God from fulfilling his word. “Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it (Isaiah 28:18).” So the correct response to Agur’s accusing question, ("Who hath bound the waters with a garment?"), is that God did it, because it was in accordance with his word.

Another question that is troubling Agur, “Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, it thou canst tell (Proverbs 30:4)?” During end times God is going to establish the righteous, and at the same time he is going to establish all of the ancient prophets, including Jesus, and at the same time he is going to establish the earth’s true and long anticipated new covenant. The word “establish” means that God will confirm the matter. “If thou return to the Almighty… Then thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee (Job 22:23; 22:28).” When God confirms the matter, then brutes like Agur will have doubts within themselves as to whether or not they have ever truly known the Lord. 

Before continuing on with Agur’s prophecy, consider the subtle ways in which God used the words, poverty and riches. In prophecy, the word "riches" was used as a parable to elude to a religious leader’s preoccupation with the size of his congregation. “He that trusts in his riches shall fall (Proverbs 11:28).” “They that trust in wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother (Psalm 49:6-7).” The opposite is true for the word "poverty." God caused the parable word "poverty" to elude to religious leaders that are big on religious law, however they have small and dwindling sized congregations: “He that follows after vain persons shall have poverty (Proverbs 28:19).” “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction (Proverbs 13:18).” 

After Agur presented the questions which undoubtedly will be arousing brutes on Salvation Day, he stood up and demanded a couple things of God. By studying this part of Agur's message believers can discern that there the two requirements which are necessary to satisfy a brute: “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty or riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain (Proverbs 30:7-9).” A paraphrasing of his two requirements could read: brutes will desire to have good strong teachers that are able show them the truth of God's prophetic message with simplicity and accuracy, so they can understand it; and secondly, they will desire to come among godly assemblies. Brutes will despise places of worship wherein priests are watering down the truth because they wish to appease the congregation. If leaders are teaching half truths, and promoting false or mistaken doctrines, then they are denying the authority of God’s word; and if they are teaching messages which they learned from one another, then they are practicing vanity.  

“Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty (Proverbs 30:10).” Through the voice of Agur, believers are reminded, as well as informed, that there are unchurched brutish believers which belong to the Lord. "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off (Psalm 101:5)." Defend these unchurched believers, giving them grace, and keep in mind, that they, as in the case of all God’s people, will need to be patiently taught the newly revealed truths of prophecy. “For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others (Ecclesiastes 7:22).” Coping with the provocations of brutes will only be for a limited time. On Judgment Day, God will take vengeance upon brutes that continued to reject the warnings of others, and refused to give grace to their fellow believers. “They that be cursed of him shall be cut off (Psalm 37:22).” “I will curse him that curseth thee (Genesis 12:3).” 

“There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men (Proverbs 30:11-14).” A reference to the “eyelids" that are "lifted up” is a discrete way of implying that it is morning. So this verse is prophesying truths about brutes which have been informed of the covenant message: it is confessing that today's brutes have forgotten godliness. Scripture confirms that these backslidden believers will be devouring the poor and the needy, which means that they will be viciously condemning and assaulting every lying teacher, and every mistaken philosophy of God’s people. They have forgotten godliness, as well as God. The truth is, they cannot curse those whom God hath blessed. “Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice (Psalm 109:28).” 

“The horse leech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give (Proverbs 30:15).” The dictionary's definition of the word, leech, is a worm that sucks blood, or eats flesh. It is said that one particular species has been used in medical treatments to bleed patients, and to eat away putrid flesh from a wound. Some bibles translate this Hebrew word into the word, horseleach, and even the word, leach, pertains to "a draining away." This prophecy is likening our leaders that are silencing the covenant message, to a leech on a horse. These leaders are draining away the sins of their weary helpers, and they are causing God's people to cry unto the Lord asking him to give them understanding, and to give them help  (Isaiah 10:5). The result is that the leech's weary helpers are being purified. “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel  (Isaiah 41:14).”

From the prophet Ezekiel we learn why the horseleach is credited with having two daughters: “Take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand (Ezekiel 37:16-17).” The first stick which is marked "for Judah and the house of Israel his companions" pertains to the priesthood, and all of the believers that are in agreement with them: This vague description loosely defines the first daughter. Then the second sick is marked, For Joseph: his name in prophecy pertains to believers that are journeying and going ahead of God’s people, to study the newly revealed truths of prophecy, so they can help prepare the way for God's people (Psalms 105:17). The second stick is also referred to as, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his companions. The word "Ephraim" more concisely defines the difference between the two daughters. The name of Ephraim applies to believers that trust and believe in Jesus’ teachings. Making this distinction automatically implies that the opposite is true for the first group. In other words, the first group of believers are those who do not know Jesus' doctrine. Collectively, these two groups are the daughters of the horseleach. “Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord… They shall be one in mine hand (Ezekiel 37:19).” 

Keeping the covenant message secret is like a hip that is out of joint: the whole body is in pain, and the whole body is waiting for deliverance. “My heart within me is broken because of the prophets… for because of swearing the land mourneth (Jeremiah 23:9-10).” According to God’s word, no man would believe him when he called; and no religion would be counted righteous in his eyes (Isaiah 50:2; Ezekiel 22:30; Romans 3:10). The evidence of scripture also testifies that no man will show, no man will declare, and no man will believe the newly revealed truths of prophecy (Isaiah 41:26). “I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you (Habakkuk 1:5).” But ultimately God's testified that he will send forth his prophets to set his people in his ways, before the great and terrible day of his coming (Malachi 4:5-6). “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).” All of these truths were realized through the covenant message. Think about this: which of these prophecies have not been fulfilled? Eventually the people that are silencing the newly revealed truths of prophecy will do according to God’s will, but until that day these authorities are referred to as: The Lion of the tribe of Judah. “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof (Revelation 5:5).” God's people are called to walk before him, by faith, and prepare the way of the Lord. So fear not, for God is with us.

The remainder of Agur’s prophecy is a series of riddles. The solution for each riddle is a question. To solve the riddles, use the clues which scripture provides to come up with questions that men are asking God; then interpret the four answers which are written, and behold, you have God’s answers to the questions. In the riddles, the words, three,… and four, are repeatedly used, causing believers to consider that each of four winds of Abraham’s seed are accounted for in the riddles. Be apprised that in order to keep this part of Agur's work brief, only a minimal amount of proof concerning these interpretations, was supplied. Find additional proof for these interpretations by studying the scriptures, along with the covenant message.

The first riddle pertains to things which are never satisfied. “There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough (Proverbs 30:15).” A second clue which is necessary for solving this riddle is supplied after God’s answers: “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it (Proverbs 30:17).” This clue is suggesting that all of God's answers pertain to brutes and mockers. So the two clues which define the first riddle, are: This riddle pertains to things that are never satisfied, and its all of its answers pertain to brutes which have mocked God's messengers. These clues insinuate that man’s question is: Who will suffer God’s wrath on Judgment Day? God’s four answers are: Believers that are spiritually dead, (The grave); Believers that have not done any fruitful works for the kingdom, (the barren womb); Places of worship wherein believers are not cooperating with God's word, (the earth that is not filled with water); And brutes that were warned, but they failed to stop persecuting their fellow believers, (the fire that saith not, It is enough).

The first riddle contains an added bonus: It helps to clarify God’s judgment against brutes and mockers: “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it (Proverbs 30:17).” These words imply that God will be sending forth wicked and ungodly messengers to come against mocking and brutish leaders, to convert them, then if they still refuse to hear God's message, they will be punished by God Almighty himself on Judgment Day, for God will pour affliction upon them, and they will become evidence, (meat), for the fowls of heaven (Revelation 19:17; 19:21). The unsightly affliction itself, as well as the confessions and testimonies that come from the mockers who suffered the affliction, will be the evidence (the meat) which convinces the wavering and undecided naysayers, that God has established a new covenant. 

The second riddle pertains to the wonders of God’s word: “There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not (Proverbs 30:18).” A second clue for the second riddle, is: “Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth he mouth; and saith, I have done no wickedness (Proverbs 30:20).” This clue is suggesting that all of God's answers pertain to undeterred believers which have already eaten from the words of the covenant message. Man’s question is: In that day, who will be ready to lead God’s people in the way that they should go? God’s answers: Those priests and prophets which have already heard portions of the covenant message, and which have taken steps to move away from the deceitfulnesses of religion (eagle in the air); And then there are the priests and prophets which have already heard some of the covenant message, but they elected to trust in their rock, and remain thereon (serpent upon a rock). Others are leaders which have been ignorantly merchandising and profiting from counsel that was derived from the covenant message (ships in the midst of the sea), “O Tyrus… They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees… Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters… Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, …and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin (Ezekiel 27:3; 27:5; 27:26-27).” And God’s final answer to the question: Who will be ready to lead God’s people in the way that they should go: Those priests and prophets which have already spent time studying the covenant message (the way of a man with a maid). 

Agur's third riddle pertains to disquieting the earth. “For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear (Proverbs 30:21).” There is a discreet second clue prophesied in the words, It cannot bear. This riddle pertains to things that are too overwhelmingly hard for God’s people to bear alone, or in other words, stubbornness that needs God’s intervention. Man’s question is: Upon whom shall God send evil messengers and the noisome pestilence? God’s answers: Upon priests which have forgotten that God reigns, and which have defiantly ignored his messengers, as well as his word (a servant when he reigneth); And upon prophets that are confusing themselves by believing their own teachings, (a fool when he is filled with meat), “The prophet is a fool (Hosea 9-7);” Also, upon brutish believers that cannot remember godliness, (for an odious woman when she is married). And God’s final answer to the question, Upon whom will God send evil messengers and the noisome pestilence? Upon believers that have not listened to repeated requests to stop serving religion (handmaid that is heir to her mistress). “As with the maid, so with her mistress (Isaiah 24:2).”

Agur's  fourth riddle is designed differently, “There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise (Proverbs 30:24).” Proving this question is done by studying the answers themselves. Man’s question is: Who among God’s people will escape God’s wrath? God’s answers: Those that have prepared themselves ahead of time by studying the truths of prophecy before the day of his coming, (Ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer); And some will be believers that trust in God as their rock, even though their perception of Jesus was misconstrued by their teachers, (Cronies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks); Some will be believers that were ill-advised, and they brutishly and mistakenly went out forcibly to correct their deceived brethren, (Locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands). And the final answer to the question, Who among God’s people will escape God’s wrath? Those believers who quickly take the matter of understanding prophecy into their own hands, and who lawfully work to correct their fellow believers, (The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in the kings’ palaces).

Agur's fifth riddle pertains to believers that are coming out of religion. “There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going (Proverbs 30:29).” A second clue for this riddle is found in the verse: “If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth (Proverbs 30:32).” This clue is insinuating that all of God’s answers pertain to men which initially thought to rise up against the covenant message. Therefore, the question which is being asked, is, Who are, and where are, those workers of iniquity which sought to do evil against the covenant message when they first heard about it? God’s answers: They were the righteous, and they were bold as a lion, (A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any); and then there were the grey headed old men, such as the elders (a greyhound); and there were also some stubborn and rebellious priests (an he goat); and then there were those brutish priests (a king, against whom there is no rising up). This riddle is insinuating that God's sword has already devoured many of the leaders which initially thought to rise up against the truth of his word. 

There was one final riddle written in the last verse of Agur’s prophecy. “Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife (Proverbs 31:33).” This clever little verse actually contains three little lessons. There are two clues provided which help interpret each one of the three individual lessons: The words churning, wringing and forcing, are all the same Hebrew word. This occurrence implies that the first clue which is necessary for solving each of these three little lessons, is that something is being done repeatedly, over, and over again. Also, the words "bringeth forth" apply to each of the three little lessons, because, as with the first clue, all three of the lessons contain these very same words. Together these two clues suggest that all three of the little lessons concern a repeated occurrence which are having a result.

As the covenant message was being prepared, it needed to be built percept upon precept, which meant that the scriptures, as well as the written works, had to be gone through, repeatedly, over, and over again. As this process was occurring, the message was becoming more and more clear, which in itself is evidence that prophecy was being fulfilled. “The path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day (Proverbs 4:18).” When priests and prophets and other leaders added their time and energies to the repeated process of reading and searching out the scriptures, the truths which were learned and taught in their messages, were as milk. Milk is the preliminary teachings which were necessary to nourish up new converts, to bring them to spiritual maturity. "For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe (Hebrew 5:13).” “Whom shall  he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line; line upon line; here a little, and there a little (Isaiah 28:9-10).”

“It shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the land (Isaiah 7:22).” The word "butter" was used as a parable in prophecy to represent the process of churning up truth and perceiving that we have made mistakes in religion, and as a result we are indeed, changing from our previously held religious beliefs. Therefore, the first little lesson is teaching believers that as they went repeatedly round and round through the scriptures, they were bringing forth changes to their doctrines and beliefs. “Surely, the churning of milk bringeth forth butter.”

The next little lesson has to do with the covenant message causing the stench of our sins to come up into our nostrils. “I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils (Amos 4:10).” The actual words of the lesson are: “The wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood.” Blood-guiltiness happens when believers are caused to understand the word of God, but they elect to hide themselves behind lies. Such lies only add to the deteriorated condition of the deceived, which is why the priests that tell lies are made to assume partial responsibility for the congregation’s spiritual condition. “Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean (Isaiah 1:15-16).” So the second little lesson is impling that if teachers repeatedly smell the stink of their own mistakes, and they fail to make the necessary changes, the result is that they are bringeth forth transgression, and sin, and blood-guiltiness. 

The final little lesson of this riddle has to do with men that are forcing God to wrath. “The forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.” God is slow to wrath, however he has instructed everyone that is studying these messages to execute his word. “O house of David, thus saith the Lord; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings (Jeremiah 21:12).” So believers that are keeping the covenant message a secret, are disregarding God’s repeated commandment to execute judgment, and therefore they are transgressing, and their transgression is causing God’s wrath to be kindled. According to God's word, men can avoid trespassing against God by warning the authorities which are responsible for silencing the covenant message, that they are provoking God to wrath. “Warn them that they trespass not against the Lord, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do and you shall not trespass (2Chronicles 19:10).” These warnings are instrumental in causing God's word to go out. Nevertheless, when you warn them, do it with humility. “The beginning of strife is as one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with (Proverbs 17:14).”

Prophecy From the Book of Proverbs

The prophecy of king Lemuel is beneficial end time instruction. “The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What, my son? And what, the son of my womb? And what, the son of my vows (Proverbs 31:1-2)?” The word "mother" insinuates that Lemuel's understanding came forth from someone who was not a priest, but a helper of the church. The words “my son” confirm that Lemuel's prophecy is directed at priests. The words “the son of my vows” confirm that God remembers those promises that he made with his people. The words “the son of my womb” suggest that this prophecy is instruction for priests that are in God, for God is in them causing them to grow in their knowledge and understanding of his word. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauty of holiness from the womb of morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth (Psalm 110:3).”

“Give not thy strength to women (Proverbs 31:3).” This verse is warning and commanding priests that they are not to let their elders, nor any other church officials, have control over what is said in the pulpit. Priests are to put their confidence in the Lord, and do his bidding. “The Lord God is my strength (Habakkuk 3:19).” “The Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people (Isaiah 8:11).” “There is no king saved by the multitude of an host (Psalm 33:16).”

The second part of this verse, reads, “Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings (Proverbs 31:3).” This part of the verse is warning and commanding priests that they are not rely upon the mighty teachings of others, nor upon their own vain thoughts while they are leading God's people through end times. “Trust not in lying words (Jeremiah 7:8).” Be vigilant, and study the scriptures! Scripture is God’s voice, and if priests are not willing to hear God’s voice, then God will not hear them when they cry. “When you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear (Isaiah 1:15).” Just as our forefathers were deceived by their teachers, so today's leaders are being deceived by the widely accepted interpretations of prophecy that are popular today. “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God (Matthew 22:29).” Study the scriptures for the intentional purpose of truly understanding end times, and God will show you what he is doing. “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it (Isaiah 43:19)?” “Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see (Isaiah 42:18).” Prayerfully studying the scriptures is the remedy for spiritual blindness. “In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity (Isaiah 29:18).”

For the next few verses of Lemule’s prophecy, it is necessary to understand God’s parable use of the words, water, wine, and strong drink. In prophecy the words water, wine, and strong drink, are parable words which refer to teachings that were prepared for the purpose of quenching a believer’s thirst for understanding prophecy. The word, water, represents all the teachings which came about because one believer prayerfully studied the scriptures. The word, wine, represents prophetic teachings which came about because one believer, or a group of believers, incorporated their understandings of scripture with their religious beliefs, or else with other popular and acceptable teachings of prophecy. In other words, wine teachings are always teachings which have been built upon another man's work. “Wisdom… hath mingled her wine (Proverbs 9:2).” Strong drink is like wine, in that it is a concoction of several people’s understandings which have been mixed together, but strong drink is prepared for the purpose of causing believers to perceive their own contribution to the deception and confusion of God’s people. “Strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it (Isaiah 24:9).”

God values those who work to prepare drinks for his people, and he blesses the preparers, as well as those who partake in the fruits of their understandings. “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities (1Timothy 5:23).” To help God solidify his views on the matter, Jesus Christ took an actual cup of wine, and turned it into parable before the eyes of all his followers: Jesus made the communion cup represent blood. “Jesus took the cup… saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me (1Corinthians 11:25).” The parable of the communion cup pertains not only to Jesus, but also to every believer that has sacrificially worked to prepare end time understanding for God's people. God sees their efforts as if the preparers had poured a little of their own blood into the cup, and offered it unto his people to quench their thirst for knowledge and understanding.

“In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine (Hosea 7:5).” However there is a downside to wine: wine is responsible for causing confusion, because lies and errs have gotten mixed into the cup. “They have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment (Isaiah 28:7).” “Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the word of his holiness (Jeremiah 23:9).”

“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted (Proverbs 31:4-5).” This verse is meant to cause priests to perceive that, in accordance with God’s word, they are to stop drinking and selling wine and strong drinks. Our wine teachings are causing God’s people to disregard truths that are needed for end times. “They were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me (Hosea 13:6).” Wine teachings are full of unsubstantiated and false claims that need to be removed from circulation: even those teachings which were enhanced by the covenant message. “Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart (Hosea 4:11).” “Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth (Joel 1:5).”

Our wine teachings have been mingled with the mistaken philosophies of religion, and with the thoughts of men's hearts. Every preparer that compromised their end time teaching by mixing it with lies, does not want to be responsible for perverting the judgment of any of the afflicted. Misrepresenting prophecy can have serious ramifications: False teachings can offend persons of other faiths and cause them to fall away from the Lord; and false teachings can distract or delay believers from finding out the truths which are necessary for their deliverance; and false teachings can embolden oppressors and cause them to feel justified in their mistreat of others. 

“Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink (Isaiah 5:22).” Continuing to support and promote untrue and unsubstantiated end time claims, helps strengthen the arms of religion. “Ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number (Isaiah 65:11).” Be wise and heed the warnings, and avoid having to be punished and corrected by the Lord. Those who refuse to follow this instruction are creating confusion. “They have caused Egypt to err in every good work thereof, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit (Isaiah 19:14).” God will cause those who create confusion to stay confused by their own teachings, until he performs the thing that is appointed for them. “I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine (Isaiah 49:26).” “I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, and her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts (Jeremiah 51:57).”

“Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures (Psalm 36:8).” During end times God is bringing forth new understandings, therefore every believing priest, and every hearing priest will need to drink from the pure doctrine of God's word. “The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for which thou hast labored: But they that have gathered it shall eat of it, and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness (Isaiah 62:8-9).”

Before proceeding on to the next verse, it is necessary to note that when a priest drinks from the waters of the covenant message, if he takes that message to heart, then he will thoroughly mix it in with his own God inspired understandings of scripture, and the result will once again be wine. “They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon (Hosea 14:7).” “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that… the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt (Amos 9:13).”

“Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more (Proverbs 31:6-7).” This verse from Lemuel's prophecy is instructing hearing priests to give their understandings of prophecy to priests which were taken in God's afflicting pestilence. “Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law (Psalm 119:153).” Priests that suffer affliction have already been humbled, so by showing them the newly revealed truths of prophecy, their joy will be increased, for knowledge will allow them to repent of their mistakes, and they can make their changes. “They shall perish… as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed (Psalm 102 26).”

“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction (Proverbs 31:8).” This verse is instructing hearing priests to warn those priests who are continuing to misrepresent God’s word: let them know that everyone who is still practing religion on Judgment Day, will be destroyed (Ezekiel 39:28). “Hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me (Ezekiel 3:17).” Priests are God’s messengers, and they have been shown the truth of God’s word so that they can warn the deceived (Malachi 2:7). “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem (Isaiah 27:13).”

“Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:9).” Before believers can thoroughly understand this instruction, they must understand God’s parable use of the words, poor, and needy. The word, poor, is used in prophecy to represent believers, including priests, which have the Holy Spirit, but they are not able discern the hidden meanings of prophesy because they were, and are, blinded by their religious beliefs. These believers will be of quick understanding when God sends his messengers to them. “What hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living (Ecclesiastes 6:8)?” “The Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it (Isaiah 14:32).” The word "needy" pertains to believers who walk by faith, but these believers walk in religions that reject the teachings of Jesus Christ, therefore the needy have not received the Holy Spirit. “The needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever (Psalm 9:18).”

Also, before believers can fully understand Lemuel's next instruction, it is necessary for them to know how God’s saints are going to judge the world. “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world (1Corinthians 6:2)?” Believers will judge deceived offenders that have been taken in the snares of religion. This kind of judging has to do with helping others to either avoid, or recover themselves from the pestilences and judgments of God's wrath. Righteous judgment is done by impartially assessing the mistakes that believers are making against God's word, then showing the offenders the truths of scripture, so that these believers can recover cover themselves, and enter into God’s blessings. Wherefore people cannot judge righteously, unless, or until, they are equipped with the truths that will allow them to make godly assessments: for then, and only then will they that be able to correctly judge between the meek and the belligerent, and the renown as well as anyone else that is not cooperating with God’s word. “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor (Leviticus 19:15).”

Now once again hear the words of Lemule’s prophecy: “Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:9).” The first part of this verse is instructing hearing priests to speak those truths which are necessary for the deliverance of offenders. The second part of this verse has to do with interceding to God on behalf of the religiously deceived, however this instruction involves more than just prayerful intercession. This instruction is motivating priests to consider the persons which are being bullied by the unsympathetic and noisome pestilences. “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted (Psalm 140:12).” “Who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant (Isaiah 42:19).” Deceived persons are sometimes victims of sincere religious convictions, and hearing priests that understand the covenant message are to help deliver them. “He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands (Job 22:30).” “The righteous considers the cause of the poor: but the wicked regard not to know it (Proverbs 29:7).” “Blessed is he that considers the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble (Psalm 41:1).” “Whoso stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard (Proverbs 21:13).”

Having righteous judgment must include judging persons that hold positions of authority over God's people, which many of today's believers are failing to do. “Among my people are found wicked men… They are waxen fat, they shine: they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper: and the right of the needy do they not judge (Jeremiah 5:28).” An example of someone who is possibly not being judged, is an elder. “Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers (Ezekiel 20:4).” In scripture, the parable  word "fathers" refers to former leaders that led and influenced God's people. Today's hearing believers are to show their authorities the abominations of the forefathers which were recorded in scripture. In effect, if a believer shows an authority the scriptures and points out the pattern of their forefathers' sins, then they are judging them, for by studying the pattern of our forefathers' mistakes, our authorities can avoid making those same mistakes. Offenses which were recorded against the fathers include that of not returning to God's word when God began to move, and do a new thing: instead the fathers rejected knowledge and mocked God’s messengers. “They rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me (Ezekiel 20:8).” Today's authorities have this pattern to study so that they can avoid making the same mistake, but some of them will refuse to consider it. “Ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when fear cometh (Proverbs 1:25-26).”

But if no one shares the truth of revealed prophecy with the authorities, then how will these believers know to walk in agreement with the instructions of God's word? “Yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words (Isaiah 41:26).” During end times God is going to move in an unprecedented way, for he is going to fulfill the promises which were made to his people: and earth will receive its new covenant (Psalm 25:14). God’s people have a right to know how they can avoid the wrath, and the pestilences of these times. “If thou forebear to deliver them… If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? …And shall not he render to every man according to his works (Proverbs 24:11-12)?” God is calling on every believer who is hearing this message to judge their authorities by showing them the revealed truths of prophecy. “Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son… He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor (Psalm 72:1; 72:4).” 

Converting and turning from our previously held beliefs, is not optional. Every false teacher that is peddling religious lies in the day of God’s wrath, will be consumed by the power of God’s wrath. “His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant they are shepherds that cannot understand… Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant (Isaiah 56:10-12).” “Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine (Proverbs 23:29-30).” “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils (1Corinthians 10:21).” “I will number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before my eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not (Isaiah 65:12).”

At the conclusion of Lemule’s prophecy is the parable of the virtuous woman. This parable concerns God’s quest for his bride; for the lamb’s wife; for those believers that desire New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9-10). “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies (Proverbs 31:10).” At first glance the virtuous woman appears to be very righteous, however this woman represents imperfect believers which are still in need of correction. It is written that this woman is married to an earthly husband who sits in the gates: this implies that God's people are sometimes more faithful in serving their priest, then they are in serving the Lord. “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land (Proverbs 31:23).” “Thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name (Isaiah 54:5).”

This woman is credited with working to create clothing, which implies that she is working to fashion together truths which prompt righteous actions in others (Psalm 132:9); but this woman has compromised her works by selling them, whereas God’s word says that believers are not to sell the truth. “Buy the truth, and sell it not (Proverbs 23:23).” “She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivers girdles unto the merchant (Proverbs 31:24).” This imperfect bride is also credited with making herself “coverings of tapestry,” which is a word that was used elsewhere in scripture to envision the fabric that a whore uses to impress men. “I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry (Proverbs 7:16).” “She maketh herself coverings of tapestry (Proverbs 31:22).”

There is no question that this woman is performing righteous acts, but there is evidence which confirms that she knows the truth of the covenant message, and she is allowing her household to remain uninformed: The woman’s clothing is purple and silk, whereas her household is clothed in scarlet. Purple is the color of cloth which was used to signify that the sacrifices upon the altar had been burnt up. “They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon (Numbers 4:13).” This insinuates that the woman’s previous works have been rendered ineffective. The word purple also insinuates that this woman has not whole heartedly obeyed God’s word, for if she had, then she would be arrayed in white. Purple and silk and scarlet are among Babylon’s amenities. “Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour thy judgment is come…No man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of… purple, and silk, and scarlet (Revelation 18:10-12).”

Another incriminating aspect which is gleaned from the virtuous woman parable, is found in the verse, “She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff (Proverbs 31:19).” This verse is crediting the woman with being able to spin God’s word anyway she pleases. However, there are very real answers in her hands, answers which can, and which will make a difference; even to the religious authorities that have been silencing the covenant message, for they are the distaff. The Hebrew word which was translated “distaff” in this verse, was also translated “part” and it was used repeatedly in the book of Nehemiah to depict repairing “part” of the fallen walls of Jerusalem. This insinuates that God has been using the silencing power of the religiously deceived authorities to accomplish his word, and confirm the covenant message with many for seven years. In other words, the noncompliant attitudes of the religious dictates were a necessary part of God’s plan. Wherefore, even the silencing authorities will need a good dose of honest correction. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee... I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness (Isaiah 41:10).” The sum of the matter is that this woman has the power to do virtuously, and it is in her hands. “Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates (Proverbs 31:30-31).”

“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness (Proverbs 31:27).” This verse was pulled out of the parable of the virtuous women to give believers one final message to consider: there is a parable which compliments Lemeul's prophesies concerning wine, and that is the parable of the word "bread." Bread represents teachings which supply God’s people with the day by day nourishment that is necessary for their strength, and for their perseverance in the Lord. Bread differs from drink offerings in that drink offerings are specifically purposed to quench the believer’s thirst for understanding the hidden things of prophecy.

Both bread and the drink offerings are essential for the health of God’s people. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).” As in the case of wine teachings, bread teachings have a likelihood of being defiled by the misunderstandings of men. “Thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight… Thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread (Ezekiel 4:12-13).” “Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee (Malachi 1:7)?”

God has given mankind an incorruptible bread. “The unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1Corinthians 5:8).” Unleavened bread represents teachings which have not been defiled by religion, for religion contains inaccurate laws that misrepresent God's word. God refers to these laws as our leaven. "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees (Matthew 16:6)." "Leaven" is responsible for persuading believers to reject certain truths which come straight out of God's word. 

Consider the manna: Manna was an unleavened bread that came down from heaven. “This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt (Exodus 16:32).” God had Moses lift up an omer of manna to cause believers to understand and see that Israel partook in two kinds of unleavened bread in the wilderness. Not only did she eat manna, but Israel also partook in a pure doctrine of bread which she had not known, and which came down from God the Father. “He fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee to know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3).”

Like the ancient prophets, Jesus Christ gave mankind an unleavened bread which came down from God the Father. “This is the bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eats this bread shall live for ever (John 6:58).” Jesus' doctrine is an unleavened bread that contains greater promises than those promises which came down through other prophets. Partaking in Jesus’ teachings allows believers to receive the Holy Spirit, and to experience eternal life while they are yet alive on earth. “I am the bread of life (John 6:48).” This means that believers who abstain from partaking in Jesus’ teachings are missing out on a tremendous blessing which God supplies exclusively through those teachings (John 14:23-26). “I have led you forty years in the wilderness… You have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the Lord (Deuteronomy 29:5-6).” This verse is suggesting that God allowed Jewish and Islamic believers to abstain from eating of any of Jesus' doctrine, so that they might know that he is the Lord.

“The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread (1Corinthians 10:16-17).” This verse is identifying that all believers who serve the God of Abraham are partaking in one continuous doctrine of unleavened bread which came down from God the Father. Therefore, despite our religious differences, and regardless of our misunderstandings and misrepresentations of scripture, every believer that serves the God of Abraham has his part of the body of Christ, whether he believes it, or not (Romans 3:3). Consider this information very carefully. Whereas this message is revealing the truth about bread, it is also serving notice unto all believers, but especially priests: every believer who hears these messages is required to bring unleavened bread to God’s table. “Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savor unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season (Numbers 28:2).” “Ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and take away sickness from the midst of thee (Exodus 23:25)."

God Came from Teman

A Vision From the Prophet Habakkuk

The Lord God gave the prophet Habakkuk a vision. “Why doest thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention (Habakkuk 1:3).” Habakkuk's vision was given unto him for the purpose of sending a message to today's believers, one which loudly confirms that God is sending an army against religion, to destroy it. “The Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it: because it will surely come, it will not tarry (Habakkuk 2:2-3).” Habakkuk saw the army, and the resistance which lies ahead, and he interceded to God on behalf of today's believers, asking God to grant us mercy, and to give believers understanding in the vision. “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy (Habakkuk 3:1-2).”

In order to show Islamic eminence in the vision, the vision flaunted the names of Teman and Paran. “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise (Habakkuk 3:3).” Through this provocative announcement, and other prophecies which include such city names as, Seir, and Edom, God has insured Islam’s place in prophecy: for all of these names are names of cities wherein Ishmael and Esau dwelt, and Ishmael and Esau, were, and are, the forerunners of Islam (Genesis 21:21; 32:3; 36:43; Jeremiah 49:7). “Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water (Judges 5:4).” “The Lord… rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints (Deuteronomy 33:2).”

Habakkuk's vision testifies that God will raise up an Islamic leader, and that this leader will come with a resounding chorus of praise. “Earth was full of his praise (Habakkuk 3:3).” There are other prophesies of scripture which corroborate with Habakkuk's vision, including this one from the prophet Isaiah: “Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He gave them as dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow (Isaiah 41:2).”

To discretely advertise that this Islamic leader has spent time studying the scriptures of Jesus Christ, Habakkuk's vision testifies that this man has refrained himself from telling others about the secret source of his power. “His brightness was as the light… and there was the hiding of his power (Habakkuk 3:4).” According to the evidence, this leader is not only from the east, but he is also from the north: which translates that not only is he from the nation of Islam, but this man possesses knowledge which came from the covenant message. “I have raised up one from the north, he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: he shall come upon princes as mortar, and as the potter treadeth the clay (Isaiah 41:25).”

Other details about this leader are prophesied under the parable name of, Nebuchadnezzar. “I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses… and companies, and much people (Ezekiel 26:7).” This leader will not go unnoticed, for he comes with an impressive number of followers. “He came with ten thousands of saints (Deuteronomy 33:2).”

The glory that comes upon this leader and his army, comes not upon them for their righteousness, but to cause God's glorious voice to be heard. “The Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard (Isaiah 30:30).” “All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear… I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his spirit, hath sent me (Isaiah 48:14-18).” Habakkuk’s vision is yet another way in which God is revealing his thoughts unto his people, even declaring the righteousness of this prophet, and his radical army: “Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even the salvation of thine anointed (Habakkuk 3:12-13).”

When this radical army of believers hears the covenant message, they will be stirred up, and they will be taking aggressive action for the Lord. They will go forth at Nebuchadnezzar’s feet, and they will take God’s counsel against those places of worship wherein religion is still being practiced and promoted. “Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet (Habakkuk 3:5).” By all accounts their confrontations will be as fiery as burning coals, yet amid the chaos and confusion God will deliver his people. “At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book (Daniel 12:1).”

This resolute army will bring God’s wrath against the walls of religion, and their mission will not be finished until Judgment Day. Their mission is to convince every naysayer and every deceived believer to submit themselves to the authority of God’s word. “A great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations… They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks (Joel 2:2; 2:7).” “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… I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock (Jeremiah 51:20-23).” “The Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executes his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it (Joel 2:11)?”

To give believers an easy way of collecting the scriptures which pertain exclusively to the righteous members of Nebuchadnezzar’s radical army, they were given the parable name of, the Medes. Their fiery spirit is against Babylon, and they are preparing to destroy it. “The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: For his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple (Jeremiah 51:11).” Every place wherein the covenant message is either being suppressed, or ignored, is Babylon. “I will stir up the Medes against them… and Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited… neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there (Isaiah 13:17-20).”

The prophet Daniel also supplied valuable information concerning this leader. “In the latter time of their kingdom, when transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up (Daniel 8:23).” The words, “when transgressors are come to full,” are the all-telling words which testify that God has intentionally caused this leader to maintain his silence until after the covenant message was delivered unto everyone in the priesthood. This truth is affirmed by noting that the word "transgressor" can only be applied after the truth of God's word has been made known, and believers have had a chance to either obey it, or willfully disobey. The Hebrew word which was translated into the word “stand” in Daniel’s vision, was translated "stood" in Habakkuk’s vision: “He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, and the perpetual hills did bow (Habakkuk 3:6).” Because God used this extract same word in these corroborating prophecies, it is surmised that this leader will stand up boldly, and he will openly teach believers the newly revealed truth's of prophecy. He will stand in the Holy Spirit, for he is wise, and he will execute God’s word in accordance with God's will, bringing glory to God the Father.

Executing God's word ultimately means that the covenant message will be broadcast, and that God's people will be delivered from the snares of religion. Nevertheless, unless Nebuchadnezzar’s doctrine includes publicizing the new covenant (which he has been suppressing), then his followers will not be entering into everlasting life (Job 20:5-7). “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him (Psalm 49:7).” From henceforth, in order for believers to enter into God's blessings, they must vow to learn of Jesus Christ, and they must keep that vow. This is the new standard, for this is our new covenant (Isaiah 59:19). The times wherein believers could receive an inheritance by the laws of the previous covenants, is expiring, because God is fulfilling his promise to give the world its new covenant, even confirming it with mighty signs and wonders. "I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever (Jeremiah 32:39-40);" "I will make a new covenant for them (Hosea 2:18);" "He hath made the first old... the old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13)."

“I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction (Habakkuk 3:7).” The parable word "tents" is used in prophecy to represent gathering places wherein believers worship the Lord according to their own desires. Religion's tents are filled with imperfect people. The condition of God's people has worsened because many priests were not spending enough time in God’s word. Thankfully some leaders are changing their ways. Righteous priests are trading in their iniquities for a better understanding of God’s word. “There shall no evil happen to the just (Proverbs 12:21).” Whereas Habakkuk's verse is indicating that the tents of Cushan are in affliction, it is verifying that believers will see the affliction which will come upon places of worship wherein priests have despised God’s messengers, and have continued to promote their own understandings of scripture, because they loved their own policies.

“The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble (Habakkuk 3:7).” The name "Midian" is associated with Islam, and the "curtains" are associated with the holy place. Therefore this portion of the verse is indicating that a trembling will take place within the Mosques of Islam. Nebuchadnezzar will teach the Islamic people the covenant message, and when they hear it, many of them will perceive the terribleness of Islam's religious mistakes, and it will cause them to tremble. But our God is a forgiving God, and he is merciful. “I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it (Jeremiah 33:8-9).”

To best understand the army that is coming against religion, it is beneficial to learn the parable of the horse. In prophecy, God likened believers who lack understanding and are trusting in the guidance of their teachers, to horses. “Be not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding (Psalm 32:9).” Horses do not have the Holy Spirit. “Horses are flesh, and not spirit (Isaiah 31:3).” This is largely because believers which are likened to horses either have not heard about this gift, or else they haven't known the truth about how to receive it (Ephesians 1:12-14). Prophecies pertaining to the horse often contain a couple of other parable words which are closely related to the horse: words like, horsemen, and chariots. Therefore before continuing on with the interpretation of the horse, let's take a quick look at the meaning of these words. In prophecy, God used the word "horsemen" to represent priests, or other leaders that are guiding and instructing his people; and he used the word "chariot" to represent leaders which are highly lifted up, well respected, and famous for their religious ways and teachings. “I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother (Haggai 2:22).”

Understanding the parable of the horse is beneficial to the interpretation of this prophecy, because God has depicted Nebuchadnezzar's army as having the appearance of horses, and horsemen. This insinuates that the believers within his army do not have the Holy Spirit. “The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run (Joel 2:4).” “Every one turned to his course, as a horse rushes into the battle (Jeremiah 8:6).” The good news is that even if believers that are without the Holy Spirit, if they know somewhat of the truth of God’s word, and if they strive to work together in agreement with it, then they are likened to white horses, because God’s sees them as being washed from the stain of their sins. “The armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Revelation 19:14).” “In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD (Zachariah 14:20).”

God's children need living water, in other words, they need to know how they can receive the Holy Spirit, and enter into everlasting life. Horses are believers which have not heard, or known how to do this. “They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it (Job 4:20).” God commands the people who have learned the truth about what needs to be done in order to receive eternal life, to share their knowledge with those who have not heard. “Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment and walk by the way. They are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people go down to the gates (Judges 5:11).” To best understand the insinuated meaning of this verse, note that the parable word “gates” refers to point at which knowledge opens a believer's understanding, and it allows them to enter immediately into everlasting life. When leaders teach the people the newly revealed truths of prophecy, not only will they be delivering their own souls, but they will also be delivering the souls of the people. “For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever (Psalm 49:8).” It is impossible to leave Jesus Christ of the equation, for he is, "The door of the sheep (John 10:7).”

“Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers? Was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation (Habakkuk 3:8)?” This verse is begging the question, Why is God bringing forth this army? Who is his wrath really against? Is it against his people? Or is it against religion? Religion undoubtedly did cause God grief, for it contained mistakes which deceived his people, but God scripted a plan to clean up religion's mistakes. Unfortunately, despite hearing the covenant message, there are priests and leaders which would rather flee far off from the Lord than confess their own religious mistakes before the congregation. “Ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift (Isaiah 30:16).” God's wrath is kindled against those priests which are attempting to flee. “Thus saith the Lord… which bringeth forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow (Isaiah 43:16-17).”

“Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word (Habakkuk 3:9).” There is a bow purposed against the day of God's wrath, which is why David bade the prophets: “Teach the children of Judah the use of the bow (2Samuel 1:18).” God’s parable use of the word, bow, depicts the way in which men bend the truth of God's word, so that it works to their own advantage. If a person is shown the truth of God’s word, and if that person forgoes prayer, choosing rather to search the scriptures to find verses which can be used against it, then that person is likened to a deceitful bow. “They tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: but turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow (Psalm 78:56-57).”

Scripture likens Ephraim to the deceitful bow: Ephraim is a parable name representing Christianity, for Christianity is God’s first begotten of the dead. “Ephraim is my firstborn (Jeremiah 31:9).” “Ephraim is like a silly dove… Woe to them! For they have fled from me… they have spoken lies against me… They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue (Hosea 7:11-16).” “They bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, they know not me, saith the Lord (Jeremiah 9:3).”

God is sending a bow against the deceived believers of Christianity. His radical army has drawn out its bow, and it is bent against the archers of religion. “Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow (Jeremiah 51:3).” “If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready (Psalm 7:12).” “Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel (Jeremiah 50:29).” “A people shall come from the north… They shall hold of the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not show mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon (Jeremiah 50:41-42).”

Truly the word "bow" reveals that the overly zealous army, as well as the believers whom they are confronting, are both making doctrinal mistakes in this battle. That being said, take another look at the verse: “Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word (Habakkuk 3:9).” The word "naked" depicts the state of having your shame uncovered. Mentioning the "oaths of the tribes" is as mentioning the oaths and vows which have kept God’s people separated into the religions. These are the oaths which shall not stand (Amos 2:15). “Your agreement with hell shall not stand (Isaiah 28:18).” “In that day will I make a covenant for them… and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them lie down safely (Hosea 2:18).” Zion is reserved for believers that accept and trust in God's new covenant, but receiving and trusting in the instruction of the covenant message is also highly beneficial, because having a good understanding of prophecy is what it takes to break apart the oaths of the tribes, and those deceitful bows of steel. “He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms (Psalm 18:34).” “His dwelling place is Zion. There he brake the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle (Psalm 76:2-3).” “I will not trust in my bow, neither will my sword save me (Psalm 44:6).”

“Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers (Habakkuk 3:9).” This declaration is confirming the effectiveness of Nebuchadnezzar and his army as they break apart the foundations of religion: they will cause the truth of God's word to flow out of God's house, like a river. “I will bring… Nebuchadnezzar… with horses… and much people… He shall set his engines of war against thy walls… thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen… when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach (Ezekiel 26:7-10).” Nebuchadnezzar and his army will cry out truths against the laws and teachings which kept Judaism, Christianity, and the Islamic faith, in there places for centuries. “By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop the dew (Proverbs 3:20).” “Will ye not tremble at my presence (Jeremiah 5:22)?” 

In order to interpret Habakkuk's next verse, consider the parable meanings of the words: sun, moon, mountains and deep. The word, mountain, pertains to religion, and people with like-minded religious beliefs, because religious persons get high and lifted up in their prideful understanding of what God requires of those that want to be called by his name. The parable words, sun and moon, depict religious leaders, because they reflect and shine the light of truth into a dark world. The word, deep, attests to acquiring an understanding of prophecy, and being able to better interpret those strong scripture verses which formed the foundational laws of religion. “The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear (Habakkuk 3:10-11).” These verses prophesy the reactions of God's people, and the amazement of priests as they stand and watch God’s powerful army suddenly appear before them, and pass them by. “At that day… the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder (Jeremiah 4:9).” God's unconventional army will cause the eyes of the blind to be opened, and ears of the deaf to hear. “At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations (Jeremiah 50:46).” “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then men shall cry, and the inhabitants of the land shall howl (Jeremiah 47:2).”

“Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck (Habakkuk 3:13).” This verse is pondering the terrible works of the Lord: for God himself will pour out the curse, and he will wound the pride of every priest that refused to hear his message, or who disobeyed his instructions. “When thou with rebukes dost correct a man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth (Psalm 39:11).” “Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth… and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do (Exodus 34:10).” “I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is their any that can deliver out of my hand (Deuteronomy 32:39).”

“Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was to devour the poor secretly (Habakkuk 3:14).” In prophecy, the word "staff" is used to represent equipping oneself with a strong scripture verse for the purpose of hurling it at others to silence their teachings. Staves are strong scripture verses: these verses, or staves are also referred to as our staves of bread. “When the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof (Ezekiel 14:13).” So the afore mentioned verse from Habakkuk's vision is insinuating that if priests come out to hurl staves at the covenant message, then they will be struck by God’s staves. Note that the Assyrian is depicted as having a staff in his hand: “My people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall… lift up his staff against thee (Isaiah 10:24).” However the staff that is in the hand of the Assyrian's adversaries, is stronger. “O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation (Isaiah 10:5).” “By his understanding he smiteth through the proud (Job 26:12).”  

“Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6).” God's has a purpose for causing the rumors of wars to be heard in the land, and Habakkuk’s vision exposes that purpose. “When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice… and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops (Habakkuk 3:16).” "Rumors of wars" will cause fears, and this kind of fear is a godly fear which will cause hearing priests to get prepared. “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth (Isaiah 13:6-7).” “Before their face the people shall be much pained (Joel 2:6).”

“Rottenness entered into my bones (Habakkuk 3:16).” These words were pulled from the afore mentioned verse to draw attention to the parable words "rottenness" and "bones". “I will be… unto the house of Judah as rottenness (Hosea 5:12).” The punishment for those priests which did hear the covenant message but continued to stand upon their own religious beliefs, is that they will have to endure the filthiness of their own congregations. Evidence of this is found in the parable word "bones." “These bones are the whole house of Israel (Ezekiel 37:11).” The parable word "bones" was used in prophecy to depict the spiritual condition of spiritually dead believers. “I will scatter your bones round about your altars (Ezekiel 6:5).” “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! …Their root shall be rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 5:21; 5:24).” "The seed is rotten under their clods (Joel 1:17)."

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation (Habakkuk 3:17-18).” These words applaud God’s omnipotent ability to fulfill his word. God prophesied that he would equip the priesthood first: “The Lord shall save the tents of Judah first (Zechariah 12:7).” He prophesied that the people would have seven years to confirm the covenant message with many of their religious leaders, “He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (Daniel 9:27).” He prophesied that during that allotted seven year time frame, the people would continue to maintain their understanding and religious beliefs, as usual. “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For… they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark (Matthew 24:37-38).” These three prophecies, are, in effect, fulfilled, and yet another prophecy is being fulfilled which should be counted among them. This Prophecy identifies that during the seven years of confirming the new covenant, the efforts of faithful priests would seemingly be unproductive. “The heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit (Haggai 1:10).” Every faithful priest has been waiting for the rain. Rain has everything to do with hearing the revealed truths of prophecy being taught in the pulpit. “If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit (Leviticus 26:3-4).” “But if you will not hearken unto me… your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits (Leviticus 26:14; 26:20).” 

The prophet Joel affirmed that "rain," as well as repentance, plays an important roll in taking away the northern army. “Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep… let them say, Spare the people, O Lord… Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yea, the Lord will answer... I will remove far off from you the northern army… Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: 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 (Joel 2:17-23).”

“The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet (Habakkuk 3:19).” According to scripture, people often speak with their feet (Proverbs 6:13). In other words, where believers take God's message says as much about their hearts, as what they actually say. “Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood (Proverbs 1:16).” “Ponder the paths of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established (Proverb 4:26).” The Hebrew word which was translated into the word "feet" was also translated in ways which illustrate that when believers share their messages with others, those who take their understandings and messages forth, become as their feet. The easiest way to prove the intended meaning of the word "feet" is to look up the verses wherein that very same Hebrew word which was translated in the word "feet" was translated into the word "follow" (Exodus 11:8; Judges 8:5; 1Kings 20:10). In each instance the word "follow" was included in the phrase, “the people that follow.”  

The word "hind" conjures up images of a beautiful animal that flees away in quiet haste. In saying, “he will make my feet like hinds’ feet,” the implication is that when a priest confesses truths of revealed prophecy before his congregation, then his congregation will rise up, and they will be as his feet: They will go forth and spread news of the covenant message, and they will bring forth new converts. “The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve (Psalm 29:9).” “Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe (Proverbs 5:18-19).”

“He will make me to walk upon mine high places (Habakkuk 3:19).” The word, walk, suggests that the horses have been released from their burdens. That same word which was translated, walk, was also translated into the word, tread. Examples of places wherein this Hebrew word was translated, tread, include: “Thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places (Deuteronomy 33:29).” “Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours… for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you (Deuteronomy 11:24-25).” By testifying that, “He will make me to walk upon mine high places,” God is insinuating that the armies of salvation will be caused to turn around and tread upon their own deceived people. “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 sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savor shall come up, because he hath done great things (Joel 2:20).”

“To the chief singer on my stringed instruments (Habakkuk 3:19).” This verse which was placed at the end of Habakkuk’s vision, is turning everything backwards. It suggests that this vision which was written about Nebuchadnezzar and his army, was actually written for Nebuchadnezzar and his army. “I am the Lord thy God which teachest thee to profit, which leadest thee by the way that thou shouldest go (Isaiah 48:17).” This chief leader is a chosen vessel of God, for God chose him to bring news of the new covenant against the religiously deceived. “The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord (Isaiah 38:20).”

In conclusion: Although this part of the message is not from the book of Habakkuk, it is a prophetic message of instruction for Nebuchadnezzar. “Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the Lord; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east (Jeremiah 49:28).” The Lord has instructed Nebuchadnezzar to bring the newly revealed truths of prophecy against his own people: Kedar was Ishmael’s son (Genesis 25:13). Why is God making this request? Because he intends to deliver those Muslims which have been crying out to him for deliverance. Kedar is prophesied to be a city which is burdened by liars that hate peace. “Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue… Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when they speak, they are for war (Psalm 120:2-7).”

Nebuchadnezzar is being asked to smite with his tongue the leaders that are lying to his people, so that he spoils their resting places. In other words, go, and convince these leaders to hear the covenant message before God pours the consuming affliction upon them, and their people. Religion has spoiled God’s tabernacles, therefore God intends to spoil those places of worship which have disregarded his messengers. “The spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape… Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away (Jeremiah 48:8).” “My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord (Jeremiah 51:45).”

Hazor is that other city that Nebuchadnezzar is prophesied to smite (Jeremiah 49:28). The name, Hazor, was used in prophecy to represent the mindset of priests which are using their tongues to cause believers to fight against the covenant message. This interpretation is revealed through the pattern of the city’s history. Hazor was a city whose king sent messages to gather the kings of other nations to go out to battle against Joshua and Israel, when they were preparing to enter into the promised land. Hazor was the only city that Israel burned with fire, and Joshua smote her king (Joshua 11:1-13). Other biblical references to the city of Hazor indicate that her kings were oppressors (Judges 4:2-3); and that Assyrians had taken control of the city (2Kings 15:29). These findings suggest that those who are dwelling in spiritual city of Hazor, have already heard the newly revealed truths of prophecy: however, they despise God's word, and are preparing to fight against it.

“Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it (Jeremiah 49:33).” This verse is evidence and proof that every priest of the Islamic faith which has heard the covenant message, and is fighting against it, is dwelling in Hazor. There is coming a day in the which God will pour out the afflicting pestilence, and all of the priests that are dwelling in the spiritual city of Hazor, will all be consumed together. Therefore the most pressing issue that Nebuchadnezzar is facing, is to convince Islam's hearing priests to obey God's message. Affliction will be poured out upon every priest that Nebuchadnezzar and his followers, are unable to convince. “Behold, a noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons (Jeremiah 10:23).”