Steve Webb  0:00  
It's hard to avoid the thought that we are indeed living in the closing days of history.

Steve Webb  0:13  
Here we are together again! Coming to you from Riverside, California. This is the Lifespring! One Year Bible, and podcasting since 2004, I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. It's Prophecy Friday, and we'll read Ezekiel 37 through 42. And I'm calling this episode "End Times." But before we get started, I think it's a good idea to go to God in prayer. Our gracious heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for your Word. We thank you, Lord, for giving us a heads-up as to what is going to happen in the end times. As we read today, I ask you, Lord, to give us understanding, I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, let's get started. 

Steve Webb  0:54  
Ezekiel, chapter 37. I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and his spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones. He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?” I replied, “Sovereign Lord, only you can answer that!” He said, “Prophesy to the bones. Tell these dry bones to listen to the word of the Lord. Tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life. I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together. While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin. But there was no breath in the bodies. God said to me, “Mortal man, prophesy to the wind. Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life.” So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army. God said to me, “Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future. So prophesy to my people Israel and tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to open their graves. I am going to take them out and bring them back to the land of Israel. When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the Lord. I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I have promised that I would do this—and I will. I, the Lord, have spoken.” The Lord spoke to me again. “Mortal man,” he said, “take a wooden stick and write on it the words, ‘The kingdom of Judah.’ Then take another stick and write on it the words, ‘The kingdom of Israel.’ Then hold the two sticks end to end in your hand so that they look like one stick. When your people ask you to tell them what this means, tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take the stick representing Israel and put it with the one that represents Judah. Out of the two I will make one stick and hold it in my hand. “Hold in your hand the two sticks and let the people see them. Then tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take all my people out of the nations where they have gone, gather them together, and bring them back to their own land. I will unite them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. They will have one king to rule over them, and they will no longer be divided into two nations or split into two kingdoms. They will not defile themselves with disgusting idols any more or corrupt themselves with sin. I will free them from all the ways in which they sin and betray me. I will purify them; they will be my people, and I will be their God. A king like my servant David will be their king. They will all be united under one ruler and will obey my laws faithfully. They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They will live there forever, and so will their children and all their descendants. A king like my servant David will rule them forever. I will make a covenant with them that guarantees their safety forever. I will establish them and increase their population, and will see to it that my Temple stands forever in their land. I will live there with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. When I place my Temple there to be among them forever, then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen Israel to be my own people.”

Steve Webb  4:50  
Ezekiel, chapter 38. The Lord spoke to me. “Mortal man,” he said, “denounce Gog, chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal in the land of Magog. Denounce him and tell him that I, the Sovereign Lord, am his enemy. I will turn him around, put hooks in his jaws, and drag him and all his troops away. His army, with its horses and uniformed riders, is enormous, and every soldier carries a shield and is armed with a sword. Troops from Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with him, and all have shields and helmets. All the fighting men in the lands of Gomer and Beth Togarmah in the north are with him, and so are men from many other nations. Tell him to get ready and have all his troops ready at his command. After many years I will order him to invade a country where the people were brought back together from many nations and have lived without fear of war. He will invade the mountains of Israel, which were desolate and deserted so long, but where all the people now live in safety. He and his army and the many nations with him will attack like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.” This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Gog: “When that time comes, you will start thinking up an evil plan. You will decide to invade a helpless country where the people live in peace and security in unwalled towns that have no defenses. You will plunder and loot the people who live in cities that were once in ruins. They have been gathered from the nations, and now they have livestock and property and live at the crossroads of the world. The people of Sheba and Dedan and the merchants from the towns of Spain will ask you, ‘Have you assembled your army and attacked in order to loot and plunder? Do you intend to get silver and gold, livestock and property, and march off with all these spoils?’” So the Sovereign Lord sent me to tell Gog what he was saying to him: “Now while my people Israel live in security, you will set out to come from your place in the far north, leading a large, powerful army of soldiers from many nations, all of them on horseback. You will attack my people Israel like a storm moving across the land. When the time comes, I will send you to invade my land in order to show the nations who I am, to show my holiness by what I do through you. You are the one I was talking about long ago, when I announced through my servants, the prophets of Israel, that in days to come I would bring someone to attack Israel.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken. The Sovereign Lord says, “On the day when Gog invades Israel, I will become furious. I declare in the heat of my anger that on that day there will be a severe earthquake in the land of Israel. Every fish and bird, every animal large and small, and every human being on the face of the earth will tremble for fear of me. Mountains will fall, cliffs will crumble, and every wall will collapse. I will terrify Gog with all sorts of calamities. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. His men will turn their swords against one another. I will punish him with disease and bloodshed. Torrents of rain and hail, together with fire and sulfur, will pour down on him and his army and on the many nations that are on his side. In this way I will show all the nations that I am great and that I am holy. They will know then that I am the Lord.”

Steve Webb  8:11  
Ezekiel, chapter 39. The Sovereign Lord said, “Mortal man, denounce Gog, the chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal, and tell him that I am his enemy. I will turn him in a new direction and lead him out from the far north until he comes to the mountains of Israel. Then I will knock his bow out of his left hand and his arrows out of his right hand. Gog and his army and his allies will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, and I will let their bodies be food for all the birds and wild animals. They will fall dead in the open field. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will start a fire in the land of Magog and along all the seacoasts where people live undisturbed, and everyone will know that I am the Lord. I will make sure that my people Israel know my holy name, and I will not let my name be disgraced any more. Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, am the holy God of Israel.” The Sovereign Lord said, “The day I spoke about is certain to come. The people who live in the cities of Israel will go out and collect the abandoned weapons for firewood. They will build fires with the shields, bows, arrows, spears, and clubs, and have enough to last for seven years. They will not have to gather firewood in the fields or cut down trees in the forest, because they will have the abandoned weapons to burn. They will loot and plunder those who looted and plundered them.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken. The Lord said, “When all this happens, I will give Gog a burial ground there in Israel, in Travelers' Valley, east of the Dead Sea. Gog and all his army will be buried there, and the valley will be called ‘The Valley of Gog's Army.’ It will take the Israelites seven months to bury all the corpses and make the land clean again. Everyone in the land will help bury them, and they will be honored for this on the day of my victory. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. After the seven months are over, men will be chosen to travel through the land in order to find and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, so that they can make the land clean again. As they go up and down the country, every time they find a human bone, they will put a marker beside it so that the gravediggers can come and bury it in the Valley of Gog's Army. (There will be a town nearby named after the army.) And so the land will be made clean again.” The Sovereign Lord said to me, “Mortal man, call all the birds and animals to come from all around to eat the sacrifice I am preparing for them. It will be a huge feast on the mountains of Israel, where they can eat meat and drink blood. They are to eat the bodies of soldiers and drink the blood of the rulers of the earth, all of whom will be killed like rams or lambs or goats or fat bulls. When I kill these people like sacrifices, the birds and animals are to eat all the fat they can hold and to drink blood until they are drunk. At my table they will eat all they can hold of horses and their riders and of soldiers and fighting men. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.” The Lord said, “I will let the nations see my glory and show them how I use my power to carry out my just decisions. The Israelites will know from then on that I am the Lord their God. And the nations will know that the Israelites went into exile because of the sins which they committed against me. I turned away from them and let their enemies defeat them and kill them in battle. I gave them what they deserved for their uncleanness and their wickedness, and I turned away from them.” The Sovereign Lord said, “But now I will be merciful to Jacob's descendants, the people of Israel, and make them prosperous again. I will protect my holy name. When they are once more living in safety in their own land, with no one to threaten them, they will be able to forget how they were disgraced for having betrayed me. In order to show to the many nations that I am holy, I will bring them back from all the countries where their enemies live. Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know this, because I sent them into captivity and now gather them and bring them back into their own land, not leaving even one of them behind. I will pour out my spirit on the people of Israel and never again turn away from them. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

Steve Webb  12:27  
Ezekiel, chapter 40. It was the tenth day of the new year, which was the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken into exile and the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that day I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and he carried me away. In a vision God took me to the land of Israel and put me on a high mountain. I saw in front of me a group of buildings that looked like a city. He took me closer, and I saw a man who shone like bronze. He was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring rod and was standing by a gateway. He said to me, “Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see.” What I saw was the Temple, and there was a wall around it. The man took his measuring rod, which was 10 feet long, and measured the wall. It was 10 feet high and 10 feet thick. Then he went to the gateway that faced east. He went up the steps, and at the top he measured the entrance; it was 10 feet deep. Beyond it there was a passageway, which had three guardrooms on each side. Each of the rooms was square, 10 feet on each side, and the walls between them were 8 feet thick. Beyond the guardrooms there was a passageway 10 feet long that led to an entrance room which faced the Temple. He measured this room and found it was 14 feet deep. It formed that end of the gateway which was nearest the Temple, and at its far end the walls were 4 feet thick. (These guardrooms on each side of the passageway were all the same size, and the walls between them were all of the same thickness.) Next, the man measured the width of the passageway in the gateway. It was 22 feet altogether, and the space between the open gates was 16 feet. In front of each of the guardrooms there was a low wall 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. (The rooms were 10 feet square.) Then he measured the distance from the back wall of one room to the back wall of the room across the passageway from it, and it was 42 feet. The room at the far end led out to a courtyard. He measured that room and found it was 34 feet wide. The total length of the gateway from the outside wall of the gate to the far side of the last room was 84 feet. There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. The man took me through the gateway into the courtyard. There were thirty rooms built against the outer wall, and in front of them there was an area paved with stones, which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard. There was a gateway at a higher level that led to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the two gateways, and it was 168 feet. Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard. The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway, the walls between them, and the entrance room all had the same measurements as those in the east gateway. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard. Across the courtyard from this north gateway was another gateway leading to the inner courtyard, just as there was on the east gate. The man measured the distance between these two gateways, and it was 168 feet. Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others. There were windows in the rooms of this gateway just as in the others. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. Here, too, there was a gateway leading to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance to this second gateway, and it was 168 feet. The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall. Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls were the same size as those in the other gateways. There were also windows in the rooms of this gateway. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. Its entrance room faced the other courtyard, and palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate. The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others. Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls measured the same as those in the other gateways. There were windows all around, and in the entrance room also. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate. Then the man took me to the north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others. Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet. The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate. In the outer courtyard there was an annex attached to the inner gateway on the north side. It opened into the entrance room that faced the courtyard, and there they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burned whole as sacrifices. In this entrance room there were four tables, two on each side of the room. It was on these tables that they killed the animals to be offered as sacrifices, either to be burned whole or to be sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings. Outside the room there were four similar tables, two on either side of the entrance of the north gate. Altogether there were eight tables on which the animals to be sacrificed were killed: four inside the room and four out in the courtyard. The four tables in the annex, used to prepare the offerings to be burned whole, were of cut stone. They were 20 inches high, and their tops were 30 inches square. All the equipment used in killing the sacrificial animals was kept on these tables. Ledges 3 inches wide ran around the edge of the tables. All the meat to be offered in sacrifice was placed on the tables. Then he brought me into the inner court. There were two rooms opening on the inner court, one facing south beside the north gateway and the other facing north beside the south gateway. The man told me that the room which faced south was for the priests who served in the Temple, and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the Lord's presence to serve him. The man measured the inner courtyard, and it was 168 feet square. The Temple was on the west side, and in front of it was an altar. Then he took me into the entrance room of the Temple. He measured the entranceway: it was 9 feet deep and 24 feet wide, with walls 5 feet thick on either side. Steps led up to the entrance room, which was 34 feet wide and 20 feet deep. There were two columns, one on each side of the entrance.

Steve Webb  20:25  
Ezekiel, chapter 41. Next, the man took me into the central room, the Holy Place. He measured the passageway into it: it was 10 feet deep and 18 feet wide, with walls 8 feet thick on either side. He measured the room itself: it was 68 feet long and 34 feet wide. Then he went to the innermost room. He measured the passageway into it: it was 3 feet deep and 10 feet wide, with walls on either side 12 feet thick. He measured the room itself, and it was 34 feet square. This room was beyond the central room. Then he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.” The man measured the thickness of the inner wall of the Temple building, and it was 10 feet. Against this wall, all around the Temple, was a series of small rooms 7 feet wide. These rooms were in three stories, with thirty rooms on each floor. The Temple's outer wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without being anchored into it. And so the Temple walls, when seen from the outside, seemed to have the same thickness all the way to the top. Against the Temple's outer wall, on the outside of the rooms, two wide stairways were built, so that it was possible to go from the lower story to the middle and the upper stories. The outside wall of these rooms was 8 feet thick; there was one door into the rooms on the north side of the Temple, and one into those on the south side. I saw that there was a terrace 8 feet wide around the Temple; it was 10 feet above the ground and it was level with the foundation of the rooms by the Temple walls. Between the terrace and the buildings used by the priests there was an open space 34 feet across, along the sides of the Temple. At the far end of the open space on the west side of the Temple there was a building 150 feet long and 116 feet wide; its walls were 9 feet thick all around. The man measured the outside of the Temple, and it was 168 feet long. And from the back of the Temple, across the open space to the far side of the building to the west, the distance was also 168 feet. The distance across the front of the Temple, including the open space on either side, was also 168 feet. He measured the length of the building to the west, including its galleries on both sides, and it was also 168 feet. The entrance room of the Temple, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place were all paneled with wood from the floor to the windows. These windows could be covered. The inside walls of the Temple, up as high as above the doors, were completely covered with carvings of palm trees and winged creatures. Palm trees alternated with creatures, one following the other, all the way around the room. Each creature had two faces: a human face that was turned toward the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face that was turned toward the tree on the other side. It was like this all around the wall, from the floor to above the doors. The doorposts of the Holy Place were square. In front of the entrance of the Most Holy Place there was something that looked like a wooden altar. It was 5 feet high and 4 feet wide. Its corner posts, its base, and its sides were all made of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table which stands in the presence of the Lord.” There was a door at the end of the passageway to the Holy Place and one also at the end of the passageway to the Most Holy Place. They were double doors that swung open in the middle. There were palm trees and winged creatures carved on the doors of the Holy Place, just as there were on the walls. And there was a wooden covering over the outside of the doorway of the entrance room. At the sides of this room there were windows, and the walls were decorated with palm trees.

Steve Webb  24:19  
Ezekiel, chapter 42. Then he brought me out into the outer court, by the way toward the north; and he brought me into the chamber which was opposite the separating courtyard, and which was opposite the building toward the north. Facing the length, which was one hundred cubits (the width was fifty cubits), was the north door. Opposite the inner court of twenty cubits, and opposite the pavement of the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories. In front of the chambers, toward the inside, was a walk ten cubits wide, at a distance of one cubit; and their doors faced north. Now the upper chambers were shorter, because the galleries took away space from them more than from the lower and middle stories of the building. For they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper level was shortened more than the lower and middle levels from the ground up. And a wall which was outside ran parallel to the chambers, at the front of the chambers, toward the outer court; its length was fifty cubits. The length of the chambers toward the outer court was fifty cubits, whereas that facing the temple was one hundred cubits. At the lower chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court. And there were chambers in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, opposite the separating courtyard and opposite the building. There was a walk in front of them also, and their appearance was like the chambers which were toward the north; they were as long and as wide as the others, and all their exits and entrances were according to plan. And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, as one enters them, there was a door in front of the walk, the way directly in front of the wall toward the east. Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separating courtyard, are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall lay the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering—for the place is holy. When the priests enter them, they shall not go out of the holy chamber into the outer court; but there they shall leave their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they may approach that which is for the people.” Now when he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out through the gateway that faces toward the east, and measured it all around. He measured the east side with the measuring rod, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. He measured the north side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. He measured the south side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod. He came around to the west side and measured five hundred rods by the measuring rod. He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the common.

Steve Webb  27:19  
Beloved, today, I'm going to talk to you about Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. As a preface, let me say that Russia and its President Vladimir Putin has been in the news over the last year quite a lot because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Don't worry, I'm not going to comment on that war because that isn't what the Lifespring! One Year Bible is all about. But some people have the opinion that Russia will play an important role in the end times, so let's look at that, shall we? Let me start by reading the first six verses of chapter 38. "And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against them and say, "Thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.'”'" Okay, now, before I talk about the things we can know from these chapters, I'd like to share something written by Bible commentator Warren Wiersbe, he wrote, “It’s tempting to identify Rosh with Russia and therefore Meschech with Moscow and Tubal with Tobolsk, both cities in Russia; but we would have a hard time defending this on linguistic grounds. This doesn’t rule out the participation of modern Russia, since it is located in the north, but neither does it demand it.” Okay, so from the scriptures we can't know for sure that modern Russia is the land spoken of in these scriptures. So let's look at what we can know. Ezekiel 14 through 18 says, “Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly, and a mighty army; and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.” ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord God, “that My fury will mount up in My anger."'" So from verse 16, we know that this will happen in the last days. Now, I've said many times on this show that I believe that we are in the last days. But I have also said that I am not dogmatic about that. But so many things have happened in the world since Israel again became a nation in 1948 that it's hard to avoid the thought that we are indeed living in the closing days of history. We don't have time here to list all the events. Entire books have been written on the subject. It's an area that has a myriad of rabbit holes into which one could invest a lot of time. So let me just give you a list of the things we can glean from chapters 38 and 39. In chapter 38, verses 1 through 6, Gog, a leader from the north of Israel will lead an alliance of nations to attack Israel. These nations include Persia, Ethiopia, Put, Gomer. Beth-togarmah, and many peoples. Today, these lands encompass modern Iran, Turkey, Libya, Ethiopia, and possibly Armenia and Germany. And then in chapter 38, verse 10, we learned that Gog's motivation will be twofold, his own evil desires and God's compulsion. Yes, as he did with others in Scripture, God will cause Gog to do this. And then verses 4 through 6 in 38, we learned that they will attack swiftly with a very powerful army. And chapter 38, verses 8 and 12 tell us that the attack comes when Israel has become a nation and when they are experiencing security, safety, and prosperity. Verses 12 and 13 of chapter 38 tell us that other nations not involved in the attack will try to see how they might benefit from Gog's victory over Israel. And then verse 16 of chapter 38 tells us that God will defeat Gog in a way that will bring glory to himself. Now to be clear, we are not given enough information to have any certainty when this will happen. We can't say that the Russian-Ukraine war are the precursor to this battle. It's possible that the battle spoken of here in Ezekiel takes place before what is known as the Great Tribulation which is the final literal seven-year period before Jesus returns to Earth. It could take place in the middle of that seven-year period, or it could take place at the end of the seven years. Interestingly, Revelation 19:17-18 and Ezekiel 39:17-20 are very similar. Revelation speaks of the time at the end of the seven years. Listen to Revelation 19, verses 17 and 18. "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in the midheaven, 'Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of the commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.'” And then Ezekiel 39:17-19 says, “As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord, ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you."'" And it just might be that the battle will take place after Jesus reigns on Earth for 1000 years after his return in Revelation 19. The fact is, we just do not know many of the details that God has in mind. For reasons only known to him, he only gave us a very rough sketch with just enough details to know that these events will happen, and they will all be for his glory. We're told in the book of Revelation that at the end of it all, we will praise him for all he's done. Revelation chapter 7, verses 9 through 17 says, "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and all peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.' And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, 'Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.' Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, 'These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?' I said to him, 'My lord, you know.' And he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.'” Beloved, I'll say it again, I don't know when these things will happen. No one knows but the Father. But whether it begins today, or at some distant time in the future, they will happen as surely as you're hearing my voice, right now. The question is, are you ready? Are you prepared? 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 2 and 3 tells us “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them and suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.” In other words, Beloved, once it starts, it will be too late to make preparations. So how do you prepare? How will you escape destruction? How can you be sure that you will be one of those standing before the throne of the Lamb who is Jesus? Well, if you've put your faith in him, if you've asked him to forgive your sins, if you've asked him to be your Lord and your Savior, you have nothing to worry about. You have a place prepared for you in Heaven. Jesus said, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” He said that in John chapter 14. Beloved, if you're not sure that you're prepared, if you don't know that there'll be a place for you in Heaven, you can get prepared right now. How? Well, you have to believe that Jesus is who he said he is. But it's more than that because even the demons and Satan himself believes that Jesus is the Messiah. You must ask him to be your Lord and your Savior. Have you done that? Do you want to be sure that you're prepared? My suggestion is that you decide right now. Why wait? What is there to gain by waiting? Or let's turn that question around. What is there to lose by waiting? Well, just everything. If you wait, there's everything to lose. When you decide now, to follow Jesus, you have everything to gain. All you have to do is ask him, just a simple prayer. Are you ready? Right now? Then pray with me. Dear Jesus, I want to know that you are my savior and my Lord. Please forgive me of all the sins I've done. I'm sorry for them, Lord, and I turn from them now. I give my life to you, and I ask you to be my Savior and my Lord. Please take my life from this moment on and help me to become the person you made me to be. I'm asking you to be my God, my Savior, and my friend. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, and you meant it, congratulations! You have begun a new life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away; behold, new things have come." Beloved, that is a promise from God. Hang on to that promise. No matter if you felt anything or not when you prayed that prayer, that promise does apply to you right now. Now, to help you get started, as a new believer, I have a New Testament that I would like to send to you. It's my gift. It's free. It's called the New Believer's Bible, and it's filled with hundreds of notes that will help you get started in your new life. I want you to have it. Just send me an email at steve@lifespringmedia.com and tell me that you just prayed that prayer and tell me where to send it. I won't use your email or mailing address for anything else. I will not spam you and I won't give or sell anyone else your information. I just want you to have this New Believer's Bible with no strings at all. I'm just so happy that you've made this, the best decision you'll ever make in your life. Well, what do you think about what I've said today? Does it make sense to you? Let me hear from you. Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511. You can also comment via boostagram, or go to comment.lifespringmedia.com. Tomorrow will be Gospel Saturday and our reading will be Luke 23 and 24.

Steve Webb  40:08  
Boostagram. 

Steve Webb  40:09  
A couple of boostagrams came in today. A Fountain user with a username @aika_yuki sent 500 sats. Thank you, Aika. God bless you. And 500 sats came in again from user 2558 over there at Fountain and they said as usual, "Thank you." Well, thank you again 2558. God bless you. 

Jingle  40:40  
Lifespringmedia.com/support 

Steve Webb  40:47  
I don't believe I've ever done this in the more than 3000 episodes I've produced here at Lifespring! Media, but I'm going to recommend you go to today's show notes page to watch the last speech that Tucker Carlson made before Fox News fired him. I don't know what your opinion is of Tucker Carlson, but he had some really excellent things to say. And it wasn't really a political speech, per se. But he made some points regarding good and evil that very much parallel many of the things that you've heard me say here on the show. And even if you're not in the United States, I think you'll find his words to be important as well. I'll just leave it at that. But I do hope you'll take about 30 minutes to watch the video. I'll have it posted at lifespringmedia.com/s13e209

Steve Webb  41:37   
Remember that Sunday will be the next time of prayer requests and praises here on the show. So call in your prayer request or your praise at 951-732-8511 or go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com. Thanks to Sister Denise, Michael Haner, Scott Snider, Jason Paschall, today's artists again, and Sister Brittany - the Lifespring! Media Team. We should get team shirts or something. And thank you, Beloved for including me in your day. Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai