Where is Germany mentioned in Biblical prophecy? Or are the German people mentioned at all? The German people stand today in the very shadow of the Iron Curtain. Germany at this moment holds the key to Europe's destiny and to Western defense. German industry and transportation constitute the heart and arteries of Europe. Without the beating of the German heart, Europe would quickly stagger and fall before the ravages of atheistic communism. Germany has been the center of the world's two greatest wars and of the scourge of Nazism. Thirteen years ago, two years after the Nazi movement went underground, Germany appeared destroyed forever as a mighty nation. It seemed she could never rise again. Yet today — thirteen short years after Germany was completely destroyed — today, with the Iron Curtain still dividing her people, Germany is once again the vibrant heart of Europe. We commonly hear of the economic "miracle of Germany." Never has there been anything like Germany's revival in history. WHY? Will the Nazis and Fascists once again succeed in taking over Germany and all Europe, this time from within, and seize the Middle East before we realize what is happening? It is high time we faced these questions!
Could Bible Prophecy Ignore Germany?
Consider also that Germany has set itself up as the bulwark of European civilization for well over a thousand years. Germany for centuries has stood as the eastern wall of defense against the barbarism of Asia. It was on German soil and through the shedding of German blood that the hordes of Asia, sweeping across eastern Europe, were stopped. The German Reich or Kingdom was the oldest political institution in Europe — older than the government of France or England by centuries. The German people called their Reich the Holy Roman Empire. It bore rule over Europe for a thousand years. This "Holy Roman Empire of the German People" was officially designated by the Church in the Middle Ages as "The Kingdom of God" on earth. Its citizens, the Germans felt themselves true Romans and bearers of the Christian Reich of Kingdom. They were therefore the chosen people of the Christian era, entrusted with a world-mission to be the protectors of Christianity. The German leaders and philosophers have never forgotten this notion of the Middle Ages that the German, in place of the Jew, has a special mission from God. German politicians know that their dream of a world Empire can be created only if they maintain this claim of a world-mission. This strange concept, which lies behind political thinking in Germany today, is plainly stated in a German work which I have before me as I write this article. The book is entitled Die Tragodie des Heiligen Reiches, or, translated, The Tragedy of the Holy Kingdom. It is by Friedrich Heer. It is a remarkable volume. It lays bare the reason for the secret moves of the Nazi Underground in Iraq and other Arab nations. Bible prophecies definitely mention such minor nations as Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon. It clearly mentions Russia, China, Italy, Turkey, Great Britain and the United States. Could Bible prophecy, then, ignore Germany? Could it overlook the German people who have played such an outstanding part in human history? Assuredly not! Nor are the German people ignored! The fact is that the German people are revealed in the Bible to be the protectors and perpetuators of this world's civilization — its religious, social, political and military customs! Dozens of Bible prophecies are devoted to the German people. Yet the prophetic identity of Germany and Austria have remained hidden from the world. Why? Because modern nations are not usually spoken of in Bible prophecy by their modern names, except in a few cases. Names often change over the centuries. Usually modern peoples in Bible prophecy are named after the ancestor from whom they sprang. Nations are merely families grown BIG. For example, the Kingdom of Jordan — in which British paratroops have recently landed — is spoken of as "Ammon and Moab " because the descendants of ancient Amon and Moab live in Jordan today (Genesis 19:37-38). The Spanish people are usually referred to as "Tarshish" in prophecy, because the bulk of the Spanish people descended from Tarshish (Genesis 10:4). The Great Russians are designated "Meshech and Tubal" in prophecy (Genesis 10:2). And joined with them in a Communist league is "Magog," the ancestor of the Mongolian hordes of Eastern Asia. Other nations such as Egypt and Ethiopia and Greece and Persia, are referred to by their modern names, which they have retained unchanged over the centuries. But where are Germany and Austria mentioned in the Bible prophecies? The story of the ancestry of the German people, and their role in prophecy, is one of the strangest stories ever written. It is gripping with interest, amazing — yes, astounding!
Germans Shape World Affairs
The German people have been the civilizers of Central Europe. It is they who have fundamentally carried the torch of this world's civilization from Roman to modern times. It is the German people who, often by the sword, brought the pagans of Europe into the fold of the Catholic Church. "The History of Germany," writes Bayard Taylor, "is not the history of a nation, but of a race... Thus, even before the fall of the Roman Empire, it becomes the main trunk out of which branch histories of nearly all European nations, and... the connecting link between ancient and modern history. The records of no other race throw so much light upon the development of all civilized lands during a period of fifteen hundred years" (from History of Germany, page iii). Germany has been a center of learning for generations. From German inventions developed one of the most powerful means of mass communication ever produced — the printing press. Many of the world's most renowned musicians have come from Germany and Austria — Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Schumann, Schubert, the Strausses and Wagner. German inventions have contributed greatly to the modern industrial world — Daimler invented the motorcycle (in 1885), and the gasoline-driven automobile in 1887; Rudolf Diesel invented the Diesel engine; Siemens, the furnace for steelmaking; Bayer, the synthesis of chemical dyes; Fahrenheit gave us the mercury thermometer; Benz, the internal combustion engine; Mitterhoffer, the typewriter; and Rontgen discovered the X ray. And think how many children have read Grimm's fairytales, translated from the German. German dramatists, essayists, historians, philosophers and poets — too numerous to mention — have mightily moulded world thinking. Germany has contributed more military leaders than any other nation in history. Its governments have in the past, claimed the right to rule the "Christian world." The German State, from its beginning, has nearly always been a confederation of states — often an empire of German ruling over non-German. It is the German people who, more than once, have believed themselves to be the "Herrenvolk" — the Master Race. German leaders once again — just as in centuries past — openly are attempting to unite all Europe in a United States of Europe — and, through Europe, to reshape the world in order to fasten German leadership and culture on all nations and peoples. German philosophers still regard this as a special calling from heaven itself. Certainly the German nation, which now holds the key to the survival of civilization, could NOT be overlooked by the Bible!
Where DID the Germans Come From?
The German people — who number over one hundred million throughout the world today — are one great family. But they are composed of numerous small tribes. Nations, remember, are families grown BIG. Take Israel for example. The nation Israel descended from one man Jacob (who was renamed Israel upon his conversion — Genesis 35:9-10). But Israel had 12 sons. His family therefore was divided into 12 tribes. You read so often in the Bible about "the 12 tribes of Israel" — Judah, Dan, Ephraim, Levi, etc. (Genesis 49:28). The same is true of the German people. The Germans are composed of numerous small tribes divided today into three nations, Austria and East and West Germany. Of all these tribes, perhaps the most famous name to Americans is that of the Hessians. The British hired numerous Hessians in their effort to put down the American Revolution which began in 1776. But the Hessians are not the only German tribe. When the Germans poured into Europe nearly 2000 years ago, they were known to the Roman historians by various tribal names. Among the most important German tribes were the "Hatti" (the ancestors of the modern Hessians), the "Alemani" and "Suabi," the "Quadi," the "Casuari" and others. The Romans called them collectively Germani, meaning "War-men" (from the Encyclopedia Britannica, article, "Germany"). The ancestor of the Germans was glorified as their God of war. The ancient Germans called him Thor or Thur from which our word "Thursday" comes. Thursday means the "day of Thur or Thor," the thunderer. But from where did all these Germanic people come? — for Europe was not their original homeland! Here is the answer of history: "There can be no doubt that they... migrated into Europe from the Caucasus and the countries around the Black and Caspian seas," states Smith's Classical Dictionary, article "Germania," p. 361. The Germans, then, can be traced in historical records to the regions surrounding the Black and Caspian seas, which border on the ancient Biblical land of Mesopotamia. This is the region where civilization commenced and from where the Bible patriarchs came! In this very region we find in ancient times cities bearing such names as Germanopolis, meaning "the city of the Germans," and Germanicia! (See Lempriere's Classical Dictionary, p. 282.)
Germans Spread Out from Bible Lands
Most of the ancient Germans moved westward from the Bible lands into Europe. But one small tribe moved eastward and settled among the Persians. Historians called them the Germanii (Herodotus' History, bk. 1, § 125). The region where they settled is today called Kharmania or Carmania. The oriental Kerman rugs, recognized the world over for their fine quality, are made by this region. Last year, Dr. Meredith and I had the opportunity to visit Persia, where this one small branch of the Germanic people anciently settled. But the bulk of the warring Germanic people moved westward into Europe from Mesopotamia (the present-day Iraq, where the Nazi Underground is working). Mesopotamia was the central home land from which the Aryans of history sprang. Notice that under Hitler the Germans were thoroughly indoctrinated in the concept that they were the true "Aryans" or "the Master Race"! Now consider another key to discovering Germany's place in Bible prophecy! The ancient city of Germanicopolis was located in Cilicia, in southeastern Asia Minor, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, book 1, § 27. It belonged of old to the Hatti. Cilicia is mentioned several places in the Bible. Paul was born in Cilicia (Acts 21:39 and 22:3). Now look at a map of Europe. We find that one of the eastern provinces of pre-World War II Germany is called SILESIA! — spelled slightly different, but pronounced the same! Ancient Cilicia in Asia Minor was included within the land of Hatti (sometimes spelled "Chatti" or "Khatti"). When the Germans came into Europe, one of their tribes was also called Chatti — the ancestors of the modern Hessians. (The modern German territory of Hesse is but a modern spelling for the Old High German word Hatti.) The ancient Hatti claimed to be "the Master Race." They lorded it over other peoples who lived in the same region. So have the modern Germans! These people were the inventors of the double headed eagle which has always been a symbol of the German Empire! Professor A.H. Sayce states it was left to these people "to invent a double-headed eagle" (page 116 of his book The Hittites). These were the same people who apparently invented the swastika as a political symbol (page 142) — also a symbol of Nazi Germany. They also gave the world the use of the military cross, another symbol of the German Empire (see § 36 in G. Contenau's La Civilisation des Hittites et des Hurrites du Mitanni). In the same Bible lands was the ancient district of Alman — the modern Aleppo in Syria. Is it a coincidence that among the Germans in Europe were the Alemanni? In south-central Mesopotamia lived the ancient Akkadians. And when the Romans found the Germans in Europe, one of the German tribes was called the Quadians by the Romans! Merely another coincidence? Further, ancient Mesopotamia was for a long time dominated by the ancient Cossi or Kassites — historians spell the name in different ways. When the Germans came into Europe, among them were the Cassuari — meaning "the league of the Cassi or Kassi"! Another coincidence? Here is clear evidence of where the Germans came from — and where they lived in Bible times! All these tribes, in Bible times, were called by the general term of "Cari" or "Gar-men" or "Kari" or "Khar people." Several historians incorrectly spell the name "Hurri" (see the Cambridge Ancient History). These people who once dominated ancient Mesopotamia bore the name of "Ghar-men" because they were "men of war." Is it merely another coincidence that when these tribes from this very region came into Europe they were all called Germanni — signifying "men of war" — by the Romans?
The Bible Answer Is Found!
Ancient German records claim that their oldest city, Trier, was founded by a son of Ninus — the Nimrod of the Bible who founded civilization (Genesis 10:8-12). "The inhabitants of Trier maintain that their city is the oldest in all Europe," writes Josef K. L. Bihl in his textbook In deutschen Landen, page 69. "Trier was founded," he continues, "by Trebeta, a son of the famous Assyrian King Ninus. In fact, one finds... in Trier the inscription reading, 'Trier existed for 1300 years before Rome was rebuilt." But how is it possible that the oldest German city, Trier, founded over 2000 years before Christ, should be built by a son of Ninus, the renowned King of ancient Assyria? Notice! Ninus (his Bible name was Nimrod), according to Genesis 10, led the ancient Assyrians from Babylon and supervised their building of Nineveh, the capital of ancient Assyria. Last summer Dr. Meredith and I viewed in Iraq, the ancient Mesopotamia, the very cities originally settled with the Assyrians by Nimrod. From there the Assyrians began their conquest of the ancient world. They, too, called themselves "the Master Race." Now why do the German records speak of this son of an Assyrian King building their first city? What connection have the German tribes with the Assyrians of history? Jerome, who lived at the time when the Indo-Germanic tribes were invading Europe, gives the answer: "For 'Assur (the Assyrian) also is joined with them' "! (Letter 123, § 16, quoted from Psalm 83:8; from Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.)
Did the Assyrians Invade Europe?
Yes! Jerome said so! But how did he know? He saw them! He was an eyewitness to their migrations from Mesopotamia and the shores of the Black and Caspian seas! Only 300 years before Jerome, the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder declared the "Assyriani" — the Assyrians — were dwelling north of the Black Sea (Natural History, IV, § 12, page 183).
The swastika was chosen by the Nazis under Hitler as the symbol of their regime. But over 2500 years ago the swastika was also a common symbol throughout the western Assyrian Empire, where the Germans anciently lived. The swastika-decorated object here was found in Euyuk, in present-day Turkey. By contrast, one finds in Palestine — where the House of Israel dwelt — the symbol of the union — jack, as seen on this fragment of pottery. And is it any wonder that their descendants today — the English-speaking peoples — should still be using the same symbol! (See PDF For Pictures — Courtesy Contenau's La Civilisation and Woolley's Alalakh)
But the Assyrians did not remain there! They are not there today! Of course not — they migrated into Central Europe where the Germans live today! History lost sight of the Assyrians, just as it did of the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel" whom the Assyrians took captive (II Kings 17 & 18). But when we rediscover the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel" as they migrated to the British Isles, the Low Countries and Scandanavia, they were separating from the Assyrians or Germans, who took them captive.
Germans Are Assyrians
Just as the family of Israel was divided up into 12 tribes, so the ancient Assyrians were divided up into numerous tribes. The Assyrian kings wrote of the tribe of Hatti — the ancestors of the Hessians: "As Assyrians I (ac)counted them" (D.D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, Vol. II, § 29). The ancient capital of the land of Hatti was popularly known among the Romans as "Ninus Vetus — the old Nineveh " (History of Art in Sardinia, Judaea, Syria and Asia Minor, by G. Perrot and C. Chipiez, Vol. II, page 272). Nineveh was Assyria's capital! The Germans, remember, came into Europe from the shores of the Black Sea and its environs. Now consider what Sylax, the author of the "Periplus," who lived about 550 B.C., writes of this region: "The coast of the Black Sea... is called Assyria " (from page 261 of Perrot and Chipiez's work). How plain! The Germans came from Assyria! And the "Khar-men " or "Cari" — the men of war or Germans — "dominated for a long time the land of Assyria" (page 89 of the French work, La Civilisation des Hittites et des Hurrites du Mitanni, by Dr. G. Contenau Payot). It was the Gar-men — or Germanswho populated "Mesopotamia and all the territory of Assyria to the Zagros Mountains," writes the same author on page 64.
The Assyrians in Scripture
The Assyrians — the ancestors of the German people — are first mentioned in Genesis 10:22. In this verse you find the father or ancestor of the Assyrians is named "Asshur." The word Asshur is often translated as "Assyrian" or "Assyrians" in the Bible, because Asshur is the father of the Assyrian nation.
These surprising statues (in the Iraq Museum) picture the King and a Nobleman of the city of Hatra in the second century after Christ. These men were not Arabs, but Nordics. Many scholars are now beginning to realize that Mesopotamia was once widely populated with fair-skinned people, whose descendants have since migrated into Europe! — Courtesy Iraq Museum — (See PDF For Picture)
When some of the children of Abraham and Keturah later migrated to Mesopotamia, they too were called "Asshurim" — the people of Asshur. They are related to the Letushim or Lettish people living on the Baltic. Another branch from Sheba apparently gave their name to the Swabian Germans (Genesis 25:3). The Assyrians later called their ancestor Asshur by the name of Tyr or Tiw . When the Germans appeared in Europe, they, too, claimed Tyr or Tiw as their ancestory! That is where the name "Deutsch" comes from! Asshur was a son of Shem. But after the tower of Babel, when the languages of the world were confused (Genesis 11), the Assyrians no longer spoke a Semitic tongue, but rather an Indo-Germanic tongue! The Germans, therefore, are Semitic by race, but not by language! In the days of Abraham, the Germans or Assyrians formed a great confederation of states or tribes (Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, book 1, ch. 9). The king of the Assyrians then was "Tidal, king of nations" (Genesis 14:1). The name Tidal is Indo-Germanic, not Semitic. The Assyrians anciently called their land Athur — the Indo-Germanic form of the Semitic word Asshur (Encyclopedia Britannica, article, "Mesopotamia"). What did the ancient Assyrians look like? Here is the answer: "In the Zagros hills and across the plain to the Tigris, there lived a... fair-haired... people akin to the Guti [the Goths] who... remained in what was afterwards Assyria, the neighbour land to Akkad " (page 5 of The Sumerians).
What Language Did They Speak?
But what about the common assumption that the Assyrian language was Semitic, not Indo-Germanic? How is it that the Hebrew-speaking House of Israel, who were carried into Assyrian captivity, spoke an lndo-Germanic language when they arrived in Northwestern-Europe? The answer is, they were forced to learn it as a result of their captivity! The common tongue of the Assyrians was not only Semitic, but Indo-Germanic! Here is the proof! Scholars admit that for centuries the language of the people who inhabited Assyria was not merely Semitic. It was the LITERARY LANGUAGE of Assyria — the language of scholars. And it is this language of international commerce and literature which has made the scholars assume that the common tongue of the Assyrian people was Semitic. The same circumstance occurred during the Middle Ages all over Europe. The language of almost all European scholars — and even their names — until the time of the Protestant Reformation was LATIN — but Latin was not the common tongue of the people! Because most of the literature of Germany was in Latin during the Middle Ages does not prove that the common people spoke Latin. And because a few of the libraries and monuments of ancient Assyria contain records that were written in a Semitic tongue, does not demonstrate that the common people spoke the same language. European scholars have thoroughly studied the language of the land of Hatti — the ancestors of the Hessians. They found it to be an lndo-Germanic tongue — numerous words of which were akin to Old High German! So many similarities were found that Edgar Sturtevant had to declare: "To me it seems incredible that so remarkable a situation developed in two languages independently. I feel compelled to trace the Germanic... to a common origin" with the language of Hatti — common tongue of the Assyrian Empire (from A Comparative Grammar, page 240). The land of Hatti was the western part of the Assyrian Empire. The ancient Assyrian Empire was divided just as the modern Germans are divided between East and West Germany and Austria. The ancient kings of Assyria called themselves Khatti-sars — meaning the "Kaisers of Hatti," or "Kings of Hatti." The chief people of Hatti regarded themselves as Assyrians (see Luckenbill's Ancient Records of Assyria already quoted). The Armenians lived in the same region and they are also often pictured with the Assyrian Hatti on the monuments. The language of the Hatti was the language of the Assyrians. Scholars today, who are steeped in the theory of evolution, refuse to recognize that both people were one and the same — because if they did admit it, their whole system of chronology would fall like a house of cards, and their view of world history would burst like a pricked balloon. The Empire of Hatti and the Empire of Assyria were the same Empire — not two empires existing five centuries apart as historians assume. Excavated records from Bible times prove that the local rulers of the land of Hatti were contemporary with the famous kings of Assyria, with whom they were federated (see the evidence in the French work Les Hittites, by Eugene Cavaignac, page 86). Assyrian kings were called the "kings of Hatti." They are even mentioned by this title in the Bible in I Kings 10:29 and II Kings 7:6. The Hebrews called them "kings of the Hittites." They were not the same as the Canaanitish Hittites who migrated to Palestine from the region later settled by the Assyrian Hessians or Hatti.
World Is Blind to Origin of Nations
It is Satan himself who has blinded the world as to the identity of the Assyrians. If it were known that the language of ancient Assyria was indeed Indo-Germanic — and that the fabled Empire of Hatti was actually the western part of the Assyrian Empire — and that the Germans are actually the descendants of the Assyrians, then Satan could no longer hide the prophecies of the Bible from the people! The scholars of this world have been blinded. Most of them have never been conscious of the fact that the use of the Semitic language in Assyria was due to the Aramaic people (Genesis 10:22) who first dwelt in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is often called "Padan-Aram" — the plain of Aram — in the Bible (Genesis 28:2). These dark-complexioned Aramaic people still dwell there, and they still speak a Semitic tongue. We call them Syrians today because they once composed part of the Assyrian confederation of nations. The dual Empire of ancient Assyria and Aram was similar to the pre-World War I European Austro-Hungarian Empire. When the ancient Greek writers wanted to distinguish the Assyrians from the Arameans or Syrians, the Greeks called the Assyrians, "Leucosyri" — meaning "WHITES" or "BLONDS" as distinct from the very brunette Syrians who still live in Mesopotamia. It is the Arameans or Syrians, still living in their ancient homeland, who today have joined with Nasser of Egypt to form the United Arab Republic. But the Assyrians have long since migrated into Europe. They are known as Germans today!
Prophecy Unveils Middle East Events
Ten years ago almost no one would have guessed that the Arab World would suddenly become the vortex of the "Cold War!" Almost no one took Nasser seriously when he declared he was out to unite the Arab world under Egypt's rule. He succeeded in Syria and Yemen. Nasser has hoped to make Iraq the next of his conquests. But old rivalries underlie Iraq-Egyptian relations. For centuries Cairo-Egypt's capital — and Baghdad — Iraq's capital — struggled for power over the Arab world. Now that a new government has gained control in Iraq, the question its leaders face is this: Shall Iraq surrender to Egyptian control? Shall the Iraqis give Nasser the final say on who receives the income from Iraq's immense oil fields? Iraq leaders are being mighty cautious about joining hands with Nasser. Iraq potentially has far more wealth than Egypt and the new Iraq regime knows it! The new rulers of Baghdad are proud Iraqis and fully conscious of their country's history and potential. They are not going to surrender lightly their hegemony to Colonel Nasser. Even should they join hands with Nasser of Egypt, their alliance will not be permanent. It cannot last! Prophecy declares it!
It Began Years Ago!
These are the visible signs of unrest. But there are invisible forces at work in the Middle East. These forces have begun to come out in the open in the Iraq crisis. Their spokesman is Captain Ali Din, a small, intense army man who has been assigned to the Baghdad Radio as propaganda officer. Captain Ali Din is one of several men who have finally succeeded in regaining power in Iraq. The story behind the present Iraq revolt goes back to 1941 — years before Nasser ever thought of making himself Egypt's modern "pharaoh." In 1941, pro-Nazi Iraqi leaders were ousted by a British — engineered revolt during World War II. Iraq was barely saved from German clutches. For 17 long years the ousted leaders had plotted secretly, underground, to return to power. The plot finally succeeded with the assassination of Iraq's pro-Western King Faisal. Immediately the Iraqi Government extended cordial overtures to the West German Government. Now German dreams of controlling the Arab world — momentarily dashed at the end of World War II — are blossoming again. At the precise moment that American and British troops landed in Lebanon and Jordan to quell the apparent spread of Nasserism, Germany's Chancellor Konrad Adenauer demanded that U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles fly immediately to Bonn, Germany, to give guarantees that the United States would not intervene in Iraq to quell the rebellion. Dulles flew to Bonn and gave the guarantees! Why this German interest in Iraq and the Arab world? What's really happening UNDERCOVER in the Middle East? Captain Din revealed the answers shortly ago. Ali Din is the avowed exponent of the underground forces that led to the Iraqi revolt. Here is part of his message to the Arab and the Western world, broadcast over Iraqi Radio: "Our revolution will spread to Jordan as soon as British troops leave, and Jordan's King Hussein will go the same way as our King Faisal." But this is not all! "I Hate the British and Americans" Captain Ali Din also declared bluntly: I hate the British, Americans, and French. I have nothing to hide. I am NOT a Communist, but a NAZI. Our revolution will spread to Jordan as soon as British troops leave. When our Arab countries are united as far as the Persian Gulf, we will unleash a war on Israel and destroy that country and kill all Jews." Here is the invisible force behind the Arab crisis — Nazism! While we have had our eyes on the sinister spread of Communism, we have been overlooking the secret revival of Nazism within the anti-Communise Western World! Nazism is not dead! It is alive, working secretly, underground, to wreck Western unity and to seize control of the whole Western world! It is happening right now before our very eyes, but our leaders do not seem to see it! Communists thought they could take over the Middle East. But they miscalculated. When the Communist Party was about to take over Syria, Egypt took over instead, and outlawed the Communist Party. Nasser welcomes Russian support in his plans to drive out the British, French and Americans, but he will not tolerate Communist control. In Europe, meanwhile, Germany's papers are warning the Allies that their intervention in the Middle East "may lead to disastrous consequences." At the same time, Germany's Justice Minister, Fritz Schaffer, is demanding that Germany's annual reparations payment to the Jews in Palestine be greatly reduced. Though Communism remains the West's No. 1 visible enemy, it is time we looked undercover to see what the Nazis and Fascists — whom the Allies thought were destroyed in World War II — are now secretly plotting underground.
GERMANY in Prophecy?
Notice an amazing prophecy about the Middle East in Psalm 83:1-8. It is a time of war. "Hold not Thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, Thine enemies... have taken crafty counsel against Thy people." They have dealt treacherously with Judah and Israel — with the Jews and with America and Britain! We are God's people, Israel. The Jews are merely the tribe of Judah. But to continue: "They have said, 'Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation.'" Isn't this exactly what the Iraqi leaders have said? "For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against Thee..." What nations are these in confederation against God's people? Here is the answer of this prophecy! Here is what is yet going to take shape in the Middle East! "Edom (Turkey), and the Ishmaelites (Saudi Arabia); Moab (part of Jordan), and the Hagarenes (part of Arabia); Gebal (this is the ancient name for Byblos in Lebanon), and Ammon (Jordan ) and Amalek (part of the Turks); the Philistines (the displaced Moslems from Palestine) with the inhabitants of Tyre; ASSUR IS JOINED WITH THEM: they have helped the children of Lot (Jordan and part of Iraq)." Who is Assur? GERMANY! So Germany — not atheistic, communist Russia — is ultimately going to support an Arab union against the Jews and against Israel — Britain and America! This is what prophecy foretells. This is God's warning to us today. The West's intervention may temporarily save certain Arab countries from Nasser, but the very countries we are now trying to rescue are yet to turn upon us! Notice that there is no Syria or Egypt mentioned in this prophecy. Egypt and Syria shall be overthrown by a Nazi-Fascist revival in Europe. Anciently the Assyrians conquered Egypt and Syria. It is going to happen again (Isaiah 17:3 and Daniel 11:42).
Germany and World War III
But Germany is not only going to be imbroiled in the hot Middle East controversy, she is going to spark World War III! Notice the prophecies! "O Asshur, the rod of Mine anger," declares God. Here is a prophecy concerning Germany — the descendants of Asshur today! "The staff," says God, "in their hand is Mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation (that is, Israel — America and Britain today), and... I will give him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets" (Isaiah 10:5-6).
West Germany is building up a vast merchant fleet. Here is a view of the Hamburg shipyards. Much of Germany's miraculous recovery is due to her sea-going trade with other nations. Prophecy declares Germany will head a united Europe and become the world's biggest commercial power ever to dominate the world! — Wide World Photo — (See PDF For Picture)
Our sins are mounting to heaven itself. And God is going to punish us by the very nation whom we have tried to buy for an ally! It is God who is going to permit the revival of Nazism to punish us in World War III. We have won two major wars against Germany in one generation. But the third time God is going to punish us as we have never been punished before! The sword of war is going to strike us "the third time" (Ezekiel 21:14), and we are going to be led away captive to Assyria and to all nations (Isaiah 11:10-12). When our people have learned their lesson, and repented of their sins and quit breaking God's law — the Ten Commandments — and surrender their lives to their Creator, we read in Isaiah 10:12-22: "Wherefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem" — when His people Israel and Judah have gone through trial and tribulation — "I," declares God, "will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For he saith, 'By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bonds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man: and my hand,'" continues the coming dictator of Germany, "'hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.' "Shall the ax," responds God to the coming revival of Nazism in Europe, "boast itself against Him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against Him that shaketh it?... Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts,... burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day" — by sending the Communist hordes of Asia upon Europe! "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob" — that is Britain and America, today" shall no more again stay upon (rely on) him that smote them" — we are relying on Germany and a United Europe today to keep Communist hordes from overrunning us — "but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return... unto the Mighty God."
Germany's Final Repentance
God sent the prophet Jonah to ancient Nineveh, the capital of ancient Assyria. The Ninevites repented. After World War II, Germany was faced with the question of national repentance. Had America and Britain repented of their sins, they could have been used as was Jonah to bring the Germans to repentance. But our people refused. We did not show the Germans God's Way. We tried to convert them to democracy — our human way. But God's way is not democracy! As we refused to perform our national mission to Germany, God will punish our people as He did Jonah! In the meantime, God will warn Europe of what their fate is through His Church. "And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto ALL NATIONS; and then shall the end come," declared Jesus in Matthew 24:14. Germany is to be warned of her sins. Because she will not now repent, God will use her to punish us first. Then He is going to punish her. The entire book of Nahum — one of the so-called Minor Prophets — is devoted to the final punishment of the German — led Church-State Nazi union yet to arise in Europe. The setting of the prophecy is the original fall of Nineveh about 612 B.C. What happened to Nineveh, the ancient capital of Assyria, was a type of what will happen in our day! Notice that the actual setting of this prophecy is the time of God's "wrath" — the Day of the Lord (Nahum 1:2, 6). That day of God's intervention is yet future. It has not happened yet! This prophecy, then, is for our day! Now notice Zechariah 10:11. Here is another prophecy against Assyria. This prophecy was written almost a century after the original fall of Assyria. It has never been fulfilled since. Yet God declared it would happen: "The pride of Assyria SHALL BE BROUGHT DOWN." Compare this with Isaiah 14:24-27. This could not happen unless there were an Assyria today — a nation so powerful as finally to be able to carry our people captive in world war (verse 10). These prophecies are to happen "in that day" — the climactic time of the end, when God intervenes in human affairs (Isaiah 30:31 and 31:8). When the nations learn their lesson — learn that war does not pay, then, "In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance'" (Isaiah 19:23-25). Yes, that wonderful day of peace is coming. No more war, no more international friction! But before that time there are mighty big lessons to learn, and much suffering to be endured. Human beings, it seems, will learn no other way! But for those who do repent now, who do seek God's protection — no matter in what nation they live — God promises: "I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth" (Revelation 3:10).
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