Germany in Prophecy

     "Consider also that Germany has set itself up as the bulwark of European civilization for well over a thousand years. Germany for centuries has claimed to stand as the eastern wall of defense against the barbarism of Asia. It was on German soil that the hordes of Asia, sweeping across eastern Europe, were more than once stopped.
     The German Reich long endured as 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 or 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."

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     "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!
     Dozens of Bible prophecies are devoted to the German people. Yet the prophetic identities of Germany and Austria have remained hidden from the world. Why? Because moderns 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 is spoken of as "Ammon and Moab," because the descendants of ancient Ammon 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!"

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"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)."

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"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."

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     "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 twelve 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").
     But from where did all these Germanic people come? For Europe was not their 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!"

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     "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.....From there the Assyrians began their conquest of the ancient world. They, too, called themselves "the Master Race." But why do the German records speak of the son of an Assyrian king as the builder of 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). 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!"

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"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 Scandinavia, they were separating from the Assyrians or Germans, who took them captive.

Germans Are Assyrians. 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 "History of Art in Sardinia, Judaea, Syria and Asia Minor", Vol. II.)
How plain! The Germans came from Assyria!"

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Germany in Prophecy / Part 2

by Herman L. Hoeh

(The Plain Truth-Jan./1963)

"Ancient Assyria was the greatest war-making power in all history. Its soldiers were drilled to be hard-fighting war men. When the Assyrians invaded Europe, the Romans called them "Ger- mans"; a name meaning "men of war."
And that is how the Assyrians came to be known as Germans. But that is not the only reason the modern Assyrians are called Germans today.

     It's in Your Bible. Let us turn back the pages of history nearly 4000 years. The time is in the days of Abraham. The event is recorded in Genesis 14. It is the story of an invasion, by four kings of Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, of the land of Palestine. Josephus, the famous Jewish historian, describes this event in these words: "At that time, when the Assyrians had the dominion over Asia ... the Assyrians made war upon them" -- the Canaanites -- "and dividing their army into four parts, fought against them. Now every part of the army had its own commander ... then the army of the Assyrians came upon them, under their commanders, Amrephel, Arioch, Chodorlaomer, and Tidal." ("Antiquities of the Jews", I, ix, § 1.)
     These men were Assyrian generals, commanding an Assyrian army divided into four parts. Notice that the Assyrians are making war, conquering and plundering other people. But did you notice the names of these Assyrians? Not a single name is Hebrew. All are of foreign derivation.
     The name of one of these four Assyrian commanders was Tidal. It is an Indo-Germanic name. It is not Semitic. Here we have evidence that even before the days of Abraham the Assyrians were speaking more than one language -- and one of the languages was an Indo-Germanic tongue! More on this later. But now, back to King Tidal.
     The name Tidal was a common throne name among the ancient Hatti or Chatti kings of Anatolia, or Asia Minor. Since Tidal was also an Assyrian king or commander, that would make the Hatti or Chatti an Assyrian tribe! The Chatti were the ruling tribe in Anatolia (Asia Minor). They forded it over several other nations. Notice that in Genesis 14:1 Tidal, the Hattian king, is called "king of nations."

     The Hatti Were Hessian Germans! Now what does the word "Hatti" or "Chatti" mean in the Hebrew language? Its closest derivation is the root "chathath" (Strongs - 2865). It means "to terrorize, or break down, as in war, hence a warrior or man of war." The Chatti were therefore "men of war" or Germans. The name Chatti is but the Hebrew form of the word German. the very word which the Romans applied to the Assyrians.
     That means that the ancient Chatti were Assyrian -- or German -- migrants who early settled in Asia Minor. Did these Chatti or Hatti later also migrate into Western Europe, where the Germans are today?
     Indeed! The Chatti were the chief people who settled in modern Germany. Their descendants are the Hessians today! In fact, the Old High German spelling of Hesse was Hatti!
     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.
     The Assyrian kings wrote of the tribes 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 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 great rulers of the land of Hatti were not only contemporary with the famous kings of Assyria, but were also federated with them. All ancient Greek writers agreed that Assyria and Anatolia (the land of Hatti) were allies. The chief supporters of famous Troy in Asia Minor were the Assyrians. In fact, the Trojan War was a struggle between Greeks and Assyrians for possession of Western Asia Minor.
     These Hessian or Assyrian kings are even mentioned in the Bible in I Kings 10:29 and II Kings 7:6. The Hebrews called them "kings of the Hittites."
     The Assyrian Hessians were called "kings of the Hittites" because the Canaanite Hittites, driven out by Joshua, migrated into Asia Minor where the Assyrians also dwelt. All historians recognize that there were at least two distinct peoples in Asia Minor who came to be known by the same name -- Chatti or Hittite. The first were the Assyrians. The second were the Canaanite sons of Heth. Heth's sons received the name Hittite or Chatti because they too were warriors. Centuries later, after Alexander the Great conquered Asia, those Canaanites migrated out of Asia Minor -- to Europe, and then, across the Atlantic to North America where the colonists rediscovered them as the Chatti Indians of the Central Plains. Is it a mere coincidence that the United
States -- a birthright tribe of the House of Israel -- should have inherited this land from Canaanite Hittites?
     The Assyrian Hatti claimed to be "the Master Race." So have the modern Germans! The Hatti lorded it over other peoples who lived in Asia Minor. They 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 "The Hittites")."

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     "Ancient Cilicia -- Modern Silesia. 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 Marellinus, 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!
     The name of Cilicia in Asia Minor was simply transplanted to Eastern Germany by the Hatti who migrated from Cilicia to Silesia, then to the Rhine. Silesia is only a modern spelling!

     Other German Tribes. The Assyrians -- the ancestors of most 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. But the Germans today are also descended in part from Abraham, through his wife, Keturah. Most people have never known that Abraham had other sons besides Isaac and Ishmael. These other sons are listed in Genesis 25:1-4. "... Abraham gave (them) gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country" (Gen. 25:6). The east country included the land of Assyria. Assyria lay East of Palestine.
     Even Josephus mentioned that one of Abraham's great-grandsons joined with the Assyrians. ("Antiquities", book I, ch. xv § 1.) His name was Asshur, the son of Dedan, the son of Jokshan.
     Jokshan was the son of Abraham. See Genesis 25:3. "And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim." From Sheba have come the Swabian Germans. From Letushim are descended the Lettish people along the Baltic. And from Asshurim have descended the Nordic North Germans.
     But the ancestor of the great majority of Germans and Austrians is Asshur, the grandson of Noah. Most of the ancient Assyrians 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 in this region.

What Did 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" ).
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.

Why Germans Call Themselves "Deutsch"? Perhaps you have never thought of it -- but the Germans do not call themselves "German." They refer to themselves as Deutsch, and to their country as Deutschland. Why?

     Let's turn back the pages of history for the answer. The Assyrians anciently called their land "Athur" -- the Indo-Germanic form of the Semitic word "Asshur" ("Encyclopedia Britannica", article, "Mesopotamia").
     Sometimes the name "Athur" was shortened simply to "Tyr" in the Indo-European tongue. Asshur or Tyr was worshipped as the god of war by all the ancient world. His name was placed on the third day of the week -- called "Tuesday" in the English-speaking world. Tuesday is Asshur's day.
     Tuesday is from an old Saxon word meaning "Tiw's day." Tiw was the god of war of the Germanic people of Europe. Tiw, or Tiwe, was also known by the name Tyr -- that is, Asshur. Tiw is another name of Asshur! The Assyrians knew Asshur or Tyr was their ancestor. We should expect, therefore, that when they migrated to Europe they would still be known as the sons of Tyr or Tiw, that is, Asshur. And what do we find?
     When the Germans appeared in Europe, they claimed Tyr or Tiw as their ancestor! But what has the name "Deutsch" to do with Tiw?
     The modern German word "Deutsch" -- as educated Germans know -- is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word Tiw. (See any thorough book on etymology and word derivations.) Whenever a German calls himself Deutsch, he is saying he is Tiw's or Asshur's son -- an Assyrian. And when he terms his country Deutschland, he is saying Tiw's or Asshur's land -- Assyria!
     Even ancient Hindu literature uses both the word "Asgras" and "Daityas" to refer to the Assyrians. "Daityas" is but a Sanskrit word for "Deutsch" -- a name applied to the Assyrians over 1500 years before the birth of Christ!

     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 Indo-Germanic language when they arrived in Northwestern Europe?
     The obvious 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!
     European scholars have thoroughly studied the language of the land of Hatti, the ancestors of the Hessians. They found it to be an Indo-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 Western Assyrians (from "A Comparative Grammar," page 240).
     The language of the Hatti WAS the language of the West Assyrians. Scholars today, 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.
     Scholars admit that for centuries the language of the people who inhabited Assyria was not merely Semitic. Semitic was the late literary language of Assyria -- the language of scholars, the language of international commerce. Modern historians and archaeologists assume that the common tongue of all Assyrian people was Semitic. They have no proof. So noted an Assyriologist as Sydney Smith admitted "... that the documents from Asia Minor and from east of Tigris are couched in Semitic dialects spoken by men unable to pronounce all the Semitic consonants ..." (p. xi, from "Early History of Assyria to 1000 B.C.").
     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.
     Just because a few of the libraries and monuments of ancient Assyria contain records written in a Semitic tongue, that does not demonstrate that the common people spoke the same language.

     Semitic by Race, not language. Asshur was a son of Shem. But after the tower of Babel, when the languages of the world were confused (Genesis 11), most Assyrians no longer spoke a Semitic tongue, but rather Indo-Germanic and related tongues! 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, speaking several different languages (Josephus' "Antiquities of the Jews", book 1, ch. 9). One king of the Assyrians -- whom we have already discussed -- was "Tidal, king of nations" (Genesis 14:1). The name Tidal is Indo-Germanic, not Semitic. Another name was Arioch of Ellasar -- the City of Asshur. He ruled Assyria from 1968-1938 B.C. The Greek historian Ctesias preserved all the names of the successors of Arioch who ruled for the next 1122 years. He had access to the Assyrian records from the Persian Court. Almost all the names are non-Semitic. Most are Indo-Germanic. Here are some examples of the Indo-Germanic names of the early Assyrian kings: Arelios, Xerxes, Armanithos, Sphaeros, Sparthaios, Panyas, Teutamos, Teutaios, Ophrataios, etc. The endings of these names are, of course, the common Greek -- s. But they illustrate how different these early kings' names are from the Semitic name of
the late king Asshur-banipal, for example.
     Most scholars have never been conscious of the fact that the use of the Semitic language in Assyria due to the rising influence of the Aramaic people (Genesis 10:22) in Mesopotamia. So prominent did the Arameans become that Mesopotamia is 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 Aramaic language influenced only the Eastern Assyria Empire -- and that for hardly more than five centuries. But the bulk of the Assyrian population was already migrating out of Assyria. Some had already settled in Western Europe at the city of Trier three centuries after the Flood. Others had migrated to the shores of the Black and Caspian seas. Many went to Asia Minor even before the days of Abraham, where they were known as the Hatti. In all these areas the Assyrians were speaking non-Semitic languages. After Assyria fell, her small Semitic-speaking population was expelled from Mesopotamia into those regions where other Assyrians were already speaking Indo-Germanic tongues. The newcomers rapidly adopted the speech of those among whom they were now living. That is how Semitic ceased to be spoken among
Assyrians outside Mesopotamia.

Why World Is Blind to Germany's Identity. It is Satan himself who has blinded the world 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!"

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     "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.' ... "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."
     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."

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"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)."

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     "Germany and World War III. But Germany is not only going to be embroiled 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).
     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 Germany -- this time in a gigantic union of 10 European powers united with a great religious power -- to punish us in World War III.
     We 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)."

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     "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-dominated Church-State 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 (Zech. l0:l0).
     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).

The End.