"From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies." Numbers 1:3

"And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Matthew 24:22

"And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: and I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac." Genesis 24:2-4

"Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the LORD hath spoken. And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." Genesis 24:51-53,67

Greetings! Today I bring blessings from Christ my Lord to one and all who will hear His Voice and follow. Did not the angels say to the shepherds that night, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" (Lk. 2:10-11)?

Clearly did the angel say that the good tidings of great joy were unto all people. But, manifestly, there can be no tidings of joy unto anyone who will not hear that news of marvelously good things. That is why I said that the blessings are unto those who will "hear the voice and follow," even as in that day of long ago the wise men saw the star and followed its guiding light. Even so today we must follow the light of that glorious star, which leads to the blessed Babe of the Manger.

Here I have a thought I want to present to you – I believe it might better help you to understand how God works according to an established pattern; that pattern has been set before us through the Law and God's dealing with His Chosen People. According to that Law, no young man could be called to war until he had filled the age of 20 years (Num. 1:3, 26:2). When a full 20 years of age, he had the growth and the preliminary training to then gird on the sword and go forth into battle, as and when the occasion arose. He was then numbered in the army of Israel and accounted a man.

From time to time I show you how God manifests to man in the ratio of 100 to 1: Abram was 100 years of age at the time of Isaac's birth: Isaac was a type of our Lord and Savior.

It is now well over 19 centuries since the Babe of the Manger was announced to the shepherds by the angel of God. On the manifestation basis, the 100 to 1, symbolically speaking, the lad Jesus of Nazareth is as yet only 19 years of age, having little more than 4 months left to go until He fills His 20th year. But of course on the basis of 100 to 1, that would take well over 30 years here on earth.

The thought I am trying to set before you is the fact that Jesus – the Savior of man – has only now come into that one year of intensive training to fit Him for battle, at the conclusion of which He will gird on His sword permanently! That is why we can look back over the Christian centuries and find that it has been as ineffective as is the life of a growing lad; it has only been a preparation, a time of childhood errors, thousands of mistakes and blunders together with an immense amount of learning, and now, finally, training to be able to serve and defend one's peoples.

As this century closes, the lad Jesus will be twenty years of age: He will gird on His sword to defend the Kingdom. Do you not know that He answered Pilate that to be a King had He been born (Jn. 18:37)? His kingdom on earth will then be established through the might of His shimmering sword. He will then be the Savior, even the Preserver of His people, as well as all people who will bow before Him: to that end was He born. However, before concluding that we must wait until the close of the century to see the fulfillment of the prophecies, we should bear in mind how the Lord Jesus stated clearly that this era should be cut short in righteousness (Rom. 9:28), lest the extinction of life in all flesh on the face of the earth come about (Matt. 24:22).

Previous to 1945 people could not understand those words, for the simple reason that the extinction of all life and the destruction of all life on the face of earth seemed entirely too fantastic. We had seen World War I, and we had bled almost six years in World War II, but as up to that moment we could see no way in which all life could be destroyed from off the face of the earth. But then came the detonation of the first Abomb, and in course of time we came to understand how through its fearful power, and the aftermath of its fallout, all life that moves on the face of the earth could indeed be destroyed. Now for many years our most eminent scientists have been warning us of that serious possibility, in the event of an all-out nuclear war. Now we understand clearly how that prediction by the Lord Jesus can see its fulfillment. Madly are the nations working to arrive at some mutually satisfactory agreement which will prevent such a total destruction of all life. But since everyone wants to be top dog, it seems that it will be slow, if not entirely hopeless, that the nations will arrive at a mutually agreeable covenant.

Therefore, regardless of the year, as and when we see the big powers engaged in an all-out war, then we will know that our Lord will have to return suddenly in order to terminate that war, lest all life be destroyed from off the face of the earth.

Today, I want to take you back into the Old Testament, into chapter 24 of the book of Genesis, and show you how there is a linkup there with the prophecy of the world getting snared. The book of Ruth is often considered as one of great beauty, and that it is; but I personally think of this 24th chapter of Genesis as one of exceedingly great beauty. It gives us the story of how Abraham in his old age made his oldest servant take an oath that he would go back to the land of Abraham's people and there find a wife for his son Isaac.

To understand God's message for us, we must understand the meaning of names used. Abram means `the high father.' Later his name was changed to Abraham, which means "the father of a multitude." This was God's way of giving us a vision of how He would deal with the children of men, by enacting in drama the highlights thereof. Abram (`the high father') was called out of Ur of the Chaldees to come into Canaan (Gen. 11:31, 12:1). Ur means "the city of light." Here then we are shown how God the High Father came out of His Own city of light, and came to earth, even to Palestine, where He was manifest to the people as a human being in the person of Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18-20; Heb. 7:1-10).

But we find that this "Abram," or High Father, had no children. So similarly do we find in God's dealing with man, that in those days, except for the odd individual, no people would hear and follow Him fully. Even His Chosen People became so rebellious that time and again He had to kick them out of the land. Then Abram's name was changed to that of Abraham, meaning `the father of a multitude'; that was at the time that Isaac was promised – that name of his son means "laughter," which again links with the angel's message unto the shepherds, wherein he told them that he brought them good tidings of great joy. That is why the substance of the message brought to you, by any true servant of the living God, must be predominantly one of most marvelously happy news of good things; not for the soul of man in an unknown world and a future tomorrow, but rather for the entire being of man right here and now.

It was in and through Isaac that the Chosen People became, for God said to Abraham that "...in Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Gen. 21:12). Historically that was fulfilled, while symbolically it has also been fulfilled; for it has been through Jesus Christ, the oneborn Son of God – symbolized by Isaac – that the happy tidings of good things have commenced to turn people unto God, and change their hearts to truly follow Him.

The name of the girl who became Isaac's wife was Rebekah; that name means "a noose": a noose is a rope formed into a loop with a slip knot; it has been used to extinguish life in man and beast. Why did Isaac's wife have such a name? To show us that through Christ's love for humankind, He would be noosed, or snared, into death for that "woman," or people of His love. On Calvary, that symbolic noose of Rebekah – His people – pulled tight, and His life ebbed away.

Now I want you to carefully observe the connection between the noose of Rebekah's name and the snare which Christ predicted would come upon the entire world. Our Lord was snared into death for the people He loved; but because they rejected Him, the world at large is also to be snared into death at that precise moment when our Lord calls out of this world that "woman," or people for His Name. The noose of Rebekah's name becomes the snare to encircle the entire earth, when our Lord takes His Church out of this world. It was of that particular event our Lord spoke, as recorded in Luke 21:35, when He said that "as a snare shall it come unto all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." The snare and the noose are one and the same. It is not a matter of great trouble, or earthquakes, or disasters, nor of any great war that is going to come upon the world as a "snare"; but when Christ bodily lifts out of this world 144,000 people for His Name, that will constitute that "snare" unto the rest of the world which will lead them into death. The psychology of that moment will be so utterly fantastic that many people will go insane, while the people and the leaders of the Beast countries will decide that the time has come for them to take over this world. Then it will not take them too long to get their puppets aligned, their plans laid and their armies prepared: that is what is going to lead to Armageddon.

Now if you have followed me carefully, you will understand the wealth of meaning behind the Lord's prophecy, when He said that the entire world should become "snared."

Now let us briefly look back to Genesis, the 24th chapter, where I will quote verse 53:

"And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things."

Did you notice how that servant, who was a type of the Holy Spirit, not only gave silver and gold and wonderful gifts to Rebekah (who typified the Church of Christ), but also to her brother and to her mother – that is, to the other members of the household. Therefore, if you are a member of that spiritual body which is going to become the Bride of Christ, then are those wonderful gifts a part and parcel of that which you can receive here and now. Observe those gifts were given unto Rebekah before she was taken from her parents' house: that is, before the church is taken out of this world. That means in your present life here and now! On the other hand, if you are not too sure that you are a member of that spiritual body which Rebekah symbolized, then I still bid you be of good cheer: precious gifts were also given to her brother and to her mother! Her brother symbolized the Jewish people, while her mother symbolized the entire Gentile world. For it is the Gentile world which has mothered the people which Christ is going to take out of this world for His Bride. That is why my message to any and all who will hear the words of Jesus is one of great joy, even of marvelous tidings of wonderfully good things! "Fear not," said the angel, "...I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Lk. 2:10).

I know that you have been brought up to believe in sickness, trouble and sorrow here, and hell in the future, but that is because Lucifer has blinded this world. I bear to you the news which the angel of God brought to His people: "Fear not; the tidings are marvelously good and of great joy unto all people who will hear and follow the light of the glorious Star!" If you will only hear the words of Jesus, then you may start shouting and singing for great joy of heart, because there is nothing but good and happiness for those who have been born into His Kingdom, and live as the sons and daughters of Jesus Christ! Don't you know that the Lord Jesus was born to be the Savior of His people – not the Savior of their souls? As the Savior of His people here and now, that would take care of their souls as well. But our churches have put the cart before the horse – and then they killed the horse! There is no power left, either to push or pull. But rejoice and shout for joy, for the Kingdom of God is for our here and now....