2015 0827 Thursday, August 27 2015
Jeremiah 04: When The LORD's Flag Is Raised Over The Earth

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the Earth, see ye, when He lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when He bloweth a trumpet, hear ye"

The English-language word "flag" originated from a Saxon (although, curiously, it's not found in the Anglo-Saxon dialect of the same early time; Saxony is in Germany, the Anglos were a tribe of the Saxons) word vlag, or flagg, that meant "a cloth, usually bearing emblems or figures, borne on a staff, and employed to distinguish one party of nationality from another" (The Consolidated Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary).

The English-language word "ensign" is derived from a French word meaning a sign i.e. en sign. The term was originally used primarily for military identification items, ranging from badges to banners and signal flags. An ensign, or ensign-bearer, was also sometimes used as a term for someone who carried, or who was responsible for, the ensign.

The word "ensign" is used to translate two Hebrew words of the Scriptures, (pronounced) oth, meaning a signal, or a beacon, and nace meaning a signal.

While the individual tribes of Israel had their own ensigns, as a means to quickly and efficiently organize and mobilize themselves (see Israel's Battle Formation), they made no national ensign because the LORD alone was their beacon and sign. During the times that they were faithful to Him (see The History Of Idolatry), the Israelites didn't look up to and idolize a flag on a pole; they looked up to the LORD of the Earth.

Salvation will be accomplished by admittance to the eternal Kingdom of God. The "church" is merely the first-called class of students who are learning how to be citizens of the Kingdom of God (see What's The Expiration Date Of The Church? and the Fact Finder question below). The Holy Bible is the inventory of text books.

When the LORD (see The LORD God Our Saviour and The Feast Of Trumpets: The First Christian Salvation Day) returns, the nations (i.e. the families of people who have grown into multitudes; see also The First Nations Of The New World) will no longer look up to and worship flags on poles - or want to "play country" any more. They will look the LORD, the sole "ensign" of the Kingdom of God.

"5:26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: 5:27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken" (Isaiah 5:26-27 KJV)

"11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious." (Isaiah 11:10 KJV)

"11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah 11:12 KJV)

"18:3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye." (Isaiah 18:3 KJV)

Salvation, actually being "born again" as children of God in the Kingdom of God (see What Was The Lesson Of John 3:16?), will not happen by accident or by means of defiance toward what the LORD commands. Salvation is for the people who choose to be winners (see Choosing The Right Way and Why Repent?). The purpose of the LORD's prophets was to deliver the LORD's declarations of correction when those who claimed to follow Him, to salvation, began to follow themselves to their man-made dead ends.

"4:1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. 4:2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

4:3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

4:5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. 4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

4:7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. 4:8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

4:9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

4:10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

4:11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, 4:12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.

4:13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled. 4:14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? 4:15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim. 4:16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. 4:17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.

4:18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.

4:19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. 4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. 4:21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 4:24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 4:25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 4:26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

4:27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. 4:28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

4:29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. 4:30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

4:31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers." (Jeremiah 4:-31 KJV)

Fact Finder: Why is the place of Salvation called the Kingdom of God?
See The Patriotism Prophecy