Preparing A Flock For Slaughter

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Preparing

A Flock For

Slaughter

By Malcolm B Heap, Midnight Ministries

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"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds... Woe to

the shepherds of Israel who feed only themselves!

Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the

fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter

the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock"

(Ezekiel 34:2,3).

"The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you

healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken,

nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought

what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have

ruled them. So they were scattered because there was

no [true] shepherd; and they became food for all the

[evil] beasts of the field... " (Ezekiel 34:4,5).

"...nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the

shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock.

Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord!

'Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require

My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease

feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed

themselves no more...' " (Ezekiel 34:8-10).

God holds the 'shepherds' or leaders of His flock accountable.

But, because of self-will, pride, convenience and expediency,

'shepherds' are actually preparing the flock for SLAUGHTER,

as the following account relates!

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people

have entertained angels without knowing it (Heb 13:2, NIV).

The following story is an account of a personal visitation from an

Angel, a Messenger from heaven, who came with a message of

warning. He visited a friend of ours, George, in the north of

England. Here is George's account of what occurred.

[Editor's comments in square brackets.]

"I was sitting in a cafe in South Shields... The chair on my right was empty but there was a man and a woman sitting opposite, and I spoke to them about normal everyday things.

"A man came into the cafe, aged around 30, 6 foot tall, medium built, brown hair, clean cut, neatly dressed (but not flashy). You could tell he was a very fit man. I think he wore a dark brown suit, but as this happened in November 2000 I am not sure now. He bought a cup of tea and after asking if he could sit there, sat in the chair on my right.

"He had no noticeable accent. He said, 'Do you know these people?' indicating the couple opposite.

"I said, 'No.'

" 'The way you were talking to them I thought you knew them', he said. 'What are you doing here?' ['What are you doing with your spiritual life while you are here on earth?'] 1

"I cannot remember now what I said. At some stage the man spoke to the couple opposite but I didn't hear what was said, although I remember thinking, with a tinge of envy, 'It must be grand to be able to converse so freely like he does to that couple.' ...Were the couple strangers to the man? I don't know. I didn't ask him.

"At some stage I asked him what job he did and he said that he was a paint inspector. I said, 'That sounds interesting. Where do you work?'

"He said, 'All over the world.'

"What does the job involve?'

"He said, 'With container ships. When one cargo has been emptied, every trace of it must be cleaned out and also the paint on the inside of the container must be cleaned off. The inside of the container is then painted again so that there will be no trace of the old cargo to contaminate the new cargo.' [Like the allegory of new and old wine, Matt 9:17.]

"The man had several sheets of A3 or A4 size paper, and started to read them, but I didn't see him carrying them when he came into the cafe and I didn't see him take them out of his pocket. On the top sheet of paper I saw that every line was written or typed on and I could see that some of the writing had been crossed out. In fact, there were more lines of writing crossed out than left legible. The paper was too far away from me to be able to say what the writing was but I said the first thing that came into my mind, 'Is that a karaoke song list?'

"He said, 'No, but you might like to look at this.'

"He handed me a sheet of paper on which there was a poem about a shepherd or farmer who was persuading some sheep to go into his sheep fold. I cannot remember the exact words, only that the sheep were so happy to be going into this fold where the shepherd/ farmer said they would be well fed and taken care of, but they would have to follow him as there was only one way in.

"The sheep went into the pen and were well fed and contented but were horrified when they learned they were going for slaughter.

"They said to the shepherd / farmer, 'You said we would be taken care of,' to which he said, 'I am a shepherd / farmer. You knew what I was. The job of a shepherd / farmer is to prepare sheep for slaughter.'

"This description of the poem is as accurate as I can remember. I said to the man, 'You can sense the disappointment, can't you?' I don't know if he replied or not.

After a few minutes he got up to leave and said something like, 'Right, carry on talking to them.'

"This episode has puzzled me ever since. Was this man an angel with a message of warning for me?" George.

Answer: Yes.

Preparing A Flock For Slaughter!

When God speaks He often does so in allegory or metaphor. One reason is to cloud the meaning so that those who don't want God's righteousness won't understand the message. To the righteous, however, it contains spiritual wisdom that can be searched out.

The Message

1. Jesus is the paint inspector. He is inspecting His vessels. This is a modern-day allegory, similar to the one in Revelation 11:1. There, He said He is measuring His temple and is counting the true worshippers in it.

2. He requires vessels that are clean inside. But sins contaminate people spiritually. Where God's children do not turn away from sin and revere the holy things of God, they make themselves unfit to be receptacles of His HOLY Spirit.

3. The angel was sent to encourage introspection about personal sin and lack of holiness. Besides being a personal warning to this individual, it is also a warning to every other one whom Jesus has called. All believers should seek holiness, but few really do.

4. The list with entries crossed out symbolises the fact that many are called but few are chosen (Matt 22:14). People disqualify themselves (are not 'chosen') because of their refusal to take adequate steps to shun sin. They tolerate sin, treat it lightly, and live with it instead of putting it away out of their lives. Their motives are not pure.

5. There is only one way into the sheep fold: through Jesus Christ, our Lord. As we live the way He showed us to live, He dwells in us through His Holy Spirit, enabling us to put on the white clothes of righteousness. His presence in us makes us holy.

6. The believers in the sheep pen were a flock being prepared for slaughter. The meaning is as that in Zechariah 11:4,7 (see also Zechariah's Amazing Prophecy).

Where people whom God has called (to be part of His holy family) fail to develop His righteous character (because they don't highly esteem what He has made holy), He can only assign them to this fate. There are many people scattered throughout the world, who just don't have a pure desire for the things of God. Their lives are mainly centred on the things of this life and they pursue a way that leads to death.

This is the flock being prepared for slaughter. It's not that the true Shepherd is malicious or vindictive. It is because these people don't care about God's commandments. They don't revere the sanctity of what He has made holy. Two principal matters to do with God's holy standards, but which are widely ignored and neglected by believers, are:

a. the marriage relationship, and

b. God's Sabbath days.

7. Once you have put your shoulder to the plough you must not look back. Looking back is not only deliberately turning away from God. Most people are turned around by Satan through the everyday physical pulls in living – various wrong desires (1 John 2:16). They choose the physical instead of the spiritual. Malcolm B Heap

A Dream from God as Second Witness, Confirming the Above (2 Cor 13:1.)

5th March 2004. An old woman was chained by her neck like a bull. She was in tears, trying to break the chain, but was not able to do so. I went to help release her, but two huge strong men resisted me and prevented her being released. They told me that she is being prepared for slaughter. I prayed to God for her deliverance. Kassahun Ayele

Meaning of the Dream: The old woman represents the antiquated church. People in those denominations are spiritually bound. They are held captive by church leaders who don't really care for the people, so much as for themselves and their power or control. The two huge men represent demonic strongholds. Kassahun's true concern for those people is represented by his reaction which was to pray for their release. & MBH

Further Reading

God's Church – Whose Authority? (GC). Why Marriage? (WM). Our Sabbath Rest (S).

Education

For The Nation

The prophets have always had the most timely and necessary messages for the people. God knows what people need to hear. And in His love for them, He does not fail to offer His advice and warnings through His prophets.... Not that people want to hear them, however!

Isaiah recorded the inevitable end result:

Therefore My people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; their honourable men [those most respected in society] are famished [lacking the ability to spiritually feed themselves and others], and their multitude dried up with thirst (Is 5:13).

A captivity looms on the horizon for this nation.[2] (More about that later.) But there is another captivity that occurs first, before the physical one that will soon engulf this people. It is a captivity to delusion.

The invisible ruler of this world, Satan, has done his dirty work:

...our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them (2 Cor 4:4).

Not only are people deceived in the world, but there is an equal range of deceptions gripping the Church. Isaiah prophesied of that, too. There are worldwide deceptions in the Church! depicted by the number of the chapter (52 = 4 x 13) where the account occurs. 4 is a numeric symbol for the world, or the whole earth, and 13 depicts Satan.

God had Isaiah write these veiled prophecies down. Their impact is greater today than in his time, because it is meant to be a time of revelation and deliverance for the Church, now. Yet, more and more, we see a people who willingly succumb to the traps of the devil. Too many prefer error to truth. They prefer to stay in bondage!

Awakening the Church

In Isaiah 52, the Church is represented by the metaphor of Jerusalem, or Zion. She was the city where God had placed His name at that time. It was the place where people were commanded then to come before Him at appointed times (Heb. moedim) of the year (the annual festivals, see Leviticus 23) to pay homage to Him and to be recommitted in obedience to the laws revealed by God to Moses.

In today's Church, obedience is downplayed and even dismissed when it comes to observing these appointed times! While we don't need to go to Jerusalem to keep these occasions (John 4:21-24), the record of the apostolic Church shows that they were certainly still kept (see our booklet The Festivals of God), and should be observed today.

These truths are on God's agenda to restore before the end of this age, prior to their complete acceptance in the Millennium to follow (Zechariah 14:19). So, the Church is sent a messenger from God who alerts her to her lack in this respect.

He calls for her to:

Awake! Awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! (Is 52:1-2.)

She can't see the captivity in which she is held. Nor can she see the false ministers (the uncircumcised and unclean) who deceive her over these customs. But the fact remains that she needs to put on these beautiful garments which God originally gave Israel to be markers in His calendar. They are the times HE appointed, not times Israel appointed. They are not "Jewish".

In Isaiah 52:2, she is commanded to rise up, throw off the filth of human (satanic) traditions (these include Easter, Christmas, etc.),[3] take her position beside the throne of God, and loose herself from the bonds men have bound her with. How many in the Church will do this, however? God has shown us that half the people will not!

This is directly in line with the parallel parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, where half of them were foolish and half were wise. When the Midnight Cry rings out to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom (Jesus), half of the virgins won't make the necessary preparations. Devoid of the oil of the Holy Spirit, they fail to see.

The startling revelation of that parable is that half of those who profess to be Christ's are not His at all!

Another shocking home truth is that the whole Church is asleep! Not half the Church. The whole Church![4]

A few months ago, I received a circular from one of the most prominent evangelists, who has outreach activities that reach vast numbers of people – millions! He wrote about that parable, saying that half the Church was asleep. It's surprising how many misread Jesus' actual words!

Perhaps one reason is that it seems too bizarre to be true that the entire Church of Jesus could be asleep?! But it is.

One way is that which I am moved to write about here.

Virtually the entire body of Christ does not recognise the relevance of God's holy days (other than a very small segment of believers who keep these festivals [and who are not Jewish] ). Most are deluded by false teachings into thinking that they were superseded by other observances that are 'Christian' such as Easter and Christmas.

Ironically, the majority of those believers who do keep the Festivals of God, are themselves asleep on other essential points of true belief and practice. There is an abysmal lack of the moving of the Holy Spirit in these 'Sabbatarian' churches! Most of them don't appreciate the baptism in the Holy Spirit, or accept the complete quota of gifts of the Spirit on offer through this experience.

Whichever sector of the Church you look at, she is certainly sound asleep! And there needs to be an awakening. That awakening comes via the parable's description of a Midnight Cry. It comes late in the plan of God, just before Jesus' return. It comes in a time of increasing darkness over the earth. And it is a prophetic call to awake and put on garments that she has not yet put on.

Those robes of righteousness are being presented to the body of Christ NOW!

'Elijah' Is At Work

I make no bones about the fact that this work we are involved in is part of the prophesied activity of the end-time Elijah.[5] While there are certainly many others involved in this task besides ourselves, I know of no-one else to whom God has given the prophetic commission of bringing these two sectors of the Church together via a public witness.

I have heard of others who are doing this in their own local areas and churches and fellowships. God is moving by His Spirit to bring together the movements of Word and Spirit about which Smith Wigglesworth prophesied in 1947 (explained in the leaflet The Last Outpouring of the Spirit). Jesus has been reaching scattered individuals, primarily in the pentecostal / charismatic sector of the Church, convicting their hearts of the need to keep the Sabbaths. But, as a proportion of the entire Church, this is small. Much more is going to be done via a public witness.

When the entire nation of Israel was challenged by God through Elijah (see 1 Kings 18), it was one man who was given the assignment. The prophet Elijah. When the way was prepared before Jesus' coming, one man – John the Baptist – prepared the way. God only needed one man – a prophet – to sound the call to repentance, and to reach the entire nation.

It is somewhat different today in that the witness which God is taking to the world is a global witness, and more than one man alone can achieve. Revelation 11 indicates that with mass publicity, two are sufficient for the final task. However, we are not in that phase just yet. That is to occur during the 3½ year Tribulation which is a matter of a couple of years away. For now, prior to that time of worldwide calamity, others are involved in the task. And it is a privilege to be used.

Our contribution is primarily through the written word. God separated my wife and me from our former church association in 1990 and then led me to write a set of publications which address these pressing issues for the Church. He gave Helena a dream about me digging and concreting foundations under the clock tower in Aylesbury.[6] That dream has now been fulfilled. The written foundation is laid. It has taken about eleven or twelve years to complete.

What is contained in our literature is sufficient to form a complete doctrinal basis for the Church. The body of Christ need not wonder about whether there is a secret rapture, or argue about whether the Holy Spirit is a third person in a trinity, or whether hell burns forever. More importantly there need be no argument over the relevance of Sabbaths to the Church today, or the viability of spiritual gifts. These questions are all answered by accurate biblical exegesis in our publications.

"Isn't that a bit arrogant of you to say that?"

Was it arrogant of Elijah to claim he had a divine right to challenge all the false prophets in Israel? Was he presumptuous in claiming that he alone had a divine prerogative to re-establish true worship in the land? No. Because he had that commission. God appointed him for the task.

And if I, by divine appointment, have been commissioned to lay down a doctrinal foundation for the Church at this late hour, all who would challenge that commission are challenging, not just me, but the One who has commissioned me. So I say to all who question, "Check it out!"

The Prophetic Witness For Britain

Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine upon it, and cut off man and beast from it (Ezekiel 14:13).

On 30th September 2000, Helena had the following dream.

There were no eggs in stock. She said, "I tried to buy eggs from a supermarket, but there weren't any. I asked someone where the eggs were and they said that there weren't any. I felt that the eggs were unavailable because of the risk of disease."

Significantly, the Daily Mail carried a front page article on November 4th, 2000, entitled "Food Bug Fear Over Chickens". The dream may be predicting a further development concerning eggs, which will cause them to become scarce in the shops here.

As of writing there is no outbreak of disease affecting chickens or the egg supply, but it will come. We have seen the terrible consequences of the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic among farm livestock which began in February 2001 in Britain. As God showed me in a dream on 21st March 2001, these troubles are the mere tip of an iceberg. (See the companion leaflet, Dreams From God About The Judgement Of Britain.)

Ezekiel 14:13 is highly relevant to Britain!

What people don't see is the connection between what happens in the physical and what they do in the spiritual. Tell people in the street that their evil thoughts, sexual debauchery, selfishness and dismissal of God in their lives have a direct bearing on the lack of eggs in the shops and they would think you had just escaped from the 'funny farm'! A minority, however, will listen.

God has His ways of reaching people. When they don't listen to prophets, He uses 'ordinary' folks combined with circumstances. Amazingly, in London's Daily Mail of 26th March 2001, the letters page included a selection of comments by readers, some of which suggested that there could be a Divine Hand behind the recent devastating Foot and Mouth outbreak and other disasters. There were three such letters:

Someone Up There Isn't Pleased With Britain

1. ...For the religious-minded, one could easily consider that the storms and floods that have ravaged the UK reflect the first Horseman of the Apocalypse, train crashes the second, and mad cows / foot-and-mouth disease the third.

I expect if New Labour win a second term in office [which they have done – Editor] we shall get to see the fourth, which I predict will arrive in the shape of a complete financial meltdown – which is probably the only thing New Labour really fears.

One thing is sure: someone up there doesn't seem very pleased with us all down here. If I were Tony Blair I would be shaking in my boots and be thinking of changing parties. [Political parties are not the solution. God is the only Party who matters! Editor.]

Acknowledge Guilt

2. In view of recent and present disasters, whether acts of God, malicious or accidental damage, is it not time for the nation to consider her relationship with God?

When God pronounced blessings and curses, they were the natural consequences of doing good or doing evil, following God's wise laws or rejecting them.

Let us all acknowledge our corporate and individual guilt and ask God that Great Britain and Europe will be delivered from evil.

Sins Punish Us

3. There have been so many tragic happenings recently that all over the country there will be the cry: 'How can God allow these things to happen?'

Many years ago I read something that made a great impression on me; we are not punished for our sins, but by them.

The Creator had two choices when He made Man. Man could either be a robot, or someone with free will. We all know the choice He made and we ought to bear this in mind whenever we are tempted to cry out, "Why?"

Forgive me for repeating myself, but Britain will receive a prophetic witness. Ephraim (Britain in Bible prophecy) will be punished as "their congregation has heard" (Hosea 7:12).

Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin, they have become for him altars for sinning. I have written for him the great things of My law, but they were considered a strange thing... Now He [God] will remember their iniquity and punish their sins... For Israel has forgotten his Maker and has built palaces... (Hosea 8:11-14a).

Judah's Wound

Hosea's prophecies centre on Ephraim, the leading tribe of Israel, but God also speaks to Judah (the Jewish people):

...Judah also has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his citadels (Hosea 8:14b).

When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound (Hosea 5:13).

Britain was sometimes referred to in post-war years as 'the sick man of Europe'. To heal her economic maladies she has looked to the European Union. How ironic that Israel's former enemy Assyria is now in Germany, and Israel goes again to seek help from 'King Jareb' (the powerful ruler of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser III, or Pul). Instead of returning to her God, Israel woos her lovers, seeking a humanistic way out of her difficulties.

And Judah? What is her wound? There is a jihad ('holy war') being mounted by Islam against the Jews in the nation state of Israel. Suicide bombers will stop at nothing to achieve their evil aims. It will not be long before this dreadful wound will be evident to all.

And where will Judah go to look for help? Once again will it be King Jareb's descendants in the European Union? With America and Britain wanting to retreat from the world military scene more and more, Germany and its European allies will fill the vacuum, eventually with a new pope playing a significant rôle in diplomatic negotiations.

But these Gentiles will not care for Israel...

...and they will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months (Rev 13:2b).

Because of the flashpoint Jerusalem has become internationally, and because the city's holy sites are claimed by three world religions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam – a papal move at being the ecumenical intermediary could well establish him as some 'peacekeeper' in Jerusalem.

But such 'peacemakers' will not bring peace, rather a sword. In America, Britain, Israel, and throughout the Church, a flock is being prepared for a terrible slaughter! Malcolm B Heap