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THE EARTHLY INHERITANCE SERIES of BIBLE SUBJECTS
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Various Bible study guides in subjects pertaining to
New Earth prophecy, as taught by Paul Phelps.
For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD,
they shall inherit the earth. Psalm 37:9
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The EZRA PROPHECY
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This Ezra-5 text is adapted from the Revised Standard Version
and the New Revised Standard Version and the relevant notes.
This ancient writing reveals that Ezra was more
than a priest. He also had the gift of prophecy.
A Bible study project by Paul Phelps.
In 2011, I introduced this prophecy into my series of New Earth Writings.
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Apocalyptic Ezra is an ancient Hebrew document surviving only in Latin and
Greek translations. In Christian tradition it is regarded as Apocryphal (not part
of the Bible) but nonetheless is said to be a prophecy from Ezra the High Priest.
Bible scholars have found that this writing is actually three separate documents
written by different authors in different times but later put together, most likely
in the 2nd or 3rd century CE. Scholars have designated the first two chapters as
Ezra-5. Chapters 3-14 are called Ezra-4, and chapters 15-16 were called Ezra-6,
(the true origin of this book cannot be verified). This book has been translated
and is included in several Bibles as an Apocryphal book by the name 2 Esdras.
The Ezra-5 text (Chapters 1 and 2) has prophecy of the future New World Israel
(1:35–2:32) and future Christian Church (2:33-48). After much careful thought
I believe the Ezra-5 text is a true prophecy and the time to make it known is now.
I have adapted the following text from RSV and NRSV Bible translations and notes.
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Chapter 1
A recital of past benefits and disappointment
1 The book of the prophet Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum,
son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 2 son of Ahijah, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, son of
Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraimoth, son of Arna, son of Uzzi, son of
Borith, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, 3 son of Aaron, of the
tribe of Levi (Ezra 7:1-5), who was a captive in the country of the Medes in the
reign of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians. 4 The word of the Lord came to me,
saying, 5 ‘Go, declare to my people their evil deeds, and to their children
the iniquities that they have committed against me, so that they may tell their
children's children 6 that the sins of their parents have increased in them, for
they have forgotten me and have offered sacrifices to strange gods. 7 Was it
not I who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage?
But they have angered me and despised my counsels.
8 ‘Now you, pull out the hair of your head and hurl all evils upon them, for they
have not obeyed my law—they are a rebellious people. 9 How long shall I
endure them, on whom I have bestowed such great benefits? 10 For their sake
I have overthrown many kings; I struck down Pharaoh with his servants and all
his army. 11 I destroyed all nations that confronted them, and scattered in the
east the peoples of two provinces, Tyre and Sidon. I killed all their enemies.
12 ‘But speak to them and say, Thus says the Lord: 13 Surely it was I who brought
you through the sea, and made safe highways for you where there was no road;
I gave you Moses as leader and Aaron as priest; 14 I provided light for you from
a pillar of fire, and did great wonders among you. Yet you have forgotten me,
says the Lord.
15 ‘Thus says the Lord Almighty: The quails were a sign to you; I gave you
camps for your protection, and in them you complained. 16 You have not
exulted in my name at the destruction of your enemies, but to this day you still
complain. 17 What of the benefits that I granted you? When you were hungry
and thirsty in the wilderness, did you not cry to me, 18 saying, “Why have you
led us into this wilderness to kill us? It would have been better for us to serve
in Egypt than to die in this wilderness.” 19 I pitied your groanings and gave you
manna for food; you ate the bread of angels. 20 When you were thirsty, did I not
split the rock so that waters flowed in abundance? Because of the heat
I covered you with the leaves of trees. 21 I divided fertile lands among you;
I drove out the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and the Philistines before you. What
more can I do for you? says the Lord. 22 Thus says the Lord Almighty: When you
were in the wilderness, at the bitter stream, thirsty and blaspheming my name,
23 I did not send fire on you for your blasphemies, but threw a tree into the
water and made the stream sweet.
Indictment of the House of Judah gathered to Jerusalem
24 ‘What shall I do to you, O Jacob? You, Judah, would not obey me. I will
turn to other nations and will give them my name, so that they may keep my
statutes. 25 Because you have forsaken me, I also will forsake you. When you
beg mercy of me, I will show you no mercy. 26 When you call to me, I will not
listen to you, because you have defiled your hands with blood, and your feet
are swift to commit murder. 27 It is not as though you had forsaken me;
you have forsaken yourselves, says the Lord.
28 ‘Thus says the Lord Almighty: Have I not entreated you as a father entreats his
sons or a mother her daughters or a nurse her children, 29 so that you should be
my people and I should be your God, and that you should be my children and I
should be your father? 30 I gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings. But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence.
31 When you offer oblations to me, I will turn my face from you; for I have
rejected your feast days, and new moons, and circumcisions of the flesh.
32 I sent you my servants the prophets but you have taken and killed them and
torn their bodies in pieces; their blood I will require of you, says the Lord.
Judgment and a prophecy
33 ‘Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate. I will drive you out as
the wind drives straw; 34 and your sons will have no children, because with you
they have neglected my commandment and have done what is evil in my sight.
35 I will give your houses to a people that will come, who without having heard
me will believe. Those to whom I have shown no signs will do what I have
commanded. 36 They have seen no prophets, yet will recall their former state.
37 I call to witness the gratitude of the people that is to come, whose children
rejoice with gladness; though they do not see me with bodily eyes,
yet with the spirit they will believe the things I have said.
Vision of the coming new people
38 And now, father, look with pride and see the people coming from the east;
39 to them I will give as leaders Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and Hosea and Amos and Micah and Joel and Obadiah and Jonah
40 and Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi,
(also called the messenger of the Lord).
Chapter 2
Further pronouncement of judgment
1 ‘Thus says the Lord: I brought this people out of bondage, and I gave them
commandments through my servants the prophets; but they would not listen to
them, and made my counsels void. 2 The mother who bore them says to them,
“Go, my children, because I am a widow and forsaken. 3 I brought you up with
gladness; but with mourning and sorrow I have lost you, because you have
sinned before the Lord God and have done what is evil in my sight. 4 But now
what can I do for you? for I am a widow and forsaken. Go, my children, and ask
for mercy from the Lord.”
5 Now I call upon you, father, as a witness in addition to the mother of the
children, because they would not keep my covenant, 6 so that you may bring
confusion on them and bring their mother to ruin, so that they may have no
offspring. 7 Let them be scattered among the nations; let their names be blotted
out from the earth, because they have despised my covenant.
8 ‘Woe to you, Assyria, concealing the unrighteous within you! O wicked
nation, remember what I did to Sodom and Gomorrah, 9 whose land lies in
lumps of pitch and heaps of ashes. So will I do to those who have not listened
to me, says the Lord Almighty.’
Prophetic message for God’s new people
10 Thus says the Lord to Ezra: ‘Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom
of Jerusalem, which I was going to give to Israel. 11 Moreover, I will take back
to myself their glory, and give to these others the everlasting habitations that
I had prepared for those. 12 The tree of life will give them fragrant perfume,
and they shall neither toil nor become weary.
13 Go, and you will receive; pray that your days may be few, that they may be
shortened. The kingdom is already prepared for you; be on the watch!
14 Call, call heaven and earth to witness: I have set aside evil and created good;
for I am the Living One, says the Lord.
Message to Mother Jerusalem (see Baruch 4:5—5:9)
15 ‘Mother, embrace your children; bring them up with gladness as a dove;
strengthen their feet, because I have chosen you, says the Lord. 16 And I will
raise up the dead from their places, and bring them out from their tombs,
because I recognize my name in them. 17 Do not fear, mother of children,
for I have chosen you, says the Lord. 18 I will send you help, my servants Isaiah
and Jeremiah. According to their counsel I have consecrated and prepared for
you twelve trees loaded with various fruits, 19 and the same number of springs
flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains on which roses and
lilies grow; by these I will fill your children with joy.
20 ‘Guard the rights of the widow, secure justice for the fatherless, give to the
needy, defend the orphan, clothe the naked, 21 care for the injured and the
weak, do not ridicule the lame, protect the maimed, and let the blind have
a vision of my splendour. 22 Protect the old and the young within your walls.
23 When you find any who are dead, mark them and commit them to the grave,
and I will give you the first place in my resurrection. 24 Pause and be quiet,
my people, because your rest will come.
25 ‘Good nurse, nourish your children; strengthen their feet. 26 Not one of the
servants whom I have given you will perish, for I will require them from among
your number. 27 Do not become anxious, for when the day of tribulation and
anguish comes, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but you shall rejoice and
have abundance. 28 The nations will envy you but will not be able to do
anything against you, says the Lord. 29 My hands will cover you, so thatyour children may not see hell (Gehenna).
30 ‘Rejoice, O mother, with your children, because I will deliver you, says the
Lord. 31 Remember your children that sleep, because I will bring them out of
the hiding places of the earth, and will show mercy to them; for I am merciful,
says the Lord Almighty. 32 Embrace your children until I come, and proclaim
mercy to them; because my springs run over, and my grace will not fail.’
Prophecy of heavenly kingdoms
33 I, Ezra, received a command from the Lord on Mount Horeb to go to Israel.
When I came to them they rejected me and refused the Lord's commandment.
34 Therefore I say to you, O nations that hear and understand, ‘Wait for your
Shepherd; He will give you everlasting rest, because he who will come at the
end of the age is close at hand. 35 Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, for
eternal light will shine on you forevermore. 36 Flee from the shadow of this age,
receive the joy of your glory; I publicly call on my Saviour to witness.
37 Receive what the Lord has entrusted to you and be joyful, giving thanks to
him who has called you to heavenly kingdoms. 38 Rise, stand erect, and see the
number of those who have been sealed at the feast of the Lord. 39 Those who
have departed from the shadow of this age have received glorious garments
from the Lord. 40 Take again your full number, O Zion, and close the list of your
people who are clothed in white, who have fulfilled the law of the Lord.
41 The number of your children, whom you desired, is now complete. Implore
the Lord's authority that your people, who were called from the beginning,
may be made holy.’
42 I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude that I could not number, and
they all were praising the Lord with songs. 43 In their midst was a young man
of great stature, taller than any of the others, and on the head of each of them
he placed a crown, but he was more exalted than they. And I was spellbound.
44 Then I asked an angel, ‘Who are these, my lord?’ 45 He answered and said
to me, ‘These are they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the
immortal, and have confessed the name of God; now they are being crowned
and receiving palms.’ 46 Then I said to the angel, ‘Who is that young man who is
placing crowns on them and putting palms in their hands?’ 47 He answered and
said to me, ‘He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world.’ So I
began to praise those who had stood valiantly for the name of the Lord. 48 Then
the angel said to me, ‘Go, tell my people how great and many are the wonders
of the Lord God that you have seen.’
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This Ezra-5 document (Chapters 1-2) is the only portion of Apocalyptic Ezra
that I believe to be genuine; (chapters 3-16 are late additions by other writers).
This ancient prophecy is provided to the reader for thoughtful and prayerful study.