t is easy to dismiss truth out of hand or even ridicule it. But, as has often been noted, "Facts are stubborn things!" The "Man of the Century," Winston Churchill, wisely observed that "TRUTH is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but THERE IT IS!"

      He later said, "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened" (International Encyclopedia of Quotations). YOU have somehow stumbled across the irrefutable truth concerning what happened to the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Will you, like many, simply ignore it?

      As we've seen, our peoples will learn to live righteously after Jesus Christ returns. But, as we've also seen, a lot of horrible agony must precede that joyous time. Why? Because of the awful spiritual condition of our peoples.

      God told Ezekiel to make an announcement to Israel--which must refer to the modern peoples of Israel since Ezekiel wrote long after Israel's ancient destruction. Here, then, by the authority of God Almighty, we announce His message to YOU. The wording in the Living Bible makes it easy to follow: "Tell Israel, Wherever you look--east, west, north or south--your land is finished. No hope remains, for I will loose my anger on you.... With one blow after another I will finish you. The end has come; your final doom is waiting.

      "O Israel... the day of trouble nears. It is a day of shouts of anguish, not shouts of joy! Soon I will pour out my fury and let it finish its work of punishing you for all your evil deeds. I will not spare nor pity you, and you will know that I, the Lord, am doing it. The day of judgment has come... for your wickedness and pride have reached their climax.... All your boasting will die away, and no one will be left to bewail your fate" (Ezek. 7:2-11).

      Whatever your ethnic origin, if you have lived among the descendants of modern Israel, enjoying with them their God-given material and spiritual blessings, then--barring repentance--you will also suffer with them when their punishment for disobedience comes! God is NOT a respecter of persons.

      Of course, if our nations would change their ways, God always stands ready to forgive: "The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it" (Jer. 18:6-8)!

      Which way will our people go? Will they continue in unspeakable sins and rampant crimes, plunging headlong into the impending abyss? Or will they repent of their waywardness, by turning back to our God and His way? He tells our peoples what to do to get straightened out: "Yet the Lord pleads with you still: Ask where the good road is, the godly paths you used to walk in, in the days of long ago. Travel there, and you will find rest for your souls" (6:16 Living Bible).

      However, God knows what to expect from our peoples, as He relates immediately following: "But you reply, 'No, that is not the road we want!' I set watchmen over you who warned you: 'Listen for the sound of the trumpet! It will let you know when trouble comes.' But you said, 'No! We won't pay any attention!'" (vv. 16-17 Living Bible). Will this, dear reader, be YOUR response?

      The publishers of this material you are now reading have been set as "watchmen--! Knowing what we do, according to the Word of God, we are obeying God's command to sound this "trumpet" warning--through this brochure, our other free literature, and the Church of God-21st Century website. God tells us in Isaiah 58:1, "Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." You have now been warned!

      Though our nations as a whole are not likely to repent of their evil ways until they are greatly humbled by the awful events ahead, Jesus Christ promises to provide a shelter from the coming storm of violence for individuals who believe, and live by, the Word of God-whether Israelite or Gentile! This protection for God's faithful children is promised in Revelation 3:10 and 12:13-17. Jesus also warns us, "Watch... and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things" (Luke 21:36)!

      President Calvin Coolidge once said, "We [Americans] do not need more material development, we need more spiritual development. We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge, we need more character... we need more [true] religion... more of the things that are unseen."

      And former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Ezra Taft Benson, hit the nail on the head when he stated, "The greatest work in all the world is the building of men and women of character. Without character there is not much that's worthwhile, because character is the one thing we take with us from this world into the next" (An Enemy Hath Done This, p. 299).

      These men may not have truly understood God's plan, but they certainly got an important key correct-the need to build godly character. By your seeking God now, individually, He can begin developing His holy righteous character within you immediately-averting the need, if you remain faithful, for you to be SHAKEN out of your wrong ways through the horrible day of "Jacob's trouble" (Jer. 30:7)!

      The Jefferson Memorial stands on the south banks of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. Inscribed on its wall are these poignant words of Thomas Jefferson that still serve as a solemn warning to our American and British peoples: "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever!"