Dear Associates, Students and Friends:

The secrets of the prophetic teachings of God found in the Holy Scriptures are beginning to come alive and into full bloom as never before. The Bible tells us in no uncertain terms that as we approach that period which God calls the End of the Age (and we have entered the threshold phase), the true knowledge of His prophetic messages will be given to those who intently desire them and who are faithful members of God’s divine ekklesia (the Congregation of God). We read in Daniel 12:4,9 that the mysterious teachings of God will become plain when God opens our eyes and ears to what the Father has actually taught in the Holy Scriptures. One of those prophecies has a "secret title" that provides us with the precise period for the final countdown to the Second Advent of Christ back to this earth. This particular section of the Scriptures is referred to as a time when God will rest (or, reside) in Damascus. That’s right. There is an era of time that will occur before the Second Advent when God will leave Jerusalem behind and take up His residency in the geographical environment of Damascus, Syria. In short, God will make His earthly abode (or show His divine presence) in the region of Damascus, and that all people on earth will recognize the legitimacy of this divine residence.

This is a most mysterious prophecy (and you may never have heard of the prediction being called: "the Damascus Residence of God"), but its teaching is within the Holy Scriptures. It is one to which the Jews have paid close attention from as early as two hundred years before the birth of Christ and again in a profound way in the 11th century of our era (just before the time of the Crusades) as you will see in my new forthcoming book "The Temples that Jerusalem Forgot." The prophecy occupies six chapters in length from Zechariah 9 to 14 inclusively (these six chapters were actually written by the prophet Jeremiah, see Matthew 27:9). This divine prediction has been a significant prophecy in motivating the Jewish people into urgent action to prepare for the End of the Age, yet it is one that most people today (and especially Christians) know nothing or little about. There is a reason for this lack of knowledge. One of the problems for us moderns is the title of the prophecy itself found in its first verse (Zechariah 9:1). Rendered literally from the original Hebrew it is: "An Oracle. A word of Yahweh against the Land of Hadrach. And Damascus [shall be] a resting place for Him [a place of repose or domicile for Yahweh], for on Yahweh [shall be] the eye of humanity [that is, all humans will turn their attention toward Yahweh] and all of the Tribes of Israel [shall do the same as the nations on earth]." This verse shows that all the people on earth will look to God who will symbolically be "resting" in Damascus.

The important prophecy is "against the Land of Hadrach." The word "Hadrach" describes a land, NOT a city! Modern scholars not realizing what ancient geographical terms signify are at a loss in identifying this region of land on earth. Yet it is simple to know where the prophecy refers. It represents a large segment of the Middle East. The prophecy gives the geographical dimensions of "Hadrach." The oracle starts with judgments "against Hamath," the north border city on the Euphrates, then southward along the Mediterranean coast to Tyre and Sidon, then Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod, the land of the Philistines, and also "against mine house" [Judah and Israel] (Zechariah 9:2-8), and finally it includes Assyria and Egypt (Zechariah 10:11). After this judgment "against Hadrach," peace will come "from sea even to sea" [that is, from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf and to the Indian Ocean], "and from the river, and to the ends of the earth" [that is, from the Euphrates southward until the land ends at the Indian Ocean]. The Land of Hadrach is that habitable area that has long been called "the Fertile Crescent." And indeed, the word "Hadrach" means "circuit" or something like the periodic return of the moon (from crescent to crescent). So, in simple language, this prophecy of those six chapters is "an Oracle Against the Countries of the Fertile Crescent." This prophecy takes place when Yahweh has left Jerusalem as His residence and when the Temple site in Jerusalem has become a place for the manufacture and merchandising of pottery (with kilns and furnaces irreverently in operation within the very precincts of the Temple) (Zechariah 11:12,13). If you want to know the details of God’s move to Damascus and how it has strongly influenced the Jewish nation in history (and will do so again), send for next month’s Prophetic Report titled: "The Damascus Phase of End-Time Prophecy." You will be amazed at its teaching and how this prophecy will soon affect all people on earth.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued support of the work of ASK. We are providing truths of the Bible you can not find elsewhere. There is much more to come and it will be awesome. We need your financial support to keep this educational work of the Gospel going out to the world. May the blessings of God be with you all. With every good wish. Until next month,

Ernest L. Martin