1967
Notes taken at the Bible Study meeting, where the speaker was John Nelson Parr
Bible Study meetings at the Full Gospel Church, Fleetwood, took place on a Tuesday. This particular Bible Study, the first of two, was given by John Nelson Parr as a result, it would appear, of the outbreak of the Six-Day War.
The Six-Day War occurred between 5 and 10 June 1967. I was going out with Audrey Wood, and I remember that there was great excitement in the Wood household because it seemed that Scripture was coming true before our very eyes.
I arrived at my dating of John Nelson Parr’s first Bible Study to
6 June 1967 and his second to 13
June 1967 by comparing his words in the first study: “[The] Times of [the] Gentiles [are] nearly fulfilled. Soon [the] Gentiles will stop trampling Jerusalem.” (page 8), with those in his second: “[The] Times of [the] Gentiles [are] nearly over. [The] treading down of Jerusalem by [the] nations has ceased this week.” (page 10), and assuming that the change of tense from future to past corresponded with the
Old City’s being taken on 7 June by Moshe Dayan.
[Page 7:] Don’t flounder in [the] fog of human calculation, but look up. [And look to the] Bible, [the] only infallible guide to [the] future. [There we see] Daniel’s image, [with] two legs [of iron, speaking of the] Roman Empire, East and West, [exerting an] iron rule. [The image has] ten toes, [indicating] ten kingdoms of [the] Roman Empire. [This] is coming to pass [in the form of a] Revised R[oman] E[mpire]. [The] United States of Europe ([which we see forming now as the] EEC) will be ten kingdoms, [and will be the fulfilment of Daniel’s vision of the] Roman Empire.
[Let us look at the] present situation, [by way of] introduction. [In] Luke 21:29 [we read of the] fig tree: [“29And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” “The fig tree”: for] 2500 y[ea]rs [the] Jewish nation has been as a withered fig tree. Now [it] is coming in[to] leaf — e.g. [it] is now a nation [again, which it has not been since its destruction by the Romans. This] seemed impossible [as little as] 30 y[ea]rs ago. “All the trees”: [see] the nations [mentioned in the Bible as bearing on the Last Things] emerging; e.g., Egypt has become more important. C[om]pare 60 y[ea]rs ago; Egypt was nothing. Also, e.g., Syria used to be dead [when it was] under [the] French; now [it is an] independent country. Also, Iraq (Chaldea), [formed in] 1932. [And] Iran (Medo-Persia).
Note: [When] Jesus [read from the Scriptures in Nazareth, and said that they were fulfilled that day, he] closed [the] book of Isaiah at “[the] acceptable year of [the] Lord”. [He] didn’t [go on to] read “[and the] day of vengeance [of our God]”; this is coming soon.
[Let us look at] wars in [the] Word of God. World War III [will take place] before [the final conflict of the age at] Armageddon. Ezekiel 38 [when it speaks about the conflict of] Gog, Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, [etc., against Israel, is] not [describing] Armageddon:
a. Leaders. In Armageddon [the leader] is Antichrist. [The notes go on to say:] these are not leaders here — leaders are Russia.[1] Russia [is now] causing much trouble, [in its support to the Communist forces in] Viet Nam, [for example, and to] Nasser [in Egypt].
[1] Leaders. In Armageddon is Antichrist — these are not leaders here — leaders are Russia: This probably means: The Antichrist is not the leader in view here; the leaders of the conflict in Ezekiel 38 are Russia and others.
[Page 8:] b. Armies. [Those of] Ethiopia, Persia, Russia [and] Iraq [are mentioned here as the participants in the conflict]. In Armageddon it will be every nation, not just the above.
c. End of [the] war. V[erse] 19 [says: “…There shall be a] great shaking in [the] land of Israel” [which ends with] Russia [being] defeated, etc.[1] Armageddon ends with Jesus coming. [Jesus will come at the end of this age and] will take [the] reins of the world.
Why is it Russia, [we say, that will fulfil the prophecy of Ezekiel 38]? V[erse] 2 [lists] Gog, Magog, Meshech [and] Tubal. [“…Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal…” Magog, Meshech and Tubal were] sons of Japheth, becoming [the] Russian nation. [At this point the notes appear to have originally read:] Gesenulus[2] traced “Rosh” historically.[3] [But they were hastily emended to read:] This can be traced historically. (Before [the] war, lead pencils from Russia used to bear [the] name “Gog”.)
Now [the] Russians have sided with [the] Arabs [against Israel]. [The] Times of [the] Gentiles [are] nearly fulfilled. Soon [the] Gentiles will stop trampling Jerusalem.[4]
Ez[ekiel] 39:9, 10 [speaks of the] burning of [the] weapons after [the] war, [for] seven y[ea]rs. [Ezekiel 39:]11, 12: Israel will win, and bury the dead.
[Ezekiel] 38, v[erse] 5 [and] v[erse] 6 [indicates other nations which will take part in the war against Israel]: “…Persia, Ethiopia [and] Libya…” Also Germany. [The notes next have the words] (ask?) Askenah.[5] [The Ms. goes on to say:] “[…and] many [people] with thee.” Probably other […but the sentence is not completed.]
Why are they going to make war? [Verses] 12 [and] 13 [give the answer]: “…to take [a] spoil…” Gold, Silver, Wealth. Minerals, Oils. 75% of [the] world’s wealth belongs to JEWS!
[1] I take “etc.” here to mean “and those with Russia”.
[2] Gesenulus is my mishearing of the name Gesenius, a German orientalist and biblical critic (1786–1842), who suggested that Rosh be identified with Russia.
[3] Gesenius traced “Rosh” historically: Mr. Parr probably mentioned the variant reading found in the Revised Version of the Bible, where in verse 2 the nations are listed as “…Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal…”
[4] Soon the Gentiles will stop trampling Jerusalem: If this Study was given on 27 Jun. 1967, then the very next day Israel took over control of the Old City of Jerusalem (28 Jun. 1967).
[5] Askenah: My mistaken hearing of the name Ashkenaz. The Biblical text does not have this name in verses 5 and 6, but it does have “…Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands…” According to Genesis 10:3 and 1 Chronicles 1:6, the sons of Gomer were “Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.” Evidently Mr. Parr took Ashkenaz to be one of “all his bands” and identified it with the Germans.
[Page 9:] V[erse] 13: [”Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof…”] ?? Britain has for its emblem a lion. ?? [The text has the deleted comment:] Note: British R[ai]l[wa]ys.[1] [The Ms. continues:] This is [the] Lion of Judah. ??[2]
The End. No nation can ill-treat Jews and get away with it — e.g. Germany, Haman [who] mistreated Mordecai. Russia’s fingers are dripping with the blood of Jews and [of God’s] redeemed people.
[The] end: Ezekiel 38:18–22 and 39:1–3, 9–[…]. V[erse] 11: [The] stench of [the] corpses will stop travellers.[3]
[1] British Railways at the time had as its emblem a lion.
[2] ?? Britain has for its emblem a lion.… This is the Lion of Judah??: I am not sure whether the question marks show that Mr. Parr had doubts about the identification of “young lion” as Britain, or whether I did.
[3] From here there is a blank to the bottom of the page in the Ms., and the notes are resumed on the next page. It seems that Mr. Parr spread his study over two weeks, and that the break occurred here. For in the first part, the following words appear (page 8): [The] Times of [the] Gentiles [are] nearly fulfilled. Soon [the] Gentiles will stop trampling Jerusalem. But in the latter part (page 10), the Ms. says: [The] Times of [the] Gentiles [are] nearly over. [The] treading down of Jerusalem by [the] nations has ceased this week. The latter part is reproduced at Tuesday 13th June 1967.
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