II Esdras 1:33-40

An analysis of prophetic scriptures in the Apocrypha.

II Esdras 1

:33

"Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as the

wind drives straw; and your sons will have no children, because with you they

have neglected my commandment and have done what is evil in my sight. 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.

They have seen no prophets, yet will recall their former state. I will 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.

:38

"And now, father, look with pride and see the people coming from the east; to

them I will give as leaders Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Hosea and Amos and

Micah and Joel and Obadiah and Jonah and Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah,

Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, who is also called the messenger of the Lord.

II Esdras 1:33 - 34

:33

"Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as the

wind drives straw; and your sons will have no children, because with you they

have neglected my commandment and have done what is evil in my sight.

     While we know from biblical sources that the nation of Israel will be restored back to their land in

the end times, Ezra wrote that in his day the nation was in a state of rejection. It is in the next verse

where some insight to how things would eventually transpire is provided.

II Esdras 1:35 - 37

: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. They have seen no prophets, yet will recall their former state. I will

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.

     People other than the nation of Israel would eventually come to obey God's laws. This is a clear

reference to the Khazar Empire which existed from about 600 to 1000 A.D. Arthur Koestler has

written an excellent work on this kingdom in his book The Thirteenth Tribe. Situated strategically

between the Christian world and the rapidly spreading Muslim world, this nation stood as a buffer

between the two rising powers.

     Recognizing both his position of influence on both regions as well as his vulnerability to their

aggression, the astute King Bulan of the Khazars sought to find an inoffensive compromise between

the two. His choice was to adopt a religion which sided similarly to both, yet not entirely with

either. He chose Judaism. By decree, Bulan forced his pagan people to adopt Judaism.

Over the centuries these people migrated generally westward into Eastern Europe. These people

became known as the Ashkenazi Jews. These non-Semetic people are the ones who comprise the

bulk of today's Jewish citizenry.

     The other large group of Jews, the true children of the House of Judah, is known as the Sephardic

Jews. They came up through the west of Europe from Spain and spread east.

Here God promised to Ezra that eventually, in the end times, another people whose lineage is

totally outside the family of Jacob would come to be accepted by God as his people and live in the

Promised Land.

II Esdras 1:38

:38

"And now, father, look with pride and see the people coming from the east;

     At the time this was written, the Khazar kingdom had not yet been formed. When they eventually

adopted the Jewish religion, they had migrated from the east and settled to the northeast of

Palestine.

II Esdras 1:39 - 40

:39

to them I will give as leaders Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Hosea and Amos and

Micah and Joel and Obadiah and Jonah and Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah,

Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, who is also called the messenger of the Lord.

     During the Millennial Reign, not only the Apostles will participate in the first resurrection, but

also all these prophets and Patriarchs from the Old Testament days.

     This passage is the background for the later promises to Ezra mentioned in the next section.

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