II Esdras 2:1-32

An analysis of prophetic scriptures in the Apocrypha.

II Esdras 2

: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. Moreover, I will take back to myself

their glory, and will give to these others the everlasting habitations, which I had

prepared for Israel. The tree of life shall give them fragrant perfume, and they

shall neither toil nor become weary. Ask and you will receive; pray that your days

be few, that they may be shortened. The kingdom is already prepared for you;

watch! Call, O heaven and earth to witness, for I left out evil and created good,

because I live, says the Lord.

:15

"Mother, embrace your sons; bring them up with gladness, as does the dove;

establish their feet, because I have chosen you, says the Lord. And I will raise up

the dead from their places, and will bring them out from their tombs, because I

recognize my name in them. Do not fear, mother of the sons, for I have chosen

you, says the Lord. 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, 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. Guard the rights of the widow, secure justice for the

fatherless, give to the needy, defend the orphan, clothe the naked, care for the

injured and the weak, do not ridicule a lame man, protect the maimed, and let the

blind man have a vision of my splendor. Protect the old and the young within

your walls; when you find any who are dead, commit them to the grave and mark

it, and I will give you the first place in the resurrection. Pause and be quiet, my

people, because your rest will come. Good nurse, nourish your sons, and

strengthen their feet. Not one of the servants whom I have given you will perish,

for I will require them from among your number. Do not be anxious, for when the

day of tribulation and anguish comes, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but you

shall rejoice and have abundance. The nations shall envy you but they shall not be

able to do anything against you, says the Lord. My hands will cover you, that your

sons may not see Gehenna. Rejoice, O mother, with your sons, because I will

deliver you, says the Lord. Remember your sons 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. Embrace your children until I come, and

proclaim mercy to them; because my springs run over, and my grace will not fail."

II Esdras 2:10 - 11

: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. Moreover, I will take back to myself

their glory, and will give to these others the everlasting habitations, which I had

prepared for Israel.

     God told Ezra that he was to instruct the nation of Israel that, to these foreign Khazar people who

would eventually adopt the Jewish religion, God would eventually give them possession of the

Promised Land.

II Esdras 2:12

:12

The tree of life shall give them fragrant perfume, and they shall neither toil nor

become weary.

     Here we see the timing of the fulfillment of this promise would be in the Millennium where the

trees of life will grow abundantly.

II Esdras 2:13 - 14

:13

Ask and you will receive; pray that your days be few, that they may be shortened.

The kingdom is already prepared for you; watch! Call, O heaven and earth to

witness, for I left out evil and created good, because I live, says the Lord.

     OK. Fine.

II Esdras 2:15

:15

"Mother, embrace your sons; bring them up with gladness, as does the dove;

establish their feet, because I have chosen you, says the Lord.

     From here the topic switches a bit to speaking of sons and mothers. The mothers are those

women whose sons are soldiers who will fight in the war against the Russian Alliance.

II Esdras 2:16

:16

And I will raise up the dead from their places, and will bring them out from their

tombs, because I recognize my name in them.

     God promises, just as he did in the Old and New Testaments, that those soldiers who died in his

service would participate in the first resurrection at the beginning of the Millennium.

II Esdras 2:17 - 19

:17

Do not fear, mother of the sons, for I have chosen you, says the Lord. 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, 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.

     Here is a prophecy that the two famous prophets of old, Isaiah and Jeremiah, would be born into

our world a second time. They give to God counsel concerning the trees of life. It may well be that

these two men give to God, here on earth as a human, information about the way Adam extended

his life after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. It certainly looks like Isaiah and Jeremiah

know beforehand the secret to life extension. They share it with God in time to have it made

available on a large scale following the rescue of Jerusalem.

     The Jews in Jesus' day must have been familiar with this promise of a return of Isaiah and

Jeremiah, for when Jesus asked his disciples who the people thought he was, they replied that

some people thought Jesus might be Jeremiah as was foretold.

Matthew 16:13 - 14

:13

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who

do people say the Son of Man is?"

:14

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others,

Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

     What else does II Esdras 2:17-19 teach us? Not only would these sons be resurrected, but the

mothers would also have their lives extended as well by eating of the fruit from the trees of life.

II Esdras 2:20 - 22

:20

Guard the rights of the widow, secure justice for the fatherless, give to the needy,

defend the orphan, clothe the naked, care for the injured and the weak, do not

ridicule a lame man, protect the maimed, and let the blind man have a vision of my

splendor. Protect the old and the young within your walls;

     These instructions are to be applied at the time of the great war to come. We have read many

times in the Bible about how God will take care of the weak. We are to do the same.

II Esdras 2:23

:23

when you find any who are dead, commit them to the grave and mark it, and I will

give you the first place in the resurrection.

     After the great battle, the ground will be covered with the corpses of the enemy armies. We know

from the Bible that seven months following the liberation of Jerusalem, crews will set up markers

wherever bones are found so the land will finally be cleaned up.

II Esdras 2:24

:24

Pause and be quiet, my people, because your rest will come.

     The time of leisure will come following the end of the war.

II Esdras 2:25

:25

Good nurse, nourish your sons, and strengthen their feet.

     Take care of the boys who will eventually grow to become soldiers in this great war.

II Esdras 2:26

:26

Not one of the servants whom I have given you will perish, for I will require them

from among your number.

     The dead soldiers will be resurrected. The prisoners of war will all be returned.

II Esdras 2:27

:27

Do not be anxious, for when the day of tribulation and anguish comes, others shall

weep and be sorrowful, but you shall rejoice and have abundance.

     God will resurrect the dead soldiers. There is no need to be sad, for your loss will only be

temporary.

II Esdras 2:28

:28

The nations shall envy you but they shall not be able to do anything against you,

says the Lord.

     God's power will be complete. Nothing can further harm the mothers of the soldiers.

II Esdras 2:29

:29

My hands will cover you, that your sons may not see Gehenna.

     The soldiers may die, but their souls will be restored quickly to their bodies.

II Esdras 2:30

:30

Rejoice, O mother, with your sons, because I will deliver you, says the Lord.

     God will rescue the soldiers and their mothers.

II Esdras 2:31

:31

Remember your sons 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.

     Soldiers will not lie forever in death. They will be resurrected.

II Esdras 2:32

:32

Embrace your children until I come, and proclaim mercy to them; because my

springs run over, and my grace will not fail."

     Love those boys. God will not fail them when they face death. They will be resurrected after all.

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