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The Feminine Shape of Finland
as a Sign on the World Map
from the book YHWH Is Calling
“All inhabitants of the world and dwellers
on the earth: When he lifts up a banner on the mountains,
you see it; And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.”
Isaiah 18:3
I dare to write to you with faith and full boldness because I have personally experienced that great grace of the Lord. You know about my long and challenging faith journey, from confirmation class through God's school of learning, leading to my rebirth in the Spirit a few years ago. However, I don’t recall mentioning to you how, still blissfully unaware of the fulfillment of the sign in Revelation chapter 12 and its significance, God appeared to me during that time through very unique revelations. The first thing the Lord began to speak to me, a regular member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, was a prompting to restore the Sunday holy day I had been observing back to the original Sabbath.
As a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, I was perhaps already in awe of the work of the Holy Spirit at that time, since I had hardly heard of the gifts of the Spirit as part of a believer’s life, let alone witnessed them in action. When I cautiously began approaching a few people about the matter, I was astonished to discover that God had begun speaking about the same issue to other people across congregational boundaries during those same years. The Lord's revelation was so strong that, if He had not already prepared people within the Evangelical Lutheran Church with similar understanding, I would have likely needed to change congregations to follow God's call. However, God's plan was different. Though the spiritual leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has been compromised by an apostate democracy, allowing people who preach "itching ears" messages instead of the Holy Will of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our God will still give the national church (as well as other Christian congregations) the opportunity to humble themselves and return to apostolic obedience and the proclamation of the Word.
God established the Sabbath as an eternal sign between Himself and His people. Even Jesus observed it faithfully, though He renewed certain aspects and addressed specific issues, expanding upon the Old Covenant with the broader perspective of the New Covenant. It was therefore quite understandable that the Almighty would choose to first speak to me about this matter. It becomes very logical when considering the time we have now entered, in which God will show mercy and re-betroth Israel (referring here specifically to the ancient Ephraim, who received a certificate of divorce, and is at times called Israel alongside Judah in the Word). If God is restoring the covenant He once dissolved, then, of course, He will also restore the holy Sabbath, which He gave as a sign of that covenant. I was prompted to publish a more detailed explanation of this matter for the elders of the congregations, which is why, my friend, I will not go into it further here. But perhaps you can already grasp the core of the issue.
The Sabbath, however, was not the only matter the Lord addressed. As God's guidance progressed, it became unmistakably clear how He had begun speaking to people in various congregations throughout Scandinavia and around the world, revealing how much of His Word had been altered by human decisions over the centuries. There had been many individual reformers throughout history, but now the Lord seemed to be working directly through His Spirit, speaking to congregants about the same issues across denominational, national, and continental boundaries. Even then, I did not yet realize that I was part of the birth of the wild donkey’s colt and the phenomenon of our time, where the Lord is restoring His people to original obedience to His Holy Word. At that time, I would not have believed how truly we had entered a period in which the age of grace is approaching its final stage.
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her. I will give her
her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor
as a door of hope; She shall sing there,
As in the days of her youth, As in the day
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
‘And it shall be, in that day,’ Says the Lord,
‘That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’’”
Hosea 2:14-16 (NKJV)
As I mentioned in my writing last fall, after listening to Pekka Sartola's teachings on the subject, modern genetic technology has confirmed the surprising presence of a significant number of descendants of the ancient northern kingdom of Israel in Scandinavia, as well as descendants of the southern kingdom of Judah. As I referred to earlier in this writing, the astonishingly beautiful feminine shape of the land of Finland is by no means a coincidence. And it is no coincidence in our God’s world that this bride maiden appears on the world map at the same time as Israel is reborn after millennia.
In His revelation, the Lord also declared that the appearance of the feminine shape on the world map was an earthly sign of the approaching time proclaimed by the sign in the heavens in Revelation chapter 12 (as the Lord often concretizes spiritual matters through means that can also be observed in the physical world). Based on the examination of the aforementioned verses in the Holy Word, the appearance of the feminine shape can likewise be understood as a reference to the ancient prophecy tied to the sign seen in the heavens, which speaks of the re-betrothal of the remnant of Israel. In God's global plan of salvation, we have now arrived at the time when the remnant of ancient Israel is once again to dance joyfully as a bride who has received mercy. It is no coincidence that the northern regions and joyful dancing are specifically highlighted in the Word:
“‘At the same time,’ says the Lord,
‘I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they shall be My people.’ Thus says the Lord:
‘The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when I went to give him rest.’
The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned
with your tambourines, And shall go forth
in the dances of those who rejoice.
You shall yet plant vines on the mountains
of Samaria; The planters shall plant and
eat them as ordinary food. For there
shall be a day When the watchmen
will cry on Mount Ephraim,
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’ For thus says the Lord:
‘Sing with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘O Lord, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel!’ Behold, I will
bring them from the north country,
And gather them from the ends of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child And the one
who labors with child, together;
A great throng shall return there. They shall
come with weeping, And with supplications
I will lead them. I will cause them to walk
by the rivers of waters, In a straight way
in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father
to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn. ‘
Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare it in the isles afar off, and say,
‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’’”
Jeremiah 31:1-10 (NKJV)
Today, I will focus only on proclaiming the good news of the birth of the donkey's colt. However, I caution you against thinking that, because Finland was granted the grace to act as a visible sign to the nations, it can do anything without accountability before God. Despite its beautiful form and the blessed beginning of its era of independence, God, in His holiness, cannot and has not overlooked Finland’s current state of apostasy. Just as with all nations throughout history, the people of Finland have been able to choose for themselves: whether to remain obedient to God's Word and retain His blessings, or to choose the path of apostasy and sorrowful shaking.
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Scriptures taken from the New King James Version:
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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“ Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments”
(NKJV PS78:1-7)
Picture: The Church of Utsjoki, located in the far north of Finland.