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192 were the moral and ethical compass of their own kings and people; they were also observers and predictors on the world arena by possessing uncannily accurate knowledge of go- ings-on in distant lands, of court intrigues in foreign capitals, of which gods were worshipped where, plus amazing knowl- edge of history, geography, trade routes, and military cam- paigns. They then combined such awareness of the Present with knowledge of the Past to foretell the Future. To the Hebrew Prophets, Yahweh was not only El Elyon— “God Supreme”—and not only God of the gods, El Elohim, but a Universal God—of all nations, of the whole Earth, of the universe. Though His abode was in the Heaven of Heav- ens, He cared for his creation—Earth and its people. Every- thing that has happened was by His will, and His will was carried out by Emissaries—be it Angels, be it a king, be it a nation. Adopting the Sumerian distinction between predeter- mined Destiny and free-willed Fate, the Prophets believed that the Future could be foretold because it was all pre- planned, yet on the way thereto, things could change. As- syria, for example, was at times called God’s “rod of wrath” with which other nations were punished, but when it chose to act unnecessarily brutally or out of bounds, Assyria itself was in turn subjected to punishment. The Prophets seemed to be delivering a two-track message not only in regard to current events, but also in respect to the Future. Isaiah, for example, prophesied that Mankind should expect a Day of Wrath when all the nations (Israel included) shall be judged and punished—as well as look forward to an idyllic time when the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, men shall beat their swords into plowshares, and Zion shall be a light unto all nations. The contradiction has baffled generations of biblical scholars and theologians, but a close examination of the Prophets’ words leads us to an astounding finding: the Day of Judgment was spoken of as the Day of the Lord; the mes- sianic time was expected at the End of Days; and the two were neither synonymous nor predicted as concurrent events. They were two separate events, due to occur at different times: THE END OF DAYS