[0:00] I greet you in the name of Jesus this morning, the one who brought us the grace that we've heard about.
[0:14] He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This morning, it's a little different for me.
[0:27] I want to give a message on God's promises to Israel.
[0:43] We heard about grace, and we all know the grace that we have experienced. And today, you know, Israel has been God's chosen people for thousands of years.
[1:05] And today, many of them are away from God. But I believe God has a plan. And God would have them to be saved as well as us.
[1:18] And I want to look at some of that. I want to start in Romans chapter 11. Read a few verses out of Romans 11. When the Apostle Paul was talking about Israel and how they rejected Jesus, the Messiah.
[1:46] And because of their rejecting him, they are blinded. Maybe we'll just start in verse 1, chapter 11, Romans.
[2:03] I say, then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin.
[2:13] God has not cast away his people, which he foreknew. Wart ye not what the Scriptures say of Elias, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
[2:35] But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
[2:48] Even so, then, at this present time, also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. If by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.
[3:01] But if it be works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it.
[3:16] According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber. Eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day.
[3:28] And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see.
[3:39] Bow down their back, alway. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but rather, through their fall, salvation is coming to the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
[4:00] And he goes on, but I think we'll skip on to... He talks about how the Gentiles were grafted into the olive tree, and the original branches are broken off.
[4:18] And then, let's read verse 25. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in.
[4:41] And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the deliverer, shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
[4:53] For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes.
[5:08] For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. You know, I do not claim to know everything.
[5:21] And I don't know how God is going to work His plan in these last days. But I want to go back into the Old Testament, starting in Genesis here in just a little bit.
[5:38] And look at some of the promises that God made to Abraham and to the children of Israel. And, you know, thinking of what is going on today over in the land of Israel and the war that is going on and how the hatred of the Jews has spread around the world.
[6:01] And why is there such a hatred for the Jews in our day? You know, they blame Israel for a lot of things there in the war.
[6:23] But what is different in this war than, or what is worse in this war than Russia has been in Ukraine for, what, two years?
[6:36] And you don't hear much about it anymore. And Russia is one of the first to condemn Israel.
[6:46] And I believe that it comes down to the fact that the Jewish race has been chosen of God.
[6:57] They've been God's people. And God chose Jerusalem above all other places in this world and said, I will put my name there.
[7:10] And that is why today you hear it over and over that the Muslims are going to take over from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
[7:25] That is the land where Israel dwells, where they live today. And it is the land that God promised to Abraham that he gave to them.
[7:38] And I believe that what we're seeing, the animosity and the hatred for the Jews, it's a demonic hatred that is stirred up by the devil.
[7:53] And he is turning the world against them. And I believe that hatred, if they would actually be able to annihilate the Jews, I believe that hatred would be turned toward the Christian.
[8:14] And it would continue on because Islam's goal is to rule the world. And their prophet told them that they will rule the world someday.
[8:28] So it's not only Israel, but it is also Christianity that stands in their way. Now in Luke 21, we have some verses here concerning the end times.
[8:51] We will just start reading here in verse 24. They shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations.
[9:04] Now he's talking about Israel. And we know the history of Israel. And we'll be seeing some of this again later. But soon after Christ, Israel was again taken out of the land.
[9:24] The temple was destroyed. Everything was destroyed in a period of like from AD 67 to 70 or something like that.
[9:37] He says here, And they shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
[9:53] You know, and I've pondered, I've wondered, and I've asked people. I said, when is the time of the Gentiles fulfilled?
[10:06] You know, in 67, Israel retook the city of Jerusalem. You know, they don't, I mean, the mosque is still there on the Temple Mount and all of that.
[10:20] So, is the time of the Gentiles, is it fulfilled or is it still lingering and it will be fulfilled?
[10:32] So, I'm not quite sure. And, you know, when it comes to the day that we live in and God's timetable in this end time, you know, you hear so many voices and so many opinions of men.
[10:55] But I believe, and let me, and what I, what I want to convey today is that the most important thing for us is that we are ready for the coming of our Lord.
[11:14] That we are ready should we die today. That we are ready should our Lord return today. And that we have been faithful in the work that He has given us to do.
[11:29] That we have been faithful in all of that. That should today be the last day or we have another 10 years or 50 years, we don't know.
[11:42] But however long that it will be that He will find us faithful in His work and in His kingdom. Let's read a few more verses here.
[11:58] Luke 21, 25. There shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars and upon the earth distress of nations. With perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.
[12:18] For the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass and look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh.
[12:37] And He spake to them a parable. Behold the fig tree and all the trees. When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
[12:48] So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled.
[13:03] Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life.
[13:18] And so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.
[13:40] Now Jesus warns us here. He says, take heed to yourselves, lest at any time you'll be overcharged with surfeiting, with drunkenness. And right in with those terrible things, He puts in the cares of this life.
[13:57] You know, it is so easy. It is so easy to get overwhelmed and to get trapped by things that come innocently, maybe we might say, as the cares of this life.
[14:15] As we look at life and the things we need and a house and job and all of those things, vehicles and whatever it is.
[14:28] But that we allow ourselves to get trapped into those things that we are overcharged with.
[14:40] We become trapped and we become ensnared by those things. He warns us that we are careful in that.
[14:50] And so, as we continue on, keep those things in mind. Let's turn to Genesis. Genesis chapter 12.
[15:05] I believe I want to start. You know, God called Abraham. He called Abram before his name was changed. He called Abram out of the land of Syria.
[15:18] And he says here in chapter 12, in verse 1, he says, Get thee out of thy country, away from your kindred and out of this land, to a land that I will show thee and I will make of thee a great nation.
[15:34] I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curses thee. And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
[15:48] You know, and so what God was saying here when he came to Abram that day, what he was saying is that, Abram, I have chosen you and I have chosen your family.
[16:01] That through you the Messiah will come. Through you the Deliverer will come. The one that will come to redeem humanity. He will come through your family, Abram.
[16:14] And that was God's promise. And along with the promise, he said, I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curses thee. I believe that this blessing and this curse is still active today.
[16:30] And we see it. We see it working. That as nations stand with Israel, they are blessed. And nations that work against Israel, they are cursed.
[16:50] So God made this promise. God made this promise to Abram. And Abram departed and he left and he took Lot with him.
[17:02] Verse 6. And Abram passed through the land into the place of Shechem, unto the plain of Morah.
[17:14] And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land. And there built he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him.
[17:28] So Abram built an altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. Abram, as he left everything, but he took his flocks with him and his servants and all of that.
[17:46] But Abram did not have any children. But God promised to bless him and to give him children, of course.
[17:59] But that's not the part that we're after today. Now in chapter 15, verse 18. Well, in this chapter, God came to Abram and he talked to him and he changed.
[18:16] So he made this covenant with him. He told him to take a heifer and a goat and a ram and a turtle dove and a young pigeon and to bring these.
[18:28] And we won't go into the making of this covenant. But God made a covenant with Abraham that day.
[18:40] He made a covenant with him. In verse 18. In the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
[18:57] You know, and if you look on the map, the river of Egypt would be the Nile River. And if you look at the Euphrates, it's a much bigger territory than what Israel has today.
[19:18] In chapter 17. And when Abram was 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the almighty God.
[19:33] Walk before me and be thou perfect. You know, isn't this? Just think of this. Here comes God and he says, I am the almighty God.
[19:47] You walk before me and you be a perfect man. You walk before me with a perfect heart. You trust me 100%.
[19:58] Maybe I'm paraphrasing here, but how do we walk perfect before God? Isn't it? As we trust him with all our life.
[20:11] As we trust him with every circumstance in life. As we trust him with all our being and our future and all of that. And I will make my covenant between me and thee and will multiply thee exceeding.
[20:35] Behold, my covenant is with thee and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram. By thy name shall be Abraham for a father of many nations have I made thee.
[20:52] And I will make thee exceeding fruitful. And I will make nations of thee and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee and their generations.
[21:05] For an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger.
[21:19] All the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God. You know, God came and he over and over he reaffirmed the covenant.
[21:35] And that he is giving this land to Abraham. In verse 19, God said, Sarah thy son.
[21:48] You know, here in the meantime, Abram had a son called Ishmael by the bondmaid. But God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed.
[22:01] Thou shalt call his name Isaac and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him.
[22:13] And later, he also includes Jacob. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And he says his covenant will be through Jacob.
[22:24] You know, today, they say that God's covenant was to Abraham through Ishmael. But it's not. It's not.
[22:36] It is through Jacob, through Isaac and Jacob. That is how it continued on. And in chapter 28, we'll read that.
[22:52] Verse 3. And God Almighty bless thee. Here we have Isaac giving Jacob the blessing before he left the land of Canaan to find a wife.
[23:09] And God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee that thou mayest be a multitude of people. And give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee and to thy seed with thee that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger which God gave unto Abraham.
[23:34] So God gave the land to Abraham and to Abraham's seed. And then the promise was confirmed. The covenant was confirmed from Abraham to Isaac and now to Jacob.
[23:49] And so the offspring of Jacob is what then became known as the Jews. And the Jews today are a hated people.
[24:01] You know, and what other family, what other family is there that can trace their ancestry back that far?
[24:16] Is there any? I don't know. But I just find it very interesting. Exodus chapter 6.
[24:29] See what we have. So here we have the children of Israel in Egypt. And in verse 6.
[24:43] Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rid you out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments.
[24:57] And I will take you to me for a people. I will be to you a God. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
[25:08] I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And I will give it to you for an heritage.
[25:20] I am the Lord. You know, and if we could know our God in this way. Here he gave a word. He said, this is what I'm going to do.
[25:33] This is how it's going to be. I'm going to take you, the people of Israel, the children of Israel. I'm going to take you out of Egypt and take you into the land of Canaan.
[25:45] And he finishes this with the little phrase, I am the Lord. I am the Lord. If the Lord God, Jehovah said something, then that's how it's going to be.
[26:00] You know, and we can see the many prophecies that have been fulfilled. And there's, you know, there's many prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Jesus and Jesus coming.
[26:16] And they were all fulfilled. They were all fulfilled. And there's prophecies for the future. And they will be fulfilled. Why?
[26:27] Because the Lord Jehovah spoke it. God spoke it. And it will be fulfilled. And so today, as we are here, we find ourselves in this time.
[26:42] And we don't know how much longer we will be here on this earth. We don't know when Jesus will return. We don't know when that he will call us home.
[26:54] Whether Christ will return or he will take us home through the avenue of death. But we know that this word will not pass away.
[27:09] It will be fulfilled. Well, there's other verses where God describes the land as a good land.
[27:20] And it's not like the land of Egypt that you're used to where you had to irrigate. But this land, it even says that God watches over this land from the beginning of seed time to the harvest.
[27:40] He watches over it and he brings rain and so on and so forth. A good land. A land flowing with milk and honey.
[27:50] It is the land of promise. So we'll just leave a lot of that and go on.
[28:02] I believe it's in Isaiah where it says that the day is coming. The day is coming when people will no longer say the God that brought Israel out of the land of Egypt.
[28:17] But the day is coming that people will say the God that brought Israel back into their land. And now we are living in that day.
[28:28] You know, God led the children of Israel out of Egypt. And eventually brought them into the land of Canaan. And Joshua led them through to conquer the land.
[28:44] And he caused them to inherit the land and all of that. We all know how Israel sinned and worshipped idols and all of that.
[28:56] And because of all of that and because of their rejection of the Messiah. Well, first they were taken captive and taken out and then some, of course, returned.
[29:12] But then I believe that, you know, as we look at this. You know, there were always some that believed.
[29:27] But as a nation, they rejected Jesus. And then we have what we read in Romans. How blindness came on the Jews because of their rejection.
[29:43] And when they rejected the Messiah, then the gospel went out to the Gentiles. Well, now let's go to...
[29:58] So, in Isaiah... Let's see if I can find that.
[30:16] There's a lot of these verses, but I had a couple picked out and I can't find them right now. Now. Now. The verses, prophecies in Isaiah, talking about the children of Israel being brought back into the land.
[30:40] God had promised. In chapter 43, verse 6, it says, I will say... Let's... Maybe I'll read before that. Verse 5. Fear not, for I am with thee.
[30:52] I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up. And to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth.
[31:07] Even everyone that is called by my name. For I have created him for my glory. I have formed him. Yea, I have made him. These are prophecies of the children of Israel being brought back into the land of Canaan.
[31:30] In Jeremiah 30, verse 3. For lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord.
[31:44] I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. God promising to bring them back.
[32:02] In chapter 31, verse 10. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd doeth his flock.
[32:21] For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. What a promise. God has ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than him.
[32:35] In Jeremiah 31. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day.
[32:51] In verse 35. And the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar. The Lord of hosts is his name.
[33:02] If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord. The ordinances of the sun that brings light by day, and the moon that brings light by night, and all of the seasons.
[33:18] If those would depart from me, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me. You know, God brought that promise.
[33:34] He kept that promise all through the Old Testament. And then we have in Ezekiel 39.
[33:49] And then we have in Ezekiel 39. I will just pick out a few verses here. In verse 22. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.
[34:04] And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity. Because they trespassed against me. Therefore hid I my face from them and gave them into the hand of their enemies.
[34:19] So fell they all by the sword. And he goes on. But then, verse 25.
[34:30] Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name.
[34:44] After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
[34:54] When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations, then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen.
[35:11] But I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them, for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.
[35:25] You know, and so there's prophecies and promises. And I believe that somehow, you know, God has a plan for Israel.
[35:37] You know, not that long ago, scholars would look into the Bible, and they would say, you know, I see a prophecy that Israel will come back into the land, but there's no way possible that it could ever happen.
[35:58] That was maybe a couple hundred years ago, or 150 years ago. But God had a plan, and God worked that plan, and he brought it to pass.
[36:12] And, you know, in 1867, there was a man, Charles Warren. He went into the land of Canaan, and he started doing some excavating and some surveying in the city of Jerusalem.
[36:39] And when we were in Jerusalem, when we went to the Gihon Spring, and then into what's known as Hezekiah's Tunnel, where he brought the water into the city.
[36:54] And on the way down into that shaft, or into that tunnel, there's a shaft that we passed by, and there's a plaque there, and it says Warren's Shaft.
[37:05] This man, Charles Warren, he found this. And what it is is the shaft where it would actually be where Joab went down through, or he climbed up into the city through that when King David, when they got inside the city to defeat the Jebusites.
[37:29] So we found Warren's name there. At that time, Turkey controlled the land of Israel.
[37:43] Turkey controlled it for a long time. But in 1917, it would have been through World War I, Britain defeated the Ottoman Empire.
[38:01] It was Turkey. Britain defeated them, and they took over the land of Israel. That was in 1917.
[38:14] In World War II, you all know the history of how Hitler destroyed the Jews, and how he killed over six million Jews. And by the end of that, even the United Nations, when it was formed, said that let's provide a homeland for the Jews.
[38:38] And so they sanctioned it that it would happen. And the Jews started returning to the land. They had been somewhat returning, but a lot more than after when it opened up after World War II.
[38:55] In 1948, Israel became a nation. And immediately, all the countries, the Arab countries round about them tried to destroy them.
[39:06] But because of the miracles of God, Israel survived. And because of the miracles of God, Israel survives to this day.
[39:18] There are stories of miracles in this last war. How God sustained and how God protected people. In 1967, the Six-Day War, Israel retook the city, the city of East Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.
[39:43] what had been totally impossible happened. You know, there are stories of how God intervened in the battles.
[40:02] How maybe three Israeli tanks defeated two battle lines of tanks from the enemy. And how was it?
[40:16] It was miraculous. It was miracles. God, God, God, brought Israel back into the land.
[40:29] And He is sustaining them. He is protecting them. The nations that curse Israel are cursed.
[40:43] The nations that bless Israel will be blessed. Even today, in our day. You know, they say that every 50 years is the year of Jubilee.
[41:05] Hopefully, you know what that is. Every seventh year was was the was a Sabbath year. And then every seven years, the 50th year then was the year of Jubilee.
[41:22] Well, they say the year of Jubilee like in 1867 was the year of Jubilee. In 1917, when the British forces defeated the Turkish Empire.
[41:41] In 1967, when Israel again retook Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, that was the year of Jubilee. in 2017 was the year of Jubilee.
[41:57] There's something that happened that year. You know, from from 1948 until 2017, the world refused to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
[42:13] But in 2017, President Trump signed papers to move the embassy of the United States to Jerusalem.
[42:33] And then other countries started following suit and doing the same. For the first time, part of the world was recognizing Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel.
[42:53] Exactly what God had said. God said, Jerusalem, I will put my name there. We won't look at those verses, but there's many verses.
[43:11] You know, before Solomon built the temple, God said that there will be a place where I will put my name.
[43:24] But when Solomon built the temple, God had directed David as to where this temple was to be built and how it was to be built.
[43:34] And King David had all the plans and everything for the temple, and then Solomon built it. and when Solomon dedicated the temple, God came and God said, I will put my name here forever.
[43:56] I will put my name here and Jerusalem will be the city, will be my city. It will be my place on this earth.
[44:06] So God chose Jerusalem above all places of the world that he could have to place his name there.
[44:26] And I believe that that along with the children of Israel being God's chosen people is why the big controversy today.
[44:41] It is why the world hates the Jews. It is why Islam is determined to retake Jerusalem. This is why.
[44:54] It's because God said, I will set my name there. And the devil came along and he said, I will. I will. You know, we don't have time to look at the verses of where he said that.
[45:13] I believe he's referring to a lot of things, but I believe that Satan is doing his best to usurp the place of God and to destroy what God has spoken and what God is doing.
[45:31] in 1 Kings 8 29 and chapter 9 1 to 3 we won't turn there but those are a couple of verses where God said, I will put my name in Jerusalem perpetually.
[45:55] it will be my place. Now let's turn to Zachariah.
[46:08] You know, and I don't know how God is going to work all this out and how he's going to come or when I believe that God will God has a plan to reveal himself to the Jewish people.
[46:34] You know, today today the Jews they gather there at the western wall and on the other side of the wall there's where the temple of Solomon was and the second temple was there.
[46:57] And Israel they come there to the wall and they pray and they cry out for the Messiah to come and they pray there.
[47:14] And they believe let me just find a verse. They believe that the presence of God is there on the other side of that wall.
[47:32] That is what they believe. They're taught that. And it's in Song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 9 Solomon saying he says my beloved is like a row or a young heart behold he standeth behind our wall he looketh forth at the windows he's showing himself through the lattice.
[48:07] And they will quote this they will say he standeth behind our wall. They say the presence of God is behind this wall and we come here to this wall and we pray.
[48:21] And you know I believe that God has a plan that he will reveal himself to Israel. He will reveal himself to the Jews and here in Zechariah I want to read in chapter 12.
[48:45] Let's read in verse 1. The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel saith the Lord which stretcheth forth the heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth and formeth the spirit of man within him.
[49:00] behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem and in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people.
[49:20] All that burdened themselves with it shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it and he goes on and about how he will destroy all the armies you know and in Joel in the book of Joel talks about how God will bring together all the armies of the world against Jerusalem.
[49:47] You know let's just read I want to read a couple verses there just to get that right in Joel it's in chapter 3 in verse 1 for behold in those days and in that time when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem.
[50:05] So he brought again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem he brought them back again into the land and he says I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the nations and parted my land.
[50:29] You know God has a controversy with the nations of the world because they parted his land they gave it they divided the land they gave some they gave Gaza to the Palestinians they did this that they you know they took away the land that God had said is my land and it is the land of the children of Israel they divided it up and here he says that he will bring the nations of the world against Israel and then he will bring his judgment upon all the armies of the world there in the valley of Jehoshaphat you might know it better as the valley of Armageddon it is actually it is it is the most fertile valley in the whole world that valley is it's a beautiful valley yes but
[51:29] God will bring the armies of the world there and he will destroy them there but here in Zechariah where we just read he says I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people you know why is is Jerusalem such such a burden to the nations it is I believe because the devil has stirred up the nations against against Israel and against God ultimately because God said that is my city God instructs us in the word he says pray for the peace of Jerusalem Jerusalem is the city of peace Salem and the king of Salem it's the city of peace back in Abraham's day we skipped over that we didn't look at that but then here in
[52:36] Zechariah let's read a few more verses in verse 9 chapter 12 it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem and I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn in that day shall there be a great morning in Jerusalem as the morning of Hadad Roman in the valley of Magiddon and the land shall mourn every family apart the family of the house of David apart their wives apart the family of the house of Nathan apart and their wives apart and he goes on but you know you know
[53:45] Israel it says here they will look upon me whom they have pierced in chapter 13 and verse 6 and one shall say and one shall say unto him what are these wounds in thy hands then he shall answer those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends you know I believe Jesus is going to reveal himself to the house of Israel they're going to look upon him whom they pierced that's Jesus they're going to see him and they're going to see him who he is and they're going to ask him where did you get these wounds and he will say those with which
[54:46] I was wounded in the house of my friends I believe Israel is going to see the truth and they're going to accept the truth Romans told us that all Israel will be saved I believe there's a day coming and I don't know when and how but I believe there's a day coming you know here well we could read it we're right there in chapter 14 verse 2 I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and the women ravished half of the city will go forth into captivity the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city then shall the
[55:53] Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the east the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west there shall be a very south you know and ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azul yea ye shall flee like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Josiah king of Judah and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark you know it goes on but I believe somehow God is going to reveal himself to
[56:54] Israel Jesus is going to reveal himself that they will understand that he was the Messiah he is the Messiah and they will accept him and all Israel shall be saved you know we don't know how it's all going to happen we don't know we don't know when we don't know how we don't know if we're going to be here it says here that all his saints all the saints will come with Jesus I don't know how this is going to work I don't know how the plan of God is but I know one thing if we are living for him and if we are ready then we'll be in his plan we won't miss a thing you know people try to figure out how the future is going to be and the return of Christ and how all of that's going to be how it's going to happen and there's people that will say they know they've got it all figured out well I believe a lot of those
[58:01] God's going to bring a surprise for them and they'll see that it wasn't how they thought but today the burden that I have is that we are walking with our God and we are busy laboring in the kingdom of God that however things go whenever Jesus returns that we are with him that we are ready whether we meet him in the air or we die and we meet him through death you know there's many terrible things prophesied for this for this earth for this world there's world war three I don't know if the present wars will turn into world war three but that will be a terrible war revelation tells us a third of humanity will be killed in that war
[59:10] Ezekiel 38 39 talks of a great war war and we read how God will bring the nations of the world to gather against Jerusalem and he will destroy the armies of the world let us live for our God let us serve him with all our heart let us allow him to lead us and to use us I believe you know Peter tells us that he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance he is still desiring to bring in the harvest to bring in a harvest before these great calamities come you know we see many things happening
[60:18] I believe that God is bringing people to a place of decision a place where they will see that he is in control a place where they will see that the gods they're serving they're not in control but there's a God in heaven that is in control and he is trying to give people an opportunity to come to him and he has chosen us his church the church of Jesus Christ to go into all the world and preach the gospel and to teach the gospel and to baptize and to win the lost and to disciple them you know what does God have for you what is your place in all of this you know we get so wrapped up in our little world in our business and in our work and our church and and and all of the things that we get so nearsighted and we get overcharged with surfeiting and with cares of this life and and all of these things that that are so so big to us but
[61:46] Jesus said seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you so let us seek first the kingdom of God let us seek first his will let us seek first to know what his will is for us and to walk with him that we might be found worthy that we might be found in the will of God in that day yes we will only do that through the grace of God that we heard of this morning and the same grace of God that has saved us and will take us on it's that grace of God that wants to reach down and save Israel yes so let us be found faithful let us pray to out then may let us bear
[63:09] Ges heart and and try Christ andare to set and will us inども see where our will open we equal to that and to that you remember