The Role of Israel in Prophecy
- Skip Heitzig
- Mar 27, 2023
- 25 min read
“The Role of Prophecy”
SERMON by Skip Heitzig
Scripture: Genesis 12:1-3
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
I trust you brought a Bible, so turn to Genesis, first book in the Bible, Genesis, chapter
12. Genesis chapter 12. This is a series that we are doing on the end times, a study on
biblical eschatology. It's called, The end is near?
And to give you a little synopsis of where we have been, we began with a New Year's
message, what does the future hold? We talked about some current signs going on in
the world that are pretty good indicators that we are living in very unique times. Our
second study, we looked at how close are we to the end. People have been saying
we're in the end times for quite some time. Where do we fit in that?
Our third study. We talked about the problem of Jesus' return. On one hand, the Bible
says, be ready. He can come any time. On the other hand, it says certain signs have to
be fulfilled before He can come. How do we reconcile those texts? We talked about that.
Then we looked at the Millennium on the next study. The Millennium, not in terms of
what it's going to be like, but in terms of the theological differences that people hold
regarding the rule and reign of Christ on the Earth or not. We talked about millennialism.
Then we-- a couple of weeks ago, read Daniel, chapter 9, how God tells time, the 70
weeks of Daniel, and we looked at the first 69 weeks of that 70-week prophecy. Last
week, we dealt with the 70th week of Daniel, just that last seven-year period.
Today, I want to look at the role of Israel in prophecy. The role of Israel and prophecy. I
don't know if you caught this or not, but a bill was introduced this week in the Israeli
Knesset, the parliament in Israel, that would have outlawed the sharing of the gospel in
Israel. That is, it would become illegal to even say to another person that Jesus is the
Messiah. They already have very strict conversion laws, but this is a law that would
have given you a jail sentence if you are caught saying that Jesus is the Messiah. Well,
thankfully, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said, and I quote, we will not
advance any law against the Christian community.
We're grateful for that. Believers in Israel are grateful for that. But there has been an
antagonism between Judaism and the claims of Christ as Messiah, and because of that
antagonism, some have flatly said-- some in the church, some in Christendom have
said, God is done with Israel as a nation. And so we posed the question, is that true? Is
it true? Is God finished with Israel as a nation? Does God's plans for the future in the
end times have a plan for literal Israel as a nation, not spiritual Israel, not just the
church, but for Israel as a literal nation?
Now, I pose the question because that's the question Paul asked. He almost asked it
that way in Romans chapter 11. Paul the apostle asked and answered his own question.
He said, has God cast away His people? Then he answered it, certainly not. Certainly
not. In the Old King James, God forbids-- because it's the strongest negative you can
use in the Greek language. It would be translated no, no, no. Has God castaway His
people? No, no, no.
Now, a couple of weeks ago, I made the statement that many pulpits, many pastors do
not teach on prophecy, in general. Even though 27% of the Bible is prophetic, you've got
a group of pulpits and pastors, who refuse to deal with 27% of the Bible. Even fewer
pulpits and pastors broach the subject of Israel. They don't talk about it. They don't talk
about God's plan for Israel. Now why is that?
Well, there's probably many reasons, but let me give you a couple of reasons. First, is a
political ideology. There is a conflict, as you know, between the Israelis and the
Palestinians. They have had that conflict for some time. And so in hearing what people
are saying, especially on college campuses, that Israel is the bad guy. They're the big
guy. They're the aggressor, and the Palestinians have been given a bad deal. Without
really doing the necessary digging and background to find out if that's verifiably true or
not, it becomes a political flashpoint for some. And so God doesn't have any plans for
Israel. Look, they're the bad guys. It's for political reasons.
Second, and what disturbs me the most, is that it's for theological reasons. And there is
a brand of theology, we've talked about it, it's a pretty enormous brand, that believes in
all millennialism. There's no literal future rule and reign of Christ on the Earth. And part
of all millennial thinking is something called replacement theology. Anybody ever heard
of replacement theology?
So replacement theology does exactly that. It replaces Israel with the church, so that all
the promises that God gave to Israel are no longer for Israel, literally, but they are now
for the church, their spiritual application. So we replace the Jews. So the belief is that
the modern state of Israel is purely accidental and unrelated to Bible prophecy. That
when Israel rejected Jesus Christ as a nation that God rejected them. And in rejecting
them God transferred all of the promises that He had given to them, and He transferred
them all over to the church, which is really an interesting way of thinking, because God
promised blessings and cursings to Israel. What's funny about this all millennial
replacement theology is they say, well, all of the curses belong to them, and all the
blessings belong to us.
So any prediction, any prophecy that Israel will be regathered now refers to the elect
being gathered into the church. That, in a nutshell, is replacement theology. So for the
next few weeks, we're going to be looking at the role of Israel in prophecy. We're going
to look at Genesis 12 today. Next time, we're going to look at Ezekiel 36 and 37, the
promise of them being restored to the land and a spiritual transformation taking place.
And then, after that, we're going to look at the next two chapters of Ezekiel, which
describe a very interesting war that's going to take place in the Middle East.
Today, we're looking at Genesis 12, which is the Abrahamic covenant. Why is it called
the Abrahamic covenant? Pretty simple it's a covenant God made with Abraham. So it
goes by the name Abrahamic covenant. So pretty handy how that works out. So we're
going to be looking at that. That's what this chapter is all about.
But I want you to hear a quote. This is from a Jewish source called the Midrash.
Midrash are comments on different texts of the scripture that have been handed down
through the centuries. It goes like this. The land of Israel is at the center of the world.
Jerusalem is at the center of the land of Israel. The temple is at the center of Jerusalem.
It's their fanciful way of saying, the temple is the center of the Earth. It's a clever saying.
It's sort of an oversimplification.
I don't know about all of that, but I do know this that Israel is at the center of Bible
prophecy. It occupies a central place. We saw that last week in the Book of Daniel and
the week before in the Book of Daniel. Remember, 70 weeks are determined for Your
people, Jewish people, and for Your Holy city, so Israel, Jerusalem, is at the center of
Bible prophecy.
It's astonishing, really, that seminaries that teach theology will teach their students
theology proper, the study of God. They'll then talk about Christology, the study of
Christ, who He is, what He's going to do. They'll then teach their students
pneumatology, the study of the Holy Spirit. They'll teach ecclesiology, the study of the
church anthropology, the study of humanity, especially after the fall. They'll teach
eschatology, what we're doing, end times. But they fail, often, to teach a very important
biblical subject, Israelology, the place and role of Israel throughout the scripture. It is
literally everywhere.
So let's look today at Genesis 12. Really, the first three verses, but I'll read the fourth
verse for a little more context. And we're going to notice five promises that God gives,
five unconditional-- underline that word, unconditional promises God gives to Abraham.
Verse 1, Now the Lord had said to Abram-- Abram was the original name before God
changed it to Abraham. Get out of your country. He was living in Mesopotamia, Ur of the
Chaldees. Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house to a
land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your
name great. And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will
curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed. So
Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot with him. And Abraham, get
this, was 75 years old when he departed from Harran. Life's just getting started for Abe
at 75.
So five unconditional promise. First, God says you'll be a great nation. That's verse 2, I
will make you a great nation. Now in the very least, can we agree that God has a sense
of humor?
[LAUGHTER]
To tell a man who's 75, hey-- and infertile, by the way. His wife is also old. She cannot
have children. She has never borne children. To tell this old couple, hey, you're going to
have a baby. Not only that. You're going to have a family. Not only that. It's going to be a
great nation.
He's 75 when God makes the promise. He'll be 99 when it happens. 100 years old.
Eventually he did have a family. The family grew. The family grew. Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, 12 sons became tribes. They went down to Egypt because of a famine. They
were there 400 years. The nation grew to two, three million people, we believe. They left
Egypt. They eventually settled in the promised land called Canaan. There they grew
again, multiplied again. A monarchy developed, King Saul, King David, Solomon, et
cetera, et cetera. It's been pretty great.
Now, today, here we are, years later, after the promise made to Abraham, and we're still
noticing that there is a nation over in the Middle East called Israel, the descendants of
Abraham. Today, it is still a great nation. Today, in the land of Israel, it's the size of New
Jersey, and there are 9.3 million people that live in Israel. 6.9 million of them are Jewish.
They have enjoyed a 43% growth due to immigration. People are moving there, moving
there, moving there still to this day. 43% growth.
And they're a pretty great nation as nations go. They have a $500 billion per year
economy. It's a very strong economic nation. It's one of the largest growers and
exporters of citrus in the world. You'll be a great nation God says to him.
If you go to the West Bank, there's a ridge of mountains down the middle, and there's a
town about the middle portion of the land, the ancient city of Bethel-- Bethel, where God
appeared to Jacob. And there is a grocer, who put a sign in an intersection outside of
Bethel. I want you to read what it says on the sign. Here in Bethel 3,800 years ago--
actually it was a couple years longer than that-- the Creator of the world promised the
land of Israel to the people of Israel. It is by virtue of this promise that we dwell today in
Haifa, Tel Aviv, Shiloh and Hebron. That's a sign that simply reminds us God made a
promise made, a covenant with Abraham and He has kept that promise.
I love Israel. I love going there. I've been there now 42 times. I'm going again next year.
We invite you to come along with us. I love going there because when I walk on the
land, I remind myself, this is where Abraham came. This is where Isaac lived, Jacob
lived. The tribes lived here. This is where a King David reigned. This is where the
prophets spoke. This is where Solomon reigned. This is where Jesus was born, and
died, and rose, and will come again too. It's a great, great place. But part of the promise
of them being a great nation is tied to the land. I want you to notice something in verse
1. In verse 1, it says, get out of your country, from your family, from your father's house
to a land that I will show you.
Now, get this, all millennialists will interpret or reinterpret the land promise here and
elsewhere in the Bible as a non-literal promise. That is, it is simply now to be seen as a
promise that God is giving heaven to the elect, to the church. Well, listen to the words of
John Walvoord, who was the president of Dallas Seminary for 30-plus years, taught
eschatology there for 50 years. Quote, the term land used in the Bible means exactly
what it says. It is not talking about heaven. It is talking about a piece of real estate in the
Middle East. After all, if all God was promising Abraham was heaven, He could have
stayed in Ur of the Chaldees. Why go on a long journey? Why be a pilgrim and a
wanderer? No, God meant land.
Get up. Leave your home. Leave your land. Leave your country. Go to a land that I will
show you. So verse 4, he departed. He went on a journey, and he goes to the land.
When he gets to the land in chapter 15 God repeats that promise and actually expands
a little bit on the promise.
So you have your Bible open in Genesis 12. Turn a few pages to the right and go to
Genesis chapter 15, please. And notice with me Genesis 15 verse 18. On the same
day, the Lord made a covenant, a covenant, a pact, a deal, a promise with Abraham,
saying, to your descendants, your descendants Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, I have given
this land. Now notice this, from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the River
Euphrates. That's up in Iraq. The Kenites, the Kenesites, the Cadmanites, the Hittites,
the parasites, the turn on the lights-- Oh, they're not there.
[LAUGHTER]
The Rephaim, the Amorites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites, the actual borders are
given, the geographical borders are stated in ancient terms. They're specified. By the
way, if you were to go to a map and look at this configuration, you would discover that
God promised to Abraham and his descendants 300,000 square miles. 300,000 square
miles. They have never occupied that much land in their history. At their very peak, at
their zenith, under David and Solomon, they occupied about a tenth of that, about
30,000 square miles, but God promised them 300,000 square miles. And the borders
encompassed the land of Lebanon, the land of Iraq, part of Iran, Persia, an enormous
section of land, so they've never occupied it yet. That's the key word there.
So He promises land, and He gives them the configuration of this land. I have given it to
you. Then He reinforces this promise to his son, Isaac, in Genesis 17, verses 6 through
8. You don't have to turn there. We don't have time to chase it all down.
He gives it again to Jacob later on. You, Jacob, and your descendants, I've given this
land, Genesis 28, verses 13 through 14. He repeats it again in Genesis 35. He repeats
it again in Deuteronomy 1. Moses says it to the children of Israel. This is the land God
has given this to us as a people.
So the Abrahamic covenant is woven throughout all of the Old Testament. It shows up in
1 Samuel 12, it shows up in Psalm 94, Psalm 106, Jeremiah 30, Jeremiah 31, Isaiah
chapter 14, on, and on, and on, and all the prophets, the Psalms speak about this
promise of the land. And get this, God says, even if you totally blow it and disobey Me
and reject Me, I'll spank you. I'll send you into captivity, but I'm bringing you back. I'm
bringing you back, because I made a covenant to Abraham. I'm bringing you back to the
land. So it is often repeated.
Now, for centuries, let's just be honest, for centuries Israel was a group of people, but
no land. It was an ethnicity. There were Jewish people, but there was no homeland. And
so it seemed impossible that they would ever regather back in their ancient homeland.
Dr. G Campbell Morgan, whom I've always loved, one of my favorite old dead guy Bible
teachers, I've always loved him, but in 1932, he made this statement. I am now quite
convinced that the teaching of scripture, as a whole, is that there is no future for Israel
as an earthly people at all, end quote.
I wish he would have just lived a little longer, because on May 14th in 1948 miraculously
and against all odds the state of Israel, the modern state of Israel, was born by
declaration and agreed upon by the United Nations. And there they are today. The
rebirth of a nation. God promised that to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, and
repeated it in all those scriptures I just mentioned.
Now, something I want you to notice in our text, this is part of this unconditional
covenant, leave your family, your father's house to a land I will show you, verse 2. I will
make you a great nation. I will bless you. Verse 3, I will bless those who bless you. I will
curse him who curses you. Five times God says, I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. So I'm
going to take God's I will over any of you saying He won't. He won't do that. He won't do
this. God said, I will. I will. I will. I will.
And it is an unconditional covenant. There are no strings, no covenants. When God
gave this to Abraham in chapter 15, Abraham watched God perform this odd ceremony
of a torch going between pieces of an animal because God was doing it all. Abraham
would just watch this and take in that promise, so that's the first promise you'll be a
great nation.
Second unconditional promise, you will bear a great name. Verse 2, I'll make you a
great nation. I will bless you. Here it is. And make your name great. Hey, isn';t it
interesting? Here we are 4,100 years after the initial promise God gave to Abraham.
We're still talking about Abraham. We're talking about this man 4,100 years later. He's
still revered by millions.
Jews and Arabs are both physical descendants of Abraham. Currently, there are 470
million of them alive, descendants, literal fleshly descendants of Abraham. Jews,
Christians, and Muslims all trace their spiritual heritage back to Abraham. Even if you're
not Jewish, you trace a spiritual legacy of faith back to Abraham. I can prove it. I can
prove it right now, because you're going to sing a song that you remember from Sunday
school called "Father Abraham" Go ahead, sing it. Ready?
(SINGING) Father Abraham had many sons. And many sons had Father Abraham--
Look at you. You actually did it. It was just sort of a joke, but you did it. Way to go.
[LAUGHTER]
Way to go. Way to go. Way to go. Father Abraham, here we are singing it. God
identifies himself about a dozen times in the Bible under this name. I am the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I'm not just God. I'm not just almighty God. I'm the Got
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And the greatness of Abraham has been a legacy. And the
Jewish people have experienced that as a whole.
A couple of weeks ago, I told you that the population of the world was 7.8 billion people,
and that 15 million of them are Jews. Can I just remind you again, that's two-thirds of
1%. Very small percentage. Two-thirds of 1% are Jewish people in this world. But get
this, that tiny little minority, two-thirds of 1%, they have collected between 25% and 33%
of all the Nobel prizes ever awarded in science, in music, and in literature.
Ever taken an aspirin? Well, then thank Friedrich Bayer, who is a Jew, who had a
pharmaceutical company in Germany for that invention. If you've ever been vaccinated
for polio, you should know that Dr. Albert Sabin and Dr. Jonas Salk, both Jews, came up
with the vaccine. If you've ever gone to a dentist, and he's deadened or she's deadened
your gums, it's because of Dr. Albert Einhorn, a Jewish chemist, who invented that
substance. If you ever get a bacterial infection and take streptomycin, that's the
invention of another Jewish doctor named Abraham Waksman. If you have ever been
tested for syphilis, and I hope you haven't--
[LAUGHTER]
--but you can thank Dr. Neusland, who developed the Wassermann test to discover that.
And then when it comes to just studying the DNA and the double helix model we have
to thank Dr. James Watson and Francis Crick, both Jews, for that. And if you've ever
been forgiven of your sins, it's because a Jewish Savior did it named Yeshua.
[APPLAUSE]
So you'll be a great nation. You'll bear a great name. Here's the third unconditional
promise, you'll bring great news. You'll bring great news. God says in verse 2, I will
bless you. The end of verse 2, you shall be a blessing. Verse 3, the end of verse 3, and
in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed. Think how amazingly that promise
has been kept through the conduit of the Jewish nation. Think of all the good news we
would be missing if there was no nation of Israel.
You know what we'd be missing? We'd be missing this. I couldn't say, turn in your Bibles
to-- you wouldn't have a Bible. They meticulously made sure by copying it with the most
incredible means to make sure that it has been preserved. Without the Jews there
would be no Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the basis of American
jurisprudence. Without the Jews, there would be no Savior, and without the Jewish
Savior, there be no Christianity. That's the whole premise of Romans chapter 9 in your
New Testament.
Now, primarily, this promise is fulfilled in Jesus, the Messiah. In you, all the families of
the Earth shall be blessed. Every single family on planet Earth has access to salvation if
they believe in the Lord Jesus. It's a promise given to anyone and to everyone. In you,
all the families of the Earth will be blessed. The very word gospel, it means good news,
great news. And it went from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of
the Earth.
First time I went to Israel, I said, I've been there 42 times, the first two times I went, I
went to live there as a worker on a farm known as a kibbutz. And so here I am, a
Gentile German, an American of German descent, no Jewish blood at all, loving Israel
with a group of young kids working on the land in Israel. And this mystified them.
They're trying to figure us out. Like, why are you here?
I mean, we understand why we're here. We're Jewish. We kind of come. We're working
the land. We';re trying to make it a great place, but why are you here? What interest do
you have in Israel? Why do you love Israel?
And I was asked that question a number of times. And I remember answering. I said, I
love Israel because your Messiah happens to be my Savior. And in falling in love with
Him, He introduced me to the people that He came through which is you. And they're
still trying to get their heads around that.
But I guess the question for you is have you personally been blessed by the great news
of Jesus Christ? It's a blessing to all the families, but don't let it just be something, oh,
my family's always believed in that stuff. What about you, personally? You, personally?
So the good news, the great news is for you, personally.
So three unconditional promises. You're going to be a great nation. You'll bear a great
name. You'll bring great news. Fourth unconditional promise, you'll become a great
need. You'll become a great need. What do I mean by that?
Well, look at verse 3, I will bless those who bless you. Anybody here up for a blessing?
Want to be blessed? OK, I will bless those who bless you. Bless Israel. And God says, I
will bless you.
Some people think, well, Israel, poor little Israel over there surrounded by all those
people who hate them and want to drive them into the sea. Boy, Israel really needs
America. Well, I understand what you mean by that in a geopolitical sense. It's always
good to have friends anywhere. But I see it the exact opposite. We need Israel. We
need Israel.
A few years ago, I had a conference here an Epicenter conference with Joel
Rosenberg, and I had a little panel discussion. We were interviewing them and asking
them a few questions. And we had leaders, pastors from-- Arab pastors, Jewish pastors
from Israel, different parts of the land. And I asked this question, if there's one truth you
want American Christians, the church here in America, to understand, what would it be?
And one of the leaders paused, collected himself, put a smile on his face, and said, well,
with all due respect, what I want the American church to know and America to know is
we don't need you. We love you. We want a partnership with you, but when it comes
down to it, we are trusting the promises God gave to us, and that's good enough for us.
If the whole world is against us, we trust him. So he just said, I just want you to know,
we love you, but we don't need you.
And I thought, well, you know what? Based on what I'm reading here, he's absolutely
right. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. And all you have
to do is look at history. Look at those nations that historically have supported Israel's
freedom, and independence, and right to exist versus nations that have come against
the land of Israel.
Think of the great nations of the past, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Rome, Persia all lying in
ruins, and they have something all in common. They attacked or came against God's
people. In modern times, consider Spain, Germany, Russia, who once were world
powers have become now second, third, fourth-rate nations. I'm hoping and praying the
United States doesn't get added to that list. We will get added to that list if we follow in
their footsteps.
So when people say, well, why do you support Israel? It always becomes this political
thing. Why do you support Israel? I support Israel, not because I agree with every one
of their policies, I do not, or I agree with everything their prime minister says, or because
I want to take tourists to Israel. I support Israel because of Israel's sovereign, Israel's
scriptures, and Israel's Savior. I support Israel because of the God of Israel, who made
a covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, period. I love Him for that
covenant. Number two, they gave us the Bible, I respect that, and thank them for that,
and honor them, and support them for that, and because my Savior came from them.
So I want to get blessed.
Let me ask you this? Ever met a Hittite? Ever met a Hittite? Anybody here met a Hittite,
raise your hand. What about a Girgashite? When was the last time you saw a
Girgashite? Any Canaanite whatsoever? Yeah, I didn't think so. Yeah, it's because they
don't exist anymore. They weren't blessed. I want to be part of the blessing. I will bless
those who bless you. You'll become a great need.
Fifth, and finally, you'll be called a great nuisance. Now, that's implied in this promise, I
will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. Obviously, the
implication is not everybody is going to like you, Abe, and your descendants. You're
going to incur lots of flak, and lots of blowback, and lots of enemies. There'll be people
who are going to curse you.
And it's true, this great nation has seen great conflict. They're always in the news.
There's always something being stirred up over there. The sons of Abraham are still
struggling. Now, Ishmael and Isaac.
And when Rebecca, Isaac's wife, was pregnant and she was having pregnancy issues,
it was because she had twins, right? Jacob and Esau. And God said, two nations are in
your womb. Well, that would cause anybody discomfort if you got two nations running
around in there.
[LAUGHTER]
So two nations are in your womb, and the older will serve the younger. But the wrestling
match in the womb is still being experienced today. They're still wrestling it out.
According to Leon Uris, a Jewish author, he said Jerusalem has seen 36 wars, been
reduced to ashes 17 times, has risen 18 times. The nation has heard the hoof beats of
the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptian war chariots. It has seen the battering
rams of the Roman army, the swords of Saladin, and the crusaders. That's their history.
War after war after-- throughout the centuries in the Middle East.
So this begs the question, will there ever be peace in the Middle East? Boy, I wish I
could stand here as an optimist, and say, oh, yeah, we're going to sign all these
accords, and shake hands, and hug, and everybody is going to live happily ever after. I
can't do that. But I will say this, no. There will never be peace in the Middle East until
the Prince of Peace comes. Then there will be peace in the Middle East.
[APPLAUSE]
Until then, there will not be. As was given to Daniel, desolation as are determined until
the end. So not until Jesus comes and sets up His kingdom. Oh, yeah, they'll be short
periods of peace. And we'll get along. They';ll get along. And then something will break
out.
But it's not because there aren't Jews and Muslims who want peace over there. There
are many who want peace and are working for it. But part of the problem is you have a
Jewish nation surrounded by an Islamic belief system of other nations. Islam itself will
not allow there to be peace with Israel. I want you to hear me on this. Islam, as a
religion itself, will not allow there to be peace with the Jewish nation. The existence, just
the existence of Israel as a nation is an affront to Islam.
Every country around Israel is essentially Islamic, and the reason that they say that
Israel's existence is an occupation-- ever heard of that term? It's an occupation. They're
occupying. The occupiers. The reason Israel is called occupiers is because these other
people, Palestinians, greater Muslim world don't even agree that Israel has a right to
exist at all, at all.
Now, yes, there are moderate Muslims like there are moderate Jews. Yes, there are
people who want peace, but understand this, the Quran itself fuels hatred against the
Jewish people. Three times in the Quran, the holiest book of the Muslims, three times
the Quran calls Jews pigs and apes. I'll cite you the reference, Sura 2:65, Sura 5, verse
60, and Sura chapter 7, verse 166. All three refer to Jews as apes and pigs. So imams
will stand up at Friday prayer and often refer to Jewish people as sons of pigs and apes.
In the Quran, it teaches, number one, Jews are the greatest enemies of Islam. Number
two, Jewish people do not love Muslims. Number three, it's the Jews that start wars and
cause trouble on the Earth. And number four, Muslims are not to be friends with Jewish
people. When that's in the Holy Book, though not all Muslims are haters, if they want to
hate, they'll find reasons to do so in their Bible. So given that, I don't see much hope for
peace in the Middle East until Jesus comes. Now all that is a setup for next week's
study in Ezekiel chapter 36 and 37, because what we're going to discover is that Israel
is regathering to the covenant land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and
their prosperity in that land will invite conflict. And we'll see that conflict the week after in
the War of Gog and Magog.
Listen to this text. This is Zechariah chapter 12. God said through Zechariah, I will make
Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the surrounding nations. Just think of Hamas,
Hezbollah, the PLO, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, on and on, and all the different
multitude of organizations that their primary objective is the utter total destruction of the
Jewish state. And they're fueled by the largest world sponsor of terrorism, Iran. So I
don't see a whole lot of smiles and hugs going on there any time soon.
In the United Nations that meets regularly, in the General Assembly, this happened
three months ago, for every one country that voted to support Israel three nations called
the very existence of Israel a catastrophe. That's how the world is turning. Now I hope
that you're not surprised by that because it makes sense. It makes sense that if Israel is
indeed the center of God's prophetic plan, it would be also the center of Satan's attack.
You would expect that to happen. And so the return of the Jewish nation to the
homeland in 1948 is stage one of a promised regathering that we're going to look more
in depth at next time.
Now what does all this mean to me? Well, think of it this way. God keeps His promises.
4,100 years ago God made a promise to Abram, and then to Abraham, same guy,
different name. 4,100 years ago, He made a promise. And here we are saying today,
4.100 years later. God is going to keep his promise. He's already kept it. They're there.
And there's more to come. There's more to come.
See, this is how I look at it. How are you going to ask anybody to sign up to believe in a
God who doesn't keep His promises? Yeah, man. You ought to believe in God. Well,
why? He didn't keep his promise to Abraham, did he? Well, yes, He did, actually. Yes,
He did.
If God doesn't regather Israel like He said to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, then He's a liar. If
God says, oh, I'm going to promise you the land, promise you the land, promise your
land, then later on go, I've changed my mind. You know what? I'm just going to give all
that to them. That's a lie. That's not true, and it's not a truthful way to interpret scripture.
The very existence of Israel as a nation with so many enemies surrounding them is
proof that God keeps his promise. We have a faithful God, who made promises to
Abraham, and we're seeing the fulfillment of them. I would say, in a legal sense, the
nation of Israel is exhibit A in the case does God keep His promises. Well, let's see,
exhibit A, Israel. God promised them the land. Well, wouldn't you know? The're there
now.
So some of you are struggling with the promises that God has given to you. You might
be suffering harsh economic situation, something with your employment, something in
your family, things aren't working out. You believe, but now life is hard post-pandemic,
all these complications. I want you to rest on this idea that even when God makes a
promise 4,100 years ago, He keeps it. He keeps. It and you can trust His word.
There was a professor, an agnostic professor, he visited the Fiji islands. Obviously, an
agnostic, an unbeliever. He goes to the Fiji islands, and he looks around. And he
notices there's crosses on buildings. There's churches and schools, and they have
crosses on them. And he can tell that a missionary has come. Missionaries in the past
have come, and this is an evangelized culture.
So the professor very arrogantly met the chief of the tribe. And he said, happy to meet
you. You seem like a wise man. You have wonderful people. But it's a shame, really,
that you've been so duped by the missionaries who came here telling you about Jesus.
We know now that the Bible is a hoax. Nobody believes in it anymore. And these
missionaries just pulled a fast one. You don't need this stuff.
And the tribe leader said to the professor, come here, I want to show you something.
Look over there. You see that big rock over there? That's the rock where we used to
smash the heads of our victims on that rock. And then below that, you see that big
furnace there? That's where we used to burn our victims before we ate them. And then
he said this, if it hadn't been for those missionaries, and the love of Jesus Christ, and
the gospel message that changed us from cannibals into Christians, you'd be our
supper by now.
[LAUGHTER]
So you better thank God, Mr. Professor that we believe that hoax of the Bible, because
you'd be dead and dinner by now. The gospel changes individuals. The gospel changes
cultures. In you, all the families of the Earth shall be blessed. You've experienced, we've
experienced that great blessing of God and the promise to Abraham.
[APPLAUSE]
Father, we thank You for the covenant that You made. Here we are recipients of a new
covenant, not like the ones made in the Old Testament, not like the one given through
Moses in the law. But you made an unconditional covenant with Abraham, and again
with his son, Isaac, and again with his son, Jacob. And you repeated that throughout the
scripture.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
For us to come along, and say, yeah, but that's not going to happen is irresponsible in
the very least and perhaps even blasphemous. You're a God who keeps His promise.
We're seeing it now with this nation in the land. And we, as Your people, stand for the
covenant you made with that land in trust, in hopes that one day their eyes will be open,
as Your word says it will and Israel in the future will believe and be saved, at some
point. You're going to restore them fully, completely. Until that time, in the days in which
we live, may we be responsible sons and daughters of the living God, in Jesus's name.
Amen.
