Israel: What Was, Is, and Is to Come

How many of you are believers? Hm, good. Majority. How many of you have the Holy Spirit in them? Oh, few. Now, that Holy Spirit that is in you is the Spirit of what God? The God of? Israel. So if you are born-again believers, sealed with the Holy Spirit of the God of Israel, could it be that you will hate the Jews, the people of Israel? And you have no idea how many people go to church on Sunday, claim and proclaim to be Christians, and they hate the Jews. Now, why is that? It's because they don't know the One who is the Holy One of Israel. And to them maybe He will say, "I never knew you." (Matthew 7) So obviously people who claim to know Him, who say, "Hey, we did this and that, in Your name, we know You!" "Well, I don't know you. How can you do all of this and still hate My brethren?" In fact, anyone who is left from the Tribulation, who has come against the brethren of the Lord will not be allowed into the Millennial Kingdom.

So I thought it's important to explain to all of you, because America is going through right now a period of grace. Judgment is coming. There's no doubt about it. We don't kill 70 million children and enjoy blessing. Okay? That's not going to happen. Even in the time of Judah and Israel, judgment was about to come. They knew the prophets already said, "You're about to be sent to the exile." But then King Josiah came and he repented and judgment was put on hold. Maybe we're watching now, maybe that hold right now for a while. And maybe part of it is so people will also return to the God of Israel and to understand what He has in plan for His nation and what's your role in it. Because to Esther, Mordecai said, "If you keep quiet and do nothing, deliverance, help will come to Israel from another place, but you and your household will perish." (Esther 4:14) In other words, God's plan for Israel is sealed. The question is, where are you in this whole thing?

The title of the message this morning is "Israel, What Was, Is, And Is To Come." And if you have sharp eyesight, you can see behind, it's not about Israel. It's about who? What's behind it is "The God of Israel, Who Was, Is, And Is to Come." Because the reflection of the character of God is in the way He handles Israel. Father, I pray this morning that You will open the eyes of our hearts to understand the wonders of Your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Amos chapter 9 verse 8 says, "'Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,' Says the Lord." Even in its most sinful time, when Israel was about to be judged by God, He still says, "'I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,' Says the Lord." God has always and will always leave a remnant. He will always make sure that His promises are yes and amen.

In the eyes of many people, by the way, Israel finished its God-given role in the first century. Because Jesus came, now there is a church, that's it. However, upon examining the Bible, a very different story is presented to us. And I love how baby Jesus was brought into the temple in Jerusalem. And He was not a Palestinian. He was of the tribe of Judah, presented at the temple of the Jewish people, in the capital of the Jews, Jerusalem, at the time when it was called "Judea". "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon," Shimon, "...and this man was just and devout, waiting" -what? What was he waiting for? What was Simeon waiting for? The Bible says that he waited for the... We can have the verse so we can see, "...waiting for the Consolation of Israel..." (Luke 2:25) By the way, you don't need to show me on the screen, show the verses, it's always better. "...waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit..." in those days, Jesus is not yet resurrected. He's not yet back in heaven. He didn't send the Holy Spirit. So in those days, the Spirit of God will be upon people, not in people. The church is the only entity where the Holy Spirit is in us and sealed in us. But "...the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord, Messiah, Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the..." Sharia law? the... No, I guess it says, "custom of the law," the law of Moses, yeah? "...he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:..." And look what Simeon, the old Jewish guy in the temple of the Jews in Jerusalem, is saying, "'Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word;...'" Remember that. It's always according to God's Word. It's not according to your political views. It's not according to what your heart is telling you, what your feelings are saying to you. It's always according to His Word. And then he says, "For my eyes have seen Your salvation..." Simeon says, "He's a baby, but now I see this is the salvation. Yeshua in Hebrew, "salvation", that's why they named Him Yeshua. And then he says, "Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,..." And what's the Messiah is going to bring? "A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel." He is the glory. He was born to give a light of revelation to the Gentiles. He is, not was, He is. And He will always be the glory of His people, Israel. The people of the Messiah are Israel. You're probably saying, "Of course. We know that." Most Christians on planet earth don't know that. Somebody told them that Jesus is a Christian. Jesus was never a Christian. You cannot be the follower of Christ when you are the Christ. Even when Israel was in the land with the temple, the people were still waiting for the consolation of Israel. He's the consolation of Israel. He's the comfort of Israel. He's the Hope of Israel. He's the Peace of Israel. He's the Future of Israel. There is no future to Israel without Him. There will never be peace to Israel without Him. There will never be comfort. There will never be rest for the Jewish people without Him. He is the One. The salvation has never and will never be something like keeping this or doing that, but in someone. Jesus will be the glory of His people, Israel. He is their salvation. And it's an amazing passage by itself that reveals all of that.

Not only that, He is not done with Israel. But in fact, all of Bible prophecy relates to the nation of Israel. A third of your Bible, everything that has to do with the future of you and me and the rest of the world is related to the nation of Israel. The Bible doesn't have a chapter speaking about the war of Ukraine and Russia or the trade war between America and Mexico and Canada. The Bible does not have anything to say about nations as they do things among themselves. But it's always about how they relate to Israel. Deuteronomy (32:8-9) says, "When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance." And every single Christian will be asked about his view about Israel. And every nation on planet earth will be judged according to what they did and how they treated Israel. This is very severe. This is very heavy. And this is exactly why Satan is on the move to completely confuse a younger generation right now.

So what was? We're talking about what was, what is, what is to come. God's preservation of Israel as a people and a nation, despite tragedy and unfaithfulness. From the time of Joseph to the time of Joshua, from the time they left the land as separated tribes, they were in Egypt. And when God brought them out of Egypt, they were a nation. And this is exactly why God begins His calendar. There's only one calendar that appears in the Bible, Leviticus 23. And He begins His own calendar with the moment He takes Israel out of Egypt and they are a nation. And of course, the enemy tried to stop it. And of course, the enemy tried to sabotage it. The Egyptians, look what happened. (Exodus 14:1-4) "Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.' Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain...'" It's not like Pharaoh said, "Oh, I love Israel so much. You should go and worship your God." No, God hardened the heart of Pharaoh only after Pharaoh already was against Israel and wanted to destroy them. And then of course, we see that it is him and his army, the Egyptians, destroyed then they "'...may know that I am the Lord.' And they did so." And then in the wilderness with the Amorites, we know, (Numbers 21:33-35) "And they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. So Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites...'" God is taking a nation, a nation that is far from being perfect, a nation that is complaining day and night. You will see soon what Moses said about them. And God says, "I promised, I will deliver. You see him, all of his army, I'm giving into your hand." Amazing. And then when some of those kings along the journey of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, when some of them said, "Yeah, something is weird. They are not good fighters, but they always win. What's going on here?" Some of them said, "You know what? Maybe we should do something else. Maybe in the physical we can't beat them, but let's do the spiritual." So Balak, the King of Moab hired a magician, a Gentile magician and said to him, "I'm going to pay you money, a lot of money. I want you to pronounce a curse upon Israel." So he took the money, put it in his pocket, raised his oracle and said, (Numbers 23:8-10) "'How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my end be like his!'" In other words, he was about to pronounce curse and what came out? A blessing. And if you think that he returned the money, kiss that thought goodbye.

And then from the moment they entered the land, from Joshua to King David, we see the Canaanites are in the land of Israel. Upon Israel's entry into the land, God worked multiple miracles on their behalf to bring about the victories He had promised them. Because He promised and He will deliver. It doesn't matter. And we see a series of amazing things that happened in the time of Joshua, in the book of Joshua that are miraculous. You can clearly see in Joshua chapter 3, the parting of the Jordan River. River Jordan flows all the way down. God stopped it. Just like that. Now, have you ever tried to put your hand when there's a stream of water? What happened when you put your hand? It goes up. So the children of Israel, [whistling] they cross the river and to their right, there's a pillar of water to the sky. They cross the river, unharmed. And all the people all around are watching. Who are these? And what is this? And then the walls of Jericho are falling, which is unbelievable. The city that was so confident and boastful and so strong and yet only one woman there knew that it's not about the people, it's about their God and it's about what He's doing because what He has promised them. And it's all about His name. And then even when they were already in the middle of conquering the land that He promised them, in one battle He ordered the sun and the moon to stand still. Unbelievable. We found an ancient calendar that actually is missing a day.

And then came the Judges of the Nation of Israel. In the Book of Judges, it's not a great compliment to the spiritual state of Israel. Nehemiah wrote it later, way later. He says, (Nehemiah 9:27-28) "Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who oppressed them; And in the time of their trouble, When they cried to You, You heard from heaven; And according to Your abundant mercies You gave them deliverers who saved them From the hand of their enemies. But after they had rest, They again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, So that they had dominion over them; Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven; And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies..." It's not according to their deeds. It's according to His mercies. We need to stop thinking that Israel has to be a perfect nation in order for God to fulfill His promises for them. This thought is not biblical. Now you're probably going to say, "Yeah, but I have to believe in Jesus to get saved." Sure, they have to. But the plan of God for Israel, until the moment all of Israel will be saved, is a plan that has been already determined. And neither the Amorites nor the Amalekites or even Hamas or the Ayatollahs can ever put an end to it. So you have to choose who do you support, on which side you want to be, when you already know the end. You know the result.

And then from David to the divided kingdom, we see how it went with the Philistines. We see how David defeated Goliath. We see also that God gave the kingdom to David against all common sense. Who is choosing a king that is a little boy who always with the sheep and the goats, who smells like them, when there's some better candidates? It was God who anointed David over the rest of his brothers. It was God who enabled David to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. It was God who delivered the city into David's hands to establish it as a capital of his kingdom. And through David, although David was not allowed to build a temple, God allowed him to build a tabernacle on the Temple Mount. And in all of this, it goes without saying that David was not a perfect human being or a perfect king. David betrayed one of his most loyal men by sleeping with his wife. And then he went on to have that man Uriah killed. But amazingly enough by God's grace, the product of David's sin with Bathsheba one day became the king of Israel. And God gave the kingdom to Solomon. And he had so many mother-in-laws. I'm looking at the men right now. And I can feel for you because you only have one. And look at you. Now, see, it goes without saying also as well that Solomon was everything but perfect. However, despite the adultery of his father and his own personal moral mess, God preserved the kingdom. It wasn't until after Solomon's death that the kingdom would be divided. And from the divided kingdom all the way through the exiles, we saw even then the hand of God throughout the first diaspora. You can see that God preserved Israel as a nation.

Following the Babylonian captivity, God preserved the nation via Esther also under the rule of the Persians. Remember Mordecai told her, "Esther, this is for such a time as this you've been raised. At first it's good that you did not reveal that you're Jewish. But now that you're already a queen and now that you have the ear of the king, now it's the time. And if you're not going to act upon it right now, God will bring help from another place. But you and your household will perish." (Esther 4:7-8) "Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, 'Indeed, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews.'" Not only that God preserved the Jews, but He also told them, "Now I want you to defeat that enemy all the way. You have My blessing."

God also instilled the longing within the heart of Nehemiah to return to the land and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. He was the cupbearer. He was the one who brought the drinks to the king, Artaxerxes. (Nehemiah 2:1-5) "...when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, 'Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.' So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, 'May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?' Then the king said to me, 'What do you request?' So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king,..." Look what he did. First he prayed, "Lord, give me words. What am I going to say?" "And I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah,'" not to Palestine, "'...to the city of my fathers’ tombs,...'" You see, we have ancient history there. "'...that I may rebuild it.'" That's all I want. Way before Islam was even born, the Jews were already longing to go and rebuild their city.

And of course, the prophet Jeremiah, despite knowing that diaspora was coming, understood that God would preserve a remnant regardless of the people being out of the land. Jeremiah (31:35-37) says, "Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): 'If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord,...'" Say, "then..." say that. "'...then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.'" God, basically, God is telling Jeremiah this: "Israel can never be destroyed as long as this world exists." You understand that? Yeah... You understand that the best way to encourage the Iranians to win at the war is not for them to shoot rockets at us, but to shoot rockets at the moon and the stars and the sun, because only when they will not be there, Israel will disappear. I don't understand them. Somebody needs to share with them these verses.

And from exile to restoration with Ezra and the first year of Cyrus. Look how God works. God is raising kings and He's taking them down. He's raising presidents and He's taking them down. Sometimes He raises presidents that are asleep. And then He's taking them down. Sometimes He raises presidents that never sleep. And He's taking them down. (Ezra 1:1-4) Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled,..." Look at this. Ezra said, for Jeremiah's words to be fulfilled, "...the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ...All the kingdoms of the earth..." although God gave them to me... Basically he's saying, "...Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel." It's a foreign king, leader of an empire. Sort of like, think about it. In modern day's terms, the president of the United States of America, who is not a Jew, he's not even related to them. Well, his son-in-law, never mind. And then, of course, and then what happened? He says, "Anyone who wants to fulfill the greatest destiny needs to go back and build the house of the God of Israel, Jerusalem." Wow. I promise you it's not going to happen now. But one day it will.

Daniel (9:18-20) says, "O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” I love it. Basically, Daniel says, "Look, God, we don't ask you because we're good. It's because whatever You do with us, it's about You and Your name and Your reputation. And everybody's watching You. Everybody's watching You." That's why I love how it is in Ezekiel 36 (v8), when He describes how the Jews were in the Diaspora, He says, "O you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit..." God is speaking life into a dead land. Israel was dead. Even mosquitoes were flying around it and not above it. Even the cactus didn't want to grow there because it was too bad. Nothing was growing there. It was a barren wasteland and God, in preparation for the return of the Jews back to their land, He says, "O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come." God, in His mighty amazing plan, He is preparing the land for the mass return of the Jews from the scattered places, mostly in Europe, back to the land of Israel. They are not European. They are now coming back to where they belong. Everybody's telling, "Go back to Europe." No, I was in Europe. God sent me back to my land. What are you talking about? In Europe, they burned us in a gas chamber because we are not from there.

And from the Diaspora to restoration, (v22) "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake,...'" God, in that chapter, is saying, every time the Gentiles saw you in other lands, they said, "Aren't you God's people? Why are you not in the land that He gave you?" That's a shameful thing for God. But how can He bring them all from the four corners of the world? And how can they communicate? How can I talk to a Jew that comes from Iran and Jews come from Germany, and Jews come from... we have to revive what? The language. After the Jews were expelled from the land beginning in 70 AD, finally around 136 AD, Hebrew gradually left the scene, often being mixed in with other languages where the Jews were dispersed to. And it wasn't until the return to Israel in the 20th century that Hebrew once again became the language of the nation of Israel. He first restored the land, and then He restored the language, and then He brought them from the four corners of the world back to the land, and they now can communicate. And now a series of events that are happening from 1948 through 1967 through 1973, all the way wars and peace and wars and peace, and slowly, slowly, countries that once wanted to destroy us, according to Psalm 83, understand that they cannot defeat us and now they have peace with us, such as Jordan and such as Egypt.

So what is? God's preservation and restoration of Israel as people and a nation is still going on, despite their disbelief. And in 2023, throughout the year, we were a nation that was with a great internal division, horrific division in an unprecedented level, to the point that our military and our secret services were so busy in other things that they did not see all the red flags leading towards October 7th. And then came October 7th, the Holocaust of our century. And within six hours, 1,200 Jews were burned alive, were slaughtered to death, were shot, were raped, were killed, were massacred in unprecedented cruelty that could even put the Nazis to shame. We found families around the table tied with their hands behind their back, and they were chopped to pieces as time went on until they bled to death. We found dozens of heads. We found male genitalia spread throughout the whole field of the Nova festival. We found women that were raped so many times, their pelvis was so broken that they were split completely. No one from the doctors and the people that treated the bodies that were left there could ever even think of anything like that that they have seen. But you know, although the Nazis killed 6 million Jews and Hamas only killed 1,200 in six hours, I can tell you, at some point, maybe this 1,200 was the worst with its outcome because at least after the Holocaust, the world could see that the Jewish people were the victim. Here, at the very same day of this massacre, students were out in the streets rioting against us. We were just massacred, and we are now the villain. We were in division, then we were in shock, then we were in turmoil. And then, of course, October 7th brought us back somehow together after experiencing this unbelievable thing. We're a country that is united concerning some of the essentials now, namely that Israel will do whatever it needs to do in order to survive. Even those who once spent their days chanting in the streets for progressive values have now finally come to terms with reality. And despite the horrific events beginning in October 2023, Israel has emerged even more prosperous and victorious today than we were before.

Do you understand that as a soldier, I was trained, as a commander, I was trained, as an officer, I was trained on the model that the Syrian military is our biggest enemy. We trained against the Syrian chemical weapon, the Syrian biological weapon, the Syrian military bases. We knew that they're the biggest enemy Israel has. And then, of course, Hezbollah was emerging also. But my point is, today, I'm going to show you a series of events that happened in the last five months that shocked the entire Middle East and brought us to a much better place right now than we've ever been since the state of Israel was born. Apart from going after Hamas, on July 30, 2024, we shocked Hezbollah and out of the blue, we killed their military wing commander in his apartment in Beirut. And hours later, the leader of Hamas found his death in an apartment in the heart of Tehran. We left him a gift under the pillow. And in September, Israel raided Syria with helicopters, three huge helicopters. And we landed 120 commanders of soldiers deep in the Syrian desert. And they raided an underground facility that is manufacturing ballistic missiles in the heart of the desert, 120, but it's bigger than the Entebbe raid. And what we did shocked them. And then, September 18th, Israel rigged Hezbollah communication system. How many of you know what a pager is? Good. That's why I'm not using the lapel mics that are... Never mind. 10 years ago, we already started an operation to take walkie-talkies, put some explosives in them and sell them to Hezbollah. They bought them, and we thought we don't need to use it yet. Two years ago, they were looking for pagers. Israel's Mossad immediately started a fake company registered in Hungary. We bought from the Chiwanese... Taiwanese, Oh, why did I say "Chiwanese"? From the Taiwanese manufacturer, we bought their pagers. We tested in the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv what would be the best size for us to plant explosives so that it can only hurt the person and not anyone around here. We came up with a nice, thick pager, and now we need to market it. We started marketing it all over the world. Hezbollah realized, "Oh, that's what we want." I mean, "We don't want something... we want something that can last." They bought 14,000 of them. And then on October 18, we sent them a message via the pager. And simultaneously, all across Lebanon, some in Syria, and even the ambassador of Iran to Lebanon, they took the pager. Anyone who pulled it out and pressed the buttons to read the message lost his eyes. And anyone who didn't take it out lost something else. So immediately they said, "Drop all the pagers! Use only walkie-talkies!" The next day, when there were no pagers around anymore and they only had walkie-talkies, we pulled the walkie-talkie one. And many more. We shocked them completely. A few days later, while Netanyahu is in the U.N. giving an amazing speech, F-16s took off and dropped an unimaginable amount of explosives above Nasrallah's bunker. We killed him while he was watching Netanyahu on the television. And then a few days later, October 16, we killed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas. And then we attacked Iran and we made sure the Iranian air defense system is gone. And then Hezbollah said, "Okay, enough. Ceasefire." And the minute Hezbollah says, "ceasefire," the rebels in Syria said, "Okay, now it's time for us to move and topple Assad." And when Assad was toppled because of Hezbollah's ceasefire, that was the time for Israel on December 12 to start Operation Arrow of Bashan. And within four days, Israel, that was the largest military operation in the history of Israel, one of the largest in the world. I live next to the air base. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. What we did, we destroyed the entire capability of a country, all of its military within four days. Unbelievable. Then from time to time, the Yemenites decided to send some missiles. So we had to go all the way to Yemen and pay a visit. And all the web, the spider web that Iran was building with all of its militias. In Lebanon, they had Hezbollah. In Iraq, they had Hashd al-Sha’bi. In Yemen, they have the Houthis. In Syria, they have their militias. In Gaza, and all of that, I'm going to... now turn off. And that's what's left. Turn it on again, turn on again, turn off again. That's what's left, you see? Now Iran is no longer can rely on Iran's militias. And now Iran is thinking, "Okay, we cannot do it all by ourselves. We need to do it in the future by joining someone else." And that, ladies and gentlemen, what is to come. God's continued preservation is going also.

And then we know what happened when it comes to your elections. We know somebody won the elections. And we know that the first foreign visitor to the White House is the Prime Minister of Israel, who took off a few hours ago. Now, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. You're going to blame me for being a prophet. I'm going to tell you I'm from a nonprofit organization. And it's because I'm not saying what I think. I'm just saying what the Bible says. Next is that Damascus somehow has to be destroyed. It has to happen. Damascus has never been destroyed to the point that it's uninhabitable. The Bible says (Isaiah 17:1), "The burden against Damascus. 'Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.'" But it's not just that. Other countries that the Bible mentioned that are going to come up against Israel are already surfacing in the news. Libya, we start seeing a Libya action that is resulting from the shenanigans of Russia, Iran, and Turkey in that country. Sudan, we see that both Russia and Iran and even Turkey are doing stuff there. Of course, the Abraham Accords that Trump started in 2020, they will continue. And we will have even the Saudis very, very soon added to this very thing. And we're talking about it right now. You can see that. And why am I saying that? Because the Bible says that while Iran is going to join Russia and Turkey, Sheba and Dedan, which is Saudi of today, will protest against it because they're on the side of Israel. For that war to start, Israel must be safe, secure and prosperous. And we know that it happens. And that's what Ezekiel 38 says. Behold, “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you,...'" (Ezekiel 38:2-3) God is for Israel and God is against those who come against Israel. And He says that Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal are going to come. And "...Persia, Ethiopia," which is Sudan of today, "and Libya will join them. Gomer and Togarmah," which is Turkey of today, "...—many people are with you." So you can see all the countries, and I bet you, you will see that happening either during Trump's administration or right after that. These are the countries that are going to rise up against Israel. These are the countries that are in Ezekiel 38 war that will come.

And right after that war, following the supernatural victory of God in that war, messianic aspirations will continue to increase, which will unfortunately lead to the acceptance of a false messiah based on the false understanding of who and what Messiah is all about. And when you don't think the Messiah is God and that He didn't come to die for your sins, it's very easy to choose a man promising prosperity, peace, and above all, the temple in Jerusalem. And that is exactly what Daniel in Chapter 9 says that the last seven years will bring upon Israel. "Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;" seven years, "But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined," It's determined. You cannot change it. There is going to be an invasion to Israel. It is going to be an antichrist. There is going to be a great tribulation. We are not part of it. The entire description of Book of Revelation, the church is not even mentioned once during the Tribulation. We will be out of here while Israel will be the focus of God's dealing with the world. There will be a great tribulation. And Israel is going to seek the Lord during that time. "Alas! For that day is great," Jeremiah 30 (v7) says, "...So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it." Daniel Chapter 12:1 says, "At that time, Michael,..." there is a specific angel in heaven that his job is to protect the nation of Israel. Did you know that? That's his job. "...Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time." Basically, Daniel was given news by Gabriel that the Tribulation would be far greater than the Holocaust. And then he said, "And at that time your people shall be delivered," Who? The Jewish people that will see and acknowledge Messiah and believe in Him because "Every one who is found written in the book."

Zachariah (13:8-9) says, "'And it shall come to pass in all the land,' Says the Lord, 'That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.'" Remember, Israel of the present is Israel of the past and it's the same Israel of the future. It's the same promise. It's the promise that was already given to Abraham in Chapter 12 of Genesis, that He will make him a great nation. "I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. And I, you shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him, who curses you." Look, the Arabs never won one war. Why? Because God can never bless someone who comes against His people. And the interesting thing He says, through you or "...in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Through Israel, He brought the belief in one God to the world, the Word of God to the world and the Son of God to the world.

And Moses understood that promise. Moses, while he was in the desert... I love Moses. Oh, he's such a Jewish guy. It's amazing, he says, (Exodus 33:12-13) "Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.' Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight...." And then Moses says, "And consider that this nation,..." they're not my problem. They're your problem. "...this nation is Your people." "God, they're Your people. And I need help with them. Be with me."

And Paul understood the same promise in Romans 11. (v28-32) "Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all." So if Abraham understood the promise and if Moses understood the promise and if Paul understood the promise, you need to understand the promise.

One of the most frequent arguments I hear is that Israel of today is nothing to do with Israel of the Bible, largely due to the unbelieving state of the nation. But do the Jews need to come to faith in the Messiah in order to be saved? -Absolutely. But that reality does not nullify God's promise to preserve the nation of Israel, despite its unbelieving state through the Bible and even up to today. You need to understand the promise. Romans 3 (v3-4) says, "For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be [b]true but every man a liar. As it is written: 'That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.'" Romans 11 (v19-24) says that Israel for sure can and will be restored as they are the natural branches of that tree. So it's the same God. The God of the present is the same God of the past and He's the same God of the future. And it's that God that said to Isaiah (41:10), "Fear not, for I am with you;" to Israel. "Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ God is saying to Israel even today, "I'm with you." This phrase presents one of the most long-standing promises of the nation of Israel. From its very beginning, despite its failure, sin, shortcomings, God's unconditional promises remain unshaken. And thank God for that. Look at your whole life. Are you perfect? No. You want God to say, "Ah, I'm going to dump them and go after someone else"? Why? Because you're not perfect. "Oh, I cannot be perfect." You're right. You cannot be perfect. We're perfected by the finished work of Jesus on the cross. So your understanding of Israel will significantly impact your understanding of God. And we will just remember this. Malachi 3:6 says, "For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob." Because God cannot change. Israel will never be destroyed. That's it. God said it, and that settles it. And if you have a problem, talk to Him.

Lord, I thank You for Your Word, for Your promises. I challenge everyone here today, Lord, this afternoon, to understand the times and the season in which we live, to understand the promises, to understand Your heart and Your loving-kindness and Your faithfulness, as shown through the way You deal with the nation of Israel. And Father, I pray that every one of the people here today will understand the severity of any action against Your people. Father, we pray for the salvation of Israel. We pray that they will open their eyes to see their true Messiah. But until then, we also pray that none of us will ever fall in the plan of the enemy to bring about hatred towards Your people. We thank You. We bless You. And we ask all of this in the name of the consolation of Israel, of the Hope of Israel, of the One who is the glory of Your people, Israel. In the name of Yeshua, our salvation, we pray. And all of God's people say, Amen.