We come now to a time when we have an opportunity to look into the Word of God and hear the truths there. This is the third part in a little series that I'm doing on understanding Israel in Bible prophecy. And if you've been with us thus far, you know that the primary goal here is to give you a biblical, historical, and certainly a prophetic perspective of all that we see happening in the world today. I do not want you to be ignorant of these things. And if you are, I hope it's not because I haven't taught you, but it's rather because you haven't been listening. And certainly, we want to understand, from a truly Christian perspective, the rise of anti-semitism, as well as Israel's war with Iran, through her mercenary forces of Hamas, and Hezbollah, and others. We've all seen the unprecedented number of protesters that are mainly Arab Muslims, along with Marxist revolutionaries. I've been to those places, there in London. It was amazing. I think they said roughly 500,000 people marching in favor of the Palestinians and Hamas. By the way, there's about 500,000, or I should say, I take that back, about 4 million Muslims now living in the United Kingdom, and about the same here in the United States. And of course, we see a lot of the deranged, social justice, woke people; they're always on the hunt for the next victim group, they have to have an oppressed group, so that they can attack the oppressors to fulfill their cultural Marxist agenda. And this results in what a lot of secularists call "mass formation." I've written on this in chapter four of my book, "Warrior Preachers" if you want to go into detail. But there I quote from an author by the name of Matthias Desmet; I believe he is Belgium, and his book, The Psychology of Totalitarianism. And there he defines mass formation, which again, is what we see with all of these protests. He defines it as, quote, "a kind of group hypnosis that destroys individual's ethical self-awareness and robs them of their ability to think critically. This process is insidious in nature. Populations fall prey to it unsuspectingly. The willingness of the individuals to blindly sacrifice their personal interests as a part of this," he went on to say, "they will blindly sacrifice their personal interests in favor of the collective, radical intolerance of dissident voices." He also describes it as, "the curious susceptibility to absurd, pseudo-scientific indoctrination and propaganda; the blind following of narrow logic that transcends all ethical boundaries." End quote.

And certainly that is a good description. But it misses the theological description, which I call "mass depravity." As I have written, "Mass depravity is a manifestation of the wrath of divine abandonment, where God has lifted his restraining grace on a mass of depraved human beings who reject Him; allowing them to collectively voice their deceptions in the echo chamber of their rage, and ultimately experience the damning consequences of their iniquities." Frankly, God calls these people and many like them "fools." A fool is one that has no fear of God. And therefore the Scriptures tell us that they despise wisdom and instruction. And again, this is the wrath of divine abandonment as we read in Romans one, where God gives people finally over to a depraved mind because of the rejection of him. And as a result of that people will believe things that are demonstrably false. They will believe things that are idiotic, irrational, immoral, and frankly, insane. And sadly, we have a lot of these people ruling over us in our government. But I might also add that to all of these people, God offers forgiveness. And he offers grace when people come to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentant faith, and trust in Him as their only hope of salvation.

By way of quick review, we've looked at number one, God's choice of Israel. Secondly, Satan's hatred of Israel. Third, God's judgment of Israel. And now today, God's protection of Israel, and Lord willing, the next time we're together, I will deal with God's salvation and restoration of Israel. So this morning, I would like to address God's protection of Israel; past, present and future but especially future.

Think about this, despite the numerous pogroms down through history designed to eradicate the Jewish people, they are still here. The Marxist mobs of anti Semites who are overwhelmingly liberal democrats get their news, we know, predominantly from the leftist media organizations, as well as Instagram and primarily Tik Tok. And if you've been on Tik Tok very long, you will quickly see that you will lose brain cells if you stay there. People don't want to hear the facts. For example, people marching today do not realize the fact that Israel was amenable to a second Palestinian state when they were founded in 1948. But the Palestinians would have nothing to do with that. On numerous occasions, Israel offered the olive branch to the Palestinians; peace to the Palestinians, but they would always reject it. And when Israel withdrew from Gaza, I remember it well in 2005, what did the Palestinians do? They elected Hamas to be the ones to lead them. And Hamas had a very clear "anti-Israel" platform and "eliminate the Jews" platform. And the first thing Hamas did was get rid of the Palestinian Authority in a military coup and start firing rockets on Israel and committing acts of terror on Israel. And they've been doing that for 20 years. And I assure you that the people that are foaming at the mouth in these protests have no understanding of any of that; not to mention the other biblical, theological issues pertaining to God's choice of Israel, their disobedience, God's judgment upon them and Satan's hatred of them.

Most of them don't know anything about the Hamas charter. In Article 13, they say quote, "Peace initiatives and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic resistance movement. Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. There is no solution for the Palestinian problem, except by Jihad initiatives. Proposals and international conferences are but a waste of time and exercise in futility." It also says in Article Seven, "The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees and the rocks, and the trees will cry out, oh, Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him." And people were protesting all over the world to allow these sociopathic demonic monsters the freedom to carry out their goal. May I remind you again, and I know I said this last week, but I think it bears repeating. Israel is about the size of the state of New Jersey. 9000 Square miles and has a population of 9.7 3 million people. 75% of them are Jewish. They are surrounded by 22 Arab countries, encompassing 5 million square miles. And those lands are populated by 600 million people; all aligned with the entire Muslim world, consisting of over 1.8 billion people, making up about 24% of the world's population. And virtually all of these Arab Muslim countries are committed to the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Jewish people. And yet Israel is the oppressor? Israel is such a threat to civilization, that they must be exterminated? I mean, friends, no rational person could believe anything so ridiculous.

But I also must add, God loves what is perceived to be, insurmountable odds. Well, I've gone to great lengths to explain in my two previous discourses these things. Again, the satanic nature of anti semitism; God's judgment on Israel, his beloved enemy, whom he will continue to preserve and protect, and one day transform and restore, so that eventually, they will be able to do what they're not able to do now--they will be able to fulfill the purpose in which they were chosen for which they were chosen, as God declared through his servant, Jeremiah in Jeremiah 13:11, "That they might be for me a people for renown and praise and for glory." And although today most Jewish people reject Jesus as their Messiah, and remain under divine judgment, one day that will change. He has promised never to violate his covenant promises; never abandon his people. You read about this, for example, in the new covenant promises in Jeremiah 31. And the Apostle Paul has said, in Romans chapter 11, and verse one, "God has not rejected His people has He? May it never be!" And in verse 25, and following, he says, "that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." He goes on to say, then "all Israel will be saved, just as it is written, THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS." But dear friends, until that deliverer comes, as he has promised, until he comes from Zion, to remove the ungodliness from Jacob, he must continue to protect and preserve his people from the onslaught of their enemies.

Again, by way of quick review, last week, we talked about Revelation six, you will recall there, John is standing in the throne room of heaven. He's looking upon the word the Lamb, who has received the scroll containing the pre kingdom judgments from the hand of his Father, as we read about in chapter five. And then he has given this dramatic visual presentation of the contents of each one of those seals. And in Revelation six, we see the breaking of the first seal, which reveals the summoning of the first horse and horsemen of the apocalypse; a reference to the antichrist that is to come; the one who will come and make a peace covenant with Israel, bring a false sense of peace to the world, Daniel 9:27, "He will make a firm covenant with the many"-- referring to Israel, "for one week." The context there, one week is referring to a week of years. This is also referred to as Daniel 70th week--the final seven years of the tribulation. And in that covenant, even Israel will be deceived by a false sense of security that is offered to them by this diabolical ruler. And during this time with this treaty, undoubtedly, they will be allowed to rebuild their temples. Something that they currently cannot do, because of the Muslims. So something dramatic must take place. And the Jewish people are waiting for that even now. Something dramatic must take place to get this highly distrusting nation of Israel to be seduced by this pseudo peace. And I made the case that the battle of Gog and Magog, in Ezekiel 38 and 39 could be the event to set into motion this first seal. That battle that describes a Russian/Arab alliance of predominantly Muslim nations. We talked about that at length. They will come from the north and be supernaturally defeated. And I believe that a good case could be made that this will take place before the actual tribulation begins and set it all into motion. Russia could very well fulfill the role of Gog. Certainly it has six of its former Soviet republics, right to the north of Israel. They are now independent Islamic nations, and they're all calling for Israel's annihilation. Right now, today. Russia has suffered, I read, this week, 122,000 casualties in Ukraine. And almost 200,000 have been injured. They have been humiliated. Their economy is collapsing, crime is skyrocketing. Some of my brothers in Siberia where I have been on several occasions to teach them aren't even able to write to me via email anymore because of the government control. Population is just decreasing. The people are disillusioned, and now they're getting arms from North Korea, from Iran, from China. And they are forming alliances with them along with Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Sudan and Ethiopia. But whoever makes up these alliances, or this alliance of nations, that God causes to come upon Israel, they will be destroyed.

Let me remind you of that by reading a passage out of Ezekiel 38. I want to begin with verse 14. "'Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord God, "On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; and you will come upon come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog." Thus says the Lord God, "Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? It will come about on that day when Gog comes against the Land of Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "that My fury will mount up in My anger. In My zeal, and in My blazing wrath, I declare that on that day, there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israe. The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground. I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains," declares the Lord GOD. "Every man's sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and with blood, I will enter into the judgments with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain with hailstones, fire and brimstone. I will Magnify myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the Lord.'" Likewise, in Ezekiel 39, some of which, all of which I just read a few minutes ago. Let me take you to verse six through verse eight. "'And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the Lord. My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people, Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is coming, and it shall be done,' declares the Lord GOD. 'That is the day of which I have spoken.'"

Certainly today the nations of the world mock the Lord God, the God of the Bible, the one true God, but that is going to radically change when this occurs. Obviously this will send a shock wave of fear throughout this God mocking world. And Israel will instantly become one of the most feared nations in the world. Sometime around this great battle, which will be either before, during or after, the church will be translated into heaven, adding even further chaos and confusion to the world.

And think what the rapture of the church would do. With the unprecedented carnage on the mountains of Israel, the bewildered Islamic world, and the sudden disappearance of millions of Christians around the world; the world will be instantly set into a tailspin of confusion. Economies will collapse, every government will be in a state of shock. Every leader that has nuclear power will have his finger on the trigger, prepared for further hostilities. And at that point, the world will be absolutely craving for peace. Confused, deceived--what a perfect storm for the first Seal Judgment of Revelation six to be unleashed upon the world. This would be the perfect time for the world to come together under a satanically inspired, charismatic leader, promising all that they ask. The prophet Daniel tells us in Daniel chapter seven, beginning in verse 23, that as the Antichrist arises, he will bring about a one world government. And by the way, isn't that what so many in the world are clamoring for today--a one world government, a one world economy. But according to Daniel's prophecy, this one world government will splinter into 10 governments. A new world alliance will come into being far more powerful than NATO or the even the UN. And this 10-nation confederacy will thrive under the leadership of the Antichrist until the middle of the tribulation.

Now, obviously, I'm leaving out enormous amounts of information. I'm giving you the highlights of eschatology from a biblical perspective. At first, the Antichrist will represent the nations and he will make concessions to Israel, given their astonishing defeat of the Russian Arab Alliance. And then he will unite the rest of the world, primarily the Europeans, in an alliance with Israel, a covenant of protection and commerce and peace. Shall we say the New World Order will finally come into being. But it will be nothing more than a ploy, in preparation for his fiendish, satanically inspired goal of Jewish genocide--as well as exalting himself as God.

Well, by this time, many of the secular Jews who are mostly atheists today, will believe in Yahweh, in some form or another, the God of their fathers. And many will even believe that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, is doing this. But certainly, many will wrongly believe that the war of Gog and Magog will be the final battle for Jerusalem, as prophesied in Zechariah, chapters 12 through 14. In fact, if you look at Jewish eschatology, you will see that that is what they believe. For example, when respected rabbi, Rafael Eisenberg said this, "The miraculous defeat of Gog (Russia) and her satellites in Jerusalem will reveal that it is God who guides the universe punishing the wicked and upholding his promise to his servant Israel."

Now, to be sure, with the elimination of the Islamic political clout, the Orthodox Jews, as I say, could finally rebuild their third temple. Secular Jews will no longer resist it as they do now, because they're afraid of what the Muslims would do. They want peace at all costs. The nations of the world will even support this because they are now bowing to the wishes of this new global leader, the clear front runner of global leaders, namely the Antichrist. But remember this worldwide peace that the Antichrist is going to offer will be short lived according to the second seal that we read about in Revelation six, verses three through four. Violence will quickly arise and escalate into global conflicts--worldwide wars.

Now once again in the beginning of the Tribulation, many Jews will wrongly believe that the victory over Gog and Magog will be the beginning of the Messianic age, it is finally come. After all, the supernatural victory is consistent with the oral prophecies of the Jewish people. The oral Torah is called or the Talmud, which states quote, "Jews will not have to fight a war against the non-Jewish custodians of the Temple Mount in order to take possession of it from them." This is also consistent with the view of Orthodox Jews and the Temple Movement in general, as expressed by Gershon Solomon, the leader of Israel's temple, Mount Faithful. Let me read to you what he wrote in 1998. Quote, "The prophet Ezekiel prophesied that in the end times of the redemption of the people of Israel, a terrible war will break out of the land when Gog and Magog, with many other nations, come to the land of Israel and try to destroy the people and state of Israel (Ezekial 38 and 39)." He went on to ask "Why does the small David armed only with a small rock, again need to fight against giants? We only need to read Ezekiel and Zechariah carefully to gain understanding. The God of Israel will use this means to finally defeat all those many enemies of Israel, who have continually tried to destroy the state and people of Israel and push them into the Mediterranean." He went on to add, "The coming war will be the final war undertaken against Israel by her enemies. In it, God will terribly defeat them. After this war, the new godly era will start. The Third Temple will be the house of God, the only building on the Temple Mount. Moshiach ben David will be the king of Israel and all mankind. By the way, that is a reference to what they believe will be a future Jewish king that comes from the Davidic line, but it's not a reference to Jesus. He went on to say, " We can see how the black clouds are coming closer and closer to Jerusalem, and to the mountains of Israel. The march of Gog and Magog and all their allies has started." He says, "Finally, the time of judgment is close at hand, Israel will survive this war and become the nation which God and all the prophets dreamed about." Again, written in 1998.

So after the Gog and Magog defeat, and the rise of the Antichrist--again, this is a biblical perspective of these things, Israel will be able to build their third temple on the Temple Mount. I might also add that if you want to see the architectural plans for the third holy temple, you can go online and have a virtual reality tour of a mockup. It's put out by the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, and they believe that it could be put up in less than a year. I've been to the Temple Institute; I've seen many of the things that they've already prepared for the temple. But then in the midpoint of the Tribulation, we read from scripture that the Antichrist is going to overpower the temple. He's going to drive out the priests; he's going to stop the sacrifices, and he's going to seat himself in the Holy of Holies and demand that the world worship him. Like his forerunner, Antiochus Ephiphanes. We read about this in Daniel's prophecy in Daniel nine verse 27. "'And he,'" referring to the Antichrist, "'will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.'" I might also add that this is pictured as well in Revelation 13 verse one, as well as verse five, as "the beast coming up out of the sea." And he has given quote, "a mouth, speaking arrogant words and blasphemies and authority to act for 42 months was given to him." 42 months, let me pause. If you go to Revelation 11 and verse two, we also read that "they will tread underfoot the holy city for 42 months." That's the last half of the seven-year tribulation.

Back to Revelation 13, beginning in verse seven, "It was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world, in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." Now, it's fair to ask the question, "What on earth will this guy do that is so heinous, that will be so abhorrent to God?" Well, as we read the prophetic literature, we get the answer. Once the Antichrist gains power over the temple precincts, he will erect a statue of himself. We read about this in Revelation 13, verses 14 and 15. And that is what is called "the abomination of desolation," which is the act of defiling the temple. And this will fulfill Daniel's prediction in Daniel 11:36. There we read that the antichrist quote, "'will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.'" You get the idea that God is in charge of all this and allowing it to happen to accomplish His glorious purposes; and to put his glory on display, so that the world will know that he is the Lord the God of Israel. Paul speaks of this in Second Thessalonians two beginning in verse three. He is described as "the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship." Paul goes on to say, "he takes his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God."

You know, Satan has always wanted to be worshipped. And this is why he is determined to deceive people through false messiahs and false prophets. Second, Thessalonians two again, beginning in verse nine, he is described as, "the one who's coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved." I might add that the Greek grammar in that text indicates that this detestable thing--standing in the holy place, will be some kind of a permanent image probably of the Antichrist, that's displayed in the temple. Once again, dear friends, Jerusalem will remain under Gentile domination. As Paul says the times of the Gentiles, or the fullness of the Gentiles, in Romans 11, has not yet been terminated forever. But I might add that this blasphemous desecration will be the final period of Gentile domination over Jerusalem. And we know according to the prophetic literature that the last half of the Tribulation will be unimaginably catastrophic. It's called the time of Jacob's trouble, or Jacob’s distress, as we read about in Jeremiah 30 and verse seven, "Alas, for that day is great, there is none like it, and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it."

In the last half of the Tribulation, we know that God will unleash, not only his seal judgments in the first part, but in the last half, his trumpet judgments, and then his bowl judgments. And then we read of unprecedented, unimaginable, worldwide catastrophic destruction and death. And all the while this is going on, the Jews are going to be persecuted by the forces of the Antichrist, as these forces try to gain control of the city. Again, Zechariah, 12:13 and 14. In that section, it describes the Antichrist, along with his allied nations, coming against the forces, the Jewish forces. And what's fascinating is God, in that time, will greatly strengthen them. Zechariah 12 beginning in verse five, "'Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, 'A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the Lord of the hosts, their God.' In that day, I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood, and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again, dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem. The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah. In that day the Lord will defend to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. And in that day, I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.'"

We can also go to Micah's prophecy that shifts from the impending judgment of that day with the Babylonians and foresees the pre kingdom judgments; the near and the far fulfillment of prophecy, Micah four and verse 10, we read, "And now many nations have been assembled against you, who say, 'Let her be polluted and let our eyes gloat over Zion.'" Again, this is referring now, not to the battle of Gog and Magog, but the battle of Armageddon when the Antichrist comes against the Jewish people. "'Let her be polluted and let her eyes gloat over Zion' But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, and they do not understand His purpose; for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, Daughter of Zion, for your horn I will make iron and your hoofs I will make bronze, that you may pulverize many peoples, that you may devote to the Lord their unjust gain and their wealth to the Lord of all the earth. Now muster yourself and troops, daughter of troops; they have laid siege against us; with a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek.'" Zechariah 14 beginning in verse three, "Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day," referring to the second coming now; the battle of Armageddon is going on; Christ and the redeemed saints we will be with Him; He will come down on that day it says, or "In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east." By the way, just so you understand the geography, this is directly across from the Temple Mount, which implies that this may be where a Jewish remnant will be rescued in the moment of their greatest peril. "His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will split." It will "split" the Hebrew term "baqa," it means "to divide." It was also used at another great divide--when God divided the Red Sea, and the exodus of Israel. Let me read you that Exodus 14:16. "As for you," talking to Moses, "lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide," there's the term--"and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land."

Beloved, even as God miraculously delivered his chosen people from the Egyptian charioteers--that were pursuing them under the command of Pharaoh, who was a type of the Antichrist--he will do it again when the armies of the Antichrist seek to destroy his chosen people. And they have no place to go. The Antichrist being the antitype of Pharaoh, the one foreshadowed by Pharaoh.

I hope you can see the amazing parallels here. God divided the Red Sea to allow his people safe passage in the Exodus, and then he destroyed Pharaoh's army pursuing them. And what we see is that at the end of the tribulation, that the second coming of Christ, all of the nations will be gathered against his remnant. But they too, will be trapped in the Kidron Valley, where they will be destroyed. But the Lord once again will provide a way of escape for his people.

Back to Zechariah 14, beginning of verse three, "Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fights on a day of battle. In that day, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east... in its middle, from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!" That will be us folks. When the Lord's feet touches the Mount of Olives--when he returns again in all of his glory--it will part like the Red Sea. And two things will be the result of that. It will provide an East/West escape route for his people through the eastern side of the city, across the Kidron Valley and through the Mount of Olives, going out into the Judean Desert. But it also will block their enemies from escaping to the north or the south. And they will be trapped in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which means "God will judge." And like the Egyptian charioteers, they will be utterly destroyed.

The Holy Spirit describes this through his servant Zechariah, Zechariah 14, beginning in verse 12, "Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. It will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another's hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance." The prophet Joel describes this as well in Joel chapter three, beginning in verse 12, "Let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine presses is full. The vats overflow for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness. The Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem and the heavens and the earth tremble. But the Lord is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy and strangers will pass through it no more." You can read the same account with other things that is added in Revelation 19, verses 11 and following.

You know, here I am reminded of the Lord's promise back in Matthew 23. His promise to the leaders of Jerusalem, that the temple is going to be left desolate and that they will not see him again until something happens. Until they say according to Matthew 23:39. "'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'" And folks, when this happens, they are going to say that. And that's when they will see him again. In fact, when the Messiah King returns to deliver Israel in the hour of their apparent extermination, the Lord will not only deliver them physically, but he will deliver them spiritually. He speaks of this in Zechariah 12, beginning in verse 10. He says, "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication."

I want to pause there. In the Hebrew, the words for grace and supplication share the same root, indicating that those who asked for grace will receive it. And in the power of regeneration, they are going to ask for grace because they're going to see Christ for who he is, and he will save them. And so he's going to "'pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced.'" Remember Isaiah 53 and verse five, the Messiah was pierced for the sins of His people, they're gonna look on him, they're gonna know who he is. "'And they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son. And they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. In that day, there will be great morning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo." By the way that's reaching all the way back into Second Chronicles 35 when their beloved King--godly King Josiah was killed in battle. He goes on to say, "'The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shemeites by itself and their wives by themselves; all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.'" What he's saying is because of the miracle of regeneration, the whole of Israel will be utterly stricken with grief over their rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they will finally embrace him as the Messiah, the Savior of their sins. And at that time, the Lord Jesus Christ will enthrone himself in his millennial temple, Zechariah eight and verse three says, "'Thus says the Lord, 'I will return to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.''"

In fact, what's really fascinating, in Isaiah chapter two and verse two, we read that, "The mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it." You see, we know according to Zechariah 14 and verse 10, that the topography of the ground around Jerusalem--that whole area--is going to be radically altered, so that the temple will be elevated above everything else. It will be located according to Ezekiel 48:21, "in the middle of a broad plain." Remember, when the Lord returns again, he is going to renovate the earth, then at the end of the millennial reign, he will recreate the Earth, the heavens and the earth. We also read in Ezekiel 48, verses 10 and following, about the details of the holy city and the allotment for the priests and the Levites, around the sanctuary, where the workers of the holy city are going to dwell and so forth. And it's incredible to imagine that the glory of that day, for both Jews and Gentiles, will be see; a result of his saving grace. Zechariah 14, verse 16, "Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went up against Jerusalem, will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths." You realize what that's saying? That many of the enemies of Jerusalem will be spared, and they will be saved, and they too will worship the Lord. Folks, this will be the greatest of all awakenings in the history of the world. Revelation seven and verse nine, "After these things I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"

Some of these people today that are the enemies of Israel; perhaps some of these people that are in these protests will be among the redeemed one day. This will include we know of many, many of Israel's former enemies that we'll come to faith in Messiah. Isaiah 66:18 and 19 tells us this. There we read, "the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations." And here he's going to speak of some of those who were a part of the nations that came against Israel with the battle of Gog and Magog, "I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations." Oh dear friends the power of the gospel. So there we see God's protection of Israel.

I want to close by just reminding you that God has ordained in eternity past, a plan of redemption whereby he would ultimately bring glory to himself. And because he is the sovereign God over all his creation, we worship Him--because we are part of that redemptive process, just a small part. Our salvation is only incidental to this whole glorious plan of redemption. But it is part of it and we celebrate that. And we can relax in his sovereign purposes, despite the chaos that we see all around us. And we can rejoice knowing that he will fulfill all that he has promised, amen? Let's bow our heads together.

Father, thank you, for the great truths of your word. While there's so many things we don't understand, you have given us enough that we can get at least the big picture, even some of the great details. And ultimately what we see is that you are God and there is no other. And so we celebrate all that you are. Thank you for all that you have done, are doing and will do in each of our lives. And for those that do not know you, who have never truly come to repentant faith, I plead with you as your servant this day, that you will overwhelm them with such great conviction that they will have no rest until they repent and place their trust in Christ, the only hope of salvation. For it's in his name that I pray. Amen.