In the last few weeks, I have taken the church through a series titled, “Pursuit.” In this series, I covered what it looks like to pursue God’s presence, including seeking His glory. This entails longing for a deeper understanding of His divine nature. I also took us into understanding and seeking an intimate relationship with a God who longs for His people to be close to Him; He wants to live in you and desires your praises. King David in a Psalm writes, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3 KJV). This is the old English version so, here in a more modern language David is stating, “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” (NLT).
In other words, David is putting God in His place as ruling on His throne while His people worship and praise Him. Since God is in you, He inhabits and longs for your praise. He dwells in you and me and savors, enjoys, and relishes our worship.
Jesus instructed the expert in religious law that the most important commandment in the Law of Moses is, “You must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38 NLT). This is truly the way to pursue God.
Then, I took the church into seven sermons on a more up-to-date place of “Pursuit” which was prophecy.
On October 7, 2023, Israel was attacked by Hamas, an Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip.
Israel was finishing Sukkot, (Feast of Tabernacles), it was their Sabbath (Shabbot) Saturday morning, and they were also celebrating the end of the year of reading the Torah and the beginning of a new year of reading the Torah (Simchat). IT’S THE MOST FESTIVE DAY ON THE JEWISH CALENDAR.
Hamas breached the borders of Southern Israel and hit an outpost where many Israeli Soldiers were killed, and 1,000 terrorists infiltrated Israel. They fired thousands of missiles at Israel, and Masad, the greatest intelligence in the World, Israel’s Intelligence Agency, had no idea that this was going to happen. The Iron Dome intercepts missiles around the world, and the attack took everyone by surprise and this system could not even stop the missiles quickly enough.
Even the Palestinians (Modern Day Philstia - home of the Philistines), while bombing Israel, were celebrating the fact that they had disabled the Iron Dome.
They killed women and children. Some children were mutilated, and their heads were dismembered from their bodies so badly that parents had to get DNA samples from the hair just to know that it was their child. They raped young women so harshly that their pelvis was broken and crushed. They killed elderly people while streaming it live.
At the onset, they took over some 200 plus hostages, mostly women, children, and the elderly, and paraded them through the streets and even paraded dead Israeli soldiers through the streets while streaming it live. There was celebration all over that area, around the world, and there have been celebrations right here in America.
Antisemitism (a person who has a hostile, prejudiced attitude toward Jews) is at its all-time high since the Holocaust; this includes America and other parts of the world.
There is an Antisemitic 10-word slogan echoed “On US college campuses, on social media, and even in the halls of Congress, the 10-word slogan ‘“from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”’ is either a joyous call for Palestinian dignity and future statehood — or a threat to many Jewish people in Israel and around the world.” [1]
“From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” is a rallying cry for terrorist groups and their sympathizers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to Hamas, which called for Israel’s destruction in its original governing charter in 1988.”[2]
This slogan has an antisemitic call for a complete annihilation of the Jewish people from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
Israel responded to the October 7th attack which launched them into a full-blown out war with Hamas.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, “Israel will continue its war against Hamas…we will continue the war until we achieve all our goals.”[3]
The goal is to completely disarm and take down Hamas. Over the last two months, Israel is accomplishing their goal.
What does this mean to you and me?
First, as we dive into this topic, we will understand that we are living in the end of time. Time here on earth is drawing to a close and Jesus is getting ready to come back. These things happening in Israel indicate that the time here on earth is coming to a climax.
Throughout the Bible we see much prophecy concerning these very things. In fact, 1/4 of the Bible is prophecy and Israel is God’s prophetic clock concerning the end-times. So, for you and me, we must study prophecy to understand and see what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen before and after Jesus comes back.
Why are the Jewish people important to us?
1. Because of the Jewish people, we have been adopted into the blessing.
20) “O Lord, there is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! 21) What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations that stood in their way. 22) You chose Israel to be your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God”
(1 Chronicles 17:20-22 NLT).
2. Because of the Jewish people, we are also chosen.
6) “For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. 7) The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8) Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt”
(Deuteronomy 7:6-8 (NLT).
3. Just as the Jewish people are the apple-of-His-eye, so are we adopted into this place.
7) ”For thus says the Lord of hosts: He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. 9) For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me” (Zechariah 2:8-9 (NKJV).
In 2 Peter 1:12-21, Peter describes an idea that we have a more sure word than an eyewitness. Being an eyewitness, in the court of law, is the most reliable testimony for a conviction. There is nothing more sure than being there and seeing something take place. The best evidence is an eyewitness. Peter states,
16) “For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes 17) when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” 18) We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18 NLT).
He goes on to say that even though he was on site when Jesus did so many amazing things he saw it with his own eyes, “We have a more sure word of prophecy” (Vs. 19 KJV). In other words, the prophecies of the Prophets throughout the Old Testament is more reliable than their eyewitness. YOU CAN COUNT ON THE PROPHECIES IN THE BIBLE TO BE ACCURATE!
In this category, we will unfold prophecies that you and I need to be aware of to know what to expect in the near future. The ones we will cover will be upcoming, not past.
Get out your pen and paper and get ready to dive into the Word of God concerning His prophecies.
[1] VOXMEDIA - Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23972967/river-to-sea-palestine-israel-hamas
[2] American Jewish Committee (AJC) - Retrieved from https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/From-the-River-to-the-Sea
[3] PBS - Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/netanyahu-says-israel-will-continue-war-against-hamas-after-cease-fire
