Prophecies Regarding The End Times

[0:00] I want to make it a point this morning, definitely, to have more Q&A, and we just may have the whole session for Q&A, and that's okay. And I've really got to do better on Sunday morning, too, because I get really absorbed in the text, and the next thing I know, my time is gone, and I'm over time, and I don't have time for Q&A.

[0:24] And you may not believe this, but I really do feel bad about that, and I'm trying to change it. And I told Marie a couple of times, I said, honey, you sit right up there in front, and when it comes quarter after, 20 after, you give me this.

[0:41] And she did that a few times, but you know what? My old nature trained myself to ignore her for the last couple of times, and it's not working, so we need to do something else.

[0:52] And that's why I'm offering this confession, which is good for the soul. So maybe if all of you at about a quarter to 20 after go, you know, that could be a lot more effective.

[1:03] So we'll try that. Anyhow, we are considering some prophetic themes, and we are doing what we can to connect with, but still steer away from a direct kind of repetition of what we're doing on Sunday morning, and yet still make it within the confines of prophecy.

[1:26] Sunday morning, of course, we're dealing with the revelation verse by verse, and we are now in chapter 3. So the issues that we are considering now are in the Old Testament and are prophetic in nature.

[1:40] And we would remind you that from a biblical standpoint, prophecy is really nothing more than history written in advance.

[1:52] Essentially, that's all it is. From God's viewpoint, from the biblical viewpoint, because he is the one who calls things that are not as though they were.

[2:06] Because with him, when something is prophesied, it is a veritable guarantee that that is what is going to come to pass.

[2:16] And I want to make an important distinction here also. And that is, when certain items are prophesied in the Old Testament, particularly in the Old Testament, well, for that matter, in the New as well, it does not mean that God has robbed man of his volition so that the items that are prophesied are set in stone and that man has no contribution or ability to change anything, that he's locked in and programmed, and this is the way it's going to be, because after all, it's prophesied.

[2:56] So, for something to be a subject of prophecy does not mean that God is going to personally involve himself in such a way as to make it happen.

[3:11] It is simply a record of what God knows is going to transpire. And, for instance, a case in point that I think is rather extreme, but it does make the point.

[3:24] There is a reference in the Old Testament. It escapes me now where it is. I hadn't planned on using it or I ever looked it up.

[3:35] I think it's in the psalm. And it talks about the betrayal of Christ by one of his friends. And we know, of course, that's going to be Judas, one of the apostles. And it does not mean that God saw to it that Judas was going to carry that out so that Judas, on that great judgment day, is going to be able to say, well, yes, it's true that I betrayed the Lord, but I really didn't have any choice because I was programmed to do that.

[4:03] It was prophesied. No, no, no. That won't fly. Prophecy does not mean that God intervenes in such a way as to make man commit evil so as to fulfill the prophecy.

[4:15] But it is simply a record of what is going to transpire, and God who knows the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end has recorded these things because he knows when man is confronted with certain decisions, this is the way this thing is going to play out.

[4:30] And that is recorded and that is prophetic. So we need to keep that in mind. He has not robbed man of his volition in order to fulfill prophecy. It isn't as though Judas were saying, I really don't want to do this.

[4:45] And God says, well, I'm going to make you do it. No, none of that. And how exactly the divine sovereignty coincides with human responsibility and volition, we're not really able to coordinate those or understand those.

[5:05] But we know that it's not a problem with the Almighty. So in connection with the prophetic themes, we are looking at the subject of the Russian invasion of Israel.

[5:18] And it is my opinion, which could flat out be wrong as all get out, that this is going to take place pretty soon. And if it doesn't take place pretty soon, I'm 81 years old and I may have passed off the scene and will not be around to absorb the embarrassment.

[5:37] But I do think that really that this could be something that is going to transpire in a relatively short period of time.

[5:47] And it begins, let me just refresh your thinking, because it's been a whole month since we've been here, with chapter 37. And just address briefly the valley of dry bones, which is extremely interesting and very, very significant.

[6:00] Ezekiel is seeing this vision. And in chapter 37, he says, The hand of the Lord was upon me, brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.

[6:14] And these are bones, these are very dry, not just dry bones, but they're very dry bones, indicating that they've been there for a long time. And long story short, what this is all about is the national revival and restoration of the nation of Israel, that for all practical purposes has been reduced to nothing but skeletal remains.

[6:40] And the prophecy is going to say, Israel is coming back. And you need to bear in mind that Israel is the only nation in the entire world ever to have been literally snuffed out of its existence for 2,000 years and then returned as a national entity.

[7:07] That is just amazing. I remember reading an account in 1948, shortly after Israel was reconstituted, declared itself as a nation, was recognized by President Truman as a legal state.

[7:29] And some of the leading Jewish figures, Ben-Gurion, who was the first president, David Ben-Gurion of Israel, they had quite a confab as they got together to announce the origin of this fledgling nation, and they didn't know what they were going to call it.

[7:48] Here is this land coming back into existence again, and leading Jewish figures in the ragtag government that they'd put together at the last moment was arguing over, what are they going to name this new country?

[8:02] And after a considerable debate, they arrived at the name, which was the only name they could arrive at, which was Israel.

[8:15] Why not call it Israel? So, it was Israel, and it is Israel to this day. And it will always be Israel. It is referred to as the apple of God's eye.

[8:29] Isaiah records a passage where God says, Israel is my glory. And those of you who are familiar with the Jewish publication, Christian Jewish publication magazine, Israel, my glory, knows that the title for that magazine was taken from that verse in Isaiah, where through the prophet Isaiah, God refers to Israel as his glory.

[8:51] And there are a number of things that we're going to see from this passage this morning in Ezekiel. But one thing I want you to keep in mind, that we will see surface again and again, and it isn't only in Ezekiel, it's in a number of other places in the Old Testament, and is an oft-repeated phrase by the Lord.

[9:12] It's very simple, very simple, and it is this, and they shall know that I am the Lord. And they shall know that I am the Lord.

[9:25] Well, don't they? No! No, they don't! That's the whole point. That's why this is repeated over and over again. So, in this valley of dry bones vision, we see all of these coming together, and I'm going to skip some of this, and if I may just jump down to verse 11 for time's sake, and he's asking what these mean, the significance of these, and by the way, let me just put in a plug here, if I may, for volume 29 that is upcoming of Christianity Clarified, because in volume 29, we launch into a hands-on kind of detailed study on the subject of hermeneutics, which is the art and science of interpreting the Bible.

[10:16] And it is both an art and a science, and I don't want to get involved in that now, but I say that because the thrust of the subject of hermeneutics is not merely to read the Bible, which all too many people are willing to settle for.

[10:37] Now, if there were some kind of wonderful spiritual osmosis that took place from just reading the print on pages of paper so that the meaning and the understanding and the implications just kind of oozed into your being automatically, that'd be great, but it doesn't work that way.

[11:00] The only way that you can really derive benefit from Scripture is if you understand it. And that's what hermeneutics is all about.

[11:11] It is to get at the meaning of the text. It is not enough to read what the text says. You have to know what the text means because only in determining the meaning can there be an intelligent response on the part of the reader to the text.

[11:34] And if you read it and scratch your head and say, I have no idea what that means. Well, if you're not going to do anything about it, that's for sure. You wouldn't know what to do about it. So, that's very basic and very simple, but that's so key and so critical.

[11:47] And I don't know of any area where that becomes more profitable or practical than in the area of prophecy because meaning is everything. And when Paul writes to the Corinthians chapter 15 and talks about the resurrection and he says, Therefore, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

[12:22] What's your response to that to me? Well, it's just what it says that you recognize your labor is a worthy thing and don't flag, don't tire in the ministry.

[12:34] And then in Thessalonians when he talks about the dead in Christ rising first, he says, Wherefore, the conclusion is comfort one another with you. Well, you can't comfort yourself with those words if you don't know what they mean.

[12:48] So, meaning is everything and that's across the whole of the Scriptures and no place is that so dramatically applied perhaps than here in prophecy.

[12:59] So, we've got the vision explained in verse 11. He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. That removes all speculation.

[13:11] Tells us right there what they are very clearly. And I think we do a disservice to the text when we look at that and say, hmm, well that's what it says on the surface. But I wonder what that really means.

[13:24] Well, then you are into allegorizing. Then you are into human imagination. Then you are in, this is what it means to me, what does it mean to you? You get all kinds of flaky opinions.

[13:36] What we're interested in is what the text means and that, that is always determined by the one who originated the writing. It is the writer who establishes the meaning and it is the reader who is to try to ascertain what it is that was in the mind of the writer that caused him to write what he did.

[13:58] And, it means exactly what it says. That's a literal interpretation. Behold, they say, our bones are dried up and our hope has perished.

[14:09] We are completely cut off. That's the way it looks. Therefore, because of that, prophesy. Another word for preach. And say to them, thus says the Lord God, behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people.

[14:26] And I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then, and look at this phrase, then, you will know that I am the Lord. When I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people, I will put my spirit within you.

[14:44] You will come to me, come to life, and I will place you on your own land. And then, you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, declares the Lord. Israel today does not now know this.

[14:59] And we have made the observation repeatedly that for all practical purposes, the state of Israel, which by the way, has more Jewish people living in it today, for the first time, for the first time in the history of the modern state of Israel, there are more Jews living in Israel than there are in the rest of the world.

[15:22] that just happened within this generation due to the Aliyah, so many of the Jews returning. And all of those, well, not all of them, but there is a tiny percentage of the Jews who are referred to as the Orthodox, and they are the observant Jews.

[15:41] They are usually the ones that wear the little skull cap and the prayer shawls and so on. And they comprise about 10 to 12% of the Jewish population.

[15:51] The vast majority of the people living in Israel are secularists, and they are socialists in their government. It is a democratic, socialistic kind of republic.

[16:07] So there is not a great deal of interest in or confidence in even their own Old Testament in Israel. The Orthodox are about the only ones who take it seriously.

[16:21] A great many of the Jews, as we pointed out, are atheistic. So bottom line is, they do not know that the Lord is their God.

[16:32] They are not aware of that. And they are going to become, in my opinion, dramatically aware of it, particularly in connection with this Russian invasion.

[16:46] Because, as we shall see, when Russia and a couple of their allies invade Israel, it is going to be absolutely devastating for Russia.

[17:03] It's going to be carnage that you would not believe. and that act, that fact, is a principal thing, in my opinion, which I want to warn you, may well be wrong, but I think this Russian invasion is going to be the catalyst for a wholesale turning of Israel unto the true God.

[17:31] And it will not immediately be for the person of Christ, their Messiah. It will be a national wholesale turning for the God of the Old Testament as they knew him.

[17:48] Because the vast majority of Jewish people today do not really regard seriously their own Old Testament. And when they see what not they the military of Israel has accomplished, but what this unseen, unknown God accomplished, they will not be able to deny him any longer.

[18:15] They will come to the conclusion, it is the Lord God Jehovah who fought for us as he fought in days of old for Israel.

[18:26] There will be a wholesale turning of the Jewish people to the Old Testament concept of their deity. And the person of Christ will come along later, but that will not be there I think immediately.

[18:42] This, by the way, will provide the pool or the resource for the surfacing of 144,000 all of whom will be Jews, 12,000 from each of those 12 tribes.

[19:00] They are going to come out of this new convinced multitude and they will have an enormous effect in their evangelization of the world, both among Jews and Gentiles.

[19:13] But I'm getting ahead of myself now. So, I want you to see that at the time Ezekiel gave this prophecy, Israel is a divided nation between the north and the south.

[19:25] the separation had already occurred and here in the prophecy of Ezekiel, God is telling them that he is going to bring them back together and they will be one nation again.

[19:42] This is also reminiscent of the new covenant that is mentioned in Jeremiah 31 where the Lord says the days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

[20:02] There he recognizes that they are separated. Two tribes to twelve tribes, ten tribes. But here Ezekiel is talking about they're being brought back together and he's going to make an illustration here, a personal object lesson.

[20:15] He says in verse 15, Son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it for Judah and the sons of Israel, his companions.

[20:27] Then take another stick and write on it for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions. Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick that they may come one in your hand.

[20:47] And when the sons of your people speak to you saying, will you not declare to us what you mean by these? You say to them, thus says the Lord God, behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim.

[21:04] Now, what's the connection there? Joseph, remember, had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. And the way that dying Jacob bestowed a double portion or a double blessing, I'm sorry, dying Jacob, the way he bestowed a double portion or a double blessing upon his long-lost son, who was eventually recovered in Egypt, was to anoint his two sons.

[21:36] So, it looks from our standpoint that Joseph was passed over, but he wasn't passed over at all. He was given a double honor by dying Jacob, laying his hands upon Ephraim and upon Manasseh, and those two, of course, constitute two of the twelve tribes.

[21:55] And you'll note that in the twelve tribes, there is no tribe of Joseph. That's because Joseph is doubly represented in his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. And this is what he's talking about here.

[22:05] And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. And I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone. And I think that that perhaps is not limited to, but it certainly includes even what is happening today.

[22:24] The Jewish people call this Aliyah. A-L-I-Y-A-H. Aliyah. And it isn't unusual at all to hear one Jew say to another, have you made Aliyah?

[22:36] And all that means is have you been to the land? And some go to the land in Aliyah and they stay. They become permanent residents. When Israel became a nation in 1948, the month of May, one of the first things that was enacted was the law of Aliyah, which means the law of return.

[22:59] And that became an official statute in the nation of Israel. And it simply said that any Jewish person living anywhere in the world who can establish their Jewish identity, they are welcome to come home to the land of Israel.

[23:15] And we will take them in, welcome them with open arms, we will make them a citizen of our new state, we will provide them with employment, and we will see to their needs for housing and food until they can get on their hands and get their hands busy and get to work.

[23:31] work. And they'll find jobs for them and everything. This is a problem of absorption, and it has been a huge problem in Israel because they've had to create all kinds of work programs and things to sustain all of these people, and there have been in excess of more than a couple of million who have returned within just the last 20 years.

[23:52] And they've absorbed all of these people, and the nation of Israel continues to grow. And all of this is coming from this reuniting of this tribe. All the nations where they have gone, I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land.

[24:10] And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king for all of them. Well, that's part of that prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled.

[24:25] Part of verse 22 has, part of verse 22 has not. They will no longer be two nations. Well, that's been fulfilled. They're one nation. And they will no longer be divided into two kingdoms.

[24:35] They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or with their detestable things. Well, they're still doing that. They're still defying themselves in their atheism and in their idolatry.

[24:48] And by the way, idolatry can take many forms. It doesn't have to be bowing down to a false idol. It can be idolatry through technology.

[25:00] I sometimes think that the United States today is worshipping at the altar of technology and science. It can be materialism.

[25:13] Many people have adopted materialism as their god. And of course, many see themselves as self-sufficient and so on. But all of this is going to change.

[25:24] And he says, I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned and will cleanse them and they will be my people and I will be their god.

[25:40] And my servant David will be came over them. They will all have one shepherd and they will walk in my ordinances and keep my statutes and observe them. And they're not doing that now.

[25:51] They don't even acknowledge them now because they do not know that he is the Lord. We'll deal with this issue regarding David the king and I am of the opinion and scholars, some of them with better minds than mine, would disagree with this, but I really think that David, the shepherd lad, king of Israel, is going to rule and reign during that tribulation period as a kind vice regent to Christ.

[26:22] Christ is going to be on that throne of David as the ultimate son of David. And David himself is going to have a part in that administration. Strange as that sounds, I believe that that's going to be the case.

[26:35] In the same way that our Lord promised the twelve that when he said, you who have followed me, meaning you twelve, in the regeneration, that is when everything is made new, when the son of man, which is the favorite designation that Christ used of himself, when the son of man has come into his glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

[27:07] Now that just sounds so far fetched. It almost sounds ludicrous. But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. man, it also sounds pretty far fetched that a virgin shall conceive and bear a child and you call his name, that's pretty far fetched too.

[27:24] It's only happened once. But all of these things are going to transpire in connection with what has been prophesied. Verse 25, they shall live on the land that I give to Jacob, my servant.

[27:37] Jacob is just another name for Israel, in which your fathers lived and they will live on it and their sons and their sons' sons forever. David, my servant, shall be their prince forever.

[27:48] I will make a covenant of peace with them. This is the Jeremiah 31 covenant. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will place them and multiply them and will set my sanctuary in their midst forever.

[28:02] And my dwelling place also will be with them. I will be their God. They will be my people. and the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel.

[28:20] That means the word sanctifies means who sets apart. Sanctify means set apart. If you wanted to spell it in another way, you could spell it S-A-I-N-T-I-F-Y.

[28:36] Sanctify. Because everyone who is a believer in Jesus Christ is a saint. That means they are one who is separated, set apart from the world and the ordinary to the special.

[28:55] That's what sanctify means. To pick up from the group and move out of the group and bring them over here and put them in this new group. And the new group is the body of Christ.

[29:07] So you are sanctified or sanctified and that's going to be true of the whole nation. I am the one who sanctifies Israel. Israel is always going to be a nation set apart.

[29:23] All the other nations of the world will have certain things in common but Israel is going to be that central nation and it is spoken of as the center of the earth.

[29:37] center of the world. Israel is the only place the only geography in all of the Bible that God ever refers to as my land.

[29:50] My land. I know in a very real sense the whole earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof as well as all the other planets and all the other universe and all the rest of it.

[30:03] but there is something really special about Israel that God calls it my land. So when this takes place there will be a knowledge among all the nations that he is the Lord and they don't know that now.

[30:25] They don't know that now. A lot of people think that Allah is the God but he isn't. So yes. Okay. I got the message. Okay. Okay. Thank you.

[30:37] I think. Anybody have anything to add or questions? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[30:48] Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[30:58] Yes. Oh, yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm sure there is a mixture. And this is one of the real problems that modern Israel has.

[31:11] It is a great concern to all the rabbis and that's the idea of the problem of assimilation and too many Jewish boys and girls are marrying Gentiles and that really muddies the water as far as the Jewish people are concerned.

[31:30] Frankly, I don't know how to actually define who is a Jew. I don't know how to define that.

[31:42] And what I mean by that is, it's very easy to say, well, if you are a direct descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you are a Jew.

[31:53] Yeah, but then the problem of intermarriage comes in there. And that's a real difficult thing. In fact, it is so difficult that the book of Ezra and Nehemiah addresses that.

[32:07] And there's, maybe we can consider this later at the time, but there is a real gut level, heartbreaking situation that occurs.

[32:19] I don't recall, do you remember, Marie, whether it's at the end of Ezra or Nehemiah, but we read it not too long ago in our morning devotions.

[32:31] And what had happened is that a number of Jews had taken, this was during the captivity, they had taken foreign wives and had children by them.

[32:48] And bottom line is, they ended up breaking up those families, which must have been, like I said, a gut-wrenching thing to do, because they had children by these foreign wives and no doubt.

[33:03] There was real love and affection there. And they had to separate them and send them away, much like Abraham did Hagar, because they had corrupted that bloodline.

[33:15] And that was something that they had put a premium on. And Nehemiah and Ezra charged the people with the sin of intermarriage.

[33:26] And that's a real problem today. And when I say I don't know exactly who is a Jew, that is due in part to the fact that the Jews cannot decide who is a Jew.

[33:38] And you've heard me say before, when you get three Jews together, you've got four opinions. And that's the way it works. So, ordinarily, biblically speaking, biblically speaking, Jewishness was established by paternity.

[33:58] That's the ideal biblical way to establish Jewishness, if the father was a Jew. But, through the years, a hanky-pank arrived on the scene, and sometimes paternity was in question.

[34:12] Just as paternity is in question today. But they didn't have DNA to determine who was the father. So, they switched.

[34:23] And they said, well, let's make Jewishness dependent on maternity, not paternity. So, we won't have any trouble knowing who the mother was. And if the mother is Jewish, the baby is Jewish.

[34:35] But then you've got a lot of Jews who disagree with that, and they argue with that. And they never have settled it. Are you a Jew if you are one-quarter Jew? Or if you are one-eighth Jew, how much Jew do you have to be to be Jew?

[34:52] So, we've got, in Ethiopia, huge numbers of Ethiopians who are as black as the proverbial ace of spades in their skin color, who tested positive DNA for Jewish blood in their veins.

[35:10] And they brought plain loads of them back and made them citizens of Israel. And they are there to this day. Thousands of them multiply, holding jobs, etc. And worshipping in the synagogues and so on, keeping kosher kitchens and all the rest of it.

[35:25] So, I don't know how that's going to be determined. All I can say is God knows who is a Jew and who isn't. I have no idea about the tribes. If you know any Jews, if you know any Jews today whose name is Levi, or Levi, L-E-V-Y, or L-E-V-I, there is a very good chance that they are a direct descendant of the Levi priests in the Old Testament.

[35:52] The same way with the Kohens, C-O-H-E-N. There are a lot of Kohens that are descendants from original Jews. And most of them kind of trace their Jewishness.

[36:05] But, see, the big problem was in 70 AD, when the Romans destroyed the temple and destroyed the city of Jerusalem, all the genealogical records, which would have been priceless, thousands and thousands of scrolls, with all of the long list of genealogies of who was the son of, and who was the son of, and who was the son of, was all destroyed.

[36:29] It's like burning down the county courthouse. Nobody has any birth records anymore. So, they don't know what tribe they're from. But, there are ways of determining that. And I suspect that God will have no trouble in sorting them out.

[36:42] So, there will be 12,000 from each of those 12 tribes. Who knows? The DNA may play a big part. So, long answer to a short question. Any other questions? Yes? Actually, a great question.

[36:53] Today, actually, my wonder, both Christians have been debated today, the Union decided to agree that we established this, you know, as we used to be a lot of times, we were there in the university, which is a position of the Union.

[37:07] But, my question is later in the week here, in the past, you have to do all the measurements and then telling you how to establish the sacrifice and all of that.

[37:20] Will that take place prior to the 144,000? Will they reestablish that type of worship as a pure Jewish tradition before the 144,000?

[37:32] Will they reestablish that type of worship as a Christian? Will that actually happen if they'll start making bloods up to Christ again? Is that reestablishment? I think that that will be the case.

[37:42] I think that when Israel is a nation, really, and I could be putting more eggs in this basket than I should, but I really do think that this Russian invasion is going to be like a catalyst.

[37:56] It's going to really start things off with a bang, and it's going to have very sudden effects. And I think, again, this is a Wiseman opinion, but I think that when they come to the knowledge of this devastation that has been wreaked upon an invading enemy has occurred unquestionably by the hand of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[38:28] I think the consensus among the Jew then is, you know what? We better get with it. We better start being the Jews that we're supposed to be.

[38:39] And I think that is going to bring them full circle into the animal sacrifice. And I don't know at what state the rebuilding of the temple will be in at that time, whether that might be something already done, or whether that might be a natural result of their coming to that conclusion that Jehovah is the true God.

[39:00] And we're going to build the temple and offer the animal sacrifice and all the rest of it. And they are going, as a nation, I think, they are going to come right up to the place of where they were in the book of Acts.

[39:13] And they were confronted with the claims of a resurrected Christ. And they turned the other way. This time, they're going to turn the right way.

[39:28] Because, in reality, I want you to think about this. Christianity, biblical Christianity, is nothing more than Judaism in its fullness.

[39:44] And Judaism in its fullness includes a crucified Messiah, resurrected and coming again.

[39:55] This time, the Jew is going to go all the way from Mosaic Judaism right up through to the embracing of Yeshua HaMashiach as their Messiah.

[40:07] It will be the fulfillment and the dream that the writer of the book of Hebrews has when he expresses about Christ being superior to all of the Old Testament things.

[40:20] And they will see it. They will understand it. They will embrace it in a way, of course, that they do not now. And it's going to be earth-shaking.

[40:32] Gary? The Russian invasion of Israel, is it going to take place after the reference? Or after the reference? Well, the chronology of these things is, of course, the very most difficult aspect of it.

[40:49] I am, again, I want to qualify this. This is just speculation on my part. I certainly don't have any special insight to this at all.

[40:59] But I really do think that the Russian invasion could occur any time. It could occur before this year is out.

[41:11] Although it seems unlikely, given what's going on over there now. Because it's going to take some time. You know, it's going to be an amalgamation of several nations come together and they're going to come against Israel, as the text will indicate.

[41:23] But there's no reason why it couldn't happen at any time. And there's no reason why it could not. And I've tried my best to think this through. Does this Russian invasion have to happen before the rapture or after the rapture?

[41:41] And I can't answer that. I can't see any reason why it could not be either one. All I know is, and I'm fairly adamant about this, is that the Russian invasion of Israel is not, I would say, is not at all in the category of the rapture, which we look upon as imminent.

[42:11] It could happen at any time. But the Russian invasion could happen, as best as I understand, before the rapture, could happen after the rapture. But whenever it takes place, it is going to be the catalyst that is going to really jumpstart the revival of the nation of Israel, if I'm correct in my estimation.

[42:32] And I can't guarantee you that I am. But I think this thing is going to be the rapture. And here's another thing to keep in mind. And I try to picture some of these things, how they may play out.

[42:45] And you almost always never get it right when you try to do that. But there are going to be world-class cataclysms that are going to be taking place.

[42:56] How close to this Russian invasion is going to be the rapture? We don't know. But it's very possible that one could overshadow the other.

[43:10] They could be mixed together. Can you think of the worldwide confusion that would surround something like that? Either of these events, really. But if they should happen in close proximity, I mean, the world would just be chaotic.

[43:27] And that is one of the things that characterizes the tribulation period. So these events together, perhaps, could kick off this tribulation period.

[43:39] And yet, make no mistake about it, we've made the point that it is not the rapture that triggers the tribulation. It is the signing of the covenant in Daniel 9.

[43:52] That's what triggers the tribulation period. And that seven-year period will not begin until that happens in Daniel 9. And we'll look at that some other time.

[44:03] But other comments or questions? John. John. In Jeremiah 31, he says, Behold, the day comes and I will make a new covenant with that. How so good?

[44:13] And I have to do that. Mm-hmm. He's going to write there. It's just all that's hard. Mm-hmm. Is this different or a part of the new covenant that Jesus, on the last supper, he said that this is the blood of the new covenant?

[44:38] Yeah. Now, are these two different things? Or are they one? Or is there a distinction? Because this covenant is, in Jeremiah, is to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

[44:59] Mm-hmm. It doesn't mention the church. Right. Right. And in the last supper, we always took that to be the new covenant of the death, burial, and resurrection for believers.

[45:16] Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I always kind of took that. So, could you share it up a little bit? I'll do my best to address that.

[45:28] I, well, let me just preface it with a proposition that you'll probably find difficult to believe.

[45:38] But I'm convinced that it's true. The church, which is the body of Christ, is not operating under the new covenant. And we certainly are not operating under the old covenant, the law of Moses.

[45:54] We never were under that. We are not under the new covenant either. The church, which is the body of Christ, is not covenantal at all. We don't have a covenant with the Lord.

[46:06] He does not have a covenant with us. His covenant is with Israel. And when Christ took of that cup and said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, he meant that he was providing the basis for the establishment of the new covenant.

[46:28] And if you've taken communion here before, you probably recall my saying something to the effect that when Moses brought the tables of the law down from Sinai and presented the law to the nation of Israel, their response was, all that the Lord had said, we will do.

[46:56] Many do not understand this, but it was a presentation of the law that Moses gave to the people. God did not just dump the law of Moses on them and say, now, here's what I require of you, and you better do it.

[47:15] Wasn't that at all. Wasn't that at all. He propositioned the nation of Israel and says, this is the law that God is going to require you to live under if he is going to be your God and you are going to be his people, and he will watch out for you and protect you and so on.

[47:41] So, these are the terms of the covenant. What do you think? And we aren't told that the people took a vote or anything, but the text does go on to say, all that the Lord has said will we do.

[48:01] Which was tantamount to saying, Moses, you go back up and tell God he's got a deal. We'll do it. He'll be our God. We'll be his people. And we'll sign on. And he says, you'll be a peculiar people unto me.

[48:13] You tell him we're in. Count us in. And Moses said, okay. Let's ratify this. Let's sign the contract in blood.

[48:24] So, they killed an innocent animal. And Moses dipped a branch of hyssop in blood. And he sprinkled it on the tablets of the law.

[48:39] And he sprinkled it toward the people. And that was the equivalent of agreeing, officially signing on to the terms of the covenant so that they are both locked in.

[48:53] It's a beautiful thing. And then, when Jesus was betrayed, he took the cup and he said, this cup is the new covenant.

[49:06] Contrasting with the old covenant that they signed with Moses. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. It wasn't going to be the blood of animals.

[49:17] It was going to be his blood. And as often as you eat of this bread and drink this cup, you show forth the Lord's death until he comes. And that covenant, to this day, has never been implemented.

[49:33] It has never been enforced. It has been initiated. It has been provided for. But it has never been adopted.

[49:46] And in part, this too is what the book of Hebrews is all about. How Christ established a better covenant. But where is Israel with that covenant?

[49:59] They've never signed on. The covenant is a two-part deal. It is between two parties. And God, in the person of Christ, shedding his blood, has already signed on the covenant.

[50:13] And said, here it is. Israel, all it needs is your signature. And the new covenant will be implemented. But it never has been implemented.

[50:24] It is still waiting for Israel to come around. And they will come around. During this future time that we are talking about. And Hebrews, again, refer to Hebrews.

[50:37] Hebrews will make that clear. That they will, in time, they will embrace that new covenant. So today, we are not embracing the new covenant.

[50:48] We are not a covenantal people. We are a member of the body of Christ. And that is different. That is, we are in a spiritual union with Christ as believers.

[50:59] And we are not, we never have been under the old covenant. And we are not under the new covenant. Because that is specifically with and for the people of Israel. And that doesn't in any way, shape, or form mean that the church somehow gets shortchanged.

[51:13] Because we're not in that covenant. And we have, we have a different relationship. We are members of his body. And we are not in a covenant. So then why do we have communion?

[51:25] It's a memorial. That's all it is for us. That's all it is. It has no significance beyond being a remembrance. And that's why we have on the front of the table what our Lord said.

[51:37] This do in remembrance of me. So, the bread reminds us of his body. The cup reminds us of his blood. But we are not in that new covenant relationship.

[51:49] It is held in abeyance. In the same way that the nation of Israel is held in abeyance. Set aside in unbelief according to Romans 9, 10, and 11. Until the time comes when they embrace Yeshua HaMashiach.

[52:03] And then they will be recipients of the new covenant. Then he will put his law into their hearts and minds. And write it in there. And they will be my people. Does that help?

[52:15] Okay. Any other questions or comments? Marv. In Ezekiel 38, when it's talking about that invasion, it says a couple of different times about that coming up against the land of unwalled villages.

[52:38] In unwalled. That's simply another word for what we would say vulnerable. Well, and are they vulnerable?

[52:50] Is that now? Are they vulnerable now? I give you a person. It's like they weren't vulnerable, but now they're vulnerable. Is it referring to, because back in the Old Testament times, they would have had walls.

[53:03] They don't have walls. No. No. I'm just trying to put together the time frame. Like you said, could this be now? Could this? It doesn't have to be after the rapture or when.

[53:14] Mm-hmm. I just wondered what the significance, because it's repeated a couple of different times about unwalled villages. Mm-hmm. Do you have any thoughts about that?

[53:26] Well, the only thought that I have to share with you regarding that is that I think that the unwalled villages is in the mind and the perception of the invaders.

[53:41] I think their perspective is going to be Israel is ripe for the picking. Let's go pick. That it's going to be like unwalled villages to them.

[53:53] And he's using a phrase that, of course, was in keeping with the time that Ezekiel lived. And the wall around the village was its primary means of defense.

[54:06] And once the wall was breached, then the invading army could pull through. So I think that this is actually saying that they are going to be perceived as vulnerable.

[54:17] And I don't know exactly what it is that will cause them to conclude that, because truth be known, Israel is not vulnerable at all.

[54:27] They are more than capable of taking care of themselves, as they've demonstrated. Yes. Could those false and political and alliances have been made by the people? I don't know.

[54:37] I cannot say no. I just don't know. I read that unwalled villages as an expression of vulnerability. We can take them.

[54:50] We can prevail. And they are going to come against Israel with a great army and fully convinced that it's going to be a rout. And it will be a rout, but it will be the opposite of what they intended.

[55:03] And the survivors are going to be few and far between, if any. And all of this is going to take place on the mountains of Israel. And it's going to be horrendous.

[55:14] It's going to be a battle like no battle has ever been fought up to that time. And God's presence and power will be undeniable. It's going to be something.

[55:27] Other thoughts or comments? I'm running a little late. Didn't we get started a little late? Okay.

[55:41] Anything else? Well, maybe next. Well, we won't be next time because I've got something different that I want to share with you regarding the birth of our Lord.

[55:52] And some of you know about it. Some of you don't. But I never tire of it. And I don't think you will either. So I look forward to you being here. Yes, Mike?

[56:03] I have a quick question. Okay. I hope, Rick. Is the New Covenant, could you say that the Lord is forcing the issue with the first three and a half years and the second three and a half years in getting the Jews to come around?

[56:23] That could well be. I don't know. So I do know that God does not interfere with the will and the volition that he has given men.

[56:35] But he is sometimes about the business of creating circumstances, conditions, etc. that will evoke certain kinds of responses from people.

[56:48] And to a certain extent, I think it is undeniable that that goes on too. And that's all part and parcel of the whole plan and program of God, which I do not profess to understand very well.

[57:04] But I just want to emphasize the difference between something being provided for and something actually being implemented. And we use the New Covenant as an example of that.

[57:17] And I'll just give you another quickly that you can tie with it. And that has to do with the aspect that the redemption which Christ provided for you when he died on that cross has only been partially applied.

[57:37] He has redeemed your spirit. He has redeemed the essence of your being. And when you believed on Christ, it was your human spirit that was regenerated, that was made new in Christ.

[57:54] And that is that which departs this body and goes to be with the Lord when you die physically. He redeemed your body also.

[58:04] And that will be the basis of you having a glorified body, fashioned like under the body of Christ, Philippians 3. But, whereas the first part of that redemption, the redemption of your spirit, which is also referred to as the earnest of the spirit, or the down payment, or the first fruits of the spirit, that is a reality and that's the basis of the new birth.

[58:28] But the redemption of your spirit, but the redemption of your body has yet to be applied. And that's why we still die physically. And Romans 8 gives us the truth of that.

[58:41] How that all of creation groans and travails in pain together until now, waiting for the redemption, for the revealing of the sons of God.

[58:53] And namely, for the redemption of our bodies. And they have never been redeemed. And when they are, I'm going to get rid of these. I won't need my hearing aids.

[59:04] I'm going to have hair again. All of these things are going to be part and parcel of this redeemed body. But for now, for now, we are still under construction.

[59:16] We are not a finished product. And we will not be a finished product until we trade these bodies in for the new ones. And I'll close with what Paul said when he wrote to the Corinthians.

[59:29] He says, when this corruption, which is what we are, our bodies are corrupt. That's why we bury them. Because they decay. And they're corrupt.

[59:39] When this corruption puts on incorruption. And this mortal, which just means we are able to die, puts on immortality.

[59:52] Then, not now. Then, the saying will come to pass. Death is swallowed up in victory.

[60:03] But until then, death swallows us up. Doesn't it? Death is the victor. But only of our body can't touch our spirit.

[60:17] That's already redeemed. That's secure. That's a wonderful thing. Well. Well. Well.

[60:30] Let me just throw this out. Okay. Okay. We are going to be functioning. Operating on a completely different level. Then we will know as we are known.

[60:43] And as far-fetched as this sounds. I've been doing a lot of thinking and a lot of research on this. Come up with a whole lot of speculation. Can't prove anything.

[60:53] But I think we are going to be able to identify each other according not to our body and physical appearance that allows us to identify each other now.

[61:07] But we are going to be able to know each other. But we are going to be able to know each other on a level that is not possible with these fallen bodies.

[61:23] And I think that it is on that basis that you will not even need to be introduced to Moses or Jeremiah. You are going to know who they are.

[61:34] And they are going to know who you are. And we are talking about a whole bunch of people. And you have to remember that when Moses and Elijah showed up on the Mount of Transfiguration and was there with the Lord and Peter, James, and John, nobody was introduced to anybody.

[61:52] But everybody seemed to know who everybody was. It was quite remarkable. We've got some wonderful things in store. Yes? Well, then, because like right now, if you say, tell me which one was it?

[62:06] Was it Jeremiah? Or was it Ezekiel? Or was it, am I going to know them so I'm not embarrassed so I don't know them? Yeah. And he goes, that wasn't me. Well, I'm not at all sure what that verse means when it says, and we shall know as we are known.

[62:26] But it means we're going to have a whole lot more smarts then than we've got now. And it's going to really be something. Well, thank you all for being here and for your patience.

[62:37] And I appreciate very much your input and your questions. And we look forward to getting together the last Tuesday of December, which will be just a couple days after Christmas.