Prophecy and Mystery Contrasted - Prophecy 27

[0:00] Well, thank you for your presence this morning. We do not know how close we are getting to being normal, but we're closer than we've been for the last year or so. And when it comes, I suspect it'll be, even then, a new normal. But at any rate, whatever, we're glad that you're here. So thank you for your presence this morning. It's a beautiful day and a wonderful time of the year to enjoy. So let's have a word of prayer, shall we? Loving Father, thank you for being at the center of our lives in ways that we often don't even know or understand. And yet your word reminds us that you'll never leave us nor forsake us. And sometimes we tend to forget that. And we may strike out on our own only to suffer the predictable negative consequences. So in your love, you always bring us back to yourself. And you teach us things that we need to know, even through our wrongdoing, you teach us. And we are grateful that you are the God that you are. Thank you for this beautiful day and for a beautiful occasion that brings believers together all over the country. There are those meeting just like we are, studying the same book that we are, enjoying the fellowship and the companionship that comes with being a believer. And we're grateful for each and every one of them in the body of Christ. Thank you again for all that you've made us in him. And we commit this time of fellowship and study to you in Christ's name. Amen.

[1:36] We are considering the subject of prophecy. And one reason we are doing this is because we are trying to, as carefully as we can, make that valid distinction between these two great areas of scripture that are frequently misunderstood by the public at large and even by the Christian public at large. And we have reference, of course, to the subject of prophecy and how it impacts nations as opposed to individuals. And in the subject of mystery that will follow at the 10-15 hour following this, we will devote our time to the counterpart of this, which of course has to do with mystery. And it is remarkable how many Christians are not at all familiar with that subject. I mean, there are a few passages of scripture where Paul talks about things like, behold, I show you a mystery and so on. And so many people tend to think that that's just some type of mysterious whatever. But it is very solid, important content. And it has to do with a secret, a secret that is to be revealed at a specific time. So when you put prophecy and mystery side by side, they are really antithetical. And the mystery concerns itself, I mean, the prophecy, excuse me, prophecy concerns itself primarily with nations. And there is little emphasis on individuals except what we see, of course, in the Old Testament in the lives of certain individuals like David and Solomon, his son, and the kings, and so on. But by and large, the emphasis under prophecy is on national identities and their activities. And it always strictly as one nation involves Israel and their relationship to the different nations. You'll recall from Exodus where God established Israel as a bona fide nation. Well, actually, they were always a nation. But they came into a new kind of recognition and identity in connection with Moses leading them out of the land of Egypt. That's when their national identity was kind of confirmed and more recognized. And God had called them for a number of reasons to be a peculiar people to himself. But he also had called them and charged them with the responsibility of being a light to the Gentiles. That means a spiritual light. That means being a positive influence on Gentiles. And how did all this get underway? Well, actually, it kind of got off on a bad foot.

[4:36] Because even before that, if you go back to Genesis, Israel or Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants' relationship with Gentiles, started out positive, with Joseph having been selected by the Pharaoh of Egypt to this elevated position of stewardship based on the information that he provided regarding the dreams of seven years of plenty, seven years of famine, and so on.

[5:06] And everything was fine for a while there in the land of Goshen, until a pharaoh rose up that knew not Joseph. And he regarded Joseph and his descendants as a threat. And eventually they had them in bondage.

[5:28] They constituted the Egyptian labor force, if you will. And they labored under that kind of terrible adversity for 400 years until God raised up Moses. So things started out okay with the Egyptians. And then they went sour and they ended up in slavery. And you know about the plagues and the release, etc. So Israel's conflict with other nations began quite early. It started with Egypt.

[6:00] And then when God brought them out of Egypt through this miraculous delivery, back into the land of Israel with the intent of, and if you look at the map, you can see, you know, the really hot spot in Israel today that is referred to as the Gaza Strip, it is immediately south of Israel. And you have to go through the Gaza Strip in order to get to Egypt from Israel. And it's just a really short distance because Israel as a nation is only about 130 miles long and just 45 miles wide. That is the widest point. So you have to go through Gaza to get there.

[6:45] And the original plan, of course, was when they came out of Egypt, they were to go head north right through the Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean Ocean and up into the land of Israel.

[7:01] And instead of just doing that and taking the shortest route, they put their heads together and said, you know, we're not sure what we're going to be getting into there. We better send out a reconnaissance group.

[7:15] So they sent out 10 spies to spy out the land. And you know the story. After having looked over the land and the fortresses and everything, the spies came back.

[7:30] And I think it was eight of the 10 had a negative report. We can't take these people. They're too fortified. The walls reach up to the heavens.

[7:41] And these people are big and they're well armed and everything. We need to do everything we can to avoid them. And remember that it was Caleb and Joshua, the only ones who brought back the favorable report and said, well, they are formidable and they will be a challenge.

[7:59] But we have God on our side and they don't. So we can take them because of God. And if you don't know about this, you know, and frankly, the Lord had a had an ordeal with them.

[8:13] And he said, all right, that's the way you feel. You're going to remain right here in this wilderness for the next 38 years until this whole unbelieving generation dies off.

[8:27] And I'll bring your children into the land. And that's what happened. And when they got into the land, what happened with the nations, the Canaanites? Conflict. Remember, Joshua started Ai and Jericho and all of that.

[8:40] So they're in conflict with the nations. And we don't know to what extent they would have had opportunity to share their wealth of knowledge with the God of Israel, the one true God.

[8:54] Because the Canaanites and the Philistines, they were all steeped in idolatry and every kind of profligate religion that you could think of.

[9:05] So they were warned not to intermarry with them. Don't give your sons or daughters to them. So they start out in this base of conflict from Egypt and then to the Philistines.

[9:18] And the Philistines today are the Palestinians. You get the connection. Of course, many of these people that are in the Gaza Strip, well, I won't go into that.

[9:31] That's too modern. But anyway, they had a real time of conflict and periodic subjection to these nations that they were not at all reaching with the knowledge of the true God.

[9:46] In fact, some of them were being infected by their pagan neighbors into idolatry. And God had continually warned them against that.

[9:57] So instead of them having an influence on the nations, the nations were having an influence on them. And this continued under the period of the judges, went on for hundreds and hundreds of years.

[10:09] And then you recall that the monarchy was instituted under King Saul and David. And David succeeded in pacifying the whole area.

[10:21] And he militarily had the whole region under his thumb so that a peace was enjoyed that had not been enjoyed for hundreds and hundreds of years.

[10:34] And what that did is it paved the way for enormous domestic programs to be implemented because the nation wasn't spending all of its time and effort in defending itself.

[10:49] So Solomon took hold with a building program that was just incredible. And Israel rose to new heights, etc. And no sooner had they had their successes and different kings came to the throne and what the nation would fall into idolatry again.

[11:08] God raised up prophets to warn them if they didn't return to him. He had been a faithful husband as it were to them. They had been an unfaithful wife and going after these strange gods and so on.

[11:19] And if you do not return to me as an errant wife and repent of your sin, I'm going to use pagan nations to come against you again.

[11:30] Now we've got a whole different generation of Jewish people. So this went on, went on, year after year. Jeremiah warned them. Other prophets warned them. They all turned the deaf ear to it.

[11:40] So lo and behold, here comes Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. And they made several incursions into Israel. And the last time they were there, they led hundreds, thousands of them into captivity.

[11:56] And Babylon made them walk all the way back to Babylon. And the end of the Jewish monarchy came to an end. That was it with Zedekiah. And now they are under the domination of the Babylonians.

[12:13] And this, by the way, the land of Babylon is where everything, and I mean everything, began. In all likelihood, in that area is also the most likely place for the original Garden of Eden and the Tower of Babel that we find in Genesis and so on.

[12:32] So Babylon geographically and nationally becomes the hotbed of paganism, not only for then, but for all times.

[12:46] And today, the rest of the globe is suffering from the idolatries that originated in Babylon. And they infect Asians with Buddhism and Shintoism.

[13:05] It infects India with Hindu. It infects all regions of the world. And it stemmed there in Babylon. And this thing is spreading all over everywhere.

[13:17] And eventually, after their 70-year period of captivity was up in Babylon, some of the Jews, but actually only about 20% of them, only about 20% of the Jews that were carried into Babylonian exile actually returned.

[13:35] And those who did, did so under Zerubbabel and Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall and so on. And Israel got cranked up again.

[13:47] And while they were laboring under the subjection to the Medes and the Persians who had invaded the Babylonians and had conquered them, and this is the time of Esther and so on, then it's only going to be a question of time until the Medes and the Persians are taken over and they are conquered by Alexander the Great and the Greeks.

[14:12] And this is about the 4th century. So we've got Israel interacting all throughout its history with other nations, all of whom were completely pagan.

[14:23] And Israel, trying to maintain, at least the nucleus of Israel, was trying to maintain its original connection with God and worshipping Him only.

[14:34] But the vast majority of Israel had fallen into the same kind of paganism, the same kind of religious traps that their nations had around them. So then when the Romans are finished, or when, I mean, the Greeks are finished, the Romans finish the Greeks, and then Israel is under bondage again.

[14:55] And this time it is to the Romans. And the point has been made that geographically where Israel is located, they are at the very core of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

[15:10] And you just about have to go through their areas. So nations from all over the world have been tromping through there for millennia. And Israel has yet to realize any real spiritual successes among the nations with whom they have had to do.

[15:32] So each time they have succumbed to the nations rather than the nations being infected and influenced in a positive way by them. So this whole concept of prophecy relates primarily to God's final ultimate resolution of the nations and the national entity.

[15:52] And still at the very core of it, at the very heartbeat of the whole thing, is the tiniest, relatively insignificant, if you will, nation of them all, and that is Israel.

[16:06] Israel remains the key nation for the entire globe. And that will come to fruition in dramatic ways later on. Now, having given just a real brief rundown, historically where Israel is as a nation and where they are today, they're back in the land.

[16:26] And Israel doesn't have a monarchy, but they do have a democratic type of government. And it's the only nation in that whole area that does.

[16:37] And that's one reason that we have befriended them. Not only that, but because we've got a lot of Jewish people living in this country as well. So in connection with that, before I go on, is there any questions or comments?

[16:49] Anybody? And by the way, I do have a confession to make. And I really feel remiss that I have not given you adequate time for questions.

[17:00] And I want to try to correct that. But sometimes when I do try to correct it, then you don't have any questions. And I feel like, well, why am I doing this? So, but I do want to be sensitive.

[17:14] And I just want to remind you of this. If you have a question, I would almost bet the farm that there are two or three other people with the same question. But for whatever reason, they're reluctant to ask it.

[17:26] But I just want you to, you get to be the hero or the trailblazer. So if you've got a question, you feel free to bring it up. And I'll stop right now before we engage some new material in the Old Testament.

[17:36] Anybody? Comments or questions? Yes, Joe. A comment that Israel, like you said, is so small and so tiny, number of people and everything. But yet, if you look at the news, like today or now, there's so much news in the world that centers around Israel.

[17:53] What's happening in Israel? That's right. And how, what's going on there and how many other countries pay attention to that. It's just magnificent if you think of that. It is. You're right.

[18:04] You're right. And it's, humanly speaking, there is no way you can justify the existence of the nation of Israel.

[18:15] Humanly speaking. And it is the only nation in the entire world whose national entity, government, recognition, everything, has come to an end, was literally obliterated, and then reborn after 2,000 years.

[18:33] That is unheard of. No other nation in the world has ever experienced anything like that. And this, of course, ought not to surprise anyone who is familiar with the scriptures.

[18:45] Because God makes these people, whom we regard to be under a permanent, unconditional kind of covenant with the Almighty, he makes them to be the focal point of all his activity.

[19:02] And it really is. And, of course, the bullseye of the target, of the greater target of Israel, the bullseye, is Yeshua HaMashiach, right in the middle.

[19:14] He is the center point, the centerpiece of all of Israel. And that kind of goes together. And that's why we ought not to be surprised at what God has done, and has done by way of a Messiah being promised, coming through these people, and the Messiah returning, and he's coming to rescue his people.

[19:36] So, it's a beautiful thing. Yes. Dolly. Dolly. From my perspective of the classroom, it seemed that the majority of the Jewish families I interacted with were liberal.

[19:50] Yes. And yet, the conservative agenda would support Israel so much stronger.

[20:03] Yes. And that puzzles me. Yes. The only thing I could tell you is it's a God thing. And many things about the God thing are puzzling. And there's no question that the vast majority of Jewish people today consider themselves Jews more on the basis of ethnicity and tradition than they do on the basis of religion.

[20:31] And many Jews today are what are referred to as reformed Jews. Now, you would think the reformed are those who dig in and get the original act back and get everything.

[20:44] No. No. No. But the reformed, actually, are further removed from orthodox Judaism than any other group that is pretty much maintaining it are the orthodox.

[20:57] And the word for orthodoxy comes from the Greek word orthos.

[21:08] And it means straight. It's what we call an orthodontist. When he straightens your teeth. That's orthos. And an orthodontist or an orthodox Jew is a straight Jew as opposed to one who has digressed from the ways of the law, you know.

[21:30] And they still wear the little skull cap. And what's his name that ran with Joe Lieberman.

[21:43] Joe Lieberman ran for vice president, remember. And he'd wear his little skull cap in public. And that's the orthodox. Now, the reformed did not do that. Most of the reformed Jews, you couldn't tell because they just, they usually go to the synagogue for funerals and for weddings or for a bar mitzvah.

[22:02] And that's it. And they do that just out of tradition. So, what, Joe? We recognize the Jews God. Conservatives. Conservatives. We recognize the Jews God.

[22:12] We recognize the Bible. But they don't. They don't recognize the Bible. They don't recognize their own God. But we do. Yeah. That's true. It's a mysterious thing.

[22:22] And, of course, the Jews, most of the Jews say, well, you're a New Testament. We do not consider as part of the Word of God. And their Old Testament, which is the same as our Old Testament, is to them the entire Bible.

[22:39] That's the whole thing. And I've talked to some Jewish people about this. And I've realized you don't accept the New Testament.

[22:52] And I said, but really, if you Jews really want to be enlightened, you should just focus on your own Old Testament, on your own Testament, and see what it tells you.

[23:06] Because it is loaded with information that points to the New and what's going to take place there. So Israel today, and it's really important that you understand this, because most of the world does not.

[23:21] I even question to what extent our own members of Congress really understand the strategic nature of Israel.

[23:33] And we've had an ongoing commitment to Israel to aid in there. In fact, Harry Truman, when he was president, was the first one to recognize the state of Israel when they declared themselves a nation in 1948.

[23:50] And we have had a soft spot for the Jew for a long time. And there's a tremendous number of Jewish people here in the United States, the vast majority of whom, the vast majority, are Reformed.

[24:04] And many of them are Jews only by tradition, because that's their ancestry. But they do not read the Torah, the law.

[24:17] They don't believe it. They see most of it as just, if not all of it, as just mythological. And it's just good, interesting literature, but it is not the Word of God. And I'm talking about their own Old Testament.

[24:28] That's the way most of them regard that. And it's a real shame. And to the surprise of most Americans, I think it's safe to say 85 to 90 percent of the people who are living in Israel now, who are Jewish by ethnicity, are what you would call non-religious Jews or secular Jews.

[24:58] Only about 10 percent really frequent the synagogue with any frequency and take their faith seriously and wear the kippah and have a kosher kitchen and all the rest.

[25:09] It's just about 10 percent. And most of them, of course, do not. So what else is new with Israel? It's the same old Israel. Now, instead of being influenced by other nations and their idolatry, now much of Israel is inundated with secularism.

[25:32] And it is still a far cry from the faith of their fathers. Anything else about that? Any others? All right, let's look at a couple of references then.

[25:43] And let's take the first one in Isaiah 2. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 4. And we're kind of trying to focus on the national identity and God's involvement with nations in general.

[25:58] And again, this is clearly prophetic. And the key expression here is in the last days.

[26:10] And we're not real sure when those are. We know the days we are living in are closer to these last days than we've ever been. But the word which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

[26:24] Now, it will come about that. And keep in mind, Isaiah was written about 700 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

[26:37] It will come about that. In the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains.

[26:50] Any idea what mountain this is? What's it called? Government. Pardon? Government. It's going to be the Jews, the Jewish. Yeah, but this is, I think this is actually talking about an actual mountain.

[27:03] A literal mountain. This is Mount Zion. This is Mount Zion. This is where the Jewish temple was built on Mount Zion. And it is the highest elevation in the whole land, deliberately chosen as such.

[27:19] Actually, it belonged to Arunah, the Jebusite. And this land was purchased. It was a huge threshing floor.

[27:33] And the reason they used it for threshing was because of its elevation. And they would thresh their wheat. They'd bring it in and scoop it up in big shovels.

[27:43] And they'd just throw it up in the air. Throw it up in the air. It was called winnowing. And there was a breeze blowing up there. And that's why they chose this place, the elevation. And the breeze would come along and blow the chaff, the waste from the grain.

[27:59] Just blow it away. And the grain was heavier. And it would just fall down. They would catch it in baskets and gather it up. And that was Arunah's threshing floor. And the people who lived there were called the Jebusites.

[28:14] The original name of Jerusalem was Jebus, J-E-B-U-S. And the people who inhabited it were Jebusites.

[28:24] That's where they lived. And Arunah owned that threshing floor. And it was purchased by Israel. And that's where they built their temple on that highest place.

[28:37] So anytime you read in the scriptures and anytime even today, Jews, you go to Israel, you go to Jerusalem, you're always going up. You go up to Jerusalem.

[28:48] Doesn't make any difference if you're coming from the north, south, east, or west. You're going up to Jerusalem because elevation, you're climbing, always going up to Jerusalem. And the Jews had songs of ascent that they would sing.

[29:01] And you find them in the Psalms. And they've memorized these. And it would be huge numbers, hundreds of them, thousands of them. And as they walked along, they would sing those songs. They were called songs of ascent, A-S-C-E-N-T.

[29:13] Ascending songs, climbing songs that they would use to sing in unison as they were going up to the city of Jerusalem. So in the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord, and I confident this is Mount Zion, will be established as the chief of the mountains.

[29:32] And will be raised above the hills. And all the nations, here's that national thing, will stream to it. All the nations, these are nations of the world, are going to recognize this place as the geographical center of God's world on this planet.

[29:57] And it will receive the universal recognition. All the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.

[30:14] That he may teach us concerning his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. For the law will go forth from Zion, that's the name of the mountain, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

[30:28] And he will judge between the nations. This is kingdom content. This is millennial stuff. This is what's going to happen after Armageddon has been disposed of, after Christ is ruling and reigning in righteousness from Jerusalem.

[30:48] And David will be there resurrected. And the twelve disciples that Jesus said in the, in the, in the, not the resurrection, but when the kingdom arrives, you will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

[31:05] And this is all going to take place then. And they will render decisions for many peoples. And they will hammer their swords into plowshares. That's another way of saying from wartime implements to peacetime implements.

[31:19] And their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation. And never again will they learn more.

[31:31] And if you follow human history from the time of creation, you can go back there and look at that long layout of the timetable in the nations and who's involved in everything.

[31:46] And that's historically quite accurate. There may be, some things may be off a few years, but by and large that's very, very accurate. And as you read along that and you see those people and you recognize the situations and the centuries that are involved, that whole map, that whole extensive array of centuries, of millennia, is laced with bloodshed and violence.

[32:15] And it's remarkable. You look at that thing and it's just one war after another. One conflict after another. One killing after another. One massacre after another.

[32:27] What is wrong? Well, what is wrong is the adversary has dominion of this world. And he is referred to as the god of this age.

[32:39] And his name is Apollyon. And the word means the destroyer. And that's what he does. He destroys, he denies, and he kills.

[32:52] And as I've often said, Satan loves a high body count. Because as God is the creator, he is the destroyer. And if he cannot get at God, then he'll get at those whom God cares about.

[33:06] He will go after those whom God loves. And that's the believer. And that's Israel. And the history of Israel is something. Well, and they will never again learn war.

[33:19] Come, house Jacob. Let us walk in the light of the Lord. For thou hast abandoned thy people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east. And now he's talking about the things that they were dealing with then.

[33:31] So let's go to Psalm 2, if we may. It's just Psalm 2.

[33:45] All I'm trying to emphasize is the impact of nations and nationhood. In chapter 2 of Psalm, yes.

[33:58] Just before we head there, if I may, having come out of some teaching in the past, I would refer to Matthew where the Lord Jesus says about the judgment of the Gentile nations, the sheep and the goats.

[34:18] And some of us have heard that taught, that this means that your actions now are going to be judged.

[34:31] Which, not going there, that's not a white throne type of judgment there. That is what you've referred to in Isaiah chapter 2, where he's going to bring the peoples and judge the nation.

[34:46] Right. The sheep and the goats is a judgment of nations. Right. Exactly. Not of individuals. Yeah. I appreciate you making that clear. That's very true. And the judgment of individuals will take place at the great white throne judgment for unbelievers.

[35:02] And the assessment or the award throne that will result in the providing of rewards or the withholding of rewards will be at the award throne of Christ, the Bema seat in 1 Corinthians 3, where everyone's work will be tried of what sort it is, whether it was wood, hay, and stubble or gold, silver, and precious stones.

[35:25] And motivation will come into play. And there's going to be a lot of judging that's taking place, that's going to take place. There is a time of final assessment. There is a time of final reckoning.

[35:38] And this is the thing that the unsaved man should and would, I think, for the most part, fear more than anything in his heart. This is why a lot of people hope there is no life hereafter.

[35:51] Hope there is no eternity. Because that means there will be no accounting and no standing trial and no assessment and no scrutinizing eye of God looking at them.

[36:04] And they would just as soon check out and that's the end of it. And from the life some people live, I can understand why they would feel that way. Because a lot of people are going to have a lot to account for.

[36:17] It is a serious business to be a human being. And to be endowed with a will that allows you to make moral decisions that have consequences.

[36:33] There's going to be a lot to answer for. And the all scrutinizing eye of God is going to assess with 100% accuracy.

[36:46] And it's going to be something. You don't want to be there. And you don't have to be there. Because Jesus has already been there. He's already been judged for your sin and mine.

[36:59] And that's why we go free. Because the one who didn't deserve to die for sin died for ours. And that's the beauty of grace.

[37:11] Don't ever expect to get over it. Why are the nations in an uproar? And the peoples devising a vain thing. The kings of the earth take their stand. And the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed.

[37:25] And their efforts are totally futile. And they have no idea how outranked and outnumbered they are. But when these nations contend against God, it is strictly no contest.

[37:42] And he who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord scoffs at them. Then he will speak to them in his anger. And this is his judgment that's coming. Terrify them in his fury.

[37:52] But as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. Which we talked about a little earlier. Now, one last reference that we want to look at very quickly. And it's in Zechariah.

[38:03] It's a favorite passage of mine. We've looked at it before. But it bears repetition. Zechariah chapter 14. You can find Zechariah if you can find Malachi. The last book in the Old Testament.

[38:15] Because Zechariah is right before it. And this is as nation-oriented as you can get. And here we've got that coming day again.

[38:26] A day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you. This is the spoil taken from Israel and from Jerusalem. And the city will be captured.

[38:42] Through Zechariah. And he says, I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle. And the city will be captured.

[38:57] The houses plundered. The women ravished. And half of the city exiled. But the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.

[39:09] Now, this is tribulation content. This is that which is going to happen in the tribulation period. Particularly the last half thereof. And Israel is being absolutely decimated.

[39:24] And as I've pointed out to you before. During the Holocaust in World War II. One third of the Jewish population of the whole world was eliminated.

[39:37] A third of them. Six million died in Hitler's death camps alone. But during this time in the tribulation. In the reign of the Antichrist.

[39:48] Two thirds of the Jewish people are going to be eliminated. And Gentiles are going to meet their death in this tribulation period.

[40:03] By the billions. That's with a B. We cannot begin to fathom those kind of numbers. Most of us think we know what a million is.

[40:16] No, you don't. You don't know what a million is. Neither do I. It's... And a billion... A billion... Is a thousand million.

[40:27] So we're talking some big numbers. And these people are going to be eliminated under the reign of the Antichrist. And then everything will turn and focus on...

[40:41] The final solution to the Jewish problem. Which will be to take Israel. And this is precisely what the Islamic population wants to do right now with Israel.

[40:57] And it's part of the PLO's indoctrination. And it is part of their statement of purpose. And Israel has tried to contend with them in trying to reach some kind of a peace initiative.

[41:12] You know, Jimmy Carter tried to do it. Remember with the Oslo Accord? Or the Camp David Accord? When Benjamin Netanyahu... Or not Benjamin Netanyahu, but... Bagan.

[41:25] Bagan met with Yasser Arafat. Remember that? And they tried to... Broke a treaty. But the PLO has in their statement of faith the obliteration of Israel as one of their goals.

[41:43] And Israel is telling the PLO, We can't really enter into a peace accord until you agree that that is no longer one of your goals.

[41:56] Because how can we make peace with a nation who says their major objective is to eliminate us? That's crazy. And you'd be surprised how many people in the world don't see that as crazy.

[42:08] I mean, how illogical can you get? Yes, I'll make a peace treaty with you, but my goal is to eliminate you completely so you don't exist anymore. Now let's make peace. What kind of craziness is that?

[42:20] That's exactly what they're trying to do. And it's insane. So anyway, this time is coming in verse 3, is the second coming of Christ.

[42:31] This is the Matthew 24 thing. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on the day of battle.

[42:44] And in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is the same place from which he ascended.

[42:54] And we are told that the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west. And that is quite remarkable because east to west is crossways.

[43:11] Israel is a slender nation, about 130 miles long, north and south, and 45 miles wide. And east to west, we tend to think that, well, maybe the split, but no, it's not north to south.

[43:28] It's east to west. Now, north to south, there's already a split. It's called the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It's also called the Valley of Jezreel.

[43:41] And it's also called the Kidron Valley. That's the name it has today, the Kidron Valley. And when Jesus, the night he was betrayed, came out of the upper room in Jerusalem, they walked out of the old city and crossed over and went down this deep divide, down in the Kidron Valley where there is a wadi that has water in it in the rainy season, dries up in the dry season, and then up the other side.

[44:18] And when you go up the other side, you arrive at the Mount of Olives. And that huge rift that runs all down through, there's just a very deep defile.

[44:29] You've got to walk way down. It takes a long time to get down there. It takes a long time to climb back up. And that's part of the African rift. It goes all the way down into continental Africa, and it divides down there.

[44:41] There's a huge rift down there. It goes all the way down. And that's kind of like a split that already exists. But this split is going to be from the east to the west.

[44:54] It's going to be a monumental, geographical, earthquake-like shifting that is all part and parcel of the plan of God.

[45:05] It isn't going to be something that nature does, per se, as we try to make something out of nature. But this is something that God is going to do. And we are told that it will split 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.

[45:29] You talk about major relocation. It's going to be something. And you will flee by the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel. You will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.

[45:40] And that must have been a dandy because it's used as a reference point chronologically. And then the Lord my God will come and all his holy ones with him.

[45:52] And it will come about in that day. There will be no light. The luminaries will dwindle. And the Lord is going to bring his own light.

[46:10] It will be the light of the Shekinah glory. And every eye will see him. And it's going to be something. This will be a unique day.

[46:23] Neither day nor night, but it will come about at the evening. There will be light. And this is the Matthew 24 thing. And it will come about in that day. That living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and so on.

[46:37] In verse 9, The Lord will be king over all the earth in that day. The Lord will be the only one, and his name the only one. This is all about nations and national identity and what's going to happen to the nations of the world.

[46:51] And this is in stark contrast, all of this emphasis upon nations is upon stark contrast to individuals. Now it's true that nations are nothing more than a compilation of individuals.

[47:06] But the emphasis under mystery, as opposed to the emphasis under prophecy, the emphasis under mystery is on the individual.

[47:18] And it's not the individual Jew. It's the individual period. Jew, Gentile, whomever, whatever. And it's going to be a beautiful thing.

[47:28] Other comments or questions? Anybody? I don't know if I've made this sufficiently clear or if you are sufficiently confused.

[47:41] But whichever. This is important stuff, and I hope I'm making it clear enough that you're able to appreciate the content because it's going to be something. Marvis, and then we'll have to dismiss for call.

[47:52] I missed part of that that was said about the sheep and the goats being nations versus what. That's when I was coming in, and I apologize. But I'm curious.

[48:04] Well, I would just say that there will be all the nations and national entities, call them governments, if you will, will be called to account.

[48:15] And I really do think, this is just a Wiseman opinion, I can't give you a chapter and verse for it, but I really do think that the most critical factor in the evaluation of nations is going to be different nations' response to the nation of Israel.

[48:37] Israel. Because, and you know, it's remarkable. Just stop and think about it. Israel, Israel is the only nation on the earth to whom God refers to as my people and my land.

[48:59] and isn't it ironic that Israel and the Jewish people have traditionally been the most persecuted, hated people in the world.

[49:15] Let me tell you something. That is not a coincidence. That is not a coincidence. That is in the strategy and the game plan of the adversary.

[49:27] And he has blinded entire nations against these people. And they have, Israel has no human explanation for their existence.

[49:43] They just don't. And anybody with half a brain that looks at history has got to know that. What is it about these people? Well, these people God refers to as my people.

[49:59] And he calls Israel, in the prophecy of Isaiah, he calls Israel my glory. And years ago, trying to think of the name of the fellow who founded Friends of Israel, he was, he was Jewish.

[50:22] Jewish, came to faith in Christ and started the ministry of Friends of Israel. And that was like in the 1930s. And they publish a magazine and they call the title of the magazine Israel My Glory.

[50:39] And it's taken from that passage. So, you know, well, I won't go there because it's very involved, but God has a heart for Israel.

[50:53] And of course, God loves all people. God loves the world that he gave his only begotten son. But Israel is referred to as the apple of his eye, as the pupil of his eye.

[51:07] There is a peculiar relationship between God and Israel. And it is really something. Well, our time is gone. Marie? Was it Bucks Basin that you were trying to say? Yes, thank you.

[51:17] Victor, Victor Bucks Basin was the founder of Friends of Israel organization. I think it was in the 1930s. And just then, things were really heating up regarding the Jew and the pogroms that were taking place in Europe under Germany and so on.

[51:33] Well, thank you for your kind attention and enjoy your coffee break and the cookies. All the calories have been removed, so just help yourself.