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[0:00] What we're going to be discussing this morning is going to be one of the most monumental things that will ever happen in human history. And we are talking about the national contrition and repentance of the nation Israel as regards the Lord Jesus Christ, their Messiah.

[0:17] As indicated in the bulletin, after continuing in a mode of rejection for 2,000 years, Israel now becomes a repentant nation regarding Jesus of Nazareth being their Messiah.

[0:33] The drama surrounding this event is astounding. And we will see that in the scripture passages that will be unfolding. And right now we're going to ask Gary if he will come and if you will take your scripture sheet, the three pages that you were given.

[0:51] And by the way, we did this and put these all in the form that they are so that we will not spend time flipping pages through the Bible. You'll have all the text right before you and it'll be more convenient and I trust more efficient as we consider the passages because there are several of them.

[1:09] So we're going to read Leviticus chapter 26 beginning with verse 38. If you will look at your scripture sheet for that. And I've asked Gary if he would lead you in doing this responsibly.

[1:24] So he will read verse 38. Then you respond with every other verse and we'll go on down through the entire balance of the chapter. Gary. Gary. Good morning.

[1:45] We'll start there with Leviticus 26. And ye shall perish among the heathen. And the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

[1:58] And they that are not the few shall find a way in their iniquity in their enemies' land. And also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they find a way with them.

[2:12] If they shall confess their iniquity in the iniquity of their fathers with their trespass which they trespassed against me.

[2:24] And that also they have walked contrary unto me. And that I also have walked contrary unto them.

[2:36] And have brought them into my manner of enemies. If they are in their uncircised hearts, be humbled. And they then shall have punished me with their iniquity.

[2:47] Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob. And also my covenant with Isaac. And also my covenant with Abraham will I remember.

[3:02] And I will remember the land. The land also shall be left on them. And shall be left on them. And shall be left on them.

[3:12] Because I shall die at the death of them. And they shall accept the punishment of their iniquity. Because even because they despise my judgments.

[3:24] And because their soul comforts my statutes. And yet for all that. When they be in the land of their enemies.

[3:35] I will not cast them away. Neither will I abhor them. To destroy them utterly. And to break my covenant with them.

[3:47] For I am the Lord their God. Let my will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors. Who have I brought forth out of the land of Egypt.

[4:00] And in the sight of the heaven. That I might be near God. I am the Lord of the Lord. I do have some introductory remarks before we get into the text that we have been reading.

[4:20] And that begins by reminding you that we are today engaging the first part of stage five.

[4:31] If you will take your bulletin insert that has the colored map on one side. The black and white map on the other side. And look at the list of eight stages there please.

[4:43] Note that we have already covered the gathering of the armies of the Antichrist. The destruction of Babylon. The fall of Jerusalem. The armies of the Antichrist at Basra.

[4:56] Otherwise also known as Petra. And today we are going to be looking at the national regeneration of Israel. This is going to be a tremendously significant event when it takes place.

[5:11] We are all aware of a number of Jewish people down through the years who have embraced Yeshua HaMashiach as their Messiah. They are very small in number considering the entirety of Jewish population.

[5:26] But nonetheless, especially over the last 10 or 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in children of Abraham.

[5:36] Jewish people coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and their Messiah. But what we are talking about here is going to involve the entire nation of Israel in the latter days.

[5:52] However, even though it will be an entire nation, it will be but a remnant. Because when this takes place, two-thirds of the Jewish population worldwide will have already been destroyed by the Antichrist.

[6:13] Along, of course, with millions of others who are Gentiles. Because they are going to be victims of the tribulation period.

[6:24] It will be an onslaught of unimaginable proportions. So when the scripture text says, And so all Israel shall be saved.

[6:35] That is precisely what it means. But it will be that remnant of Israel. And they will be saved because they will come to a national and a personal faith in Jesus as their Messiah.

[6:49] So I want you to follow along as we try to deal with the chronology of this. And admittedly, this is the most difficult undertaking in the subject of biblical prophecy.

[7:05] And that has to do with the chronology. Because there is no question that these events are going to transpire. Because the scripture text says they are.

[7:17] The difficulty sometimes is in assigning the order in which they are going to occur. And that becomes very tricky. And it requires a great deal of preparation and comparison of scripture with scripture.

[7:31] And I again want to give credit to one of my mentors, Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, with whom we had the privilege of touring Israel in a geographical historical tour.

[7:45] In 1990, it lasted six weeks. It was life-changing. I wish there was some way that everyone here could experience it. Because your life would never be the same afterwards. So Israel today is, for all practical purposes, a secular nation.

[8:03] Only a tiny percentage of those living in Israel actually follow what would be called Judaism. Most of them regard themselves as secular Jews.

[8:15] They are Jews by birth. And they are Jews by tradition. But they are not Jews by way of practicing Judaism. And many of them will be eager to tell you that.

[8:27] Not only so, but there is a tremendously, I guess we could say, a tremendously large percentage of Jewish people who have embraced atheism worldwide.

[8:41] And probably the principal reason they have done so is because they have never been able to square the reality of the Holocaust, with six million Jews being put to death by Hitler, and the supposed existence and activity of a loving and a holy God.

[9:01] They've not been able to compute that. And that has led many of them to atheism. As a matter of fact, that kind of thing has led a whole lot of people into atheism.

[9:12] That is, when they suffer some kind of disappointment from God, or what seems to be a deaf ear turned to their urgent prayers for help or for assistance or for salvation or whatever, and God doesn't seem to come through.

[9:29] And we can be pretty good at holding a grudge. And I've even had some people say, if that's the way God wants to be, I just wrote him off. I don't know if he even exists.

[9:40] And even if he does, I don't want anything to do with him anyway. And some have come to that conclusion, sadly, because they do not understand some of the basic principles of God or of humanity, particularly volition and the fall and etc.

[9:53] But anyway, that's another issue. So this stage, stage five, is going to involve the contrition and repentance. And we are going to deal with it in two segments, because there is just too much to cover in one.

[10:09] This will be part one, their contrition and repentance. And part two will follow, also associated with stage five, and it will be a call and a plead on the part of these believing Jews and the remnant for Messiah to return and to save them.

[10:31] And he will. And he will. This, as well as all of the eight stages, comprises the final three and a half years of the tribulation period.

[10:44] The tribulation is frequently referred to as time, times and a half a time, which equals three and a half, or three and a half years, or twelve hundred sixty days, or forty-two months.

[10:57] The scripture uses all of those timely designations. They all mean the same thing. They all mean twelve hundred and sixty days, or three and a half years. The Antichrist will be dominant in all the world, with the exception of present-day Transjordan, ancient Moab, and the mountains of Seir, that's S-E-I-R, or Edom, that was indwelt by the ancient Edomites, who were direct descendants of Esau.

[11:30] And if you will look at your colored map that relates to Israel, I just want you, for identification purposes, to look.

[11:45] You see where Syria is, in the right, the yellow, the Golan Heights. If you just come down a little bit south of that, you will see Ammon.

[11:57] Ammon. That is present-day capital of Jordan. And Ammon is named after Ammon, who was one of the sons of Lot when he impregnated his two daughters after they had escaped from Sodom and Gomorrah.

[12:22] And one of the sons begotten from that incestuous relationship was named Moab. And he, of course, will become the father of the Moabites.

[12:34] Ruth was married to Moabites and brought, I'm sorry, Naomi went to Moab and there she secured two daughters.

[12:45] You'll recall her father, her husband died, her two sons died, and the one daughter, Ruth, came back with her and she was a Moabite. So Ammon, today, Ammon is the capital of Jordan and it is named after that son who was an original father of these people.

[13:03] And then there's Moab also and you'll see Edom and then if you just drop down south of Edom, you see the small designation there with the three dots, that is Petra.

[13:14] it is in that geographical area where many are persuaded that the remnant of Israel, and we do not know how many people that would be, it could be in excess of a million people.

[13:31] But if you have ever seen the area of Petra, you know that it wouldn't have any difficulty accommodating that many people. And by the way, they are going to be living in tents and one of the texts that we will be discussing makes reference to the Lord coming and it says and he will save the tents of Judah first.

[13:53] That means he's going to Petra. When Christ returns, he's going to return to Petra. And that's where the battle is going to begin as the Antichrist comes from the south and he will decimate the enemy, then he will in a victory march go to the Mount of Olives and there present himself.

[14:12] So Petra is where this enclave is going to take place. These people are literally going to be holed up there for three and a half years.

[14:25] And it is going to begin when they are warned to flee, those who are in Jerusalem, to flee from Jerusalem because the Antichrist is in the holy place and he is the abomination that desolates.

[14:42] And Jesus said in Matthew 24, when you see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place, then you head for the hills. And the hills that they are heading for are the mountains of Seir and part of that encompasses this area of Petra.

[14:58] There they are going to be holed up, literally, in a safe place. they are going to be supernaturally provided for in much the same way God provided for them when they came out of Egypt.

[15:12] And by the way, at the expense of being repetitive, I'm going to say this because I want to constantly keep this concept in front of you. And that is, during this tribulation period, which will encompass seven years, and that which is referred to as the Great Tribulation, is usually associated with the last half of the seven years.

[15:37] And during that time, there is going to be an enormous display on an everyday basis of the supernatural that we do not now see any signs of at all.

[15:53] As we look out upon our world today, everything seems to be occurring pretty much through natural causes, business as usual, cause and effect, etc. But during this time, with the church removed, the body of Christ is gone.

[16:10] Unfinished business with Israel is the number one task at hand. And there is going to be an enormous outpouring of the supernatural by way of angelic involvement, by way of demonic involvement, and by way of things that will be happening in the atmosphere that are completely foreign to us now.

[16:32] So it's going to be a different world. A different world. Jesus described it as a time like the world has never seen before and will never see again.

[16:44] So it is going to be something. by the time this contrition and repentance of national Israel takes place, modern Babylon, which would have become the world's economic and political center and headquarters, will have been presided over by the Antichrist.

[17:10] Its destruction has already been completed under stage two, and we've considered that in an earlier session. And we noted also in Revelation chapter 17 and 18 where religious and political Babylon, both referred to that way, is completely destroyed.

[17:31] It's just brought to naught. The one thing that escapes us that I would just give almost anything to know is who or what is the destroying agent, Babylon.

[17:43] Babylon. Because the Antichrist, even though he is going to dominate and control, for the most part, the entire globe, with the exception of this strip of land that we've already talked about, from Jordan down to Petra, that's going to be exempt from his control.

[18:04] And exactly how he is going to do that, how he is going to dominate the world, we've already looked at his credentials and accomplishments and so on.

[18:15] But he is going to make enemies along the way. And not everyone will be in favor of what he is doing, although most of the world will buy his whole game plan and philosophy wholesale.

[18:27] But there will be those that will be holdouts, and I suspect they may be involved in the destruction of Babylon, because this Babylon is going to be the existence of a city the likes of which the world has never seen, by way of technology, modernity, and everything else.

[18:47] And we keep hearing reports about there being a shift of so many things to the influence of the Mideast, and we see what's happening in some of the oil-rich countries over there with the building of skyscrapers, et cetera, and so on.

[19:01] So, anyway, we don't know who this enemy is going to be, but whoever it is, they are going to absolutely decimate Babylon and leave it in ruins.

[19:14] But the Antichrist won't even be there. He will be in Megiddo, in the plains of Esdralim, commonly referred to as Armageddon.

[19:26] And there he will be orchestrating this massive coalition of armies that he has garnered from all over the world. And they are going to mass there for the express purpose of eliminating the Jewish people from the face of the earth.

[19:47] You've got to remember that during this time there is going to be an onslaught of anti-Semitism, the likes of which the world has never seen before.

[19:57] And we've seen some pretty bad likes of it, especially during World War II. But this is going to excel even that. And as a result, two-thirds of the Jewish population of the world is simply going to be eliminated, leaving this small remnant that will survive.

[20:17] So upon hearing of Babylon's destruction, and we've looked at references before, but I can't take time to go to them now, he will marshal this vast coalition of armies and attack Jerusalem.

[20:31] The people of Jerusalem will put up a valiant defense, but eventually they will succumb to the superior forces of the Antichrist.

[20:43] And upon conquering Jerusalem, the Antichrist will then march into the temple of the Jews, proclaim himself to be God, demanding to be worshipped as such, and he is the one of whom Jesus is referring in Matthew 24 as the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and that's in Daniel chapter 9, which was also considered earlier.

[21:11] When he commands that all worship him, his claim to be God will appear to be very logical.

[21:22] Now today, we might apply our logic and common sense to that and say, that's crazy. People would never fall for that.

[21:33] Nobody would ever believe that this guy is God. Well, there's going to be a different mindset that exists then, and it's going to be, that mindset is going to be followed by a train of events that's going to be very convincing to a whole lot of people.

[21:48] One of which is, the Jews are going to claim that their God will protect them. But he doesn't. And Jerusalem is overrun, and defeated, and sacked, and pillaged, and the women are raped.

[22:07] And when the Antichrist walks into the temple, all he's saying is, the God of Israel, where is he? I took care of him, didn't I?

[22:18] I am your God. I defeated the God of Israel. And people will be persuaded.

[22:30] After all, he'll have a pretty compelling case. Where was their God when Jerusalem was under siege? Why didn't he come? In other words, it's nothing more than the old playground game, my God's bigger than your God.

[22:43] And that's the claim that the Antichrist is going to make. And there will be huge numbers of people who will acquiesce to that and will actually worship him as the deity. Then the breaking of the covenant between Israel and Antichrist occurs after he reveals his true identity.

[23:03] This is the breaking of the covenant that was sealed between the Jew and the Antichrist during that time of peace where they were provided security and so on.

[23:15] They entered into a seven-year pact. This is also Daniel 9.27. And in the middle of that pact, three and a half years in, that's when he violates it and reveals himself to be who he is.

[23:27] This is the time for Jews remaining in Jerusalem who are able, who survived its downfall, to flee to the city for the mountains of Seir to the south. And we see that on the map.

[23:38] This event also marks the beginning of the second half of three and a half years called the Great Tribulation. And during this period, the remnant of Israel will be providentially protected and cared for with miraculous provision of food and water while they engage in repentance and contrition.

[23:59] Their sequestering will afford prolonged periods of study from their scriptures, including the portions we are presently considering this morning.

[24:17] They have already been exposed to the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists that we considered earlier from Revelation 7 and 14.

[24:29] In addition, they have been exposed to the ministry of the two witnesses and their supernatural protection in Revelation 12. And these two powerful contributions plus their own study of their scriptures from the Old Testament will result in a massive turning to the truth of Jesus being their Messiah.

[24:54] This period will be during that last three and a half years and will focus on great mourning and contrition. Again, we acknowledge the difficulty of arriving at a precise chronology.

[25:11] We offer the following for your consideration. This is going to be something the likes of which the world has never seen. The Jewish people as a nation have abided in a position of rejection regarding Jesus being the Messiah.

[25:29] Some will go so far as to say he was a great man, he was a great rabbi, he was a great teacher, he was a great example, but he wasn't the rabbi. And they do not understand the nonsense of their own argument because if Jesus Christ was not who he claimed to be, then there is no way that you can call him a great man or a great teacher or a great example.

[25:58] He was just a great liar and a great hoaxer because he made claims that were absolutely astounding and they were either true or they are not.

[26:11] So for the last 2,000 years, Jewry, worldwide, has been in a mode of rejection and they have paid a terrible, terrible price.

[26:24] because they have been on the receiving end of intense persecution, isolation, marginalization, just about every kind of vile, inhumane treatment that you can think of has been perpetrated upon the Jew.

[26:40] He has been the scapegoat for everything. And this is largely, in my opinion, it is largely due to the fact that there is a mastermind behind this whole scheme of anti-Semitism and it is none other than the adversary himself.

[27:01] But he has ways of disguising himself and we are told that even he is able to disguise himself as an angel of light. So the Jewish people have been typically in rejection of Jesus.

[27:16] They are waiting for the Messiah to come, but they don't believe Jesus was the Messiah. So they are looking for the Messiah's initial appearance. We are looking for the second coming.

[27:28] They are looking for the first coming. And that, of course, is just one of the principal differences between Christians and Jews. During this time, there is going to be a recognition, an outpouring, a repentance, a regret, a mourning.

[27:47] There is probably going to be more Jewish tears shed during this time than have been shed in the whole history of Israel. These people are going to be so broken and so contrite and so apologetic for their rejection and for the rejection of their ancestors and the price that was paid down through the years for that rejection.

[28:13] here in Leviticus 26, which we have already read, if you just take a quick look at that column, beginning with verse 40, if they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, that is, their ancestors, with their trespass, which they trespass against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me, and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies, scattered throughout the world, if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob.

[29:01] And the name Jacob is used here. It sounds like an individual. He's not talking about an individual. He's talking about the nation. Israel is frequently called Jacob because that's what Jacob's name was changed to.

[29:15] But sometimes Israel behaves more like Jacob than it does like Israel. Remember, God changed his name at the Brook Jabbok, and changed his name from Jacob to Israel.

[29:27] But it is used interchangeably back and forth. So he says, I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember, and I will remember the land.

[29:38] These are throughout Scripture referred to as the fathers. And whatever you read in the New Testament where it says the fathers, it's always talking about the same people.

[29:49] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are the big three. And out of Jacob, of course, came the twelve tribes that comprise the nation of Israel. This is all contingent upon Israel's contrition and repentance, and the tears are going to flow so freely.

[30:08] It will be just absolutely astounding. It's going to be bitter, weeping, and wailing when these people come to grips with the reality of their rejection and the rejection of their ancestors.

[30:23] It will be a time like the world has never seen before. Maybe the closest would be the mere pittance of three thousand who came to faith on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two.

[30:40] Out of the multitudes that were there, three thousand repented, submitted themselves to John's baptism, and so on. So they were contrite, and they were repentant.

[30:51] And you know, and this is a point that needs to be driven home because it has personal application as well as national. repentance. And this is a man's repentance. There isn't anything that delights the heart of God more than man's repentance.

[31:10] And what do we mean by repent? Just one basic simple thing. It's expensive, sounding like a broken record. Here it comes again. It just means you change your mind.

[31:23] mind. There's only one reason to repent of anything. and that is because you discover that you have been wrong about something.

[31:36] And you change your mind about that thing. I don't care if you go out and buy a new Ford, and you think it's the most wonderful thing that ever happened on four wheels, and you drive it for six months, and then you decree that after all, it is a pile of junk.

[31:54] I wish I never bought this thing. You know what you did? You repented. You changed your mind. And that's really all it means. We ordinarily think that repentance means that you cry crocodile tears and that you mourn and weep and whatnot.

[32:09] No, no, no, no. It may involve that. That may come to that. But the basic meaning of repentance is you discover you've been wrong about something. It doesn't make any difference what it is. It could be anything. It doesn't have to be anything religious.

[32:21] You just discover you've been wrong about something. You change your mind. And the reason you change your mind is always the same. It's because you've got information that you didn't have before.

[32:35] And it causes you to reach a different conclusion than what you used to reach. So you change your mind. Some people have real difficulty with this. And some of them are even in the grace movement.

[32:45] And they say repentance is not necessary. All you need to do is believe. And if you demand that people repent, then you're adding something to the gospel of grace.

[32:55] And that's nonsense. I think the meaning of the word makes it very, very clear. It is impossible to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and become a believer without repenting.

[33:09] You can't do it. You have to repent because before you came to faith in Christ, you believed something different about him and about you and about the connection.

[33:21] and when you hear the gospel, you get some clarity that you didn't have before and it registers with, oh, boy, I've been wrong about this.

[33:35] I used to think thus and so and thus and so. That's not right. I've been wrong all along about this. What are you going to do about it? Nothing. I'm just going to hold my ground.

[33:46] Even though I know it's wrong, I'm going to dig in my heels because this is what I've always believed. Well, that's called unrepentance.

[33:58] It's also called stupidity on steroids. So when you come into this new information that reveals to you that you've been wrong, you come to the conclusion, you know what?

[34:16] I need to change my mind. I need to reverse myself. I've been wrong all along. Didn't even realize it. But now, you see, this is what the gospel does.

[34:28] This is the whole reason for preaching the gospel. It gives people a reason to change their mind. They get information.

[34:39] It's all about information. You can't do anything and you can't believe anything without information. And this is why it becomes so critical as to what information you get and the source of it.

[34:54] And does it have integrity? Is it compelling? Is it true? Does it stack up with the facts? And when you assess all of that and weigh all of that, come to the conclusion, then it's time to make a decision.

[35:10] And that's when salvation takes place when as an act of the will, you deliberately, intentionally take Jesus Christ to be your only hope.

[35:24] You believe on him. Commit yourself to him. You're not trusting your church. You're not trusting your good works. You're not trusting this or that. You're not trusting your communion.

[35:36] You're not trusting your baptism. You're trusting solely in Jesus Christ. That results in salvation. And you cannot do that without repenting. You've got to change your mind.

[35:49] Scripture tells us that there is joy in the presence of the angels in heaven over one sinner that repents. Well, you know, there are sinners getting saved all over the globe.

[36:01] There must be one heck of a celebration going on, at least in one of those corners of heaven where those angels are kept busy rejoicing over somebody who's repenting. This is going to be a national repentance.

[36:14] I must hurry along. Jeremiah 3. Look at the next column. We put all of these together to try to save time. And the Lord said unto me, this is Jeremiah, the backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

[36:30] Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, return thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you. For I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever.

[36:44] Only, look at this, verse 13, acknowledge thine iniquity. There's a verse in Romans 13, I believe it is, well, it's in Romans anyway.

[37:03] And it says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Question, why call?

[37:15] Why would anybody call? Because you have a need that you can't meet. And you recognize the need. You acknowledge the need. This is verse 13.

[37:25] Only acknowledge thine iniquity. And when we come to grips in an honest way with ourselves and with God, and we admit that we fall short, we admit that we are sinners, we admit that we're just like everybody else, all you are doing is stepping into the light of reality.

[37:49] That's all you're doing. That's what truth is. That's what realness is. God is a God of reality and truth, and he just loves people to be in sync with him.

[38:04] And when we admit, acknowledge, confess, the word confess, when we confess our sin, the word is homologeo.

[38:16] And it's simply, it's a compound Greek word, and it comes from two words, homo, homo, which means the same as, as in homogenized, where the milk is all the same, you know, there's no cream on top, it's all the same, or homosexual, where one is attracted to the same sex, homo anything.

[38:39] And homo legeo means the same thing, and legeo is to speak or to say, and it means to say the same thing. That's what it means to agree with someone.

[38:50] You say the same thing. And when we confess our sin, we say the same thing that God says about our sin. That it is sin, that it is wrong, that it is damaging, that it is hurtful, that it is dishonoring to God.

[39:05] We admit that. That's what it means to confess. And it doesn't necessarily mean you have to go to someone and spill your guts or pour your heart out or whatever. It just means you go to God with honesty and openness and God loves that.

[39:21] God is so into truth that he just loves it when his people come to an area of truth about anything. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree.

[39:41] And this is spiritual adultery. this is what he's talking about here. These green trees as places of fornication.

[39:52] And you have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you. And I will take you one of a city and two of a family and I will bring you to Zion.

[40:04] It's really interesting that in our video this morning we had from Focus and the Holy Land that Ray Vanderlaan was doing. He was dealing with this very issue.

[40:14] And it's just beautiful how the Lord reinforces some of these things. It's talking about Israel and the wilderness and the marriage that took place at Sinai. And I never thought of that as being a marriage, but it was a marriage as sure as marriages are marriages.

[40:29] It was amazing material. And it's the same principle here. Now I will give you pastors according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And there are going to be preachers and teachers during this enclave when Israel is going to be sequestered under divine protection.

[40:50] There's going to be a whole lot of preaching and teaching going on by those who are there in a position to know and understand the truth. And Israel is going to mourn and repent and wail and repent and mourn and repent.

[41:05] One of the names for the Western Wall, which most of the Jewish people don't use or don't appreciate, but it's about the only thing that is still standing of the original construction. And that's why it's so important to the Jew.

[41:17] And they go there every day and you see them on TV and they write out their prayers on little slips of paper and they stick them in between the cracks of the stones. And there are tens of thousands of little slips of paper in the cracks of the Western Wall.

[41:34] Another name for that wall is the Wailing Wall. The Wailing Wall. Why would they call it that? Because that's where the Jews used to go to confess and acknowledge their sins, to be contrite and to wail and to mourn over their sin.

[42:01] Verse 17, At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord and all the nations shall be gathered into it. To the name of the Lord to Jerusalem, neither shall they walk anymore.

[42:12] This is later of course. And then Hosea chapter 5, the last part of chapter 5, I will go and return to my place till, this is God speaking through Hosea, until they acknowledge their offense and seek my face.

[42:34] In their affliction they will seek me early. This will be worldwide affliction that the Jewish people are undergoing. Come, and ignore the chapter break here because there's nothing inspired about them, it just breaks up the continuity.

[42:51] Come, let us return unto the Lord, for he hath torn and he will heal us. He hath smitten and he will bind us up.

[43:04] After two days will he revive us. In the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight. These three days here will be the last three days of the tribulation period.

[43:21] This is when Christ returns and he will return to this particular place and he will decimate the enemies of the Antichrist. Christ. He will fight this battle all alone.

[43:36] There will be no one on his side helping him. He will tread the wrath of the winepress of God alone.

[43:47] And it will be the sword that proceeds out of his mouth which is nothing more than his spoken word. And with that the enemy will be absolutely obliterated.

[43:59] it shall come to pass, Zechariah 12, in that day, and this is a phrase that is used repeatedly in connection with prophecy, in that day, in that day, in that day, so many times it used.

[44:13] And it always means the same thing. It's the day of the Lord. It's the day of the wrath and vengeance of God. And it isn't just 24 hours.

[44:25] It is a period of time. But it is a block of time in which these things will transpire. I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

[44:38] And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon me. And actually, this is probably better translated.

[44:51] They shall look unto me whom they have pierced. and this, of course, is speaking metaphorically of their fathers who were instrumental in the crucifixion of Christ.

[45:04] And they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son. Picture a Jewish father who has but one son and he has lost him.

[45:20] And he is at the gravesite. and the tears of that father just will not stop flowing. And that's the kind of contrition that is going to be involved here.

[45:33] And he shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. And then, a brief passage from Romans 11, verse 26 is preceded by verse 25, which says that blindness in part has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in.

[45:57] And, verse 26, and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written. And this is that remnant of which we were speaking.

[46:07] There shall come out of Zion the deliverer. And that, of course, is the Messiah. And shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

[46:25] And God takes away their sins and he takes away our sins when once we are willing to own them, confess them, forsake them, acknowledge them.

[46:38] God delights in forgiving. He just loves to forgive. But we have to give him a reason to do it.

[46:49] And the only reason he can forgive is because we confess, we acknowledge. If we confess our sin, God is faithful.

[46:59] That means you can always count on him. He's dependable. God is faithful and just. That means he has not compromised in his integrity by forgiving us.

[47:10] Doesn't mean he looks the other way. You see, the reason that God is able to forgive us is because Jesus has satisfied his justice. So God no longer need have a case against us.

[47:24] He forgives us freely, fully, forever. That is just amazing. It's amazing grace, isn't it? Just wonderful.

[47:36] Never expect to get over it. And so, all Israel shall be saved. Well, I'm sure it doesn't come as any surprise to you that we never got to sheets two and three, but we will attempt to do that in our next get-together.

[47:53] And because I'm already over on my time, I'll have to dispense with the Q&A because we'll not be able to take the time to do that. But we're on no time frame, no schedule that we have to be through.

[48:05] So we will take this as it comes, and next week we'll try to work in some time for Q&A, and we'll see how that works out. All I want to leave you with now this morning is this. This subject of repentance, the changing of the mind, and information received, may be something that every person here has already done.

[48:27] You've already settled that. In which case, God's forgiveness is full and free and forever, and you are in Christ, and you cannot be any more in Christ than being in Christ.

[48:38] and there's nothing to be added to that because you're complete in him. But if it's something that you've never done or never heard of or never considered before, then this is your opportunity. Would you pray with me, please?

[48:49] Loving Father, we've talked about a lot of things that we wish we understood better, but the understanding is sufficient to know that you are a trustworthy God, and you are faithful in providing and delivering all that you've promised, and we are so grateful for that.

[49:06] And our prayer this morning is for any person who may be here, hungry of heart, lost, perhaps not even realizing it until maybe just now, but apart from you and apart from your forgiveness, our prayer for them is that they may have the courage, the honesty, the integrity to see themselves like you see them, as lacking, undone, unable to provide anything that would make them acceptable to you.

[49:43] For if we could, we wouldn't need Jesus, but we can't. So we need him desperately, and he is our only hope.

[49:54] And our prayer is that anyone here who is lacking the Lord Jesus Christ living in their life and heart, that they may come to grips with that reality, and even now be willing to say, Lord Jesus, I want you.

[50:11] I want you as my Savior, and since you died to provide for me what I could never provide on my own, I want to take it from your gracious hand and thank you for eternal life, paying the price to make it available to me.

[50:25] Here is my heart and life. I want to trust you. I want you to take this life of mine and do with it as you please. I am yours, and you are mine. Thank you, Father, for this time to share together this morning.

[50:39] We recognize that much has not been well said, and much has not been well explained as much as we would like, but we trust that the truth that has been shared would be sufficient.

[50:52] For anything that may have been uttered of the flesh or out of error, we pray that you will cause it to pass away and come to naught. Thank you for these delightful people and for their teachable spirit and heart and for their abiding with us.

[51:07]  Commit each one of them to the balance of this day in your grace in Christ's name. Amen.