The Mystery of Israel #1 - Modern Israel and The Old Testament

[00:00:00] I would like to read in the letter of the apostle Paul to the Romans in chapter eleven in verse 25 to 28, for I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel until the fullness of the gentiles become in and so all Israel shall be saved, even as it is written there shall come out of Zion the deliverer he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob and this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sake, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. [00:01:01] Just a word of prayer, beloved. Lord, we are so thankful as we come before you, that you have made specific provision for the speaking of your word and for the hearing of it. We want, Lord with an honest heart to approach this whole matter of Israel. You speak of it as a secret, as a mystery which we know. The understanding of it is given to those who belong to you. [00:01:38] Lord, we pray that you will clear away confusion, clear away all the smoke that often surrounds this subject through the various opinions and counter opinions, the various interpretations that are given to it. Clear it all away, and help us by your holy spirit to see clearly. We believe it is important for the church in the last days of world history to be clear on this matter. And we believe, Lord, that we cannot understand the times in which we live unless we understand this mystery of Israel. Therefore, Lord, we commit ourselves to you and stand by faith into that anointing grace and power which you have provided for us in our Lord Jesus, and which you make such a reality in the person of the Holy Spirit. [00:02:43] May we know a double portion both in the speaking and in the hearing of your word. We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. [00:02:59] These messages that I have been asked to give are primarily to do and for those who do not really understand the whole matter of Israel. [00:03:19] What does the word of God say about Israel? [00:03:27] That the word Israel, the word Jacob, comes again and again and again and is not just the man who was named Jacob and whom God turned and changed into Israel. But it is clear that it is spoken of the people of God all the way through the Bible. [00:03:55] The question we ask is, has the modern state of Israel anything to do with the purpose of God? [00:04:09] Does that state? Is it the hand of God in history? [00:04:19] And is there still a divine destiny for the jewish people and for Israel, I am quite sure that you all know, as I've said in the previous message, that this subject is the focal point of an enormous amount of controversy, of conflict, war. [00:04:53] In fact, ever since Israel was created on the 14 May 1948, she has known seven wars. [00:05:04] She has never really been out of war. [00:05:07] Of course, we have to say that the history of the jewish people is a history of conflict, of strife, and of attempt after attempt to liquidate them, to wipe them out. [00:05:30] The powers of darkness have never succeeded, and the jewish people are still with us today. [00:05:38] And the most amazing thing is that Israel reappeared on the face of the earth after an absence of some 1900 years. [00:06:01] Is this, as some people have said, a political accident, just one more event that is actually without the significance in the long history of the world? [00:06:22] Or does it betoken something far more significant and far greater? [00:06:32] I believe that if it was only a question of conflict in the world, we could explain it away as being the powers of darkness, using unsaved people to seek to nullify and neutralize the fulfillment of the purpose of God. [00:07:01] But sadly, this controversy and strife is found as much amongst christians as non christians. [00:07:16] I say that's a sad fact, but it is a very real fact. [00:07:22] One christian preacher said that God is not interested in a little bit of a real estate in the Middle east. [00:07:35] Another one called it a political accident and nothing whatsoever to do with the hand of God. [00:07:47] Because of this confusion and because the media almost unremittingly puts over a picture of Israel as dark, as aggressive and as cruel and as militarily powerful, I think many christians wonder, what is this? It cannot be the Israel that we read of in the Bible. [00:08:37] It is interesting that the apostle Paul writing that tremendous letter to the Romans, which is the greatest exposition of the gospel in the Bible. [00:08:52] When he comes to these chapters 910 and eleven, which I've dealt with already in my first message, he says, I would not, brothers, have you ignorant of this secret, this mystery. He uses a greek word in the original, not meaning something that is unfathomable, unintelligible forever beyond us, but a secret that the initiated understand. [00:09:30] In other words, every child of God, everyone born of the spirit of God, it is their birthright to understand these mysteries. We have, of course, the mystery of the gospel. [00:09:47] Can you ever explain that God has chosen to use the gospel to bring men and women to himself? [00:09:57] It is amazing. [00:09:59] Every time I preach I know that what I say will have no impact as words in themselves. And yet God takes words that he gives to us and somehow he opens eyes and someone who has absolutely blind us, a bat to the things of God is suddenly saved. [00:10:25] The mystery of the gospel, the mystery of the incarnation. Can you ever explain the incarnation? What a secret. But it is. Yet to every true child of God, they know they have met with God in the Lord Jesus. [00:10:41] Or again, the mystery of the church. What a mess we've made at that. [00:10:45] The body of the Lord Jesus, he is the head, the church is the body. [00:10:53] It even speaks of the mystery of lawlessness, not meaning that in the end there will be an antichrist system and an antichrist who is a kind of gangster, a mafia style gangster or a triad style gangster, but rather that it will be someone who has rejected fully and finally the revealed word of God and the law of God. [00:11:21] He wants not only himself, but he wants society to live without the revealed law of God. That's the lawless one he is called. Well, all these are secrets which are the birthright. The understanding of these secrets is the birthright of every child of God. Paul actually speaks of himself and the other apostles as stewards of these mysteries of God. [00:11:57] I find it very interesting that writing to these folks in Rome, he says, look, I don't want you to be ignorant of this secret. [00:12:08] It's your birthright as a child of God. As children of God, you have a right to understand this thing. [00:12:18] But the whole question of Israel is as difficult to understand as the incarnation. [00:12:26] It is something actually profoundly simple. But because it is so simple, it baffles us, confuses us. [00:12:41] Now, I have felt that these messages should be given to seek at least to clear up some of these problems. [00:13:01] Does God still have a purpose for Israel or is she merely just another state amongst the political and military and economic states of the world? [00:13:22] Because of time I can only take one or two scriptures. I have spoken in the first message about Israel in the New Testament, but now I want to speak about Israel in the Old Testament. Now I have said in the first message that everywhere you turn in the Old Testament you will find this question of Israel. And there are some extraordinary prophecies within those pages. [00:14:04] Have they been fulfilled? There are many who insisted, insist that they have already all been fulfilled in the return from the exile in the fifth century before Christ. [00:14:21] Therefore, they say, you cannot look for anything today that is going to be fulfilled in relation to those prophecies because they have already been fulfilled. [00:14:37] Then, of course, the church has fallen back on a spiritualization of these prophecies. And I had absolutely no problem in drawing spiritual lessons from the words of the prophets or from anything that God has done in the history of Israel. [00:15:02] But sometimes to spiritualize these prophecies in such a way that they do, they have no relation to what their original import was, is something I feel quite wrong and misleads the people of God. [00:15:27] I'm going to speak about. Three prophecies. Confine myself to three prophecies which I believe cannot be explained away by either spiritualizing them or saying they have already been fulfilled. Now, the first one I want to turn to is in Zechariah, and it is in chapter twelve. It is a prophecy, and a remarkable prophecy, contained in the chapters twelve from verse one to chapter 14. And the last verse, I will read just a few verses of it from verse one. The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus saith the Lord who stretcheth forth the heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about. And upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded, and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. Verse nine. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. And they shall look unto me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. [00:17:25] In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Chapter 14. From verse two. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. And the mount of Olives shall be cleft in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west. And there shall be a very great valley and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south. [00:18:27] It is amazing to me that 2400, 500 years ago, a jewish prophet predicted something that has never been fulfilled until our day and generation. [00:18:45] It is a fact that the church has been unable to spiritualize this prophecy. You will look in vain in most of the Bible commentaries to find these chapters spiritualized as referring to the church or simply spiritualized away. [00:19:10] It has been felt that this prophecy has to be left as literal. [00:19:21] Zechariah was speaking of the last days. He speaks of in that day, his feet, that is, the feet of the messiah, shall stand upon the mount of olives. And you will notice that he says, which is before Jerusalem on the east, be hard to spiritualize that, he says something's going to happen to it whereby it will be divided, half going to the north, half going to the south. [00:20:06] I think that it is interesting that the prophet Zechariah spoke of the last phase of world history. [00:20:20] And he said, jerusalem will be the key to it. [00:20:29] Again, note very clearly that apparently Jerusalem will be at the center of the world stage. [00:20:39] Now that is quite remarkable, because for some 1900 years or even more, Jerusalem has not been at the center of the world stage. Even in the time of Jesus, it was Rome that was at the center of the world stage. Apparently not Jerusalem. [00:21:00] Jerusalem was the capital of nothing in those days, a tiny little syrian province in the Roman Empire. [00:21:14] In the long history of these nearly two millennia, Jerusalem has been the capital of nothing, barring 100 years in the 11th century when she was the capital of a crusader kingdom. [00:21:32] Apart from that, she has been ruled from Cairo, from Baghdad, from Damascus, from Constantinople, from London and from Amman. [00:21:44] But she has never been the capital of anything. [00:21:49] One, therefore, could well question if you had lived in years previous to this particular period of time, what was Zechariah talking about? Why would anyone fight over Jerusalem? Yet he says, three times, verse three. It shall come, he says, at the end of that verse. And all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. Verse nine. It shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Chapter 14, verse two. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. [00:22:32] Why would all the nations come against Jerusalem? Jerusalem. 150 years ago, Jerusalem was a little village town of hardly 30,000 inhabitants. Unhygienic, flea bitten, fly blown in the judean hill country, buried in the syrian province of the Ottoman Empire. [00:23:02] Now, why would all the nations come against Jerusalem? Why would the status of Jerusalem and the future of Jerusalem be such a cause of concern to all the nations, as if they feel threatened, their peace, their security threatened by Jerusalem. [00:23:27] We have no problem today understanding it. [00:23:32] Of all the capital cities in the world, there have been more United Nations Security Council resolutions passed on the status and future of Jerusalem than any other city. [00:23:53] It is stunning that a prophet should have said that there will come a time when Jerusalem will be the hot chestnut, the hot potato that nobody can hold, and that the nations of the earth will be so afraid of what is happening that they will come against her with sanctions, economically and even militarily. [00:24:39] We are living in those days. Is Jerusalem now at that center of the world stage? How interesting it is that in the war on Iraq, it has been said not once, but again and again and again, that the problem between the Israelis and the Palestinians is the problem that is facing the world, that Islam would be loving, nonviolent and quiet if this matter could be dealt with. [00:25:18] All the nations from Japan in the far east to the European Union, to the United Kingdom and to the United States have all repeatedly said in the last months that the real problem and the real threat to world peace and security is Jerusalem, her status and her future. [00:25:54] The Lord Jesus put it also, amazingly speaking, about the exile in the year 30 of this era, he said, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down underfoot of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. [00:26:27] It is interesting because if you read carefully this prophecy, you will see that Zechariah implies, he infers that this Jerusalem has become the capital of a jewish state. Read through carefully chapter twelve and you will find again and again, Judah, Judah, Judah, Judah. [00:26:50] That word comes from Jew. [00:26:54] For the way we understand it, he speaks of the chieftains of Judah in some of the versions, governors of Judah. [00:27:05] Interesting. Aloof is one of our terms for the highest military, some of the highest military leaders in the military hierarchy in the army. [00:27:18] How interesting this all is. [00:27:21] If you read carefully what he says, it is so remarkable that it's like a newspaper account rather than ancient prophecy. [00:27:49] I find it interesting that this whole prophecy begins with these words. The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. [00:28:06] What is it that Zechariah says? [00:28:13] It would be worth just summing up a few of the things, a whole number of things, but just a few of the things and underlining them. [00:28:22] First of all, he says, Jerusalem will be the focal point of world concern, of world controversy and of world strife and conflict that has happened. [00:28:42] I don't need to say anymore. He says it. I will make Jerusalem. [00:28:49] And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem. [00:28:57] And I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. [00:29:05] And I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. [00:29:15] It is interesting to note that. Now, the second thing is the way he describes Jerusalem. He says, the Lord says, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the peoples. Roundabout that sounds very poetic, but in actual fact it means a goblet of wine into which has been secretly introduced a poison. [00:29:48] It was the favorite form of assassination in the ancient world because most people with sense could taste something wrong in food. [00:30:02] You'd have to be drunk to eat the food and not taste that there was something in it that was wrong. But wine, there are so many different tastes to wine. Why do you think that all the great sultans and emperors and kings had cupbearers? Do you think they just was a special kind of ceremonial office? The cupbearers had a very practical duty to perform. [00:30:33] They had before the king or the emperor or the sultan could ever drink what was placed before they drank. They took a sip first. [00:30:45] If they dropped dead, they had gone. [00:30:50] You know, cupbearer could take out a life insurance. [00:30:55] Historians tell us that they lasted on average about two years. [00:31:05] Here in this prophecy, God says, I'm going to put a poison into this goblet or cup of wine. [00:31:20] And anybody who takes this and drinks it, in other words, anyone who meddles with the divine future and destiny, the divine purpose for Jerusalem, will discover that they have killed themselves. [00:31:37] They will be rendered insensible, at the least, and at the most finished. [00:31:47] He speaks of all the peoples roundabout and it is a very interesting thing that this war atmosphere that has been conducted for nearly 70 years by the nations around Jerusalem in the Middle east, it has rendered all of them impotent. [00:32:15] What could have been spent on lifting the social conditions, what could have been spent on research in agriculture and in water and in reinforcement, has been spent on the weapons of war. [00:32:35] It is a very interesting thing, rendered insensible or destroyed. [00:32:45] What God is really saying is this, that any single power that takes Jerusalem meddles with Jerusalem, whether it's an ideology or a faith, or whether it is a superpower or whether it is just one nation, they will discover that there is a poison in this thing. Now the prophet goes on, by the spirit of God, to say, and in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all nations. That is everybody, not just the immediate people around Jerusalem, but everybody. [00:33:27] Everyone that burdens themselves with it will be sore, wounded. [00:33:36] In other words. It sounds very poetic, but actually what it means is this is a stone that causes a rupture. Now, when a person has a rupture, their lifting days are over, and God is saying, it doesn't matter what it is, what nation it is, how great they are. If they try to take this stone, where I have put it, that is Jerusalem, and put it into another context, they will discover they've ruptured themselves. [00:34:05] That is precisely what happened with the Ottoman Empire. It is precisely what has happened with the German Reich under Adolf Hitler. It is precisely what happened with the Soviet Union. And it is precisely what happened, most surprisingly, with the british empire. [00:34:28] Of course, there's still turkey, but she's shorn of all her power. [00:34:36] The empire's gone. Same with Britain, that great empire of which it was said, the sun never sets upon it has gone. [00:34:47] And though there is a commonwealth of nations, something altogether different. [00:34:55] How interesting this is. This is the second thing. [00:35:01] Apparently Jerusalem will be the focal point of controversy and war and world concern. That's the first thing. Here's the second thing. God will make Jerusalem something that is not apparent. [00:35:26] A glass of wine. You would never know that in the wine is a poison, a stone that looks as if it could be moved and can be moved, but actually causes a rupture. [00:35:43] The third thing he says is that all the nations will come against Jerusalem. [00:35:54] I think that is quite remarkable because until this generation, who could have ever thought that all the nations of the earth would come against Jerusalem? [00:36:07] But we only have to see what goes on in the United Nations General assembly to understand. [00:36:15] Much of the voting is tribal, if you know what I mean. [00:36:20] It is not a question of what is right or what is wrong. [00:36:24] It is more a question of following a line with the growth of antisemitism now expressed in a new form in anti israelism. [00:36:42] I think that this prophecy of Zechariah about the nation's coming against Jerusalem is noteworthy. [00:36:55] What is most remarkable is that it is not Satan and the powers of darkness that are doing this, but the Lord. [00:37:05] He says, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And then again he says, I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. [00:37:19] That is incredible. [00:37:26] Is the Lord actually saying, I am going to use this city to undo every nation that is on a collision course with my purpose, my covenants, my word and my messiah? [00:37:50] Well, how do you explain this? [00:37:59] I mean, if it doesnt refer to Israel, to what does it refer? [00:38:07] Take Israel out of the equation. Say God has finished with Israel. Then what does this prophecy speak about? Of whom is it speaking about? For instance, notice something else quite remarkable. [00:38:24] The spiritual salvation of Israel. [00:38:27] When the Lord says in chapter twelve, verse nine, I shall seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication. And they shall look unto me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him as for an only son, and be in bitterness for him as for a firstborn. In that day a fountain shall be opened for sin and for uncleanness. [00:38:57] How amazing this is. [00:39:02] In the very midst of all this war and controversy, God, through the prophet Zechariah, predicts that the jewish people will come to spiritual salvation. Not just physical deliverance, not just victory, but they will come to spiritual salvation. [00:39:29] Exactly what the apostle Paul says in Romans chapter eleven. [00:39:35] And all Israel shall be saved. [00:39:40] And then he goes according as it is, there shall come out of Zion a deliverer. He shall turn away ungodliness in Jacob. And this is my covenant that I will make with them when I take away their sins. [00:40:04] I think this is amazing. Could anyone explain to me when this was fulfilled? [00:40:16] This is certainly not fulfilled in the fifth century before Christ. [00:40:22] So how do you explain this prophecy? There is a marvelous little word contained in verse six of chapter twelve which I've always felt is very awkwardly translated in many of the modern versions. [00:40:41] Strangely, I find it most accurately translated by Monsignor Knox. In the catholic version, the Hebrew is very simple. [00:40:55] And when all is over, Jerusalem shall stand where Jerusalem ever stood. [00:41:06] So this is my first question. [00:41:10] How, if there's no Israel, how do you explain if it doesn't refer to Israel and Israel, something else than modern Israel? This would be ridiculous. [00:41:24] I see that in the most modern verses, translations they still call every time Paul speaks of someone. They're Israelites. Who are the Israelites? Apparently, another breed. Nothing to do with modern Jews and nothing to do with the modern state of Israel. And that. Extraordinary. [00:41:46] Well, now I have another prophecy just as remarkable. You will find it in Jeremiah, chapter 31. [00:41:55] I can only read a few verses of it, but I will. From verse three, the Lord appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, o virgin of Israel. Again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shall go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria. The planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. For there shall be a day that the watchman upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, arise ye, and let us go up to zion unto the Lord our God. For thus saith the Lord, sing with gladness for Jacob and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish ye, praise ye, and say, o Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the outermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame. [00:42:56] The woman with child and her traveleth with child. Together a great company shall they return hither. They shall come with weeping. Verse ten hear the word of the Lord, o ye nations, and declare it in the isles, afar off, and say, he that scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd does his flock. Verse 15. Thus saith the Lord. A voice is heard in Ramah lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children because they are not. Thus says the Lord, refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, for thy work shall be rewarded, says the Lord. And they shall come again from the land of the enemy, and there is hope for thy latter end, saith the Lord, and thy children shall come again to their own border. And then this prophecy ends with these remarkable words in verse 35. Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinance of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirth up the sea so that the waves thereof roar. The Lord of hosts is his name. If these ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever. [00:44:26] Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. [00:44:42] Of whom is the Lord speaking when he said by his spirit through the prophet Jeremiah, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness. [00:45:02] This word in Hebrew, chesed, is. You can hardly translate it by one english word. The Old English revised american standard version was loving kindness. Modern versions, steadfast love. Some of them have put persevering love. Actually, it is a combination of words. [00:45:24] This wonderful word, chesed. [00:45:27] It is, let me put it this way, steadfast, persevering, loyal covenant love, full of mercy. [00:45:44] Of whom is the Lord speaking? Is he speaking of Jeremiah? Well, of course we understand that there was Jeremiah absolutely faithful in the midst of an apostate people of God, in the midst of a backsliding nation that were giving themselves to every God and every demonic spirit and principality. [00:46:10] And he had this terrible message of judgment for which he suffered not only physically, but above all in his heart. [00:46:23] Many times he cried out, why have you chosen me to speak like this? [00:46:34] But is it Jeremiah? If you read carefully, it says, at that time, saith the law, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. [00:46:45] The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness, even Israel. [00:46:53] And then the Lord says, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Look again. [00:47:02] And therefore with loving kindness, with chesed have I drawn thee, again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built. O virgin of Israel, listen again. [00:47:18] For thus says the Lord, sing with gladness for Jacob and shout for the chief of the nations. [00:47:27] Listen again. [00:47:29] Hear the word of the Lord. Go, ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, he that scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd does his flock. It is clear to me that it is Israel. How does he call her? [00:47:50] A virgin, oh, virgin of Israel. Israel was anything but a virgin. She was a prostitute. [00:48:00] She had given herself to every erotic, evil rite and ceremony of the pagan nations around her. She had even brought idols into the house of the Lord, set up the aserim, the pillars that were phallic in all the high places and in the house of the Lord. [00:48:27] How in the world could the Lord call Israel, o virgin of Israel? [00:48:36] When a person has lost their virginity, you cannot restore it. [00:48:42] It's gone forever. [00:48:47] Now, why does the Lord say, o virgin of Israel, unless in that everlasting love of his and that loving kindness, that steadfast love, that persevering love, he will not let her go till in the end to the finished work of the messiah, he sees her as a virgin. [00:49:17] In other words, it is the same thing as in Zechariah. [00:49:22] It is something to do with the last days. And God is saying, I have always loved you with an eternal love and I will not rest until I fulfilled my purpose for you. [00:49:47] Oh, but someone says, I'm not over sure about what you're saying, but has this not been fulfilled in the return from Babylon? I hear it again and again. And I might say from Bible teachers who ought to know better, even some professors, they say all these prophecies were fulfilled in the return from the babylonian exile. And therefore, we can only draw lessons from them spiritually. We have to spiritualize it. [00:50:34] How do you explain verse five again? Shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria. The planter shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit thereof. If you know your Bible, you will know that Ezra and Nehemiah chased out from the house of the Lord those who were mixed. [00:50:58] You will know that they would not allow the Samaritans to join in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. [00:51:06] Why? [00:51:09] The babylonian policy was to homogenize the whole empire. And they did it by taking one people from one end of the empire and deporting them to the other, therefore cutting them off from their roots and bringing another people from that end and putting them in place of those that they had deported. And interestingly, the Samaritans they brought from somewhere else in the empire brought them to Samaria, and only the poorest of the poor Jews were still there. They intermarried and thus came into being this samaritan people. Now, I mean, all of you surely know, if you don't know what I'm talking about, with Ezra, Nehemiah and the history of the. At that time, you will at least have heard of the samaritan woman at the well of Samaria. [00:52:12] When Jesus sat by the well and asked her for water. And she said, how is it that you would you ask of me, a Samaritan? [00:52:22] Water for the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. [00:52:31] Samaria was never resettled by the Jews when they came back from Babylon. That was the one area they would not touch. [00:52:43] And yet people tell me that all this was fulfilled in the return from Babylon. Apparently this is poetry, and poetry. You have a license with poetry. Is it any wonder then, that people don't put too much upon the word of God in the old covenant? [00:53:03] They feel, well, you know, it's exaggeration or a bit untrustworthy. It is a lot of. It's poetic. [00:53:13] You can't just take it at face value. [00:53:17] That's not how I see the word of God. [00:53:21] I say you cannot explain this prophecy by saying it was fulfilled in the return from the babylonian exile in the fifth century before Christ. [00:53:34] You have a most remarkable description of the return of the Jews in our day. Listen to it. [00:53:45] I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the outermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and her that traveleth with child together a great company shall they return hither. They shall come with weeping and with supplications. Will I lead them? [00:54:06] It is interesting if this is a reference not merely to former returns in which this prophecy was not exhaustively fulfilled and was not primarily centered in. [00:54:29] You have an incredible fulfillment in our days. Watch any newsreel of 19 464-7488 and thereafter of the Jews returning to the land. [00:54:51] It is an exact description of this. The lame, the disabled, the blind, the pregnant woman, the woman with a little child. It is an incredible story. When you think of the 43,000 that were airlifted in old Dakotas from the Yemen, when you think of the 112, 115,000 that were airlifted from Iraq. [00:55:20] It is an incredible story. And it has not ended. It has gone on and on. I myself remember the ethiopian Jews coming back, people being carried, they couldn't walk, people on crutches, people led by the hand because they were blind. [00:55:38] Has any nation ever received as citizens such a motley coup? [00:55:46] And yet Jeremiah here describes it in detail. I think it is quite incredible. [00:55:55] And then again, time beats me, but what is this? Rachel weeping for her children? How do you refer that to the church? In what way is it? Rachel has always been the picture of symbol of jewish motherhood. [00:56:14] What is this an amazing description of if it is not the Holocaust? [00:56:20] Her children are not. 2 million toddlers and children died in the Holocaust. [00:56:36] Some of the most horrific stories recounted are to do with the toddlers that were finally exterminated. [00:56:52] Anyone? I understand, I have never been able to go to Auschwitz, but myself, I couldn't bear it. But those friends of mine who have been tell me that the thing that has most deeply moved them are the piles of little shoes. [00:57:08] Huge, huge, almost mountains of little shoes. [00:57:20] What is this picture? Listen to the Lord. Thus, saith the Lord, refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord. They shall come again from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your latter end, says the Lord, and your children shall come again to their own border. [00:57:51] Is it not the Holocaust? [00:57:55] And has it not been literally fulfilled that those who survived those terrible camps knew there was no hope for them anywhere unless they got back to the land of his? Yes, sir, your children shall come again to their own border. [00:58:31] Well, my dear friend, if you look at this, how do you explain it? [00:58:39] Of whom is the prophet speaking, if it is not Israel? [00:58:48] Yes, you can draw spiritual lessons from this for the church and very real ones. [00:58:55] But to whom is the spirit of God speaking? [00:59:02] And of whom is the spirit of God speaking, if it is not Israel, I do not believe you can explain this prophecy to me in any other way than it is something to do with what has happened in our day and our generation. [00:59:29] There is even a little phrase in verse 23, said, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity. [00:59:47] Well, it may be that that is just referring to this word. The Lord bless the. O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of hope. [01:00:01] But it would have been in HebRew. [01:00:05] Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language for nearly 1700 years. It was no longer the language of the hearth, of the home, of the market. [01:00:18] It was a liturgical language. [01:00:22] And then literally, at the end of the 19th century, it was revived to become the spoken mother tongue of at least 4 million Israelis. [01:00:38] Today, there is no other evidence of a tongue that ceased to be a spoken tongue, that has become the spoken tongue of a volatile modern nation. [01:00:54] Not one. [01:00:57] Is that the hand of God? Or is it coincidence? And again, listen to this. In verse 35, the Lord says, if the sun and the moon and the stars cease to run in their course, then shall Israel cease from being a nation. [01:01:25] Couldn't be clearer, could it? [01:01:29] Couldn't be clearer. I mean, the Lord gives his promise that even if he judges the people, and he has judged them many times, not least in exiles, they will still be his nation. [01:01:50] Is that what the Lord meant when the apostle Paul spoke those words by the spirit of God as touching the election? [01:02:01] They are beloved for the patriarch's sake, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, I would say. Yes. [01:02:12] There is here the mystery of election, the mystery of predestination. [01:02:21] You cannot explain it away. [01:02:24] Our minds are too finite, too limited to fully understand this matter, but its effect. Now listen again. He goes on to say, if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. [01:02:56] There are whole sections of the church, so called, which has said that God has cast off this people. Hes rejected them. Theyre finished. Theres nothing more to do with them. [01:03:13] And the reason is that they apparently crucified the Messiah. [01:03:18] Thats why. [01:03:21] And yet the Lord says here that if you can measure the heavens above, and we have been unable to do that, we can get to the moon, we can probe Mars, but Venus. But I mean, the heavens, it's limitless. [01:03:41] We can't do it. [01:03:44] In the earth beneath. [01:03:48] Then will I cast them off for all that they have done. [01:03:52] He actually spells it out. [01:03:58] Well, now I say, how do you explain this incredible prophecy? [01:04:07] And we are left with this, that God has an everlasting love for these people, that he has an everlasting love for you. I have no doubt, if you are a child of God, that he had an everlasting love for Jeremiah, that faithful servant of God. I have no doubt that he has an everlasting love for his servants. I have no doubt those who are faithful in that way. [01:04:31] I have no doubt that God has an everlasting love for the true church. [01:04:41] But in this context, he's speaking of the jewish people, people first and foremost, and of their history, their course through the centuries of time. [01:05:05] I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore, with loving kind, with steadfast love, with persevering love, with loyal, covenanted love, full of mercy will I draw you now. [01:05:26] Is this a reference to the drawing back of the jewish exiles to the land? [01:05:32] Is this something that lies behind the rebuilding of the cities, the ruined cities, the recreation of the national institutions, the amazing recreation of the fertility of the land and the ecology of the land? [01:05:55] Is it in fact a reference to something far greater than all of that? [01:06:00] It all pales into insignificance beside it, and that is the spiritual salvation of the jewish people. [01:06:15] I say it is. [01:06:18] And the key to it is everlasting love. [01:06:24] His everlasting love. [01:06:30] The third scripture I want to take is from Isaiah. It is a very well known scripture, a prophecy. And we find it in chapter 43 and verse five and six. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the end of the earth. Everyone that is called by my name and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yea, whom I have made. [01:07:17] It is often said that this is a prophecy concerning the gospel work in this age. [01:07:26] And it is true that our Lord Jesus told us that we were to go and to preach the gospel to every creature in the whole creation. We were to make disciples of all nations. And if we were to do that, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Spirit, and teaching them to do all things that he had commanded, he would be with us always to the end of the age. [01:07:59] It is absolutely true that the Holy Spirit has called men and women to go out to the ends of the earth in these 1900, almost 2000 years, and from every tongue and kindred and people there have been those who have been saved and walked into the family of God. [01:08:24] In that sense, this prophecy can be seen as fulfilled. And I don't myself have any problem about it. I glory in it that the Lord could say, everyone that is called by my name and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made. It's wonderful that there is such a huge numberless multitude that have been brought out of every single part of the earth from the north and the south, from the east and the west. [01:09:14] But is that the fulfillment only of this marvelous prophecy? [01:09:25] I would have said that its primary fulfillment is to do with the jewish people. [01:09:34] The Lord speaks of Jacob in verse one. [01:09:41] But now says the Lord that created thee, o Jacob, and he that formed thee, o Israel. [01:09:51] And then he says here, fear not, for I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. [01:10:02] Thy seed. [01:10:05] Of course, it's true that in the roman letter, as we have already considered it, says, they are not all Abraham's seed that are of the flesh, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. This we know. [01:10:23] But nevertheless, the, the fact remains that you have here a, I would have said a natural relationship to the physical seed of Abraham, to the physical seed of Jacob. [01:10:48] It is to do with Israel. [01:10:52] Of course, others say straight away, and I have a very real problem about this. On the matter of referring it to gospel work, I don't have the same problem. But when people tell me that these scriptures were fulfilled, this prophecy was fulfilled in the return from Babylon in the fifth century before Christ. I have a real problem. Why does the Lord say, I will say to the north, give up? [01:11:25] Why to the north? [01:11:31] In the babylonian exile, the headquarters of that great monolith that held the jewish people in its grip was not norse, but east, a thousand kilometers eastwards was the actual capital city of that great monolithic system, that empire, the babylonian empire. [01:12:00] Why does the Lord say, I will say to the north, give up? Should he have not said, I will say to the east, give up? [01:12:12] Oh, someone says, look here, you surely know that all the major trade routes came from the east, from Babylon and went northwards and entered the promised land from the north. But the Lord wasn't speaking to trade routes, nor did trade routes keep the jewish people in exile. [01:12:36] It was the babylonian government, the babylonian sultan or emperor who kept them in his grip, captive and in exile. And then there are others who say, oh, don't make such a fuss about it. The Old Testament is poetry, and in poetry you're given license. [01:13:00] Really? You mean to tell me that when the Lord says north, he means east? [01:13:06] It seems to be the prostitution of language. [01:13:11] Surely if the Lord wanted to say east, he would have said, I will say to the east, give up. [01:13:20] There was something about the babylonian system, so demonized, so powerful, so satisfactory, panic in many ways, that it required the Lord himself to speak the word. Nothing else would break that power, and it required him to say it. [01:13:44] Why does he say, I will say to the north, give up? Good question. [01:13:51] Interestingly, too, he says, I will bring, I will gather thee from the west. When did they ever return? In the return of the exiles from Babylon, from the west. We know that there were those in Egypt, in the south that came back. But where were they? In the west, the ends of the earth in the day in which Isaiah, Apophsia and Jeremiah were the caucasian mountains, the foothills of the caucasian mountains and the Straits of Gibraltar. [01:14:28] Well, we know they did come back from the foothills of the caucasian mountains, some of them. [01:14:36] But when did they come back from Spain or from the Straits of Gibraltar? Or that end? [01:14:48] I find it very interesting because in my estimation, the Holy Spirit deliberately said north, not east. [01:15:05] And the reason he said it was because in the last period of world history, history, there would be another monolithic system, another monolithic empire and ideology that would hold the jewish people, its jewish citizens, in its grip and would keep them captive, would not allow them to learn Hebrew, not allow them to go to Israel, not allow them to teach the faith to their children. [01:15:45] It was the soviet empire. [01:15:49] And I find it very interesting that the same demonic spirit, the same powerful satanic character, held this people in its grip. And it required the Lord himself to say the word. [01:16:13] I remember very well when I was first saved that all those that were much older than myself, I was only nearly 13. [01:16:23] They all believed that the Soviet Union and Marxism was basically destined to take over the whole world and was the antiquarian Christ. [01:16:36] It was so rigid, so powerful, so invincible, so immovable. [01:16:47] It is incredible that 70 years to the very day on which the marxist manifesto was signed in the Kremlin palace, 70 years later, it was abrogated. [01:17:08] Who could have believed that such a thing could happen? And who could have believed that the old russian flag would come back as the flag of the Russian Federation? [01:17:23] Who would have believed that the old double headed eagle, even with the crowns on its head, should once again adorn the wall of the russian government's cabinet. [01:17:37] Who would have believed that there was an official service of repentance for the murder of the tsar and the tsarina and the tsarevich? But it has all happened. And the most interesting thing to me, that millions of russian Jews have been allowed to leave. [01:18:00] There are well over a million russian speaking Jews now in Israel. [01:18:09] It is an amazing thing that with them came so many musicians that at the time it was said they could almost create 30 symphony orchestras, so many doctors that some of them were actually putting goods into plastic bags in supermarkets in order just to bring in a bit of money whilst their status was being sorted out. [01:18:40] So many scientists that they said that they could create another Weizmann institute. [01:18:50] Of course, also with the Russians came mafia, the mafia as well, and all that side of things. [01:18:59] But the fact remains that something happened. RUssian is now the third most spoken language in Israel. [01:19:11] Who would have believed such a thing possible? And yet, in this prophecy, some 27 or 800 years old, God by his spirit, spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said, I will say to the north, give up. [01:19:40] Then, of course, I have to say that he said, and to the south, keep not back. And it is a very interesting fact that to the south of Israel, there is a land and a nation called Ethiopia. [01:19:55] And in that land there is one of the most ancient of jewish communities, called, in a kind of unpleasant way, Falashes. [01:20:09] Actually, they call themselves Beta Israel, the house of Israel. [01:20:16] It is such an ancient community that they do not even practice Talmudic Judaism. The Talmud is the oral tradition that was finally reduced to writing in the second and third century of this era. [01:20:38] And the form of Judaism that is practiced nearly all over the world is what we call Talmudic Judaism. [01:20:48] But they practice what we call mosaic Judaism. That is, the Judaism exactly as commanded by the lord through Moses, and without the traditions that came as time went on. [01:21:08] It is incredible that today there are some 40, I think I'm right in saying, 48,000 ethiopian Jews and quite a few more thousand waiting to come. [01:21:25] I remember very well it was a Sabbath, and there was civil war in Ethiopia. And it looked as if everything was going to collapse with bloodshed all around. And we knew that the many thousands of ethiopian Jews had gathered in Addis Ababa. And I remember at the Sabbath meal, my sister said to me, but can't something be done? Can't the government do something about it? And I said, what can Israel do? What can the israeli government do so far away from this nation? [01:22:04] Little did I know that every single plane in El al was on its way at the very time we were talking about it at the Sabbath meal. And they brought back thousands on those great jumbo jets, out of which all the seats were taken, so that everybody sat packed from wall to wall, and from end to end, children were born. [01:22:28] It was an incredible sight to see those planes landing and out of it, spilling people that seem to have come from history dressed like something in the Old Testament. [01:22:52] I will say to the south, give up. [01:23:00] I can only say that we have here one of the most remarkable prophecies that is still being fulfilled. In my estimation, the return of the jewish exiles to the promised land is something very deeply within the heart of God. [01:23:30] It seems to stir up fury and anger in so many. [01:23:43] How do you explain this prophecy? [01:23:48] Is there any other way that it can be explained? [01:23:54] I think not. I think that here you have simply but profoundly expressed the determination of God to bring this people back to the land. [01:24:18] And that leads me only to say one further. [01:24:22] Why? [01:24:28] The jewish people have always been a sign. [01:24:38] From the very beginning, they were a banner or a sign to the nations, sometimes negatively and sometimes positively. [01:24:55] So, as I see it, you have here a testimony. [01:25:04] You have, as it were, a witness to something. [01:25:08] These people, whether they know it or not, are bearing witness to the love of God, to the purpose of God, to the covenants of God, and to the messiah of God, and to the salvation of God. [01:25:37] I believe that this is part of the final movement in the work of redemption, so that what the Lord is doing is to bring these people back to the land to save them, to bring them to a new birth, to give them a new heart and place within them a new spirit, so that they become the last great witness to the truth that God has revealed in what we call the Bible. [01:26:30] There is really no more to say on this matter. I just think that you have what the apostle calls the mystery of Israel. He says, I don't want you to be ignorant of this mystery, my brothers, a hardening part hath befallen Israel. Until the full number of the gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved. [01:27:01] There is an election of this people that is as real as the election of the church. [01:27:06] You have two witnesses in this age. [01:27:12] One is the church, and the other the jewish people. [01:27:17] At present apart, they parted on the person of the Lord Jesus and the work of the Lord Jesus. [01:27:30] They will come back together in the person of the Lord Jesus and through the work of the Lord Jesus.