The Uniqueness of Israel #1

[00:00:00] It's a great joy for me to be able to speak here. I found it very amusing when the brother who from the Clarence hall staff said that this was a roller skating wink for ladies in the victorian time. Well, that's good for the Salvation army and good for charismatics. I think you put your roller skates on. [00:00:27] I wasn't quite as serious as Ian said in illness, but we were struck by stomach flu, which hit our home and me. And then a day or two later, David. And then a day after that, Steve. And then I had a relapse the day before. We traveled on Wednesday, and we really wondered whether we'd be able to travel, but we felt we should step out in faith. And we went in faith, and the thing disappeared the moment we stepped on the blade. [00:01:02] I want to read a number of scriptures. First of all, in the book of numbers, numbers and chapter 23 and verse nine. [00:01:16] For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. This is lo, it is a people that dwelleth alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations. [00:01:32] Chapter 24, verse nine. [00:01:35] He couched, that is, Israel. He lay down as a lion, and as a lioness who shall rouse him up. Blessed be everyone that blesses thee and cursed everyone that curseth thee. [00:01:52] Then in the book of deuteronomy. [00:01:56] Deuteronomy, chapter seven from verse six. [00:02:01] For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. [00:02:05] Thy Lord. [00:02:06] The Lord thy God, hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. [00:02:17] The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all peoples. But because the Lord loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he sware unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know therefore, that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and loving kindness, that wonderful word in Hebrew with them that love him, and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, and repayeth them that hate him, to their face to destroy them. He will not be slack to him that hateth him. He will repay him to his face. [00:03:17] Thou shalt therefore keep the commandment and the statutes and the ordinances which I command thee this day to do them. [00:03:27] And then in the roman letter, in the roman letter of the apostle Paul, and chapter eleven and verse 28, and 29, as touching the gospel, they, the jewish people, are enemies for your sake. But as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers or the patriarchs sake, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. [00:04:06] Just a word of prayer, beloved Lord, we want to thank you that you provide an anointing for the ministry of your word. [00:04:15] And, Lord, as we come to it now, we are conscious of your presence. We thank you for the time we have already had earlier this morning and for the blessing that you gave through that time. [00:04:29] Now, Lord, we just want to tell you, without you, we can do nothing. [00:04:35] We can use many words. We can give good teaching, good doctrine. But, Lord, unless you are here in anointing grace and power, nothing will go into eternity. But, Lord, you are here, and you have wonderfully obtained for us through that finished work of Calvary, an anointing of grace and power, both for the speaking of your word and the hearing of it. Into that anointing we simply stand by faith. Let a double portion be upon us all. We pray, and may our lives be touched, things more clearly defined, things as it were made from your heart to our hearts, somehow deposited. Lord, do it. We pray, and we shall give you all the worship and thanksgiving of our hearts for answering this, our prayer, which we ask in the name of. Of our Lord Jesus. Amen. [00:05:47] Well, I was asked if I would speak to you on the uniqueness of Israel, because, as Ian says, you've already got a book which deals with this whole subject. [00:06:01] But I am delighted to speak on this subject. [00:06:06] And I cannot think of anything more clear than the uniqueness of Israel. There is no single aspect of the jewish people or of Israel that is not unique. [00:06:27] Every way you see them, historically or contemporary, they are a unique people. [00:06:38] Into their very birth, into their very constitution, there is a uniqueness, and it is placed there not by human genetics, by human pedigree. It is placed there by God. [00:06:54] Many Jews would do anything to escape that uniqueness, because it. There's a sense in which somehow or other, it follows the jew. Even when he lives as a secular jew, as an atheistic jew, it still follows how interesting it was to me that Adolf Hitler murdered those who'd become christians and who had, in the jewish sense, left Judaism. [00:07:26] They still died in the concentration camps. [00:07:29] It didn't matter whether you were an observant jew or a non observant jew, a secular jew or a believing jew. You died because you were a jew. [00:07:41] And that, in many ways, is quite remarkable. I've often said to folks when they are prepared to listen to me. [00:07:52] Isn't it an interesting thing that Satan hates the jew? [00:08:01] Wouldn't you think that he would mollycoddle the jew, that he would sort of favor the jew? I mean, if they really have done Satan's work, why doesn't he favor them? [00:08:18] If they have supported him in his schemes to do away with the messiah, the savior of the world and the king of Israel, you would think he would favor them, but he doesn't. [00:08:35] Even in their atheism, he hates them and will do everything in his power to liquidate the very last one of them. [00:08:50] I therefore find this subject wonderful. And although I've said a lot in the book, I don't know whether I'm coming. I've not quickly glanced through the book to sort of make sure that I'm covering things that I ought to cover. But these are the things that are on my heart today. I find this quite amazing. It was Balaam. You remember Balaam. In one sense, we call him a false prophet, but actually he prophesied the word of the Lord, although we call him a false prophet, and he did it for gain. [00:09:27] He was paid to do it, but found he was unable to do it. Balaam's a very interesting character. He even had a donkey that spoke the word of the Lord. [00:09:39] Many of us have known donkeys that speak the work of the word of the Lord at different times, but he really heard the. I have a parrot at home has helped me in counseling when I've had people spoken up. She's gone now. I want to say she's gone to the Lord, but of course, you know what I mean. She's died. [00:10:04] The fact of the matter is, this word of balaam is quite remarkable. It truly is the word of the Lord. He said in numbers and 23 and verse nine. [00:10:18] It is a people that dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations. I think that extraordinary word at the very beginning of Israel's nationhood, the birth near to her birthday, characterizes the whole history of Israel and the jewish people. [00:10:45] A people that dwell alone that shall not be reckoned amongst the nations. She looks like another nation. She has all the features of ordinary nations. She has all the sin and disobedience of nations. She has some of the good qualities of nations, yet she is not to be reckoned amongst the nations. She stands alone and apart. [00:11:16] She dwells alone, whether she likes it or not. [00:11:26] It is true that the rabbis have done their utmost to see that the jewish people are the people that dwell alone. [00:11:34] But they didn't need to, because God has so constituted Israel that she is unique. [00:11:44] It is interesting what again he says, as recorded in the next chapter 24 and also verse nine, those that bless you will be blessed, and those that curse you will be cursed. Not just a word to Abraham personally, but something to do with a nation, something to do with the people. You bless them and you will be blessed. You curse them and you will be cursed. It's like a boomerang. [00:12:19] How you treat this nation is how you will be treated. [00:12:26] I find that interesting. Now I just want to talk about a few characteristics of this uniqueness, this uniqueness of Israel. [00:12:40] If you can stay awake in this lovely israeli warmth, I find it very interesting. The first thing I want to say is that the most foundational thing about the uniqueness of Israel is that she is a people chosen by God. [00:13:04] God chose no other nation. He took this people. And in the book of deuteronomy and chapter seven, we have read it together. The Lord simply put it, like God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loves you. I find that in the most extraordinary statement, people often say to me, why did God choose the jews? [00:14:00] Well, I always answered the same, why did he choose you? [00:14:07] I know there are those who dont believe that they. That they chose God, and that after they chose God, God chose them. [00:14:15] I cant find it in the book. [00:14:19] The Lord said, you did not choose me, I chose you. [00:14:23] And I had a purpose for you. You should go and bear much fruit, and your fruit shall remain. [00:14:33] I find it amazing, this choice of this nation, this divine choice of this people. [00:14:43] And if you ask me, well, why did the Lord choose them? [00:14:47] It's beyond that. [00:14:50] The Lord uses two words. [00:14:54] The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you. [00:15:04] It's his love set upon them that lived at the choice. [00:15:15] Where some of you have heard me say before, love is the most extraordinary thing. You can't put it under a magnifying glass. [00:15:24] You can't put it under a microscope. Who can explain love? Why do some people love other people? [00:15:31] It is such a good question. [00:15:35] You know, you see two people falling in love, and you say, what does he see in her? [00:15:42] Or you say, what does she see in him? [00:15:46] You can't explain love. Why did the Lord love you? I don't know. [00:15:51] I ask myself, why did he love me? [00:15:55] It is an amazing thing, divine love. [00:15:58] It is beyond rationality. [00:16:01] You can't sort of work out some kind of reason for love. [00:16:09] Love is love. [00:16:12] And out of this love came election. [00:16:19] And the extraordinary thing is that wherever you turn, you find in the history of this nation, whether negatively or positively, this choice of God. [00:16:36] Its really interesting. [00:16:40] So from the very beginning you have this word the Lord, because the Lord loves you and because he would keep the oath which he made to your fathers. [00:17:03] I find this amazing when I am told that all this is ancient history, it has nothing to do whatsoever with modern Israel and furthermore nothing to do with the New Testament. There are christians who believe that God has closed the old covenant. [00:17:21] And when the jewish people rejected the Messiah, he rejected them. That was the end of the story. [00:17:28] Now it's the church, now it is the Gentiles, now it is the nations, now it is no longer national, it is universal, it is no longer physical, it is spiritual, it is another dimension, now altogether. Now there is truth in this. [00:17:47] But the fact of the matter is that three whole chapters in the New Testament are devoted to this matter. [00:17:57] Romans 910 and eleven. [00:18:02] And I dont care what kind of Christian it is, however much theological training he or she has, the fact remains, you cannot get over this, that there are three whole chapters devoted to the question, can God unelect and elect people? Can he unchoose what he has chosen? Can he throw away and cast off forever those whom he has chosen? [00:18:36] I know that you will know from christian commentaries and others that these chapters deal with predestination. [00:18:45] And they say it is the predestination of the church. But if you look at these chapters with the right kind of spectacles, you will notice very interestingly that it is something to do with the jewish people. [00:19:04] The fact that God has turned to the Gentiles and is saving gentiles from every tongue and every ethnic group, every nation, every race, and bringing them into the salvation of God through the Lord Jesus, the messiah of the jewish people, does not in any way negate or nullify the fact that this people are special to the Lord even today. [00:19:40] So that in their unbelief, in their secularism, even though we have a mafia that is unbelievable in Israel, and we have red light districts in Tel Aviv that are a shocking sore to the nation. And when people see it, they say, you mean these are supposed to be God's ancient people? [00:20:11] The fact still remains as touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as touching the election. [00:20:21] They are beloved, not were. They are beloved for the patriarchs sake, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. [00:20:34] You may have heard me say this many times, but it doesnt matter how many times its said, its still as foundational and as eternal as God himself. The gifts and the calling of God are irrelevable. [00:20:51] Here, then, is the first thing that constitutes the uniqueness of Israel. [00:20:57] Here is the first glimmer of hope in a people that have departed from the Lord or have got, as we heard earlier, into a kind of Judaism that is a straight jacket. [00:21:15] God understands they willed it so. [00:21:22] They have got themselves into such a plan. [00:21:27] But there will come a day when the spirit of the Lord will fall upon them with unbelievable power and will turn the hardening into a heart of flesh, flesh, and will turn the blindness into unbelievably clear sight. [00:21:56] And in that day, the house of Israel will be saved. [00:22:05] I have no doubt about it myself. I know there are those who believe that it will happen after the Lord returns, but I have never found anywhere in the whole word of God that God saves by sight. [00:22:19] He didnt save Adam by sight, and they werent saved by sight in the time when Jesus walked the earth and all the miracles and signs that he did took place. [00:22:34] There is a kind of teaching that somehow, though, when the Jews see Jesus or theyll say it's Jesus and we'll be saved. [00:22:42] Well, maybe I'm wrong on this, but I don't understand it this way. I understand this one amazing word. In Zechariah, chapter twelve, they shall look unto me. In Hebrew, this little word, el, is translated nearly always in the Old Testament by towards unto it can mean on. But if you look on somebody, it's different to looking to them. [00:23:09] If I look on Queen Elizabeth II, it means I've seen her physically. But if I look to her, toward her, it means something moral, some recognition in my heart of her authority, of who she is. Do you understand? And I find it tremendous. As in the midst of all this war and sanctions and antisemitism, as described by the spirit of God to the prophet Zechariah in chapter twelve and 13 and 14. In the midst of it all, the spirit of God will be poured upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [00:23:52] 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 for sin and uncleanness shall be open. [00:24:08] So I find this tremendous, this choice, the first thing that's so interesting, it's not over. It stands still. [00:24:21] I have prepared myself on the question of time, but especially in the heat here, for you more than me. [00:24:33] But I find it very interesting that did God change Jacob into Israel? [00:24:50] There is an illustration of election and there is an illustration of divine love, chesed, steadfast, persistent, loyal, overcoming covenant love and mercy. [00:25:16] God would not let Jacob go. Whatever he saw in Jacob, I don't know. [00:25:27] Jacob gave him enough ground to desert him after all. See what he did to his old barker. See what he did to his twin brother. [00:25:41] See what he did to his mother, who, by the way, was in on it. [00:25:46] She cooked up the whole plan in one sentence, but she only fell in line with her son, her beloved son. [00:25:54] I mean, isn't it interesting? [00:25:58] And the Lord sent Jacob to the only other twister in the middle east of the salient stature. His uncle Laban ran in the family, and the two of them twisted each other for 20 years, until Laban, until Jacob was so sick of himself that he was ready for the greatest experience of his life when the Lord appeared. [00:26:25] I find that tremendous. And thats why ive often thought, yes, here, buried within this amazing as a prophetic illustration, a prophetic enactment. [00:26:39] One of these days is what God is going to do with Israel. She will be alone. [00:26:45] She will be sick of herself, sick of her own ways. [00:26:51] And then will appear the heavenly visitor who could, of course, have outwrestled him any day. I always find it amazing that this son of God, who appeared, allowed himself to be, got into a wrestling clinch and had to say, let me go. [00:27:17] And this being created by God himself, finite in comparison. We said, I will not let you go until you bless me. The interesting thing is, he didnt use that word bless, as we often use it in a kind of an easy way. The Lord bless you. [00:27:42] It was life changing. [00:27:45] Youve got to do something out of that experience, Haim. Israel. [00:27:53] Well, Israel is called Israel now, but therell come a day when she will be truly Israel, a prince with God and with men. [00:28:02] She doesnt have too much power with men present, and she doesnt actually have too much power with God. [00:28:10] It is the grace of God that moves on behalf of Israel, not because of Israel. [00:28:16] So, dear friends, this thing right at the very start, this matter of the choice, the divine choice of this nation to be a special vessel, to be a special instrument, to be a special agency, to be a means by which God would meet the nations of the earth. It lies at the root of everything. That's the first thing. Here's the second thing, if you're ready for it. I think the second thing that is so extraordinary is the inbuilt, I don't know really how to put it, the uniqueness of the history of Israel. [00:29:02] There is nowhere in the annals of the nations, in the chronicles of the nations, anything that is remotely near to the history of Israel. It is quite extraordinary. No other nation has had the experience of the Jews. It is unique. [00:29:21] Consider for a moment twice exiled from their national territory, twice restored. [00:29:29] The first time exiled for 70 years, a thousand miles eastward, to come back 70 years later to rebuild Jerusalem, to rebuild the cities of the land, to recolonize the land, to recreate its fertility and ecology. And then the second time, for 1900 years, almost not just a thousand miles east, but into every heart of the globe and far north, far east, far south, far west, everywhere scattered for some 1900 years of exile, still to remain a distinct people, a nation that was not a nation, and still a nation it is unparalleled. [00:30:27] Twice lost their capital, Jerusalem, well, more than twice, but twice had it restored. Actually, Jerusalem has been occupied 14 times in history. [00:30:41] She has been destroyed and rebuilt again and again and again. Babylon has gone, Nineveh has gone, Shushan was gone. All these great cities, Memphis and all the others, they've all gone, but not Jerusalem. And Jerusalem is today still on the same foundation she was in her beginning. [00:31:08] Now, if that doesn't say something, nothing else will. [00:31:14] I think of Hebrew reborn after 1700 years as a dead liturgical language. [00:31:20] There is no other record in the whole of human history of a language that ceased to be spoken for 1700 years as the language of home, the language of the heart, the language of the market, of the street coming back as the spoken language of three and a half million native born Israel, their mother tongue. [00:31:47] I think that is in itself remarkable. Then again, take Israel's fertility and ecology. Every single visitor to our country 150 years ago spoke in exactly the same way. I always quote Mark Twain because most people have heard of him. [00:32:08] The american humorist. He said there was no country he would less want to be in than the holy land. He said the glory has long since departed from this place. He spoke of travelling in innocence abroad. He spoke of traveling for 24 hours and not seeing a tree or not seeing any water and not seeing another human being. Well, I think to myself, was he exaggerating? [00:32:36] Could anyone go for 24 hours today in modern Israel and not see a tree or water or people, it's unbelievable. Yet if you think, well, that was Mark Twain, he was not always, he was always exaggerating to make a point. Think of William Barclay. Well, Barclay was a good Presbyterian, a good calvinist, very careful about his words, very exact and precisely. And he said, the glory has long since departed from this land. It is a desolate, lonely, uninhabited land. Who would have ever thought that Israel today was a lonely, desolate, uninhabited land? [00:33:21] It is amazing, the recreation of the fertility. Everywhere you turn, you've got it. Olive groves, orange groves, fruit gardens, fields, woods, even forest. [00:33:45] I could tell you many stories, but you've got them all and you can read the book. [00:33:51] I mean, I could tell you many stories about her. [00:33:55] I always love to tell the story of the pelicans because they've always come thousands of miles from central Africa up through Israel, and they drop off in Israel and have a little sort of coffee in and a coffee out break before they continue their journey onto the Black Sea to Bulgaria and Romania and Turkey. But in recent years, they have decided to become israeli citizens and they've settled in very large numbers, unfortunately, on the fish dams in Galilee. Now, they are a protected bird, so nobody can get rid of them, so nobody knows what. You can't poison them, you can't shoot them, you can't net them, you can't do anything. [00:34:44] So then some very bright person came up with an incredible idea. He said, if we put up poles around the fish dams and chinese crackers hanging on them, and at a certain point we light the chinese crackers and the whole thing goes up, all these birds will go up with the crackers and we will have two little planes with one engine each and they will take off an action to shepherds, shepherd dogs, to keep these birds going. And once they start on their journey to Congo or to the central Africa, something within them will tell them, this is what we've done for thousands of years and they'll be on their way. So they had all the television cameras and everything. This is years, this is 20 years ago. But, I mean, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. And then we all waited for the practice to be lit. They were lit bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. And the whole. Then all these thousands of birds rose into the air and then the two planes took off and we saw them and off they went. And we heard the pilots saying, they're on their way, we've got to Tel Aviv. Then they went to Ashkelon, then further to el Arish and then they said, we're turning back now they're on their way to Africa. And the two planes turned back and so did all the pilots. [00:36:06] Now, all those years, pelicans would. Any self respecting pelican would never have wanted to live in Israel. Where would they want to live in Israel? The place was a desert. It was a desolate land, uninhabited tuilers and all that. Suddenly something happened. So amazing that they want to settle in Israel. So I say, you see, it's amazing. Same with the ecology. I mean, you know, the latter, the former and the latter reigns almost ceased for hundreds of years. So small. The scientists tell us that it was the british plan in the mandate period to reforest the hills of Israel and the British in their normal way. It's unbelievable. When they left in 1948, they had got down statistically every tree that had been planted, and I can't remember now the number, but it was some million, right down to 863. [00:37:10] You know, only the British could do it. I'm amazed at the British. I lived amongst them for so many years. I mean, they are an extraordinary people. It's no wonder they got an empire. [00:37:23] But anyway, that's, by the way, just an aside. The fact of the matter is that I think they say that these trees started the former and latter rains to return. But in actual fact, it was much more than that. [00:37:43] It was the Lord. [00:37:45] Once the people came back, the lord restored the accomplishment. [00:37:51] And I find it interesting that the Lord said to the prophet Ezekiel, prophesy, o son of man, and say to the mountains of israel, you shall shoot forth your branches for my people, israel that are about to come. [00:38:07] For I will turn, and you shall be tilled and sown, and I will multiply, and upon you both man and beast. [00:38:16] I think it's an amazing story. And in the same prophecy, there is the talk about ruined cities that shall be rebuilt. [00:38:25] I mean, all these things. It's an unparalleled history if you think that this people have been ejected from this land, that it has become a desert. It's interesting that the word of God speaks of the land being married by the sons of Israel, as if once married, they will produce, they will become fertile again. And it's interesting that whenever the Jews have come back to the land, it has blossomed like a rose. And every time they have gone from the land, it has become a wilderness. Watch Gaza, you'll see it. And the west bank, if it happens, you watch. You will see it with your own eyes. All these things are so amazing. It's an unparalleled history. Now I know this is the Salvation army, but it has a good calvinist clock up there, so I am watching it. [00:39:30] Most of the armenian places don't have clocks. [00:39:38] I'll tell you something else that's unparalleled in the history of the jewish people suffering. [00:39:47] There has never been so many attempts to liquidate a people as this one. [00:39:53] From Pharaoh and the destruction of the firstborn fed to crocodiles, Nile crocodiles, to Babylon and the murder of so many. And all the nobility turned into eunuchs. [00:40:20] People like Daniel and his friends to hellenism. The most. [00:40:29] The most seductive of every attempt the enemy has ever made to destroy the jewish people. [00:40:39] The beauty of form. [00:40:43] Jews love such beauty. [00:40:49] The beauty of the mind. [00:40:52] Seductive. [00:40:54] Humanism. [00:40:58] Humanism is almost today a jewish quality. [00:41:02] It runs right through our academics, our intelligentsia, through all the governing classes. [00:41:12] Wherever you turn, you will find attempt after attempt after this attempt. [00:41:19] And the church has had its place to play, sadly. But Tony's already said something about that for the Holocaust. The inquisition, the Holocaust. Nor is it over. I would love to believe that the Holocaust was Jacob's trouble, as some of my good friends believe. [00:41:44] But I always say, is Satan dead? [00:41:49] Whilst he is alive and kicking? There will be further attempts. Well, folks, I say this is trauma. And what about now? [00:42:02] I say this is an unparalleled history. It doesn't matter where you turn. There is no other account that comes near to this account in continuity and ferocity. [00:42:24] Think of modern Israel. [00:42:27] 57 years. [00:42:29] All she wanted to do was to escape the horrors of the Holocaust and build a society where children could be brought up in peace. [00:42:41] And she has known nothing but blood and hatred and war. [00:42:50] Seven wars in 57 years, four of which war should have been the liquidation of Israel but for the grace of God. [00:43:02] Now you tell me if you can find another attempt like that. Yes, there's been genocide in the Khmer with the Khmer Rouge. [00:43:13] There has been the terrible thing of Maoism in China with 55 million people being exterminated between the years 1949 and 1958. [00:43:29] But there's never. There is no other example of a nation that from its birth, from its birth right the way through to its present recreation within the homeland that has known so many attempts to liquidate it. Growing hatred of Israel, growing misrepresentation of Israel. [00:43:58] I do not have any fears about it. I think we will suffer. But I know that God has a purpose in all of this. [00:44:09] Well, I wish I could say a good deal more about this. [00:44:13] You see, is this coincidence? [00:44:19] If it is. It is the most remarkable coincidence in human history. [00:44:26] Some people say that the recreation of the state of Israel is a political coincidence, some coincidence. [00:44:39] I would say that it is a sign of the living and abiding word of God. [00:44:51] So here is the second thing that characterizes this extraordinary people. And I come to the last thing I want to talk about this morning, which is also. It's almost difficult for me to put it clearly, but what is it that constitutes this uniqueness of Israel? [00:45:11] Not only the divine choice, not only her unparalleled history, but the fact that she is the key to world history. [00:45:26] Now, let me try to explain what I mean. [00:45:30] I must say sometimes, no, I don't want to get letters from you, so please don't write to me me. I'm far too busy to get letters telling me where I'm wrong and where I'm right or where the rest of it. So. But listen, I sometimes have great sympathy with liberal theologians. [00:45:48] You know, they look at the Bible and they say maybe the New Testament's that here, but the Old Testament, it's just a load of experience, exaggerations, inaccuracies and myths, legends. [00:46:08] I mean, you mean to tell me that this little nation that never numbered more than 20 million, even at its climate, is the key to everything? You don't have the great imperial chinese dynastic empire even mentioned in the Bible. There is one mention, Selim, and that's all you get. [00:46:34] Which means Chinese. [00:46:36] The land of the Chinese in Isaiah 49. [00:46:42] You mean to tell me that the indian civilization is not even mentioned in there? [00:46:47] Even the british empire isn't in there, much as British Israel likes to believe it is. [00:46:55] I mean, people say, I mean, this is obviously written by a little tribe that wants to make out that they are very important and significant. Now, the question is, if I did not believe the word of God is the word of the living God, I would be swept along with that kind of idea. I mean, why? I mean, listen, Egypt, which they're always doing things on the BBC, these long six part series on the glory of ancient Egypt and all the rest. And it was tremendous. I mean, it's only mentioned in the Bible in relation to Israel. [00:47:38] It's almost as if the Bible ignores the whole glory of Egypt. Take Babylon. The only reason Babylon's mentioned is insofar as it touches this little Israel, just this small, tiny postage stamp of territory in the Middle east and this little tiny population of people with no great army. Oh, yes, you say. Well, they had King David. Yes, of course they had King David. But even King David was no match, humanly speaking, with Nebuchadnezzar. [00:48:12] Its like Goliath and David all over again. [00:48:17] All these great empires, Persia, the Greek, the Roman, theyre only mentioned in relation to this people and to the coming of a Messiah. [00:48:33] If you get what Im saying, it means that Israel is extraordinary because from God's point of view, he says you can forget the worship. [00:48:44] I mean, the real key to world history is this little people in this little nation. Why? Because I have made them the depository of the revelation of myself, of my heart and my mind. This is the instrument through which and by which I will bring the messiah to the nations. This is the means by which salvation will come to the ends of the earth. Therefore, this little people, they are the heart and the key to world history. You can forget the USA and you can forget the british empire in one sense, much as God used it. And God is using the USA. Let me say that very clearly. [00:49:24] There's such a lot of anti american feeling, Britain and in Europe, I'm amazed at it. But I'm just saying God is using and does use these things. But it is this little nation. [00:49:41] You know, there's a phrase in the scripture, I must watch that clock. There's a little phrase in the Bible, it's the times of the gentiles. I think that's lovely. [00:49:51] As if the. The Lord says, theres Israel and there are the times of the gentiles. [00:50:02] These times of the gentiles have lasted as far as I can understand from NebuchadnEzzar, right up to the 7 June 1967. And that was the enD. [00:50:14] And now we have reverted back to the times of Israel. [00:50:19] As far as the Lord is the threshold of the coming of the MEssiah. Well, now all I want to say is this. Hear me, God says in Jeremiah, through the prophet Jeremiah, as recorded in chapter 51 and verse 20, you are my battler. [00:50:38] You are my weapons of war. With you will I destroy kingdoms. With you will I destroy nations. And then it goes on right the way through the economy, the military, the political. You go through all those succeeding verses. He's talking about Babylon. But I find it amazing that here was Israel at the point of her greatest weakness, when she was exiled to a foreign land, when her king has his eyes have been put out, the nobility, all these young men had been turned into eunuchs when so many hundreds of thousands had been put to the sword. And when Israel was finished, her cities destroyed, the temple of God in ruins, the sacrifice finished, the priesthood ended. The levitical service ended at the weakest point. God says to Jeremiah, you are my battleman, you are my weapons of war. With you. Only a man of faith could have responded. [00:51:46] Jeremiah could have said, lord, what are you talking about? And I'm putting it very irreverently. Are you living in cloud cuckoo land? [00:51:57] We had finished, but God knew it exactly what he was talking about. He said, yes, you're going to be in exile because of your sin. [00:52:08] But there, in exile, I will use you to destroy one of the greatest empires in world history. [00:52:17] And you all know the story. [00:52:19] You know the great feast and then the drunken orgy that followed it all. [00:52:27] The sultan said, bring in those golden vessels from the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, the so called house of the Lord in Jerusalem. And they all began to drink from them and play games almost with it. And suddenly on the wall appeared a hand that wrote, and nobody could understand it. And Sultan was in terrible fear. [00:52:55] And the queen mother came in and said, there was a man in your grandfather's day who had the spirit of the gods get him. His name's Daniel. And they brought him in. And Daniel with unbelievable courage, he could have lost his life in an instant, stood there in the midst of this orgy and said, you have sinned. [00:53:17] You have taken of the vessels of the house of the Lord and you have used them in a profane manner. The writing is simple. [00:53:26] You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. This night the kingdom is torn from you and given to another. And that night Babylon fell, never to rise again. [00:53:40] Isn't that interesting, little Israel? The battle acts of the Lord, where you say, I can hardly, yes, but look, time's gone now. [00:53:48] I'll just put it in a few sentences. Let me say, this is, this is not over. Babylon's gone, hellenism's gone. In one sense, the spirits of these things are still here, but they're gone, roman. The roman empire's come and gone. It will come back in a new form. It's already in the process, but get it. [00:54:11] Is this little nation still God's battle? [00:54:16] Take the Ottoman Empire, one of the greatest empires in the world. It's disappeared completely. [00:54:23] Take another great empire, the British Empire, upon which they said the sun never said, it's gone completely. I don't want to be rude, but Britain is really an offshore island now of Europe. [00:54:38] Youve only got to go out into the streets and see whats happened, fighting for her sovereignty and for the place in Europe. [00:54:51] I remember when Alan Witfoth stood in the pulpit on the Sunday morning and said, as sure as I stand here, God will judge the british empire because of what she has done to the jewish people. [00:55:06] At this moment, he said, the RAF is bombing unseaworthy ships with survivors from the Holocaust. [00:55:17] He said, you be sure Britain will become an offshore island of Europe. [00:55:25] I saw people get up and go out and being young and just saved and a bit green, I thought, oh, I've got lunch appointments. The past, the red path is going on a bit long. [00:55:37] But in fact, I found out from friends afterwards they were so patriotic, they were very angry with him that he could have said such a thing. Exactly the same thing is happening with the United States now. [00:55:51] You've got people who are so patriotic in the United. I don't believe that America would ever lose her superpower status. She will. And the battle acts as Israel. They divide the land. And remember your Tony Blair, by his own confession a few days ago, standing with Eckhart Ulmut, said, I persuaded President Bush, George Bush, that he had to do something about dividing the land. [00:56:21] And he was the first american president ever to say there should be two sovereign states living side by side within the promised land. Well, now, I'm only saying this. [00:56:33] Are you afraid of Islam? [00:56:35] Don't be afraid. The islamic empire, if you like, is also on its way into a full collision with the living God and little Israel. [00:56:52] And little Israel is the battle axe and the divine weapons of war. [00:56:59] This characterizes something unique. Can you tell me any other nation that is the divine battle axe that are the divine weapons of war? I do not. [00:57:12] I can only say, is this not amazing? Are we not living in the most amazing days? Some people get afraid. I don't know why you're afraid. Do you not know the Lord? [00:57:27] They can't blow you away if you belong to him. Not a hair of your head will perish. [00:57:35] Well, I love the Lord. I think it's beautiful that he said, not a hair of your head. [00:57:40] He could have said, you won't lose an arm. Well, most of us don't lose arms through life. He said, you won't lose a foot. Most of us don't lose. He could have said, you will not lose a tooth. Now, that might have been nearer to the boy. [00:57:55] Many of us lose teeth in our journey through life. But the most perishable part about us is hair, isn't it? Look every day when you comb it and brush it, see what comes out. Who? And the Lord said, not, not, you shall not lose the hairs of your head. He said, you shall not lose. Not a hair of your head shall perish. [00:58:19] So wonderful it is to be an atheist. [00:58:22] So wonderful it is to belong to the Lord. Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached a wonderful sermon in the metropolitan tabernacle not so far from here, when on the theme, not a hoof or a horn shall remain in Egypt. And in it he said, your redemption is so great that even the hairs of your head you will get back. [00:58:51] You will not lose any, anything at all. So great is this redemption of our Lord Jesus, and this redemption includes Israel. [00:59:04] So may God speak to our heart and encourage us and strengthen us in this uniqueness of Israel. Thank you. [00:59:21] Thank you.