The Valley of Achor for a Door of Hope

[00:00:00] I would like to say how very glad I am to be here this afternoon. This is not my usual time on my migratory flights across the world to visit Britain. [00:00:14] But it has so worked out that it seems the Lord was very much behind this. [00:00:23] I find it quite interesting that I am in the midst of a miracle, nearly as great as the miracle of the regathering of the exiles to Israel. And that is four Israel organizations have combined. [00:00:40] I consider that. [00:00:45] I consider that to be quite remarkable. [00:00:49] And I pray with all my heart that this may indeed be the first of many such gatherings, and that more of the others who have such a burden will also join. I would like to turn you to the passage from which the theme for this day has been taken in the prophecy of Hosea and chapter two. [00:01:15] I will read from verse 14. [00:01:19] Hosea, chapter two, from verse 14. [00:01:26] Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her in Hebrew, speak to her heart. [00:01:38] And I will give her her vineyards from thence and the valley of achor for a door of hope. [00:01:47] And she shall make answer there as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi, and thou shalt call me no more Baali. For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name. And in that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely. [00:02:33] And I will betroth thee unto me forever. [00:02:38] Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in justice and in loving kindness. That is the word chesed and in mercies. [00:02:52] I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord. [00:03:03] I don't quite know how this theme, how the Lord quite led my brethren to this theme. [00:03:18] When I was first approached and it was given to me. I wondered and pondered long upon it, and wondered quite how one should handle such a theme. [00:03:34] But as I have prayed about it, I've come to see that it lies at the very heart of our whole situation in the Middle east, and in particular the whole situation with the jewish people and where we are in the economy. [00:03:55] God. [00:03:57] So I will not spend any more time on introduction and somewhere along the course of either this afternoon or this evening, I will give you an update of our present scene in Israel and the Middle east. [00:04:21] This is quite extraordinary, this little word here in verse 15 of Hosea, chapter two, and the valley. I will give her the valley of Achor for a door of hope. [00:04:37] Interestingly, you will find the same kind of idea in Isaiah in chapter 65 and verse ten. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in. For my people that have sought me, I find it very interesting. It's a mysterious reference, isn't it, to this valley of Achor. I think you, probably, many of you know that in Hebrew Achu means troubling or disturbance or distress or stirring up. [00:05:22] It is a kind of negative word in some ways, this valley of Achor. And im sure that many of you will know that it is found in JosHuA chapter seven and verse 24 and verse 26. And it was to do with Aacham when they found in his tent the things that he had stolen in disobedience to the lord. You remember the gold, the silver, the babylonian garments. And they stoned him and his family there in the valley of Achor. And it says, in Joshua seven and verse 20 says, it is called to this day the valley of Akhor, the valley of Troubling. [00:06:21] It is a tragic story, the story recorded in Joshua chapter seven. From one point of view, a tragic story, a sad story, a story of avarice, a story of disobedience, a story of proud blindness to gods commandment, a story of deceit. [00:06:50] It is a story of sin. [00:06:58] It is also a story that has a tremendous lesson within it, that when sin is confessed, where there is a judgment of sin, that very place becomes a divine gateway. [00:07:27] It becomes a door into deliverance, a door into salvation, a door into victory, a door into a deep knowing of the Lord. [00:07:46] That, at least, is the background. I hope I'm not boring you with this background. After all, many of you have studied your bible longer than even I have. And I'm sure I know you don't need me to tell you the story of Aacham and the judgment that came upon him. Let me put it in a word. The place of judgment became the door of hope. [00:08:18] Not the door of a maybe hope, but the door of a certain hope. [00:08:26] Sometimes we say we hope, and we mean by that that we just, we have a wish, we have a desire. [00:08:36] Maybe it will happen, maybe it will not happen. That is not biblical hope. Biblical hope is certain. [00:08:45] It is that marvelous work of the Holy Spirit whereby he brings into our heart the assurance of faith so that we have a certain and a blessed hope. [00:09:05] I think we can learn a tremendous amount from this story and from this prophetic word in Hosea, chapter two and verse 15. [00:09:20] I will make the valley of Akhor of troubling, of judgment a door of hope. [00:09:32] I sometimes wonder why repentance in christian circles is relegated to conversion. [00:09:41] Don't you find that a strange thing? And don't you think this whole question of repentance, because this was a story, oh, you will say straight away, but the man died. Yes, yes, yes. But this was a question of a national repentance. [00:09:58] The nation was putting away something that was wrong and evil done in their midst that brought the whole community, the whole redeemed community, into trouble with God. [00:10:13] That, I think is very, very interesting when you really look at it. But I find it very interesting that repentance, generally speaking, in christian circles, is relegated to some that apparently happens at conversion. In fact, it very rarely happens today at conversion. [00:10:31] I mean, frankly, our conversions today are like presidential elections. [00:10:37] We are called upon to make a decision about somebody called Jesus Christ. [00:10:44] And in making that decision, we vote for heaven and not for hell. We vote for a good life and not a bad life. We vote for help, divine help, and not to be left to our own devices, and so on and so forth. It seems to me that repentance lies as a foundation of everything in the christian life and everything to do with spiritual growth and everything to do with true church life and everything to do with genuine, genuine divine service. [00:11:25] In other words, this psychology in the world that we are all the victims of circumstances, we are the victims of relationships, we are the victims of others, has so influenced the christian today, the child of God today, that everybody looks around for an excuse. [00:11:47] We are never the problem. It is always my parents, it is always my church, it is always the leadership, it is always my family background, it is always my temperament that God himself gave me. [00:12:08] I mean, it's all, in other words, we never say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. [00:12:17] You understand? [00:12:20] Once you and I can blame others, circumstances, people, background, whatever, we can get out of a tremendous amount, but far more than that, we will never be delivered. [00:12:36] This is only an aside. This is not what I am talking about. It's just an aside. I just find it extraordinary that we find so little preaching of repentance. If you look at the New Testament, you will find everywhere with the gospel, the word repent came again and again. And that means face up to yourself. Don't blame your family, don't blame your husband, don't blame your wife. Don't blame your circumstances. Face up to it. It's in you. [00:13:08] When you face up to something in yourself, then there is a door of hope. [00:13:15] Then in that place of judgment, there is a door of hope. Then God opens the door into deliverance and into salvation and into an experience of what it means to be one with him in the messiah. [00:13:34] Well, of course, you might think, well, what in the world? I thought he was going to talk about Israel, not give us a heavy word on our condition. But you see, coming back to this amazing little scripture, this amazing prophecy, supremely, supremely, it is Jesus, the messiah, the lamb of God, who bore the judgment of our sin. [00:14:07] And in standing in my place and your place, and allowing my sin to become, as it were, his sin, he died. [00:14:22] And in dying, a door of hope was opened, certain hope of eternal salvation. Isn't it true? [00:14:34] Isn't it true? I mean, the more you look at it, the more wonderful it becomes. Consider Isaiah 53. I mean, the whole thing is just. Have you ever noticed, you must have done. I mean, youre all believers and these extraordinary organizations that are here together today are all Bible believing. Listen to what the Lord says. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed all we, like. Sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [00:15:47] That is the valley of achor. [00:15:52] It is the lamb of God in the valley of achor, in the place of troubling, in the place of distress, in the place of certain damnation. [00:16:05] There he took the judgment that was my due. [00:16:13] And in so doing, he opened the gateway into the kingdom of God, into the salvation of God, into eternal life, into union with God in him by the Holy Spirit. [00:16:31] I find it amazing. [00:16:34] Amazing. And if we had the time, I'd like to go on and on with it, because it says in verse ten, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his and he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied by the knowledge of himself. Shall my righteous servant justify many and he shall bear their iniquities. Dont you think that amazing? That is truly the valley of Akor. And there the Lord Jesus, as the lamb of God, stood in my place and took upon himself my sin and the judgment for my sin. And I am saved. [00:17:31] I have been saved by the grace of God for more years now than I care to remember. But it goes right back to 1943. So someone can work that out for me. [00:17:45] Thats for some people a lifetime. [00:17:51] And it all began on the day when God opened my eyes to see that the messiah himself stood in my place and the judgment upon my sin fell on him. [00:18:06] I think of it again in that marvelous psalm 22. By the way, just as an aside, do you not think it remarkable in these days, when the Old Testament is so often despised, that the greatest interpretation and exposition of the death, the atoning death of our Lord Jesus is in the old covenant and not in the new? [00:18:33] Is there anywhere in the new that comes near to Isaiah 53? In one sense, I'm not disparaging it or devaluing it. I'm just saying, is it not remarkable that in the Old Testament, in the prophecy of Isaiah, you have an opening up of the atoning death of the Lord, the justifying work of the Messiah, of the saving work of the messiah in the old covenant? And do you not think it is equally remarkable that it is in the old covenant that we have the most remarkable record of the death on the cross? Not from the eyes of the witnesses looking upon the person on the cross, as in Matthew, Mark and Luke and John, but the eyes of the person on the cross? I am talking about the 22nd psalm. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You read that psalm and suddenly you are in the valley of Acco. Suddenly you are in the place of troubling, of distress, of judgment. And it is the lamb of God, the messiah himself, who is bearing away the sins of the world. [00:19:51] Is it any wonder that that greatest of all our rabbis, Paul says, he who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him? [00:20:18] I find that one of the most remarkable statements in the whole 66 books of the Bible. Can you believe that a sinner such as me, such as you, could become the very righteousness of God in the Messiah? How is it possible? [00:20:36] How can such a divine experience change, take place unless God has made the valley of Akhor a door of hope. [00:20:53] Well, you might say, when's he going to get to Israel? Just wait, I'm a little further to go on this matter. He said to the brothers, please don't let me travel along this path till I come to the question of what's happening in Israel. [00:21:14] There's another place I want to take you to. It is one of the most, for me, one of the most exciting and the most wonderful passages in the Bible. This time it's in the new covenant, and it is in revelation, and it is the chapters four and five. [00:21:34] I find this vision so incredible. There suddenly, John and the isle of Patmos in a forced labor camp, being worked to death, we understand, by the Romans. That's where they put some political detainees in the most unlikely place, the kind of place none of us would ever think that God would give. Revelation after revelation after revelation, vision after vision after vision. We would say, no, no, no, we have to go to a conference, preferably in Switzerland or somewhere up in the mountains with all the snow around, wonderful sunsets and sunrises and twittering birds. And then God can give us visions such as this. But no, we would never have thought that in a concentration God could give vision. [00:22:25] But God is God. [00:22:28] And in such a forced labor camp, he took a precious servant of his and suddenly soar into heaven itself. And he saw the throne of God. And he saw on the throne one sitting, and in his hand was a great scroll and it had seven seals, seals for Jews of Johns day. He understood this was an inheritance, this was a testament, this was something sealed with seven seals, so that because were Jews, we have to be very careful. We know how we can very cleverly break one seal. But seven seals you cant break so easily. So the testament, the inheritance, always had seven seals. Isnt that incredible? [00:23:14] And then someone said, who is worthy to take this scroll and break the seals? In other words, open it so it can be fulfilled. [00:23:30] And no one answered, in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea. Not a voice so important, so significant was it to John that he burst into tears. [00:23:45] And one of the elders came and put his arm around him, I imagine, and said, don't cry, john. Look. [00:23:54] The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome to take the straw and to break the seal. [00:24:09] And when John turned and looked, he didn't see a lion, he saw a little lamb as it had been slain in the midst of the foam. [00:24:26] The valley of Akor had become a door of hope. [00:24:35] There the lion of Judah, the root of David, was the little lamb as it had been slain, judged, bearing away the sin of the world. [00:24:55] Then, as John watched, the whole universe burst into worship. [00:25:05] Everywhere, from every corner, there was nothing but worship. [00:25:13] Worthy art thou, they cry, who by your blood have redeemed unto God from every tongue and kindred and people, those who shall be a kingdom, and priests. [00:25:35] Beloved friends, that is the valley of Akor. Am I being too fanciful too much for you? It is the valley of Akor. It is the place of judgment. And the place of judgment has become a door of hope. It is always with God the same. There is no way that the eternal purpose of God will ever be fulfilled apart from the little lamb that has been slain. He is the foundation. His finished work is the foundation for everything. That a depraved, disfigured, devalued sinner can become a child of God and conform to the image of the Lord. Jesus made a saint. [00:26:26] It is the only way that God will ever produce a church, a bride that is clothed in pure, fine linen. [00:26:42] No other way. It is the only way that service will ever truly be fulfilled by servants of God. [00:26:59] Now I'm coming there. It is the only way that Israel will ever be saved. [00:27:08] There is not another salvation, not another lamb, no other way. [00:27:16] It is the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. [00:27:24] He is the lamb slave. [00:27:30] My beloved brothers and sisters, never forget this. [00:27:37] Christians make a tremendous amount of the lamb of God rightly. [00:27:43] But very often they pass over the fact that the lamb of God is the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. [00:27:59] I hope I have made this first point clear. [00:28:05] For every sinner saved, for the calling and completion of the church, for the calling and fulfillment of true service, and for the redemption of the house of Israel. [00:28:25] There is no other foundation and no other way. [00:28:37] Can I move on now to a second point that I want to make? I think in one sense it comes out of the first. [00:28:46] Not everyone may see it that way, but I do in relation to Israel. [00:28:57] How is this related to Israel? [00:29:00] Surely underlying all gods dealings with the jewish people is the finished work of the Messiah. [00:29:14] Whether they know it or not. [00:29:18] It underlies the whole of jewish history. [00:29:22] From the day Jesus finished that work in Jerusalem to this day, it is unrecognized, it is ignored, but it is still there. [00:30:00] Israel awaits the fulfillment of another prophetic word in the prophecy of Zechariah, chapter twelve. [00:30:10] And I will pour upon them the spirit of grace and of supplication and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced. [00:30:29] And they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. [00:30:44] In that day, a fountain shall be opened for sin and for uncleanness. To the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [00:30:59] Beloved friends, it's all there. [00:31:03] This fountain is no different. Fountain to the fountain. You, by the grace of God, have also been cleansed from your sin and from your uncleanness. This is the same finished work by which you have been reconciled to God. There is no difference. It is the same finished work. It is the same Messiah. It is the same holy spirit who takes the blindness of our spiritual eyes and gives us sight. [00:31:48] Now, if you have come with me so far, let me talk a little bit more about this matter. [00:31:59] Consider the pogroms. [00:32:05] Pogrom is a russian word for desolation. [00:32:11] I think you will all know that here. I hardly need to explain it to this kind of audience. [00:32:20] But the pogroms, those pogroms, those massacres, those times of murder, of devastation upon jewish communities in the last part of the last century and the beginning of this century, God took it, the valley of Acor, and he turned it into blessing. [00:32:55] Out of those pogroms came every single one of the early pioneers that turned Israel's wilderness and desert and eroded landscape into the fertility that we see today. [00:33:11] Out of those pogroms came all our first leaders. Chaim Weitz, the first president, David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister, President Katsir, President Shahzad, Golda Meir. And so I could go on and on. Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the founder, as it were, of the birth of modern Hebrew, every one of these extraordinary leaders came out of these pogroms. [00:33:55] It was the valley of accord that became a door of hope. [00:34:00] Now, some will have objections to this. I'll come to that in a moment. But all I want to say is, here you have something incredible. You have fertility recreated, ecology restored, Hebrew reborn, all out of the valley of Achor. [00:34:19] It would never have happened. I say that the finished work of the Lord Jesus lies underneath all of this as a foundation to the whole thing, then got disturbed. He brought a time of disturbance, of stirring up, of distress, of trouble. And out of that came the first and second and third aliyah. [00:34:52] Consider the Holocaust. [00:34:55] This I find very hard to do. [00:34:59] Consider the Holocaust. [00:35:07] Whatever we may feel about the Holocaust, in which at least 50% of the jewish population of the world died in the most horrific circumstances. I personally am a firm believer in Simon Wiesenthal's estimate that it is much more likely to be 8 million than 6 million that died in nazi occupied Europe. [00:35:36] In the most horrific circumstances. [00:35:46] That valley of Akor became a door of hope. [00:35:53] I hardly like to say it. [00:36:00] To call the Holocaust the valley of acchor is almost too devalue it. [00:36:07] Yet it was a valley of akhor. [00:36:14] And if it was a deep valley and a terrible valley, then the door was all the more glorious a gateway. Out of that, let me put it another way. God made it the cattle for the recreation of the state of Israel. Out of that valley of Accor came the recreated state of Israel, and out of it came the regathering of the exiles and out of it came the rebuilding of the cities and towns that have lain in ruins for 2000 years. Out of it came the reinstatement of national institutions, the universities, the police force, navy, the Knesset, the presidency, and so on could go on and on. All these things came out of the holocaust. It was truly a valley of accor, and God made it a door of hope. [00:37:26] The capital we gained on the 7 June 1967. [00:37:37] The preservation of Israel in 50 years. [00:37:43] Six wars in 50 years. [00:37:52] Beloved Fred, I think God led whoever got this very clearly, I will make the valley of Akor a door of hope. [00:38:16] Are you. Are we all right for time? [00:38:25] Are you still alive and kicking? I mean, I can go on. Or would you prefer me to stop for a while? [00:38:34] I have some objections I want to consider. [00:38:39] I go all over the world and I hear objections. Object. Ministers come to me. Leaders come to me. [00:38:49] They have Israel cranks, they tell me, in their congregations. [00:38:54] Nutcases, they say. [00:38:59] Then they want to ask me, you really believe this? Now here is the first objection. [00:39:08] Werent all of those early pioneers and early leaders of Israel? Were they not mostly atheists and agnostics? [00:39:20] And if that is so, are you going to tell me that God was behind the recreation of the state of Israel? [00:39:31] That he was behind the recreating of its fertility and the restoration of its ecology? [00:39:39] How can God use people who dont even believe in him? [00:39:46] I sometimes feel so sorry for some people. [00:39:50] CT studd once said, God uses Satan more than any other created being. [00:40:04] You ever thought about that, beloved friend? [00:40:13] This objection, I think, is answered by three scriptures. [00:40:20] The first is in Isaiah 42 and verse, verse 16. [00:40:26] It says, and I will lead the blind by a way that they know not, in paths that they have not known will I lead them. [00:40:37] I will make darkness light before them and the crooked places straight. These things will I do, and I will not forsake them. Now someone immediately says to me, now, just read just. Surely he's talking about the church. [00:40:53] Well, I have been long enough in the church of God to know that there's an awful lot of blind people. [00:41:02] I don't have any problem about blindness amongst christians. It ought not to be, but there are blind christians. But if you look back in this very chapter about the Messiah, you will see that he is given as a light to lighten the gentiles, to open blind eyes. [00:41:22] Who then are the people who remain blind, so blind that he has to make darkness light before them and crooked places straight, or they would completely collapse and fail? Who are they of whom he says, and I will not forsake them. [00:41:42] No, my friends, I have to say, I think it is our people. [00:41:52] The prophet is speaking of. Our people. [00:41:58] Then again, look again at Ezekiel, chapter 36 and verse 22. Right in the midst of that extraordinary prophecy about the eroded hills of Israel suddenly shooting forth branches for my people, Israel that are about to come. And then he speaks about tilling and sowing and multiplying, man and beast upon. Then he speaks about ruined cities being rebuilt. And then he says in verse 22, therefore, say unto the house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God, I do not. Not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name which ye have profaned among the nations whither ye went. Again, verse 32. Not for your sake do I this saith the Lord God. Be it known unto be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of his own. Then the Lord goes on to speak about all that he is going to do. It is incredible. It is for the Lord's great namesake because of his mercy, because of this amazing foundation that lies at the heart of all his dealings with the jewish people, the finished work of the Messiah. [00:43:26] That is my first objection. Here is my second one. [00:43:30] God is not interested in land. I hear this everywhere I go. [00:43:36] All these people all bothered about land. [00:43:42] God's not interested in land. He's no more interested in the land in India or the land in China than the land in Israel. [00:43:50] God is interested only in salvation. [00:43:53] Yes, of course, we know that. [00:43:56] We know that God is interested in salvation. [00:43:59] The famous statement made by one leading charismatic quite a few years ago was, God is not interested in a little bit of real estate in the Middle East. [00:44:15] I just wonder if some of our brethren have really read the scriptures. [00:44:25] Listen to this. [00:44:26] The earth. [00:44:30] The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. [00:44:40] That is psalm 24 one. Listen to this. [00:44:45] Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. [00:44:58] Psalm two. [00:45:05] Dont you think thats remarkable? [00:45:10] Maybe our minds cant take it in. I think God is very interested in land. [00:45:19] Some christians have got this amazingly greek idea that one day were all going to be transported away into space, apparently into some kind of ether up there, where we shall be in a huge eternal choir forever and ever. [00:45:48] As I always say in glorified night, is playing harps. [00:45:55] I dont know where the idea came from. Even those who believe in the millennium say it to me. They say our 1000 years upon this earth, when the Lord will show what he really wanted for this earth, and then itll all be burnt up. [00:46:11] And then we shall know where. [00:46:15] I dont know. Somewhere up there. [00:46:18] Isn't it strange? [00:46:25] One wonders why the Lord believes in the resurrection of the bodies. [00:46:29] Why didn't he make us like angels, if that's the case? So that we could live somewhere up there? [00:46:36] No, my dear friends, I think that there is a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. [00:46:47] And there is so much in the word of God that gives us the intimation of that earth, that one day we'll be filled with the knowledge of God and filled with the glory of God. [00:46:59] But I mustn't spend too much time on this. All I want to say is this is an objection. God is not interested in land. He's not interested in physical things. He's not interested in a little bit of realism state in the Middle east. My dear friends, listen to this. When you come to the prophecy, Joel, that is all to do with this age from Pentecost to its end. And when it deals with the very last stage in world history, in Joel chapter three, the Lord says that he will bring all the nations down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, which means the Lord judges because of what they have said, scattered my heritage, and they have divided my land. [00:47:41] It is the only place in the whole Bible where God speaks of a particular portion of the earth as my land. And two more times it is spoken of in the same little prophecy of Joel as his land. [00:48:00] Do you not find that remarkable? Do you not think it is incredible that this is so important to God that he will turn nations and superpowers upside down because of the way they deal with this little bit of real estate? [00:48:20] I would say God is very interested in a little bit of real estate in the Middle east. Why? Because that is the deposit that the rest of the earth is going to come back to the Lord, that little bit of land. That is the fulfillment in spite of the disobedience of its people, despite the blindness of the people, despite their being divorced from the Messiah prison. Yet it is still the deposit, the divine deposit, that the rest of the earth is the Lord's and its full men. [00:49:03] Here is a third objection. [00:49:06] God has no time for this earthly Jerusalem any more than he has time for London, Washington or New Delhi. [00:49:17] He is only interested in the new Jerusalem. [00:49:21] Good. Very good question. [00:49:24] I always say, I agree with you. God is very interested in the new Jerusalem. [00:49:31] But I have a problem. [00:49:33] My problem is very simple. [00:49:36] In Zechariah, chapter twelve and 13 and 14, you have a prophecy which has so far defied christian commentators to spirit. [00:49:49] It is the only prophecy, basically, that's been left as it stands, literally. [00:49:57] Most of the others have been spiritualized one way or another. What is this all about? It says in Zechariah 14 and verse four, in that day his feet shall stand upon the mount of olives. And just in case anybody gets it wrong, it is east of Jerusalem. It locates it as a geographical site east of Jerusalem. And it says, his blessed feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of olives. Now, what is the Lord saying? He must be saying something. [00:50:36] Why does he return to Jerusalem? It is not the new Jerusalem. But if that's the case, it would be above. What then is this Jerusalem to which he returned? [00:50:50] It has to be this old Jerusalem. [00:50:56] Now, my dear friend, don't you think that's amazing? Just think about it for a moment. [00:51:03] Even more remarkable is how the Lord introduces the whole prophecy by saying, I will make Jerusalem in that day a cup of reeling unto the peoples round about. [00:51:13] And then goes on to say, and in that day I will make it a burdensome stone to all peoples. All that burden themselves with it shall be sore wound, and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. That is obviously not the new Jerusalem. It is this Jerusalem down here. Now here we find something incredible. God says that this Jerusalem down here, with all its sin, with all its blindness, with all its disobedience, is the touchstone of everything in politics. [00:51:50] And God will turn empires upside down, fragment them, break their back if they meddle with his plan and purpose for Jerusalem and what Jerusalem represents. [00:52:10] He also says he will rupture them if they try to move the stone out of its place, its divinely ordained place? It has happened with the Ottoman, it has happened with the British Empire. [00:52:28] Is it not amazing that the very moment the Ottoman Empire disappeared in 1917, the Balfour declaration was made, and within weeks, Jerusalem was liberated from 700 years of islamic rule? Don't you think that's remarkable? Don't you think it is amazing that that empire, that the British always said the sun never sets upon, literally, the sun set upon it in 1948 at the very point that Israel was born? [00:52:58] Do you not think it is incredible that the soviet empire, that monolithic, invincible, immovable empire centered in the Kremlin, has in our lifetime, in the last few years, been fragmented? It's back broken. I'm not saying there will not be a lot more trouble coming out of Russia. All I'm saying is that soviet empire is broken because it meddled with Jerusalem, because it held in its grip the largest jewish community outside of North America, would not allow them to study Hebrew, would not allow them to teach Judaism to its children, did not allow them to practice Judaism. It tore Judaism out of its soul. [00:53:49] God spoke the word according to Isaiah. I will say to the north, give up. And in a moment, the Kremlin fell. [00:54:01] The CIA, the british security services, the french security services, the south african security, which are very good. Bush and Mossad were all taken by surprise. [00:54:20] Nobody forecast the sudden collapse of the Kremlin. [00:54:27] So it will also happen with another great power. What's coming to its then islamic fundamentalism. [00:54:38] It is meddling with the divine purpose for Jerusalem. It will be fragmented. In the end, it's back broken, mark my words. [00:54:50] And if the United States, as the only superpower in the world, is going to meddle with this country, with this city, it will also disappear as a superpower. [00:55:07] Did you hear? [00:55:09] As surely as Britain lost her empire, so the United States will lose its super, whatever you call it, it may continue to be a power, but it will not be a superpower. [00:55:28] God is no respecter of persons. Now, I believe my time is finished, is it not? [00:55:34] Ive got a few moments. Oh, my word. I really should have got. [00:55:37] I am so sorry. My clock is still on israeli time. And we can say something before we talk about prayer, because. Before we go to prayer, because, you see, there is one other thing I want a fourth objection. I want to deal with the Messiah. Christ is not interested in politics. [00:55:59] He is not interested in physical unsaved exiles returning to the land. He is not interested in matters to do with physical fertility or with physical natural ecology. He is not interested in cities being rebuilt. I get this again and again, whether one say to me, you mean to tell me that all that that belongs to the past, all that belongs to things that are natural, all that belongs to things that are physical, all that belongs to things that are nationalistic, that the Lord, the Messiah is still interested in these things? [00:56:43] I object. [00:56:46] You are contradicting the gospel. [00:56:49] Im told. [00:56:54] I can only answer by Isaiah 42. [00:57:00] And in Isaiah 42 it tells us that the Messiah is given. If you look at it carefully, you will see that in this marvelous prophecy concerning the Messiah, it is said of him that he will be given as a covenant of the people and a light to the Gentiles. [00:57:22] Two amazing things. [00:57:27] And what I find quite incredible is that it speaks of the Gentiles coming from the ends of the earth, about justice coming to the Gentiles, the word of the Lord coming to the Gentiles, their blind eyes being opened, they're being brought into the kingdom of God. I'm putting it now in my own words, but you'll find it all there. [00:57:48] And then it says this, forget the chapters and verses. They weren't there in the original. [00:57:56] Then it says this, fear not, for I am with you. [00:58:02] I will bring your seed from the east and gather you from the west. [00:58:07] 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 ends of the earth. [00:58:22] In other words, this messiahs worth is not only to do with salvation, it has something to do with these things as well. What we're talking about, the regathering of the exiles, now it is perfect. I don't have any problem with people who say, ah, but God is bringing from the far north, far south, far east, far west, people who he's bringing them to into his salvation from every tongue and Kindred and nation. [00:58:52] I have no problem with this. [00:58:55] But it is also as abundantly clear to me that this is a reference to the exiles, the physical exiles of the exile of the jewish people. The first exile to Babylon, and the second exile into the whole world. The first exile for 50 years, 70 years captivity, 50 years Exile, and the second for 1900 years into every part of the earth. Do you not find that remarkable? Now someone says, well, I'm not very clear about that. I think you're being a bit fanciful. I think you're reading into the scripture something. All right, then let us go to Isaiah 49. That may be even more clear then. This is another messianic passage. Listen awhiles unto me and hearken. Yeah. Peoples from far the Lord hath called me from the womb. It's the Lord Jesus. You read about it. Then it says verse five. And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his son, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered unto him. For I am honorable in the eyes of the Lord. My God has become my strength. Yea, he said, it is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for the light to the gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Isn't this amazing? Listen. Thus saith the Lord, the redeemer of Israel and his holy one, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhorreth, of whom is the prophet speaking to a servant of rulers. [01:00:32] Kings shall see and arise princes, and they shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful, even the holy one of Israel who hath chosen thee. Now listen. Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee. And I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant of the people to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages, saying to them that abound, go forth. To them that are in darkness, show yourself. And so it goes on. Listen to verse twelve. These shall come from far than these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim. [01:01:08] That's china. [01:01:10] Sing, o heavens, and be joyful, o earth. Break forth into singing, o mountains. For the Lord hath comforted his people and will have compassion upon his afflicted. But Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. Can no woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, these may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. Read on, read on. [01:01:44] Now you see something amazing. [01:01:47] It sounds as if the Messiah is not only for salvation, but he has something to do with raising up the land, causing the people to inherit desolate places, taking the people who think they are forsaken and hated and despised from the ends of the earth and bringing them back to the land. Isn't this amazing? [01:02:17] Well, beloved friends, that brings me to my last point. For now. [01:02:26] And I have it in Hosea. Listen to it. [01:02:32] Verse 14. [01:02:34] Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak to her heart and I will give her her vineyard from thence and the valley of Akhor for a door of hope. [01:02:58] What is it the Lord is saying? [01:03:04] What does he mean? I will allure her, trap her, seduce her? [01:03:13] Should I? Be careful what I'm saying. [01:03:15] But what does allure mean? [01:03:18] Unless it means that somehow, with soft words, by one means or another, he will get her into the wilderness. Just wait. [01:03:34] Who wants to be in the wilderness? [01:03:40] Wilderness is a hard place, a difficult place. [01:03:44] Why does he bring her into the wilderness? Do you begin to see what the Lord is saying? I think he's saying to this people, blind and disobedient, for the most part secular I'm going to get you into a hard place and there I'm going to speak to your heart. [01:04:16] This love story is the greatest love story in the world. [01:04:29] It seems to me that God, God is at present getting israel into a very hard place. [01:04:41] We have an election. [01:04:43] With all the razzmataz and shenanigans of an israeli election, we hardly know whether we are coming or going. It is unbelievable the number of new parties we have, the number of people seeking presidential election. [01:05:02] And you all know what David Ben Gurion said when asked what it was like to be prime minister of Israel? He said, it is like being prime minister of 3 million prime ministers, only now we are 6 million. [01:05:19] Everybody has an opinion and everybody holds their opinion very obstinately and very verbally. [01:05:29] If we get what we deserve, we shall get ech Barak, or at the very best the centre party, and that will be no better. [01:05:45] If God is merciful to us, he would give us Netanyahu. [01:05:51] Best of all would be bacon, the only uncorrupt politician in Israel. [01:06:04] The fact of the matter is we have an election because of the y plantation agreement. [01:06:15] Mister Netanyahu, Bibi Netanyahu recently said to a friend of mine, I was pressurized into the y plantation. I do not believe it's a good thing and I deeply regret it. [01:06:39] All I know is that we are coming into a hard place. [01:06:45] If there is a chance that Netanyahu might be a return, a chance from the human point of view, I personally believe we're in a hard place. [01:06:57] Only God can deliver us. [01:07:02] The interesting thing is that somewhere along the line we have to have a government that the world doesn't like. [01:07:09] Otherwise Zechariah chapter twelve cannot be fulfilled. [01:07:14] If we have echut, Barak or the centrals party, then I cannot see Zechariah twelve being fulfilled at this point. So somewhere along the line we have to have a government that doesn't do what the superpower and all the others, European Union, United Kingdom and all the rest, want us to do. [01:07:34] I think the Lord is bringing us into the wilderness to speak to our heart. [01:07:43] Then again, look again at some other things. The whole world is rooting for the Palestinian Authority. [01:07:52] And even if Mister Arafatu is ill, even if he has changed his spot and really wants peace and wants to die in peace with some kind of palestinian state, however small, the fact is Mister Arafat has proved again and again to be totally unpredictable. [01:08:19] If Saddam Hussein, God forbid, should ever come up again, Arafat and the Palestinians will immediately support Saddam Hussein or any other arab leader who has the power, at least seemingly, to destroy Israel. [01:08:43] I say this is a hard place. [01:08:48] Thirdly, we have an arms race in the Middle east, an enormous arms race. [01:08:57] The Iranians have recently tested a medium range rocket capable of carrying nuclear warheads, bacteriological warheads, chemical warheads. They are now coming off the factory line. [01:09:15] These medium range rockets reach to India in the east, to the south of Russia in the north and to Rome in the west, and can go the whole of Saudi Arabian peninsula in the south. [01:09:34] They are about to test a long range rocket and this will reach London, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen. [01:09:52] The fact of the matter is, the whole of the Middle east is in an arms race. Saudi Arabia has vast underground reserves of weapons. We know this from intelligence. We know exactly what they've got under there. Now. They will say it is to protect them against Iran. But when King Fahid dies, the new prince Abdullah is very, very enamored of islamic fundamentalism and anti western. We have Syria with all the possibilities in Syria. I don't need to tell you about Syria. You know it very well. Assad is a very ill man. [01:10:33] It is amazing how you cannot get rid of people before God's time. Whether it's Saddam Hussein or Hafiz Assad or any, or Hitler or anybody else, there's no way you can bump them off. To put it in colloquial language before their time. It has to be God's appointed time. [01:10:54] I find it amazing that Syria is behind all our problems with Lebanon and is getting basic, getting off scot free from everything. [01:11:05] We have Iraq. [01:11:08] Only the firmness of the United States and Britain has managed so far to paralyze Saddam's weapon schemes. [01:11:21] But the moment those sanctions are lifted, then, then immediately the whole war machine of Iraq will again go into operation. We have an enormous arms race. Even if I take Libya, if I take Egypt, it is incredible what Egypt has done with her army, with american training and american weapons. [01:11:51] The extraordinary thing is that at present we have one friend, and that friend is a muslim nation, and the friend is Turkey. [01:12:04] This is the most extraordinary thing that has happened for quite a few years. [01:12:10] And as you all well know, Turkey a little while ago nearly gave Syria a bloody nose and very much wanted to. [01:12:26] I don't know where it will all lead. [01:12:29] I only know one thing. The Lord is in charge. [01:12:34] I find it very interesting. The Lord says, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness, and I will will speak to her heart. [01:12:48] I believe we are very near to the fulfillment of Zechariah, chapter twelve and verse ten, and that marvelous prophecy through to chapter 13, verse one. [01:13:05] For that reason, the forces of darkness are mobilizing. But thank God. God. God is using those very forces, just as he used the pogroms, just as he's used the Holocaust. So God will use whatever lies ahead of us. Now, when we come to this evening, I will speak a little more from this extraordinary word. [01:13:29] I will give the valley of Akor as a door of hope.