God Promised This Would Happen

The Bible said this would happen. In fact, Jesus himself said this would happen. >> You can clearly see the shift in the times. You can see it politically. You can see it with professed Christians. You can just see it just kind of socially. There is a move now. It's a foot. You can see it clearly where people have a visible disdain towards Israel. Let me just say this. There's a lot that Israel does wrong that they should be condemned for. Israel is not a godly country, a godly state or or for the most part, Jews are not godly people. But I want to rather than deal with him at least upfront, at least first off, I want to deal with what the Bible says. But you'll notice a lot of people showing hatred towards Israel. Not like we saw in the in the 1940s. Yes, there was one nation particularly that had a an issue with Israel, with the Jews, but now it's becoming more and more spread out, even here in America. What's interesting is that this hatred or this disdain doesn't seem to be consistently carried across to other nations that are doing either the same or far worse. When was the last time you heard someone come out and say negative things about Rwanda or something that's happening in other parts of the world? You don't really see that, right? But Israel is being kind of pulled out and looked upon through the spotlight shine upon them. Well, and it could be because they are our only ally that's in the Middle East. We do have a foreign a domestic a strategic relationship with them. And that's not to say that Israel is absolved of anything bad or any wrongdoing they've done. But there is a there are passages in the Bible that speak about Israel and that God is going to cause other nations and other people to hate them. As a matter of fact, one passage we look at is Matthew 24:9. Now, some will say this is just speaking about Christians or they might be speaking about that this is just for those certain people at that time. Now, these certain people at that time that Jesus is speaking about in Matthew 24:9, this is at the end of times, the end times. He says then they will deliver you to tribulation after all these things that are going to happen then after that the things are going to happen have not happened yet. So this is looking forward to the future and you and will kill you and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Cory does that mean that doesn't seem to indicate they will be hated because of their name for following after Christ? Well yes and no. He's speaking about those who are following after Christ, but a specific group that is the Jews. Because at a certain point in time, God is going to change the hearts of some Jews to follow after them. And he calls those Jews whose hearts he's changed according to Romans the true Jews, the actual those who are actually of Israel. Where this comes from is a passage in Genesis 12. Now, we'll get there in a second. Some though will accuse me and others of being Zionist, Christian Zionist. And the question is going to be, should we be Zionist? Well, first of all, what actually is a Zionist? Zionism in a nutshell, though it's become a pjorative more and more today, all it really is is the belief that there should be a homeland for the Jews. And where should that homeland be? In Judea. So the question is, does God does the Bible hold that belief? Does God does God or the Bible state that he wishes to put the Jews back in Judea? Well, we'll come to that in just a little bit. But the other question that also goes along with this is what is a Jew? Well, it might interest some to know that a Jew is someone who is ethnically a Jew, a Jew by birth or by conversion. Without going to all the different relevant passage, remember Caleb, who was one of the two spies that went into the land, was not an ethnic Jew. He was a Kennesite. And so he's not an ethnic Jew, but he's considered to be Jew. Obviously, you can think of some famous examples such as Rahab or uh Ruth who were one was a Moabitete, one was a Canaanite. And so they are considered Israel Jews. And as a matter of fact, the lineage of Christ comes through them. And you'll read passages such as Isaiah 56 that speaks about how a person can become a Jew if they follow after the Lord, take covenant relationship with the Lord. These are people who are Jews by conversion. Now, interestingly enough though, being a Jew by conversion does not mean you're going to get any sort of special treatment. As a matter of fact, quite the opposite as far as God is concerned. In the meantime, God has stated that he has hardened Israel's heart. That even includes those who are Jews or Israel by conversion. Before we go into our relevant text, I want to read these two passages. One is coming out of Isaiah 6:9. He says, "Go and tell this people that is Israel, keep on listening but do not perceive. Keep on looking but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull and their eyes dim. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and return and be healed." So this is what God is doing. God is putting this hardening or as Paul would say a partial hardening on Israel. Not all of the Jews but a vast majority of the Jews have had this hardening happening to them. And the interesting thing is when is this hardening going to be taken off? Which refers back to what we read in Matthew 24:9. He says, "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation." That is a partial hardening has happened to Israel, not the Gentile believers or Gentiles to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. And so all Israel will be saved at that point in time. Once the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, then this partial hardening will go away. Now, why is that important? Well, this relates to what God is doing with Israel because God is still in the phase where he is punishing Israel, but he's going to flip one day where he's not going to punish them where the the hardening is going to go away and he's going to bless all of them. No, it's not to be said that all Jews, all Israelites are the chosen people of God. He has chosen that nation to do something special with. But doesn't mean that all of them are going to be chosen. And doesn't mean that they're the only chosen people. God has never stated that Israel is the only chosen of the of his people. No. Also, all of us believers are in the same camp as those who are chosen. As a matter of fact, his favor is on us right now as opposed to Israel. But that brings up the point that we were making earlier and all of this was kind of as an intro. There are people who hate Israel. That part can be denied. If you say that that didn't happen, then you are just severely blind. It happens. It's been happening and it always will. And this hatred, this disdain will intensify. And folks are going to have legitimate reasons why they think they should, but God is not concerned about your legitimate reasons. Let's go to a text that some might fight me on, but we're going to find some biblical proof to show that this is exactly what I'm saying it is. And that is in Genesis 12, verse two. Now, he's speaking to Abram and he's telling him to come out of your father's house and I will take you to a land that I will show you. And look what he says. I will make you a great nation and I will bless those I'm sorry, I will bless you and make your name great and so you shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. Now, this part people are going to say this does not apply to Israel because this is not about Israel. Well, we'll see. And then he says, "And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Now this does not end there. There is not a clock or a time stamp attached to this. Otherwise there should be a time stamp attached to this as well. This is going forward. Now obviously this is a descendant of Abraham which is Jesus that he's speaking of through you through your physical lineage. I will bless the people the families of the earth. But let's go back further. Is he stating here that I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you? Is he referring to Israel or is he just referring to just Abram? We're going to show you scriptural evidence that he's that he's talking about Israel that his descendants. Now, the blessing of Israel and the cursing of Israel, you may never ever take part in, but I will caution you though you don't have to take part in the blessing part, please don't take part in the cursing part. And there's ways that you can go about doing that. Wait a minute, Corey. If this applies to Israel, what about this evil, wicked, ungodly, adulterous, secular, blasphemous Israel of today? Well, you just describe the Israel of the Bible. Nothing has changed. And you can say that they're not led by a godly leader or even a person who's not even of Jewish root. That matter. Does it apply to the government? Well, did it apply to the government then? If you came against a king or some leaders or the nation of the peoples or certain segment of Israel, was that considered the same thing in the Bible? Yes, we're going to see that. And so when he says, "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you." The question is, how what does this mean for me also? Because there's three ways or three questions you can ask yourself regarding this. Should I bless Israel? Should I curse Israel? Or three, should I just simply ignore Israel? You can get by and you can do fine with just simply ignoring Israel. There's not a lot you can do with Israel anyway, but there are some that will curse Israel, and that will be the problem. There's a lot of folks who can do so, who have the power to do so. Not necessarily the nation, but in some in some respects, in some regards, the nation. But let's see if this actually applies to the actual nation of Israel. Well, it's in the very the very second verse here. He says, "And I will make you a great nation." This could not only apply to just Abram or Abraham exclusively. This has to be extended to his descendants. Why? Because Abram, no matter how much God bless him, is not a nation by himself. He is going to be a people. I'm going to make you a people or a nation. A great people, a great nation. Nor is he a great nation with just Isaac or just Jacob. It requires more. And so when God is showing him these promises in Genesis 15, he speaks about them coming out as a great nation. Even then when God tells him that know that your people are going to be in cap cap in captivity for 400 years but will come out with great possession. And so he's building this nation. So he's going to make them into a great nation and I will make your name great. He also speaks about this as it relates to uh David and the Davidic promises elsewhere in uh in Samuel. But he says and you shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. So how does this apply? How do we know this applies actually to the nation of Israel? Well, remember when the prophet was asked to curse Israel and he said, "I cannot curse Israel whom God has blessed." Let's go to Numbers 24 starting in verse two. And Balam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel saw who Israel. He saw Israel camping by the tribe camping tribe by tribe, I'm sorry. And the spirit of God came upon him. He took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balum, the son of Bior, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God." Let's drop down. He says, "How fair are your tents, O Jacob," speaking about Israel, "your dwellings, O Israel, like valleys that stretch out like gardens beside the river, like alowe planted by the Lord, I mean planted by the Lord, like cedars beside the waters. waters will flow from his buckets and his seeds will be by many waters and his king shall be higher than a remember this is still not a not a a wonderful nation still an evil uh ungodly blasphemous adulterous nation and his kingdom shall be exalted verse 8 brings him out of Egypt who's the himymn Israel he is he is for him like the horns of a wild ox will devour the nations who are his adversaries and he will crush their bones what God will do in their in pieces and shatter them with his arrows. Here it is. He couches. He lies down as a lion and as a lion who dares rouse him. Blessed is everyone who blesses you. Blesses who? Blesses Israel and curses everyone who curses you. Curses who? Curses Israel. Clearly, he's speaking about Israel. So, going back when he says, "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you." He is clearly speaking about Israel. Does that mean Israel is worthy to be blessed? No. But God has decided to do this with this nation. So what he's done is every nation that has come against Israel, think about it practically speaking even today, but go back to the Bible. Every nation that's come against Israel that tried to curse Israel and had plans and designs on Israel will be dealt with by God. Will be cursed by God. Even if God uses those nations, you think back to back to the book of Esther. You think about Hmon and his plot, his plan to destroy Israel. And then he himself is destroyed. Here's a person that's literally cursing Israel, the Jews. And then by the time we get to the end, a even after he's been destroyed, what do you have the people doing? The people are now turning and becoming Jews in the book of Esther. So again, proof that non-Jews can convert to become Jews. You also think about the Assyrians and the Babylonians who God used himself to take them and put them into captivity. So God used them to punish them. However, those very same nations, God is going to punish them for punishing Israel. Even though Israel deserved everything they got and they don't deserve to be blessed, God is still going to honor his word. Remember in Leviticus it says that Leviticus 26:42 that then he will remember what's 42 26 I get it reversed. Then I will remember those or remember you the promise the covenant that I made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the land. Why is God making this promise? Don't know. But he's going to keep his word. There are plenty of clear-cut examples of those who have cursed Israel and then in turn have been cursed. And even those who have blessed Israel and have been blessed even individually. You think about Rahab the harlot who blesses Israel. She recognizes who Israel is and who the God of Israel is. And what does she do? She blesses them. And so she gets blessed. She gets spared. This goes along with the prophetic word that God says. And so you can just run through all the different scriptures in the Bible or through the Bible. You'll see the many times. We don't have enough time to go through all of those different ones. But it's it will be clear to see that God is indeed blessing those who bless that nation and curse him even though it's a wicked nation. This is an ungodly nation. It's something that if you don't like, you would simply have to just take up with God. He is the one that determined it would be this way. There are a couple passages that you probably want to look at as well regarding Israel or the captives or those who come against Israel being punished because they did so. Jeremiah 25:12-14 says, "Then it will be when 70 years are completed." By the way, why are they why are these 70 years happening? Because Israel is being punished. And he's using these other wicked nations to punish them. He says, "But then when the 70 years is over with or completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the Lord, for their iniquity and the land of the Calaldanss, and I will make it an everlasting desolation. I will bring upon that that land all my words which I have pronounced against it all that is written in this book of Jeremiah has prophesied against the nations. for many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to their work. What deeds and work? Coming against Israel. Same thing with, and I can't read all of this, but Isaiah 14:4 that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon uh and say, "How the oppressor has ceased and how fury has ceased." So, he's clearly speaking about these oppressors oppressing Israel and now God is going to deal with them. God is going to spread Israel, spread these Jews all across the world because of their disobedience. He's going to bring them back. And so bringing them back into the land is clearly reminiscent of what he said in Deuteronomy 30 that after I have scattered you, I'm going to bring you back into this land. I'm put you back in the land and give you peace on all sides of you. And again, we have passage, several passages that speak about Israel being brought back into the land. This is God saying that he wants them in the land. He's going to pull them and put them back in the land, the land that he took them out of, that he scattered them amongst all the four winds of the nation of the world and bring them back. Isaiah 11:11-12, he says, "Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with his hand the remnant of his people who will remain from Assyria, Egypt, Pathos, Pathos, I'm sorry, Kush, Elim Shinaroth, and from the islands of the sea. He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel." Uh, Amos 9:14:15. Also, I will restore the captive of my people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will also plant vineyards and drink wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit. I will also plant them in their land, and they will not again be uprooted from their land which I have given them, says the Lord God. So, what is he going to do? Put them back in the land. So, isn't that what uh a Zionist view is going to have you? Now, we're not talking about that we should go out of our way to do any and everything to support them. When it says to bless him, doesn't mean that you have to bless them. You got to do things in their favor. But let's be honest, the nations that have blessed or or had a favorable view towards Israel have been blessed themselves or remain blessed. And those who have the opposite view, who have wanted to curse Israel, come against Israel, destroy Israel, attack Israel, not so good a future. Now, does that mean that you need to go out of your way to bless them, do nice things for them? No. Just pray for them. Pray for them the way you would pray for every other country. Pray for them the way you would pray for Canada or for Haiti or for China or for your own country, for America, for the UK, for France. Pray for them. Pray that God will change the hearts of the people there, but not just Israel, but anywhere else. Right? Don't go out of your way. Don't be the people that you see on TV who are going out of their way to say vile things about Israel as though you can't say vile things about your own country or any other country. Don't single them out. and don't cause other people to have this hatred or this disdain for Israel because then you will incur the eye the wrath of God. You might be indicating the fact that your heart is not a godly heart. But Corey, they don't love the Lord. And I would say to you're right and my response is neither did you at one point in time, but while you were yet enemies with God, he died for you. Does this mean that we should look favorably on what the government does? No, that's not what I'm saying at all. As a matter of fact, one of your options is to simply ignore Israel. You don't have to go out of your way to bless him or to curse him. You could just remain neutral. See what it is politically, but remember what God has said biblically that he shall do. Now, this should really make sense because you should be this way towards everyone in terms of praying for them. Bless them. Bless those people who are your enemies. Bless those who spite you. Uh bless those who you don't like. Bless those people who are foreign to God. Pray for them. Do things that would cause them to want or hopefully with the with the hope and the idea that it would cause them to want to turn towards God. But do not be like the people that God brings up. Those people who he said will hate Israel. What's going to happen to the people that hate Israel? Zechariah 14:2. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the house plundered, the women ravaged, and half the city exiled. But the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. People are going to hate Israel. I'll get to what will happen to them in a little bit. Uh therefore, thus says the Lord God, surely in in fire of my jealousy, I spoken against the rest of the nation and against all of Edom who portion who appropriated my land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul to drive it out for pray. God is going to deal with those people. Amen. Thus says the Lord God concerning all my wicked neighbors who strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed my people Israel. Behold, I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them. So God is going to again, he's going to cause nations to be against Israel. But if you or any other nations against them, God at some point in time is going to deal favorably with Israel while you are not so favorable towards Israel and God will deal with you. Don't be that person. Not just to Israel, but don't be that person individually toward towards anyone else. Show love. Have have a desire for the person. Have compassion. Have a desire for that person to be just like you. To be shown mercy and to have their heart changed. The Bible is clear at some point in time he is going to do that with Israel. All of Israel again, no. Some of Israel, yes. How many? We don't know. And so don't be like the rest of the world in this pattern of having a disdain for that particular nation who really, truth be told, isn't like really any other nation on this earth except for the fact that God does have a covenant promise for them. Amen.