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Bible Prophecy & The Last Days: Israel, God’s Prophetic Timepiece | Harley Doneburg | 01.18.26

Calvary Chapel of Perry | Messages

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  1. Hey there! Is today your first time here? Or

  2. maybe your first time in a while? If so, maybe

  3. you're wondering exactly who we are and what

  4. this church is all about. Well, we'd like you

  5. to know that we're a group of ordinary people

  6. who are on an amazing journey together following

  7. Christ. Our guide is the Bible because it's the

  8. divinely inspired Word of God and it will never

  9. take us in the wrong direction. Along the way,

  10. we hope you'll see that we are welcoming and

  11. spiritually passionate. and that getting to know

  12. you is a big deal to us. We know that the road

  13. is rough sometimes, but we'll work really hard

  14. to bring you practical and relevant messages

  15. to equip and encourage you through life's ups

  16. and downs. We want you to know that we care about

  17. this community, and we believe that it's our

  18. job to make it a better place. So no matter who

  19. you are or where you've been, we're glad you're

  20. here with us today, and we hope that you'll join

  21. us on our journey, following Christ and living

  22. out His plan for us. So welcome to church. Thankful,

  23. God. Pray that, Lord, your word would meet us

  24. right where we're at. We're confident in the

  25. fact that, Lord, it's your desire to talk to

  26. us and meet with us, Lord. You want to speak

  27. to us, Lord, and minister to our hearts, remind

  28. us of your love, challenge us, warn us, all the

  29. things we need, Lord. So I pray you do that this

  30. morning, God, that we as a church would have

  31. an ear to hear what you'd have to say today.

  32. In Jesus' name. We had a whole wall full of baptism

  33. pictures at one time here. Almost 20 of them,

  34. 20 years of them, plus give or take different

  35. other times we baptized people. We had men's

  36. retreats on the Genesee River and several baptisms,

  37. Silver Lake. Currently, we do it at the Breezeway

  38. Barn at our kind of church anniversary in August

  39. every year. But I remember looking at them. At

  40. one point, we would look at baptism pictures.

  41. We baptized 20, 25 people at a time every year.

  42. Great, super encouraging. A lot of people would

  43. show up. And then as we began to look at those

  44. pictures, What you'd see is one of the signs

  45. of the last days is people began to disappear.

  46. The people that were getting baptized, they weren't

  47. just not attending Calvary Chapel. Because it's

  48. great. If you're not attending here and you're

  49. going to a Bible -believing church, amen. That's

  50. where you need to be. Find a good, healthy church

  51. that teaches the word of God and find a home,

  52. a family. That's it. It's where you want to be,

  53. and you want to be connected. You want to be

  54. part of it. You're part of a family, part of

  55. the church. It's the bride of Christ. It's one

  56. bride. It's not all these different brides. It's

  57. the church. So plug in. But what we were seeing

  58. is people were just falling off the map, falling

  59. away. And that's the warning in these last days.

  60. One of the earmarks, and we talked about it last

  61. week, is that people would fall away. They would

  62. begin to walk away from God, walk away from the

  63. Lord. And typically, it's a gradual descent,

  64. right? It starts small, maybe with just becoming

  65. busy, too busy to get together, too busy. We've

  66. got so many things going on, or fears, or finances,

  67. and then it turns into something else, and pretty

  68. soon, you're gone. You're out of a place of fellowship.

  69. It's easy not to go to church. It's easy not

  70. to. But church is the place where you hear the

  71. word of God. You get stirred up, but you're part

  72. of a family. You get sharpened, challenged. There's

  73. accountability. You should have friends at church.

  74. You should be making friends. That's part of

  75. it. But slowly, as you get drawn away, pulled

  76. away, all those things, they begin to crumble.

  77. And then you're a target. But the devil does

  78. not want to see you in church, does not want

  79. you part of a body, wants to pull you away. You

  80. become a very easy target. It says this, one

  81. of the most sobering verses in the Bible, a little

  82. portion as Jesus is talking about kingdom living

  83. in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. He issues a

    Matthew 5 chapter mention

  84. warning at the end of chapter 7. It says in verse

  85. 21, you don't have to turn there. But not everyone,

  86. Jesus will say, he's telling his disciples, everyone

  87. who followed him up onto this mountain, not everyone

  88. who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into

  89. the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will

  90. of my Father in heaven. Then he goes on to say,

  91. In fact, many will say to me in that day, Lord,

  92. Lord, haven't we prophesied in your name, cast

  93. out demons in your name, and done many wonders

  94. in your name? Haven't we done this? We've done

  95. these works. You owe us heaven. I've been a good

  96. person. I've tithed. I've served. I've done this

  97. and that. That doesn't get you into heaven. It's

  98. the work of Calvary and what Jesus Christ did.

  99. And Jesus says, then I will declare to them,

  100. I never knew you. Apart from me, you who practice

  101. lawlessness. There was never a relationship.

  102. The relationship was based on what you could

  103. do to be good enough and not what Jesus did to

  104. make you good enough. That's the problem. But

  105. I can't imagine being there that Jesus literally

  106. says people will be standing there someday. Saying,

  107. Lord, Lord, they're not claiming some other God,

  108. but they're claiming Jesus Christ, the God of

  109. the Bible. Lord, Lord, didn't we do this? Didn't

  110. we do that? To hear those words, the final words,

  111. depart from me, I never knew you. That's it.

  112. No do -overs, no second chance. It's here to

  113. get your chance. Now. And so the Bible, we're

  114. looking at these signs. One of those signs is

  115. a departure from the faith. I pray that God,

  116. his spirit would move one more time and there

  117. would be a great revival again. And I think what

  118. we saw back in, I think it was September, that

  119. God used the seed of another martyr, which God

  120. always does. Charlie Kirk, as he died, it stirred

  121. and ignited faith again in this country. Bible

  122. sales went up exponentially. Church attendance

  123. went up. because of what he represented, who

  124. he represented. And it just started stirring

  125. hearts in people. Who is this guy? And people

  126. were looking him up and pretty amazing. And so

  127. I pray God does do a great revival, but we know

  128. what's going to happen is there'll be a departure

  129. from the faith. There'll be people leaving the

  130. faith. And so Jesus gave his disciples signs

  131. of the last days. As we're looking through Matthew

  132. 24, there'll be wars, rumors of wars. There's

  133. always been that, but nothing like we know today.

  134. Today we see wars, rumors of wars. We know what

  135. is going on in Iran today, Persia. Iran is Persia

  136. in the Bible. And they're very significant players

  137. in the last days. We're going to read in Ezekiel

  138. 38 and 39 because there's one great war that's

  139. coming. It's not the final war, but there's a

  140. war coming. And the Bible lists all the players.

  141. Amazing. These people, some of them that never

  142. had a relationship before are now coming together

  143. and very close ties, very close relationship.

  144. especially Turkey and Persia, Iran, and Russia.

  145. Kind of amazing. And you're hearing threats from

  146. Russia, right? If you do something, we're going

  147. to do something. They're threatening nuclear

  148. war on Europe. Nuclear force. It's kind of amazing

  149. that these guys are in place, that the Bible

  150. says it before. It's never even happened. Calls

  151. these people out hundreds and sometimes thousands

  152. of years in advance. How could God know? How

  153. could God know? But the Bible clearly states

  154. it. And so Jesus gives the earmarks of these

  155. things. Wars, rumors, rumors of wars, famine,

  156. pestilence, natural disasters, earthquakes, persecution.

  157. And he begins to talk about this time of tribulation

  158. that's coming on the earth, which the number

  159. one, and you need to know this because we're

  160. going to talk about Israel today. But you need

  161. to know that the tribulation period, there'll

  162. be many people who get saved during the tribulation.

  163. The seven year period on planet earth that God

  164. pours out finally judges the planet. Kind of

  165. like in the days of Noah. In fact, Jesus is going

  166. to say that. In the days of Noah, when there

  167. was a global judgment, a flood, there's going

  168. to come another day of judgment. But God is so

  169. patient, not willing, the Bible says, that any

  170. would perish, but that all would come to repentance.

  171. He's giving people time. A space to repent. Time

  172. to hear the gospel. Time to understand that,

  173. yeah, what is life after death? Why are we here?

  174. How did we get here? Answer all these questions

  175. that are in the DNA of every person. He's giving

  176. us time and space and room to answer those questions

  177. and come to Christ. And so Israel is a key player.

  178. Ezekiel chapter 36 or 37 and 36. We'll look at

    Ezekiel 36 chapter mention

  179. that. But God has given people a space, a time

  180. to repent. As the tribulation period, many people

  181. will get saved during that time. But it is the

  182. time. And if you remember, Daniel chapter 9.

    Daniel 9 chapter mention

  183. People are like, don't say Daniel chapter 9.

    Daniel 9 chapter mention

  184. Daniel chapter 9, we're not going to go there,

    Daniel 9 chapter mention

  185. but it's something very important. The angel

  186. gives Daniel this 70 week of years, period. 490

  187. years. It's going to take place. The first 69,

  188. God gives Daniel to give the exact day that Jesus

  189. Christ was going to ride into Jerusalem. And

  190. he did. But there's a space, an age of grace.

  191. It's the church age. There's one more week, week

  192. of years, seven years. We know as the time of

  193. Jacob's trouble, Daniel's 70th week. And it's

  194. a time where God is going to save people in the

  195. tribulation, but he's going to deal with this

  196. nation, Israel. Israel is key during the tribulation

  197. period. And we have that. You read the book of

  198. Revelation. It's laid out. Chapters 6 through

  199. 19 is the tribulation period. There's no quiz

  200. on that, so don't worry. But it's important.

  201. God saves 144 ,000 Jewish people. They're Jewish

  202. Billy Grahams, evangelists. They're proclaiming

  203. the gospel to Jewish prophets in Jerusalem. It's

  204. very Jewish. So as we're going through this,

  205. we're seeing different signs, looking at them.

  206. And we get to a verse. In Matthew 24, it says

  207. this. Matthew 24, it says in verse 32, Now learn

  208. the parable of the fig tree. When its branch

  209. has already become tender and puts forth its

  210. leaves, you know that summer is near. So also

  211. when you see all these things, you shall know

  212. it's near even at the door. So he's relating

  213. this to the signs in the same way you would see

  214. a tree. In fact, Luke just talks about. Any tree,

  215. the way you see the leaves come on the trees

  216. or fruit coming, you know, you can tell the seasons

  217. by what you're seeing in a tree, right? You look

  218. outside, there's, if you live in New York, there's

  219. not many leaves on the tree. If there are, they're

  220. shriveled up, right? We're waiting for another

  221. couple months and we start seeing some buds come

  222. out and everyone starts talking about the crocuses

  223. that are, oh my gosh, look at this, it's amazing,

  224. right? We want. the warm weather to come. Well,

  225. that's part of what Jesus is relating this to.

  226. He says, when you see all these, know this, that

  227. it's at the doors. Assuredly, I say to you, this

  228. is important, that this generation will by no

  229. means pass away till all these things take place.

  230. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words

  231. will by no means pass away. Something's going

  232. to happen. Because the fig tree is also emblematic

  233. of the nation of Israel. The Bible talks, if

  234. you read the Old Testament, Micah, I think it's

  235. Chronicles, where Israel is looking for a day

  236. where it sits under its vine and its fig tree.

  237. And it's emblematic of this nation, Israel, the

  238. fig tree. And Jesus says something that I think

  239. is significant here. He says, when you know this

  240. parable of the fig tree, when its branch is ready

  241. to become tender, and it brings forth leaves,

  242. you know that summer is near. And something the

  243. Bible declares and promises, and it's unfortunate,

  244. and I've talked about it before, Martin Luther,

  245. unfortunately, John Calvin, and many of our forefathers

  246. who did not understand or see Israel, the potential

  247. of them becoming a nation again, created this

  248. thing. And believed in something known as, and

  249. I mentioned it before, replacement theology.

  250. Wherever you see Israel in the New Testament,

  251. the church replaces Israel. Israel is no more.

  252. They're insignificant. And the church has replaced

  253. Israel. Well, God doesn't say that. Paul doesn't

  254. say that in Romans. It's very important to know

  255. because it's the super sign of the last days.

  256. Israel becoming a nation again. But it's something

  257. that most people wrote them off. Lots of people

  258. wrote Israel off. Like there's no way they can

  259. become a nation again. It's impossible. Because

  260. they're out of the land. But Jesus said that.

  261. We won't go there. But Jesus said that your house

  262. is left to you desolate. Because they rejected

  263. their Messiah. And we know 70 AD, it's not overly

  264. important. It is important. that Titus of Aspasian

  265. comes into the city and ransacks. It kills over

  266. a million Jews. Cannibalism is part of what they're

  267. doing in the city, and they take 100 ,000 people

  268. captive because they rejected their Messiah.

  269. And the fruit of that was they went back into

  270. this last day's dispersion during the church

  271. age. But the Bible promises that there's going

  272. to be a regathering. That Israel is going to

  273. become a nation again. Most people didn't believe

  274. that. Most people thought it is impossible that

  275. that could happen. It says this. I wrote down

  276. a couple of quotes. Encyclopedia. Anyone ever

  277. have an encyclopedia Britannica at their house?

  278. When I was growing up, my grandmother had this

  279. whole shelf of encyclopedia Britannicas. I would

  280. just go through them. Well, the one from 1911

  281. says this. If you look up and. Maybe you could

  282. look this up online. It says this with the entry

  283. of the Hebrew language. It says, the dream of

  284. some Zionists that Hebrew, that is to say a would

  285. -be Hebrew, will again become a living popular

  286. language in Palestine has less prospect of realization

  287. than their vision of a restored Jewish empire

  288. in the Holy Land. Like, that ain't going to happen.

  289. There's not going to be a Hebrew language again.

  290. The Jewish people are not going to be in the

  291. Holy Land again. It's impossible. I mean, that's

  292. just over 100 years ago. Mark Twain, on his tour

  293. to the Holy Land, said this in 1867 in his writings

  294. called Innocence Abroad. It says, of all the

  295. lands of dismal scenery, I think Palestine must

  296. be the prince. Israel is desolate and unlovely,

  297. a barren wasteland, rich in soil, but wholly

  298. given over to weeds, a silent, mournful expanse.

  299. He remarked that he didn't encounter one single

  300. human being and hardly a tree or shrub. That's

  301. in 1867. He wrote that. And now we're talking

  302. about a nation that is birthed May 14th, 1948,

  303. produce goods, distribute goods. They're top

  304. 15 in the world on certain things, but top 25

  305. in the whole world, which may not seem like a

  306. lot, top 25. Gee, that's not great. There's a

  307. lot of countries. There's 15 million Jews on

  308. the planet, on the whole planet, 15 million Jews.

  309. Seven and a half million live in Israel. Jews.

  310. There's 10 million in the whole country, but

  311. seven and a half million Jews and their top 25,

  312. in some aspects, in some ways, they cut flowers

  313. to Holland, who was the number one exporter in

  314. the world. They sell flowers, cut flowers to

  315. Holland. Their top five or top 10 in citrus,

  316. avocados, pomegranates. I mean, Israel has become,

  317. from what Mark Twain said, to our day and age,

  318. this major superpower. In fact, in terms of military,

  319. they're top 10 or 15 in the world today. Top

  320. five in some instances, their Navy, their Air

  321. Force, and their tank divisions. Top three in

  322. terms of secret service. I mean, we're talking

  323. about a nation that was born less than 100 years

  324. ago. And they become a global superpower. That

  325. at one time, the church itself that had the scriptures

  326. thought, this is impossible. There's no way they

  327. can become a nation. And guess what they have?

  328. May 14th, 1948, to become a nation. It's incredible

  329. what God has done. And he said it before it ever

  330. happened. And some people, Christians. Had to

  331. replace the church with Israel because they were

  332. in such disbelief. Just kind of amazing. Isaiah

  333. 27, 6 says, in those days, the days that God

  334. is going to bring Israel back into the land,

  335. it says, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom

  336. and bud and fill the world with fruit. So I'm

  337. going to look at my notes for a second and tell

  338. you guys exactly what they're. They're tropical

  339. fruit exports. Avocados, dates, mangoes, citrus.

  340. They're number seven in the world in tropical

  341. fruits. Who would have thought that? They sell

  342. cut flowers to the Netherlands and Holland. Netherlands

  343. is the number one exporter in the world, and

  344. they purchase flowers from Israel. This land

  345. that was barren, desert. The army is top 15 in

  346. the world of 145 countries, but top 10 in their

  347. air force. Naval fleet, top five in the tank

  348. fleet. And like I said, they're intelligent agencies.

  349. The Mossad and Chimbat, they're top three behind

  350. the CIA and the UK's intelligent agencies. And

  351. you remember what happened with Hezbollah and

  352. the pagers. You guys remember that a couple of

  353. years ago where Hezbollah has all these pagers.

  354. And Israel convinced them to buy pagers from

  355. them so they could track them. And then one day

  356. they have this little bomb in them. And Israel,

  357. the Mossad ignites them, sets them off. People

  358. die because these people are constantly attacking

  359. Israel. Israel, their intelligence is amazing.

  360. But the Bible declares that people are going

  361. to go back to Israel. It's called Aliyah. They're

  362. going to go back to their homeland. And I was

  363. talking to someone recently who works with Jews

  364. in our area, Jewish people, Jewish community.

  365. And he was just telling me how much they get

  366. together and they're in contact with the Mossad

  367. in their country. They send billions of dollars

  368. back to their country all the time. Like these

  369. groups of Jews, these communities, Rochester,

  370. Buffalo, New York City, they're in contact with

  371. the CIA, the Mossad. They get updates on alerts,

  372. things to watch out for, and they're constantly

  373. sending money back to their homeland. And since

  374. the massacre October 7th, thousands of, tens

  375. of thousands of people have gone back to Israel

  376. to live, to move. Right? But the Bible says that

  377. they're going to do that. That they're going

  378. to go back. That they're going to enter back

  379. into the land in unbelief. Like they're not Christians,

  380. but they're God's people. If you turn with me

  381. for a second to Genesis chapter 12. This fig

    Genesis 12 chapter mention

  382. tree is going to blossom. It's a promise. As

  383. God calls Abraham out of his country and his

  384. nation, it says this in verse 1 of Genesis chapter

    Genesis 12 chapter mention

  385. 12. It says, now the Lord had said to Abraham,

  386. Abraham, get out of your country and your family

  387. and from your father's house to a land that I'm

  388. going to show you. I'll make you a great nation.

  389. I'll bless you. I'll make your name great and

  390. you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who

  391. bless you and curse him who curses you. He's

  392. talking about this nation. That he's reestablishing,

  393. not just Abraham. And in you, all the families

  394. of the earth will be blessed, right? Messiah

  395. is going to come out of this nation, this Abraham

  396. seed. In chapter 15, you turn there with me for

  397. a second. God reiterates a promise to them. And

  398. makes a covenant with Abraham. It says in verse

  399. 1, after these things, the word of the Lord came

  400. to Abraham in a vision saying, don't be afraid,

  401. Abraham. I'm your shield, your exceeding great

  402. reward. And then Abraham argues and says, listen,

  403. I don't have a seed. Only Eleazar in my house

  404. is my only seed. I don't have anyone from my

  405. wife and I. What are we going to do? What am

  406. I going to do, Lord? And God makes Abraham, and

  407. I'm skipping through this because I don't have

  408. enough time to read the whole chapter and explain

  409. it. But God basically tells Abraham, do this

  410. for me. Take these animals and cut them in half

  411. and spread them out. One on one side, one on

  412. the other. Kind of a gruesome scene, but it was

  413. the way they would cut a covenant. And then you

  414. would make this promise to each other and you'd

  415. basically hold hands and walk down the middle

  416. of these animals that were cut in half. And it

  417. was such a severe thing that, hey, this is what's

  418. going to happen to you if you don't keep your

  419. promise. You'll be like these animals. And but

  420. when Abraham was there and he cuts the animals

  421. in half, it says that he fell asleep and all

  422. he was trying to do is keep these birds from.

  423. from landing on these animals. That's all his

  424. job was. Then he finally fell asleep and it says

  425. that God went through the midst of it by himself

  426. and burned up these animals. And it was a sign

  427. to Abraham that Abraham, listen, I'm not depending

  428. on you to keep your side of the promise, but

  429. I'm going to keep my side. You don't need to

  430. come through the center of these animals, Abraham,

  431. because I'm going to keep the promise. You're

  432. going to have a seed and this seed is going to

  433. last forever. This land is yours forever. And

  434. no nation on the planet has ever been out of

  435. their country, off their land for 1900 to 2000

  436. years and gone back to take it over again. But

  437. that happened to a nation of Israel. They're

  438. out of their land for almost 2000 years and they

  439. go back. There's no other nation, country or

  440. people. that God says that that's my land and

  441. these are my people and I gave it to them. It's

  442. the only place in the Bible. Those are my people.

  443. This is my land and I gave it to them. And God

  444. brought them back in and gave them land. So turn

  445. with me to Ezekiel 37 for a second. I'll just

  446. read this to you, what God says. Ezekiel 37.

  447. If you're a note taker, you can write down Isaiah

    Isaiah 11:10

  448. 11, verse 10 and 11. And there's tons of scriptures

  449. in the Bible talking about God bringing his people

  450. back into the land in unbelief. But it says this

  451. in chapter 36, verse 22. Therefore, say to the

  452. house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, I do

  453. not do this for your sake, O house of Israel,

  454. but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned

  455. among the nations wherever you went. But I will

  456. sanctify my great name, which has been profaned

  457. among the nations, which you have profaned in

  458. their midst. And the nation shall know that I

  459. am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I'm hollowed

  460. in you before their eyes. For I will take you

  461. from among the nations and gather you out of

  462. all countries and bring you into your own land.

  463. That's God's promise. And we can bounce around

  464. and spend a lot of time talking about this. Chapter

  465. 37 is pretty profound because these are the last

  466. days. This is the vision of these dry bones.

  467. It says this in chapter 37. The hand of the Lord

  468. came upon me and brought me out in the spirit

  469. of the Lord and set me down in the midst. of

  470. the valley, and it was full of bones. So if you

  471. can imagine this valley full of bones, they're

  472. dry bones, he's going to say. He caused me to

  473. pass by them all, and behold, there were very

  474. many in an open valley, and indeed, they were

  475. very dry. And he said to me, Son of man, can

  476. these bones now live? And I answered, O Lord

  477. God, you know. I don't know, you know. And he

  478. said to me, prophesy to these bones and say to

  479. them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

  480. Thus saith the Lord God to these bones, surely

  481. I will cause breath to enter into you and you'll

  482. live. I will put sinew on you and bring flesh

  483. upon you and cover you with skin and put breath

  484. in you and you'll live and you'll know that I

  485. am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded.

  486. And as I prophesied, there was a noise and a

  487. sudden rattling and the bones came together bone

  488. to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and

  489. the flesh came upon them and the skin covered

  490. over them, but there was no breath in them. And

  491. he said to me, prophesy to the breath. Prophesy,

  492. son of man, and say to the breath, thus saith

  493. the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath,

  494. and breathe on these slain that they might live.

  495. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath

  496. came into them, and they lived, and they stood

  497. there on their feet. Listen, an exceeding great

  498. army. That's who Israel is today. And he said

  499. to me, son of man, this is important, these bones.

  500. are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say,

  501. and this is what they said, our bones are dry,

  502. our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off.

  503. And that's what the nation was saying for a long

  504. time. Therefore prophesy and say to them, thus

  505. saith the Lord, O my people, I will open your

  506. graves and cause you to come up from the graves

  507. and bring you into the land of Israel. You'll

  508. know that I'm the Lord when I've opened your

  509. grave. Oh, my people and brought you up from

  510. your graves. And I'll put this is future. This

  511. is during the tribulation. Verse 14. I will put

  512. my spirit in you and you'll live. Right. They're

  513. going to become a nation that's saved, redeemed,

  514. born again. You'll live and I'll place you in

  515. your own land and you'll know that I, the Lord,

  516. have spoken it and performed it. They're going

  517. to be in belief during the tribulation. They're

  518. going to get saved. We don't have time. We're

  519. not going to look there. Ezekiel 38 and 39. I

  520. just want to look at a couple of verses. I want

  521. to read more. There's coming a battle that's

  522. significant. The timing of it is in question.

  523. When's it going to happen? Ezekiel 38 and 39.

  524. I believe before the tribulation kicks off. And

  525. I believe. Maybe in close correlation with the

  526. rapture of the church. But these players are

  527. in play. So I'll just read them and then tell

  528. you what these names are. Verse 2. Son of man,

  529. set your face against Gog, the land of Magog,

  530. the prince of Rosh, Meshach, and Tubal. That's

  531. Russia. And the prince of Russia, Gog and Magog.

  532. And say, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I'm

  533. against you, God, the prince of Rosh, Meshach,

  534. and Tubal. I will turn you around and put hooks

  535. into your jaws and lead you out with all your

  536. army, horses and horsemen, all splendidly clothed,

  537. a great company with bucklers and shields, all

  538. of them handling the sword. And listen, here's

  539. who he's gathering with them. Persia, that's

  540. Iran, Ethiopia, Libya. Are with them, all of

  541. them with shields and helmets. Gomer and all

  542. its troops, the house of Tagarma from the far

  543. north and all its troops. Many people are with

  544. you. Prepare yourselves and be ready. You and

  545. all your companies that are gathered about and

  546. be on guard for them. And then if you keep reading,

  547. these people come together. I just want to tell

  548. you who they are. It says this. Gog and Magog,

  549. that's a title. Rosh, that's Russia. Meshach,

  550. Moscow. Tubal, that's a city of Russia. But that's

  551. this northern, far north. If you put a line right

  552. from Israel straight north, that's who it is.

  553. It's Russia. And they're aligned with Persia.

  554. And you could follow all their war spending and

  555. military might. A lot of it comes from Russia.

  556. and China and these nations that are aligning.

  557. And Russia is pouring into this nation. Why?

  558. For money. We're going to see that people question,

  559. you know, why are you doing this? Why are you

  560. going to war? As you continue reading the chapter,

  561. which I encourage you to do, why are you going

  562. to war? To take a spoil? And yeah, that's exactly

  563. what they're doing. They're coming down for a

  564. spoil. They want to take Israel. They want to

  565. take the land. They want to destroy them. And

  566. people will question, but nobody's going to step

  567. in. God has to step in himself, it says, in this

  568. battle. But it's Iran. Ethiopia and Kush is Sudan

  569. and Ethiopia. Libya is Algeria, Tunisia. Gomer

  570. is Poland, the Czech Republic, East Germany.

  571. Tagarma is Turkey. The people, Sheba and Dedan,

  572. verse 13, I didn't read it. One of those people,

  573. that's the Arabian Peninsula. And one of those

  574. places is Saudi Arabia, where you think of Osama

  575. bin Laden and 9 -11, right? But now with the

  576. Abraham Accords and the new president, they're

  577. sympathetic. They're friendly to Israel. In fact,

  578. they're worried about Iran themselves. They said

  579. that... Iran and its leadership, it's the next

  580. Hitler. And they're worried. And they said, no,

  581. we don't have nuclear weapons. But if Iran has

  582. them, we have no choice. But we'll have them

  583. too. Because they're worried. Right? It's all

  584. shaken up. Zechariah says that Israel is going

  585. to be a cup of trembling. And the whole world

  586. is going to tremble. At that one little nation,

  587. the size of New Jersey, they're going to worry

  588. about this one little plot of ground on this

  589. whole planet. Why is it significant and important?

  590. Because they're God's people and he's not done

  591. with them. Romans says that. Not done with them.

  592. Blindness in part has happened to Israel until

  593. the fullness of the Gentiles. The church comes

  594. together. God raptures the church out of here.

  595. We're going to look at that next week. And then.

  596. Antichrist comes, tribulation starts, and God

  597. deals with this nation of Israel that came out

  598. of nowhere, that people wrote off, even people

  599. in the church wrote that nation off. And they're

  600. back in the land. They're a major player. They're

  601. a world power. They're a global influence, financially,

  602. militarily, intelligence -wise. 15 million on

  603. the whole planet. Add them all up. There's 15

  604. million Jews. There's 10 million people in New

  605. York City. One city in the United States. And

  606. the whole world is worried about Israel. Every

  607. Muslim nation around there, many of them, not

  608. all of them, want to push them into the sea.

  609. They're not happy with a peace agreement or a

  610. little more land. They want them dead, wiped

  611. out. And we could go on and on. There's a lot

  612. of history here. Track it in your Bible. I challenge

  613. you. The devil has always attacked this nation.

  614. Why? Because of the promise of Messiah. God can't

  615. lie. But if the devil can do something to thwart

  616. God's plans, that's what he wants to do. He can

  617. stop it some way. So listen, here's the reality.

  618. Is if you don't know the Lord, listen, the Bible

  619. says that God knows the end from the very beginning.

  620. Your future matters. Where are you going to spend

  621. eternity? God wrote this not to, and it's fun

  622. to look up. It's fun to study these things. I

  623. really enjoy it. But here's the reality. It's

  624. written there for a reason. It's a warning. God

  625. knows the future and he knows if you don't receive

  626. him, guess what? You'll be separated forever.

  627. For all of eternity. Because the Bible's true.

  628. God is real and he sent his son. On your behalf

  629. and mine, he loves you.