Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
We are going to talk extensively this morning about Israel and her role in the last days. You know about the war in Israel; you know about the horrific and barbaric assault on civilians, women, children, elderly, and infants by the Palestinian Terrorists. Most people recognize that this is more than a land dispute or a cultural war. I would go further than even to say that this is a religious war. Friends, this is an incredible spiritual battle that is directly interconnected with end times, events and biblical prophecy.
So this morning, I want to give you a biblical understanding of why this is so important and answer the question of why we should support Israel. Let me first say this. Any tragic loss of human life grieves me. The reality of war should be sobering and a painful reminder of the reality of the condition of our world. The Bible gives us times when God uses war to execute his judgment, to accomplish his will, and to awaken the apostate. In saying that, I do not mean that God delights in war or the results of war. It should be clear to us that the enemy of God and the enemy of God's people is at war with God and anyone who follows after him.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. 4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” (Psalm 83:3-4)
Let me also say that as a church, we are unapologetically pro-Israel. At the same time, we also recognize that there are Palestinian people who are caught in the crosshairs by no fault of their own. They are being used as Human shields by evil men, and we pray for their safety. Just as there were Germans who opposed Hitler and the Nazis during World War 2, there are also Palestinian people who are opposed to the kind of things that took place earlier in October. However, the Bible, our church, and this pastor recognized that Israel and the Jewish people are part of God's covenant plan for the redemption of mankind.
The Bible is a book about Israel. More specifically, the Bible is a book about how God made an eternal covenant with the nation of his choosing, Bringing about the means of salvation to all mankind. Jesus, the Messiah, was promised To Israel; Jesus was born in Israel as a Jew, was raised as a Jew, became a Jewish rabbi, Jesus died in Israel, Jesus rose again in Israel, and when Jesus came back, he will come back to Israel in a Jewish Jerusalem. We know for certain through the scriptures and the prophets that Israel will play a central role in Jesus’s return.
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. (Revelation 12:3–4)
So today, I want to answer several questions. In doing so, I will look to the Bible and history to answer those questions. You don’t have to agree with me, but you do have to allow God to speak to you through His Word.
1. What is God’s Covenant with Israel
So, the first question I want to answer is what is God’s eternal covenant with Israel. “A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are two basic types of covenants: conditional and unconditional. A conditional or bilateral covenant is an agreement binding on both parties for its fulfillment. Both parties agree to fulfill certain conditions. If either party fails to meet their responsibilities, the covenant is broken, and neither party has to fulfill the expectations of the covenant. An unconditional or unilateral covenant is an agreement between two parties, but only one of the two parties has to do something. Nothing is required of the other party. (Got Questions)
God established through Abram an eternal and unconditional covenant with him to bring about a nation. That Nation is Israel as a special people for Himself, and through that nation, he would bless all people and draw those people to Himself.
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2–3)
In addition to a people, the covenant included the promise of land. The boundaries of that land is specified in Genesis 15:18-21 and Deuteronomy 30:1-10. We’ll look at those boundaries in a few minutes.
When Abraham started to doubt God’s plan and timing, he took matters into his own hands through Hagar (Genesis 16:4). This was usurping God’s plan and not included in the covenant, which was promised from Abraham's seed through Sarah. So when Ishmael was born, God did not extend his blessing through the line of Ismael but instead told Abraham that Ishmael and the descendants of Ishmael would be continually at war with Isaac (Israel). Those people are who we call today the Arabs.
He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” (Genesis 16:12)
2. Who Were the Philistines?
The Philistines were an aggressive, warmongering people who occupied the land in what is modern-day southern Israel, including Gaza. They were barbaric and infamous for their production of iron (1 Samuel 12:5-7) weapons and consumption of alcohol (Judges 14:10). They worshipped the gods of Ashtoreth, Dagon, and Baal-zebub (Judges 16:23; 1 Samuel 31:10; 2 Kings 1:2). The Israelites frequently referred to the Philistines as “uncircumcised” (Judges 15:18; 1 Samuel 14:6; 2 Samuel 1:20). They were no part of God’s covenant and Israel was to have nothing to do with them, even as they took the land occupied by the Philistines at that time. The Philistines would become absorbed by the Canaanites.
3. What Was the Land Promised to Israel by God?
The land that we call modern-day Israel is a sliver of the land promised by God to Israel. God gave this land to Israel 2100 years before it was ever referred to as Palestine and 2600 years before Muhammed ever conceived of a religion called Islam. We know this because the Bible is a historical record of these events, which are collaborated by archeological records and secular records.
On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, (Genesis 15:18)
This is a map of the Middle East showing the approximate boundaries of the Land given by Israel. Israel never fully occupied the land that runs through Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan,
Now, this is a map of modern-day Israel, only a sliver of the approximately 300,000 square miles promised by God to the Jewish people.
There is an Egyptian stone slab from the 13th Century BC that refers to Israel by name. There is a Canaanite record of Israel dating to the 9th Century that names David as the King. There are other archeological finds in Israel that identify King David and other Biblical records. In every case, archeology supports biblical history as accurate and true.
The Land Promised by God to the Jews extended the Nile River to the Euphrates (Exodus 23:31). By the time Israel was ready to take the land, hundreds of years after Abraham, pagan nations inhabited it: Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (Exodus 33:2).
“The promise of land belonging to the children of Israel is permanent. Even when Israel was expelled from their land, which has happened twice in history, God promised they would return: “Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it” (Deuteronomy 30:4–5). This promise is part of what is today sometimes called the Palestinian Covenant or the Land Covenant (Deuteronomy 29:1—30:10).” (Got Questions)
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God. (Amos 9:14–15)
“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it. (Joel 3:1–3)
4. How Did the Land Become Known as Palestine?
So, how did the land given to the Jews by God become known as Palestine? First, there has never been a nation known as Palestine. The term Palestine is a generic term for the area that includes Israel. It’s like saying we live in the “Cumberland Valley.” in Maryland. There is no such thing as a city or town or county called "Cumberland Valley." It merely identifies a region in Maryland.
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After the Jews were scattered during the siege of Israel by the Romans in AD 70, the Roman Emperor Hadrian ordered that all Jews be driven out of the land in AD 139. When he did that, he renamed the land using the Latin term for the Philistines, “Palestina” as a slur for the Jewish people.
Since then, the land was sieged by numerous empires, from the Greeks to the Romans, the Ottoman Turks, and finally, Great Britain, who, under the Balfour Declaration, determined that the land rightfully belonged to the Jewish people. (Map) The final border that we see today was drawn by then Secretary of State Winston Churchill, who gave the land east of the Jordan River to the Hussein family, and it was called the Trans-Jordan or what we call today Jordan.
In 1947, the United Nations recognized what God had already established, that Israel is a nation with her homeland, and on May 15, 1948, Israel was established as a nation again. There were already Jewish people living in the region, and anyone living in that area up to that point, Jewish or Arab, was known as Palestinian.
5. Why Is Israel Becoming a Nation Significant Prophetically
Since God called Israel a nation, Satan has worked maniacally to snuff God’s people out. “Whether it was the Egyptians, Amalekites, Midianites, Moabites, Ammonites, Amorites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, or Romans, the nation of Israel has always been persecuted by its neighbors.” Understand this: it is demonically driven. Antisemitism is ALWAYS demonically driven. History shows how Sennacherib, king of Assyria; and then Haman, an official of Persia; or Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany; or Rouhani, President of Iran, or Hamas, is constantly working to eliminate the Jewish people.
The reason is that Israel is God's vehicle for redemption, first by bringing in Messiah Jesus Christ as Savior on the Cross, and then for the final solution of sin, which will be completed by His Second Coming of Christ when he lands on the Mount of Olives, defeats Satan and all his forces, and assumes David’s throne as King. Satan believes he can stop God’s plan.
What we know is that leading up to the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ, increasing conflict will surround Israel. Israel will be the center of a period known as the Great Tribulation or the time of Jacob’s trouble. The Bible calls Israel God's time clock for the end times.
Alas! That day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob, yet he shall be saved out of it. (Jeremiah 30:7)
6. What are some key end-time events that will surround Israel that we are witnessing right now?
1. First, there will be a massive return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. (Ezekiel 34:11–13)
I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, (Isaiah 43:6)
Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. (Deuteronomy 30:3)
2. We will see an increase in persecution and hatred of the Jews.
They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)
I believe that we are going to see an increasing hatred against the Jews around the world. This includes the full rejection of Israel by the United States, which will lead to our collapse.
GIVE STORIES AND EXAMPLES HERE
3. We will see a major battle of nations against Israel, known as the Battle of Gog-Magog
This involves specific nations that will rise against Israel.
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3 and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.
4. After the Rapture of the Church, we will see the Antichrist, whom I believe is alive and ready to take power today.
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard, that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18)
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (1 John 4:3)
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4)
5. We will see the restoration of worship in a temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, (Revelation 11:1)
“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), (Matthew 24:15)
And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” (Daniel 9:27)
7. So, what should our response be today?
I believe, first of all, we must be fervent in our witness of the gospel to the world. That includes our neighbors, our relatives, and our friends at work and school. However, I believe and I think our church needs to become more intentional about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Jewish people. The pattern of the New Testament church was they went and shared the gospel first at the synagogues, and then they went to the marketplace to share the gospel with the Gentiles. That pattern has not been followed for many centuries.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
But they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down. (Acts 13:14)
Secondly, we need to get our lives right with God today. The American Church cannot live as an apostate, Laodicean Church any longer. Our passion must be living boldly the gospel of Jesus Christ, not only in our words but our deeds; not only in going to church but in our support of ministry and in getting the gospel out.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! (Psalm 122:6)
What is God calling you to do today?
