THE ISRAEL WAR & PROPHECY 2
Zech. 12:2-3
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. The Tampa Bay (Florida) Tribune reported that Rev. McDonald "gave one of the world's shortest sermons on Sunday. He announced that the focus of his talk would be on sin. 'Don't do it,' he said from the pulpit. 'Amen.' Then he sat down."
2. One father said, “That wasn’t much of a sermon!” His son answered, “Well, you only put $3 in the offering, so what did you expect to get?”
B. TEXT
“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves” Zech. 12:2-3.
C. THESIS
1. One year ago, Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 with approx. 5,000 missiles and a ground invasion resulting in over 1,200 Israelis killed or kidnapped. In response Israel mobilized 360,000 reservists and invaded the Gaza strip.
2. Since then, Israel mounted a ground invasion into Gaza, with the result that 17,000 Hamas militants have been killed and at least 329 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Hamas claims another 23,000 civilians have been killed.
3. 2 Iranian Generals were killed in Damascus, Syria on April 2, 2024 when warplanes leveled the Iranian Consulate. Iran fired 200 missiles at Israel.
4. In early July Israel killed Mohammad Nasser, one of Hezbollah’s 3 regional commanders. Hezbollah retaliated by firing 200 missiles into Israel.
5. Then in Sept., 2024, the Israelis detonated 1,000s of pagers and 100s of walkie-talkies being used by Hezbollah commanders. About 50 were killed and 3,500 were wounded.
6. Then on Sept. 27 IDF forces bombed and destroyed Hezbollah's central command headquarters in Beirut, killing the top leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. This was accomplished with U.S. made 2,000 pound “bunker-buster” bombs, that can go up to 30 meters (90 feet) deep before exploding.
7. Then on October 1, we had a new escalation we will talk about next. The title of this message is “The Israel War & Prophecy 2.”
I. ANTISEMITISM & ISRAELI IMMIGRATION
A. RISE OF ANTISEMITISM WORLDWIDE
1. The Bible has many prophecies about God bringing the Jews back to Israel from all the countries where they’d been scattered to. I’ve often wondered how God could motivate them to do so, since they were so safe and prosperous in the Western nations, especially the U.S. About 50% of Jews live in the U.S. while about the same number live in Israel.
2. EXAMPLES OF PROPHECIES:
a. “In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people...He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth” Isa. 11:11-12.
b. “The Lord will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land” Isa. 14:1.
c. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth” Isa. 43:5-6. See Jer. 16:15; 32:37; Ez. 34:13.
3. But since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, the world has witnessed a significant increase in antisemitism. We have all seen the pro-Palestinian protests at elite schools and government institutions. This has sparked widespread anxiety across Jewish communities. The JPPI report reveals a rise in violent antisemitic assaults: a 45% increase in the United States, 84% in France, and 96% in the United Kingdom. [Jewish People Policy Institute's (JPPI) 2024 Annual Assessment of the Jewish People, titled A Year of War, talked about in JPost.]
4. Since the Hamas attacks on October 7 and the subsequent war launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip, 819 acts of anti-Semitism have been reported in France: more incidents in three weeks than over the previous year. https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20231102-since-hamas-attack-france-s-jewish-community-faces-a-surge-in-anti-semitism
B. THIS IS EFFECTING JEWISH MIGRATION BACK TO ISRAEL
1. Rising anti-Semitism is prompting Jews around the world to show increased interest in moving to Israel. [“Despite, or Because of, War, Interest in Immigration to Israel ‘Very High’” Troy Fritzhand 11/29/2023]. Kinds of antisemitism many have seen? Tearing down posters of kidnapped Israeli children. Death threats sent to Jewish schools and students. Swastikas spray painted in public spaces. Defacing of Jewish cemetery headstones.
2. Immigration numbers in France and the USA have doubled since 2022, with many more beginning paperwork to coincide with the ending of hostilities.
3. Another article, “‘A Place to be that’s Ours’: Jews around the world consider move to Israel after Hamas attack” Nathan Vanderklippe 11/6/23. People now considering moving to Israel “are Canadians, they are South Africans, they are French. They feel unsafe.”
4. In March the Atlantic Magazine published the story, “’THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICAN JEWS IS ENDING:’ Anti-Semitism on the right and the left threatens to bring to a close an unprecedented period of safety and prosperity for Jewish Americans” by Franklin Foer, 3/4/24.
5. Antisemitic incidents in the US reached record high last year, up 140% from 2022, ADL says. [CNN, 4/16/24]. All this is pushing the Jews to consider returning to their own land, where they can be safe.
II. THE PROPHETIC CLOCK IS TICKING!
A. JERUSALEM WILL BE THE FOCUS OF END-TIME ACTIVITY
1. It’s interesting how it always comes back to Jerusalem. The Bible predicted, thousands of years ago, that the end time events would revolve around Jerusalem. Not San Francisco. Not Los Angeles. Not Moscow. Not Paris.
2. But Jerusalem, this tiny little city, in this tiny sliver of land, will play a key role in the events of the last days. In Zech. 12:3, God says, “On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.”
B. SCATTERED, BUT REGATHERED
1. The Balfour Declaration made on Nov. 2, 1917, set the British government’s policy as favoring the establishment, in Palestine, of a national home for the Jewish people. On May 14, 1948 the British, who controlled Palestine, pulled out, and David Ben-Gurion, new Prime Minister of Israel, declared its statehood. Immediately war ensued.
2. There have been many wars since Israel was founded: the 1948 Arab-Israeli War with Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, & Iraq; in 1967 the Six-Day War with Syria & Jordan; in 1973 the Yom Kipper War with Egypt & Syria; and in 1981 the First Lebanese War with PLO. The Jews have won every war they’ve fought!
3. HUMOR: Jews are shrewd people!
a. One public school teacher, named Betsy, was a Christian; it was her final year of teaching. Betsy decided to bring up the subject of Jesus Christ.
b. She told her class that she was having a contest; she would give $50 to whoever could tell her who was the greatest man who ever lived.
c. Immediately a Jewish boy began to wave his hand, but Betsy ignored him in favor of those who went to her church.
d. But she was disappointed with the answers she got. Jane picked Noah because he saved all the animals. One picked Alexander the Great because he conquered the whole world. A third child picked Thomas Edison because he invented the light bulb.
e. Finally, she called on Moishe who still had his hand in the air. "I think the greatest man who ever lived was Jesus Christ." said Moishe.
f. Betsy was shocked but still gave him the $50. She said, "Well, Moishe, I'm very surprised that you should say Jesus Christ. How come?"
g. "Well, to tell you the truth," he replied as he pocketed the money, "I think it was Moses, but business is business!"
4. END-TIME PROPHECY ABOUT MAGOG & IRAN. The regathering of Israel is pictured in Ezek. 37, the bones all coming back together. In the next chapter, 38, God pictures her being attacked from the north by a major power, accompanied by many allies. Gog & Magog have been identified with as Russia with her middle east allies: Persia (Iraq, Iran, Afghans); Cush (Egypt, Sudan); Put (Lybia); Gomer (Countries around the Black Sea) and Togarmah (Syria, Turkey).
5. This current attack on Israel is NOT the fulfillment of the Ezek. 37-38 prophecy, but it is a forerunner of it.
III. WHAT’S COMING NEXT?
A. A STRIKE ON IRAN
1. Yesterday (Oct. 1, 2024), Iran fired 180 missiles and 120 drones at Israel, as retaliation for the death of Hassan Nasrallah. This attack was especially unnerving because Iran may now have nuclear bombs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says IRAN "made a big mistake tonight, and will pay for it"
2. Israeli troops have invaded Lebanon, in what the Israeli military calls a "limited, localized and targeted" ground operation against Hezbollah. About 25 Lebanese villages have been told to evacuate.
3. White House national security spokesman Jake Sullivan described Iran's attack as a "significant escalation".
4. He told reporters: "We have made clear that there will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case.” He did not urge restraint by Israel as the US did after April's attack by Iran.
B. WHAT WILL ISRAEL’S RETALIATION LOOK LIKE?
1. The most obvious military targets are the land bases which launched Tuesday’s volley of ballistic missiles. So, not just the silos, but the command-and-control centers, even the refueling facilities.
2. It could even try to activate its network of agents inside Iran to go after those who ordered and carried out the missile attack. Additionally, if Israel decides to escalate even further, it could target Iran’s nuclear facilities.
3. Christ’s Advice? “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come” Mt. 24:6. “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Lk. 21:28.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: YOU CAN’T STAND UNLESS GOD HOLDS YOU UP
1. One evening Lord Radstock was speaking at a meeting in Woolwich, and afterwards nearly missed his train home. He had just time to jump in as the guard blew his whistle.
2. But a young army officer had followed him to the platform and running up to the carriage window, said to Lord Radstock, “Sir, I heard you speak tonight, but tell me, how can a fellow keep straight?”
3. The train began to move. Lord Radstock pulled a pencil from his pocket and laid it on the palm of his hand. “Can that pencil stand upright?” “No,” said the young officer.
4. Lord Radstock grasped the pencil in his hand, and held it up in an upright position. “Ah!” said the young fellow, moving beside the train, “but you are holding it now.”
5. “Yes,” said Lord Radstock,” and your life is like this pencil, helpless, but Christ is the hand that can hold you.” As the train rounded the curve and was lost to sight, the last thing the young officer saw was Lord Radstock’s outstretched hand holding that pencil upright.
6. Twenty-five years later the same officer met Lord Radstock in India, and told him that all those many years ago, on that railway platform, he had trusted his life to Christ, who had upheld him and kept him ever since. —Pioneer Camper
B. THE CALL...Prayer for salvation & needs. Prayer for peace in the Middle East.
