(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Music Music Amen, welcome to Verity Baptist Church Manila. Let's take our seats and let's get this hymn. And let's turn to hymn number 34, page number 34. Let's sing the song, the wonder of it all. There's the wonder of sunset at evening. Ready on the first, everybody sing. There's the wonder of sunset at evening. The wonder at sunrise I see. But the wonder of wonder that fills my soul. It's the wonder that God loves me. Oh, the wonder of it all. The wonder of it all. Just to think that God loves me. Oh, the wonder of it all. The wonder of it all. Just to think that God loves me. I'm singing. There's the wonder of springtime and harvest. The sky, the stars, the sun. But the wonder of wonder that fills my soul. It's the wonder that God's really gone. Oh, the wonder of it all. The wonder of it all. Just to think that God loves me. Oh, the wonder of it all. The wonder of it all. Just to think that God loves me. We thank the Lord for this morning. We ask the Lord to bless our first service. And we ask the Lord to bless every part of our service, Lord, from the reading of the word, the singing of the congregation, Lord, the singing of hymns. And I pray, Lord, that you also bless the preaching of the sermon. And I pray that you would also keep us attentive with the sermon, Lord, help us to be attentive, Lord, and remove the distraction. Oh, God, I pray that you would continue to give us a good weather for this afternoon so that we can go out and do so, Lord. We're asking all of these things. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Take out your bullets in here today. And our verse of the week is Deuteronomy 28, verse 15. The Bible reads, but it shall come to pass if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. And that's a great verse there. We are a family-integrated church, which means children and infants are welcome during the services. We do have a mother and baby room back there for your convenience, as well as the ladies' restroom. The men's restroom is up here in front. Remember, no eating during the service. Maintain a professional atmosphere and keep the children from running, making noise during the church services. On the next page, our service times are listed. First service is at 10 a.m. Second service, 11.15. Yesterday's first sermon ran long, so I'm assuming the same is going to take place today, but I'll shorten the second sermon if that's the case. Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. Soul winning time's listed. Wednesday's at 4 p.m. Saturday's all-day soul winning at KSL Memorial Circle. And of course we have soul winning around 1.45, weather permitted later here today. Salvations and baptisms are listed there for all of our churches for the year, as well as the month. Our birthdays and anniversaries down below. On the next page, our Bible memorization challenge. Today is the last day to quote 1 Kings 19, verses 1-10. And option 2, which is going to be over this next week, is Ecclesiastes 7, verses 16-29. Ages 8-10, memorizing 7 verses. And below the age of 8, memorizing 1 verse. Upcoming activities. So on the last Sunday of the month, August 27, we do have our monthly prayer meeting. Current and upcoming series. We will finish the alphabet of Bible doctrines here today. And we're going to be going back to the book of Matthew here in a little bit, once my family returns from visiting the U.S. Information on our group chat. And then on the back, there's a place for the notes for both of the sermons here today. So I'm going to actually be leaving at around 1.45 here today, right before soul winning, because it's still flooded near San Simone. And somebody yesterday, they said online, I asked them, how long does it take? They said 8 hours from Metro Manila to Apollite. 8 hours trip. It's like you can probably walk that faster. And it's really frustrating because it's like a 50 meter stretch. But every car has to slow down, so you get like a big queue that's backed up and everything. So the trip is, last week it took me like 4 hours to get back. I got back at around 8 p.m. And I left here kind of early. So I'll be leaving at around 1.45, just to try to escape that. You know, my driver told me 5 hours is what we're estimating. We'll see. So hopefully next week we'll be back to normal. I do think there's actually members of our church that are in certain parts that are coming from distance that are kind of in flooded areas. So that's probably why they're not going to be here today. But anyways, I'm assuming the weather looks great now. We're going to have soul winning later, you know, Lord willing. But anyways, we'll have Brother Marlon lead us in another song. For our next song, let's turn to hymn number 281. Let's get the maroon hymn book. Maroon hymn book. Let's turn to hymn number 281 and sing a song, Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior. Hymn number 281, Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior. Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior. Ready on the first? Sing. My humble cry, But all others thou art calling, To the past divine. Let me at the phone of mercy, Find the sleep we live, Living there in different region, Have my heart believe. Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry, But all others thou art calling, To the past divine. On the third? Trusting on in thy Mary, Could I seek thy grace, Heal my wounded broken spirit, Save me by thy grace. Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry, But all others thou art calling, To the past divine. On last! Thou the speed of all my comfort, More than life to me, Whom have I on earth beside thee, Whom we have but thee. Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry, But all others thou art calling, To the past divine. This time let's take our offering. For the Bible reading, please open the scripture to Deuteronomy chapter 28. We are going to read Deuteronomy chapter 28 verses 1 to 15. Please say amen when you are there. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt harp indiligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt harpen unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shall thou be in the city, and blessed shall thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kind, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shall thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shall thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face. They shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou set his thine hand unto. And he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee in holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenches and goods in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord's fair unto thy fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven, to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand, and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail, and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath, if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them. And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe, to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. Last way. Thank you, our Father, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Please open also our hearts today. Please give us open ears and understanding, and help us to learn from the sermon and to apply everything what is needed. And we also ask that you would bless the sermon and that you bless the preacher and anoint him, and give him your power to preach in his name. Amen. All right. We're here in Deuteronomy chapter 28, and we're finishing up the alphabet of Bible doctrines. We're going to be looking at Zionism here for the letter Z. Now, this is a very in-depth topic, and we've got one sermon on it. So I've got a lot of Bible, and I'm going to be preaching very quickly. And so I'm just kind of giving you a warning about that. And even yesterday, by doing that, I was still way over time because it's such an in-depth topic. So I'll probably be preaching very fast as I go through this. But when it comes to Zionism, what we're basically talking about is the land of Israel and whether or not that was given to the present-day Jews and whether that land belongs to them and what the Bible teaches about that. Now, to even understand that, we have to go all the way back to before they even entered into the land. And point number one I want you to realize is this, that the promise of the land was based on obedience. It was based on obedience. Notice what it says in Deuteronomy 28, verse 1. And it shall come to pass if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And notice what it said in verse 1, Deuteronomy 28, before they enter the land, he says, if thou shalt hearken diligently, and if you observe and do all his commandments. And so it is what's known as a conditional covenant. So, for example, in computer programming or math, if you have an if statement, it's known as a conditional statement, meaning it's a statement that's true as long as certain things are met. So, for example, if X is greater than 7, then you do this. But if not, you do this, and it's different, right? And so if is a conditional statement. And so when they're entering into the promised land, it was a conditional covenant. It's not the same thing as salvation. A lot of people try to apply this to like salvation where you believe on Jesus Christ and you have eternal life. But that's not conditioned on something we have to do to keep our salvation. It's a done deal. The condition is believe on Christ, but then it is eternal, and it doesn't matter what we do, it stays forever. Salvation is forever. It's eternal. But the land itself, it was based on conditions. If you observe and do, if you hearken to what I say. Verse number 2. And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. So he's saying, if you hearken unto me, if you listen to what I say, then there's going to be these blessings. Okay, go down to verse number 14. Verse 14. And so think of it like renting an apartment. You know, you sign a lease for one year, you rent an apartment. But there's conditions in that contract, right? You've got to pay the monthly rent. You've got to pay the utilities. You've got to pay the water bill. I mean, if you started breaking things in the apartment, then the contract's over, right? Because it's conditional. It's based on certain things. In God's covenant with Israel, it was a conditional covenant. He says, that land belongs to you if you do this. It's not just yours no matter what. You say, why, Brother Stuckey? Because throughout the Bible, the Bible says all of the earth, all of the world belongs to who? To God. All of the land belongs to God. I mean, that's throughout the Bible. It all belongs to God. God is the landlord, so to speak, of the entire earth, right? It belongs to him. And he said, I'm going to give this group of people this land if you do this. If you observe and do. I mean, even before Deuteronomy 28, they got rejected from the Promised Land because they did not obey what he said. Right? They didn't want to enter at first, and then they changed their mind, and he's like, well, it's too late. You've got to wander for 40 years as a punishment. So it's always based on conditions. It wasn't this automatic, eternal covenant no matter what they did. Go down to verse number 14. And the Bible says, And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day to the right hand or to the left to go after other gods to serve them. Now, here's the thing. We looked at the first 14 verses. We read through this, and this is a very long chapter. You've got the first 14 verses that are the blessings of God upon the people if they do this. And then what do you have the rest of the chapter, the part we didn't read? All of the curses if you don't obey what I said. So you know what? You can either be blessed or you can be cursed. You know, the same thing is true in our lives. We can either be blessed by God or we can be cursed by God depending on what we do. Right? Then it says here in verse number 15, But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Now go down to verse number 62. Verse 62. And the context is the same. We're just not reading every single verse here in Deuteronomy about all of the cursings upon them if they disobey. Verse 62, And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because thou wouldst not obey the voice of the Lord thy God. And it shall come to pass that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and to bring you to naught. And notice this, And ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. Before they entered the Promised Land, he said, If you obey, you're going to be blessed. If you disobey, you're going to be cursed. And he said, you're going to be plucked off the land. Now that really can't be debated because they were plucked off the land. I mean, that happened in the Bible. We see that, right? And we'll talk about Israel and Judah later on, but Israel's gone, and then Judah, they get plucked off the land for 70 years, so that cannot be disputed. That did take place, right? And then it says here in verse 64, And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people from the one end of the earth, even unto the other. And there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest, but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life. What he's saying is, if you don't obey, you are going to be in fear. You're going to be scattered everywhere. You're going to have no assurance of life. Now, another thing to keep in mind is that Solomon was promised by God that they would have what on every side? Peace, right? I mean, that's throughout the Bible. He said, if you are right with me, you're going to have peace on every side as a nation. Peace on every side. You're not going to have the fears that it mentions here. Let me ask you a question. Is modern day Israel, do they have peace on every side? I mean, it's the place that's at more war than pretty much anywhere in the world, right? There is no peace. There's fear on every side. They don't have peace, but see, the promise to God was this, that if you're right with me, you're going to have peace on every side. You're not going to have battles. I mean, there was battles to get into the Promised Land, but once you get there, if you're right with me, you're going to have peace on every side. But what he told Solomon is, if you obey what I say, if you follow what I say, there will be peace on every side. Then it says this in verse 67, And in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even? And at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning? For the fear of thine heart, wherewith thou shalt fear, And for the sight of thine eyes, which thou shalt see. Verse 68, And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again, With ships by the way whereby I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again, And there ye should be sold unto your enemies For bondmen and bondwomen, And no man shall buy you. And so God said, if you don't obey me, you're going to be scattered everywhere. You're going to have fear on every side. You're going to be bondmen and bondwomen. I'm going to put you back into bondage in Egypt like you were before. And you're going to be just, you know, no blessings at all. All these cursings upon you because you didn't obey. Now go to 1 Kings 11. 1 Kings 11. 1 Kings chapter 11. And, you know, it makes sense when you think about the fact that God owns this world. God owns planet earth, right? God owns every country. God owns every city. God owns every river. And he's basically the landlord, symbolically speaking, and he doesn't just give you free will to do whatever you want with no repercussions. What landlord would do that if they rented to you a building? What, you just do whatever you want and no matter what, you want to stop paying rent? No problem, right? You want to break things? No problem. Well, of course there's going to be rules that you have to follow. And when he gave them the land of Israel, it was a conditional covenant where he said, hey, I am giving this to you. I'm going to bless you as a people. You are my people. If you do this, I will bless you. If you don't do it, you're going to be cursed and you're going to regret it, right? Now, I want to clear up a confusion before we really kind of get deep into this sermon about the Jews versus Israel, because these are not synonymous at all, but they're used interchangeably in today's world. And in fact, I use them interchangeably because they're kind of understood interchangeably. But biblically speaking, the Jews in Israel are by no means the same thing. And it's important to understand this. And we see this in 1 Kings 11, verse 28. And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor, and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. Now, I want to say on a side point, do not confuse Jeroboam with Rehoboam. Rehoboam is the son of Solomon that takes over for him. Jeroboam was one of the men of Solomon who ends up being against Solomon. Verse 29. And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahishah the Shiloh Knight found him in the way, and he had clad himself with a new garment, and they too were alone in the field. And Ahishah caught the new garment that was on him and rent it in twelve pieces. So imagine you're wearing clothing, and then all of a sudden somebody just tears your clothing. So I went up to you and just tore your shirt to like twelve pieces, right? And that's what the prophet does to Jeroboam. Then it says this in verse 31. And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces, for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee. So what he says is, I'm taking the kingdom from Solomon, and you're going to get ten out of the twelve tribes. Verse 32. But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. Now in verses 30 through 32, this is known as one of the great Bible contradictions. Because remember, he said I'm going to rend it in twelve pieces, and he said I'm going to give him ten pieces, you ten pieces, and I'm going to leave one piece for him. You don't have to be an expert at math to realize that ten plus one does not equal twelve. Ten plus one equals eleven. So you say, well why is it twelve pieces? And then he mentions eleven pieces. Well, the ten tribes is accurate. It is ten tribes. The one tribe is kind of accurate, it's kind of not. Because the one tribe he's referring to is the tribe of Judah. And what you would have is the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Now the northern kingdom of Israel, it retains its name after this event. You say why? Because they retain ten out of the twelve tribes. I mean imagine that there is a committee with like twelve people and two leave, you're probably not going to rename the committee because two are no longer a part of it. But if you're a small remnant left, you're probably going to rename it. Like for example, think of like music and a couple of people split off from a band and start a new band with a new name. And so the ten tribes, they retain the name of Israel. You have the northern kingdom of Israel. And then what you have is the southern kingdom of Judah. But the southern kingdom of Judah was not really by themselves. The tribe of Benjamin is the other tribe that goes along with Judah. You say why does it say one tribe? Because there's one dominant tribe named after the tribe of Judah. And so Judah was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and it's the dominant one in the southern kingdom of Judah. But Benjamin is also with it. So if you were to try to split the names, because you know maybe you'd say, well Judah and Benjamin, let's just kind of combine them and you got Jin-jim-en. It's not that great of a name. Or if you got Benjamin and Judah, you got Buddha, right? And so they didn't name the new kingdom Buddha. It's Judah, okay? And I personally, I much prefer the name Judah than Buddha, okay? Or Jin-jim-en, right? And so they're known as the southern kingdom of Judah, but really it's Judah and Benjamin. And of course after this event when you're reading 1 Kings and 2 Kings and 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles, what are you seeing? Well you're always seeing the northern kingdom of Israel at war with the southern kingdom of Judah. Is that not right? And with the northern kingdom of Israel, what do you always see? Well a new king rose up and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. And then a new king comes and he does that which is evil in the sight of the Lord. And pretty much without fail in the northern kingdom of Israel, every leader does evil, evil, evil, evil, evil. So here's the thing. Even though Solomon rebelled, and that is the reason, at the same time the northern kingdom became wicked, and so separating was a good thing. You say why? Because you've got 10 tribes that have become wicked and then you've got 2 tribes that actually want to serve God. Right? And obviously the Bible speaks about separating from people. So for example, if people become ungodly and drunks, those are not people that you should be spending time with because they will affect you. You will not positively affect you. They are going to negatively affect you actually. And so we see the separation of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Then in verse 33, Because they have forsaken me and have worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Mokom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments as to David his father. Now go to 2 Kings 16. 2 Kings 16. Now look, this is not the way that God intended it. He wasn't trying to separate the 12 tribes where there's enemies with one another, but you're constantly seeing this. And you'll see the northern kingdom of Israel, they'll side with another nation to fight against the southern kingdom, and both sides are going back and forth. Now the southern kingdom didn't exactly remain righteous either because you're going to have a king that will rise up and he does that which was good. Next king does that which is evil. Next one does that which is good. Next one does that which is evil. I mean it kind of goes back and forth between good and bad, good and bad, good and bad for a while in the southern kingdom. But the northern kingdom, they're pretty much all bad. Just king after king after king does that which is evil. And they're setting up false gods. Jeroboam's the one that set up the false idols in Bethel and Dan that people are worshipping. Because he was afraid people would go back to Jerusalem to worship, which is the epicenter of God's people at that time. And then he's like, well, we don't want this, so we're going to set up a golden calf here and one here and just go to Bethel, go to Dan, right? Go to 2 Kings 16. 2 Kings 16, verse 5. And the Bible says in 2 Kings 16, verse 5, Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Ramaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war. So we're seeing the northern kingdom of Israel going to the southern kingdom of Judah to war. And they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him. At that time, Rezin king of Syria recovered Ahlath to Syria. And notice this, and drave the Jews from Ahlath and the Syrians came to Ahlath and dwelt there unto this day. Now when it says they drave the Jews, this is not linking back to Israel, it's linking back to Jerusalem. And in fact, this word Jew that's mentioned here in 2 Kings 16, you might realize this, you might not, this is the first time the word Jew appears in the Bible. It's the first time. I mean, look, Jacob gets renamed Israel in the book of Genesis. But you're not going to see the word Jew in Exodus, or Leviticus, or Numbers, or Deuteronomy, or Joshua, or Judges, or Ruth, or 1 Samuel, or 2 Samuel. You're not going to see it, or 1 Kings until you get to 2 Kings 16. You say, why brother Stuckey? Because a Jew and an Israelite are not synonymous. You say, what's a Jew? Someone from Judah. Does that make sense with a name? Someone who's a Jew is someone that comes from the southern kingdom of Judah. And if you lived in that area, you were a Jew. Right? And so, the terms in our modern day are used interchangeably. Like, if you ask somebody, if they said they're a Jew, which tribe are you from? Well, I'm from the tribe of Reuben. Well, I mean, they weren't part of the southern kingdom of Judah. I'm a Levite. Well, I mean, it's like it doesn't make sense. Right? Now, here's the thing. God did allow immigration. If you remember a couple weeks ago, I preached on xenophobia, and I said that God is for immigration for people that adopt the country and want to live for the country. And God was fine with people coming to be with God's people as they adopted the religion, but they weren't able to just bring in false idols, and false gods, and paganism. Right? So, other people would come to the southern kingdom of Judah, and it became very intermingled with people from all around the world because that's the area you would go if you wanted to serve God during that time period. But a Jew is someone that is from Judah. Right? So, a Jew and an Israelite, those are not the same thing. Now, we use them interchangeably today because that's the way people understand them, but they're not really the same thing when you look at this biblically. Now, go in the Bible to 2 Kings 17. 2 Kings 17. Now, this is important to understand because the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom are at war with one another, and as I said, the northern kingdom was worse. There's no doubt about that. Pretty much every king that rises up is wicked, and then eventually the northern kingdom of Israel gets rejected by God. The northern kingdom of Israel gets rejected by God, although the southern kingdom of Judah is still continuing on at this point. And in 2 Kings 17, verse 7, the Bible reads, For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, and walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fence city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree. And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen, whom the Lord carried away before them, and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger. For they served idols whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. And so the Lord said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. Now, remember, back in Deuteronomy, what do we read? If you obey me, I'm going to bless you. If you disobey, I'm going to curse you. Right? And so they didn't obey. They're worshiping false idols, which is exactly what he warned about. Go to verse number 22. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did, they departed not from them, until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight. They get removed. They get scattered abroad. And notice this. As he said by all his servants, the prophets. All his servants, the prophets. They all spoke of this. They all foretold of this. If you remember, and this is a little bit later in the time frame, but I preached through the book of Hosea a few years ago, and that book is a warning to the southern kingdom of Judah. Don't do what the northern kingdom did. Don't rebel. Don't start worshiping idols. And it's all throughout the Bible that, hey, if you don't obey God, God is going to curse you. Now look, our salvation is eternal no matter what we do, because it's not based on conditions. It's not whosoever believeth if you continue to stay in church. No, it's whosoever believeth. It's he that believeth. But when it came to entering the Promised Land, it was a conditional covenant. Say, why do you say it's conditional? Because you see that word if, if, if, if. That was the requirement to have the land. And the northern kingdom of Israel, they rebel. And he said, I'm going to scatter you. And he said, all of the servants, the prophets foretold of this. So it was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria onto this day. Now go in your Bible to Daniel 9. Daniel, chapter 9. Daniel 9. Now look, God's plan in the Old Testament was to use a nation to reach the world. And they have the same thing we have, because, you know, as Jesus rose again in Acts 1, it says, Be witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and onto the uttermost part of the earth. And our job is to evangelize the world, get churches started everywhere, go soul-winding everywhere, and get a ton of people saved. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That is the job of every single church and every individual at a church, is to evangelize and get people saved. That's what God has left us with. But here's the thing, in the Old Testament, it's not like God didn't want anybody in other countries to be saved. Because think about Jonah going to Assyria to preach, right? God wanted the world to hear the gospel, and so it was the job of a nation to evangelize the world, right? And unfortunately, they weren't doing it. They weren't getting the job done. I mean, even after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you have Peter and the other apostles, and they still don't want to evangelize the world. And why do we know Paul the apostle so well? Because he went to the Gentiles. He did what the other apostles and other people were not really willing to do, by and large, right? And so, Daniel 9, we're going to see point number 3, that the Jews get put on timeout. The southern kingdom of Judah, they're put on timeout, right? Whatever word you want to use, I call it a 70-year timeout. 70-year punishment by God that is spoken of in the book of Daniel. And we're not going to turn there, but at the very beginning of Daniel, Daniel gets taken captive because he lived during these 70 years. He was a young child, and he lived through it, as God's people were able to return to the land, okay? Daniel 9, verse 1. In the first year of Darius the son of the Hazlewares of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came into Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face, and by the way, we're preaching on Bible reading in the second sermon, and Daniel understood by books the 70 years. He understood by reading. He understood by studying. And he said he understood it because he saw the 70 years in Scripture is how he understood it. It's easy for me to preach this today because we just look back at what happened, and they spent 70 years in timeout and came back. It's like, oh, okay, I get what the Bible's saying. But when you're looking at something toward the future, it's a lot more complicated, right? Then it says in verse 3, And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and made my confession and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments. We have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. And you know what? You see here that Daniel just basically takes the blame for this as a people and said, We didn't follow what you said. We got what we deserved. We got the punishment. Seventy years, that is what we deserved because we rebelled against you. And during these 70 years, you have the Chaldean Empire, you have Nebuchadnezzar and those that followed him, but eventually King Cyrus becomes basically the head person in the world. And then Darius gets appointed here in the location of Babylon. Go to Ezra chapter 1. Ezra 1. Ezra chapter 1. So there can be no doubt that there was a 70-year timeout given to the southern kingdom of Judah. Northern kingdom of Israel gets rejected. The southern kingdom of Judah, they get a 70-year timeout. Now think about this logically. Let's say your son bites your daughter and you give your son a spanking. Okay? And you tell them, Don't do that again. The spanking is going to be bigger next time. Isn't that pretty logical? The punishment gets worse if you do the same thing. And then all of a sudden, 15 minutes later, your son bites your daughter again. You say, Brother Saki, is this spoken from experience? Well, not really, but kind of. You know? And then it's like, guess what? The punishment the second time is going to be bigger. Doesn't that make sense in a courtroom? You get caught driving under the influence, driving with alcohol, DUI, and you get a six-month suspension on your license or whatever. If you do it again, what takes place? They remove your license. They revoke it. Or you get a three-year suspension. Your fine gets bigger. You get jail time. The punishment is bigger the second time. If you rob a 7-Eleven and they give you a small warning or small punishment, the next time it's going to be bigger for the same crime. Even if the crime is not bigger, the punishment is bigger. And doesn't that make logical sense? Isn't that what you do when you raise your kids? The punishment is going to get bigger if they disobey. So here's the thing. They had a 70-year timeout and now they're returning. They ought to be very careful. Right? Because they've already been put out of the land for 70 years during the life of Daniel. It's like, you better take heed to what's being said. And that's why you'll see the prophets as they enter back into the land. They're very worried. They're very concerned. And they're preaching very hard saying, Hey, we better obey this time. Because if we don't obey, we know what is spoken of in the prophets, we know what happened in the northern kingdom of Israel, we could get removed. Right? Ezra 1, verse 1. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that He made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He hath charged me to build him in house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there even among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. And so God gives them a chance to enter back into the land. Now why does God let them enter back into the land? Because they begged for mercy. Because they were repentant. Because they were sorry. Isn't that what you always see in the book of Judges? They become wicked, and when they beg for mercy, God gives them another chance, and He rises up a righteous judge. Same thing with your kids. When they ask for forgiveness, you give them another chance, right? And God gave the Jews another chance. He said, I will let you go back in the land, because here's the thing. During these 70 years, there's a big problem because they're not able to serve God 100%. Why? Because you had to have the ordained priests. You had to do the offerings and sacrifices, and you couldn't just do this stuff on your own, so they weren't able to serve God 100%. It would be like if somebody got saved in a Muslim country, and they want to get baptized, and it's like, what do I do? Go down to the Catholic church and have water sprinkled on my head? Right? You couldn't really serve God 100%. You just don't have the means for it. And here's the thing. There's people that are very righteous, and they love God during this time period, but they couldn't really serve God 100% like they really wanted to because they're out of the land now. I mean, everything is just Magulot at this point as a result of their sin. And He says, you get to return. So a lot of people, they return to the land, and then, of course, people migrate to the land. Now, then between Malachi and Matthew, you've got 300 plus years that go by, right? And if you remember, at the end of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, all of a sudden, immediately, what do the people start doing? They start marrying people from heathen lands, and now all of a sudden you've got homes, and they're worshipping false gods, and it's like, why did you even come to Jerusalem if you didn't want to serve God? And they're very angry because they're like, you're doing the same thing that God has kicked out of the land for 70 years, and they're worried, as a people, they're going to be removed completely because of these people marrying false gods. Now, I don't agree with what they decided to do where they forced them to get divorces as a result because you've got kids without parents, and what I would say in that difficult situation is they should have just kicked those people out of the land because you're going to get us all kicked out of the land and just kick them out. That's what I would have done in that situation. I would not have advised divorce, but that's what they required them to do, and they're worried, wait a minute, we're going to all get kicked out of the land because we're going to start having idols, false gods, people aren't going to be worshiping the true God, and the same thing is going to happen that took place to the northern kingdom of Israel. Go in your Bible to Matthew 21. Matthew 21. So you've got basically a 300-year gap, and then you've got John the Baptist that comes on the scene, right? And when you're reading the Gospels, are the people in Jerusalem, are the Jews, because you've got to realize this is before Jesus Christ. Obviously, Jesus is going to come and be born, but it's like, you know what, Jesus comes on the scene. At the time of Jesus being born, are the people by and large serving God? Do you see that in the Gospels, that the Pharisees and the scribes are serving God? No. They're wicked. They've rebelled. They've rebelled. They're not serving God. Now, of course, there's people that are righteous and good people, but by and large, they've become very wicked. And then we get to Matthew 21, and what we're going to see is the Jews don't just get put on time out. Jesus prophesies about the rejection of the Jews. Matthew 21, verse 33. Matthew 21, verse 33. Hear another parable. There was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and digged a wine press in it and built a tower and let it out to husbandmen and went into a far country. Now, the certain householder is representing God the Father, and it's going to be very clear in this parable. The husbandmen are representing the Jews. So you've got God the Father represented by the householder, and you've got the Jews represented by the husbandmen or the land of Israel, right? The land of Israel are the husbandmen. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits of it. So he sends servants, and the servants represent the prophets. And so the householder sends servants just to collect the fruits. And in a symbolic sense, when it comes to people that are preaching the Word of God, at our church, when we look at the salvations in this bulletin, 5,382. Did I get most of these people saved? No, I didn't. Right? So what takes place is that even the prophets in the Bible, they're not getting everybody saved. I mean, a church that is a soul-winning church, when you look at the salvations, it's very much a team effort of a lot of people doing the work. It's not possible for one person to get that many salvations in, what is it, seven months, right? That's just not going to happen, right? And so it's very much a team effort. And so servants were sent, and these are the prophets, and they're just there to collect the fruits. Now remember, we're not going to look at the other parable, but remember when Jesus curses the fig tree? Why did He curse it? Because it was not producing any fruits. And it was an understanding of the nation of Israel. It's like, they better get back to producing fruit. They're not doing what they're supposed to do. Right? Then it says in verse 35, And the husbandman took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another. And isn't that what you really see with the prophets of the Old Testament? Which of them was not persecuted? I mean, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And you read Isaiah, you read Jeremiah, you read Ezekiel, you read all of these prophets, and what's taking place? They're persecuted. They're persecuted by people that reject the proper religion, but they live in the area with the proper religion. So they're not really saved themselves, but they're, by and large, it's unsaved people that are persecuting them. Although even saved people can persecute, right? That's obviously true as well. But then it says here in verse number 36, Again he sent other servants more than the first, and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. Now, who do you think the son represents? If the householder represents God the Father, who do you think the son represents? God the Son. Jesus Christ. Jesus is speaking about himself. Right? He said, Last of all the householder sent his son. Then it says, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And in this parable, the husbandmen, they kill the son. They kill the son of the householder. Now, here's the thing. I mean, this makes sense from when Jesus was born. Right at the beginning, King Herod is troubled in all Jerusalem with him. Why is King Herod so upset? Because, Wait a minute, I'm the king. I don't want somebody else to be the king. Right? I don't want somebody else to make the rules. I'm the king. Right? I'm the king, and my son's going to be the next king. So he goes to kill all of the babies because he wants to kill Jesus. Right? Then it says, in verse 39, And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. When the Lord therefore the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? And so here's the thing. If you're a householder and you own a big farm and you've got a lot of workers and you send people to kind of watch the farm in your absence. Right? You know, people will buy a house and they rent it out, you know, overnight to various people and they have people watching it, but they're not really there themselves oftentimes. Right? And so what are you going to do if your workers are killing the people that you're sending? They're coming to collect the money, the rent, from the house that you're renting out and then you end up killing them. And then last of all, he sends his son and they kill the son. Well, what are you going to do? You're going to get new workers. You're going to have new people watching the vineyard. Right? And so it's just common sense. I mean, above that, you're going to have them arrested or killed if you can. Right? And so what will the Lord of the vineyard do? Right? They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husband men, which shall render him the fruits and their seasons. It's like they had a job to collect the fruit. They're not doing it and they're killing all the servants and they're killing my son. He's going to destroy them. That's what they said. And then it says in verse 42, Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. He says the kingdom of God is going to be taken away from you and given to another nation. Okay? Now in my opinion, this parable is very clear. I mean, it's very clear who the son is. It's very clear that God the Father is the Lord of the vineyard, the householder. It's very clear of the servants. I mean, it makes perfect sense. But here's the thing. Let's just look at the reaction of those that heard what He said. Where the kingdom's going to be taken from you and given to another nation. It's going to be taken from Israel and given to another nation. Okay? Then it says this in verse 44, and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that He spake of them. He's like, I think He's talking about us. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitude because they took Him for a profit. They get so mad at this parable that they want to kill Jesus. They're not putting hands on Him to shake hands. They want Him killed. Right? It basically ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy because He makes them so mad that they do exactly what was spoken of in the parable. They kill the Son. Right? Because they heard this parable and they realized, okay, He's speaking from us. He's speaking against the nation of Israel and they're angry about us. We're going to be rejected, but the northern kingdom of Israel got rejected. You're already on a 70-year timeout. Ezra warned about that. All the prophets warned about this. I mean, it should be common sense to you. Right? Turn in your Bible to Matthew 27. Matthew 27. Matthew 27. Matthew 27. And here's the thing. This isn't really debated either because historically speaking, 70 AD, they did get removed. Right? It's a famous seven-year war and midway through that war basically, they get removed. I mean, that's actually a fact that's what took place and they got scattered everywhere just like God said would happen. That already took place. Right? So they persecute. They end up killing Jesus Christ. Here in Matthew 27, notice what it says in verse 24. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing but the wrath or tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Now let me just say this about Pontius Pilate. He's not an innocent victim. Okay? It's like, you know, in a long time ago I saw the movie The Passion of the Christ and they make Pontius Pilate out to be like a good person, a sympathetic character. Look, he might have not been directly responsible but he could have stopped what took place. He's not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination. When you're looking at political leaders, assume they're bad. Okay? Not just in the modern day, 2,000 years ago, just assume they're bad because usually that's true. Pontius Pilate is not an innocent victim when he says, hey, just I'm washing my hands. I'm clean from this. That doesn't make you clean. It's kind of like when Jacob said, I'm going to seem like a deceiver to my dad if I say that I brought the venison. And then his mom's like, well, I'll take the blame for you. And then he ends up doing it. Yeah, but then Jacob is the one that's cursed and he has to leave for fear of his life and he's gone for decades. He never sees his mom again. I mean, she says, let me take the responsibility. It doesn't work that way. I mean, if you sin, you're held accountable even if others are also responsible. I mean, Adam's like, but I mean, the woman that thou gavest to me, she gave me of the fruits. Yeah, but you're also accountable, Adam. Right? I mean, you can't just blame her. Eve's like, but the serpent. It's like, well, no, you still made your own free will choice. And then it says in verse 25, then answered all the people and said, his blood be on us and on our children. Look, the Jews took credit for it during this day. You know, modern day, if you were to ask Jews, are you responsible for killing Jesus? A lot of people get very angry for the accusation. How dare you say we're responsible? But that's what the Bible says. Now, they're not the only ones responsible. I get that. I understand that. I mean, the Romans are certainly responsible, but who does the Bible chiefly put to blame for this event? The Jews. And the Jews said, hey, we'll take it, and the blood can be on our children as well. Go to Acts 2. Acts 2. Acts chapter 2. Now, I'll say this. Some Jews will get very angry at the accusation, but not all Jews. There's a famous Jewish comedian. Her name is Sarah Silverman. She is a very wicked and evil person, the things that come out of her mouth. And you know what? She was in a comedy skit that was on YouTube that got a lot of controversy. And you know what? It's interesting because things that are righteous and godly and good, the media says, how dare them say that and tries to brush it away, but you can say just about anything vulgar or perverse, and anything's allowed to go. But what she said was so bad that even just the mainstream said, whoa, that's too far. Where she was doing a skit of Jesus Christ, it's like, did you guys kill Jesus? She's like, yes, we did, and we do it again, and she's bragging about it and mocking the death of Jesus Christ. It's like, well, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Right? And so the Jews themselves, some might deny it, but the Bible specifically holds them accountable. And make no mistake about it, in the writings of Judaism, they do not speak well of Jesus Christ. In the Talmud, they say that Jesus is a bastard child from a man named Pantera, and he was a sorcerer, and he's going to be in hot excrement, hot dung for all eternity as a punishment. That's what it teaches in the Talmud about Jesus Christ in their writings. Now, it's interesting because find me another religion that speaks bad about Jesus. The Muslims don't speak bad about Jesus. Now, they reject the Jesus of the Bible, but they say he was a prophet. Hindus say he was a prophet. Buddhists say he was a prophet. But in Judaism, in their writings, they flat out say that Jesus was a wicked person. Right? And here in Matthew 27, they took credit. Now, Acts 2, verse 22. Notice what the Bible says. Acts 2, verse 22. Ye men of Israel. Now, who is Peter referring to? Ye men of Israel. There's a lot of people that get saved in this story, but Peter is specifically preaching to the men of Israel. A lot of people are going soul winning in Acts 2, but Peter's specifically preaching to ye men of Israel. Hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holding of it. So what did Peter say to the men of Israel? Ye have crucified and slain the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter holds them responsible. And all throughout the Bible, it's the Jews that are held accountable for this event. They're the ones. And I mean, in other parts of the Bible, all the blood from the beginning to the end is held upon them because they kill the prophets that are sent. That's what you see all throughout the Bible. Go to your Bible with 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. Now, I gave you an analogy earlier about a son biting your daughter. And then you give a warning or a spanking, and 15 minutes later they do the same thing, and the punishment is going to be worse. Now, the original punishment was a 70-year timeout. The next punishment is going to be worse. But here's the thing. That is a misleading statement that I made because this is not the same thing as a son biting a daughter and doing it again the second time. This is like your son biting your daughter. They get a spanking, and 15 minutes later they stab your daughter. Right? Because they killed the Lord Jesus Christ. That is far worse than anything they did. That's not the same thing at all. It's not just, well, you did the same thing again. Let's move the punishment. No, no, no. It's far worse than what they did before. And in the parable in Matthew 21, what it's saying is you're going to be rejected once this takes place. Now, here's the thing. My opinion is that it's the point of no return after killing the Lord Jesus Christ. I think that's what the parable speaks of where basically you no longer ever have a right to the land. It does not belong to you. But here's the thing. Let's say you disagree with that. Let's say you say, Well, Brother Stuckey, I still think that they can return to the land. Well, here's the thing. Why did they get to return to the land the first time? Because they got right with God. They got right with God. And so the land of Israel starting in, what is it, 1945, I think was the year, or somewhere around there 75 years ago, if the land was given back to them 75 years ago, it must be because they all turned to God like the Ninevites did in Assyria. Right? Well, the question is, did they all turn back to God 75 years ago? Well, here's the thing. They still reject Jesus Christ as the Savior, so how could you really say they turned back to God? Tel Aviv is in competition with San Francisco to be the gay capital of the world. I mean, you can't look at that country today and say that they're living righteously and living godly. So what's my opinion? My opinion is the land was taken from you. Now, here's the thing. I personally, I don't care who is living in that land. I really don't care if Palestine gets it or Israel because it doesn't involve me at all. Because here's the thing. This actually ties into Bible prophecy. Go in your Bible to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. Point number one, the promise of the land of Israel was based on obedience. It was not simply because of your blood type or your eye color or your hair color or whatever. It was based on obedience. Point number two, Israel gets rejected. The northern kingdom of Israel gets rejected. Point three, the southern kingdom of Judah gets put on time out for 70 years. Point four, the southern kingdom of Judah gets rejected. Now, historically speaking, in 70 A.D., the temple gets destroyed, there's a seven-year war, and they get scattered everywhere in the world. And of course, that's true. I mean, that's historically true. Everybody knows that to be true. They did get rejected out of the land. The only question is, did they have a right to return back to the land? And as I said, if they were going to return back to the land, then they must have gotten right with God, which they didn't. There's no indication of that. And here's what you have to understand about, and whenever you're preaching on Judaism, it's like are you preaching about the religion or the people ethnically speaking? And look, Judaism is a false religion just like Islam is a false religion, but when you're preaching against the religion, that doesn't mean that you're preaching against people because of their skin color, or that doesn't make you a racist because you're saying the religion is wicked, and saying that they don't have the land belonging to them. Well, I mean, here's the thing. All the land belongs to God, and there's people all over the world that have no right to any land. They got the land for a long time, and then they got removed from the land. But here's what you have to understand about Judaism at the time of Jesus Christ. When Jesus came on the scene, many people immediately believed on Jesus Christ that had believed in Judaism. Why? Because they were already saved. And the Bible says that if you're saved, once you saw the Messiah, you're gonna know that's the voice of the shepherd. You're gonna know it's from God. Every single person that was saved believed on Jesus Christ, and when he came, they knew, hey, this is the real deal. Then a lot of other people converted and believed on Christ. They were not actually saved before. They were not putting their full trust in the coming Messiah. But when the Messiah came and he fulfilled all these miracles, they were like, yeah, this is the real deal, and they believed. And many people that were in the land of Israel, they did believe. Many people got saved. But what about those that did not get saved? See, here's the thing. When you're looking at the religion of Judaism today, it's the remnant of those that did not convert over to Jesus Christ. It's the ones that rejected Jesus Christ. It's the ones that killed Jesus Christ. And in some churches, they go so extreme to say that the Jews don't even have to believe. They get a free pass to heaven. I mean, he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. There's none righteous, no, not one. Nobody gets a free pass to heaven. Everybody must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ no matter who you are, right? But the land itself, it was a conditional covenant, and they got removed permanently. And I'm going to give it to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. That's what the Bible teaches. But the thing is, this ties into Bible prophecy because this actually prepares for the end times. Notice what it says in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. And at hand means about to take place. It does not mean it's already taken place. It's an expression saying about to take place. He said don't let anybody deceive you that the day of Christ is about to happen. So basically, don't let anybody deceive you that the return of Christ is at any moment, is what he's basically saying. Then he says here in verse 3, Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. Now who is the man of sin? Who is the son of perdition that's being referred to? Obviously the antichrist. Regardless of what your end times view is, everybody pretty much agrees that the antichrist midway through Daniel's 70th week is going to declare himself to be God in the abomination of desolation. What I say is the day of Christ is going to be after that event because it's going to be midway through when there's the falling away and that man of sin is revealed. But notice what it says in verse 4, Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called, or that is worshipped, so that he as God, so the antichrist is going to declare himself to be God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Now let me ask you a question. What or where is the temple of God? Where is it located? In Jerusalem. I mean the events during the end times, what's the central location over in the land of Israel? No doubt about that. I mean that's why it says woe unto you that are in Israel because the abomination of desolation is going to take place and those of you that are living right there, it's not exactly where you want to live when it takes place if you're rejecting the mark of the beast. Right? But here's the thing. In the temple of God, so here's the thing. Before the end times events are going to take place, what are you going to see? You're going to see the third temple. Right? Now here's the thing. Modern day Judaism, they don't do sacrifices. They don't do offerings. Why? Well they'll say we don't have the third temple. Once the third temple comes, we're going to start them again. And the Bible tells us there's going to be a third temple. Now it was destroyed in 70 AD. But it's going to be rebuilt. There's even Christian groups that will donate money to help build the third temple. Right. I'm just like, what? Now here's the thing. The end times events are going to take place no matter what. So I'm not saying we try to stop them from taking place. They're going to take place. There's nothing we can do to stop that. When the world becomes so wicked, everything is going to unfold. It's not like, well, maybe this will happen, maybe not. No, no. The Bible tells us what's going to take place. Right? But here's the thing. We're not going to donate our money to the land of Israel to worship offerings when the offering and the sacrifice already came. And yes, the third temple is going to be built. This ties into Bible prophecy. But see, what's going to take place is that when the abomination of desolation takes place, it's going to surprise the Jews. You say, why, Brother Stuckey? Because the Jews in 2023, they are not looking for a spiritual Messiah. They're not. They're looking for a Messiah that's going to bring them to power. And that's what the Antichrist is going to do. But then when he declares himself to be God in the temple of God, it's like, wait a minute, wait a minute. That's not what he signed up for. And then he's going to turn on the Jews. He's going to use them. That's what he's going to do. The Bible foretells of these events. And then he says, everybody must bow down and worship me. So he's going to turn on the Jews midway through. Now, honestly, that is the best thing that could possibly happen to the Jews. You say, why? I mean, it is, right? Because some of them might actually humble themselves and get saved. Say, wait a minute, maybe we're not the chosen people anymore. Maybe we've got to believe on Christ. I mean, it's the best thing to kind of shake them out of their beliefs and realize, and look, I've been soul winning for many years. And in the U.S., you run into plenty of people that are Jewish where I'm from. And obviously, there's always exceptions. But by and large, they are very anti-God. Very anti-gospel. They mock it. They think it's a joke. They reject it completely. They think they're better than you. And are there exceptions? Yeah, there's exceptions. But here's the thing. When you're told for thousands of years, we're God's people, we're God's people, we're God's people, what's the sort of attitude that's going to come? A very arrogant attitude, right? And by and large, that is what you see take place. But in the temple of God, the anti-Christ is going to turn on the Jews at that moment. Go to Matthew 24. Matthew 24. Here's the thing. And I don't think there's anything wrong with visiting the country of Israel. There's obviously a lot of historical events over there. I think it would be pretty cool to visit Israel. Personally, when I grew up, I always wanted to visit the pyramids, so I'd probably rather visit Egypt in terms of just my secular interest or whatever. But there's a lot of cool things that took place in Israel. And sure, it would be great to visit, but there's no extra spiritual blessing upon Israel. Remember, if they were right with God, the promise of God is you're going to have peace on every side, not that you're going to be saved from being destroyed over and over again. It's like you're going to have peace. You can't say the land of Israel today has peace. Now, here's what's interesting about this. You might realize this. You might not. But there are a lot of Jews that are anti-Zionist. And I'm saying those of the religion of Judaism that stand against Zionism. In fact, you can watch videos online. You'll have a bunch of rabbis holding up Palestinian flags against Zionism and preaching against Zionism. And to give you an understanding, this is already a long sermon. I'm doing my best to wrap it up. We're on our last verse here in a second. But I want to help you understand why this has taken place. If you go back a couple hundred years ago, almost every one of Jewish religion, just look it up, read old articles, they would have been all against Zionism. Before they entered the land of Israel, they were pretty much all against Zionism. They were against the idea of returning. You say, why? Because what they kept telling their people was, well, the reason why we've been scattered all over the world is because we must have the Messiah come first. And when the Messiah comes, He will bring us back to the land. But then 75 years ago, what took place? Well, the opportunity to return to the land came early before their Messiah came. Now, of course, their Messiah is going to be the anti-Christ. I mean, their Messiah is false. It's not true. Obviously, Jesus is the Messiah. But they said, we believe in a coming Messiah and He has not yet come, and so until He comes, we can't enter the Promised Land. Now, eventually, that percentage kind of switched because even 75 years ago, it was a big split. A lot of Jews said, no, we cannot return because if we return preemptively to the land of Israel before the Messiah comes, God is going to curse us another thousand years. That's what they taught. That's what they taught in their synagogues. They're telling their people, hey, we've been cursed, and if we try to return back to the land early before the Messiah comes, we're going to be in more trouble. But eventually, a bunch did return and a bunch didn't, got scattered or killed, those that rejected. But there are some today that stand against Zionism and against the modern state of Israel. If you don't believe me, go online. It's very interesting seeing Jews chant Palestine and be down with Israel. It's very interesting, but those Jews, they say, well, wait a minute. We've always said that the Messiah must come. It hasn't happened, so we reject it. But now in our modern day, obviously, the overwhelming tide is that the land belongs to Israel. But when did they return back to God? It never happened. Matthew 24, we'll close up here. Matthew 24, verse 1. And Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him for to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world? Now, this can be very confusing because often in prophetical statements, it speaks about multiple things. It's known as a dual application. And one thing in Matthew 24 that Jesus speaks about is the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. There's no doubt He speaks about that. That doesn't mean that all of Matthew 24, though, is about 70 AD because there's some people... The end times events took place 2,000 years ago, and they make all of Revelation just symbolic. It already happened. But that's not what the Bible's speaking about. So He speaks about 70 AD and the destruction of the temple, but then He segues into the very end times. And so what you have to realize is that the modern state of Israel and rebuilding the temple, this is tying together for the end times. And the third temple, it's going to be built because in 2 Thessalonians 2, He stands in the temple of God, showing Himself that He is God. Now, if you remember, I preached on Antiochus Epiphanes, which came before the time of Jesus Christ, and it was like a type or a picture of the Antichrist. And this was in the book of Daniel. It talks about that, how he basically stood up and slaughtered a pig. This is before the time of Jesus Christ, so that's an unclean animal. It's blasphemous. And they handed out coins at that time where basically his name came out to basically God. And so he's basically saying, I am God, and he demanded people to worship him. And it was like a type of the abomination of desolation, although it's only a picture of what's actually going to take place during the end times. But look, in terms of this general idea of Zionism, honestly, it's not my fight. I really don't care who's in the land. Islam's a wicked religion. Islam's a wicked religion. So is modern-day Judaism. It is also a wicked religion. Now, in the land, no, I don't believe that the land 75 years ago that God gave it back to them, I don't believe that's found in the Bible. I believe they got rejected from the land. But my bigger concern is just getting these people saved, because here's the thing. These end times events are going to happen. We cannot stop it. I would not suggest donating your money to build the temple so the Antichrist can declare himself to be God, but the end times events are going to happen no matter what. It is what it is. Let's close in with a prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see this really deep topic on the topic of Zionism and help us just throughout this entire series, all the things that we looked at from A to Z, help us to know our doctrines and study and know our Bibles and be able to defend what we believe and why we believe things, God, and I ask you to just continue to bless our church. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen for our last song. Let's turn to hymn number 284. Hymn number 284. Let's sing the song, Who at My Door is Standing? Hymn number 284. Hymn number 284. Who at My Door is Standing? Who at My Door is Standing? Ready on the first? Ready, everybody sing. Who at My Door is Standing? Patiently going near. Entrance within demanding. Whose is the voice I hear? Sweetly the tongues are calling. Open the door for me. If thou wilt keep my calling, I will abide with thee. Don't live without me standing. Don't live within a vine. While I am still living, will thee not pass me by? Sweetly the tongues are calling. Open the door for me. If thou wilt keep my calling, I will abide with thee. All through the dark are scary. Knocking again is he. Jesus art thou not weary? Waiting so long for me. Sweetly the tongues are calling. Open the door for me. If thou wilt keep my calling, I will abide with thee on last. Door of my heart I hasten. He will I hope and why. Though he rebuke and chasten, He shall with me abide. Sweetly the tongues are calling. Open the door for me. If thou wilt keep my calling, I will abide with thee. I will abide with thee on last. I will abide with thee on last. I will abide with thee on last. I will abide with thee on last. I will abide with thee on last. Copyright © Element Animation 2011