The Coming Refinement of the 12 Tribes of Israel

Well, good morning, everyone. Good to see all of you and hope that you've had a very good week and that you're having a wonderful Sabbath day. I sure appreciate the comments already made by Mr. Martin and also the sermonette very much. And I know we're all very sober by what is happening in our country. Do we grieve for our nation? We had a tough year, 2020, riots, looting, the pandemic, striking down, I believe it's up just under 400,000 people have died in our country alone.

And now this past week, 2021 is not off to a good start. I'm ashamed of our nation and the light we are supposed to be to the world. Do we grieve for our nation? Do we sigh and cry at the evils that are happening? Are we vexed like lot? Was vexed at Sodom? Do you wish that our country would be able to get back to Bible reading and prayer and Biblical principles? But today, I'd like for us to focus on something that fits very much into what is happening right before our eyes in our beloved country.

And this is actually going to focus on one of the most beautiful stories of all time. The story doesn't begin beautiful, but it ends in a most beautiful way. It's about a mission that God has given to our nation and the other tribes of Israel. That mission is described very well in our fundamental belief, number 15, Promises to Abraham, and also in more detail in our booklet, The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. Today, let's read scriptures about a sacred mission.

It is sacred because God has given this mission to our country. How has Israel done with that mission? We want to, first of all, look at that. Where are we today in that sacred mission? And most of all, let's see how God is going to refine Israel, the tribes of Israel, to fulfill the sacred mission. He's not given up on that mission at all. I think we're all very familiar with the story of the Promises to Abraham, and then passed on down to Isaac and Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons, and from the 12 sons come the 12 tribes of Israel. Let's read that mission that God gave to the tribes of Israel. As they stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, Exodus chapter 19, as they stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, these all 12 tribes, God gave them a sacred mission of what He expected of them.

They were going to be blessed materially, but God expected them to perform a special mission He had for them. Exodus chapter 19 and verse 5, Now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be, or shall be, a special treasure to me, above all people, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me, here is the mission God has given to the 12 tribes of Israel, you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. So there's the mission. God expected the Israelites to exemplify, you might say, to be a model of His way of life, and other nations would see it.

Let's turn to Deuteronomy chapter 4 and read a few verses beginning in verse 1. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 1, Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live and go in and possess the land. Verse 2, you shall not add nor take away. And skipping on down to verse 5, I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess.

Verse 6, Therefore be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what great nation? See, they work to see all the good things happening in Israel, all the peace and quiet and people working together, all the prosperity. What great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?

And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in this law, which I set before you this day? So the Israelites were to be a model nation. They were to exemplify God's way of life, and other nations would see and follow. Well, let's ask a question. How has Israel done with the sacramission given to it?

It has a perfect record, anciently and continuing until this day. It's been flunking the assignment, a perfect record. In the wilderness, Israel, the twelve tribes, flunked. They didn't exemplify God's way. Under the Judges, the unified nation, then the divided nation, the ten northern tribes and the two southern tribes, and the Jews, whom they returned from Babylonian captivity.

And today, modern-day Israel as well is flunking it. So we have a perfect record of flunking the mission, the sacred mission, a perfect string of failures. So maybe God has given up on the Israelites. It's just not working. No, God doesn't give up. He just doesn't give up. Let's go to the New Testament and read a couple of verses. No, God has not cast away Israel. Let's go to Romans 11. He has not given up on what He wants Israel to do.

Not at all. In Romans 11, verse 1, I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people, whom He foreknew. So God has not given up. He still plans to have the twelve tribes of Israel to fulfill their sacred mission. It will be after Christ returns, as we know. In Romans 11, verse 25, I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant. God has made a covenant with Israel. When I take away their sins, I tell you, this is very good news for our nation. We are going the way of sin, and things are only going to get worse in the years ahead. 2021 is not shaping up very well. Division and fighting and things will undoubtedly continue to escalate. But God is going to take away the sins. He's going to clean up the swamp all the way from the east coast to the west coast, and all the other tribes of Israel as well.

And how God will do this is the beautiful story I would like for us to focus on today. God is going to clean us up. Isn't that good news when you think about it? He is going to turn things around. I'd like to give a title to this message, The Coming Refinement of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

That refinement is going to take place in a time of trouble, actually. So God has not cast away His people at all. Let's catch a few verses in the book of Jeremiah 31 that show God's determination to use Israel for the divine and sacred mission that He originally had in mind. To be a holy people and a kingdom of priests. We often read, and I'll skim over that very quickly, about the New Covenant that God is going to make with the house of Israel and Judah. Verse 31, the days are coming, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. We know that, verse 33, God will put His laws in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. All right? And they'll all know me, verse 34, from the least of them to the greatest. But notice verse 35. Is God determined to yet have Israel be His model nation? He is. Verse 35, Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and stars for a light by night, who disturbs the sea and its waves roar. The Lord of hosts is His name. If those ordinances, notice verse 36, if those ordinances depart from before Me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever. Verse 37, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundation of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel, for all they have done, says the Lord.

So God is going to yet use Israel to fulfill the purpose He had in mind for them as they stood there at the foot of Mount Sinai. To be a holy nation, to be a righteous people, to be a kingdom of priests, but there's going to have to be a refining. And there is a coming refining that will take place. By the way, you can find the same verses of if the ordinances of the sun and the moon can be changed, God's purpose can be thwarted. You can find the same thing in chapter 33 of Jeremiah. You might just read a couple of verses here. Jeremiah 33, verse 14, The days are coming, says the Lord, I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. You can read on down on that. And in verse 20, he says, If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that there will be no day or night in their season, then my covenant can be broken with David and with the Levites, those two houses. No, God's covenant is firm. It's going to stand. Israel is yet going to fulfill its sacred mission, God-given mission. God has never abandoned his goal for Israel. What God wanted in the wilderness, he still wants, and he won't quit until he gets it, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. You know, right now, where are we right now? We know the ancient tribes of the ten northern tribes went into captivity to Assyria. They were deported. The Assyrians were famous for deporting people from one area to another. They were deported to northern Mesopotamia. They were in the area just north of the Black Sea in the New Testament times. Josephus wrote about that. And then they went, they migrated on north of the north to northwestern Europe after that. The details of that are very well described, again, in our booklet, United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. We know that from the 1600s till today that the birthright promises have been granted. Manasseh has become a great nation. There's just no nation like this nation we have had the privilege to live in. And it still is great, but we're losing our greatness because of the way that we're going, contrary to God's will and God's law. Ephraim became that company of nations beginning in the 1600s, that Commonwealth of Nations, the British Empire. And the other tribes of Israel, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, they have been richly blessed as well. They didn't have the birthright promises like Manasseh and Ephraim, but they have been richly blessed.

But all 12 tribes have utterly failed in any sacred mission of being a model nation.

I heard one report about what happened on Wednesday, that a dark cloud has settled over our nation. And that dark cloud has begun before even that event, but even last year.

And actually going back 50 or 60 years, you could go back at least that far when we began to depart. No longer have Bible readings in school and prayer. Today we have then all kinds of riots and burnings have happened last year. Horrible crimes and sins, bloodshed and abortions. We're not that example nation. Same-sex marriage, we champion some of these things. People choosing their own gender now. So it's like it was in ancient Israel. You can read about that. So many of the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, just full of the sins of Israel. And we see this happening more and more in our own nation. And captivity, as it happened to ancient Israel, is going to happen to modern-day Israel as well.

God, according to the Scriptures, has designed this captivity. And when we understand the story of the coming captivity, we see that God has never abandoned his goal of using Israel. But he's first of all going to refine. There's going to be a period of intense refinement. And the captivity story that we're going to be considering here, and what happens during that captivity, has a most tragic beginning. It is so sad to think about what the time of Jacob's trouble, when we really think about it, a time of war, a time of bloodshed, Ezekiel brings out that one-third of modern Israel will die by famine and disease.

So we're just seeing the beginning of that. One-third will die of warfare, and one-third will go into captivity. So it starts with a most tragic beginning, but it ends in the most beautiful human drama of all time. And we're going to be reading about that. God is going to not destroy Israel, but he is going to severely chasten.

It's chastening from God. In our nation, our people need a chastening. You know, when a child is out of control, the best thing a parent can do is to chasten his child. And it may involve corporal punishment, or it may just involve a correction of some other type and talking, but there has to be chastening. There has to be discipline. But God is going to reserve for himself.

Well, Isaiah 6, verses 10-13 brings out that God will reserve for himself a tithe of the people. Let's read that, Isaiah 6, verses 10-13. God is going to save people a percentage, a small percentage of the people for himself and for the millennium. In verse 10, Isaiah 6, verse 10, Make the heart of those people dull, and their ears heavy. Shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand, and return, and be healed.

Then I said, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities are laid waste, and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, the Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But yet a teth shall be in it, and will return, and be for consuming. So a teth of it will be reserved, and will not, but even the tithe of the people that God saves will be further refined and probably reduced in overall numbers. Let's read some scriptures that pertain to the refinement in this captivity. In Zechariah chapter 13 and verse 8, It shall come to pass, and all the land, says the Lord, that two-thirds of it shall be cut off and die.

But one-third shall be left in it. I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. Israel will begin to turn to God. Are our people going to turn to God? Those who survive from the pestilence and from the warfare and this captivity are going to turn to God, and He will answer them.

I will say, this is my people, and each one will say, the Lord is my God. So Israel will begin to be refined in this captivity. The captivity will be the refining crucible in which God makes a determination of who will populate millennial Israel, who will survive all of this, and they will be greatly refined. Let's go to Amos chapter 9. There are many verses we're going to be reading about this refinement process, and it's wonderful when you think about the results of it.

It's like a child who is out of control, and after you discipline and chase him, he gets back in line again. It's a wonderful thing when he has a broken and obedient spirit once again. In Amos chapter 9 and verse 8, Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.

Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord. For surely I will command and will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is sifted and a sieve. Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. So the work that God does is compared here to a harvester sifting grain, and he promises that not one grain will fall to the ground unaccounted. That means that every single one that comes through this refinement process, God is there at work in the refinement of who will populate millennial Israel.

Verse 10, Is this talking about our time? Read the rest of the chapter, verse 11. On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen down. Verse 14, Yes, this is talking about our time for modern-day Israel.

Let's go to Ezekiel 20. We have quite a few verses. We're going to read them rather quickly, but on this refinement of the twelve tribes of Israel. During a time of chastening, a time of captivity.

In Ezekiel 20, and verse 33. I'm just going to read through verse 44, or skim through verse 44. There's going to be a sorting of the people that is going to exclude any that want to hang on to the old ways. They want to believe that it's okay, same-sex marriage and abortion and just living together unmarried. All the liberal ideas that people have come to condone and to accept. That's going to be weeded out, refined out. Verse 33, I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with fury poured out.

Verse 37, I'll make you pass under the rod and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. I will purge the rebels from among you and those who transgress against me. Those who want to hang on to the old former ways that are contrary to God's law. They will be weeded out. They will be refined out. Verse 40, On my holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord, There all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, will serve me. There I will accept them, because they will have been refined and obedient to God by that time. Verse 42, You shall know that I am the Lord when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted my hand in an oath to give to your fathers. Notice verse 43. Here we have a deeply humbled and repentant people. There you will remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled. The way of life we are living is defiling us. It's weakening our country. It's going to bring us down. Unless we change and there's no indication we will. Notice it goes on the same middle of verse 43. And you shall loathe, L-O-A-T-H-E. You're going to hate yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed. Then you shall know that I am the Lord when I have dealt with you not for, or dealt with you for in my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, O House of Israel. So God is going to clean up the swamp from coast to coast and all of the tribes of Israel He is going to clean up. When this sorting is completed, God will mercifully deliver the captives in a dramatic fashion, which will be much greater than Israel's deliverance from Egypt, anciently.

Well, the deliverance back to the land of Palestine will be significant and spectacular. Even greater will be the change of hearts and minds of the returnees. Can we picture a time of relief and joy and tears? It will be. Tears expressing the widest range of emotions, tears of shame and humility for what we have done, tears of awareness of how unworthy to be returning, tears of joy to be free. Can we imagine the Israelites after this time of refinement? Let's go to Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 and verse 1. At the same time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, all the twelve tribes. They shall be my people. Thus says the Lord, the people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness. In skipping on down, in verse 8, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame and the woman with child and the one who labors with child together. A great throng shall return there. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. Yes, the Israelites weeping. Can we picture that Americans and British and Australians and Swedes and Danes and Jews, from all the tribes of Israel weeping as God leads them, deeply repentant of the former ways that they came to live and accept? This is talking about something marvelous. It's a wonderful thing when a child has a good, obedient attitude after chastening. This is wonderful to think about. Verse 15, Thus says the Lord, A voice was heard in Rama, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more. Thus says the Lord, Refrain your voice from weeping. No need to weep anymore. Verse 17, There is hope in your future. Verse 18, I have surely heard Ephraim, that would be the British Commonwealth of Nations, I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself. Here is what Ephraim is saying. Here is the heart and the mind when you look into the deepest part of Ephraim's heart. You have chastised me, and I was chastised like an untrained bull. An untrained bull has to be really beaten hard. Restore me, and I will return. For you are the Lord my God. Surely after my turning I repented, and after I was instructed I struck myself on the thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, because I bore the reproach of my youth. God responds, Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord. You know, this captures the feeling, the emotion that is going to be at that time. When God begins to bring Israel out of captivity, they have now been refined. They have repented and turned to God with weeping and abhorring and loathing the way of life that we have gotten into. Not wanting any more of this. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 50. It talks about it just a little bit more. We're beginning to capture then the refining, the refinement of the Israelite tribes during a time of captivity. How they turned to God and how wonderful that is. Jeremiah 50 and verse 4.

In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come. They and the children of Judah together with continual weeping, they shall come and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces toward it, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.

Just skipping on over to verse 19, I will bring back Israel to his habitation. He shall feed on Carmel and Beshan. His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead. Look at verse 20. In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none.

And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found, for I will pardon those whom I preserve.

So the Israelite tears and weeping express an attitude that is critical to the success of the sacred mission that God has given Israel, tears of total repentance and obedience to God, being ashamed of sins that we have gotten into.

We capture also in Ezekiel 16 the Israelites being ashamed of this way of life that we have somehow gotten into. And we have defiled ourselves.

In Ezekiel 16 and verse 60, In Ezekiel 16 and verse 60, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth. God has not cast off his people. I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. In Ezekiel 16 and verse 62, I will establish my covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, and that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame when I provide you an atonement. God will provide forgiveness and atonement for all you have done, says the Lord. Let's also read. There are so many verses. We're quickly reading some of them anyway. Ezekiel 36 and verse 24.

Ezekiel 36 and verse 24, I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all countries and bring you to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. That's the refinement that goes on in the time of captivity. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh and put my spirit within you. Skipping on over to verse 31. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. You know, we ourselves, we look back in our own lives, and we can think of things that we hate, that we did, that we allowed ourselves to do. We loathe ourselves. The Israelites are going to come to repentance of evil deeds and evil ways and loathe themselves. Let's start while we're hearing in Ezekiel over a couple of chapters more. Ezekiel 39 verse 23. Ezekiel 39 verse 23. Verse 22 says, The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their guide from that day forward. And verse 23 is interesting here. The Gentile nations then shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity because they were unfaithful to me. And it goes on to say God will bring back the captives. In verse 25 and 28, they shall know that I am the Lord their guide who sent them into captivity among the nations. Verse 29, I will not hide my face from them anymore, for I have poured out my spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord. So upon a repentant people that have been thoroughly refined of all the evils we have gotten into, then God is going to give His Holy Spirit. And Israel will be then brought back and ready to be that model nation at last. Let's read a few verses in the minor prophets now, Hosea chapter 5.

So this message of refinement we find sprinkled and scattered throughout the prophets, a refinement of our sins and evils so we can become the model nation that God intended and wanted from the very beginning. Hosea chapter 5 and verse 14. Hosea 5 and verse 14. I will be like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away. God is going to bring captivity, punishment upon us as a chastisement. And then He is going to go away and just wait a little bit. I will take them away and no one shall rescue.

I will return, verse 15, I will return again to my place. God just will be patient to wait those two or three years during the time of Great Tribulation till they acknowledge their offense. Then, and in this captivity, as what it's talking about, they will seek my face in their affliction.

They will diligently seek me. They will turn to God. And here are words that come from the Israelites in captivity. In chapter 6 and verse 1. Come, let us return to the Lord, for He has torn, but He will heal us. He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days, He will revive us. We wondered if this might be after two years into the Great Tribulation. He will revive us. On the third day, He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know. Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning. He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. So here are the Israelites turning to God in their affliction. Let's read Zephaniah chapter 3. It describes so beautifully here the attitude of heartfelt repentance and turning to God that the Israelite captives have. In Zechariah chapter 3 and verse 11.

In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds, you know, in which you transgress against Me. We are shamed today. I'm ashamed of our nation in many ways what is happening. We're not a light to the world. We're not that beacon of light that we have been. But in that day, and this is talking about the millennium, you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me. For then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride. God doesn't want pride. And the Israelites returning out of their captivity will not have pride. You shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. For they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.

So verse 14 says, the end result is there's going to be a time of rejoicing and singing for a thousand years. Let's go to Micah 7 and beginning in verse 8. Here is Israel's confession, and what a beautiful attitude this is here at the end of the book of Micah. Micah 7 and verse 8, do not rejoice over me, my enemy. These are the words that the returning Israelites will have in their hearts. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him until he pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light, and I will see his righteousness. Then she who is my enemy shall see, and shame will cover her, who said to me, Where is the Lord your God? My eyes shall see her. Now she will be trampled down like mire in the streets. So God will be forgiving, and he will bring the Israelites out of a time of trouble and a time of affliction, a time of captivity. Brother, can we grasp the impact of all of this? We've read quite a few verses on the refinement of the tribes of Israel, their chastisement and captivity, and then the refinement that goes on during that time of captivity. We focused on what happens during that two or three years of great tribulation upon the house of Israel, the time of Israel's trouble. We focused on what happens in the hearts and minds of the Israelites. Can we grasp what is happening? Returning from the captivity will be a people refined, filled with first love, fully contrite and humble, willing to learn, in fact eager to learn. God will pour His Spirit into their hearts and minds, converting them, the returning remnant of His people, and they will have that first love. Have you ever witnessed first love at work? It's alive. It's relentless. It can't help but share what it knows and feels. You probably yourself tried to convert some others. I know I did. The love of God, shown by those returning from captivity, will be infectious, eventually influencing the whole world. I think it's good that we have focused on...we know that our nation is under a dark cloud. It's good that we focused on a chastisement that is coming, a loving chastisement from God, when He will refine the tribes of Israel so that they can then fulfill the mission, the sacred mission He has assigned to them.

You know, at last, Israel is going to be that model nation. Let's read just a few verses. Isaiah 43 and verse 1. Isaiah 43 and verse 1. This is wonderful to think about, but God's going to straighten everything out as far as our nation. This is very encouraging to me. I hope it is to you. Isaiah 43 and verse 1. But now says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. Israel is God's servant nation, His holy nation, to be a kingdom of priests, a model of God's way of life. This same chapter, Isaiah 43 and verse 21. This people I have formed for myself. Notice God's determination. They shall declare my praise. The Israelites are going to declare God's way of life. In chapter 44 and verse 1. Yet hear now, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord, who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and you, Jesuram, whom I have chosen.

Then in this same chapter, verse 21, chapter 44, verse 21. Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant. O Israel, you shall not be forgotten by me. Israel will be God's servant nation during the 1,000 years. In our booklet that says it so well, the last chapter of our booklet, the United States and Britain and Bible Prophecy, brings out that the Israelites are going to at last be that example that God had in mind from the very beginning. Near the end of the last chapter, from punishment to destiny, when the Israelites turned to God in repentance and obedience, God will again shower physical blessings. Their land will become abundantly productive. Other nations see Israel's prosperity and relationship with God. They will inquire how they, too, can be blessed. They will soon learn that Israel's prosperity comes because of its obedience to God. Finally, Israel will at last really be the world's model nation. Exemplifying the blessings and way of life, other nations will strive to emulate. Israel will finally become the example God intended her to be. God has not forgotten, nor will he ever forget his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The pages of history and prophecies yet to be fulfilled show God's remaining true to every detail of his word. So all during the millennium, Israel will be that example nation. Their king will be King David, a man after God's own heart. He will be there to guide these converted returnees who are fully repentant and who receive God's Spirit and ready to be the model nation and fulfill the sacred mission that has been given to Israel. Just a couple of other things to think about as we conclude the sermon. What should we be doing? We certainly should as we see evils intensify and increase. We should, as Ezekiel 9 and verse 4 says, we ought to sigh and cry for all the abominations that are going on. I think we do. I mourn. I grieve. How about you? We should stand in the gap as Ezekiel 22 and verse 30 brings out. We should stand up for what is right, not be afraid to make us stand for it even when somebody says something otherwise. Let's go to Amos, something that we certainly, I believe, all are doing. I know I am. Amos chapter 6, beginning in verse 1. Amos chapter 6 and verse 1.

verse 5. In verse 6, you drink wine from bowls and anoint yourselves with the best ointments. But the last part of verse 6 is what I wanted to come to. But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Joseph would be Ephraim and Manasseh. We should be grieved. I think we are. And something else we should be busy doing is found in the book of Hosea chapter 5. And I believe this has to intensify, and I pray it will. In some ways, there would appear to be a need for much more warning to go out to our nation. Much more warning. Just like Jeremiah went to the very top leadership. So maybe at some point this work of God is going to be put on the map. And a warning is going to get right to the top leadership of our country as well. It could very well happen. God will have to do that, not us. Hosea chapter 5 and verse 4, they do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God. For the Spirit of Harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. Judah also stumbles with them. But in verse 9 now, Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I have made known what is sure. So, you know, we want to continue proclaiming this message and ask God even to open doors and have a powerful warning. And we believe this is going to happen before the tribulation comes along. Help warn the tribes of Israel about what is coming. So, you know, what an encouraging story overall. When you consider what is happening back in 2020, we were hoping 2021 would be better. It's not off to a very good start. There's great hope for our country and the twelve tribes of Israel. It's an encouraging story. When you think about it, the refining that is going to take place. So for those who do grieve and sigh and cry, and that would be us, there is a coming time of refinement for our nation and the tribes of Israel. A time of profound sorrow, total repentance, and true conversion, leading to a people that will at last fulfill their destiny and sacred mission as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and a light to the world.