Discerning the Times, Part 1

Well, Mr. Brown-Mueller, when he was introducing the song, talked about the type of world that we live in. And Mr. Johnson talked about discernment as he introduced his sermonette. And that's where I want to start with my sermon today. You know, we live in a world that is just absolutely confused, if you look at it.

Totally different than what we may have expected even a year ago, six months ago. And not just in the United States. Certainly the presidential race has had its ups and downs and some of the things that are said and done you kind of shake your head at. Well, when you look around the world, you see a world that is just in upheaval everywhere. You know, we had, just a couple weeks ago, the attempted coup in Turkey.

As the European Union was looking at Turkey as a potential member, they had this happen. And it boggles the mind, but since then they've arrested some 50,000 people or questioned some 50,000 people in attempt or in connection with that coup. It shows the unsettled nature of that part of the world that will probably get even more unsettled as time goes by. We've had over in England that vote that surprised everyone.

The Brexit vote that we talked about a little bit at the ABC weekend, but that changes the whole dynamic of the world as well. With Britain exiting the European Union, it opens up all sorts of possibilities. Other nations in Europe are also looking at that and wondering, should they be exiting from the Union? And all of a sudden, something that Europe thought they had put together has got question marks all over it. Where is it going? What is it being? What's the next iteration of the European Union?

And I'll have a quote for you here in a moment to talk about that. We certainly have terror activities that are popping up all over the world. Since we had the Orlando attack in June on Pentecost, I don't know how many terror attacks that have been around the world, but it seems almost like, if not a weekly event, a couple of times a week we're hearing about something that has gone on in the world that has terror written all over it. Certainly Germany has experienced that. In the last few weeks, France seems to be a hotbed of terror activity. The United States continually so.

And if it's not ISIS-related and radical Islam-related terror, it's domestic terror, it's disgruntled employees, or people who think the answer to their problems, that they will get some satisfaction out of killing others. It's kind of a testament of the world that we live in today. And it's just unfortunate that we have that type of society. But we see it going more and more toward what Jesus Christ said when He said it was in the days of Noah.

So it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. And in the days of Noah, God said the world was corrupt and it was violent. So much so that He repented that He had ever created man. And He destroyed that civilization at that time. So we live in a world that is in change.

It's a changing world. And to add to that, we have this presidential election where there will be a new president between two candidates that are here in America that are certainly to make an impact on the world. And maybe there's question marks and confusion as to what their legacy will be or what they will bring to the White House as well. You know, as we look at all these things around us, as we look at everything that's going on, it removes us all to discern the times, to discern the times that we live in.

You know, Jesus Christ said that He wanted us to pay attention to what was going on, to know what was going on, not to just bury our heads in the sand, but to see what was going on and to understand the significance of it, the significance of it in our lives and in Bible prophecy. Let's turn over to Luke 12. I believe Mr. McNeely mentioned this verse in one of his sessions a couple weeks ago, but I think it fares repeating.

In Luke 12, verse 54, Christ said this as He was speaking to the group of Pharisees there or the group of Jews that were gathered to hear Him. He said to the multitudes, Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, a shower is coming, and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, there will be hot weather, and there it is. Hypocrite. You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you don't discern this time?

How can you read those things, but how can you not see the time, Jesus Christ said, that they were living in right then? How can you not see and understand who Jesus Christ is? How can you not see who is among you? How can you not see if you knew the Bible, you would understand who I am? But the Jews at that time didn't understand. They didn't understand at all. They totally misread Him.

They heard all sorts of accusations against Him, people calling Him names, calling Him Beelzebub, when He could create miracles, or when He did miracles. And they ended up putting Him to death. Over in Luke 19, speaking of that very same time, Jesus Christ said in verse 41, again speaking to a group of Pharisees, in verse 41, it says, As He drew near, He saw the city, He wept over it, approaching Jerusalem, saying, If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes.

For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you to the ground. And they will not leave in you one stone upon the other another, because you didn't know the time of your visitation.

You didn't know the time that you were living in. And because you didn't know the time you were living in, and because of what you will do, because you were ignorant of that, because you didn't discern the times you lived in, not one stone will be left on top of another. And on that generation of people, that happened. That happened. If they had just discerned the time, if they had just understood the prophecies concerning Jesus Christ, if they had just let God take the blinders off and not attack Him, and not make light of Him, not jeer at Him, but understand who He was, because that's why He came.

He came so that He could die, and that was meant to be, but He very much wanted that city to embrace Him, because God always wants people to embrace Him. He doesn't want to destroy them. He doesn't want them to hurt, but sometimes they hurt for their own good. And so, we live in times where we need to discern the times, because certainly the times we live in are far different than they were, and I'm going to say even a year ago.

A year ago, if we had seen the headlines and what we see every day in the news, we would be surprised if a year ago we were told what we would see in the world today.

Let me give you an article. Whoa! Okay. That's a little bigger than the screen, so I may have to read it to you. Unless there's a way to shrink that. I'm not sure how to do that. Let me read while we have someone kind of work on this here and see what we need to do.

The foreign ministers—this appeared in the prophetic times a few weeks ago— says the foreign ministers of France and Germany are due to reveal that this came up after Britain exited the European Union, literally within a week after they exited the European Union. If you need that, I can read from this.

The foreign ministers of France and Germany are due to reveal a blueprint to effectively do away with individual member states in what is to being described as an ultimatum. Under the radical proposals, EU countries will lose the right to have their own army, criminal law, taxation system, or central bank, with all those powers being transferred to Brussels. It's totally different from the way the European Union works today.

Controversially, member states would also lose what few controls they have left over their own borders, including the procedure for admitting and relocating refugees. The plot is farfury and panic in Poland, who was a traditional ally of Britain in the fight against federalism after being leaked to Polish news channel TVP Info. This was written on June 27. Excerpts of the nine-page report were published today as leaders of Germany, France, and Italy met in Berlin for Brexit crisis talks.

In the preamble to the text, the two ministers write, Our countries share a common destiny and common set of values that give rise to an even closer union between our citizens. We will, therefore, strive for a political union in Europe and invite the next Europeans to participate in this venture. What they're basically saying is, we don't want any more Brexits. We don't want any more countries to have the opportunity to leave.

We want people to turn themselves over to us. We want a United States of Europe, much the way the United States of America runs. That a state is part of the union and the federal government is over all. That came out just within days after the June 26th Brexit, the vote to take England out of the union.

It shows how fast things can move. It's something that they just couldn't come up with overnight. It's something that has been in the works for a while and the exit of Europe or Britain from that union just accelerated the announcement of it. Now, that isn't the final verdict. They're continuing to work on it. They will have people continue to do that, but they will take this out to the states because they see a changing world as well.

One that the current European Union format just doesn't work well with. When I read that article, it made me think of a verse in the Bible. Maybe it did you as well. Let's go over to Revelation 17. Revelation 17. Revelation 17 is talking about the beast power that will emerge. Revelation 13 talks about the power arising out of the sea. But in chapter 17, it gives us a little bit more information about that beast power.

Let's pick it up in verse 11. The beast that was, it says, Revelation 17.11, the beast that was and is not, is himself also the eighth and is of the seven and is going to perdition. Judgment will be on him. The ten horns, which you saw describing the beast back in Revelation 13, are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet. But they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.

Ten kings, ten leaders, ten political leaders who receive authority after one hour with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. Much what Europe is beginning to talk about in this little document that's floating around Europe now. You will give your power and your authority, your control over your borders, your banking system, your taxation system, your criminal law system, your even ability to say, what's going on with these refugees that we want to accept into here, into this continent?

You give all that power over to us. You will become a state that is under our control. And the Bible says there will be ten, there will be ten, who will say, we'll give all that power over to you. Now, Delpharma, Delpharma Union, that will make up the beast's power. Now, today there's 20, I think with England, there was 28 in the European Union, down to 27.

I think that we can take the Bible at its word somewhere in the future, maybe very near future. You will see when that comes up, and that's the ticket and the price you pay to be part of the European Union. Ten, ten will say, yes, we will turn it all over to you. And what the Bible has always said will be the thing that really happens. Discerning the Scriptures, reading the times, seeing what's going on, and as these things happen in life, to be able to relate it back to Scripture and see what God has always said, what happened, really is happening.

It should give us comfort to realize there's truth in the Bible. And as we see ourselves past these little milestones or prophetic markers, let us know the truth of the Bible that God has revealed to us is indeed the truth. But we have to understand the Bible to see those prophetic Scriptures. We have to know the Bible. We have to be paying attention to the Bible. We have to be watching. We have to be watching world news. We have to be watching what's going on. And think of it in terms of what God is doing.

Even as we look at this presidential election—now, we can talk about politics. I know there was a sermonette last week on politics. It's God who's in control. God will place who He wants in power because His will will be done. And His prophecy is sure, and it will happen exactly as He intends for it to be. Now, if we look at Luke 21 and verse 36, in the Olivet prophecy, Luke's version of it, and as you read it through 21, you see the same chronology events that are recorded in Matthew.

And at the end, there's a warning that Christ gives to those who are hearing the prophecy that day, who are reading it today. He says, Watch therefore and pray always, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. Watch, and we know watch means watch what's going on in the world, but we know more importantly when He says that you're counted worthy to escape these things and to stand before man, that we watch ourselves.

Oops. Now, the message version of the Bible, and the message version of the Bible, it translates that verse this way. And the message version of the Bible is, it can be a funny translation sometimes, so I certainly don't encourage anyone to run out and buy it and anything. But there are a few verses here and there where it puts it in modern-day lingo and captures the essence of what the verse means. Luke 21.36 happens to be one of those verses.

The message version says, But be on your guard. Don't let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that day is going to take you by complete surprise. Spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it's going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once. So whatever you do, don't go to sleep at the switch.

Pray constantly that you will have the strength to make it through everything that's coming and end up on your feet standing before the Son of Man. It puts it in pretty clear language, doesn't it? Don't get wrapped up in all the entertainment of the world. Don't get wrapped up in shopping. Don't bury your head in the sand like so much of the world does. Even like the world news that we watch on TV does, get all caught up in vids and little isolated stories that take our attention away from what's really going on in the world.

And it says, don't go to sleep at the switch. The time is now, and as we see the day approaching, you get closer to God. You look and examine yourself through the pages of the Bible a little closer. You become more like Him. You find and ask Him where are the weaknesses in you, and you let Him weed those out as you make the decision to weed them out of your life with the power of His Holy Spirit. Well, to discern the Scriptures and discern the times that we live in, there are things we have to know because there's a lot of misinformation in the world.

You can put on a TV station tomorrow and you can get a totally different view of Bible prophecy than what we would preach, and certainly a different one than the Bible preaches, certainly a different one that you may hear a little bit of today.

But we have to discern what is truth and what is error. We have to discern what is right and what is wrong. We have to understand the portions of the Bible as the Bible teaches us and not in man's interpretation of it. And one of those areas I want to talk about today, and I want to talk about it only from the Bible. Now, for some of you when you hear what I'm going to talk about, you're going to think, we've been down that road before, but I'm going to ask you to bear with me.

Bear with me. Let's go over to Amos. Amos 3. Amos 3. And verse 7. You know, God doesn't want any of us to be taken by surprise. He doesn't want that time to come upon us and have us say, what? We weren't prepared for this because, you know what? We have the ability to be prepared, preparing ourselves to understand what's going on. The world will be taken by surprise. God's people shouldn't be taken by surprise. If they're studying, if they understand, if they discern the Scriptures and if they discern the times that we live in.

Amos 3. Verse 7. Hallmark, memory verse. Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secrets to His servants and prophets. He lets us know. He may not give us the detail. He might not tell us on day 1, 2, 3, 4 exactly what's going to happen. We have the outline of what's going to happen and where we're going.

It's all there in the Bible. We can piece it all together. We don't need an interpreter. We don't need someone else doing it. We don't need other books. We can learn it from the Bible and the Bible itself. Any subject that we need to know. Other sources are good as long as they go along with the Bible. They can help supplement and stimulate our thoughts.

But the Bible is the basis of what we use as our beliefs and what we believe we can use the Bible to prove it. One of those areas, the people in the world, are going to find themselves very, very confused. They're going to be very, very surprised when some of the events in the world happen. In the next, however many years, God determines they're going to happen.

They don't understand who Israel is. Look at verse 2 of Amos 3. Through Amos, God says, speaking of Israel, "'You only, you only, Israel, have I known of all the families of earth.'" Well, He knows all the other families of earth, but He's working with Israel in the Old Testament. That's the group that He was working with, the physical nation of Israel. And there's more to understand than just the physical nation of Israel when we talk about Israel, but today we'll focus a little bit on that.

"'You, O Israel, only you of all the nations and families on earth I have known. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.'" Because God chastises not because He's angry, but because He wants us to turn back to Him. He wants us to have all the blessings and everything that He intended for His people and eventually all of mankind to have. "'You and you only have I known of all the families of earth.'" Back in 1 Peter 1, Peter makes a statement that we're going to live by here this weekend, next week.

1 Peter 1, 15. He says, speaking and writing to His people of that day, "'Moreover, I'll be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. Even after He's gone, He wanted the people to know what the truth was.

For we didn't follow cunningly devised fables will we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are cunningly devised fables then of who Jesus Christ was. There are plenty of cunningly devised fables today about what is going on in the world, about who Jesus Christ is, about who Israel is, about some other things that we'll talk about in the future too as we discern the times and as we discern the truth of the Scripture. Cunningly devised fables that sound true, but they don't bear the test of being what the Bible preaches.

If you don't want to be surprised, if you don't want the head to come upon you and you didn't expect it, we better know the Bible. We better understand it. We better understand some of these key things in deciphering the times and deciphering the Scriptures. So He says He didn't use cunningly devised fables for we, in verse 16, where I witnesses of Christ's majesty. Let's drop down to verse 19.

So today I want to talk about Israel. So many people in the world, and if you were to flip on the TV channels tomorrow morning and go on the Internet, you'll find some prophecies. Some will talk about Revelation. They'll talk about the beast power being in Europe and centered in Europe. But they'll all talk about Israel in the prophecies of that little nation over in the Middle East. But that's the focus of everything. And because they believe that, which the Bible doesn't say, they're going to be very, very surprised. Very, very surprised down the road. No one in this room should be surprised. So today, from the Bible, and only from the Bible, not relying on any encyclopedias, not relying on any other sources but the Bible, I want to prove to us who Israel, the physical nation of Israel, is from the Bible. So let's start. We'll build a case here from the Bible of Israel so that when you read the prophecies concerning Israel, you will know who it's talking about. If others ask you, you will be able to explain to them, and you'll be able to go from the Bible and explain to them who Israel is. And we're also going to talk about why it matters, because it matters for more than just the reason that you might think right now it matters. So let's go back to the beginning of the nation of Israel in Genesis 12 and verse 1, and build the case here from the Bible of the identity of physical Israel. Chapter 12, verse 1, The Eternal said to Abram, A hallmark promise that God gave to Abram. A monumental promise when you look at the words that are written there. I will bless you. You will be a blessing to all the nations around you. I will make you a great nation. At that time, Abraham didn't even have a son. I'm going to do all this for you, Abraham. Abram, as he was known then. A promise that lasted from then all the way until the time of Jesus Christ's return. As we'll see here in a minute. Now we know in verse 3 there, when he talks about you and all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Certainly there's the spiritual blessing of Jesus Christ being born from his lineage that he's talking about. But there's also physical blessings that are here implicit in this verse. And the nation of Israel enjoyed those, continues to enjoy those.

Let's go to the next one. God made that promise to Abraham. He repeated it a few times between Genesis 12 and here in Genesis 26. But he passed that blessing on to Abraham's son Isaac. Let's read that. Genesis 26, verse 1. There was a famine in the land. Now let's start with verse 2. Genesis 26, verse 2. The eternal appeared to Isaac and said, Don't go down to Egypt. Live in the land which I shall tell you. Wherever God sent Abram, he went. Isaac followed the same obedience to God and followed him. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. For to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven. I will give to your descendants all these lands. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. You see where God repeats the blessings? Doesn't say it just once, but reminds people of what he has promised to do. Because, and here's a key verse. Why? Because Abraham obeyed my voice, kept my charge, my commandments. My statutes and my laws. A key to a successful, prosperous nation. Obedience to God. That's what he saw in Abraham. That's what he says to Isaac, who the blessings were passed on to. Over in Genesis 27. One chapter over in verse 27.

Genesis 27 verse 27. Isaac now passing the blessing on to Jacob, one of his twin sons. And you remember the story with Jacob and Esau. Jacob had tricked Esau out of the birthright. And now he was deceiving his father into giving him the blessing. He knew the value of the blessing. He wanted that blessing. And he was willing to do that, and God allowed it to happen. The blessing went on the one that God wanted to have the blessing. God didn't get fooled in this case. Genesis 27 verse 27. Isaac came near and kissed Jacob. And he smelled the smell of his clothing and blessed him and said, Surely the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the eternal is blessed. Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Person, be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you. It's another notable blessing, isn't it? Wouldn't we want that be said upon us? Whoever blesses you will be blessed. Whoever curses you will be cursed. And he repeats some of the promises that he had given to Abraham and to Isaac. Over in chapter 3, as we continue God's commitment to bless this man and have from him nations come. In Genesis 35 we see that Jacob, who got off to a rough start, if you will, but eventually followed God, eventually turned from his ways and turned to what God would want him to be. God took classed the blessing, well, he changed Jacob's before we get to that, changed his name onto Israel. Genesis 35, verse 9. God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padnaerim and blessed him. And God said to him, Your name is Jacob. You will not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel will be your name.

And so we have the name that exists today of the nations that came from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, verse 11, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will proceed from you, and kings will come from your body. Same thing that he had told about kings to Abraham back then. The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you, and to your descendants after you I give this land. The promise gets passed on. God intended for physical Israel to have that land. And so they grew. But it wasn't all easy because the nation, or the 70 that came from Israel, found themselves in slavery in Egypt. During the time in Egypt they grew to, most commentaries say, 2 to 3 million people, very fruitful people. The Egyptians didn't know what to do with them, and they put them into servitude. And God brought them out. God brought them out because he had a purpose for that nation of Israel. And he told them when they were going to go to the Promised Land what they were going to have to do to have their nation continue. And in Deuteronomy 8, Deuteronomy 8, let's turn to Deuteronomy 8.

Deuteronomy 8, well, before we get to Deuteronomy 8, let's look at chapter 7 and verse 6. Moses, he's talking about this people that have come out of Egypt that have now traveled through the wilderness for 40 years, is about to enter the Promised Land that God had given them. He tells them they are a special people to God. Deuteronomy 7, 6, you are a holy people to the Lord your God. He has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. He didn't do that because they were great, because they had all the smarts and all the geniuses. He did that because of the obedience of the nation, of the obedience of their forefathers, and the recognition of the covenant that he had given them. In Deuteronomy 8, he told them as long as they would obey, that they would continue to prosper and they would prosper in the land. Deuteronomy 8, verse 1, every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the eternal sword of your fathers. And you shall remember that your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. Same thing that God does with us. Will we really obey him? Will we really follow him? Will we really yield to him?

Or when we are fat and comfortable and satisfied, will we forget him and turn back to the ways of the world around us?

He also gave warnings to Israel. If you don't obey me, this is what will happen to you.

Because he doesn't do anything without telling us what he's going to do. But we won't get into those right now, except for one that we will look at in Ezekiel 6.

This one's also repeated in Leviticus 26. But let's look at Ezekiel 6 here for a moment.

Because this is the verse that would be confusing to us if we didn't know. We didn't have the understanding of who this physical nation of Israel was then and who they are now. Ezekiel 6. Let's begin in verse 2. God speaking to Ezekiel, he says, Son of Man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. Now, the notable thing about Ezekiel is that when Ezekiel lived and Ezekiel was prophesy, the nation of Israel had already gone into captivity more than a hundred years before. They were already gone. They were already scattered. And so God is speaking to someone other than Israel. Israel in the future, if you will. And we'll see that in a moment that we can prove that without a doubt.

Say to the mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus he says to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys, Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Then your altar shall be desolate, your incense altar shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your borders or around your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols will be broken and made deceased, your incense altars will be cut down, and your works will be abolished. All your cities will be laid waste.

The thing is, the nation of Israel ceased to exist, we'll see here, around 722 B.C.

When Israel was conquered, their cities were not laid waste. They weren't laid waste. You don't have to take my word for it, you don't have to take the Encyclopedia's word for it. Let's go back to 2 Kings 17 and see exactly what it says about the time when Israel was conquered and driven out of their nation because of their disobedience. 2 Kings 17, in verse 6, we see where Israel falls. God had warned them time and time again to turn back, but the nation of Israel never had the benefit of a good king. They always had kings that led them away from God. In the ninth year of Hosea, verse 6, the king of Assyria took Samaria, that was the capital of the northern ten tribes of Israel, and placed them in Heylah, and by the Haebor, the river goes in, and the city of the Medes. He conquered Israel, and what they did in those days, they took the cities, they took the people, and they moved them out of the country and put them in their own area. We'll come back to that a little bit later. Let's go back to verse 24. As we look at Ezekiel 6 in that prophecy, then it says, Those cities weren't laid waste in 722 B.C. Those cities still existed. So when Ezekiel is prophesying, he's talking about a future time of Israel. That's one of the reasons we need to know who Israel is if we're going to understand the Bible. Well, let's continue on with where we were. We had come down to Israel, all 12 tribes of the sons of Jacob, coming into the Promised Land, and God would establish them there. And as they were there, they conquered the cities, and God did bless them exactly as He said they would. He gave them the blessings of earth, and people were astounded at the wealth and the might of Israel. Let's go over to 2 Chronicles 9. 2 Chronicles 9, knowing that Israel eventually lost all this because of disobedience, should open our eyes and make us think about what happened to them. In 2 Chronicles 9, we find a picture of Israel under Solomon.

We find a picture of a very mighty, well-respected, prominent nation on the earth. 2 Kings 9, verse 1. This is the time when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon. When the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels of four spices, golden abundance, precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.

So Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he couldn't explain it to her. And when the Queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cup-bearers and their apparel, his entryway by which he went up into the house of the Eternal, there was no spirit in her. She was just in awe.

How could this be? What a wonderful nation! We thought we had a good nation, but when I look at what's around us, Solomon, what a wonderful, wonderful nation you have! And she said to the King, It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However, I didn't believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes.

And indeed, the half of the greatness of your wisdom wasn't told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on his throne to be king for the Lord your God, because your God has loved Israel, established them forever. Therefore, he made you king over them to do righteous, to do justice and righteousness. And it goes on to say, she gave them gifts, but it goes on to say what the wealth of Israel was at that time.

Silver was as common as stones in that day. Things were covered with gold. It was simply the greatest nation on earth. Go back and read 1 Kings, go out and read of the expeditions of Solomon. Look at the wealth that Israel had. The history books don't do it justice. They give a lot of the credit to Phoenicians in a cleverly devised way to eliminate Israel. But there was the greatest nation on earth, and that was the nation that God blessed. The descendants of Abraham, the nation that he created, the land of Israel under King Solomon. No doubt about it. If you were living at that time, Israel was where you looked.

That's why the queen of Sheba looked there. Can it really be? Can there be a nation that's this great? And she found out, indeed it is. Indeed it is. Solomon had a lot of wealth. Solomon started off as a very wise king when he was asked, of God, what do you want? He said, give me a heart that I can rule your people. God said, I'll give you that, and I'm going to give you all the wealth of earth as well. And he did. But Solomon disregarded God's laws. If you go back and look at Deuteronomy 17, he said, don't multiply yourself horses. Don't go back to Egypt.

Solomon did just that. Don't multiply wives for yourself. Solomon just did that with an exclamation point, a few of them after his name, right? He disregarded God. And at the end of his reign, God said, Solomon, you've disappointed me. You've disappointed me. I'm going to take the kingdom from your hands and from your son. I won't do it while you're alive. But when Solomon died and Rehoboam took his place, Rehoboam was not as wise as his father.

When he had a choice between listening to the council of the elders or listening to the council of the young men, he listened to the young men, and he lost the people of Israel. They revolted, and the ten tribes, ten of the twelve, went to the northern kingdom, became known as the kingdom or the house of Israel. Two tribes, Benjamin and Judah, stayed with Judah under Rehoboam. It became known as Judah. Many times, you read through 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, you see Judah and Israel at war with one another. You see two lines of kings, the Israelite kings or the Israeli kings, to Judah, to Judah kings.

Judah had the benefit of once in a while a king would come along and they would follow God. Under Jeroboam, the first king of the house of Israel, different than the house of Judah, which were just the Jews and the Benjamites, Israel never had a good king. The very first king led them astray, gave them a different Sabbath day, different holy days to keep, led them away from God and set up a cap for them to worship instead of the true God.

They never returned. And so, as they continued in their sin, as they continued to reject God, he brought them into captivity and took them out of the Promised Land, as we said, in 722 BC. History shows they never returned to the Promised Land. They were scattered.

They were sent out among various places. They never returned to the land that God had promised Abraham that they would inherit. Now, the nation of Judah, on the other hand, survived another 140 years past the time that Israel went into captivity.

They did have some good kings. They would periodically listen to the prophets and they would turn back to God. But eventually, they turned away from God and was the doings of one particular evil king that God said, Judah will lose their land as well. In 586 BC, they went into captivity to Babylon. Not to Assyria, as Israel did, but to Babylon. God said to Judah, you will return in 70 years.

In 70 years, you'll come back and you can rebuild the temple. And that's exactly what happened. As the Bible shows and as history would show, they built the Second Temple at the time they returned. That was the house of Judah, not the house of Israel.

The house of Israel was banished. The house of Israel went out into the world. They were scattered. They were taken to captivity by Assyrians. And they never returned. They never returned to the land that God had promised Abraham that his descendants would have. Let's look. Got behind all my verses here. We read 2 Kings 17. This is a map of the area around Jerusalem. You can see Jerusalem and Samaria.

Jerusalem is the capital of Judah. Samaria is the capital of the house of Israel down there in the green in the lower left-hand corner. And when the king of Assyria conquered Israel, he took them out in stages. And you can see here that where he transported them was up here into... Let's turn back to where we were in 2 Kings. 2 Kings 17. We read this verse.

I probably should have waited until now to read it. 2 Kings 17 verse 6. In the ninth year of Oshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, the capital city, carried Israel, not Judah, carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in the halah and by the habor, the river of Gozan, and in the city of the Medes. So, here's the kingdom of Assyria up here in the Beige area. So when he took them out of Samaria, they were north of the northern kingdom of Israel. He transplanted them up in here. Here you can see a city of Gozan, which many scholars say this is the area of the river of Gozan.

And so, some were transported up here, some others into Halah, some over. And if we are mapling over, you would see that over in here past this, it says, Media, the city of the Medes. And so the Israelites were taken out of their land and transported north of the house of Israel, up into this area, up into this area, and over here where the Medes are. Exactly what the Bible says. And just using a map of what the ancient area there would look like. And Syria, you know, didn't last too long as a kingdom. They weren't one of the world-ruling kingdoms that God had mentioned. When Babylon came to power, and they defeated Assyria, and God said that Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar was that head of gold, but Babylon conquered Israel, I'm sorry, conquered Assyria.

And you can see here's the Babylonian Empire in the gray there. It includes Assyria, it includes areas down through Persia, which is today Iran and Iraq, down to the Persian Gulf. And at that time, when Babylon conquered Assyria, the Israelites were able to escape north. We won't see that in the Bible. We're going to see something later where the Israelites are today, because that would be relying on other books in the Bible to see where God eventually, where His people, because He keeps track of who His people, the physical nation of Israel, is. And we'll see that in a little bit. But here's a map that shows you some of those things, and the area that they were in and where they were, always going north of where Judah is.

Now, the Bible talks about a time in the future when Israel exists again. Today, the world will tell you, we don't know where those ten tribes of Israel are. They're lost, forever hidden. They've been mixed in with everyone. They no longer have an identity. It's wrong. God knows exactly where Israel is today. He knows where those lost ten tribes are.

He knows exactly where they're going to be. And the Bible tells us and gives us a clue as to where those nations are and where they have been scattered to. We don't have to use any other book. We don't have to use any other reference. We can go to the Bible and get the clues of where God has put those people today.

But let's go back first to Genesis 48 and show that Israel does exist. They didn't cease to exist in 718 or 722 BC, as so many people in the world believe. And as you would hear taught elsewhere or other places, they still exist today. And God is aware of who they are because that promise He made to Abraham is still in effect. Genesis 48. And let's look at verses 16.

Genesis 48. Verses 15. Joseph, whose name was changed to Israel. He's now in Egypt. Joseph, his son. Joseph, who was sold off into Egypt separate from his brothers for all those years. Joseph, who while he was in Egypt didn't yield to the ways of the Egyptians, to the gods of the Egyptians. Joseph, who stood up against Pharaoh's own wife and said he won't offend the God of Israel, his God, by sinning against him, comes to Joseph and he wants to put his blessing on the sons of Joseph. God gave Abraham the blessing. He passed it on to Isaac. He passed it on to Jacob. Jacob now wants to pass it on to Joseph.

Verses 15. He blessed. Let's read verse 14 so we can kind of get the context here. Israel stretched out his right hand and later on Ephraim said, who was the younger, their twin boys, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly from Manasseh was the firstborn. Typically it would be the right hand on the firstborn, the left hand on the left, the left hand on the younger.

Israel did it the opposite. And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, blessed the lads, let my name be named upon them and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

You catch what he was saying there? Let my name Israel be on these two young men. Let them be on Ephraim and Manasseh. Let them, when you see Israel, that's who we're talking about. Let my, the blessings pass to them and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Joseph saw what his dad was doing and he said, no, no, no. You've got your hands on the wrong head. Give it here in the correct order. Joseph saw his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim and displeased him.

He took his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim and put it on Manasseh. And Joseph said, not so. This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head. But his father refused and said, I know, my son. I know. He also will become a people and he also will be great. But truly his younger brother will be greater than he and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.

Never happened in ancient Israel. They became a nation. They never became a multitude of nations. And to go over to Genesis 49, just a couple of verses down. Jacob called the sons together and said, Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. In the last days, the days before the return of Jesus Christ, what you will be like then, not what you'll be like several hundred years from now, in the last days.

And then he goes through the prophecies one by one for each one of his twelve sons, including Joseph. We're not going to get into that today. Let's go back to Jeremiah. In Jeremiah and see what God says about the nation, the house of Israel, in Jeremiah's prophecy. Jeremiah 2, you will remember, didn't live at the time Israel was an existing nation. They had already gone into captivity at the time that Jeremiah wrote this, or God gave him this prophecy. Let's read through the first several verses here and see some of the things that would befall Israel, not in the time that had already passed because they had already fallen, but something that would happen to them in the future, going along with the in the last days that Jacob said in chapter 49 of Genesis.

Jeremiah 30, verse 1, the word that came to Jeremiah from the eternal saying, Thus God says of Israel, saying, Write in the book for yourself all the words I have spoken to you, for behold, the days are coming, that I will bring back from captivity my people Israel and Judah.

There you have this segregation right there. Israel and Judah. Well, Judah had already been taken into captivity. They were brought back. They'll be brought back again. Israel never was. So God says, I'll bring them back, my people Israel, and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it. These are the words that the eternal spoke concerning Israel and Judah, two separate kingdoms. Thus says the Lord, if we have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace, ask now, and see whether a man is ever in labor with child. So why do we see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labor, and all faces turn pale?

What am I looking at? What is happening to Israel? What is happening to Judah? What is going on? A time of terror. A time not of peace, but a time that is fretful. Alas, for that day is great, so none is like it. It is the time of Jacob's trouble. Jacob, all twelve sons of Israel, all twelve nations that came from it.

It is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he'll be saved out of it. Now, the Bible talks in many places about a coming tribulation. And if we read the book of Revelation, we see in verse 13, a beast power rising out of the sea, the Mediterranean Sea. And it is filling a void. The beast power, everyone marvels. Who can make war with it?

All of our economy is based in it. Everything is in this beast power. That's the time of the end, right before Jesus Christ returned, three and a half years, according to Revelation, before His return. Where are the great nations of the world today in that prophecy? They're not there. The European state is there. The kings of the east are there. The king of the south is there. But there's no mention of Israel or Judah in that time. Before that time, the time of Jacob's trouble comes. The time of Jacob's trouble comes. It may look like he's destroyed, but God says he should be saved out of it.

Now, keep your finger there in Jeremiah 30. Turn with me back to Hosea. We'll look at one verse here. Hosea 5. Let's begin with Hosea 5. They don't, again right above, in the very verse above, you see Ephraim mentioned, you see Israel mentioned, they don't direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they don't even know God. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity.

Judah also fumbles with them. With their flocks and errs, they'll go to seek God, but they won't find him. He has withdrawn himself from them. They have dwelt or dealt treacherously with the eternal, for they have begotten pagan children, children who worship different gods, children who believe different things, children who haven't been raised to learn the law of God, the way of life of God, and to adhere to those principles. And in verse 7, he says, Now a new moon shall devour them and their heritage. A new moon will devour Israel and Judah and Ephraim. That didn't happen back in old days. It was 135, 140 years later that Judah lost its land.

But God says in the time ahead, those three, Israel, Ephraim, and Judah, will be a devour within a new moon, within a very close time, within 30 days of each other. Something going on in the world. Something very, very different than happened back in 722 BC and 586 BC, at a time when Israel and Judah are again on the earth, and God knows exactly who they are.

By the time we're done with this, you'll know exactly who they are from the pages of the Bible.

So we won't be caught by surprise. The world will be caught by surprise because they don't understand Israel. They don't understand the difference between Israel and Judah, and they don't understand when the Bible talks of Israel, who they are today. Let's go back to Jeremiah 30 and continue there. We've just read about the time of Jacob's trouble. God won't completely eliminate Jacob at that time, even though his enemies may warn him totally destroyed. But he says in verse 7, he will be saved out of it. Verse 8, "'For it shall come to pass in that day,' when we read, in that day," speaking of the end times, "'For it shall come to pass in that day,' says the Lord of hosts, "'I will break his yoke from your neck. I will burst your bonds. Foreigners will no more enslave them, but they will serve their God. And David their king, whom I will raise up for them.'" Well, David had been long dead. Clear what God is talking about here. A time in the future when Israel will come back to their land, and David will be raised. David will be their king again. A righteous king. "'Therefore, don't fear, O my servant Jacob,' says the Eternal. "'Don't be dismayed, O Israel. For behold, I will save you from afar and your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest, and be quiet, and no one will make him afraid. For I am with you,' says the Eternal, "'to save you. Though I make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you, injustice, and not let you go altogether unpunished.'" So we know Israel exists at the time of the end. What's talked about Israel of this context is far different than what happened in the nation of Israel ceased to exist back in 722 BC. Let's look at one chapter over, chapter 31. Verse 7, again remember, Jeremiah was writing this a hundred some years after Israel, the original, ancient Israel went into captivity. "'Thus says the Eternal, Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations, Proclaim, give praise, and say, Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from,' here's a clue where they are, the North Country, when they come back to the land I gave their fathers, I will bring them from the North Country. I will gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, the one who labors with child together. A great throng shall return there.' Verse 10, hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as the shepherd does his flock. So in those verses we see a little bit of where God is going to call back Israel from.

When Jesus Christ returns. From the North Country.

You can write down Jeremiah 3, 18. It also talks about the North. Let's go over to Isaiah 49.

Isaiah 49.

And verse 11.

Let's begin in verse 10. We'll just begin in verse 10 and read right through verse 12. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them. For he who has mercy on them will lead them. Even by the springs of water he will guide them. I will make each of my mountains a road, and my highways shall be elevated. Surely these shall come from afar. Look, those from the North and the West, and these from the land of Sennim.

Well, just looking at the little bit that we've looked at there. Where Israel exists at the time of the end, when God will call them back to the land He promised to their fathers.

Here's a blank map of the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Europe.

Right down in here is where Jerusalem is, and Samaria, where the nation of Israel was. Up in here was Assyria, a little north of that was Babylon in here. God says, I will call them back to this promised land, from the North, from the West, to the Isles afar off. So if you look at the map, and you just take what God says, North Country, the North and West, Isles afar off. It doesn't take too much to kind of get a clue as to where God is talking about where the nation of Israel in the end time, the people He knows as the nation of Israel at the end time are.

And this is just from the words of the Bible. Another time we'll go through a little bit more detail that will, again, identify where those nations are, not from any secular source, but simply from the words of the Bible.

But let's leave it for there today.

There are some questions as we learn to discern the Scriptures, learn to discern the times we live in.

Things we need to know, and one of them is to understand that is Israel. And there is a lot, a lot of confusion in the world today about who Israel is.

Even among some in the church, there is confusion of who Israel is.

And we're going to show directly from the Bible exactly who they are so you won't be confused again. So when you read the words of prophecy, you know who they are. But let's see what we covered today and what we're going to cover here to finish this off. Where did they go? We began to see where they went when they lost their land in 722 B.C. Why did they disappear? Well, they lost their land because we learned of their disobedience.

Does the Bible indicate when the nation of Israel would reappear? As world leaders, as it says in Genesis 49. We'll talk about that more. We'll see it from the pages of the Bible, and you will see that. Are there other identifying characteristics rather than just a little map with north and isle as a far off and north and west? Yeah, there are. Yeah, there are.

And if we're thinking people and if we're rational people with God looking at His Holy Spirit leading us, we will be able to pinpoint exactly where Israel is today beyond the shadow of a doubt. Unless you simply don't want to believe it. And that's the case you have. Why does it all matter? Oh, it matters from various of them. You have your ideas? Well, let me tell you what matters for a lot more than what you're thinking. The next time we'll talk about why it matters. And not just where Israel is, but it has a ramification of a whole lot more, a whole lot more of what we are, who we are, and what God is looking for from us. So let's conclude. It means 2 Peter. 2 Peter.

We began today in 2 Peter 2. Let's finish in 2 Peter. 2 Peter 3. Peter here is talking about the time of the end and how people could let their guard down and how people could forget what is going on and think, you know what, we've been hearing about Jesus Christ returning forever and ever and wondering will He ever return. Well, the Bible is sure He will return. And Peter admonishes them the same thing Jesus Christ would admonish us. Watch. Don't let down your guard. Don't go to sleep at the switch. Draw closer to God as you see the events that the Bible tells unfolding around us. Don't get caught up in the ways of the world in burying your head in and in Jesus. 11.