Discerning the Times, Part 2

Well, last week, if you'll recall, we talked about discerning the times. That's how we opened the sermon. And we talked about how Christ said to the Jews, you know, you're not even discerning the times, you don't even know who's among you, is what he told the Jews. And they didn't know. They didn't understand the day of their visitation, and they put the Savior of mankind to death, not understanding the Bible, not understanding the prophecies, not discerning the times. And he cautions us, you discern the times, so that things don't take you by surprise. And we have to understand the Bible, because there will be a lot of surprised people in the months and years ahead of us who don't understand prophecy, even though many of those who think they know prophecy out in the world's religions are going to be surprised when some things happen because they don't know. Well, last week we opened with a couple verses. This week, take notice of a couple of verses as well. Over in 1 Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 5. And in the beginning in verse 1, Paul exhorts us in the same manner.

He says, Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. He's saying you should know what's going on. You should be able to perceive what is happening. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they won't escape.

So there will be a time when peace and safety is to cry of the land. But Peter says, under God's inspiration, sudden destruction comes. But you, brethren, he says in verse 4, are not in darkness, so that this day should not overtake you as a thief. It shouldn't happen to you. We shouldn't be caught by surprise like the world is because we should be able to discern the times, see the buds blooming on the trees that Jesus Christ talked about.

You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, Paul says, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Discern the times. Know what's going on. It means that you have to know the Bible. You have to know what it is and you have to understand certain key things in it to understand when those things are taking place. And we began talking about that last week. Let's go over to Isaiah 5 and look at a few scriptures from Isaiah. Isaiah 5 and verse 11.

In Isaiah 5, we have a lot of woes that are in this chapter. Woe to these people who do this. They're going to be the ones who are surprised because they don't know what is going on. They're not aware. They're not watching world events. They're not discerning them properly. And they're not watching themselves and making sure that they're ready for when Christ returns.

Isaiah 5 verse 11. Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may follow intoxicating drink, who continue until night till wine inflames them. The harp and the strings, the tambourine and flute and wine are in their face. But they don't regard the work of the Returnal. It's far from their minds. Daily pleasures, what they want to do, that's what consumes their time. That's what makes the day successful in their mind. They don't regard the work of God nor consider the operation of His hands.

Well, we all work. We all play. Nothing wrong with having some recreation and entertainment in our life. We better know what God's work is. We better have ourselves in tune with it and very concerned about it. We can go through all the woes. But let's drop down to verse 20 because this kind of spell, something that we see in our world around us today, says, woe to those who call evil good and good evil.

And as we look at the world around us, especially in the areas of morality, look how much is called good today. That God says is evil. Look how much the people who say that is evil are called evil because they believe something different than the world is going to. We live in an age where exactly this that God says here is happening. Woe to those, He says.

And then you can read through chapter 5 and see what God's verdict or edict on them will be. One more back in Isaiah 3, a couple chapters back. Verse 8, Isaiah 3 verse 8, Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen because their tongue and their doings are against the eternal. That's why Judah fell. That's why Israel fell, as we learned last week. Their tongue and their doings are against the eternal to provoke the eyes of His glory. They look on their countenance, the look on their countenance, witnesses against them. They just have this look about them, that they're just defiant, they're just rebellious, that they think they know it all.

They're not at all yielded to God. The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin is Sodom. They wear it proudly. They don't even try to hide it. They wear it proudly. They don't hide it. Woe to their soul, for they have brought evil upon themselves. Say to the righteous, it will be well with them.

Maybe tough living now, living God's way of life. We may be persecuted, we may be jeered, we may be joked about. But God says, you hang in there. You keep doing what's right. Say to the righteous, it will be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

Woe to the wicked. It will be ill with him, for the reward of his hand shall be given him. As for my people, God's talking about Israel here. As for my people, children are their oppressors. Now, you know, we can look around the world and maybe in our own families, extended families. We see where children have really become oppressors and rule the house in so many ways. Of course, this could also be talking about inexperienced leaders in the land. And women rule over them. Women rule over them. It's an interesting thing.

I remember hearing women rule over them from the time I came into church. You know, it dawned on me earlier this week. But as we look at the world around us, there's a time.

Very could be within a few months. For the first time in history, we have women really ruling Britain and America. We've got a queen in England. We've got a brand-new prime minister who's a woman in England. And there's a possibility we could have a woman as president here. And women will rule over them. Oh, my people, those who lead you cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths. So we live in a time where if we listen to the world around us, we are headed in the wrong direction. If we listen to the religions in the world around us, we are headed in the wrong direction. If we want to be where God wants us to be, if we want to be in His kingdom, we must follow Him and we must discern the times and we must understand the Scriptures. And so last week we talked about one of those keys to discerning Scriptures is the identity of Israel. Who is Israel? Because much of the world around us thinks that Israel and the Bible is just the little nation of Israel that's in the Middle East, and we know that's not the case. We know that's not the case, but it's good for us to refresh our minds on that every once in a while. So last week we went from the Bible. Not from outside sources, we didn't go to history books, but from the Bible we began to show the identity of Israel, because as Peter says back in 1 Peter 2, prophecy is of no private interpretation. God shows us what it is. We can use His Bible to understand, and last week we began on the way to show where Israel is, because if we don't know the true identity of Israel in the Bible, we're going to be surprised.

There's a lot of the world around us that's going to be very, very surprised in the years ahead of us.

But as Paul would say and as God would say, we shouldn't be surprised. Shame on us if we're surprised, because we should know these things. So let's go back and let's look at a few of the things that we talked about last week, and I'm not going to go through all the verses of all this, but some of the things we saw and reminded ourselves from the Bible, not from independent sources, but simply from the Bible, Israel and Judah are separate nations. Israel, remember back in Genesis 48, put His name on Joseph's sons. So that Ephraim and Asa, Joseph's two sons, would bear the name of Israel going forward. Not Judah. Judah's part of Israel, but Israel put His name on Joseph's sons. Israel, under Solomon's reign, was the greatest nation on earth. You remember that Queen Sheba was absolutely enthralled with what she had seen. Many people coming to our nation today are enthralled with what they see. What Solomon did, what God blessed them with, was something that people talked about the world over, and the Queen of Sheba had to come and see it for herself. We knew that Israel went into captivity because of their sin, not because there was a more powerful nation than them, but because God withdrew His blessing from them because of their sin and their continued disobedience. Once they separated from Judah, once Rehoboam made his edict and turned the ten tribes of the ten northern tribes of Israel away, and they split off. Israel never had a righteous king again, and sometime between 718 and 723 BC they went into captivity, never to return to their land again. We looked at the prophecy in Leviticus 26 and Ezekiel 6 that talks about cities being laid waste in Israel. Now we saw in 2 Kings 17, 24 that that didn't happen with the first demise of Israel. In fact, in 2 Kings 17, 24 we see the King of Assyria putting people from his country to live in the cities of Israel. So it's a prophecy for the future because Israel, who never went back to the Promised Land, will be a factor and end time.

Israel will return, the Bible tells us, to the Promised Land. We looked at some scriptures last week that shows how Israel will be brought back. We're going to look at a few more today. And we saw in Genesis 49 that Jacob told prophesied to his sons what would befall them in the last days, in the last days, the time before Jesus Christ returned. And we determined that Israel is a viable nation in the time of the end. They don't show up in Resolutation, but they are there up until the time of Revelation, in the very time of the end. Something happens to them between now and the time that the beast power arises. And we concluded last week with looking at several verses that talked about where Israel will return from because we can get a clue from the Bible where the peoples are of Israel today. And we looked at verses that talked about coastlands.

We looked at verses... well, let's look at just a couple of verses here just to start us off here.

Let's look at Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 verse 7 where when God is calling the people back, we get a clue where the physical nation of Israel is today that he will gather them from. Jeremiah 31 verse 7. Thus says the eternal, sing with gladness for Jacob, shout among the chief of the nations, proclaim, give praise, and say, eternal, save your people, the remnant of Israel.

Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the ends of the earth.

And he talks about it will be all of them, the lame, the blind, the woman with child.

Verse 10. Hear the word of the eternal, O nations, and declare it in the aisles afar off and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as the shepherd does his flock.

So we have two clues of where the identity of Israel is in the end time.

North and in the aisles afar off. Let's look at just one other verse, Isaiah 49.

Isaiah 49.

And we'll begin in verse 11. 49-11. I will make each of my mountains a road, and my highway shall be elevated. Surely these shall come from the north and the west.

Remember that? And these from the land of Sennim. And we mentioned that some commentaries will say that the land of Sennim could be China. Others say that it could be Australia. Let me read to you from one of the commentaries. It says, Sennim is interpreted to mean land of the south. In the Aramaic translation, in the Vulgate Latin version of the Bible, which was translated by Jerome, after consulting with Jewish sages, the land of Sennim is rendered as Australia. The term Australia in Latin means land of the south. That actually comes from the Hebrew Midrash website. So Australia might be it, might be something else. But remember, we put this map on without any kind of other identifying characteristics on it. We know where Jerusalem is.

It's over in this area right in here. And if we take the clues from the Bible, where the people are, they're coming from the north, they're coming from the west, they're coming from the coastlands, they're coming from the isles afar off. So we can look at the Bible, we can look at a map, and see where God is going to be gathering his people from. Not looking at any other encyclopedias, not looking at Herodotus or any other historian, just looking at the Bible and what it says.

And that's where we left off, and we left off with some questions last week. And I want to continue looking at some of the identifying characteristics of Israel.

So that we know from the Bible, not from secular sources, not from encyclopedias, where they where these people are, what in the last days we can be looking for if we're trying to identify Israel and disprove what the world would say is Israel today. Well, let's go back to Genesis 35. As God, you remember in Genesis 12, gave a covenant to Abraham, and he said, you will be a nation, and in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And then throughout the time, as the people, as Isaac was born and Jacob was born, that blessing got passed on, and God repeated that blessing to him. Let's see what it says in Genesis 35 and verse 11.

God said to him, and he's talking to Jacob here, who later became Israel. The fact in verse 10 here is where he's changing his name to Israel. In verse 11 he said, I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. So one of the identifying things of Israel in the Lent times is they will be a nation, and they will be a company of nations. It tells us one's going to be a single great nation, as we'll see. Another one will be a great empire, a company of nations, not just the one nation that began it. And often when God will talk about things, he repeats it for emphasis. So we read that in Genesis 35, but over in Genesis 48 we read the same thing again. So let's look at Genesis 48.

This is when Israel is passing on his name to Joseph's sons, and he speaks the same blessing over them. Look for the times when God repeats things, because in this promise to Abraham, in telling what they are going to be the last time, God doesn't say things just once. He usually says it a couple of times so that we know it's true, and he is serious about it. God's not like us.

When he says something once, we can count on it. Sometimes when we say things once, we may not follow through. But not the case with God. But in the Bible, we often find things that are said twice for emphasis. In verse 19, Israel has his two grandsons, twin boys, in front of him.

And he lays his right hand on the younger one, Ephraim, and Joseph is trying to correct him.

Verse 18, Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, this one is the first born. Put your right hand on his head. But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know, he will become a people, and he will also be great. But truly his younger brother, Ephraim, shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations. So twin boys, Manasseh the first born, would be a great people, but Ephraim the younger would become great, and it would be a multitude of nations. So two identifying or the identifying characteristics of where Israel is in the last days.

A nation and a company of nations, close as twin brothers would be, and one would come before the other. The younger, Ephraim, would come before the older, Manasseh.

While we're here in Genesis 49, so keep these in mind. We're going to come back and summarize these identifying characteristics in a minute. But let's go on and look at something else here.

In Genesis 49, we have what Joseph, I'm sorry, Jacob, tells his sons will befall them in the last days. Genesis 49 verse 1, he sets the time frame for us, says, gather together, I'll tell you what will befall you in the last days.

So when we're looking for Israel today, and we believe these are the last days before Jesus Christ's return, we can look at these type things. We can go through all 12 of them. We're just going to look at Joseph's sons, because that's who we're trying to identify from the Bible. And beginning in verse 22, it tells us several things, or Jacob does under inspiration from God, many things about Joseph.

Joseph is a fruitful bough. He multiplies. He grows. God promised blessings. My blessings I will shower upon you. So one of the blessings we can look at is Joseph is fruitful in every areas, in every area. A fruitful bough by a well. Water is crucial in having any successful nation.

You can look at Egypt and see they have one main river running through them, the Nile.

And all the population lives along that one river. So the rest of Egypt is tough to live in, but Joseph would be in well-watered areas. Rivers where the whole land could be productive and verdant. So we see they will be by water. It could also mean that they will be why water, as in water, surrounds them. After all, God does talk about coastlands and talk about aisles, what he describes, where he will bring the people back from. His branches run over the wall.

In verse 22, it is so productive and so fruitful that the one garden can't hold them. They have to expand outward in order for things to happen. So we see a very blessed nation by God. Someone that doesn't saw a nation that even can't contain the things they have, but it runs over the wall.

In verse 23, we find another thing for them. Remember, this is at the end time. The archers, it says, have bitterly grieved him, shot at him, and hated him. So despite all the blessings, despite all the greatness that these nations would have, there would be nations in the world that hate them, that want to see them destroyed. They would take attacks at them. They would want to see them illuminated from the earth, even though they might have been a blessing to all the world around them. So as we look at where is Israel? Is there some country or countries in the world today that are Israel? Do they have enemies that would like to see them destroyed? Verse 24, But his bow, but his bow know his bow, his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. Well, they would want to see them destroyed, but God would protect them. It wouldn't be their strength. It wouldn't be their prowess. It wouldn't be their ingenuity that was protecting them. It was God who was protecting them. And if you really go back and read through some of the accounts of World War II, if you just see even what's going on in the world today, sometimes it boggles my mind that we can know what's going on, and when they interrupt some terror attacks, it's like, how do we know all that? Well, I think that we see, and as you look at the pages of history, you can see God's hand has been upon Israel, modern-day Israel, who he sees as Israel. Early on, nations recognized it was God's protection and God working with them, but as time goes on, they began to lie more and more on self in thinking it was all them. God, of course, warned against that in Deuteronomy 8. He goes, when you're full, when you're satisfied, don't think it's you. Don't forget me.

But we have nations who forget God's blessings and forget what God has provided for them.

Their strength came from the mighty, the hands of mighty God of Jacob. Verse 24, By the God of your Father who will help you, and by the Almighty who will bless you, the blessings of these countries, these nations in the end time, will come from God with blessings of heaven above.

Blessings of heaven above. He watches over. He provides the rain in due season. They will be fertile areas. Blessings of the deep that lies beneath can mean in the oceans. It can mean the natural resources that are inherent in these nations that make them have the ability to have the commerce and everything they do.

Blessings of the breast and of the womb. They will be a fruitful people.

They will multiply, and God will greatly bless them.

And in ancient Israel, we saw that. We saw how God blessed ancient Israel. And in the end time, Israel would be blessed. In that time, it would grow over the wall. They'd have so many goods and so many people they would grow over the wall. The blessings come from God.

Verse 26, the blessings of your Father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors.

You're going to be a great nation. You're going to be great people. What God has given us, He's going to give you much more in the end time. You will be premier nations on the earth. People will recognize you and look to you, much as they did to Israel under the days of Solomon, the greatest nation on earth at that time. You will be preeminent because God's blessings are on you. Up to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from your brothers.

And that's interesting, the phrase separate from your brothers. Because when we looked at that map that we looked at, and we looked at the isles afar off, and if we had a world map up there, and we looked at other countries that have great coastlands, that were great nations in their time, that had the blessings of God, that were even recognized early on, but forgotten today, you see that where Israel is, Joseph's sons, are separate, not attached to Europe, not attached by continent, separate from your brothers just as Joseph was separate from his brothers all those years after he was sold into slavery. So if we add those things up and we begin to think about it, we can, if we're being true to ourselves, we see, we can begin to see a picture of where Israel would be when we look at the nations of all the world around us today. Four emphasis, emphasis, God repletes the blessings not from Jacob this time, but from Moses. As Moses is preparing the people to enter the Promised Land, he has some things to say about Joseph in the last days. Let's go over to Deuteronomy 33. Again, when God says things, he often repeats it.

Deuteronomy 33 verse 13. I'll just read through and I'm not going to elaborate too much, but I think that you'll see what Moses said about Joseph in the end days.

Very much mirrors what Jacob said. Deuteronomy 13 verse 13. Of Joseph he said, Here's a land rich with natural resources. Here's a land that has been blessed, blessed.

By YHWH, the God who dwelt in the bush and appeared to be to Moses. Let the blessing come on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

His glory is like a firstborn bull and his horns like the horns of the wild ox. Together with them he shall push the peoples to the ends of the earth. This company of nations will extend beyond those borders to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of Manasseh. So we begin to add up the pieces of what the Bible is saying. Not any secular documents, not anyone's writing on it. What the Bible says about Israel in the end time. So we are absolutely sure who Israel is. Let's go back and look at another identifying characteristic.

It will be the last of the D's that we look at. In Genesis 22, Genesis 22 verse 16, verse 15 we see it's an angel of the Eternal calling out to Abraham a second time. Said, By myself I have sworn, says the Eternal, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son. That he was willing to do whatever God said, even sacrificing his son, Isaac. Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. An interesting thing for God to say. Possess the gate of their enemies.

The way in. They control. If someone controls the gate, they control much of what's going on. And God says something that would turn out to be a huge blessing to his nation of Israel in the end time.

They will possess the gate of their enemies. He repeats it. For emphasis in just a couple chapters. Genesis 24 and verse 60. This time as Rebekah is pregnant and it was she's going away to Mary Jacob. Her brothers say something and put a blessing on her inspired by God. Verse 60 of Genesis 24. They blessed Rebekah and said to her, our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands. Just like Moses would later say. And may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them. Isn't that an interesting blessing? Now who would just say that of their own volition?

It would have to be God who inspired that. May you be the mother of tens of thousands.

May your descendants possess the gate of your enemies. You know, in ancient times Israel didn't possess the gate of their enemies. Israel is pretty much contained in the area that they did. They became very wealthy, but they didn't possess the gate of their enemies. But God says Israel would.

And as we look for clues of where Israel is today, is it just that little land of Israel that so much of the world would say is the Israel of the Bible when it talks of prophecies? We have a list. This is just a partial list of the gates that a couple nations have possessed over the years. Something that hasn't happened before in history the way it has here. A couple of them. The Suez Canal.

I think there was a picture of the Suez Canal. I didn't I don't think I put a a picture of Africa. You know the story of the Suez Canal and how much time it would save the people who were traveling by ship controlled by a nation until it was given over to Egypt.

The Straits of Gibraltar. That kind of guard the way into the Mediterranean Sea. That kind of a watch host. Still controlled by a nation. Many of the nations of Europe would love to have that as their mark. We have the Straits of Hormuz below Iran. Talk about possessing the gates of your enemy. The Straits of Malacca and the Singapore Strait off the Malay Peninsula.

Over on the other side of the Eurasian continent. Controlled by a nation in this time until it was given away. The Falkland Islands off Argentina, even down in South America. There were gates. Cape of Good Hope at the southern trip of Africa. Controlled by a nation that developed that area of Africa. The Kabul Pass in Afghanistan. The island nation of Malta. And of course, recently the Panama Canal, which was developed and held by a country until it was turned over to Panama several years back. And to that last list, we can say something, put something else up there that is unprecedented to the world. Israel, in the time of the end, would have gates in countries that would be military bases all over the world. That nations would just allow them to have a military base in their midst. Kind of like a gate into your country. Down in Cuba. There's a military base in that country that hates us. In Spain, you can go around the world. In Japan, there are military bases everywhere that are held by a nation, even in some in the land of their enemies. God said, an identifying characteristic of Israel at the end time will be they will possess the gates of their enemies. So from the Bible, we can begin to put together the picture of who is the who or where Israel is in the end time and who Israel really is. Let's just recap some of these things here. They will come when Jesus Christ returns. They will be gathered from the coastlands, the north and west, and the isles. They will be a nation and a company of nations that possess the greatest blessings at the end time. Since Ephraim will be first, it would be a great company of nations, followed by a single great nation. They would possess the gates of their enemies. They would be twin brothers and have a close relationship. But there would be a time in their history that would interrupt the blessings that God would give them. He warned Israel, if you want to continue in the land that you're in, you must obey me. And if you disobey me, I will take the blessings away from you. And so Israel, the northern ten tribes of Israel, you recall, went into captivity. In 722 BC, most historians say somewhere between 718 and 723 when you look at everything, they went into captivity because of their disobedience, because they rejected God and forgot Him.

They were the greatest nation on earth, and in Leviticus 26, God tells them some things that will befall them if they don't obey Him. So let's go back to Leviticus 26, because this will turn out to give us another identifying characteristic of these nations. Leviticus 26. We'll look at verse 14.

If you do not obey Me, He says, and if you don't observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, if your whole soul abhors My judgments, so that you don't perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I will do this to you. I will appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever, which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart, and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will reign over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.

Well, that did happen to Israel. On verse 18, as God sends those warnings to them, and these things happen to Israel, He says, and if you don't pay attention to this, after all this, if you don't obey Me, I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I'll punish you seven times more.

Now, seven times more is talking about intensity, right? The intensity of punishment.

When my kids were younger, I would say things, and I'm sure most parents do this, I would say things if it didn't get done, it would be a little more intense the next time. And if it didn't get that time, it would be mashed by a threat, or the punishment would take place. So God is saying the same thing to Israel. I will warn you, pay attention to what's going on, and if you don't turn back to Me, I'll intensify that punishment. And then He goes on to describe what will happen if they didn't listen. Now, the Bible does interpret itself, so we can sometimes look at seven times more and say, well, is that what God is talking about? And there are instances, or there's another part in the Bible that uses the very same phrase in the Old Testament. So let's go back, keep your finger there in Leviticus 26, let's go back to Daniel 3. And we'll see that the Bible does interpret itself, so we don't have to guess if that's what God is talking about.

Because in Daniel 3, when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are about to go into the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar is so angry, so angry that he wants to punish them and make them kneel down to him.

Let's look at Daniel 3 verse 19. Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury. The expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. Turn up the heat. I want these guys to pay. You make it more intense than normal, seven times more than normal. So when God says seven times more, and it bears it out in the Hebrew, he intensifies it. There will be the warning, but then the warning, if it goes unheeded, will intensify. And in the ensuing verses of Leviticus 26 down through 18, he talks about the things that will happen to a country that turns from him.

Let's go back to Leviticus 26 and verse 21. Even after this happens, he says, if you walk contrary to me and are not willing to obey me, I'll bring on you seven times more plagues according to your sins. And then he talks about in verse 22 what will happen.

Seven times more, I'll turn up the heat even more. Remember, God isn't willing that anyone should perish. He wants everyone to turn back to him. We have to discern the times. We have to discern the message. We have to understand what God is doing when these things happen in our personal lives and our nation. We turn back to him. We don't turn away from him for relief.

We turn to him. And that's what God is telling Israel. But they wouldn't heed this as well.

So down in verse 23, he says, and if by these things you're not returned, reformed by me, but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. Seven times for your sins. Not seven times more, but seven times for your sins. Now we move into duration. The length of time of your punishment. If you're not going to listen to me, if you're not going to turn back to me, even though I've turned up the heat seven times more than normal, then you're going to go in and you're going to lose everything. I'm going to punish you seven times. Seven times. We know seven times, right? We know what times stands for in the Bible. You can repeat back to me a few of the things. We can think back to Revelation 12 when it talks about time times and half a time, and it equates it to 1260 days and three and a half years. We know that a time can represent a year. Now we see that in Daniel 4.32 as well, when Nebuchadnezzar was punished for seven times because of his refusal to obey God unto humble himself before him. Let's go to Numbers 34. Numbers 14, I'm sorry.

Numbers 14 verse 32.

Again, God gives us an example of what seven times can mean because it could mean in Leviticus 26 and verses 24 and 28. Seven times, seven years.

Punish you for seven years. Is that what God is saying? Well, we know they went into captivity for in 7, let's say 722 BC. They never returned to their land, so it should be more than seven years just by definition. And we have God again interpreting this for us in verses 30, in verse 32, speaking of the spies that were sent over to look at the land of Canaan.

They, of course, came back with a bad report, and God punished, the same context, punished Israel for the bad report and for not trusting him that he could deliver them into the land.

Verse 32. As for you, your carcasses, he says, shall fall in the wilderness.

And your son shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.

According to the number of the days, forty days, you remember, in which you spied out the land, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you will know my rejection.

So God says to Israel, if you want to turn back to me, you'll be punished. You'll be punished for seven times, following the same thing that he said in Numbers 14.

A year for a day. Seven times would be 360 days in a year, by biblical reckoning.

Two thousand five hundred twenty years of blessings would be withheld for disobedience.

The nation of Israel, not speaking of Judah here, remember, they're two separate nations. The nation of Israel would have the nation would have blessings withheld for two thousand five hundred twenty years. If we let the Bible interpret itself, just by what God has put in the Bible, something that we should do, because we don't really need outside resources to help us understand the Bible, the Bible will explain itself to us if we just let it. So two thousand five hundred twenty years of blessings would be withheld. We know from history, Israel, the northern ten tribes, went into captivity. It's between 718 and 723. If we take 2520 years and add that to that period of time when they went into captivity, we come up to the years 1797 to 1802 AD.

So if we let the Bible interpret itself, then we would look at these nations that God has talked about, that he would richly bless, that when he returns he'll call from the coastlands, the north, the isles afar off. These nations that would possess the gates of their enemies, these nations that would be a company of nations first, and then a great nation after that, should, if we believe the Bible, occur somewhere or have the blessings restored to them because God's covenant to Abraham and his blessings was forever, not just for a period of time. He would withhold them for a period of time, but they were unconditional and they would be restored after the 2520 years of of punishment. So where would we find nations in the world that began to come into prominence in the around 1800? Well, I think you know the answer. If you look at history, you kind of know where it is. Let me read. This is from the Bicyclopedia Britannica, and I will use this outside source because it gives us a history of what has happened in England, United Kingdom, whatever you want to call it. It says, following the defeat of Napoleonic France in 1815, Britain enjoyed a century of almost unchallenged dominance and expanded its imperial holdings across the globe.

First, it would be a company of nations running over its borders, blessings from God. Sometime, if the Bible, if we believe the Bible and the prophecies that God has put in there, interpreting it from what the Bible says somewhere after 1800. At its height, it was the largest empire in history, and for over a century was the foremost global power. By 1922, the British Empire held sway over 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at that time. The empire covered more than 13 million square miles, almost a quarter of the earth's total land area. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic, and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, the phrase, the empire on which the sun never sets, was often used to describe the British Empire.

Came into prominence after 1800. Certainly was a great nation that became a company of nations expanding the world, and there you see the British Empire. In red and the pink is the areas that they held dominance. The green up there is by comparison with the Roman Empire was at the time of its peak, but you can see the widespread effect of the British Empire. The greatest empire the world knew at that time. A company of nations, if you will. That would begin after 1800, and it was in the century after that that they had their prominence. So we can look at history, we can look at the Bible, we can look at the time frame the Bible gives us, and we can look at that and say, oh, Israel in the Bible that all these prophecies pertain to, and Christ says discern the times, understand the times, you don't want to be taken by surprise, I don't intend for you to be taken by surprise if you know what's going on. It's not just a little nation over there in the Middle East. It's much more than that when you read the Bible. Well, the British Empire began to wane, and in its wake another nation began to emerge that would follow the greatness of the British Empire. We have the Washington presidency that ended in 1797, but a notable, a notable occurrence in American history was the Louisiana purchase that added, as it says there, 140 or 40 percent more to the nation that we had. And eventually over the 1800s, the country of America expanded from sea to shining sea, as we say. Coast lands separated from his brothers, a nation. Let's read what it says here. America made the Louisiana purchase from a war-wearied and desperate Napoleon, increasing the size of the United States by 140 percent and adding to it some of the richest land on earth. Blessings of the hills, blessings of the earth, blessings from beneath. Napoleon is said to have commented, this accession of territory affirms forever the power of the United States.

Isn't that a telling thing for him to say? With this addition to their land, this United States, with all the blessings that this land has, with the location of this land, it affirms forever.

And that was even before the country expanded westward from that territory to the other coast.

And we know the history of the United States of America. It's been a topic in this presidential campaign. Where's the greatest country on earth? Everyone that you ask today would say that even today, America is still the greatest country on earth. Maybe in decline, but certainly the greatest nation on earth, and has been known from that since the time World War II.

A company of nations, first, followed by a single great nation. The greatest nation on earth, because when God does things, he doesn't do them halfway. It would stand to reason who he would put his blessings on would be the greatest empire on earth. Would be the greatest nation on earth, just as Israel, under Solomon, was the greatest nation on earth at that time. History doesn't give the ancient nation of Israel credit for what it does. It hands all that credit over to the Phoenicians, and in a way, but it was really Israel who dominated the world at that time.

So if we're looking, if we're looking and putting all the pieces together, coastlands, aisles afar off, possesses the gates of their enemies, the greatest company of nations, and the greatest nation of all time, came into their prime after 1800, through whom all nations have been blessed.

There has never been a nation that has been more generous than the United States of America with all the things we give. There really has never been a more beneficent empire. Yes, America has made mistakes. Yes, the British Empire made mistakes. Yes, we've all made mistakes. There's men ruling these things. Even the British Empire left where they had their dominion better off than they were before. They left things better than when they found them. That's been a hallmark of America as well. In you, of course God is talking about, in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed, a spiritual blessing that would come from Jesus Christ being born through that line, but it has its physical applications as well. Where are the nations that have been that have been a blessing to all the nations on earth? You would have to just be simply in denial and refuse to believe it if you don't see the clear picture of where the Bible says Israel and the prophecies that concern Israel in the end time are.

Why does it matter? You might say, Rick, we know this stuff. Those of us who have been in the church, we've heard this stuff before. Why are you taking your time up with that? Why does it really matter in the long run? And there are some good reasons that it matters. You know, you heard in that the at the ABC weekend a couple weeks ago, one of the topics we had was why does Brexit matter?

Why does it matter about this British exit? Well, it does matter because if Britain is Israel, part of Israel in the end time, they can't be part of the European Union, the Beast Power in the end time. They can't be. If they are a part of the Beast Power at the end time, then we've had prophecy wrong. That's it. Now, the church has been saying it for 50, 60, 70 years. Britain won't be part of the European end time power. So Brexit was important because it affirms our understanding of prophecy, our understanding that comes from the scriptures, not from any man, not from any man that wrote something 100 years ago, but from the scriptures. We identify who Israel is. It's part of discerning the times, understanding what it is, understanding what God says is going to be full Israel in the end time. That their cities will be laid waste, that they will fall before.

That Beast Power is there because you know what? Israel isn't mentioned in Revelation 13.

Their absence, there's a gulf, there's a void in the world that's filled by this emerging Beast Power that arises out of the sea in Revelation 13. The greatest nations on earth are not a factor in Revelation 13. There's a void that has to be filled, and it's filled by a Beast Power that gets its power from Satan. So Brexit is significant. We need to know who Israel is, physical Israel, okay, in order to help discern the times and discern scriptures and prophecy.

If we don't, if we reject it, if we refuse to believe it, if we believe that just little Israel over there in the Middle East, that's it, we will be surprised, just like the world will be surprised. When they're screaming, peace and safety, one day they'll be surprised. If we ignore the signs that God gives us and the warnings so a nation is real, modern Israel that is ignoring him and turning from him, we'll be surprised. You and I shouldn't be surprised because we can discern the times because God's opened our minds to see the truth of the Bible. I said that. Britain cannot be part of the end-time European place power if Bible prophecy is correct.

It wasn't important to bend. And when we see these things happen in the world around us, we can be sure that what God has given us to understand didn't come from any one of us, came from God, that he's opened our minds to see the truth. It is important.

Another thing that we can learn, another thing that we can learn from all this and why it matters, God keeps his promises. God keeps his covenants. You know, he made a promise to Abraham back in Genesis 12. I will wish I will bless you and in you all nations of the earth will be blessed.

Israel disregarded God. Israel just kind of forgot that God was there. They followed up through other nations. They turned from him, worshiped the bales, committed harlotry, rejected him in every way, shape, and form. No one could have blamed God if he said, Israel, when you go into captivity, it's done. But you know what? He made a covenant with Abraham.

This is what I promise you. God keeps his covenants, and he did with Israel. That should give us comfort. That should help us to see God keeps his covenants, even when the world around us in a physical nation of Israel so disrespected God, that he would bring them back to power in the end time, and that they would enjoy the blessings that they had. Let's look at Psalm 105.

Psalm 105 verse 7.

Psalm 105 verse 7. He is the eternal our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word which he commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant which he made with Abraham and his oath to Isaac, and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying to you, I will give the land of Canaan and the allotment of your inheritance.

He remembers. He keeps his covenants. We've made a covenant with him. He's made a covenant with us.

He will deliver. He will bring us into the kingdom if we follow him, if we continue in his way.

He won't be slack concerning his problem. He won't forget his covenant. We can't forget our covenant with God, and we must always be true to him and loyal to him and yielded to him. We can learn that from Israel. The fact that through all these things, he still remembers them, the physical nation of Israel. And he will bring them back, and he will gather them back from wherever they are in the world back to the Promised Land. And that's when Israel will return to the land that God has promised them. Not before Jesus Christ returns, but when he returns. There are so many prophecies concerning that. Let's look at one in Ezekiel 11. We read several of them, a couple of them here at the beginning in Jeremiah. I'll give you some verses you can look at later if you want. In Jeremiah 30, 1 verses 31 through 34, and 7 to 10, and Jeremiah 30 verses 1 to 10. But let's look at Ezekiel 11, and verse 15. Remembering the ancient nation of Israel never returned, God says this. In verse 14, the Word of the Eternal came to Ezekiel, saying, Son, a man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety. Not just Judah, all the house of Israel in its entirety are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get far away from God. This land has been given to us as a possession. Therefore, say, Thus says God, although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although they have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. Therefore, say, Thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel, and they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes, keep my judgments, and do them. And they will be my people, and I will be their God. As it says in Isaiah 2, all people in that day will go up to the mountain of the Lord, to be taught of His ways. That will be the way of the land. Physical Israel. God keeps His promises. What about us? Well, we happen to live in a land that we would call Manasseh. So we're part of what God would say is physical Israel today, but is that our lot too? Because, you know, there's physical Israel of the Old Testament that God says in Amos 3, verse 2, I think it was. You, Israel, you are the one whose my eyes are on, and God continues His promise with them. But we are spiritual Israel. We are spiritual Israel. The physical nation of Israel, God won't forget, and God will bring those back to the physical land of Israel. But for those of us who God has called, who God has made part of His family, part of spiritual Israel, our lot in life is different. There's a difference between physical Israel at the end and spiritual Israel. Let's see what our lot is. Spiritual Israel, those who have accepted God's call, repented, baptized, received His Holy Spirit, and live by that ever growing, ever developing, until the time of Christ's return. Galatians 3, 26.

You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For as many as you were baptized into Christ, to put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. It doesn't make any difference if we think we're a physical Israelite by descendant or not. It doesn't make any difference our ethnicity, doesn't make any difference what country we were born in. For spiritual Israel.

Many as you were baptized to put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Physical Israel. Physical Israel.

Scattered around the world, Christ will bring the remnants that are survive the time of the end back to physical Israel. Those who are spiritual Israel have another have another future. Revelation 1.

Revelation 1.

And we'll begin in verse 4. So we get the whole sentence. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us spiritual Israel. Made us kings and priests to his God and father.

To him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

It's made us spiritual Israel kings and priests. Revelation 20.

Revelation 20 verse 4. Speaking of that time after Jesus Christ returns. A time when he will bring physical Israel scattered around the world back to the physical land of Israel that he promised to Abraham. Says this of spiritual Israel. Those who are called, repented, baptized, led, and remain faithful to the end. Verse 4, Revelation 20. I saw thrones and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who have been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God who hadn't worshiped the beast or his image, hadn't received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. These are ones who were able to discern the times, discern the scriptures, had faith, and believed in God. Verse 6, blessed and holy is he who has part in this first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. That's our future, yours and mine.

A future we should never take for granted, a future that we should never, ever neglect.

Something that should be in our mind every single day. And even more so, as Paul would say, as we see the day approaching, and as we look around us and we discern the times from the truth of the Bible, not from a word of a man or a book written hundreds of years ago, but from the words of the Bible, we know what is going on because God's opened our mind to see it. And one of the keys, and there are some other keys too, to discerning the times is knowing who Israel is.

And knowing who spiritual Israel is. Let's be sure to keep our calling on our election shore and make sure that we are using the Bible to discern the times and keep watch over ourselves.