The Israel Story

The nation of Israel is in the news a lot. It's worried about Iran. It's worried about its neighbors, the Arabic neighbors, the 7.8 million Jews who live in power, or members of the Israelis who live in the land of Israel, are surrounded by millions more, many millions more, hundreds of millions more Arabs who would love to kill them.

Now, they're having a few allies now because they know that the Shiites are a threat to the Sunnis.

And the Sunnis in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and they used to be in Yemen, and some of those areas, are trying to keep a balance. As you understand, in the Muslim world, the Sunnis are a little more moderate people. They interpret the Quran in a more moderate way, where the Shiites tend to interpret it in a very strict way. And if you read the Quran, which I've read some of the translation in English, I don't read Arabic. Officially, you should read it in Arabic, but it's translated into English, too.

And it does tell you when you get the infidels, cut their heads off. What they're doing is what the Quran says.

Make wide slaughter, and then maybe you'll take some for slaves. And you can ransom them, too, if you want to.

That's what it says. And what they're trying to do is follow what the Quran says. They are kind of, some people say, back to the Bible.

They're back to the Quran. And so that's what you have there. They would love to wipe out the Jews. They were supposed to respect the Jews, but now that Jews have become an enemy, and the United States has become an enemy, and Christianity has become an enemy.

Even though they're supposed to respect the people of the book, the Bible, they're supposed to respect them, but they don't anymore.

So they're saying, you don't convert, we kill you. That's how Muhammad began.

Muhammad began with an armed force who would whalae and ambush settlers coming up from down in Arabia, lower Arabia, southern Arabia, and he would get them, and he would kill them, take their clothes, or conscript them into his army, take their goods, take their weapons, take their horses, take their chariots.

And then he got a big enough army, he went down and invaded the main city of Mecca.

And from Yathrib, which was the city of the Prophet, he fled up to that area when he was not welcomed in Mecca anymore because they were worshipping multiple gods, and he believed in Allah, the one god.

So he came back and he killed them all. Killed the ones who would not convert or die. Now, most people, you don't have any real strong conviction, you convert. Better to convert than die.

And that's the state of the world. So Israel's worried. They're right there in the midst of all that. They've got super forces and they fight hard and they believe all the scriptures that talk about how Israel's going to be when God is on their side in the future.

But they think he's still on their side now, and he may be for a while because after all they are his people.

Israel's a small country about the size of New Jersey. 8,019 square miles of territory. Almost 90% of its people live in urban areas. There are 3.2 million in Tel Aviv, which used to be the capital, and Yafo.

But Jerusalem is its capital. Now, as you know, there's a lot of anguish over that because the Israelis, one time, Palestinians had one part of it. But now Israel has Jerusalem. They have not taken down the Al-Aqsa Mosque. They are a dome of the rock. They've not taken that down.

They've not dealt with that in that way. They still allow for Muslims to come. And there are Arabs who live in Israel and are happy to live in Israel. But their neighbors aren't so happy that Israel still has control of that.

They export citrus fruit and a lot of technology. And they have about a 4% trade with China.

However, all the things that they send out and all their goods that they send and sell are not enough. They're always coming up short.

So they use tourism, which is a huge business, people coming to visit Israel and the Holy Land, and also taxes.

They tax a lot so that they can make up for the shortfall difference between imports and exports.

The modern country Israel is only part of the Israel story.

I'd like to give you the rest of the story. It's called, the title is, The Israel Story.

Let's look at the whys and wherefores of Israel's existence.

Why does Israel exist anyhow? Here's the origin. And for many, this is just a recap.

But let's take a look at, briefly, Genesis 25, verses 19-26. Why do we have Israel on this earth anyway? Genesis 25, verses 19-26.

Genesis 25, verses 19.

These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begot Isaac.

Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to wife. Remember, Abraham and Sarah promised seed blessings, so they tried it their way with Hagar.

That didn't work. God said, no, it's not the way I want it done. I told you I'm going to give you seed. I will.

And of course, when they were older, what is it, 190 years old?

That he said, you're going to have a child now.

And they said, what in my old age am I going to have a child? And Sarah laughed. And remember, God said, you're going to name him laughter. So call him Isaac when he's born.

Sorry, yes, call him Isaac. So then Isaac came into existence.

And Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to wife.

Remember, she lit off her candle. She was smoking. No, just easing.

She jumped off the candle, and he loved her camel, and he loved her right away.

So it was love at first sight. Love does occur sometimes at first sight.

And here we find Isaac and Rebekah that took place because Abraham sent his servant to pick her out, asked for signs, and brought her back. She was willing. What a lady!

She was willing to come all the way back to where Isaac was in order to be married to him.

So she was to wife the daughter of Bethuel, the Syrian of Pedaniram, the sister of Laban, the Syrian. So the Syrians had something to do with it.

And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived.

So again, she had a hard time conceiving, as did Sarah, Abraham's wife.

And notice, the children struggled together with hitters, and now she had twins.

And she said, if it be so, why am I thus?

And she went to inquire the Lord, and the Lord said to her, why am I having so many pain?

Why do I feel so many punches in my womb? Why do I feel so many kicks here and there?

This baby doesn't have four legs, does it? And she couldn't figure out.

And then the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from your bowels, from your lower extremities. And the one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger.

How do you have an elder? Well, the first one born.

And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb, not identical, fraternal, twins.

And the first came out all red and all over like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau.

So Esau came out first, and of course that word, the Esau, means red.

And then, notice, and after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel, almost a forecast of what Jacob was to do. Because when he came out, you know, little babies, you'd touch their hand, they close it right away. Anything that touches their hand, they close it.

You ever do that with their feet? You just put your finger right by their toes? They close, right?

They want to close, for some reason, that reflex action. So as he came out, he grabbed the heel, Esau's heel, and his name was called Jacob, and Esau, sorry, and Isaac was three score, so 60 years old, when she bore them. So 20 years it took them to have a baby. And the boys grew. Older people don't do well with younger kids, but they had their favorites, right? They made some big mistakes. And the boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter.

So we see the birth of Esau and Jacob. Now we still haven't found yet the difference. We haven't found Israel, we found Jacob, but we'll find Israel right now. Genesis 32, you know all the situation where Jacob conned him out of his birthright and stole a final blessing at the end, and he was threatened with death, and his mother found out, Jacob's mother found out. So he fled to Uncle Laban, so he worked there for a while, fell in love with one of his daughters, had a substitute daughter, worked for many years to try to pay off his, to pay his dowry to him, to Laban, and finally was able to break loose and come home. So on he was coming home, coming back in Genesis 32, Genesis 32 and verse 24. So on his way back, he paused, he was out in the, left alone, out in the field thinking and wondering about what's going to happen when he meets Esau, his brother, who hated him many years ago and may still hate him. But verse 24, and Jacob was left alone, and there was a man with him until the breaking of day. So all of a sudden, a man appears. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, they were wrestling, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, and he wrestled with him. So they were wrestling. It was a wrestling match. You imagine wrestling all night long. You know, God is tenacious, but so is Jacob. God was, you know, you say, what is God's favorite sport? Wrestling.

Do you know of any other sport that God plays? God does. Maybe fishing. He tells him to go fishing. But he was wrestling. This was the God of the Old Testament who appeared, the one that became Jesus Christ, who said when he walked the earth, nobody has ever seen the Father. Well, not like they see him. He wrestled with him. So he appeared as a man, and he's wrestling with him.

He said, okay, it's time for me to go now. It's getting toward daybreak, and we've been here wrestling all night long. Let me go. I wouldn't let him go. So he touched the hollow of his, put his hip out of joint, it sounds like. And he said, let me go for the day breaks. And he said, I will not go, except you bless me. Now, why did he know that this person with whom he was wrestling would have the power to bless him?

He was God. And he said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, your name shall now no more be called Jacob, but Israel. Israel, which means a prince with God or a prince of God, either one. A prince with God. Ial is God. For as the prince has have you power with God and with men and have prevailed, you held on and Jacob asked him and said, tell me I pray you your name. And he said, why is it that you do ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place, verse 30, Pentiel. You know what it means? I have the face of God. I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved because God didn't show up in his glory. If God had shown up in his glory, he would have died. There would have been no wrestling match. So he wrestled with God. Can you imagine? And God renamed him. He said, you're not going to be Jacob anymore. You're going to be known as Israel. Genesis 35, verses 22 to 26, we find another thing that Israel is not just one tribe. It's not just a tribe of Judah, who are the Jews. But the Jews loved to think they're Israel because Israel was promised, Joseph was promised the birthright blessing. Joseph will see was the one upon whom the name of Israel was given. But Judah was given the scepter, the rulership, the leaders in many countries, and Jews are. Whether they're leading in banking, economics, entertainment, governments. Was it Lenin? Some of those men were Jews. Marx? Jews. Some of them created the crazy systems, Jews. Some of them created great systems, Jews. Some of them in entertainment, Jews. Because they are leaders. Because of their mental powers. And also because they like to deal with finances. Remember, who was the only one that wanted to sell Jacob? Joseph? Judah. No, no, no. Let's put him over in the pit and then we'll sell him. He was the one that wanted to sell them. Alright, let's go back to chapter 35, Genesis 35 verse 22. That's where I ask you to turn and I've been busy speaking to you otherwise. Genesis 35 verse 22. Now just read the last part of it. I won't deal with Reuben and his misdeed of lying with Bill of his father's concubine. But the last part of it says, now the sons of Jacob were twelve. So the name of Israel did not pass on only to one. See, all Californians are Americans, but not all Americans are Californians. All Ohioans are Americans, that is, except you're an illegal alien. Then you're not. But all Ohioans who are legally here are Americans.

But not all Americans are Ohioans. Understand the difference. So Jews are Israelites, but not all Israelites are Jews. There are twelve tribes. So he's on to say, now the sons of Jacob were twelve. The sons of Leah, the wife that was substituted, were Reuben, firstborn, Jacob's firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

So she had six of them. The sons of Rachel, the wife he wanted, the firstborn, was Joseph. And the last one that Rachel died giving birth, Benjamin. And verse 25, the sons of Bila, one of the handmaids, Rachel's handmaid, Dan and Naftali, and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, Gad and Asher, these are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Padan, Iran, when he was down in Syria. These are the ones. So there are twelve tribes. That's one thing to keep in mind. The world does not understand that. Genesis 48, verses 14 to 19, Jacob's name is put upon only one.

He passes the name of Israel on in a very special ceremony of a blessing to Joseph. Reuben was cancelled out because of his misdeeds. So now the next blessing goes to the firstborn of the wife he really loved, Rachel. And that's Joseph. So chapter 48, remember the situation where the Israelites came down into Egypt and Joseph was the vice Pharaoh there, and he blessed them. And so in chapter 48, verse 14, verse 13, he took them both to Ephraim, took them both to his dad to bless them.

This is taking them to Jacob or Israel. Joseph takes his two sons who were born in Egypt. He said, Ephraim, verse 13, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand. The picture of two people coming to me, if your left person is in your left hand, child, that's what I'm going to put my right hand on, give the blessing. And the ones in your right hand is going to get my left-handed blessing, which the right hand would be the more prominent one. So Israel stretched out his right hand, and he laid it upon the head of Ephraim.

He did a switch. And who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh, guiding his hands wittingly, he knew what he was doing. Manasseh was the firstborn. So in this case, he skips, and you can look up firstborn, you find the firstborn, always had right to a double portion. The firstborn got a double portion. They also had the responsibility to look after the family, had the responsibility to take, to be responsible after the father died.

So, sort of like the patriarch, that he had responsibilities over all the land, but he did get a double portion of it for his own. So what he did, he switched, because he understood that what Joseph would do would be to guide the firstborn to his right hand. So he switched hands. And he blessed Joseph and said, Before whom my fathers, Abraham Isaac, did walk the God, which fed me all my life, long to this day, the angel which redeemed me from all evil, blessed the lads, and let my name be named upon them.

Let Ephraim and Manasseh carry the name of Israel. And this is what the world does not understand. It does not understand who God, who speaks of God. Why doesn't God mention the United States and British Commonwealth in the Scriptures?

He mentions Russia, he mentions Egypt, he mentions Libya, he mentions a number of these places. Why doesn't he mention the United States? He does. A lot. But not by the name United States, not by the name Great Britain. But by the name Israel. He named on those two sons, Brother Nations. What other two Brother Nations do we know in all the history of the world, who are like each other, who speak the same language, who have the same overall goals, and who always come to each other's side when there's trouble and they win, when they stand together?

What other two do you know of? And two Great Nations, too. He said to them, when Joseph saw that his father laid his hand, he said, named upon them, and he said, Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Let them have influence in the earth. And what nations do have influence on the earth? And what nations have brought sanity and organization and sanitation and order and rule and law wherever they've gone? And sure, they're carnal.

They've taken advantage of people. Nobody's saying they were spiritually perfect. But what they did to the world was bring a lot of sanity and a lot of order in wherever they've gone. And of course, when they've been thrown off, Okay, let's let you go for what happens to those nations. Look at them in chaos, because they have no order. He goes on to say, When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand, upon the head of Ephraim it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand, and he said, No, put it over here.

And Joseph said this to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your hand on his head. 1 Chronicles 5, 2 says that Israel, or Joseph, would receive the birthright. Joseph's children received the blessings. And Ephraim received a greater blessing. Ephraim, in its day, was said, The sun never sets on the British Empire. The sun never sets. You look up and see all the lands for some of you young people.

Now it's not called Great Britain anymore. It's called Britain, or England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland. But you look at what they had. I mean, the British Royal Navy cruised the seas, and they were absolutely feared. The sun never set on the British Empire. But the British Empire, like Joseph, were giving, and they gave people their freedom, gave them their freedom, gave them their freedom, and they gave away all their gates.

Because God also promised them the sea gates. He said, you'll control the gates of your enemies. And what is a gate? It's what lets people in and out. The Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, the Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, a lot of places, Cyprus, and a lot of these places, there were sea gates that you could stop travel by ship in those areas. Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn. A lot of these places are gone, given back, given away. God said, I'm blessing you with them because it'll be right in the midst of your enemies. You'll be able to protect and you'll be able to keep.

So in verse, that was in chapter 48, let's go to verse 18. Joseph said to his brother, not so, put your hand on his head, the firstborn. He said, Father refused it. I know it, my son. I know it. He shall also become a people and he shall be great. But truly, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. Now, what two brothers do you know that are a multitude of nations and a great nation? The United States and British Commonwealth. One man asked me, it was interviewing me in Niagara Falls, New York, when I was the festival coordinator and he was from the radio and he called me and asked me to get interviewed.

He said, sure. So you teach something about Israel, United States and British Commonwealth. I said, yes. I said, well, where do you find? I said, well, you're asking me where can I find in the scripture where it says United States is Israel? I can't. But if you're asking me, what about all the indications that are there and mix in with that faith and belief in God and his promises? Yes, I believe it. Convictingly, the United States and British Commonwealth are the peoples of Joseph. They are the people who carry the name of Israel.

So that was the way it ended. I said, I can't prove it. If you're looking for proof to say United States equals these, you're not going to find it. But look at all the circumstances and all the situation. You ever go through and look in the almanac, look up all the items of the world, the grains of the world, the resources of the world. What do nations have the most? If you take all the Israelite-ish nations, you'll find they dominate, whether it be sheep from New Zealand, whether it be Australia and its wealth, whether it be Canada and its nickel, whether it be so many places that are Israelite-ish.

And they have blessings that God said, I will give to you, but mostly to Ephraim and Manasseh. So you find that blessing being given to them. Now, let's go on. We see the origin of it then. They were the children of Jacob named Israel. But the specific name Israel was passed on to only the children of Joseph. They carried that name. That doesn't mean the others weren't Israelites. They are. But the ones who carried the name on through are the children of Joseph. Now, let's see its purpose. Why did God call these Israelites out anyway?

So we saw the origin. Let's look at its purpose real quickly. Genesis 12, verses 1-3. Here's the grandfather. Our great grandfather, let's see. Isaac was their dad. Let's see. Jacob was their dad. Isaac was their granddad. Abraham was their great granddad. So here's the great granddad of the Israelites. Genesis 12, verses 1-3. And the Lord said to Abraham, notice he wasn't called Abraham yet, Get you out of the land, out of the country, out of my country, get you out of your country, and from your kindred, from your father's home, into a land that I'll show you.

I want you to get up and go. And Hebrews said that he went out, didn't know where he was going. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I'll make of you a great nation, in this case great nations.

And I will bless them that bless you, curse them that curse you, and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed, in you. Now you could take that to be Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ came from Judah, one of the sons, one of the great-grandsons of Abraham. Jesus Christ was born as a Jew, so he came out of it, and he was a blessing to the world, and he is a blessing to the world, as Christianity is the world's largest religion.

At least it still is, Muslims are catching up fast.

So that's a blessing. But what other way is a blessing? By their presence. Who goes and fights for other people? United States. Who sends millions of men over to fight Germany? When they're not taking over America, they're trying to take over Europe. Who does that? Britain and America.

Who jumps in? Who helps? Who took down Saddam Hussein? And people can talk about all you want to, like, we shouldn't be in Iraq and we shouldn't do this. What was Saddam Hussein doing? Do you know what he did? If you spoke against Saddam Hussein, and he found out about it, he'd send his men out to you, and they would take a pair of pliers, pull your tongue out, give a pair of shears to either him or one of his men, and they would cut off your tongue.

Who stands in the way? Who stands in the gap? Who stands up to Russia, at least used to, who used to stand up to Russia?

The United States. And if the United States weren't here, there would be chaos in the world, more than there is now. We're seeing a lot of chaos because we are leading from behind. I don't know how you do that. Let's lead from behind. You're not leading, you're following!

Again, God expected us to be a blessing to the world. The United States of America, which I love. Today is its birthday. We ought to be grateful that we live in a country that's so free. Our granddaughter, Samantha, just spent a month down in Nicaragua. She said, she got back, it's the first shower I've had in a month. The water doesn't come out very well. Electricity, not much. Food, not much. Go to the store, it's a little kind of store, and you might be able to get some little things here and there. Hope they have a few places where you can go eat, like cater to Westerners. She lived with a family. She said their entire house was not even as big as our kitchen and family room combined. She slept in this little room, and it was open at the top, so she slept under a mosquito net. She said, you could tell I've been in a third world country because I know how to kill the bugs. I just squash them with my thumb and flick them off into the corner. She hoped by flicking them off into the corner, they would keep the other ones away by saying, well, this girl means business. I bet it didn't happen. She had bugs and mosquitoes trying to get... Because they came in, the windows were opened, and there was opening even at the top of the wall in each room. She tried to bring some circulation in. Also brought bugs in. She said she would go back. She was down there helping, following around pediatricians and seeing how they treated people down there.

But she felt really the difference between what we have. And if you've been in a third world country and you've come back here, you know what blessings you have. Untold blessings that God has given to us. But He wants us to lead the world. Exodus 8, verse 1, tells us why. Exodus 8, verse 1, when God affected the rescue when He was going to, and Moses talking to Pharaoh. Chapter 8, verse 1, when the Lord spoke to Moses, said, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, here's a reason.

Why? Why is there an Israel? Thus says the Lord God, Let my people go. Let my people go that they may serve me. What's God's purpose for the Israelites? To serve the living God. To walk with Him. To be an example to others. Look at Exodus chapter 19. Exodus 19, after the rescue. And God's trying to bring them some order.

Exodus 19, verse 3, And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob, Tell the children of Israel. This is all twelve of them. Tell all twelve of them this. You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings. It means very carefully. And brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, And if you will keep my covenant, Then shall you be a peculiar treasure to me, A special treasure, Above all people, for all the earth is mine.

I can pick anyone I want to. I'm God. To be an example to the world. I can pick anyone I want to, to give them a responsibility. Just like I say, if I need a glass of water, Who can give me a glass of water? Three people raise their hand, I pick one. I chose one. God said, There's a responsibility. Bring me a glass of water. I'm not saying that because I need one. I'm just using that as an example. But if you put three people, put your hands up, I can pick one. God owns the world. He owns everything in it. He says, I want you, Israel.

You've been humbled in Egypt. I want you. I want you to walk, be examples of my way of life to the whole world. Notice what he says. Verse 6, And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, A holy nation, a holy nation.

These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. I want you to be a special people to me. I've called you out. Why? Because he just wants to treat them special, because he wants to play favorites. God is a favorite. Plays favorites? No. He does. But he plays favorites because they have a job to do. They're not favored just because he likes their looks. Ezekiel 16, verses 8 to 14, he made a covenant with them.

It's called a marriage covenant. Now, God really doesn't marry. His spirit, God, doesn't really marry fleshly people. But a marriage is made up of what? Love and faithfulness. Love for each other and faithfulness to each other. And so in Ezekiel 16, he talks about how he took Israel when she... Nobody wanted her when she was, you know, just like a child. Ezekiel 16, and verse 8, Now, when I passed by you and looked upon you, Your time was a time of love, and I spread my skirt over you, and I covered your nakedness.

Yea, I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine. We married. You agreed to be faithful to me. I agreed to be faithful to you.

You agreed to love me. I agreed to love you. Then I washed you with water, and ye thoroughly washed you. And he said, and I anointed you with oil. So he wanted her skin to be supple if you put it on a female way. And then he said, in verse 11, verse 10, He says, I clothed you also with broidered work, and I shod you with badgered skins, and I girded you with fine linen, and I covered you with silk. Gave her all the fine...

In other words, all the blessings you have. Why do we deserve the gold in America? Why do we deserve all the riches that America has? Why do we deserve that? Did we come and put it into the land ourselves? Who led us to this land? Who put Britain in a specific place? Who made Britain such a strong country that they settled all over the world and had influence in Africa, in Australia, in New Zealand, in Hong Kong, all over the world? Who had that?

India and all the countries that they owned and they looked after? Because God blessed them. And so we find him saying to them then, continuing, he said, And I put a jewel... Sorry, verse 11, I decked you also with ornaments, in other words, jewelry. And I put bracelets on your hand, a chain on your neck. I put a jewel on your forehead and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. And you've never seen a woman deck this much. I haven't, anyway. Almost, but not quite. And what is he saying?

I gave you lots. You had luxury. When we go to the store and you can't believe how many different kinds of apples there are. Some countries, you're lucky to even have apples there. You've got the gala, and you've got the pink lady, and you've got the honey crisp, and you've got the Jonathan's, and you've got the mac and tots, and you've got the golden delicious, and the yellow, the red delicious.

You've got all these apples to choose from, and they're in abundance. And there's been... You could just say, I don't like this one, I don't like that one. There's a lot of places in the world do even have apples. You know what one lady told me? She was a refugee, World War II. She was on the train. She was from Eastern Europe. They gave her a banana. She didn't know how to eat it, so she ate it, skin and all.

She had never seen a banana in her life. They told me this is food, so she ate it. We are so blessed in our country. So blessed. Because God blesses us. God bless the United States. But knows what he says to her. You were decked with gold and silver. Your raiment was of fine linen and silk and broidered work. And you did eat fine flour and honey and oil. This is verse 13. And you were exceedingly beautiful. You were beautiful. And you did prosper into a kingdom. And verse 14, and your renown went forth among the heathen for your beauty. And it was perfect through my comeliness.

Do you think you got it because of your looks? I gave it to you. Do you think all those things came to you because of you? I gave it to you. And he said, which I put upon you says the Lord God. God gave them all these blessings so that the other nations would look and say, wow. Now you can say what you want about America, but why is it so many people want to come here? And by the way, we don't have guards to keep people in. You know what they had to do in Germany?

When Germany was divided, East Germany, they had to build walls to keep people in. America doesn't build walls to keep you in. You don't want to be here. You should leave. That's what I would do. Somebody's a big protester. I'd say, oh, I see you don't like being American. Oh, I hit it. Okay, fine. I'd give you a one-way ticket to anywhere you want to go in the world. And by the way, we are revoking your citizenship to the USA. Where would you like to go since you don't like it here? We will send you wherever you want to go. Our dime. Send you wherever you want to go, but you can't come back.

If you don't like it here, we'll send you away. But they clamor. Why are some of the illegal aliens wanting to come to America? Why are so many immigrants? Because, you know, what my grandfather heard, thought when he came to America, 1900s, early 1900s, he thought there would be gold on the streets. 1900s, that was almost a hundred years ago. A decade, not a decade, but a century ago. That was the word out on the street in other countries.

You go to America, you probably picked dollar bills off of trees. But you know what? He didn't find that. He did find a country that was free and accepting. And he was able to make a lot for a man who could not read or write Arabic or read or write English. But he taught himself to read and write both. And he couldn't speak English, but he learned. And he ended up having a general store and ended up saving $1,000 for each of his ten children before he died.

Had it in a bank, he would not touch that money. Until the Depression came, and he learned the ways of Joseph. He was kind to people. And when they came to him, he saw stories about no shoes and no... He said, fine, take these shoes and sign here that you owe me. Guess what? The Depression was over. Do you think anybody came and paid him back?

Absolutely no one. But he didn't care. He gave it to people who needed help. That was the country that he saw. My dad, who was born in Syria but came here when he was one and a half or two years old with his mother, never had a desire to go back. He said, I don't want to go back there. I don't want to go back to Syria. This is my country. He told me one of the greatest days of his life was when he became a naturalized American citizen, where he could name the presidents, where he could speak English, even though Arabic was his first language.

He could speak English, learn to speak it, because this was his country. And he could still prefer his foods and some of his customs, but America was his country. What's happened to that in our world today? Deuteronomy 4, God wants them to be an example. Deuteronomy 4, verses 1-9.

What a beautiful section of Scripture. Our country was destined to set the example to the world. God called them to do that. Deuteronomy 4, verse 1, Now therefore hearken to Israel to the statues, to the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that you may live. I've given you laws and rules and regulations to help you live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord your God of your fathers gives you.

You shall not add to the word which I command you. Don't add to my word. See, if you're a judge, you should know truth. If you want to know the truth on any moral matter, you look at the Bible. In a Christian country, you look at the Bible. That's where truth is. Unfortunately, our Supreme Court judges did not look at the Bible when they made this horrible ruling. All you have to do is look and see what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. All you have to do is look and see what God says about who will not be in his kingdom.

And you'll know what a horrible decision that was. And where does that send our United States of America? How does it stand with God now? God said, I want you to be a people to set the example to the world. Not a bad example, but a good example to the world. Now, even the Muslims don't like that decision.

They don't believe in that. Same-sex marriage. You shall not add to what I command you. Neither diminish from it that you may keep the commandments of God, the Lord your God, which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-Pior when people went astray. For all the men that followed Baal-Pior, all the people that went down that garden path to worship their own way, the Lord your God has destroyed them from among you. But you that did cleave to the Lord your God are alive every one to this day.

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments even as the Lord my God commanded me. That you should do so in the land where you go to possess it. Keep my laws and my statutes. He says, keep therefore and do them. Follow them. For this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nation. Other nations are saying, how did this country get so wise? How did this country get so smart? How does this country know how to do all these things? How does this country know how to mass produce? Why is it that people don't want to copy the secrets of Russia?

Why is it that they don't want to copy the secrets of Yugoslavia? Why is it that they want to copy the secrets of America? Why do they want to know how we do things? Because God has given wisdom. He said, I've given you wisdom, understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes. And say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. Why is this nation so well organized? Why does this nation have so many blessings?

Why is this nation doing so well? It isn't anymore because people have spent us in the almost bankruptcy. For what nation is there so great, verse 7, who has God so near to them as the Lord our God in all things that we call upon Him for? Some said, America is great because America is good. This was before when there was some fiber to the air.

Americans still believe in God a whole lot more than almost any other nation on the earth. Some form of God in some cases, but God, high in the 80s. It used to be in the 90s. Unlike Britain, Western Europe, people still go to church. They don't go on the right day in most cases, but they still go to church. They still have a sense of worship toward a higher being.

People in the United States say they believe in God. They don't know the God that you and I know from the Bible. Many of them don't. But they do believe in God. What nations are so great who has God so near to them as the Lord our God is in all things? We call upon Him for Him. What nation is there so great that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I have set before you?

Verse 9 gives a warning, Only take heed to yourself and keep your soul, keep yourself diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. But teach them to your sons and your sons' sons. Teach them to your children that they may follow and walk with Me.

Deuteronomy 7 is a beautiful expression of God's love. I'm going to go there and then I'll move more quickly on why they failed and what God has for them in the future. So in Deuteronomy 7, verse 6, breaking into authority, He says, For you are a holy people to the Lord. Israel, you're a holy people to Me. Holy means you're set apart. Holy means you're special. You're different. Hagios, you're different. And that's Agios in the Greek, it's not Old Testament. You're special to Me, the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a special people to Himself. Above all people that are on the face of the earth, God wants you to be a special people.

Why? To serve God. Why? To show that God's way works. Why? To show not just individually, which was done through the prophets and patriarchs, but to show as a nation that you can worship God and be blessed. And other nations will say, wow, I want to be blessed like that. What do I have to do? And notice what He says to them. The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the fewest of all.

They were a slave people in Egypt. But because the Lord loved you, God loved America. God loves the Israelites. And because He would keep oath that He swore to your fathers, He promised Abraham. He promised Isaac. He promised Jacob. He would take care of him. He would bless. He would multiply. He says, because He promised, has the Lord brought you out of the mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of the bondmen from the land of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt?

Verse 9, know therefore the Lord your God, He is God. Your God is God. The faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keep His commandments to a thousand generations. But if they forget those, that's another matter. So again, it's purpose. God called them out to serve Him. Purpose? God called them out to be an example to the world. But they failed. They failed. What happened when Moses was up there receiving the Ten Commandments? After they told God, everything you say we will do. So Moses goes up to get the commandments, and while he's up there, they're saying, What happened to this Moses?

He's gone a long time. We don't know what's happened to this guy. What's happened to him? Let's go back to Egypt. Up! Make us some gods. Aaron jumped in, did it. They nagged him enough. He said, Okay, give me your gold. Maybe that'll slow them down. Who wants to give up their gold? They did. Okay, he made a gold calf. He just threw it into the fire, and out came this calf. He told Moses, I didn't do anything. He just took all this gold, threw it into this melting area, and out came a calf.

I didn't have anything to do with it. You don't get a calf. You just melt gold. It doesn't make a calf automatically. That was his excuse. God said, You better get down there and see what's going on with your people. He told Moses. Moses said, No, God, they're your people. Neither one of them wanted to own him. You could read that in Genesis 32. Neither one of them wanted to own this group or Exodus 32.

Neither one. They said, Not my people. They're European. No, they're not mine. They're yours. Get down there. See what they're doing. They corrupted themselves. Didn't take them long to turn away. But see, that was God's plan and purpose. Give them a chance to make choices. And if they don't make good choices, they'll learn from experience. Because one day all Israel will be saved according to Romans.

The Apostle Paul said that all Israel shall be saved. Now look at Jeremiah chapter 2 and see how they failed. I'm just going to use this one chapter. Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 4. They turned aside. Here's an indictment against Judah, Jerusalem, but it's also against Israel.

Jeremiah chapter 2 verses 4 to 9. He says, Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the family of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me? What have I done wrong? What have I done wrong that you've turned away, that your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

They're chasing that which doesn't last. Neither said they. Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt? They don't think about Him anymore. I'm going to read you a quote in a minute from a president who did think of God. He says, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and shadow of death, and through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwells.

And I brought you into a plentiful country to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof. When you entered, you defiled my land, you made my heritage an abomination. The priest didn't say, Where's the Lord? Where's God?

And they that handled the law knew me not. Those that are supposed to teach the law of God don't even know God. And what is it to know God? If people tell you, know the Lord, brother? Do you know the Lord, brother? Do you know the Lord, brother? I know the Lord. Do you know the Lord? He that says, I know Him and keeps not His commandments is a liar. That truth is not in Him.

You know God by listening to Him, by walking in His ways, by following the way He is. So they said, Where's the Lord? Those that handled the law, they didn't know me. The pastors also transgressed against me and the prophets, prophesied by Baal, and walked after the things that do not profit. Verse 9, Wherefore, this is Jeremiah, verse 9, Wherefore I will yet plead with you, says the Lord, and with your children's children will I plead? God says, I'll plead with you to come back. Please come back. Look verses 11 to 13 in chapter 2. Has a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

My people have gone astray. My people seek secularism. They seek to be of the world. My people seek every deviation from my law that they can. He says, Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and horribly afraid. Be very desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and have hewed them out their own cisterns. They made their own brand of religion, broken cisterns that can hold no water. In verse 22 of this same chapter, Jeremiah, skipping through it, he says, For though you wash yourself with nitra, Nitra is like a chemical substance that's stronger than soap. It's kind of like lye, it's translated, L-Y-E. But though you wash yourself with nitra, which is stronger than soap, It can take you much soap, yet iniquity is marked before me, says the Lord God. Trying to cleanse yourself your way is not going to work. It's not going to work. Look at verse 32. Can a man forget, can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride or a tire? What woman who's going to get married forgets about her wedding dress? Wedding dress, it's your... not inconsequential. What jewelry am I going to wear? I'm not worried about any jewelry on that day. Who cares about whether I wear a necklace or not wear a necklace, the type of earrings I wear. Who cares? Do I wear a brace? What do I wear that day? What about my ring? How do I get an honor off? Do they care about that? Yes, they do. Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride or a tire? Yet my people have forgotten me. Days without number. They forgot God. I'm going to read you something from Abraham Lincoln.

It's a proclamation of a national day of fasting in March 30, 1863. The government wanted President Lincoln to make this proclamation. Of a national day of prayer and fasting. Here's what he says, and I'll give you some excerpts from that speech. And whereas it is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependents upon the overruling power of God, and to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope the genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history that those nations only are blessed, whose God is the Lord.

And insomuch as we know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that this awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people. We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace, multiplied and enriched and strengthened us.

And we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own, intoxicated with unbroken success. We have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and persevering grace and too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended power to confess our national sins, to pray for clemency and forgiveness. President of the United States. Would our president today do that? Would they even know who God is? We need to, as a country, change and repent.

But, the story doesn't end there. God will entice Israel back. He'll allure them back to him. He will bring them back to him. They will be punished, but they will return. Isaiah 14, verses 24 and 27. God has a plan for Israel. Isaiah 14, verses 24 and 27. God's purpose will be fulfilled. God said he wanted them to be a model nation. They didn't do a very good job of it the first time. They're going to have a chance to do it again.

Isaiah 14, verse 24. The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so shall it stand. And in verse 27, For the Lord of hosts has purposed, Who shall disannal it? And his hand is stretched out, Who shall turn it back? What God has purposed for a people, he will bring about. He's going to bring about Israel coming back to God. Isaiah 27, God to the rescue. Because our country has in store for it captivity.

Our country has in store for it continuing declining. We're almost to the place where we become like Greece. We can't bail ourselves out anymore. We can't make enough money to pay our debt. What a frightening thing that is. And unless our country changes dramatically, it will go down. I didn't get the final Greek vote. Was it yes or no? Did anybody get it? They said it was pretty close. What's that? No, no. No, this is Greek. When the Greeks are voting whether or not to say, let the European Union tell them how to restructure their government, how to restructure their finances, and take a bailout so they don't have to go under default as a country completely.

They can repay their debts. If they don't accept that, if they vote no, then they will go down as a country. Isaiah 27, verse 12, It shall come to pass in that day, in that day is always a sign of the end time, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river to the stream of Egypt, and you shall be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel. But I thought they already went into captivity. But he's going to gather them again at the end from another one. And it shall come to pass in that day, that great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcast and land of Egypt shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

That has never come to pass yet. When God comes back to rescue them. Isaiah 54, God says this about his people. Isaiah 54, verse 6, For the Lord has called you a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit a wife of youth. When you were refused, says the Lord, Nobody wanted you, but I took you. For a small moment I have forsaken you. I have to teach you a lesson.

You walked against me. You didn't follow my ways. You tried to set up your own ways. You tried to set up your own standards, your own morals. For a small moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you.

In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you. Says the Lord, your Redeemer. God's going to bring them back. For as the waters of Noah to me, and as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no longer go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with you nor rebuke you. I will bring you back. Verse 10, For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you.

Neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says the Lord, who has mercy on you. And you know, Jeremiah 31, 31, where God says, I will put my law in your hearts, I'll put my law and write it in your hearts, I'll put it in your heart and write it in there for you to follow. I'll make a new covenant with you, not according to the covenant that I first made, because now I'll give you my spirit to help you keep this one. Jeremiah 31, 31. Jeremiah 33. Let's look at this one, and the blessings that God will bring finally at the end.

They will fulfill His purpose. Jeremiah 33, verses 7 to 9. Jeremiah 33, verse 7, He says, And I will cause the captivity of Judah, the captivity of Israel, to return. In other words, I'll bring them back from it, and will build them as at the first. I'll build them up again. Remember, they'll restore the waste cities. They'll rebuild. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against sin, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

Verse 9, And it shall be to me a name of joy. Israel will be a name of joy, a praise and an honor before the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and they shall fear and tremble, for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I procure to it. All the blessings that I bring to it. One day they're going to come to Jerusalem and say, Teach us.

We want to hear the word of God. Many nations will come where? To Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel. They'll come back, not Samaria, which was the capital after they broke up. They'll come back and they'll say, We want to learn. Teach us, because we've heard God is with you. In fact, they're going to go to the skirt of him that is a Jew at Zechariah 8, verse 20 to 23. Of all the nations, they're going to come up and they're going to grab hold of somebody who's a Jew and they're going to say, Teach us about God, because we've heard that God is with you.

Israel will ultimately fulfill its purpose. Israel, though it has a rough ride to go now, making some pretty bad decisions in America, pretty bad decisions in England, pretty bad decisions about our military, about our might, about leading from behind, when they were supposed to be a blessing to this world and lead the world to God in his way. Finally, all nations will eventually become a part of the kingdom of God.

It's tremendously encouraging on this July 4th that we may understand the United States will continue to be blessed after it has some trouble first and will help, along with Britain, along with Israel, to lead the rest of the world into God's kingdom. That's pretty awesome. Those who have descended from Isaac, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will ultimately fulfill their God-given purpose and lead the nations of the world into the kingdom of God. One final scripture, Daniel 2, verses 44 and 45. Daniel 2. What will happen to those nations?

They'll all come to become a part of God's family too. Daniel 2, verses 44 and 45. And in the days of these kings, kings at the end, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

And that begins with Israel. God will restore them first, and they then will be a model people to lead the rest of the world to God. Thank God for that wonderful blessing. And he says, the dream is certain, verse 45, and the interpretation, sure. We can be confident in knowing that one day, this country of America, the land of the free, home of the brave, will one day be leading other people, freedom from sin, and leading them to the bravery of following God and being a part of his wonderful kingdom.