The Millennial Restoration of Israel

One of the primary themes, brethren, of the Millennial Prophecies is that it always shows We're going to be talking about the most important thing that we need to know about Israel. We need to know that Israel is going to be restored under Christ rulership. And of course we need it today, don't we? We see what's happening in our society and how this country is going down. I think we can all read the handwriting on the wall, can't we?

As to where the United States and Britain and some of these nations are headed. And, you know, that theme of the restoration of Israel is something that we hope for, for the future. That had not occurred because, of course, the Jews at that particular time were paying tribute to the Roman Empire. And they wanted a free and a great Israel. They wanted an Israel like in the time of David and the time of Solomon. Let's go over to Acts chapter 1 and begin here talking about this.

The early disciples, though, looked forward to this time when Israel was going to be restored. In Acts chapter 1 and verses 1 through 3, it talks about how that Jesus Christ presented Himself to the disciples for 40 days. He showed them infallible proofs. And so they saw tremendous miracles. I want you to think about that, brethren. And there were six weeks, in other words, where they were seeing demonstrated a very powerful way. Jesus Christ proving, of course, that He had been resurrected and proving, of course, what He had said about sending to His Father in heaven and showing them these tremendous things.

It had always have amazed me when I read these scriptures and seen them, how if the disciples saw all these miracles, the first question that the disciples asked Jesus Christ is found down in verse 6. Let's notice in verse 6. And it says, Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

Are You going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He wanted to know. You know, of course, they had that uppermost in their minds, despite all of the things that they had seen and that they had witnessed, they wanted to see Israel restored to its former greatness. Now, we live now in modern-day Israel, in the lands of the United States, in Britain, in Australia, in Canada, and all those other nations that have been blessed so much in our time because of Abraham and what Abraham did for us and the faithfulness that God had rewarded him with and the blessings that we have mounted up and increased.

It's not because of our tremendous mental acumen or prowess as businessmen that we've been able to become a great nation that we have been, but it's because God promised it to Abraham. I think we all know that. It's not because we're the greatest people in being able to do and accomplish those things. I think it's amazing how many of the great discoveries have been made in the United States of America. And did that just happen because we were smart people? I think it's because God revealed those things to this nation and allowed us to take the lead and become the great nation that the United States has become.

And, of course, we now, of course, sit at the time where we may very well see those things, passes by. Already Europe now is wealthier than we are as a result of this recession that set in in the United States. Who knows how far it will go and how quickly it will go in that direction. But we know the time is going to come, brethren, when God is going to bring our people back up in the future in a much more powerful way than we can ever imagine.

God is going to move and shake this world. It excites me when I come to the feast because I look out here at this audience, at mothers and fathers and grandmothers. You, brethren, are the movers of the shakers of the future. You're going to rock this world in an incredible way that I think sometimes we don't grasp and we don't see. And it's going to involve Israel for the future. And, of course, we've grown fat with a tremendous prosperity as a nation.

And I don't think, brethren, though we're prepared for what is going to happen to us in the near future, I think people are going to be shaken. Political leaders, religious leaders are going to be amazed at what's going to happen in the future to this country. I think maybe sometimes we don't realize the trauma that's going to come and what is prophesied to occur to this nation in the future. We're going to have to be close to God, brethren, in order to make it through the things that are going to happen in the future. It is going to be very difficult. And I think that, certainly, God, as the Bible says, is going to bring cataclysmic events upon us that we are going to hit this world like gangbusters in the near future as far as we can see in prophecy. There may be more time. We don't know. But we know that those things are coming. And for a three-and-a-half-year period of time, this world is going to see an incredible tribulation. And the United States and Britain, where we've had peace and we've had safety, that's all going to change. And I think we understand that when we look at prophecy. And the world is going to be greatly amazed when the kingdom is going to emerge from it, when Christ is going to set up His kingdom, and He's going to bring the peace and the joy of what these days mention and talk to us about for the future. Every people upon the face of the earth is going to have a relationship with God in the kingdom when it's set up in the world tomorrow. But when the millennium begins, brethren, what will be our first order of business? What will be the first order of business that we'll have to take care of at the beginning of the millennium? Well, our first awesome mission, brethren, will be the restoration of Israel. We're going to restore Israel, and we're going to have a part in that. We're going to have a part in that. We're going to be involved in that in a very personal way. What we're going to do is first reunite the family of Israel, the remaining remnant of Israel. We're going to bring them all together at the very beginning of the millennium. You know, God loves the people, by the way, of modern Israel. He loves us a great deal. And He's done a lot for us. And He will not forget us, the Bible says. Let's go to Ezekiel 5. It's wonderful things that God says, but there are troubles that are coming that we need to be aware of. This is a joyous feast in the sense that it looks forward to the establishment of the kingdom of God, but there are some things that are very rocky for us ahead. In Ezekiel 5 and verse 12, notice what Ezekiel the prophet says. He said, A third of you shall die of the pestilence, and he be consumed with famine in your midst, and one third shall fall by the sword all around you, and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. We know that our people of the United States, this whole house of Israel, as we know that this picture is because if you look at verse 4 there, it says that this is the whole house of Israel He's talking about here, indicate that, again, two-thirds of our people are going to perish according to prophecy. And there are some prophecies that lead us to believe, brethren, that this could happen in one day.

It could happen in one day. And of course, if that happens, what we're going to do is we're going to see the whole world order changed overnight. It would happen overnight, and this whole world would be dramatically changed. Let's still listen to chapter 6, what it says. Be reminded about these things. In verse 2, Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel.

Sir Horchak last night mentioned about how the mountains are nations. Here he's talking about the nations of Israel here. And prophesy against them. And of course, because of the sins of Israel. And say to them, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the eternal. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, to the hills, and to the ravines, and to the valleys. In other words, all over Israel. Indeed, I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

Let's note this down in verse 6. And in all your dwelling places the city shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate. So that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate.

Your idols shall be broken. It says, and cease, and your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the eternal. The problem with our people, again, we've been given so many good things, physical things, that we've gotten used to, but we have never known the true God. The true God that, of course, we worship, that we adore, that we look forward to, that we wait for the kingdom of God, for Jesus Christ to return, and to set up that kingdom they don't know, they don't understand, they do not perceive. But the cities of our great nation are going to be laid waste, and it may very well be very quick, in a very powerful way, a massive destruction.

You know, old Albert Einstein once said, I do not know how the next war will be fought, but he said the one following that will be with sticks and stones. That's how bad it's going to be. And so the major cities of modern Israel will be destroyed. And, of course, we can understand that, I think, more in this day and age that we live in, that any other time, because of the fact of terrorism and the use of biological, chemical, and atomic or nuclear weapons, we can understand this, how it can happen so quickly to us.

And it will likely come, as we understand, from the beast power out of Europe. However, it could come from radical Muslim Paris. It could happen that way, and occur that way. You know, we, of course, are not generally made aware of this, but there are al-Qaeda cells that are located all over the United States right now. I'm reading a book called God's War on Terror, and it is by a Muslim who converted to Christianity.

And he came to see that Allah was not God. In fact, he, in his book, talks about how that Allah is Satan. And he says all of the ways that Allah is described in the Quran, in fact, are descriptive of the devil. Interesting. But anyway, he converted to Christianity, and he said he was a terrorist, and he wasn't a cell here in the United States. And so he knows what he's talking about. And so there are cells, again, that are all over this country, and will, I'm sure, plan as they have in the past to do destructive things.

So Christ is not going to come back to a beautiful world. You know, we look out here at Steamboat, and we see this world, how beautiful it is that God has created the majestic mountains. And you really have a fantastic, beautiful state here. I wish we could drive around, you know, for two or three weeks after the feast, but haven't been able to do a lot of touring around Colorado, but it's a beautiful place. But Jesus Christ is not going to come back to this kind of world with so much beauty because it will have been ravaged by war, it will be ravaged by famine and disease, and all the great abundance that we have will be gone.

It will be gone. And the beast power will have the preeminence in the world. And the people of the United States, the people of modern Israel, will have been scattered widely throughout the world in a captivity and a slavery. And so that is the picture that will be in the future, brethren. It's not a pretty one that we like to think about.

But what Christ is going to do, which is so fantastic and so tremendous, He's going to bring all the scattered people of Israel, modern Israel, back together again into a family. And that's the message that we have through the Bible when it talks about the memorial reign of Jesus Christ. It talks about a great event that's coming, a great event when we compare this particular exodus to the exodus that took place when Israel came out of Egypt in ancient times. God says in His word that you won't be able to compare that to what's going to happen in the end time. And it's going to be the modern version of a great second exodus that's going to take place when He reunites all the scattered peoples of Israel from around the globe. Let's notice a prophecy over in Ezekiel 37 that tells us this. This is a major theme, again, of the Bible. And I think we need to know what we're going to be doing at the very outset of the millennium. What our job is going to be is going to be awesome, brethren, to think about. God's going to make use of us right away at the beginning of the millennium. In Ezekiel 37 and down in verse 6, notice what God tells Ezekiel. Ezekiel 37 and down in verse 16, I should say. And it says, And ask for you, son of man. He says, Take a stick for yourself, and write on it. For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions, then take another stick and write on it. It says, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, and his companions. And then join them one to another, for yourself, into one stick, he says. And they shall become one in your hand. And so here God tells Ezekiel this, that Israel and Judah are going to be made one in his hand. And down in verse 20, it says, And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. And then say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations.

It says, Wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side, and bring them into their own land. And I'll make them one nation in the land, and on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall no longer be two nations. And it says, Nor shall there ever be divided into two kingdoms again. So God is going to bring this family back together. You know, of course, we have people in this country probably think, you know, you mean we're going to be united with the Jews. We're going to be reunited with Reuben. We're going to be united with Finland. And some of these other nations that are Israelite nations, you bet. That's what's going to happen. All of these nations are going to be brought together, and they're going to be made into the greatest nation that ever existed. And as you talk about the energies that are going to be in that nation, the talents or the abilities that are going to be in there, I'll tell you, it's going to be fantastic when that happens and when that occurs. So God's going to bring them together, it says, in their own land. And I'm going to make them one nation, one nation, and they're going to have one king. And notice as we go on down through here, God says some other things that are going to occur in the future. So God's going to bring Israel and Judah back together. You know, Israel broke away, of course, in ancient times. Israel went into captivity by, of course, the Assyrians, and they disappeared into the woodwork. They never came back to Israel. Judah went into captivity in Babylon in 505 or 585 B.C. or so, and only a remnant came back from Babylon, and the rest were filtered through Babylon and on out to different parts of the world. But God is going to bring them all together again. The family of Jacob is going to be brought together into one family. You know, there's an old saying that you don't drive the car of the future through the rearview mirror of the past. So God's going to leave the past and the past with Israel, and He's going to start new, and Israel is going to be one, one nation, all together. And that's going to change the world all together in itself. Imagine again when that occurs. And this prophecy that we're reading right now, by the way, shows that Israel will exist in our time. Some people don't think Israel exists today except in that little slither of land over in the Middle East. But Israel is all over this globe and has been blessed, as we've already said, by the blessings of Abraham and they become very wealthy. And when Ezekiel wrote this, by the way, he was a captive by the river Kebar. He was in captivity, remember. And interestingly, in fact, the tribes have gone, in fact, much longer than that into captivity, never came back to Palestine. David had been dead for 400 years. He had been dead for 400 years. Here God says that David is going to be king in the future. He's going to be king over Israel at that time. I'll tell you, David's going to be some ruler, isn't he? I don't think we've had a ruler that is going to be like David. Somebody can dance on a linen ephod. I mean, you've got to hand it to them, don't you? They bold. I think you would call them bold. But David had been dead for 400 years. The Scriptures we're about to read, brethren, will show us that God is going to do this. He's going to do three things with Israel in the future. Number one, he's going to restore. Number two, he's going to unify. And number three, he's going to purify. He's going to purify Israel. He's going to unify Israel. He's going to restore Israel. Let's go on down here in verse 23, because these are exciting words, in fact, that are spoken here.

And it says, And you, or they, shall not defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things. Like Israel did of old, they became worse than the Gentiles in terms of idol worship. And it says, Nor with any of their transgressions. So God says, You're not going to defy yourself with sin any more.

And the things that, of course, people have done in the past. And I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will to cleanse them. So God's going to purify them. He's going to clean Israel up. That's what we need, don't we, in this country right now, somebody to clean this country up.

Although I think that we've just gone too far, frankly, and it's downhill from here. And it says, Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. In verse 24, David, he says, My servant shall be king over them. And they shall all have one shepherd, And they shall all walk in my judgments, and observe my statues, and do them. And then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob, my servant, Where your fathers dwelt. That's over there in the Middle East.

You know, that's there in Palestine. And they shall dwell there. They, their children, and their children's children, forever. And my servant David shall be their prince forever. Of course, Jesus Christ is going to be right there as well. And he says, Moreover, I make a covenant of peace with them, And it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, And I will establish them and multiply them. We'll start with the remnant, in other words. It'll be multiplied and increased. And I will set my sanctuary.

God's sanctuary, His temple, will be right there, In their midst, forevermore. And my tabernacles shall also be with them. Indeed, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. The nations also shall know that I, The eternal, sanctify Israel, When my sanctuary is in their midst forever. And so that's what it says about the future, And what God says is going to happen. And so it's going to be a tremendous step Toward restoring Israel what God is saying here.

God's going to remove that stony heart of rebelliousness That is in Israel. And instead of being the witness to the world of God's true way today, To the nations of the world, We have, in fact, exceeded the world in sin. You know, of course, Hollywood is one of those things That seems to never end. It's export of the kinds of sin that go on in our society. But modern Israel, of course, has been worse than the pagans. And God, though, is going to clean Israel up in the future.

And he's going to restore, and he's going to unite Israel To make it a very powerful nation. But it's going to be a very different nation at that time. This world is based on a kind of a Machiavellian concept That people are motivated by self-interest. And our entire economic program and system that we have is based on get. As we heard, you know, Mr.

Armstrong say so often, This world is based on get. God's world, though, is going to be based on give. Learning how to give. You know, the United States of America, of course, as a nation, Has been blessed so much. And we have been a giving nation more than other nations in the world. But we're going to really see what God means when he says give. Give to the world. Because we're going to change the world. We're going to dramatically, brethren, change this world. But before that happens, of course, we know that God has to allow Israel to fall down far. And where people are going to be saying when it happens, brethren, That we will never come back up again.

There will always be the tale. And those who cry, death to America will get their wish. It's going to happen. It's going to occur. And God is going to allow that to happen. And yet he then is going to turn it around. He's going to turn it around and change it. It's going to be a wonderful thing when it happens. Let's go to Jeremiah 50. Notice again more prophecies about this, This central theme that is in the Bible, That talks about these millennial things that are going to occur and begin to happen.

We can begin to see again what our jobs are going to be in the future. When God begins to set this kingdom up. We've been waiting for this kingdom, as Mr. Dove talked about. And we've been talking about this kingdom. We've been anticipating this kingdom. But we need to think about what are we going to do when we get there? What are we going to be doing when we arrive? We're excited about it. We are anticipating greatly with great enthusiasm. But we've got a lot to think about in terms of what we're going to do when we get there. In verse 4 of chapter 50 of Jeremiah, notice it says, In those days, and in that time, says the eternal, The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah, together.

See, they're going to be brought back together. With continual weeping, they shall come and seek the eternal their God. What a change that's going to make when people are ready to come before God with the right attitude, come weeping before God, and they're coming to seek God. You know, that's, of course, something that Mr. Horchak talked about last night, we're not here to just eat a big steak.

You know, we're not here to even just a fellowship. We're not here to do those things that are things that we enjoy, see the scenery, and all that. But we're here for the feast. We're here to learn from God. We're here to think about those things of the future and realize, again, we are going to have a part in it. And we need to get, again, the meat out of this feast so that we can take it back.

And like the prayer said at the opening, squeeze it out like a sponge, that we know it. We know what's going to happen. And nobody can tell you, in other words, that you don't know what the Bible says about what's going to happen in the future. Let's notice going on, verse 5, And they shall ask the way to Zion. They're going to want to know the way to where God is, in other words. And we're their faces toward it, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the eternal in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.

Let's join ourselves to God. What a change that's going to be. Isn't it kind of interesting right now that oftentimes it seems that people have a hard time coming into the church, coming out of the world. And of course they want to, but changing is something they find very hard to do. But here at this time, they're going to have an eagerness to do that, to enter into a relationship, a covenant, with God, according to what this says.

And they're going to want to go up to Jerusalem, and they are going to know where they're going to when they're on the way. People today, again, don't know the way to God, because people today are spiritually lost. Let's go down to verse 19. Verse 19. And I will bring back Israel to his home. Interesting, God calls modern Israel's home is down there in Palestine. We haven't been home for a long time, brethren. And he shall feed on Carmel and Bayshah. His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.

And it says, in those days, in that time, says the eternal, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none. Wow! No sin found in Israel. Think about it again compared to today. All you've got to do is, if you want to find sin in America today, is throw a rock over your head and hit somebody on the head. You know, usually that's where it is. It's not very far. There's not going to be an iniquity found.

In fact, to find an iniquity today, all we have to do is look into ourselves, don't we? Sometimes we commit sin and we do things that are wrong, but it will be sought, but it will not be found. The sins of Judah, it says, but they shall not be found, for I will part in those whom I preserve.

So God's going to pardon those sins, and there shall be no sin in Israel. It's going to purify Israel, and through certainly the blood of Jesus Christ, their sins are going to be wiped away. Let's go on down to verse 33.

Verse 33, thus says the eternal of hosts. The children of Israel were oppressed, along with the children of Judah. All who took them captive held, it says, have held them fast. So they're going to hold on to these modern-day slaves very closely, very fast. And it says they have refused to let them go. See, initially when God begins to call for the, you know, children of Israel will be released from their captives. They're not going to want to let them go.

And they're going to hold on to them, according to this prophecy, what it says. In verse 34, their Redeemer, though, is strong. The eternal of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case. And it says that He may give rest to the land and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

So God is going to make them let the captives go. And, you know, it's like when you and I were called, brethren, God had to work very hard to deliver us from this world in this society. It wasn't so easy. I don't know about you, but it took a two-by-four for me to sit up and take notice.

And for me to begin to realize that I had to come out of this world, I was pretty young, you know. I was about 16 when the two-by-four started to hit my head, by the way. By the time I was 16, I thought I'd messed my life up.

And I thought, well, God, if you can do anything with it, then I'd be glad to obey you. How many of you got a two-by-four? Okay, maybe God used a crowbar on you. I don't know. Maybe He did something else. But when God delivers ancient Israel, He's going to have to do some hard things, some very difficult things, and bringing them out. And He will do that, though, because these nations are not going to let Israel go just like that.

They're going to tenaciously hold on to the Israelites, the modern-day Israelites. And they're not going to surrender. People are going to be hard-headed. Remember that in the millennium, Egypt doesn't repent right away. It takes like four years for them to come around. When they don't have any rain, then they're going to repent and change, be willing to come up to Jerusalem. Let's go to Isaiah 41.

There are so many scriptures, brethren, about this that talk about the future. And what is so amazing to me when I read through these scriptures about the millennium and how it is going to be is how much God loves Israel, how much He loves His people. And we're all Israel, brethren. No matter what our races may be, we're all Israel because we're all grafted into Israel. And so we're all Israel. And God loves Israel. He loves the splendid way and manner and what He's going to do in the future. In chapter 41, down in verse 10, notice what God says, "'Fear not, for I am with you.

Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.'" That's what God says to the captives. Look, I'm with you. Imagine what it's going to be like, brethren. These people will probably, if slaves, have been beaten. Some of them will be very sickly. Some of them may be blind as a result of nuclear warfare.

Seeing the bright explosion of a nuclear bomb, be blinded by that. Some may be death. Some may be experimented on. A time of war has happened in World War II. But God says, look, don't fear. Don't fear. Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced. They shall be as nothing. And those who strive with you shall perish. So those are going to tenaciously hold on to you when they're going to perish. God says, if they do that, because they will let you go. You're going to be able to escape that situation. Down in verse 13.

And it says, For I, the eternal of your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, fear not, I will help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob, men of Israel. I will help you, says the eternal, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. And so God says he's going to help. And interesting to hear the word worm is used.

According to MacArthur's study Bible, the term worm was used and content by other nations for Israel. So again, the United States, Britain, all of us will be down and out. It will be as though we will never come back. And the world will refer to us as a worm. And not only that, I think MacArthur's goes on to say that even the Messiah, the Christ, is referred to by the term worm as well, in a distasteful manner. When Jesus Christ returns, of course, he's not going to be welcome with open arms. The Antichrist, I'm sure, will have polarized the world's way of thinking at that time against the returning Jesus Christ.

In verse 17, the poor and needy seek water, but there is none. Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Eternal, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers and desolate heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water. So our people will be able to come back, modern Israel, will come back, and God will intervene and do miracles for them, just as He did miracles for ancient Israel, and bringing them back, you know, to bring them out of Egypt and into the land of promise that He was going to bring them forward to.

God's going to give them water, as He did, when Moses, of course, gave them water in the desert in that time when they were so thirsty and they were crying out to God.

Down in verse 19, I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the kesha tree, the myrtle and the oil tree, and I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together. And so God's going to begin to change. We'll be changing, of course, the area of Palestine. It is going to be tremendously populated by trees, and it will be a very fertile area.

And it says that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the eternal has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it. So God is going to transform what is the Middle East now. I spent, by the way, two and a half months in Israel, and much of it is desolate desert area. Whereas it used to be a very fertile area in the past, you know, the Romans came through there, cut down all the trees and salted the ground, so that it became an area that was quite desolate. But God is going to populate all that area with fertile growth and great trees, as it talks about here in the book of Isaiah. And I personally believe that in the Millennium that God is going to lead us to invent things that are far greater than we have ever had in the world today. You know, the Bible certainly indicates that. Some people have asked me over the years, you know, and other ministers of the church, well, what's it going to be like then? Are we going to go back to the old mule and buggy day?

You know, I don't know about you, but I'm not too good with mules and buggies and horses. And I think I'd almost like to walk if I'm going to have to ride a donkey or camel, especially a camel.

I think that God is going to give us things that are astounding. Of course, we can only speculate about what that is going to be like when we get at this time and find out when we arrive.

But when you read what it says in verse 15 here, where God says, Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth, and you shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills like chaff, and you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and you shall rejoice in the eternal and glory in the Holy One of Israel. God talks about Israel becoming this, but I wonder in the world tomorrow if we're going to find, in fact, there will be machines that will actually grind down mountains. Some areas we've got too many mountains, and some areas we don't have enough mountains. You know, I grew up in Oklahoma, and we don't have enough mountains in Oklahoma. And it would be nice to have something out that way. Maybe God will help us figure out those things in greater technology. You know, we know that we will mine the oceans in the world tomorrow and harvest the great wealth. Think about it, brethren, three-quarters of the earth is covered by water, and three-quarters of the world's wealth is underneath it. We'll figure out how to do that. We'll figure out how to harvest all of that, and we're going to be able again to see the world tomorrow blossom and increase so much. Let's go to chapter 43 now. Chapter 43. God's going to bring Israel together, and we're going to begin that whole process. In verses 1 and 2, it says, I think we see here how God loves Israel.

So God is going to cause those returning to Palestine from captivity to come through very difficult things. You know, fire is symbolic of difficulty, plagues, starvation, tribulation. Like when Israel came out of Egypt. Those kinds of things. But they're going to again come down into Palestine where God is going to make it all right. Down in verse 3. Verse 3.

Notice this word ransom is used. It's like God is going to have to pay a ransom for the Israelites. And it says, Ethiopia and Ceba into your place. It says, You see, that's how special Israel is to God.

Here God is saying, I'm going to bring your descendants from the east and gather you from the west. And I will say to the north, give them up and to the south. Do not keep them back. And it says, And so God says they're going to have to be brought back to the area of Palestine where He's going to bring Israel all together.

All the rimbeth is left is going to be brought together into one nation. God's going to divide waters for them. He's going to provide all the need for them to get back down into the environs of Palestine. And God is going to be there again and make the way. Down in verse 15. It says, And so God is going to bring His people Israel back down into Palestine. He's going to make a way to the sea for them to come back down. And like with what God did with ancient Israel, you know, when they came to the Red Sea and they were backed up against the Red Sea, then Moses, remember, lifted his staff up.

I love that scene in the Ten Commandments movie. You know, old Charlton Heston raises that staff and those waters just begin to divide. And Israel is able to go over a dry shot. Reminds me of a story. A little boy at Sunday School was talking about how amazing he said the miracle was for Israel at the Red Sea, and how God made a way to walk between the walls of water on each side, he said.

The little boy was just really amazed that that miracle God had performed. And there was apparently an adult Bible teacher told him that that wasn't a miracle. The children of Israel went across a shallow part of the Red Sea, he said, called the Sea of Reeds. And the water was only a few inches deep where they came over, he said. And as he was saying that, the child was even more amazed and displayed it with wide eyes, and a big smile came over his face. And that adult said to him, why are you smiling so big?

And the young boy said that that was an even greater miracle, he said, because God drowned all those Egyptians and the horses in the few inches of water. There are some people that don't want to believe that God performed a miracle. Well, you know, when Israel came over Jordan, it was a miracle there, wasn't it? There was no Sea of Reeds there. I think God did exactly what it says in the Bible. Let's go down further here, down in verse 18. It says, do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing. It says, now it shall spring forth, shall you not know it. I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, the beasts of the field will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people I have formed for myself, they shall declare my praise. So God, again, loves Israel. He loves the people of the United States and Britain as well.

He's very disappointed in us, very disappointed in this nation for all we've been given. But God loves Israel. He really does. He has a purpose. He has a plan for Israel. And you know what? It's going to be accomplished. It's going to be done. Sometimes we're hard-headed, aren't we? Sometimes we don't do what, in fact, we should be doing as God's people. But God will make sure that Israel is going to do what He designed them to do. They're going to not only be an instant to the world in terms of a beacon of this world of technology, we're going to be a beacon to the world in terms of the spiritual things. Israel is going to be the place to be in terms of the spiritual.

And everybody's going to want to go up to Israel to learn. But God will have redeemed Israel in the future from every tongue and nation and people. And brethren, guess what? We've been redeemed out of this world from every tongue and nation and people, too. And you know what? We know how people think right now. We, of course, in this modern time, and we're going to be able to help people in a very big way. People like Moses are going to help certainly those who are going to be in his era in time and in a very special way, Aaron, and those that were there and all through the ages.

Every age is going to have somebody that's going to be there. But we're going to be there also, brethren, and we're going to help. But there's going to be a massive military-type operation that's going to take place at the beginning of the millennium. And I don't know what it's going to be called, but I can see a banner that says, Bring our boys home. Bring our boys home.

And we're going to do it with wisdom. We're going to do it with mercy. And those called now will be assisting all along the way. We're going to be there, brethren, to bring them along. But God is going to mandate to us to bring Israel home so that it can be, again, the beacon of this world that God intended it to be of his way of life. And that message is going to be carried through the entire world. We're going to be there, especially us, because we're going to hopefully be spirit beings.

We're going to help the law go out of Zion, as the Bible tells us in the book of Isaiah. And we're going to perform that function. We're going to carry the gospel to the world.

And Israel is going to be a big part of that. During the beginning of the millennium, God will first restore Israel. Then there will be a reunion of all nations and all families that will be brought together. There are going to be some nations that are going to be reorganized in the world of moral, for man's good.

Some nations will cease to exist. The Bible indicates that there are certain nations that are going to cease to exist. Again, Israel is going to be there. We're going to be a part of the destruction of the entire world. And the laws of God will go out from Zion as a result of the work that we'll begin to do in the world of moral. And we'll go forth preaching the gospel.

And then what we're going to be doing is gathering Israel back together. Yes, we're going to be a part of that, brethren. And God is going to supply the miracles along the way to make it possible. God's going to dry up, in fact, the delta so that Israelites can come back down. So from wherever they are. Some, of course, in Africa, no doubt, Egypt, some located to the north, other bodies of water will, in fact, have a pathway for the children of Israel to return back into Palestine. And God is going to cause people to begin to want to come again to these things. Israel is going to have a change of heart. They're going to be repentant.

People are going to be coming from all over, from Germany, no doubt, from places like Libya, places like Iran, perhaps Italy, other places like that, brought back down into Palestine. I don't know if any of you like to fish or not. I enjoy going fishing occasionally and have had success. But I have to admit that sometimes it seems like that I've been less successful than I want to be. A lot of times I go out fishing or have in the past and don't catch anything.

But, you know, if you ever notice the joy that's in a little boy's face when he catches a fish, or the joy in an old man's face when he catches a fish, it's a great time, isn't it? You know, in the ministry, we have the job of being fishers of men. We go out and we talk to people. And, you know, I think I could speak for every minister here who's ever sat down with somebody and told them the truth, and they believed it.

Sometimes we are non-plus by that when it happens. But it's like, in a way, you've caught a fish. You feel good. You walk out of there and, oh, great, this person's going to be a part of God's church. It's an exciting thing. Well, brethren, God's going to make all of us fishers of men. All of us are going to be fishers of men in the future.

Let's notice in Jeremiah 16, because the Bible tells us about that. Jeremiah 16. In verse 14, it says, "'Therefore, behold, the days are coming,' says the Eternal, "'that it shall no more be said, the Eternal lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt. But the Eternal lives who brought up the children of Israel.'" It's like what we've been talking about here, brethren, for this sermon. "'From the land of the north and from all the lands where they had been driven them.

For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.'" So God's going to bring them back as He says so clearly here. He says, "'Behold, I'll send for many fishermen,' says the Eternal." Who's He talking about? He talked about you and me. He's going to send for many fishermen, He says here, says the Eternal, "'They shall fish them.'" So we're going to go fishing for people. "'And it says, and afterward I will send for many hunters.'" Many of us are hunters. We'll learn how to hunt as well. "'And it says, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill and out of the holes of the rocks.'" God says, we're going to fish them and we're going to hunt them out.

We're going to find all of these Israelites that are scattered all over this world. I can see it now, brother. I can see this in my mind. David, and he won't have on a linen ephab when that happens. David's going to be standing before us. He's going to say this.

He's going to say, "'The King of Kings and Lord of Lords has mandated that we go out and we look in every building, every shed, every cave, or any mountain that they are, and we're going to bring them home.'" Bring them home. And we'll be going out, brother, and we're going to be fishing for people who are going to be scared. They're going to be hungry. And imagine, again, a family and rags, filthy rags, thirsty, hungry, fearful.

And we go and say to them, we're taking you home. It's going to be a wonderful time, brother. Forgive me for my emotionalism, but it really will. Some people will have given up, but you will go there and you will give them hope. In the world tomorrow, brother, we're going to fish and we're going to hunt for people and bring them back one by one. That's what the Bible says. And some probably will have thought that all hope is lost, but we will bring them back. And they will call that operation, Operation Bring Israel Home. And the first exodus, let me tell you, will be for God altogether. You'll be there to help them. And something what is so amazing to me as I look in the Bible, it's going to be a big event that's going to take place in the future, brethren, that it describes this time. In Zechariah chapter 14, down in verse 3, it says, "...then the eternal shall go forth and fight against those nations..." As he fights in the day of battle, of course, this is the time that, you know, is going to be a nation's battling against Jesus Christ. "...and in that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives..." It says "...which faces Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. And half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south." And then it says, "...you shall flee through my mountain valley, and the mountain valley shall reach to Azil..." as he says. "...you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of the Uzziah king of Judah." And so there's going to be a great valley that's going to be created by when Christ returns. And during that time, there's going to be a tremendous river that's going to be in Israel at that time as well.

Right now, the biggest river in Israel is Jordan, the tiny little Jordan. But this time, it's going to be a tremendous valley that's going to have a tremendous river that is going to go through here. So there are going to be topographical changes in the environs of Jerusalem at that time. And it will have to be because the Temple Mount is 300 feet lower than the Mount of Olives, what he's describing here.

But let's notice on down here in verse 18. "...and in that day it shall be that living water shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea. In both summer and winter it shall occur." And so God is going to establish this great river.

"...and the Eternal shall be king over all the earth, and in that day it shall be the Eternal is one and his name is one." And so there's going to be a huge river that's going to be coming out of Jerusalem. And I think we're going to be calling this river one of the wonders of the world at that time because it's going to be spectacular. It's going to be pure. It's going to be pristine.

Now what is the purpose of this river? Well, obviously it's to fertilize, to make a lie, the desert and all of that. But the Bible actually tells us what is going to occur. That in fact there are going to be trees on either side of that river. There's going to be a very deep and a very wide river. And that in fact as people come up to Jerusalem, you know, after being captive, they're going to be brought back up to Jerusalem.

And that the trees that are going to be there, the leaves are going to be able to heal the nations, talks about. And you in fact read about that in the book of Revelation 22, about a similar thing in Revelation 22. But there's going to be a river that is going to lead all the way up to Jerusalem.

I don't know if any of you remember the times that you're at the beach. One time when I was out on the beach, at sunset, I saw the sun reflecting on the waters, and it was like a road in the ocean. I don't know if any of you know what I'm talking about, but like a road in the ocean. Well, this river, brethren, is going to be like a road to Jerusalem.

Imagine this, as the people of Israel begin to return back down to Palestine, they're going to be again, some of them will have certainly gashes and sores of war, some of them are going to have other problems. And as they take these leaves and they begin to use those for healing, they begin to get better. They begin to drink the water that has a healing effect on them. And as they get closer and closer to Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ will be, they will get stronger and stronger. This river will be like a type of a road that will lead, in fact, to Jerusalem at that time. And it will lead them right up to the King who is at Jerusalem, Jesus Christ. And, you know, it will be a trail of healing. If you think about it, I think it will be a trail of healing. And through that, God will begin to mend Israel and restore Israel in a physical sense as people come on up to Jerusalem. Let's go over to Psalm 46. Psalm 46. Psalm 46, beginning in verse 1.

Psalm 46. Notice it says here, God is our refuge and strength, and so He is, brethren. A very present help and trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed. I think we need to remember this ourselves because of the days that we're living in, what we may face in the very near future. And it says, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake, it says with its swelling. You know, we should not fear. As soon as down in verse 4, He says, Now that river probably is that river that emanates from Jerusalem, from the very throne of God. The holy place of the tabernacle the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall save her just at the break of dawn. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved. He uttered His voice, the earth melted. And so God spoke, and it was done, in other words. And it says, God says here, The God of Jacob is our refuge. So, brother, we need to think about that as we see the times approaching. They're ahead of us. Do not fear. Do not trust in God. To look to God. He will give us a path to walk in so that we'll be able to be there in the kingdom of God. If we're willing to step out in faith and believe God and continue walking forward, some of you have been walking for 50, 60, 70 years in the way of God. Well, brother, we've got to keep walking. And it may not be. It will happen in our lifetimes. Who can say? But we know, brethren, it is going to happen. It is going to occur. And God says that when it comes, He's going to make a feast of fat things that is just incomparable. And when we get there, brethren, in the kingdom of God, it's going to be a wonderful thing.

When the meaning of the feast, brethren, come to pass, there is going to be a time of great rejoicing. And one of the central themes that is pictured will be the regathering of Israel in the future into one, into one nation. And Israel is going to be restored beyond what it ever was during the time of Solomon. Because you know why? Because you are going to have the greatest King of all, and that is Jesus Christ. Nobody better than that, brethren. And it will be a time of the greatest family reunion that the world has ever seen when we are all brought back together, no matter what tribe or what people be grafted in to Israel. So, brethren, we've been called now from every nation and people to make it happen with Christ when He sets up His kingdom here upon this earth. Let's think about that. Let's meditate on that during this feast. And let's rejoice that God has called us that we can be a part of the grandest future of all.

Thank you.