People Pursuing a Cause

To begin the message this morning, I would like to give you a brief history of the city of Jerusalem. Very brief. You'll recall in Scripture that there have been various people who have pushed for various things just in our world today. People who have a cause. People who pursue that cause. And so it was that Abraham was given such a cause, and he was told to move from Ur, we can see down here in the right corner, up to Haran with his father, and then left his family there and ultimately moved down to what we know as Palestine today.

Later on, Abraham would be asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. He lived here in Beersheba at the time. He didn't just sort of go over the hill to do that. He traveled all the way up to a place called Moriah, and there he was told to sacrifice his son. Later on, we find that David made an altar on this very mountain of Moriah, as indeed when Solomon built a temple, he built it right there on Mount Moriah.

When Jesus Christ died for the sins of humanity, he was scourged right here on Mount Moriah, probably right there in Antonia, the citadel of the Roman soldiers, the garrison that was stationed there at the time. Here is the temple mount. Somewhere in that city, he died. Years ago, the League of Nations, back in the 1940s, assigned every square inch of land on Earth to some nations. There had been a lot of changes in the political landscape, and consequently, various countries then owned every inch of planet Earth, except for two spots. One was the South Pole, the other was Jerusalem, and some areas around it.

And those areas still are not assigned today. I think it's interesting to go back and look at those borders and territories. In pre-1967, before what's called the Six-Day War, we see the green area is what had been allocated to the Jews. This area of Samaria and Judea was controlled by Jordan. This purple area is Jordan. The red area, the Gaza, was an area that was occupied by Egypt.

And you see in the green, the small amount of territory that Israel was allotted. In fact, if you look at these mileage signs, you can see the width of it. It's just 21 miles, 9 miles, 11 miles wide, 22 miles, 10 miles. It's a very short distance between the edges of what the nation of Israel has been living in. These occupied areas right here were never assigned. Samaria, Judea, the Gaza, including a lot of Jerusalem. Most of Jerusalem, in fact, the old city of Jerusalem.

It's called East Jerusalem. Those areas were occupied by the Jordanians, the Egyptians, and the Syrians simply because they wanted to frustrate the League of Nations decision to allow Israel to have a homeland there. And so consequently today, these areas still are unassigned. And yet, the United States is pressuring Israel, pushing, to let the Palestinians have that country. And to assign those territories finally to the Palestinians. Is there something that we should know in connection with the Feast of Trumpets and the city of Jerusalem and Palestine?

Today I want to look at our world, see what's happening in comparison with Scripture. We're going to find the times that are just ahead of us will be affected by lots of people seeking a cause, pursuing a cause. What are the cause or the causes? Who are the people and what will take place? This day is all about prophecy. It's all about the unfolding of the unknown. But God knows what's going to happen, and He's told us what's going to happen. We can see some of the signs of what will take place beginning to shape up in our world, though we don't know exactly how they will play out.

But following the specifics that the Bible gives, we can certainly get an overview. All the big nations on earth today have one thing in common, and that is, they are all coming to Jerusalem. They may not know it, but that's one of the secrets that God has revealed through His Scripture to the saints, is that everybody is coming to Jerusalem, ultimately. Jesus Christ warns of this event back in Luke 21, verse 20. I want to read this from the New International Version, because the modern English there is a little more striking.

Jesus says, when you see this city, Jerusalem, surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. You might say, well, so what? So what? It's just a small city. Jerusalem, they call it J-town, at least some of us did when we spent some time there living and working in archaeology. What about it? So what? It says in verse 21, Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, let those in the country not enter the city.

For this is the time of punishment in the fulfillment of all that is written. The fulfillment of all that is written. Notice how central an event this is to Scripture when he says it's a fulfillment of all that is written. Clashes here are going to result in some really great bloodshed. In Revelation chapter 14 and verse 19, again, the NIV brings this out clearly where it says, The angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. And they were trampled in the winepress outside this city, outside of Jerusalem. And blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles, for a distance of one hundred and eighty miles, Bridal deep, the blood from the soldiers runs.

A hundred and eighty miles. But what is it that brings the nations of the world to this point? What causes them to come and assemble in the valley of Megiddo, Har Megiddo? What brings them here?

James gives us a clue to the mentality in James chapter 4 and verse 1. He says, Where do wars and fights come from? What's the source of that? He says, Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? It starts from a self-focus, a desire for something for you that starts inside.

And then you lust and you do not have, and you murder and you covet it and cannot obtain, so you fight and war. This is the human psyche, but society has that motivation that runs even deeper, and it gets stirred up. Jesus Christ said, Satan is a murderer and a liar and the father of it. Satan lusts for power. He is ruthless in his pursuit. He will stop at nothing, including, if necessary, the erasure of all human life off the planet. If he can't have it and control it, then nobody can. In Matthew 24, Jesus warned of that very thing. Unless there was an intervention, there would be no flesh living on this earth at some point. Countries around the world are just full of people like you and me. People with human passions, with lust, desires, coveting. And when you add all that up, we are following the sway of the God of this world. Ephesians chapter 2 is very explanatory about how all of us humans follow his sway. But at this time we see fundamental thinking as changing in our society. It seemed like the world came out of a very structured, a very chaotic, a very oppressive bunch of regimes around the world and entered a nice period of peace. Those of you who are my age or a little younger have enjoyed that sort of tranquility around the world as far as where we've lived anyway. And it's been a peaceful time. But things are changing. Things are changing. If you've been watching the news yesterday, you'll see that Mr. Putin is now choosing a successor, an unknown person, but one with deep ties back into a certain structured and dark past of Russia, just like he himself used to be. He visited Russia about three years ago. It's communist, obviously. Essentially it's without religion. Tens of millions of people there have been killed by the government. They are tough people. They're very intelligent people. They're very resilient people. The current mentality that I've seen is that the view is that communism in the form that they had it was bad. And the government in the form that they had it was bad. But that doesn't mean you get rid of it. That means you hope for something better. They've endured great suffering as a people. They've endured isolation as a people. But that's not where they are. That's not where they want to be. They've seen money go for the military and for the politicians and let the common man starve. Let the common man not have a place to live. People crowded together.

But capitalism is now flourishing for a few. It's not been the hope, the nirvana that people have expected. But there's still injustice. There's still poverty. There's still suspicion. But what's missing? What's missing is identity. The Russians have lost their satellite states.

And essentially they've lost their identity for a while. The purpose, the pride of the people, the recognition by others on the world scene, the wealth, the power. That's what's been missing and that's what they're yearning for. Putin has gone about it. He's been restoring the Russian bear. And he is choosing a person who will continue on with that, no doubt.

China, which I visited last week, is also communist. They have no religion in China. Hundreds of millions were killed by the government there. They are tough people. They're intelligent people. Their current mentality is that communism is good.

As long as you're free to do what you want and own property, which they're very busy about over there, and make money. But communism is good. Capitalism is flourishing for many. Even the many people who live out in that billion-strong culture, live out in the agriculture areas, are moving to the cities and finding jobs. The young people are moving in and getting factory jobs, where they can earn $1.20 an hour and have some sort of menial housing at the same time. This is much more than they could ever do with a greater future, a greater prosperity. And the place is rich. The place is growing rapidly.

They do have some poverty, and it's sad to see their traditional culture fading so fast, rapidly just changing into a Western infrastructure.

The economy is dependent on the West, and in part the United States. And as our economy has softened, so has their ability to sell to us. And they're having some challenges over there. What is missing? What's really missing for the Chinese is not an identity, but it's pride and recognition. It's political clout. The captain of the Chinese soccer team that will compete this month in the World Cup there in Shanghai said to me, We've always been number 10 in the World Cup, and America's always been number one or two. This year we'd like to come up a little more than number 10. They would like an identity. They would like recognition. The country would also like political clout. Here's a little video clip I took with a very small camera just spun around on Tiananmen Square. You remember where the young man stood in front of the tank not too many years ago? Well, here on Tiananmen Square, which is sort of like downtown Washington, D.C., or any large capital city ringed with government buildings, you have a common day where people live and play and go to work. The people here are very content. They are quite proud of their Communist nation, and they are very proud of their Communist past. Even though this man starved to death, 300 million of them before the Cultural Revolution began, they celebrate him. They're shining up his tomb in mausoleum there in the middle of Tiananmen Square for the Olympics that are coming next year. It's a wonderful place to visit. Beautiful people. They're proud. They're growing. They are strong.

Asia Times wrote two years ago an article entitled, The Times That Bind China, Russia, and Iran, quote, The military implementation of the United States foreign policy is creating monumental changes in the world's geostratic alliances.

The most significant of these changes is the formation of a new triangle comprised of China, Iran, and Russia.

Joint military exercises complement a rapidly growing arms trade between Moscow and Beijing. Here you can see some of those arms that Moscow is selling to Beijing.

In the Christian Science Monitor two years ago, Russia and China are looking to form a NATO of the East, possibly.

From Moscow, they wrote, Russia and China could take a step closer to forming a Eurasian military confederacy to rival NATO at a Moscow meeting of the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the SCO.

The group, which started in 2001 with limited goals of promoting cooperation in former Soviet Central Asia, has evolved rapidly towards a regional security bloc and could soon induct new members such as India, Pakistan, and Iran.

Here we see some joint military exercises that take place between their forces, and this was in June. Just two months ago, these pictures were taken.

The SCO, this Shanghai Cooperation Organization, they're calling it, also is developing direct relationships with Afghanistan. The Russians have long-standing allies in Afghanistan, believe it or not.

In the member states, Russia, are Russia, and the Baltics, not the Baltics, but the other STAN states, Kazakhstan and others.

China, they're Wuing Iran, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

And the report concludes, the SCO's swift rise has been fueled by deteriorating security conditions in ex-Soviet Central Asia, as well as a hunger in Moscow and Beijing for a vehicle that could counter U.S. influence in the region.

Just yesterday, if you were watching the news, you probably saw this little clip that came out from Moscow. It was shown on Reuters, it was shown in Moscow Times, it was picked up by most of the news services. But here's a new bomb that Moscow has just tested. It says, the Father of All Bombs is the name of it, because the U.S. has one called the MOAB, M-O-A-B, and somebody nicknamed it the Mother of All Bombs. Well, this one's four times stronger than the MOAB, so Russia just named theirs Father of All Bombs. Let's see if this is going to play. I guess it's not. The fighter here, I'm sorry, this plane that drops bombs looks surprisingly like an American B-1, B-2, bomber, by the way. Drops a bomb, and when it goes down, it goes off just like a nuclear warhead. And yet it's not. It's a bomb that relies on certain gases setting up a huge vacuum, and when it pops, it dissolves with a high heat everything that's in its path, and it has a mushroom cloud at the end. Afterwards, there's no pollution, there's no radiation, there's no impact on the environment, and it is heralded as kind of the weapon of the future. It says, the bomb is the latest in its series of new Russian weapons and policy moves unveiled as President Vladimir Putin tries to reassert Moscow's role on the international stage. Meanwhile, in Western Europe, the Reichstag in Berlin, here's a photo of the old Reichstag from Hitler's era, and the new one on the right, which is a glass dome structure actually designed by a Briton. So, we see in Germany today the dwindling population of that country has needed immigrants, and yet the immigrants are now despised. CNN writes a week or so ago from Germany, Support for Nazi ideas in Germany is making people fear for their lives, a government minister said Tuesday, after a mob of about 50 Germans attacked and chased eight East Indians through the streets. People are fearing for their health, people are fearing for their lives, he told reporters. Slogans are being chanted in Germany that reminds us of the years of 1939 through 1945, the World War II years. Last year, crimes committed by neo-Nazis and other right-wing extremists reached their highest level since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Far right crime increases there at 25% each year. Recently, the far-right NDP party entered Parliament in 2004.

We moved to the Middle East to see Iranian President Amina Jad, the Middle East, which I visited a couple of times. Some of you are going there this year to the feast. Here's what Leon Uris wrote years ago in a book that just has burned into my memory.

I will generalize what he said. An Arab boy is not seen as a man until he can lie to his father without his father realizing it. If you understand the Arab mind and come to understand that religion there was contrived by a man who lived and died as a thieving murderer, the mentality of the region is bald-faced lying of people to people. It's part of the culture against warring clans amidst politicians, religious zealots, individuals. Their massive oil wealth is held by just a few individuals. Most of the masses are uneasy. They're poor. They're hungry. They're thirsty. Most of the masses never get to sample or touch any of that wealth. And they're brewing. And they're controllable. They're manipulatable because they're wanting something better. So they have religious zealots. The population is restless. It's murderous. It's vulnerable. It's impressionable. It's idealistic. And at the same time, it's wonderful. Some of my favorite people on earth are some of the people that are against this country as far as on the family level. If you ever get to go into their homes, some of those wonderful people come from nations that will rise up and cause problems at the end time. Yet there's something inside us as a people that when we get stirred up, when we get angry, we become irrational. We become unpredictable. We do things that don't make any sense, things that were not ever considered before. And we say, I don't know what got into me. I don't know what got into him. Well, something did get into him, did get into you, and did get into me. That's part of the meaning and the lesson of this day, is to find out what that is. In contrast, the West, and here we see a picture of Los Angeles, California, a beautiful place where many of us have visited. Some will go to the feast in that area. And yet, the West, maybe this could symbolize the lost ten tribes of Israel, Europe, English-speaking nations around the world. We're very passive, very tolerant, in a rather static environment. We've achieved it. We've made it. We enjoy it. We want the rest of the world to be at peace. We want everybody to just calm down. Can't we all just get along? Can't we all just enjoy? Can't we all just keep going what we have?

Israelites nations have largely achieved what they set out to, what they wanted to. They are recognized, and have long been recognized as being successful and powerful. And so they are proud. Proud. You know the song, Proud to be an American. A little sticker came in the mail this week. American and Proud. Stick that on your car. You know, when 9-11 happened, one of the building supply companies passed out bumper stickers. Power of Pride with the American flag. And God resists the Proud. He's gracious to the humble.

We are preoccupied with materialism and hedonism. It's how nice can things be, and once you get them really nice, then how much nicer can they be? And then you keep making them nice. It's live for today. What is missing in our culture is purpose, ambition, goals, God. And God said that He will break the pride of your power.

All humans have Satan's nature. All have his mentality. All are on a personal selfish quest in the pursuit of personal happiness. All lust for greater power and materialism. That's the very purpose of these unions that go on around the world. From the EU Union to North American Trade Alliance to the union that's going over with the communist Russians and Chinese and some of the other countries over there. These unions are for greater power and greater materialism. This is a combination of satellite photos. What we're looking at here is actually a photograph of various lands from Google Earth.

If we were to zoom down in there, you could look a little bit closer at some of the territories that are there.

The Bible in Revelation 16 and verse 15 begins to take us towards the end of this time in which we are living. Revelation 16 and verse 15, Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.

The kings of the east we just talked about. China, Russia, perhaps India, perhaps Pakistan, Afghanistan. Kings of the east, that they might be able to come that direction. Verse 13, Like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Everybody is coming to Jerusalem. Verse 16, And they gathered them together in a place in Hebrew, Megiddo, your margin will say. It's the majority text state, often called Armageddon. But it's a gathering place, not the battle place. It's just the gathering place, the valley of Megiddo. We look in this particular slide. You can see various nations of Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, the small Lebanon right there, Egypt, Libya. Let's zoom in just for a second on our own country and see something. If you've traveled much in the United States and Canada, you have a sense of scale. I'd like you to notice one little island here called Vancouver Island. Victoria sits right there on the end of Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island is not large. That is Israel with the Dead Sea in comparison with Vancouver Island.

So when you say that the nations are coming to Israel and we focus on Jerusalem and in times of Vintz, we're not talking about a large space. You saw the mileage distances across it before. It's a small area. So as we look here, we see that this area right here is the size of Vancouver Island. What will really cause the convergence of nations in Megiddo, in Jezreel, who will then come down to Jerusalem? The Feast of Trumpets can be viewed as the changing of the gods. Think of that for a minute. The changing of the gods.

We do have a god of this world. 2 Corinthians 4, 4. It's Satan. Everyone has followed it. Ephesians 2. Jesus Christ is returning. He is going to be the god of this world when he returns, and he's going to put away Satan the devil. You know, whenever you have transfers of power in a carnal world, they do not happen easily.

Battling up to elections, and then after elections, oftentimes there's even bloodshed that takes place. People don't like to let go of the controls that they have, and so it is that Satan the devil will do anything and stop at nothing to retain control.

The current god of this age, the father that Jesus said he was, you are of your father the devil, is a fake god. He's not a god at all. He's a fake father. He's engendered nothing and nobody. He has fake promises. They're all empty dreams and machinations, and for him is reserved the emptiness of darkness himself.

He blinds people. He corrupts. He destroys. One of his names is destroyer. And why is it that when humans want something, they tend to get things that destroy. They get guns. They get things that are electric. They put razor wire that hurts and destroys or glass bottles around on tops of walls. They get bombs. They get groups. They get armies. They get alliances.

And then they go out and they destroy in the name, the honorable name of warfare and take pride in doing so.

The true god, our true father, has true promises. And he has really been a father. He has created us through his son Jesus Christ.

He has given life to everything that is and offers life forever. He enlightens. He is the light.

He has put light in you and me, and we are to join him as being lights. He builds relationships. He restores. He is peace. He is harmony. He is happiness.

And he is coming to earth through his son to establish his kingdom, beginning on earth and ultimately continuing on through time throughout the universe.

But his kingdom is resisted. It's thwarted, if possible. It's undermined by the current god.

And as regimes change, this regime change will be ugly. Not because God wants it to be ugly, but because the current leader will try to get any and everything to oppose him, including people who consider themselves to be godly.

In Zechariah 12, verse 2, it says, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup. I am going to make it a cup.

And it will send all the surrounding people's reeling. It's going to make them drunk. It's going to make them think weird and funny things, things that aren't rational.

Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. Judah is the tribe that the Jews who live there today are from. And Jerusalem will be besieged.

And on that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, yes, everybody is coming to Jerusalem. And when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. Nobody can quite get their hands on her.

All who try to move it will injure themselves. And on that day, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness.

Satan incites people to pursue a cause, political and economic domination, power and wealth. They will not stop at anything to achieve it, including fighting the Messiah.

That's the record of the seven trumpet plagues. That's the record of all of the plagues of Revelation, the whole story of Revelation, of people who will not be dissuaged from fighting and warring and going forward for the prize.

At all costs, even though a third of humanity, the Bible says, will be dead over there, and another third will be dying over there. Push ahead at all costs. Go for the gold.

Revelation 18 is spoken of luxuries.

And the luxuries that this earth and the people on it are pursuing. Yet we find that this unified pursuit is divided. It's a kingdom divided against itself.

Satan is divided with his own leaderships. The demons are all divided. The countries on earth are divided. Even this quest to get rid of Jesus Christ and his return to resistance is divided. In Daniel chapter 11 and verse 40, it says, at the time of the end, the king of the south, which we would ascribe to the Arab world, since that was the king back in the day in the breakup of the world, actually the consolidation of two divisions of the Greek Empire following the death of Alexander the Great, the four divisions were combined into two, a north and a south.

And the south shall attack him. And the king of the north, referring to the beast, what we would call the revived Europe that grows roots and tentacles, and the beast of the end time shall come against him like a whirlwind.

So you have this Middle Eastern area, and you have a North Western area coming at it.

With chariots and horsemen and with many ships, and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them and pass through.

This United Europe is strong. It's going to be powerful. Verse 41, he shall also enter into the glorious land. This is what he is referring to as the glorious land, Palestine. And many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape from his hand. Who? Edom and Moab and the prominent people of Ammon.

He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver.

Notice what it's all about. And over the precious things of Egypt, also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.

Verse 44, but news from the East. That's why I was talking to you about the China-Russia alliance with other countries.

News from the East and North. What is East and North of Jerusalem? If it's not Russia and China.

Shall trouble him. And therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.

Verse 45, and he shall plant the tents of his palaces between the seas and the glorious holy mountain.

The seas and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.

This is a Google picture of Jerusalem. The blue spots are where you can zero in on your computer, and there's a photograph. You can click on it, and a photograph will pop up from that particular location.

This is taken from about 16,000 feet elevation. If you notice right here is the Temple Mount, or the Temple. You can see the whole Temple Mount area here.

Along here is the Valley of Hinnom, often called Gahinnah. The City of David here that came down. And once again, the Temple Mount here in Jerusalem.

Over here is the Mount of Olives, and in between is the Valley that goes by different names. In Joel 3, verse 9, it says, Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Verse 14, That gives an overview of what's going to take place in the future, and where it's going to take place, and who's going to be involved.

But besides all of these nations wanting Jerusalem, and being propelled by a quest to achieve, still another group of people are pursuing a cause of world domination, and they too seek Jerusalem as their headquarters. All are pursuing a cause, and all are on a collision course trying to get it.

Today is God's feast of the seventh month.

Seven is the number of completion. This is we worship on God's seventh day Sabbath, completing a week. Here we are on the seventh month of the year.

The seventh millennium is what this day is about. The dawning of the seventh millennium, when the wonderful kingdom of God will be inserted into a strife-torn world.

Regarding this group of people, this last group, Jesus said in John 14, verse 3, I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come again and receive you, and you will join me. You'll be with me.

In Revelation 14, verse 1, Then I looked, and behold, a lamb standing on Mount Zion. That's right there. A lamb standing on Mount Zion. Well, Jerusalem anyway. That's Mount of Olives. Actually, this would be Mount Zion, Jerusalem.

And Jesus Christ is standing there. And with Him, who's with Him? 144,000. Who are they? It says, they have His Father's name written on their foreheads. Who has the Father's name written on their foreheads? Revelation 3, verse 12 tells us that.

These are the 144,000 saints that during this time will have been called, will have been converted, will not have followed Satan the devil, and will join Jesus Christ at His return. Jerusalem, or Zion, is ground zero for everybody. In Zechariah 14, verse 1, is a prophecy about this day.

In verse 3, then the Lord will go and fight against those nations as He fights in the day of battle. Now we can see how Jesus Christ and those who support Him will be in conflict with what the mentality is of the nations of this earth at the end time.

In verse 4, And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. That is right here. This is a small valley, a Kidron Valley, it's also called. One day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, saints with Him, which faces Jerusalem on the east. You can see here, it's north on the little compass. There's Jerusalem, faces Jerusalem on the east. We'll reference there. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west. So this mountain, somewhere right around here, is going to be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the valley shall move toward the north, and half of it shall move towards the south. And at this time, Jesus Christ begins to take charge of world events. Instead of them spiraling out of control, He and the saints ruling with Him, as you'll see in the second chapter of Revelation, towards the end, go to work at establishing a kingdom. David wrote in Psalm 50, verse 2, from Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes, verse 3, and will not be silent. A fire devours before Him, and around Him a tempest rages. Revelation 19, verse 1, it says, After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God. For true and righteous are His judgments. Notice, He is true and righteous as opposed to a society and an instigator who is all about selfishness and evil. And verse 6, I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. To me, that sounds wonderful. I'm sure to you that sounds wonderful. But at the same time, that doesn't sound so wonderful to the nations and the people on this earth who are on a selfish quest, a selfish pursuit. And now we have a different ruler with a different mentality, different objectives. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, verse 7. For the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in white, fine linen, clean and bright. For fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Verse 11, Now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse. And he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. Verse 14, And the armies in heaven, who are those? Those are the saints. Clothed in fine linen, these joined Him in the first heaven in the clouds when Jesus Christ returned. They joined Him. They are clothed in fine linen, clean and white. We just read that's the bride of Christ.

And they followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, the word of God, that with it He should strike the nations in sin and evil. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God Almighty. He has on His robe and on His thigh written King of kings and Lord of lords. King of kings and Lord of lords. In Joel 3, verse 16, there is a prophecy that the Lord will roar from Zion, right there from Jerusalem. And He will thunder from Jerusalem. The earth and the sky will tremble, but the Lord will be a refuge for His people and a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion. You see, what everybody is really coveting and wanting is where God lives. It's where God placed His name. It's where God's temple was. That's where Jesus Christ, the God of the Old Testament, lived. That's where the capital city of God's kingdom is going to be. And everybody wants something that's not theirs, and even today it's not a sign to anybody here on earth, because it's really not theirs.

It's God's. I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy. Never again will foreigners invade her. That's what that passage says there in Joel. We find then that the King of Peace, assisted by other kings and priests, He's the King of Kings, He begins to rule. In Micah 4, verse 1, it says, Jerusalem is the high point, incidentally, for that whole area. You work up from the ocean and also up from the Dead Sea area. The desert and all is lower.

You come up to Jerusalem. And it'll be established on top of the mountains, physically. But on top of the mountains, other kingdoms and nations, literally. In other words, He will be King of Kings, the King of Kingdoms. And He shall be exalted above the hills, not only the physical hills, but also the smaller countries. And people shall flow to it by invitation. Many nations shall come and say, Come up and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths.

Light will come to humanity. Light for the right way to live. A light on the path that is now dark will be shown. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. They'll go the opposite way. Once they've made them into weapons, now they'll go the opposite way.

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Why? Because there's a fundamental shift in mentality. The mind of self and greed and getting and taking and lusting and wanting and therefore having to fight, that's gone. Verse 4, But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.

For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. Paul, in Romans 11, verse 26, said of this coming time, Romans 11, 26, He says, And so all Israel will be delivered as it is written. A remnant of the twelve tribes will be protected. That's another 144,000. 12,000 from each tribe, miraculously protected from destruction during the tribulation.

They will be brought there. And so all Israel will be delivered as it is written. The deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. We see what's coming isn't just a transfer in who is the most powerful. It's a transfer of mind, a state of mind from the current God of this world to the new coming Lord, ruler, master of this world. And he's going to turn godlessness away from the nations of Israel. And a covenant he will make with them to take away their sins.

And so Isaiah chapter 52 verse 7 is a wonderful, beautiful thing. When we think of this day, we think of the tragedy involved, but it's a beautiful thing that results. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns, your watchmen shall lift up their voices and sing together. For they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion, break forth into joy and sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations. And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Humanity is going to walk the very same path that the saints today do, that we've been called to walk. To repent and to walk in righteousness. To repent and to love your neighbor as yourself and to love God more than anything. And to serve and to help and help build up and help others with their goals and ambitions. And not be egocentric, eye-centric, but looking out as well for the needs and hopes of other people. Isaiah 59, 21 shows how this will happen. It doesn't happen by just instituting new laws or passing out Bibles. The Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob. Says the Lord, As for me, says the Lord, this is the covenant, my covenant with them. My spirit, which is upon you, and my words, which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, descendants, says the Lord, from this time and forevermore. God's going to write His laws and His ways in minds. And people will internalize them, and they won't get distracted and forget. In a few days we're going to celebrate another feast day, which is a celebration of the removal of the one who binds mentality, or who binds the mentality into humans, and deceives this world, a feast of atonement. But that day also pictures something other than just the removal of the Azazel goat, the one that typified Satan. That day pictures oneness, a unity in oneness that you and I don't even comprehend, a peace that is all about harmonizing, harmonizing and relating, much as the music today does, that blends and works together and helps.

Ultimately, humanity that is blind will see, and they will see forever, and the blinders will never come off.

In conclusion, I'd like to read a couple of scriptures with you. First, I'm going to quote one from Haggai 2, verses 6-7. You don't need to turn there. But he says, Once more I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land, and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the desire of all nations. God's going to shake, but ultimately they will come to the desire of all nations. What do all nations desire? You know, humanity doesn't really desire to be deceived. Humanity doesn't really want to fight. The desire of all nations really is God, and there is a desire inside every human being to desire something more than the physical.

It says in the Bible, God has placed within us a desire for eternity.

It's interesting that the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims all look for a messiah type to come in the next few years. Every one of them. The Jews look for a messiah, the Christians look for a return of Jesus Christ, and the Muslims are looking for a Mahdi. All of them, incidentally, believe in Abraham as their father. The desire of all nations is the promised messiah. He's coming. He's really what people want. He's the hope of all three faiths, and Abraham is going to be his assistant.

When the saints rule Jesus Christ, we're going to find that this earth has a harmony and a peace that's going to be very, very well received. There will be no more differences in religion, no more differences in politics, no more political aspirations or personal aspirations that seek something to the detriment of somebody else or to the exclusion of somebody else.

Think of humanity forming a universal brotherhood. That's a day that I long for. I love to travel, but more than anything, to meet the people. When you get to go meet the Chinese people, they're lovely. When you meet the Arabs, they're fabulous. When you meet the Russians, we love them. When you go to the homes of the Germans in Germany, they're some of the most thoughtful, helpful, loving people you'll ever see.

Wherever you go, people are fabulous. We get to go to Africa quite often, and we have a home there, and our hearts are there. People are wonderful. Eventually, there will be a universal brotherhood of people that God will stitch together. A healing means a stitching together. We will all be stitched together, not only to each other, but to Christ and our Father in Heaven.

After so much death and destruction, people will be promoting unity, happiness, and mutual prosperity. It will be a time of abundance for all.

Let's close with David's view of that sooncoming day. I'll read you two verses, Psalm 128, verses 5 and 6.

Psalm 128, verses 5.

It says, May the Lord bless you from Jerusalem all the days of your life, and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem, and may you live to see your children's children. That's a beautiful time that's coming when Jesus Christ rules the world from His city, from Jerusalem.

Have a very enjoyable and meaningful day today. I'd like to give you greetings from Mr. Scriber, who is at Albuquerque, I believe, today. He talked to him when he was just about to take off on the plane. He plans to be here this afternoon. My wife and I will be going down to Yuma this afternoon. We just hope you have a very, very excellent Feast of Trumpets.