What are YOU Watching?

What are you watching? That's the title of this sermon. What are you watching? Perhaps you're watching the Bengals trying for a playoff spot while the Steelers continue to stumble. Perhaps you're watching your favorite weekly or daily TV show. Perhaps you're watching American Idol. Perhaps you're watching Survivor.

Perhaps you're watching Dancing with the Stars. Or are you watching the Democrats and the Republicans haggle over how they can save the country from going over the fiscal cliff? Or are you watching the... waiting for the straight scoop to come out about why four Americans were dead in Benghazi?

Some of those may be relevant to watch. Some of those we may want to watch, and some of those we may just enjoy watching. But we need to be watching Israel. We need to be watching Israel. Not only the land of Israel, though, we should be watching that too. We should be watching Israel, the nations of Joseph, the children of Joseph, who were so given that name that many people do not even understand or recognize.

When you say the name Israel, they immediately think of a little small country of about seven million actually, only about 5.5 million Jews in the Middle East. That's what many think of. But when you think of Israel, I hope you think of those nations that were descendant from Joseph. Because the end time is going to have a dramatic effect on them. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on when I saw rocket after rocket after rocket being fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. And when the Israeli warplanes would take off and bomb the daylights out of them over in Gaza, and then come back, always trying to bomb the sites where they saw traced these rockets coming from.

And what was happening there? And then now you have Egypt brokering, let's say, brokering this particular peace accord right now, or ceasefire. Ceasefire does not mean they're at peace. Ceasefire means I'm just not shooting at you anymore. It doesn't mean things are solved. But we really do need to watch. All these nations want Jerusalem. Several religions claim Jerusalem. You know, the Jews did. The Christians do. And the Muslims do. They all want Jerusalem. We need to watch that. We also need to watch the United States.

We need to watch Britain. We need to watch them become less powerful, less influential, unless the exceptional nation, if you watched any of the political campaign, you saw two different views of the United States. One was, this is an exceptional nation. They ought to be out there in the lead. They understand what it's like to have liberty. They understand what it's like to have order. They understand what it's like to have peace and freedom.

And then on the other hand, you had a campaign that said, let's just blend in. Let's become like everybody else. And after all, if everybody else is doing this, we should probably do it. And the statement, lead from behind. We'll just stand behind, watch how everything goes, and then we'll step in here or we'll step in there. You saw two different visions. Well, the second one is the one that's in office right now. And you ought to watch our country. You ought to watch, too, if there's no more finances to support a military.

You can have all the greatest military weapons in the world, but if you can't support your military, you're in trouble. And in our world, nice talk does not work with people who are liars, with politicians in the world, and leaders of countries who will tell you anything to get their way.

Only thing that talks is power. And if they perceive you as weak, they will take advantage of you every chance they get. I remember Governor Romney, who was the nominee on the Republican side, saying, if I first day in office, I label China as a currency manipulator. Well, the chance didn't label them as that came and went. They had a chance to label it now. The current president did not. So we're losing out big time in many ways. I would like to share with you as we take a look and see what the Bible says about Israel, because we do need to be watching. We need to keep our eyes open.

We need to be alert to everything. In fact, I just went on the internet last night. I thought, maybe I could just find something about Germany. So I just looked up Germany and the European Union. And bingo! Popped up from yesterday's report, like the 30th, yes, yesterday. Popped up about Germany. And how Germany is flexing its muscles, is saying, Europe needs to tell these nations what to do.

And when they say, Europe needs to tell these nations, they're saying, Germany needs to tell these nations. Because everybody in Europe acknowledges that it's Germany and France who were the two drivers in the in the driver's seat for the European Union. And France is having difficulties of its own and may need to be bailed out, too. So they said Germany was content to just sit behind and become an economic power and have all the power and might be behind.

And let France be kind of like the poster boy for them. And now, now, France is having difficulties. He says, well, in that case, guess who will move in? Germany. I'll read you some quotes. It's absolutely astounding. When I was a student at Ambassador College in 1959, I had just come from a class in 1958, and I may have mentioned this to you, in which I was taking a political science class in another school.

And they said in their this book I was reading, they said, well, there could come a combine of European economic, EEC, European Economic Community, that could go into what's called a United States of Europe. I was shocked, because the only other place I heard that was on the World Tomorrow program, was in the Plain Truth magazines. It's the only place I heard of it. Of course, most people poo-poo that whole idea. Europe and Germany rising, oh, come on, get out of, get off of it, you know, get out of this this mode.

And yet, I saw that happening. But then we saw Germany divided, you know, Berlin divided. We saw an East Germany that will never give up. And then we saw the wall broken down. Then we said, well, there won't be, they might have an economic group, but they won't get together. Now they have a common currency. But, you know, they'll all be equal nations. But then they get in trouble, and they need somebody to bail them out.

Somebody to say, here's how you do this, and we have the power to do it. You'll see, I'll read this article to you in a moment. During a little while, during the sermon. It is incredible what's happening in our world. We need to keep our eyes open, keep watching, because it will affect us, and it will affect our country, and it will affect this United States. It will affect what's going to happen in this world. You see, God loves Israel. And it all began when God called Abraham and said, Abraham, I want to make of you a wonderful country.

I want to give you children, even though he didn't have any. And those children are going to be, they're going to multiply. There are going to be so many that you would never want to count them. There will be like the sand of the sea. And I'm going to bless you. Of course, it took a little while because he never had a child until they had Ishmael through Hagar, who, by the way, the Ishmaelites are a major part of the Arab people. So the ones who hate the Jews are really their relatives.

And then you had Isaac born, the son of promise, who then had a child named Jacob, and Esau. And Esau became like the Edomites in that area. Many say Palestinians, those who live in that same area. Many say perhaps even the Jordanians could be in that same configuration. Many say the Turks. All of these are nations that do not like the Jews. And, of course, Jacob had children, one of whom was named Judah, from whom the Israelites came.

Or the Jews came, the Israelites today, that they're called over in that area, the Israelis. You had also, what, 11 other tribes. One of them was Joseph, who split into two, Ephraim and Manasseh. And as you know, when Jacob came down into Egypt, he met Joseph. Joseph is thrilled to see him. Joseph showed him his two little boys, Ephraim and Manasseh. And Jacob said, whose name was Israel, I'm going to bless these two little boys. And so, Manasseh was the oldest, Ephraim was the younger. So he guided them to the hand of Jacob as he was sitting there.

He guided the one to his right hand, Manasseh, and Ephraim to the left. But what did his father do? He crossed his hands. And he put the right hand on Ephraim, and he said he will be a company of nations, and Manasseh will be a great nation. Two brothers, they're like brothers today. They back each other's play, they support each other. In every chance they get, and in every war they work together, they win.

It is astounding. It is amazing when you look. But these two brothers, he said, I will name on them my name. You find that in chapter 48 of Genesis. I will give them my name. So they carried the title of Israel through the years. And, of course, as you know, Israel got in trouble, as did Judah. They didn't listen to God. So I'm going to go back and share with you some scriptures on this. But my main point is, brethren, we do need to be watching. We need to be watching because the end time is going to come upon the Israelites, both the Israelis and those named by Jacob as his children to carry on his name. Luke 21, verse 29 and 30. Luke 21. We're told to watch. Now, while this verse could certainly be interpreted to mean watch yourself, it does not only mean that. Luke 21.

Luke 21. And let's go to verse 29. He said, and he spoke to them a parable. Behold, a fig tree and all the trees. And when they now shoot forth, you see and know your own selves that summer is now near at hand. Now our trees are barren. All our leaves are gone. My leaves are cleaned up. I had a neighbor next door who did it for me. They're all cleaned up. The leaves are gone. And you look at the branches and they're just like dead wood. But as we begin to approach summertime, you see them starting to swell. You see those little first little blossoms and then you see the leaves start to come out over. And you know that springtime is near. When you watch, you know what's happening. When you watch circumstances, when you watch situations, when you watch events, you see what's happening. So he said, so likewise you, when you see these things come to pass and you gave a whole litany of things to watch for, you know the kingdom of God is near at hand. And then he goes on to say in verse 36, watch therefore and pray always. So have a habit of praying and keep your eyes open. It isn't just praying about yourself, oh God, I used to pray, God help me to be saved when I was a new Christian. Now God, I don't want to go through the tribulation. God, I don't want to go through all this. So that was my thought. Watch and pray always. I'm praying that he says that you may be worthy to escape. But I don't pray that I'm worthy to escape. I just try to pray regularly. If you're praying regularly and you're watching regularly, you will be accounted worthy to escape these things that are going to come to pass. He said, and to stand before the Son of Man. We need to be watching, and specifically we need to be watching, Israel. See, Jacob's name, we talked about that being changed and given that name. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 4. He brought them out of Egypt to serve him, to be examples to the rest of the world. God wanted Israel to be an example, exemplary. He wanted them to be an exceptional nation. Yeah, he did. And it is amazing that America considered itself exceptional.

Not better than anybody else, but exceptional. There was a reason why they were doing what they did. There was a reason why they had the blessings and the resources of this country. There was a reason why they were apart from everybody else. There was a reason why they had this land that was discovered. There was a reason why they bought all this territory from the French and all this territory from the Russians, Alaska, with all the billions of dollars worth of oil and gold.

And there was a reason why they all came to them. Why they took Texas, why they have California, when Mexicans had a lot of hold on it. Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 4, he says, But you that did cleave to the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.

He told those after they wandered through the wilderness and different ones died off. Those who were still alive, he said, listen, this is what you have. Verse 5, Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments even as the Lord my God commanded me that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them.

See, I've given you a way of life and it is amazing. When you travel from country to country and I've not been to some of the other developing nations, but I have been Philippines and I have been to China and I've been to some of these countries where Hong Kong and some of those areas of Hong Kong is kind of glitzy, but over in the Canton, China, mainland China, we were over there one time after the feast and we went to Philippines for the feast, which is an amazing, wonderful trip.

The Filipino people are so awesome, so great, and they have so little, and their country is so poor. Beautiful country, very pretty country, but they don't have the modern means of trying to build it. And I said, boy, what if I just gave this person a tractor? That would be great if we could just raise money, give them a tractor. They said, that would work until they ran out of gasoline or until they ran out of, until it broke down. Then they can't fix it. So do they have a water buffalo, who's their pet, their tractor, their means of transportation?

It's very sad when you see that, and then you come back to America and you say, wow, we've been blessed. We spent time in Israel. We spent almost five weeks on tour in Europe and Israel with the students in 1983. We came back. I almost kissed the ground in Boston. We landed in Boston on our way back from, I virtually wanted to kiss the ground because you don't realize how many blessings that God has poured out upon us here, how much we have and what we have, and what blessings have come.

God has given us an exceptional nation. So he says, verse 6, keep therefore and do them. Do these things, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations. By the way, our country was founded on religious freedom. Many of our early colleges were founded as religious institutions. That's what they were. They read the Bible.

They studied the Bible. Now they just did in the Bible. But they, at one time, studied the Bible. Moral principles were taught. They've been abandoned. He says, keep and do these. This is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

For what nation is there so great who has God so near to them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? So they were an exceptional nation. God made them so. Exodus 19. He called them a special treasure of His. That's what God thought of Israel when He called them and brought them out to worship Him, to be a special people who were humbled by their conditions in Egypt.

They were a slave people, and He was able to reach them. Exodus 19. Exodus chapter 19, and let's look at verse 5. He says, Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, I made an agreement with you, then you shall be a peculiar treasure, a special treasure to me, above all people, for all the earth is mine.

I can decide whom I want to give responsibility to. I can decide whom I want to be an example for the rest of the world. I can decide whom I want to be the exceptional nation to lead all the rest of the nations to me.

God didn't just bless them for no reason. God said, I want you to lead other people to me. I want you to show them that my way works. I want you to show them that it's better to tell the truth than the lie. I want you to show them that when you obey God, when you walk with Him, you will be blessed. Now, many of the blessings we have now are the result of Abraham's obedience. Not so much our country anymore.

Our country lost its sight, lost its way, lost its identity. It has no clue who it is. In the main, neither does Britain.

So He says, and it shall you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Same thing He promises us spiritually in Revelation. You shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. And Moses came and he called for the elders of the people and he laid before them their faces all these words which the Lord had commanded them.

In verse 8, what did the people say? When God said, I want to make you an exceptional nation. I want to make you a blessed people. I want you to be my chosen people, chosen to do a job, not chosen to just receive blessings, chosen to do a job, and given the equipment to do the job with, the blessings that came. Verse 8, and all the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. Moses returned the words of the people to the Lord, and it didn't take very long, did it, for them to go into idolatry, adultery and idolatry.

Didn't take them very long. In fact, adultery you find used many times. Hordums in the book of Hosea, which means unfaithfulness. Unfaithfulness. You've been unfaithful. You've been unfaithful. You've been unfaithful. God gave them a job to do. They didn't do it. But you know God loved them. God still loves them. Malachi. Malachi chapter 1. Malachi is a book in which it's called, where there's this argumentative, it's kind of like a dialogue, but really is a monologue, and God's putting words in the mouth of the people.

He proposes something like, say, what are you in a bad attitude about? You always read about it. I know what you're about. You know, it's like you put the words in their mouth. So he says to them in verse 2, I have loved you, says the Lord.

I have loved you. God loves Israel. God loves his people. I have loved you. Yet you say, where in have you loved us? Well, where? And he says, was not Esau Jacob's brother? Says the Lord, yet I loved Jacob. I could have loved Esau, but I loved Jacob. I picked Jacob to do the job in his progeny. I could have picked Esau, but I picked Jacob. I love Israel. God said, I love you. In fact, Malachi, or Lamentations 2.18 is a reference to them being the apple of his eye.

When I look at you, I get a glow. I feel good about you. Lamentations 2.18, I'm not going to go there. But let's take a look at Deuteronomy 28, because God promises them if they follow him, if they're willing to listen to him and walk in his ways, that he's going to give them so many wonderful blessings.

But he also says what'll happen if they don't. I'm just going to cover the blessings, because in them you'll see what's happening. You look at the at the counter side of this. But Deuteronomy chapter 28 verses 1 to 14, I'm going to read. These are the blessings which are followed by cursings. But he says, verse 1 of Deuteronomy 28, and it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe, to do all this, all of his commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.

See, I'm going to make you an exceptional nation. Not exceptional, because I want you to feel so proud, but an exceptional nation, because I want you to lead other people to me. He said, verse 2, and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you if you shall hearken to the voice of the Lord your God. Who hearkened to the voice of the Lord your God? Abraham. God made a promise to Abraham, if you follow me, because you've kept my commandments, my statutes and my judgments.

I will bless your seed after you. I will bless them. Now, if Israel had continued to obey God and walk with God, think of how many more blessings we could have had. We're reaping a lot of the blessings of Abraham, but they're about to run out. Verse 3, blessed shall you be in the city, blessed shall you be in the field.

Your crops are going to be wonderful. Now, some of our crops are dying. Some of our crops have been frozen. Some of the crops have been dried up because God's taking them away. Blessed are you in the city. What about our cities? There are some cities you don't want to go on that part of the city. When I was visiting in New York City, I remember visiting in Spanish Harlem. The guy that my wife and I was just a new new trainee. We drove up there with our new trainee. 1963 Chevrolet. New at that time was 1963.

We drove up to parked our car, looked at all the other cars around the area, they were damaged. The guy who was a member, church member, he came down to meet us, been looking out his window, came down to meet us and escorted us upstairs. Of course, I prayed, had been praying that everything would be all right with our car. It was. We came back down after, but we visited them for a while and then was time to leave.

He walked us down. He escorted us down to our car. Got in our car. All it was, there was some like gooey stuff on the windshield. They hadn't taken our hubcaps or our wheel covers and they hadn't destroyed the car. Shortly after that, I could not visit in that area anymore. We had, it was prescribed for us by the ministry in the area and they had had another man who was from that region who could go there and not look out of place.

But we could not. My wife and I went there, right, in Spanish Harlem. You could not go through Central Park at night. Cab drivers would not even drive you through. That was back in 63. How much worse is it now in many of the cities? Zones that you don't go into. Toronto is a pretty good city.

There are certain areas, only a few areas, when I was up there, only a few areas you could not go into in Canada. Most of the areas downtown, you go some of them, they were drunks. It was known as Skid Row, where all the people who were alcoholics and drunkards hung out, more the drunkards, who hung out down in that area. And that way you wouldn't want to go there and be uncomfortable. Most of the areas you could go into. Now, I understand there are different gangs up there from West Indies, Jamaicans, and other gangs that are there causing some difficulty.

So, probably areas there now you wouldn't want to go to. Areas of Los Angeles, you don't want to go to Watts area. You don't want to go there. You'd go right through that area at night. If you're coming from the airport, if you're not careful, go right through that area. You don't even know it. Certain areas of cities that are cursed.

Over the Rhine, do I hear about that in this area? Do you want to be down there late at night and walking around? I don't think so. Certain areas. So, he says, you know, you'll be blessed in the cities. You'll be blessed in the field. Verse 4, Blessed shall be the fruit of your body. Blessed the fruit of your of the ground. Your fruit is going to be wonderful. Your produce is going to be great. Your children are going to be wonderful, not born with maladies and sicknesses and congenital diseases. And the fruit of your cattle and the increase of your kind, your flocks and your herds, and of your sheep, your cattle and your sheep, they're going to be great.

Blessed shall be your basket and your store. You'll have plenty of grain, and we do. We have had for years. We've fed the world. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. As long as you have an alarm system, ADT, or alarm force, blessed shall you be when you go in and come out. The Lord shall cause your enemies to rise up against you to be smitten before your face.

Anybody that tries to hurt you will not be successful. I'll take them down for you. They shall come out against you one way, and they shall flee before you seven.

You know, all you have to do is say, we're sending the Marines in. Fear. Oh, we're going to send the Green Berets to have a little visit. The Navy SEALs are coming.

Struck fear into other countries.

The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and in all that you set your hand to. Everything you do, you're going to be like Midas. It'll turn to gold.

The reputation in 1900, when my grandfather came over here from Syria, was you come to this country, you find gold. You find dollars in the streets hanging on trees. That's early 1900s. That already was spread to the Middle East. You think of how bold it is to leave a country, your family behind, and take, come with your wife and your little baby daughter, and go across the seas from the Mediterranean to New York City or to landing point Ellis Island, and finally then over to Pennsylvania where they settled. You think of how bold of a move that was? Why did those people do that? Because they said, America! America! That's where we want to go. They could have said Israel. That's where we want to go, because it is Israel. And God bless them.

Verse 9, And the Lord shall establish you, a holy people, to himself, as he has sworn to you. If you shall keep his commandments, the Lord your God and walk in his ways, and all the people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, they shall be afraid of you. Remember what Rahab the harlot said?

I've heard of you. When you come here, you'll beat us. You'll whip us. Just tell me. Just promise me you won't wipe out our family, my wife, my family, my mother, and whoever, brothers or sisters here. And I said, okay, put this little cord in the window, and we'll tell everybody if you see that cord, leave that house alone.

We heard of you.

The United States used to be feared. Now they can destroy our embassies. Now they can burn our flags, and we do nothing. They can kill our ambassador. The ambassador is a direct representative of our government. And now, how many? Almost two months from the time that happened or more. We still do not know why. When they cried for help, nobody helped them. We don't know. Because we have a country that doesn't have the will, the force to want to do it.

And he said in verse 11, and the Lord shall make you plenteous in goods, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your ground, in the land which the Lord squirted your fathers to give to you. And the Lord shall open to you his good treasure, the heaven. What is one of the greatest blessings you could have? Rain at the right time. I often say, boy, the best sprinkler system is God, you're rain. You get everything. Nice, even rain. I try to do my yard. I have to move about five or six times. I have a couple of sprinklers, but I've moved them around. If I put them both on, they don't get much power, because where we are doesn't have much power. I have to move this one sprinkler all over the place. Okay, let it out there 20 minutes. We're not detached. Go put it over here. Take it over this part. Put it in that part. And I still don't get everything. There's patches that are dying, because I couldn't quite get to those. God, thank you for that sprinkler in the sky. Rain in the right time so the crops grow, and the amount of rain that we need. He said, I'll bless you. I'll give you open heaven.

It's good treasure to give you rain to the land in its season, to bless the work of your hand, and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow. Have we borrowed any money from any nation? I'm trying to think... No. Let's see. Lots of nations. 16 trillion dollars, I think the world owes us, doesn't it? Oh no, is it the other way around? I think it's 16 trillion we owe.

You shall lend and you shall not borrow.

Can you believe that our government is still operating with no budget?

Almost four years the government has not had a budget.

What would happen to you if you operated on no budget? Buy what you want, spend what you want, do what you want. Your little plastic cards are maxed out. What will happen to you? You'll probably be declaring bankruptcy sometime.

No budget. So he goes on here, he says, you will not borrow. I will bless you so much you won't have to borrow from anybody. In verse 13, the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail. You should be leading. You're an exceptional country. Lead the world to righteousness, lead the world to goodness, lead the world to productivity, lead the world to order, lead the world to freedom, and lead the world to God. That's what he told him. I'll make you the head and not the tail. You shall be above only and you shall not be beneath.

You will not be beholden to anyone.

I will bless you. Is that the case today?

If that you hearken to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day to observe and do them, because they keep you on the right track, the commandments of God keep you on the right track. In verse 14, and you shall not go aside from any of the words which I command you this day to the right or to the hand or to the left to go after other gods and serve them. Don't you do that. And we have become so broad as a country we welcome any and all religions to come here and set up their temples and set up their mosques and say, hey, you know, do what you want to do. God says, no, don't do that. We are tolerant of people. We're tolerant of other religions. You want to come here and practice your religion, but you're not going to spread your religion in our country.

You're welcome to come and speak your language in the home, but my dad had to learn English. He had to go to English. He had to know history of America. When he became a naturalized citizen of America, he was just a little baby when he came.

He couldn't get by with just speaking Arabic and hoped that they had a translator there when he goes to apply for his citizenship.

This is America. This is God's people here, the nation that God chose. Then he goes on to say, verse 15, But it shall come to pass if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord your God to observe all his commandments, that all these curses shall come upon you. Reversals. You'll be borrowing. You'll be cursed in the city. You'll be cursed in the field. Your crops will fail. Your animals will die. Your children will be will be afflicted. All these things will happen. So he promised him prosperity, power, and peace. But Amos chapter 3 verses 1 and 2, we find the minor prophets warning Israel about what was going on with them. Amos is a prophet from the southern kingdom sent to the northern kingdom to deliver a message. Amos 3 verses 1 and 2, he says this, Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. You have sinned against me. I'm going to have to bring you down. I'm going to have to deal with you. And of course, he did back then, 721 BC, the Israelites went into captivity to never return. Ten tribes. The Jews did not go yet because they weren't quite as bad. But then they went. 587, 586. But they returned, some of them, when they were given the opportunity. So you want to watch the United States and Britain. You want to watch prosperity slipping away. You want to watch debt build up. You want to watch reversals to us in policies and plans and circumstances. You want to watch upset weather conditions that can take an enormous amount of capital to be able to bring back. Look at Katrina, how much it costs to try to bring that city back and the damage that was done down there on the Gulf Coast. Look at Sandy, what it has done to Staten Island. They were just showing on television yesterday that how these people were arguing, saying, we want somebody. We still don't have power. We still don't have this bill.

Devastation. Devastation that's happening. Watch it. Watch a decline in respect for America and Britain.

Watch Judah.

Watch the nation that's called Israel in the Middle East. Watch the Arabs encircling it. Let me read to you. They talk about this Arab spring. What does this actually mean? Does it mean that Arabs have a new day ahead? Charles Krauthammer had a report on it and I just read a little portion of it from the from the internet last night. He says, what does this mean? That the Arab spring is a misnomer. This is an Islamic ascendancy. See, the Arabs tried to do it on their own. Tried just to be with people on their own. Then they tried Arab nationalism. Then they tried to band together. Remember the UAR, United Arab Republic, was basically the Egyptians and the Syrians. And that lasted about three years.

Now the Arab spring in which Islamists are trying to dominate Arabic politics. And he says it's their attempt. This is an Islamist ascendancy likely to dominate Arab politics for a generation for 20 years. They're all trying to get together. Now it is interesting how many Arabs there are encircling Israel. Iraq has 33 million. Iran has 75 million. Syria has 21 million. Egypt has 82 million. Jordan has 6 million. Palestinians have 4. Saudi Arabia 26 million. And Turkey, 74 million. That is a total, if you add them all up, if my addition is correct. 321 million surrounding little Israel. 7.7 million. But of that group, 1.6 million are Arabs living in Israel. So really only 5. . . sorry, 6.1 million Jews. 321 million against 6. Does it look like equal? The Jews will never be wiped out again. They will never let it happen without delivering some pretty severe blows to those who want to try to do it. And because they have such a superior fighting force, and they have such gusto thinking that God is on their side even now, and he may well be until he decides to let it go. So that's Judah. You want to watch Jerusalem, the main capital. The main capital. You want to watch Jerusalem. Matthew 24 and verse 37. Matthew 24 verse 37. Keep your eyes on Jerusalem.

God loves Jerusalem, by the way. God loves the city. Jesus Christ said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How often I would have put my gathered you around as a hen gathers her chicks, but you would have none of me. Matthew 24 verse 37. He goes on to talk about the days of Noah. That's not the verse I wanted. Let me see if I pick it up here.

Let me go to Luke 21. I thought for sure that was the one I wanted, but it's not it. Okay, let me go to Luke.

Luke chapter 21, which he talks about. Yes, verse 24. Luke 21 verse 24. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive of all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Jerusalem is prophesied to be under under attack by outside forces until God comes to relieve them. And you know what? It's going to take God to do it. Jeremiah 52 verses 3 and 4. Jeremiah 52 verses 3 and 4.

We read this.

He says, For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah till he had cast them out of his presence that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Verse 4, It came to pass in the ninth year of his reign in the tenth month, in the tenth day of that month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army against Jerusalem, pitched their tents around about it, and built forts against it. And they basically besieged it till they took it down. That was back then. That was historical. Difficulties predicted. In the book of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 12, we find predictions again about Jerusalem. Watch what's happening. Pay attention to it. You know it's a good way to do it. I oftentimes just go on Google, on my internet, and I push news. I get a really good scan of what's happening in world news. I don't have to read everyone, or it gives me sometimes highlights. If I find what I really like, I just click on it and read it. It's a very good way because some of the newspapers get more local news and don't give as much world news. I watch Fox News, unfortunately. Some people don't like Fox News. I like Fox News. I think they give you a straight shake, probably on the conservative side. But I watch a lot to see what's happening in my world. What's happening then? Look to see how this fulfills and relates to prophecy. But Zechariah chapter 12 verses 2 and 3, he says, Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the people round about it, and when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem, verse 3, and in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone. If you know anything about Zechariah, you know it's a prophecy of the future of the day of the Lord. So a lot of these things that happen historically are being brought up again because they will be fulfilled again in the future. A burdensome stone. She's going to be troublesome to people throughout the time. Zechariah chapter 14, very next chapter, he says, Behold, the day of the Lord comes. When is the day of the Lord, the day that God deals with this world, the day of God's intervention? Your spoil shall be divided in the midst of you, and I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle.

Iran has said, I want to kill you. I want to wipe you off the face of the map. We don't want this little puny nation in the midst of us, these Jews, they want to wipe them out.

And the Arabs around them say so too, although some of the Arabs that are within their country see the goodness that the Jewish state has. But 321 to 6, not a real fair fight, is it? Not numerically, anyway. But he says, I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go forth to captivity. The residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. And then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. As a warrior, he's going to go out and fight. He's going to have to make those nations let his people go. Do you remember the prophecy in Matthew, where he says, he that is in the city? Don't come down. Don't come down from the... if you come down from the rooftop, don't even go back to get anything. You see the city surrounded. When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the temple, that's in Jerusalem, leave. Get out while you can, if you understand. Get out. That's what he's saying. Hosea 11. Does God want to do this? Does he want to hurt the people of Judah? Does he want to hurt the people of Jerusalem? Does he want to hurt the people of Israel? No, he does not. Hosea 11.5. He says, he shall not return to the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. That was true before the Assyrians. Assyrians are identified as a people now called Germany.

The beast power, the king of the north, wants to come against them. Of course, you see the king of the north, king of the south situation. If you want to read more about it, I'm not going to cover it. The Middle East in prophecies, a very good booklet on it. Talks about the king of the south, which and the king of the north, which were divisions of the Alexander's kingdom. But the king of the south included the Arabs, the Egyptians, that area. And then at the end, they're going to push against the king of the north, who we identify as more the beast power.

And there's going to be trouble. The king of the south is going to be powerful at that time, but not as powerful as the king of the north. But in Hosea 11 verse 5, he says, in verse 6, he says, and the sword shall abide on the cities, and shall consume his branches and devour them because of their own counsels. And he says, and my people are bent to backsliding from me. My people like to slide away from me. They're not inclined to me. They're inclined away from me. My people are bent on backsliding, though they are, and though they called them to the most high, none at all would exalt him. Though people try to wake them up with things, they don't listen. In verse 8, here's what he says, how shall I give you up? How shall I give you up, Ephraim? How can I do this? How can I give up that nation that I love? Ephraim is a symbol of the whole nation of Israel. How shall I deliver you, Israel? How shall I make you as Admah, and how shall I set you as Zeboam? My heart is turned within me. My repentings are kindled together. I don't want to do this. I've got mixed feelings. I don't want to hurt you.

I don't want to make you like cities that are already ruined. That's what they were. Those were cities that had been destroyed. I don't want to do this, but I'm going to have to. The land of Israel is despised by most of its neighbors. The land of Israel. The United States is... is that a popular word abroad?

Do they burn our flags? Are Americans unwelcome in some areas of the world? Yes. Do they want our money? Yes. Do they want what we can give them? Yes. Do they want us? No.

They may want us in the future, slaves, but they don't want us. Isaiah chapter 10 verses 5 and 6 talks about Assyria, the rod of God's anger. He used them once. He will use them again, this time with a combine. And I'll read that quote to you in a moment. O Assyrian, the rod of my anger and the staff in their hand is my indignation. I will send him against a hypocritical nation, against the people of my wrath, and I will give him charge to take spoil, to take depre, and to tread him down like the mire of the streets. Yes, that happened. 721 to 718 BC. But let me read to you this interesting report that I just pulled off the internet last night.

It's entitled, There's No Getting Around It, Germany Is Taking Over Europe. No Getting Around It. It's from the Global Post.

It says, it may have been a bad idea to send a German and his name certainly didn't help matters. Horst Reichenbach arrived in Athens recently. They had a new European Union task force to help the country deal with its debt. Cartoons appeared of him in Nazi uniform. Greek tabloid showed a photo of his office with the headline, The New Gestapo Headquarters. See, the Germans occupied Greece during World War II. Goes on to say, After the Euro crisis deepened, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed for the European Union to have a greater say in the domestic governance of the Eurozone 17 members. Among other measures, she has called for real European power over countries' budgets. Now, they go on to say, here's the rub, when the German leader calls for greater European power and influence, pretty much everyone interprets that to mean German power and influence. As the richest and largest country in the Union, Germany's influence vastly overshadows that of the Brussels-based Eurocrats. Indeed, when people have a beef about the European Union, they no longer complain about Brussels, they complain about Berlin. It wasn't supposed to be like this. On the contrary, after World War II, a major impetus for creating the European Union was that it would curb German power. A similar calculation helped fuel the rise of the Eurozone. If you get rid of the German mark and make them all mongrel, maybe that'll keep Germany done. The goal was to buffer German power, not to bolster it. In practice, the member states, big and small, always had a supposedly equal say. The heart of the Union has long been the Franco-German relationship. From the outset, Germany was to promote the economic firepower in France, the political leadership. This was how Germans liked it. Germans tended to lead from behind and allow the French, symbolically, to occupy a major role. But he said the traditional relationship has tilted power toward Germany, because France can't even stand on its own two feet. For all this talk of Murkowski, it's interestingly, increasingly clear that the German Chancellor is now in the driver's seat. For all this talk of the French being the ones, it's clear the Germans in the driver's seat. It's on to say, that Berlin seems not to be completely comfortable with this role. Germany is a reluctant power. Deater countries look to Germany to get them out of the mess, and this puts Germans in the enviable position of, if not Germany, who? So watch. Watch Israel's potential enemies. Watch their rise. Watch their power coming to them. The richest and most prosperous and strongest nation of Europe, saying, we want to dictate to the rest of you. Interesting. Jeremiah, when he saw what was going to happen to Jerusalem and Israel and Judah, he said, Oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep and cry for the hurt of the daughter of my people. He loved Israel. He didn't want to see it go down. But you know, God is going to have to intervene. He's going to have to come back and save Israel. Isaiah 27 verse 12 leave us with some hopeful scriptures as I encourage us to keep watching. Watch Israel. Watch Jerusalem. Watch their enemies build up. Watch the Israeli and Israel decline. Watch us struggle. Watch our debt to be greater. Watch us fall over the fiscal cliff, as they call it. Watch our country go into recession. Watch us have 25 percent, as some of those countries in Europe have, 25 percent unemployment.

That does not make for a happy country.

Isaiah 27 verse 12. It shall come to pass in that day, which usually is a sign when you read word in that day, usually talking about the end time or the time God deals with the people, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river, from the stream of Egypt, and you shall be gathered one by one, you children of Israel. I'm going to have to beat them off and make them let my people go, just like I did when they came out of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet, one of the signs of the Feast of Trumpets, shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and in the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. God's going to have to beat off those nations and make them let his people go. And those people will repent. Hosea 14 talks about them coming to him. God says, if you return to me, you've got to say, I'm no longer going to trust in my military. I'm no longer going to trust in other nations. I'm no longer going to trust in my idols, but I'm going to trust in you, because we find mercy in you. And you know what God says? I will heal their backsliding. I will make them better. I will make them like the cedars of Lebanon planted deep and strong, and I will bless them like the lilies of the field. Hosea 2, verses 14 to 16, he promises to restore them. Hosea 2, verses 14 to 16.

Here's what God says. God loves Israel. He doesn't want to see this happen to her. He doesn't want to see her decline. He wants her to be exceptional. He wants her to lead the nations to God. He wants her to lead the nations to some sanity and some clarity and some freedom. But that doesn't seem to be what we're headed for. Hosea 2, verse 14, therefore, by hold I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her. I will speak to her, and I will give her her vineyards from there and the valley of Acre for a door of hope. And she shall sing there in the days of her, as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that she shall call. You shall call me Ishi. Remember, God had a husband- wife relationship with them. They trusted each other. They were faithful to each other. God blessed her. She was faithful to him until she decided to leave him. Ezekiel 16 gives that whole section. But he says, no more will you call me Lord. You will call me my husband, and you will no longer call me Lord, Bailey. Verse 17, he says, I'll take the names out of you. But he will restore them. He will talk to them comfortably, kindly, and lure them back. Isaiah 49 verses 22 and 23, they will be an exceptional nation. It is interesting that when they come back from their captivity after they've repented, when they come back from their captivity, notice they will be an exceptional nation. Verse 22 of Isaiah 49, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, set up my standard to the people, and they shall bring their sons, your sons, in their arms. And your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. Can you picture this coming back from captivity? And these, their former captors have their captives on their shoulders, bringing them back. Little kids getting the ride on the shoulders of these men who had kept them as slaves. And kings shall be your nursing fathers. Leaders of other nations will be beholden to the people of Israel. And their queens shall be your nursing mothers, and they shall bow down to you with their face to the earth, and lick up the dust of the feet. And you shall know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. I will bring you back. And when I bring you back, you will be the exceptional nation that I always wanted you to be.

And in fact, it'll be so exceptional that the Word of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem. The law of God will be taught, and many nations will come to learn it. Where? That's Jerusalem.

Zechariah chapter 8. And the people that they hate the most, they're going to come to ask, please teach us of God. Zechariah chapter 8 talks about the street being full of boys and girls playing in the streets. Zechariah 8 verse 3 says, Thus says the Lord God, I am returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. It's going to be the capital, and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain, that Mount Zion, where Jerusalem is located. That's going to be called the mountain of God. And it's going to be called the city of truth. It'll be the capital city of the world. God loves it. Verse 4, Thus says the Lord of hosts, there shall yet old men and old women sit in the streets. They'll sit on their porches. They won't be afraid to be out in the streets at night. And every man with his staff in his hand for very age in the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets. Don't be afraid to be able to be out there playing and enjoying the city life, because God will bless them once again. But notice verse 22, Yes, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Verse 23, Thus says the Lord of hosts, in those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all languages. Ten men of different languages will take hold, even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard God is with you.

The nation that's been hated, 321 to 6, they're going to come to those six and say, once they're converted, teach us about God. We've heard God is with you. And, of course, God is going to restore all the Israelites back to that land until finally they expand so greatly, he has to bring them back to America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the countries that he's let them have. It's not the end of the story. Joel 3 verses 16 to 17. Joel 3 verses 16 and 17. And the Lord shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. Verse 17. And you shall so shall you know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And then shall Jerusalem be holy? There shall no strangers pass through. No more will she be a burdensome stone. She will be holy. And finally, what will her exceptionalism do for the other countries around her? Notice Isaiah 19, one of my favorite scriptures when I think about the Feast of Tabernacles. But Isaiah 19 verses 21 to 25.

And the Lord shall be known to Egypt. No one's that going to be known. And the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day. And you shall do sacrifice and shall do sacrifice and ablation. Yes, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord and perform it. Verse 22. And the Lord shall smite Egypt, shall smite and heal it. They shall return even to the Lord. They go astray and smite them. And he shall be entreated of them, and he shall heal them. In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria. And the Assyrian, their enemies, shall come to Egypt and the Egyptian to Assyria. And the Egyptian shall serve, not fight, serve with the Assyrians. And in that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Assyria. Not necessarily third in rank or importance, but the third one. He says, even a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my people, Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance. The end result, when God restores his people, they will be an example to the world. They will finally lead the world to God. They will be an exceptional nation that God wanted them to be all long, to lead the way to God. Here are your main enemies coming to God through Israel. What a blessing! What a great time that's going to be. So, while watching your favorite football team, or your favorite while watching them, or your favorite TV show or movie, please keep a watchful eye on Israel and Jerusalem and their enemies.