Oklahoma State University

Good evening, you sullen audience. Don't get mean before you have reason. And I would just invite you to patiently hear me out. And if you have questions after that, we'll give you our time and attention and attempt to answer your questions. But I want to prepare you for an unusual perspective. I went to the Islamic Center on my way to the meeting tonight to knock on the door and to invite as many as would to come. Because I would love to have my Islamic brethren and anyone interested in the subject of Israel or aggravated by Israel. And my Jewish kinsmen, as well as the general public to be in the place of hearing of an unusual perspective. How shall I describe it? It's a biblical perspective and a prophetic perspective. Because my understanding is predicated upon what I believe the scriptures say about Israel and Israel's future. For example, wouldn't you be surprised to hear that the day is not too distant when Egypt and Syria will be a third part with Israel. It's in the book of Isaiah chapter 19 from verse 23. In that day, shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrians shall come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Syria. And the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day, shall Israel be the third part with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land. Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, mine inheritance. What do you think about that? Absolutely out of keeping with the tenor of today's present political situation. Which I suspect and believe and anticipate will become worse before it becomes better and before we can see this prophetic realization. So I understand that there was a kind of public protest of the Islamic brethren about the violence that has erupted in Jerusalem. I appreciate that response and that concern. I would be all the more impressed if there was an equal Islamic protest about the violence against Christians in the Sudan and Indonesia. Pakistan and in other places where there's been the most horrendous and brutal devastation of Christians. Then I would sense a truth and a reality in this concern for violence. But in the absence of it, it strikes me as being so much like all that goes on in the world, religious and otherwise. As ceremonial, as defensive of one's particular bias or interest, but not really predicated upon truth and righteousness. And that's what I believe is the object of God's concern for mankind. But there's something valuable that Israel performs even in her present unbelief. Even in her present apostasy, even in her own bias and prejudice and concern for her own preservation. And the actions that she's quite required to take to preserve her tenuous existence provokes others to a kind of anger and bitterness, even of a murderous kind. That I think it would be profitable for us to recognize that Israel evokes something about the truth of our condition. That somehow our religious persuasion has not altered. I'm the kind of naive believer who suspects that if we have an authentic relationship with God, that there's no place in the attitude of that one for murder, violence, mayhem or bitterness. That the evidence that you know God is the pacific, peaceful, benign, patient attitude of God. Not in general, but to those who especially distress and chasten you. Because I believe that that's God's character. I believe that he's love and patience and kindness. When I don't see this kind of expression by those who are devoutly religious, I'm questioning the validity of the God they presume to know and preserve. The God that I know looks forward to a reconciliation. He looks forward to a time when those who are presently embittered toward one another will one day be a third part in a highway of holiness that will bless all the families of the earth. Meanwhile, Israel constitutes an irritant and more to those who see Israel as a usurper and brazenly, politically, militarily appropriating a land that has been occupied for centuries by Arabs and Muslims. It's a remarkable predicament, but it's a predicament of a kind that I believe of which God himself is the author. And that the land is not the proprietary right of Israel nor Arabs by virtue of centuries of occupation nor Israel by alluding to some kind of scriptural reference that indicates that the land is theirs. The earth is the Lord's and the nations and those that dwell therein. And there's no piece of earth more precious in God's sight than what is called the Holy Land. Israel will, I think, one day live on it in peace and in fulfillment of God's intention when it shall inherit and not appropriate, which I believe is more the character of the present state. But all of this is a remarkable scenario of God allowing in his providence an occupation to take place that sets in motion a conflict of a remarkable and ultimate kind. Well, I've been waiting for it and I'm happy in one regard that God is no longer a Sunday or a Saturday in matter. Now it's the issue of very real things, land, territory, nation, possessions, rights. And who are we citing when we justify our right to possess a land? What is our source? We need to bring into question what we're quoting. Is the Bible merely a Hebrew cultural phenomenon that men have devised out of the nexus of their own culture and history? Is the Koran something of a comparable kind for those of an Islamic persuasion? Which of these books is God's? Whose statement is definitive? Whose understanding do we need to obtain in this conflict between opposing parties? So I'm happy for the controversy. I won't be happy if it should erupt in greater bloodshed and violence. I'm afraid that it will. But I am happy that God is no longer on the sidelines. That the issue of God is the issue of land. That the issue of God is the issue of a nation. That the issue of God is the issue of promise. And so something is coming up and out for our consideration that up till now has been covert. And just a matter of our own personal persuasion or interest. Now it's becoming world issue. It threatens the world. And the scriptures speak of Israel becoming a bane, a stumbling block. Jerusalem an offense and a stumbling for nations in the last days. And we're seeing that fulfillment now. But I'm unhappy for anger, hatred and bitterness. That will take the light in the predicament of our brothers. When God is wanting amity and reconciliation. And has himself paid an expensive price to obtain it. That the two might become one new man. And wouldn't it be remarkable. And I can't think of a more powerful testimony to an unbelieving Israel. An apostate nation presently. Despite it's small orthodox minority. And I have question about the reality of their profession. That Arab believers who have come to the knowledge of the God of all this world. And have obtained his salvation. And who show the reality and the truth of that. By not exhibiting a bitterness. But a patient love and forbearance for their neighbors. Would themselves be the ones to communicate to Israel the knowledge of their own God. I can't think of anything that would more glorify God. And bring release in the heavens. Than that those who have every seeming right to be most vexed and chafed. Whose historic right and long tenure on the land has been abruptly seized. And who have suffered injustice at the hands of this people. I'm not modifying or in any way negating that. But that they who have the right to be offended. Are the ones who come in the spirit of Christ and of God. And to communicate to their Erring brothers. That their conduct betrays the fact. That they are acting only politically and humanly. And outside of the context of God himself. I can't think of a more powerful witness. And so I'm praying for and trusting that even tonight. In this small occasion. Something will go forth to touch hearts. Particularly Arab or Palestinian. To consider the God of whom I'm speaking. That is unknown both to themselves and to Israel. And for which reason both have become to each other. A threat and a warring entity. Our God. The God who is God. The God who has created the heavens and the earth. Is the God of Shalom. Of peace, of Salaam. And I'm not persuaded that we know him. Until we are able to exhibit as I've said. His spirit and his character. Not when we are cordially disposed toward each other. But all the more when we have every legal and moral right. To be aggravated and to be opposed. Because something greater than our rights is at stake. It's the name of the Lord. And his desire to reconcile. All men unto himself. So may we see that remarkable phenomenon. Of Arab believers. Who know the God of Israel. Better than Israel itself. Coming to that nation. And making him known. Not only in their verbal proclamation. But in their exhibition. Of the sweetness and the character of Israel's God. So as to move them to a jealousy. To consider him whom we have now. For two thousand years and longer. Forfeited and neglected. So I'm saying all that to say. That this present crisis. Which will get worse. Needs to be understood. In a biblical context. God anticipated it. God in fact I believe set it in motion. And not the least of the reasons. Is to bring present Israel. To an end of itself. You may not know it. I'm speaking. I'm looking directly at my brethren. At the back of the room. But according to this Bible. God has an intention for this nation. Greater than their own. You know and I know. That present Israel. Publicly makes it known. They don't that they desire. To be no different than any other nation. In fact they're inviting you. To lay aside your hostility. And come into some kind. Of a political agreement. By which you can share in their prosperity. But they don't understand. That God's intention for them. Is more than becoming the Hong Kong of the Middle East. That God's intention for them. Is to bless all the families. Of the earth. It goes all the way back to a man by the name of Abraham. Whom God selected as a Gentile. Out of the Middle East. Out of Mesopotamia. And called him. To follow him in the land that he would show him. And made him a promise. About the land. And about his posterity. That they would bless all the families of the earth. Paul the apostle. Building on that ancestral promise. Speaks about the same thing in other terms. About a nation of priests. And a light unto the world. Playing again. Upon the promises of God. In his covenant relationship with Israel. Through its history. That they have a calling. And a destiny in God. Beyond themselves. And not for themselves. The issue of Israel. Is not the issue of some. Narrow national interest. Or even a place of safety. For a people who have been. In exile. And living in the land of Gentiles. That they should have the safety of a homeland. The essential purpose of God. Is the selection of a nation. That will bless all the families of the earth. And be to them. A nation of priests. And a light unto the world. Because they communicate. To the nations. The light of God. Into which they themselves have been brought. That Israel is not presently fulfilling that calling. Is clear. But Paul says. In the book of Romans. That this gift and calling. Is irrevocable. It is. Without. Repentance. God will not take it back. Not because of Israel's sake. But because of his sake. Can you understand. That the issue of God is at stake. With the fulfillment. Of his intention for this people. Whom he chose out of obscurity and nothingness. To be a witness of himself. He said I did not choose you. Because you were among the greatest. I chose you because you were among the least. I chose you because you were weak. I chose you because. You were devastated. And reduced as a slave nation. And I brought you out. By a sent messenger. And by the blood of a lamb. Painted on the lintel and door post of your house. That when death would pass over Egypt in judgment. You might be brought forth. And pass through a red sea that would open for you. And be baptized unto Moses. In the sea and in the cloud. And that you might through a wilderness. Be trained up in my way. And come and settle in that land. So that my sanctuary and my dwelling. Will be at your Zion. That from you. Shall the law of God go forth to all nations. And the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. You need to know these things fellas. Not to know them is to remove the context. Of this great and historic conflict. Which consummates this present age. And the pity is that Israel itself doesn't know it. And sees only the narrowest perspective. Of its own survival. So messengers need to come to it. To explain to it the intention of God. And its condition. Historically and presently as God himself sees it. I quoted from Isaiah chapter 19. But here's how the whole book of Isaiah begins. With the cry of a prophet. Isaiah to Judah. Where God appeals to the elements. Hear oh heaven and give ear oh earth. For the Lord has spoken. Right away we need to be alerted. That somehow Israel's condition. Is so abysmal and so pitiful. It cannot itself be directly addressed. God has to make his appeal. To the heavens and to the earth. And to lodge his complaint. About a people whom he's going to describe. In the severest terms. I reared up children and brought them up. But they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner. And the donkey its master's crib. But Israel does not know. My people do not understand. Oh sinful nation. People laden with iniquity. Offspring who do evil. Children who deal corruptly. Who have forsaken the Lord. Who have despised the Holy One of Israel. And are utterly estranged. That's how God begins the great book. Of the prophet Isaiah. With a lament. About the condition of Israel. That is so abysmal. That it's not even to be compared. To the rudimentary knowledge. That a dumb beast would have for its owner. The ox knows its owner. And the ass its master's crib. But my people do not know. They do not consider. I'm not rejoicing over this. I'm not some Jewish anti-Semite. Who has become a Christian. And is taking malicious glee. In describing the condition of his nation. I ache for that condition. But I know that. That has been historically our condition. And essentially and presently our condition. Until God himself will change it. And why is Israel the witness nation? Because Israel's condition. Is the condition of all men everywhere. That's why. We are a witness. Of the human condition. Of greed, ambition. That must express itself. In violence and jealousy and rivalry. And all of the kinds of things. That corrupt all nations. God has a redemptive program. For the nations. Which he has created. And he has signaled out. A people first. To receive the most severe dealings. And to be trained up in the knowledge of the Lord. That they might communicate him. And in that way. They will bless all the families of the earth. But that knowledge is not cheap. It's not a bookish knowledge. It's not a Talmudic knowledge. It's the knowledge in the last analysis. Of the God who raises the dead. The knowledge that is not a knowledge of God. Who resurrects from the dead. Is not a knowledge of God. We might have some modicum of understanding. Or some doctrinal references to the same. But unless we have personally been brought back. From the dead. And are living in that resurrection life. How shall we bless. And make that God known. And I want to say to you tonight. Whether you can understand it or believe it. I'm just such a one. I'm a piece of Israel. I'm a piece of Jewish atheism. I'm a piece of former Marxist radicalism. An angry and bitter rebel. Full of content and anger and hatred. For Germans. Greater than what you presently have for Israel. But the people that I once hated. I now love. And it's not a sentimental bash. It's something of the unconditional love of God. That our worst detractors. And those who have systematically annihilated us. Are the object. Of the love of God. And what I experience in my heart. Toward them. God is love. And those who know him. Must invariably. Express what he is in himself. It's not enough to be religious. Whether it's Judaism, Christianity or Islam. It's not enough to subscribe. To a liturgy. And to a doctrine. And to a body of abstract truths. The knowledge of God. Is union. The knowledge of God. Is one being one with him. And in him. And God has made it possible. To bring us out of the death. Of our anger and bitterness. Our narrowness. Our selfishness. When we will recognize that this is wicked. This is evil. To gloat and delight. In Israel's predicament. And stand on the rooftops. Of Tel Aviv. And watch the Iraqi missiles. Strike that city. And rejoice. For the devastation that it is bringing. To helpless men and women. Is not a statement of religiosity. Let alone spirituality. It's a statement of wickedness. It's a sinful desire. That delights in the death of your enemy. But the God that I know says. Love your enemy. And he gives us a requirement. That we cannot humanly nor religiously. Fulfill. Except in the power. And the energy and the character. Of his own life. This resurrection. Is not kids stuff. This is the authentic. Crossing over. This is the coming into. The reality of the God who is God. But it requires a death. A death of my Jewish arrogance. My opinions. My ideology. My contempt for Germans. My looking down my nose at inferiors. It's a death that I was brought to. By the desperation that came. When I saw the truth of my own condition. And it took a German wife. To bring me to it. Who was schizophrenic. She was herself. A victim of the Nazi time. And had belonged to the Hitler Youth. And we had a romantic idyllic relationship. As a GI in Germany. Falling in love. With this blonde Aryan. But it did not work. Mere human love. And well meaning intentions. Could not cover. Or compensate for. The horrendous history. Between us as peoples. And this pitifully. Psychologically and emotionally broken woman. In her necessity to ventilate. The frustration of her own soul. Found the one place. Where I was penetrable. My Jewishness. And gave me under my own roof. And in my own teeth. And before my own face. The same anti-Semitic hatred. That had seen to the systematic annihilation. Of six million of my kinsmen. Through her nation. And when that happened to me. Where was my calm? Where was my. Self possession. And my belief in reason. And equanimity. And let's talk this over. It was not there. Mere humanity. Cannot suffice. For the demands of relationship. Nor history. It takes God to be a man. And God knows it. And gave himself. For it. As a man. And that's what the crucifixion. In Jerusalem two thousand years ago. Is about. He had to take upon himself. Our humanity. He who knew no sin. Became sin. That we who knew no righteousness. Could become the righteousness of God in him. So this is Yom Kippur. I understand that the. There's an Arabic. Interpretation for Kippur. That has a different meaning from the Hebrew. But the Hebrew meaning. Of Kippur. Means covering. The day of covering. Of what? Of sin, transgression. And iniquity. That a holy God cannot look upon. And it says in this Bible. In Leviticus chapter 17. Verse 11. That without the shedding of blood. There is no remission. Or forgiveness for sin. What are you going to do? It's not an expedient. That I would have chosen. Frankly blood does not appeal to me. There's something horrendous. About blood. There's something that when it's spilled. If we still have some modicum. Of sensitivity left. We will be repelled. To shed blood. Is the greatest violation. Against God. Because he was striking. At the creator himself. And the blood of our victims. Cries out to him from the earth. But God allowed himself. To become a victim. Jesus was no. Political misfit. Who ran afoul of the Roman authorities. And suffered their execution. He said for this purpose have I come. No man takes my life. I lay it down. So I want to tell you fellows. What happened to me. Jewish atheist. Ex-Marxist radical. Angry piece of humanity. 36 years ago. At the end of 14 months of hitchhiking. With a pack on my back. As a disillusioned history teacher. Whose ideologies have failed. Whose marriage to a German woman. Has failed. Because I recognized that something was wanting. Beyond my own humanity. And what shall I look for as an atheist. But philosophical answers. My ideologies have failed. But maybe there's some stone that needs to be unturned. And I went through the whole. Of Europe and the Middle East. I was in Morocco. I was in Fez. I contracted hepatitis. Out of a common pot. That I probably should not have touched. I contracted an ear infection. That had me crying out. In a hotel room in Cairo. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me. And that the power of that infection. Was so great as to burst my eardrum. I was on my back. In a. Italian Catholic hospital. As the guest of the Jewish community. Of Egypt. Of 36 years ago. Suffering from hepatitis. And so inert. That my watch stopped running. Whose movement was. Agitated by motion. I was nigh unto death. How far will God bring a man. To bring him. To life. And in that time. And on that hospital bed. Had already received a first revelation. In the New Testament. Never having opened the Bible. In my entire adult life. Graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. Trained in the analysis of documents. As a historian and a teacher of history. I had never once read a Bible. That's our Jewish condition. Pray for us. We are biblical illiterates. And it shows in our conduct. So I read the five books of Moses for the first time. Having received the revelation of Jesus. And one statement out of his mouth. In the gospel of John. Let him who is without sin. Cast the first stone. What you're indignant at Israel. For exacerbating. Violence. In the holy temple site. What about your own violence. What about your own sin. Where do you come to a. A self righteous indignation. At some abuse. That you have. Your own self performed. Or would perform. Had you the opportunity. And one day will. Without the blinking of an eyelash. We're called to godliness. We're called to mercy. We're called to love. We're called to patience. We're called to forbearance. We're called to recognize the enemy as our brother. Ishmael and Isaac. To be reconciled. That Egypt and Assyria and Israel. Will have a third way. So. If I were to name the present state of Israel. I would not have called it Israel. I would have called it. Jacob. Which is what my condition was. In all of the years. In which I stood in my own independent. Rebellion against god. Self willed. Playing the occasions. Taking opportunity. This is Jacob. Jacob is a schemer. Jacob has some kind of. Aptitude for things spiritual. But he doesn't know how to obtain them. Jacob is a one. Who engages in duplicity and deceives his brother. And so and so forth. But god loves Jacob. Even in that condition. But he won't allow him to remain in it. Because he'll never bless. The families of the earth as Jacob. And therefore. There's a time of Jacob's. Trouble coming. Of which these ruptures. And disruptions. Are the first tremors. And I am preaching everywhere. Even in Jerusalem itself. Though no platform is open to me. By any church. Or any messianic group. In our hotel. With this brother. We conducted five days of meetings. Entitled the coming calamity of Israel. There's something coming. That this people. Must experience. As the chastisement of god. That's how he deals. With sons. And because we have a young kipper. That is not valid. Because there's no blood. That we invoke. But have rabbinically determined. That a day in the synagogue. And a day of fasting. And good deeds. Will constitute a substitute for god. We are without the covering of god. And therefore every demonic. Anger. And bitter and violent thing. That men will ventilate against us. Falls upon our heads. For we have not a god. Who has covered us. For we have forsaken and rejected. That one young kipper. That god himself has provided. In the death of his son. At the cross of Calvary. In Jerusalem. He is the king of the Jews. And he will one day be it. And be it soon. And in that day. He'll be the king of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq. And every nation of the earth. For the law shall go forth. Out of Zion. And the word of the lord. Out of Jerusalem. You've got to know this. You're barking up the wrong tree. You're misspending your energy. You have a narrow. Good guys, bad guys, enemy. Our interest, their interest. That's totally outside. The biblical prophetic context. And if we don't align ourselves. With this context. How then are we in the truth? This is not a little. Syrupy. Supply. This is god's vital truth. That we might live by it. And be in alignment. With things as god himself. Sees them. So. Jacob will one day become Israel. But not before. It is brought to a final. Trial and tribulation. The time of Jacob's. Trouble. It begins in Jerusalem. And we see already now. The incendiary elements at work. But it will not be contained there. It will explode. And have consequence for Jews worldwide. Wherever Jacob is. God has got to bring us. To the end of our Jacob. Self sufficiency. Because we have. Such an eternal millennial. Intent of god. Such a design that glorifies him. His dealings with us. Are more severe. We suffer double. For our sins. Because we. Above all people. Were privileged to know. This god. And to receive his commandments. And his laws that we might walk in them. To us. He sent his son as messiah. To us he gave us the apostle Paul. And the apostolic church. We have had every benefit. And mercy coming from god. And when we spurn that. We bring upon ourselves. A double consequence. That is unhappy. But that's not god's last word. He brings down in order to bring up. He cuts that he might heal. He slays that he might make alive. He's the god who raises the dead. And if Israel be not raised. There'll be no fulfillment. There'll be no blessedness in the earth. And the nations will continue to languish. In their present violence. Incest, murder. Mayhem and corruption. God wants to send into the nations. A people. Who are priests. Who identify with mankind. And know the god. Who has established the nations. And the earth. And come in his compassion. And in his brokenness. I'll tell you that. You'll not recognize resurrected Israel. There'll be no correspondence. The arrogance will be out. The chutzpah will be out. You're not gonna see this heavy handed. Macho. Number one military power. You're going to see a broken. And a contrite people. Who are grateful. That god has brought them back. From the dead. In a death that was deserved. And was a judgment. In exact proportion to their sin. They're brought back. Not because they're deserving. They're brought back because god. Is full of mercy. And he will have mercy. Upon whom he. Will have mercy. Because. That's god. He's free to do it. And a nation nor a person. Need not and cannot. Qualify. That's what mercy is. Can you understand? We have no need of mercy. If we have a qualification. A statement of god's mercy. Is not a tribute. To our virtue. It's a tribute to a god. Who is merciful. And loving and gracious. In our undeservedness. And that's god. That's what god is. In himself. And only israel will reveal. And make that god known. For all the world recognizes. They do not deserve. Such consideration. And the issue of god. Is not the issue of our deserving. For who in fact. Does deserve. Is the revelation of a god. Who will have mercy. Upon whom he will have mercy. Because he will choose whom he will choose. Because he's god. That's his prerogative. And a lot of our hostility. Against israel. Is not so much our vexation. With that nation. But our vexation with a god. Who has chosen that nation. We don't like his specificity. We would much prefer. An ambiguous god. Rather than one who says. This people. I have called for myself. They will bear my name. I will honor them. So israel is on the way. To a political. And national death. But it's the condition. Out of which god. Will raise it. And raise it. As he himself was raised. Unto a newness. Of life. Jesus himself. Is the paradigm. This is the classic. Resurrection. Without which there is no resurrection. Of israel. If jesus be not raised. Our faith is vain. But if he was raised from the dead. As the first fruit. Of god. Then the time is not distant. When god will have a first nation. Resurrected from the dead. And you will know it. Because it's not merely. Of being brought back again. Into a national life. But into a newness of life. That will stagger the world. And all nations will acknowledge. That very god. Has done this. God's coming out of hiding. He's been quiescent. And hidden. Long. But the issue of israel. Is going to bring him. Forcibly and visibly. Before all nations. You'll be without excuse. You'll have to acknowledge. That this god. Who has both judged israel. And allowed this chastisement. To fall upon her. And disperse israel again. Out from its present borders. And out again into the nations. And sift them through the nations. And bring back a remnant. Who survived only. Because of his mercy and grace. As the redeemed of the lord. Who returned to zion. With everlasting joy upon their heads. And mourning and sighing. Fleeing away. God says I will not do this in the corner. I will do this before the face. Of all nations. You're agents and instruments. In the hands of god. And don't know it. You're the rod of his chastisement. But not the cause of their chastisement. The cause of their chastisement. As has always been true. Is israel's own sin. And the corrective judgments of god. Will come. Through whatever instrument. And in these last days. Angry arab and islamic nations. And palestinians within their own borders. They'll have a field day. And maliciously rubbing defeat. Into israel's face. And not be satisfied with mere defeat only. But expressing this implacable hatred. That wants vengeance and spite. I want to appeal to you. Not to be among those. Who lend themselves too easily. To become the rod of god's chastisement. And will themselves be judged. For being that willing instrument. Nations that exist today. Will be blotted out. From a continuing existence. Because they were too readily. Eager. To be the rod of god's chastisement. Against israel. You'll be doing yourself an eternal favor. To stand with the people of god. Than to oppose them. Because you will bless them. That bless thee. So the issue of jerusalem. Is not whether it's israel's. Or that of the arabs. But that it's god's. Chosen sanctuary. At zion. And it cannot be that. Until there's a nation. Fit for the receiving. Of it's god and of it's king. For the same king. Who was crucified. Outside and in the dump. Heaps of that city. Will one day be sitting upon the throne of david. And ruling over it. And over that nation. And all nations forever. Where did you get that idea brother? I got it from the scripture. Let me read it to you. The same book of isaiah. The word of the lord. That came to isaiah. Concerning judah and jerusalem. In the last days it shall come to pass. That the mountain of the lord's house. Shall be established as the highest. Of all mountains. And shall be raised above the hills. And all nations. Shall string to it. Iraq. Saudi arabia. Jordan. All nations. Egypt. Many people shall come and say. Come and let us go up to the mountain of the lord. Mount zion. To the house of the god of. Jacob. See god's not ashamed. To acknowledge his relationship. With jacob. He forever allows himself. To be identified as jacob's god. So why are you ashamed? In fact i want to tell you this. Unless you will acknowledge god. As the god of jacob. And the god of israel. You have not god. Because he's the only god. That is. He's the creator. He's the holy one of israel. There is no other. And the events of the last days. Will reveal in fact. Who is the true and the living god. When nations will go up. To the mountain of the lord. To the house of the lord. To worship the god of jacob. Because he has. Demonstrated himself. Invincibly as jacob's god. Both in judging jacob. And in restoring him. That he may teach us his ways. That we may walk in his paths. For out of zion shall go forth the law. And the word of the lord from jerusalem. And he shall judge between the nations. Oh praise god for that. In rwanda. Between tribal genocidal enemies. Who are all black. He'll resolve disputes. In equity and justice. In righteousness. Because that's the kind of king. That he is. When we say come lord. We're not saying bring us an escape. We're saying come. And establish your throne. Because you're the only qualified. One to occupy it. It's the throne of david. You have to be a descendant of david. God made a promise to david. That out of his loins would come one. Descendant from him. Who will rule over israel forever. Who has that genealogy. Who has that literal descent. And yet is eternal. But the greater son of david. Even yeshua hamashiach. Jesus the christ. He's king. And for those of us who serve him. He's king now. That's why we're here. And that's why we're in many places. From indonesia to japan. To egypt. To distant nations. Sticking our necks out. And being fools. Risking bodily life. Because he's king. Because he's the lord over all. We await his coming. But his authority is already the fact of our life. And our reality. And therefore we're blessed. Therefore we're privileged. Therefore we're honored. To speak his words and to make him known. He deserves to be king. And he will be honored and glorified. In the very city where he was humiliated. And every knee shall bow. Listen to this. And every tongue confess. That jesus is lord. To the glory of god the father. That's the final act. The final consummation. There will not be a pocket of rebellion. When god is finished with the nations. And has demonstrated himself. To the nations. As to the kind of merciful god that he is. By exhibiting to them. That mercy visited upon israel. The least of all deserving nations. Can you understand the wisdom of god? The mystery of god. We turn just one page. To chapter 4 of the same book. After speaking of the judgment. Listen to this. On that day. You know that phrase that comes up recurrently. In prophetic scriptures. In that day. There's a day of the lord coming. It's brewing. It's being prepared. In that day. The branch of the lord shall be beautiful. And glorious. The hebrew word I think is netzer. Which is related to the word. Nazareth and nazarite. And is an illusion spiritually. To the lord himself. And the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory. Of the survivors of israel. A remnant shall survive. The attrition of the last days. And they shall be the redeemed of the lord. Who returned to zion. And whoever is left in zion. And remains in jerusalem. Will be called holy. Everyone who has been recorded. For life in jerusalem. Once the lord has washed away the filth. Of the daughters of zion. And cleansed the blood stains of jerusalem. From its midst. By a spirit of judgment. And by a spirit of burning. You know why I love this book. You fellas back there. Because god does not mince words. He's not playing favorites. He's not whitewashing. He's acknowledging that israel's condition. Is of such a kind. And will yet worsen day by day. Till her iniquity. Will exceed that of her fathers. But he's going to purge the bloodshed. He's going to wash israel. In a spirit of judgment. And a spirit of burning. It will be painful. But it will be needful. And god must go that far. If that city is to be holy. For me to go to jerusalem now. Is a painful requirement. I don't like to be there. I don't like to see it. It's not a city fit for the king. It's too sleazy. Too cheap. Too lustful. It's manners. It's politics. And it's culture is corrupt. And increasingly degenerate. Neither this place. Nor this people are fit. For such a king. But when he brings the spirit of burning. And of purging. And judgments. He will fit for himself. A sanctuary. Then it says. The very next verse. The lord will create over the whole site. S-I-T-E of Mount Zion. And over it's places of assembly. A cloud by day. And smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory. There will be a canopy. It will serve as a pavilion. A shade by day from the heat. And a refuge and a shelter from the storm. And from the rain. God will bring over his holy city. The same kind of benevolent. Blessing and protection. That he brought over Israel. When it came out of Egypt. Fire by day. Fire by night. And a cloud by day. What would we say then? What is our argument then? When the testimony of God. Is visibly present. Over a city made holy. Because he has purged and washed it. Of it's violence. It's bloodshed. And it's filth. In the book of Hosea. We're warned. That though Israel may flourish. For a season. The east wind shall come. As a blast from the lord. Rising from the wilderness. And his fountain shall dry up. His spring shall be parched. It shall strip his treasury. Of every precious thing. This tower in Tel Aviv. For the diamond merchants. And the new super highway. That has liberally helped itself. To Arab owned lands. And every other kind of thing. That is being built and established. By a people who think. That they're going to be there. Unmolested and unchallenged. In the deception of men. Who believe that this. Shall not come upon them. Who have no biblical knowledge. And no prophetic anticipation. But what God says in his word. Shall take place. Or how is he God? There will be a blast. There will be an east wind. There will be a devastation. And that shall strip their treasury. Of every precious thing. And God cries out. On the heels of that judgment. Return oh Israel to the Lord your God. For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him. Take away our guilt. Accept that which is good. We will offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria shall not save us. The Oslo agreement will not save us. President Clinton will not save us. No alignment. Nothing with men. No appeasement will save us. Only our God will save us. We will no more say. Our God to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy. And then God answers. I will heal their disloyalty. How do you like a God like that? You would never do it. Because you're not God. You're man. Because you're mean spirited. Because you're narrow. Because you have only your own interest at heart. But God is other. I will heal their disloyalty. This condition goes back to chapter 1 of Isaiah and it's our present condition still but I will heal them of it. I will love them freely. This undeserving people who have made my name a reproach in every nation where I have driven them. I will love them freely. I will heal them. I will be like the dew to Israel for my anger has turned from them unlike yours. He shall blossom like the lily. He shall strike root like the forest of Lebanon. His shoot shall spread out. His beauty shall be like the olive tree. And his fragrance like that of Lebanon. They shall again live beneath my shadow. Oh thank you Lord. In that day we will be a nation without fear. We'll go to sleep at night without panic. We won't have to seal up our windows in Tel Aviv with scotch tape and things to keep out noxious gases. God will have become our high tower, our fortress and our safety. He has promised we will live beneath his shadow. They shall flourish as a garden. They shall blossom like the vine and fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress God says. And your fruit shall come from me. Hallelujah. You know what Jerusalem is going to be called? The Lord our righteousness. Not our presumption. Not our arrogance. Not our assertion. The Lord is our righteousness. For our fruit shall come from him and it shall bless the families of the earth. And you know what? You guys are going to be a fruit of Israel. That fruit will include believers from Egypt and Assyria. From Lebanon itself. From Iraq where there is now anger and hostility. Fruit will come from Israel's loving humiliation to bring to peoples who have hated it the knowledge of their God unto salvation. There will be much fruit and God will be honored by that fruitage and be glorified by it. Well, I've written a little book here which is in French coming out in German this month. The lady who led me to the Lord in Jerusalem 36 years ago is working on the Hebrew translation. It's a fearful book and tries to explain the Nazi Holocaust as not some aberration in history or some misfit of Hitler who had power and was therefore an undoing for Israel but that all of these things are the expressed fulfillment of judgments promised by God in scripture. In the latter days you will know this. You will understand this. Now your calamities are not haphazard. They are judgments in complete proportion to your sin. You can't understand the devastation of the Holocaust because you don't understand yourself as sinners. You need to interpret your misfortune in the light of the word of God because if you'll not see the revelation of your sin and judgment, how shall you know yourself as sinners? If you'll not see sin in the judgment that came upon God's Son who became sin how shall you know sin? Nothing sin by its nature is deceptive. No one thinks that he's a sinner. We're all self-righteous. We're all self-justifying. We all have reasons to retaliate, to be angry, to be bitter, to be vengeful, to be violent. We don't see it as sin. Sin only comes when we see what it cost God to requite it. When we see what came upon the Son of Man who had no form nor beauty that we should desire Him, who was battered so out of shape there was no humanity to be recognized in Him. Then we begin to wonder what was our condition that required this kind of atonement, this kind of Yom Kippur? So hear the word of the Lord, O you nations, and declare it in the isles afar off and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd does his flock. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. This is God speaking out of Jeremiah I don't know how many thousands of years ago about something yet future that needs to be fulfilled. For this is the distinctive genius of the Bible that God speaks in advance of an event, an accurate description in prophecy that by its fulfillment we may know that God alone is God. For who alone knows the end from the beginning? And who can communicate that through a flesh and blood man like me who is called Jeremiah in his generation and have him to give us this statement that we might understand what the end of things will be. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, only God can so address the world because it's His. He formed the nations He established their boundaries that they might seek after Him and find Him. Hear the word of the Lord you nations, you rebellious nations who don't want to come under my authority you want to be your own autonomous rulers and you take thought against the Lord and against His anointed to break their bands asunder but the Lord holds you in derision for He has set His King upon the holy hill of Zion and given Him the nations and the Gentiles for His inheritance. Hear the word of the Lord you nations and declare it in the isles far off and say He that scattered Israel will gather Him and keep Him as a shepherd does his flock for the Lord has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of Him that was stronger than he therefore because the Lord has done this because the Lord has brought Israel to a predicament that it cannot solve that is beyond its own power to extricate or to save itself it will know that the Lord has done this therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord for wheat for wine for oil for the young of the flock and of the herd and their soul shall be as a watered garden and they shall not sorrow anymore at all well they're sorrowing presently and they will yet sorrow but when this word is fulfilled it's the end of Israel's sorrow at all then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance both young men and old together for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow and I will satiate the soul of the priest with flatness and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness sayeth the Lord I'll tell you that a nation like that will have something to say about God that is more than rabbinical or Talmudic or academic they will make known a God who has saved them out of the utterness of their distress by his own power because he overcame those that were too strong for them he'll bring them back from the places wherein he has scattered them and there'll be all the world of difference between the comparison of Zionist Israel of 1948 to this present day and the Israel that shall be established when he shall gather them and bring them back from the places where he has scattered them they will inherit the land not possess it or grasp it like Jacob but receive it by grace as Israel that is in Israel indeed and in that day all the families of the earth will be blessed it's not that Israel will have a message for all nations so much I wrote here as she will be the message how do you like that? that God loves you nations so much he's willing to bring one nation through the cleaner he's willing to bring a nation through judgment, through devastation through expulsion, through exile that the world might see both the severity of God's judgment and righteousness and the mercy of God in restoration they will see his severity and his kindness for that's what God is in his fullness Israel will not have a message Israel will be a message won't this make you more patient to bear what you must? I appeal to you my Islamic Arab and Palestinian brethren I appeal to you patience this is Israel's last death gasp this is man in his humanity and his arrogance coming to the final end of himself and you have to bear it and in fact you have to bear the conduct of such a one in his desperate necessity to seek to preserve himself without God and you'll be all the more able to do it if you know the end that this is the last spitting out what else shall they do but act humanly if they have not God as their resource but you who know better can bear their assault knowing that it's for a short time and if you take it to your bosom in patience you might even be the witness of the Lord to turn them to the knowledge of himself when they see the equanimity and the poise and the graciousness that you exhibit when you are their target they'll not be able to explain it because they only knew your desire for vengeance they only knew your desire for retaliation but to see this is to see something beyond that which is human or religious to see this is to see God as God that's your calling and by that demonstration that brings them to that salvation you have blessed your own people you have blessed the Palestinian you have blessed the Arab nations you have blessed all nations for the blessing of the nations waits upon the restoration of this people who have been made Jacob into Israel both through death and resurrection surely you shall call a nation you do not know and nations who do not know you will run to you because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel for he has glorified you for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations it's of necessity it's got to be in a principal place where else but the city of David the city of peace when it in fact becomes that city but it will be for all nations Israel is not for herself and her kingdom is not some narrow ethnic national political consideration her kingdom is the kingdom of God it's Davidic it has a throne it has a locus it has a center but it's God's kingdom for all nations from that nation hasten the day and don't depose it recognize the mystery of Israel and the nations for the Lord God who gathers the outcast of Israel says yet will I gather to him others because beside those that are gathered to him arise shine your light has come the glory of the Lord has risen upon you for darkness shall cover the earth deep darkness to people but the Lord will rise over you and his glory will be seen upon you and the Gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising it says nations will come up for the feast of tabernacles to Jerusalem can you imagine that you'll have to humble yourself you'll have to wear another face you can't come sullen and pouting you have to come with gratitude that you're privileged to come to the nation that God has glorified and honored and to worship their God in their holy city and from their mounds if you'll not come you still want to be mischievous you still don't want to agree with God's choice because you're greater than God and no better than God and they would not have been your choice he'll take rain from you he'll remove blessing and you'll know curse if you continue to remain in your obstinate opposition to God and that nation which he has chosen Israel is God's test for the nations whether they will acknowledge God as God as a God who chooses and elects and will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy your unwillingness to have mercy puts you in opposition to the God who will and that's called wickedness and it's evil and you'll suffer an eternal consequence if you persist in this attitude in the face of this God that's why we're here you guys God is grappling for your life he's wanting to save you out of death sin and death and he comes even into the academic and secular place and takes the initiative or we would surely otherwise have perished and remain stuck within our own categories and our own narrow interest in our own self justifying vehement bitter and violent way he brings us to the place of hearing he brings a perspective that we would not otherwise have understood nor considered and for which from this night on you will be held responsible and accountable you'll never be able to say I never heard I never considered, I didn't know I thought Israel was my enemy I had only political understanding I thought Allah was a competing deity I didn't know that there's really but one God who is the creator and the God of all nations and it happens to be because he chose it the God of Jacob and the God of Israel and therefore also the God of all peoples for Israel is what man is and God will be merciful to Israel, there's hope for Jordan there's hope for Iraq there's hope for Indonesia and their merciless devastation against the Christians of that land, the raping of women, the cutting open of the bellies of pregnant Christian women, the murder of their children, their husbands the unparalleled violence will condemn men to hell eternally for having ventilated that upon the people of God he's giving you an opportunity to repent not that you have personally performed it but you would if you could and you sanction and endorse those that do it's one God or the other and I'm standing here tonight in behalf of the God who is God who is the God of Israel the God of Jacob, the God of Jesus the God of Moses the God of Abraham, the God of the prophets, the God of the apostles the God who is God, the God who is coming as King for when we shall see him it says in Zechariah we shall see him whom we have pierced and mourn for him as one mourns for one's only son and be in bitterness as one is in bitterness for firstborn and we'll say to him where did you receive these wounds in your hands and he shall tell us these are the wounds that I received in the house of my friends the coming King is the one that was crucified in Jerusalem he's the son of God and God he's coming as King and every knee will bend and every mouth will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father that's the long and the short of it that's why Paul was not ashamed of this message that's why God has sent missionaries to China to Timbuktu to Oshkosh, to Saudi Arabia people who put their lives at risk to bring this message to save the unwary and the merely religious and self-justifying out of eternal death there's one God and there's one salvation there's one blood that alone washes away iniquity and filth and sin it's the shed blood of Israel's Messiah and you who are far off without God and hope in the world Paul says he has brought near by the blood of Jesus into the promises and covenants and hopes of Israel and into the commonwealth of Israel itself he wants to make of the two one new man and inhabit the land in blessed amity and peace as brothers because we have a common father and enjoy the same spirit which is the spirit of Christ and the spirit of God having been washed in the Messiah's blood if there was another message I would speak it if there was another alternative I would give it this is the way of the Lord and we have an obligation to proclaim it to men and leave the ball in your court if this Bible is God's book you're in a costly place if it's not if it's just a particular cultural affinity of Jews and Christians and has no validity beyond that forget it everything that I'm saying to you is predicated from the Bible and the speaking of God in that book speaking prophecies that speak of a last days restoration of Israel to the land and then an expulsion from the land in judgment and then a subsequent return from the uttermost corners of the world where he will have cast us that he alone can bring us out of dungeons and out of chains and places of darkness by the power of God and bring us through a wilderness in the sifting through the nations that the redeemed of the Lord may return to Zion you're going to see it if you're alive you're going to participate if you're a believer no nation will be exempt of the passage of Jews coming through it in flight from the persecution of this last days chastisement and God Jesus said in Matthew 25 determining and separating sheep from goats and determining their eternity on the basis of one question only what did you do with the least of these my brethren Lord when did we see you hungry thirsty naked sick and in prison as you did not do this for the least of these my brethren you did it not unto me be cast into the fire reserved for the devil and for his angels you're going to have a last opportunity to respond to this people when they shall become the least of his brethren Steven Spielberg and Jerry Levin the CEO of Time Warner Corporation and all of the great hot shots of our age who are rolling in their millions and have their dream factories will be out there in the wilderness of the nations coming through the backwoods of Oklahoma and God knows where else stripped because an east wind is going to blow and bring their prosperity to nothing they will be reduced that they might consider when they face the elemental facts of life and eternity in a wilderness what is this all about and why are we here and there will be a people who will befriend them and take them in and feed them and explain to them their predicament they're called the righteous of the Lord and they will inherit a kingdom prepared for them the issue of the Jew in his last days particularly in their predicament and in their judgment will be God's last opportunity not only to sift Israel but to judge and to sift the nations through which they pass so did the Lord give me a vision in Cairo on the last night of about five nights of pouring my soul out to Egyptian Christians who didn't want to hear about Israel because their uncles and brothers and fathers had died at Israeli hands in the wars between those nations I said if you're the church and if you're believers you have an obligation to hear because you shall not be absolved from the involvement with this people as God will bring them through all nations including your own but they would not hear. They wouldn't even take the cassette tapes of those messages lest the lady who translated me in Arabic would be identified by her voice and there I was forlorn and feeling the failure and what is uncommon for me I had a vision on the spot I saw men bareheaded and bowed over and humiliated in numbers being forced marched through the broad boulevards of Cairo which I know well and great cordons of police were holding back the mobs who were trying to break loose and kick and spit at this people and then I recognized who and what they were they were a defeated Israeli army being exhibited as conquered and being humiliated being forced marched through the streets, the boulevards of Cairo and angry Egyptians coming to kick and spit and I gave that vision to this people and I said your part is not to come and to kick and to spit but to come out and to take and to take to yourself those whom the Lord will direct you and succor them and help them and keep them and give them refuge for there will be a final time when God will bring his son out of Egypt there's a great drama and you'll be participant in it my prayer for you is participant for the good, aligned with God and not opposed to him understanding that Israel must pass through this because we see her condition prostitution rings Satan clubs extortion gangs in Israeli high schools kids mutilating children with cigarette butts to get some shekels the torture of prisoners who would ever believe that a day would come that a Jew would torture a helpless captive but what do you do when you have a suspected Hamas terrorist who knows when the next bus is going to explode in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem or something go off in the walking mall what are you going to do, give this guy a cup of coffee and hope that he'll share something you've got to use what you must if it will save Jewish life you see what God has done, he's put our backs to the wall he's forced us into an ungainly situation that if we seek to preserve our political existence without God we are forced every day to expediencies of the kind that had once been visited upon us when we were strangers in the nations belonging to others you know what we're going to see we're no better than any man anywhere we are as capable of the Germans of brutality and we'll finally have to agree with God what he has always all along said in his word there's no man good no not one and if God were to mark iniquity who can stand and we Jews who prided ourselves on our virtue our morality our ethical sensitivity will see ourselves acting as horrendously and as cruelly as any Gentile has ever acted when our self interest is at stake and we have no alternative for our preservation because we know not God we have got to be reduced to that and be saved out of that by a God who will heal our apostasy and forgive us our iniquity and give us a new heart and put a right spirit within us that we might obey and serve him and be a blessing to the nations as a broken people contrite, humbled and grateful that he has saved us out of death and has not forgotten his call nation of priests and light unto the world oh I've got four pages here I won't belabor you the kingdom of God out of Zion is the issue it's not Jewish nationalism or ethnic superiority but the issue of a broken contrite messianic glory of a nation in the character of its messiah it's the fulfillment of God's promises to the patriarchs to Abraham, David it's the fulfillment of prophecies to Moses the prophets of all ages that must be fulfilled if God is God it must be a fulfillment that validates the Bible itself as the testimony of the creator God who is alone God and will not share his glory with another not to desire his glory and the fulfillment on the basis by which he has established it and ordained it is to be wicked and deserving of the eternal judgment whether we are Jews or Arabs we're wicked if we do not desire God's glory in the way in which he has ordained to obtain it through the restoration of a nation that do not deserve it but show forth his mercy God himself is the author of our crisis it centers in Jerusalem born out of the Nazi Holocaust that brought us back to the land the whole thing is God's unfolding it's his wisdom compels us to choose for or against God who has taken the initiative even tonight to bring this perspective to us in the secular place God has intervened has come down in time and history and we have no integrity no truth, no basis for reality or real relationship with ourselves as Muslims or anything else if we do not love the truth if we want only what's exceeding for our interest if we will not see what is being revealed in our anger and our bitterness and our capacity for violence and murder how then can we be to each other what we want let alone to all men everywhere God requires righteousness and has given us his son that we might obtain it and he is willing to forgive us for our murders and if he will forgive you for your murders in Indonesia and Pakistan and where so ever and even in Israel itself can you not forgive them theirs you know why you are relentless you know why you are bitter you know why you want retaliation why you are vindictive because you yourself do not know forgiveness you are not able to forgive because you have not received forgiveness though there is a God who is willing to extend it to you tonight but you don't see yourself as being in need of it because you are righteous and self justified and wicked this is his mercy to you to save you out of the death and eternal consequence of being a murderer whether you have performed it or just desire it his mercy and his forgiveness is available for he has performed it on the cross in the Yom Kippur that is a day of atonement indeed through the shedding of his blood for the forgiveness of sins so do what your Egyptian brothers did 5000 years ago they went out with Israel from Egypt they went out as a mixed multitude it was not just Israel delivered by the blood of the Lamb but as many of the Egyptians who recognized that this people have a destiny with God and they chose between Egypt and Pharaoh and Israel and the God of Jacob and came out with them under the same blood and came into the land and so is it now also choose your identification not with Egypt and the Pharaoh but in union with the people of God and be baptized with them through the sea and the cloud and inherit the land together that it might be a holy land because you'll not come to it you don't deserve it anymore than we you have no more right to it than we do in our present condition and the angels of God are around it with swords drawn there is no entry to God's holy land by a usurping Jacob or a self aggrandizing and violent Islam it's God's holy place his Zion is upon it and the angels with their swords drawn flaming keep us from it the entry is through death and resurrection flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God neither Jewish flesh nor Arab flesh can inherit the kingdom of God only those who have been raised to a new condition of life through resurrection can have entry and part with the king who is himself resurrected and ascended we Jews have no advantage by being Jewish sorry about that our natural ethnicity does not qualify us for anything because the Lord said I can raise up children of of Abraham out of stones your genealogical descent doesn't qualify you for a thing but to be the Israel of God is not a statement of your ethnic genealogical origin as it is the issue of the life that I will give you which is my own there is a destiny for you as Jews but not because you have a right to it as Jews but because as Jews who have come to the knowledge of their Messiah and God and have welcomed on that basis to inherit the land and not to grasp or to usurp it then it will blossom then it will give forth fruit then it will bless all the families of the earth so God will have all men to be converted a new birth, a miracle of God, a grace to call upon that one name the only name given in heaven and earth by which a man may be saved every other road is to destruction broad is the way that leads to destruction and narrow the path that leads to life I am the way, the life and the truth no man, Arab or Jew Greek or Gentile or any persuasion comes to the Father but by me I had to face that absoluteness, that resolute uncompromising statement as an atheistic Jew, reading of Jesus in the New Testament for the first time saying I am the way, the truth and life who do you think you are, such audacity what claims allowing Jews to fall at your feet and cry out my Lord and my God well he has every right to demand that absoluteness to require it every knee shall bend every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father why not do it tonight why not now and not have to make that confession out of the chagrin and eternal torment of making it too late to receive its benefit whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved saved out of death saved out of sin, saved out of hell heaven is not a harem of 70 virgins waiting to give you their bodies hell is an eternal torment you are deceived if you think you are going to some paradisical eternity because you have murdered men in the name of Allah you are going to hell and from which there is no remedy no turning, if you will not call upon that one name that is given above every name in heaven and earth whereby a man may be saved I want to pray for that Lord this is mercy Lord, I don't know if these men and women can understand it this is mercy this is love this is a God who takes the initiative as you took with me to pick me up off the side of the road as a hitchhiking bum all those years ago and spoke to me through believers who had mercy on an angry and bitter man and showed me the way of salvation Lord, let not a word of tonight fall to the ground disturb my brothers shake them up whosoever is in this place of hearing has withheld themselves from this God in total surrender is wicked and deserves the same separation you now choose will be yours eternally but you won't be shouting Dixie then there will be a lament and a cry that is pitiful to contemplate whosoever shall call the name of the Lord shall be saved humble yourself there is only one God one faith, one way, one name above every name given in heaven and earth bow before him acknowledge yourself as a sinner receive his yom kippur and be blessed and saved in Jesus name I pray amen questions? where's my water? so anybody have a question? comment? I guess one of the things that I wonder about is as believers and helping Jewish people to make aliyah you know Arnold Fruchtenbaum has said the same thing that the present gathering is for judgment a crystal ball of judgment that's right and so you have to ask yourself are we sending people to their death? or what should be our position? bless you for that and this is my what shall I say? the requirement that's put upon me by the Lord to speak to Christians who thought they were doing Jewish service by bringing them to Israel now and I say to them you're bringing them from the frying pan to the fire Israel is going to be the vortex of violence we're almost assuring their destruction though of course there will be a remnant saved out of it but there's a greater hope for safety and deliverance in the nations than to send Jews prematurely now to a nation that is scheduled for this time of Jacob's trouble and judgment we made a mistake, we were naive we misread the scripture we thought that this is the time of their return only sufficient to establish the political entity that would create the friction that will lead now to their final devastation and expulsion read Isaiah chapters 51 and 52 it is the most graphic description of a people ventilating their vengeance and hatred upon a defeated Israel who are netted like deer at the head of the streets helpless and the enemy says to them lie down that we might walk over you there's nothing in recent Israel history that bears comparison it takes place in the land but it shows not only a defeat but a devastation and humiliation and an expulsion but no sooner does it show it than it speaks of a god who will call back, who will restore as I've read, I will bring you back from every nation where you are scattered, the remnant, the redeemed of the Lord shall return to Zion though they did not leave it in that condition yes, we need to be careful and not to think that God has given us a blank check and we write out the conditions we need to carefully study the scripture that is so abundant in references to a devastation that must begin in Jerusalem of which Jesus himself spoke that if that time not be cut short no flesh shall survive but for the elect's sake the time will be cut short but when it comes, pray it doesn't come on the Sabbath or the winter and flee to the hill to the mountains of Judah showing the context in which this time of Jacob's trouble breaks out according from Daniel that it is initiated by the abomination of desolation, has that taken place yet? No, it's future why send Jews into it see what I mean good question it's going to take a real humility to acknowledge that we have been mistaken and to repent for that impetuosity and pray mercy on those whom we've helped bring to a place of peril how to bring it to an understanding of Jesus prayer this kind cometh not out but by prayer infesting, you're asking a man who has a 95 year old mother who knew me as an atheist, as a Marxist and now she's had the evidence of 36 years in the faith her son is the author of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 books 7, 8 in Russian people come to us from all over the world and yet she stubbornly refuses to acknowledge or to receive the Messiah who has changed the son's life visibly this kind cometh not out but by prayer infesting stubborn unbelief and a false loyalty to a rabbinical Judaism that has been the construct of men that gives them no valid Yom Kippur therefore they're uncovered and subject to every vagary and mischief that Satan can heap upon them because they're not under the atonement, the blood of the Lamb. Pray for your girlfriend, pray for my mother and if it was not for prayer I would not be here tonight speaking to you I would have been dead 35 years ago as a disillusioned man steeped in death and without hope but because one of my students and her mother continued faithfully to pray for this atheistic radical teacher that when I came back to California as a saved man and gave my first testimony at a local church this roly poly gentile woman came up to me and said, you don't know me brother Katz but you had my daughter in your history class and she knew you were an atheist and a radical and came home from school every afternoon weeping over you. Since that day she said, my daughter and I have been praying for you and the Lord gave me a shot in my ribs with his elbow and said psst, she's the one this goyisher, gentile snub-nosed, freckle-faced sandy-haired woman this roly poly, her prayers have brought you into the kingdom of heaven there's a war on, there's a diabolical contest for the souls of men and darkness is pervading the earth there's intrigue and deception there are deep religious currents and loyalties that have their origin out of the depths of hell prayer, witness faith will save those who will believe preach the word give your Jewish girlfriend an opportunity to know her own scriptures and read about her own messiah and ask her who do you say that this man is, who allowed Jews to fall at his feet and worship him as God and not rebuke them but call them blessed he's a usurper and a meligomaniac that we Jews have the first obligation to dismiss and to warn the gentiles have nothing to do with this character except that he is who he says he is and deserves your worship and mine, put up or shut up let her know that her eternal destiny is at stake yes sir well I thought you already did that my mom is going to stay home her legs are so bad now is the restless legs taken care of, now they're stiff the muscles are smooshed you can hardly bend them I'm ready to go honey I give others an opportunity that may have a question of another kind yes sir do you think the God of Muslims is the same the God of Islam is the same as the God of Israel, no no I don't, I think there's only one God the God of Jacob the God of Israel, but he's not Allah so who is the God of I'm sorry the God of Chinese there's only one God of the Chinese it's the same God that's the God of Jacob and that's why the Lord of that God said to his disciples, go ye into all the world and preach this gospel to every creature including China, as many as will believe and will be baptized