 Good morning. We are coming on the air with breaking news. Israel has declared it is at war after a sudden Unprecedented and deadly surprise attack by Hamas this morning. The Palestinian militant group essentially invaded parts of Israel today Infiltrating by land see even air sending paragliders in Hamas also launching thousands of rocket attacks overwhelming Israel's robust defenses By now you all are probably aware of what's happening with israel that they've been invaded by Hamas The question is though since this is supposed to be God's people God has chosen Israel as his nation then why then do we see this happening? Well, we can look at the bible and we can find two things one We can find prophecy to say that this is going to happen But then too we could also see this as part of a plan that god has to bring israel to her knees To bring her to worship christ as her messiah We are seeing israel's enemies ramp up their attacks and now even invading the country And this isn't something new although it seems to be escalating But if we look back in history, this really isn't anything new as a matter of fact all throughout israel's existence There's always been someone somebody that's been attacking israel israel has never really enjoyed peace in the land Peace that god has promised. So is it that god's promises have failed? Well, no This is part of something that god has spoken of and so let's go back to the very beginning Or towards the very beginning of the bible and we'll see that this is something god has spoken of And we're seeing it happen in josh will we see god speaking? And he's reminding them that if you if you cling to god If you do not go back to these other nations then you'll be fine You'll have peace but if you do not then look what god says He says no for certain that the lord your god will not continue to drive out these nations from before you They will be a snare and a trap to you and a whip on your side and thorns in your eyes Until you perish from off this good land Which the lord your god has given you and so god has told them He's warned them that if you disobey if you go after other guys if you intermarry with him If you don't utterly remove them from the land Then god will not drive them from your land and they will be a snare and a trap and a thorn to you in your side And so what did israel do they agreed to follow the lord? They agreed with their words that they would follow after him But in their hearts and their deeds they did not as a matter of fact We go to judges 121 as they enter the land We're going to see this vicious cycle come about and as they're going in and taking possession of the land notice something in It's beginning in judges 121 says but the sons of benjamin did not drive out the jevy sites who lived in drusim So the jevy sites have lived with the sons of benjamin in drusim to this day Now it's not just them because if we drop down a little bit further We're going to see the same thing happening with other tribes of israel But manasseh did not take possession of beth's beth shean and his villages or to knock or his villages Notice what it says So the canaanites persisted in living in that land It came about that when israel became strong that they that they put the canaanites a forced labor But they did not drive them out completely Verse 29 ephrym did not drive out the canaanites verse 30 zebulon did not drive out the inhabitants verse 31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants and so what we see is this pattern of the tribes not doing what they were told to do As a result God pronounced judgment upon them in chapter 2 verse 20 says so the anger of the lord burned against israel He said because this nation has transgressed my covenant which i commanded there their fathers and has not listened to my voice I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations with Joshua left with him in order to test israel by them Whether they will keep the way of the lord or will walk in it as their fathers did or not So the lord allowed these nations to remain not driving them out quickly And he did not give them into the hand of joshua And so because of the disobedience just like he commanded them before Just like he told joshua just like he's telling them as he's always told israel if you disobey me Then there are going to be consequences and this consequence is going to be severe And god is not changing his mind on that because they have not yielded to the lord Then he says i will not drive out these inhabitants these people that are going to be against you The very people that hate you the very people that you Uh that that despise you that you've cozyed up to and have intermarried and have accepted their gods I will leave them in the land to test you Well, what do we see today the very same people that hate them They are left in the land god has not driven them out nor will god drive them out until later But in the meantime, they will test them. They will be a thorn again for them They will be a problem for israel and why is god going to let them become a problem for israel Well, one is part of a punishment, but also two more importantly is part of a bigger plan In deuteronomy 32 21 notice what god said he says they have made me that's israel has made me jealous with what is not god They have provoked me to anger with idols so that i will make them jealous with those who are out of people I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. So he's going to use their sin He's going to use their idolatry. He's going to use them turning their back on god and going after other gods Making god jealous. He's going to make them jealous with who with those who are not a people making them people That is the gentiles now. This is also brought up with paul paul has a concern that israel by and large is not coming to christ And not accepting christ as their messiah and so he addresses this in roman chapter 9 verse 20 says i'm telling the truth in christ I'm not lying my conscience testifies with me in the holy spirit that i had a great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart For i could wish that i myself were cursed separated from christ for the sake of my brother and my kinsmen According to the flesh who are israelites To whom belong the adoptions as the sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the temple and services And promises who are the father and from whom is christ according to the flesh And his issue his concern is that they are not coming to christ. They have not placed in the faith in christ Although the first people in the church were jews Now at this time the majority of the church is gentiles That's not that much of a problem that the majority are gentiles The problem is that jews by and large are not coming. They have turned their back on their messiah Now paul offers some comfort and he offers more answers as well. He says Did israel stumble so as to fall is is their failure their fall is it complete? He says no may it never be but by their transgression Salvation has come to the gentiles to make them jealous, which is what he said before that He is going to make israel jealous By gentiles or a foolish nation becoming a nation of people who are not a people to become his people as well And then paul brings in some good news for israel as well Not all of israel is going to be saved but as a nation Israel has going to receive salvation salvation will come to the nation of israel as his plan But notice what he says right now. He says I don't want you brethren to be uninformed about this mystery So that you will not be wise in your own estimation That a partial hardening has happened to israel until the fullness of the gentiles has come in And so he says that all israel is going to be saved notice what he says in verse 26 Just as it is written the deliverer will come from zion. He will remove ungodliness from jacob This is my covenant with them when I take away their sin So he's made a covenant and I want to go look at this covenant that he's making because paul is trying to get israel Or the jews understand and we can understand this even now even as it relates to this current conflict That god is still working with israel what he was speaking of in romans 9 He's he's harkening back to this new covenant that is spoken of in jeremiah He says behold days are coming Declare's aloh when I will make a new covenant with the house of israel and with the house of juda Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers in that day the day that he took them out of the land of Egypt he says verse 33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of israel after those days to clear as the lord He says, I will put my law within them and I will be their guide and they shall be my people. Now this hasn't happened by and large right now. There's been some of that that has been fulfilled but completely no. This has not happened and we're going to see it at some point in time in the future that this is going to happen. He says, know the Lord. He says, they will know the Lord for they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest declares of the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no longer. But notice what he says, 35 and 36. The Lord says, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night who stirs up the sea and the waves roar. The Lord of hosts is his name. If notice what he says, if this fixed order departs from before me declares the Lord, then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever. So his point is Israel will never cease to be a nation before and forever. So if that's the case then why do we see these attacks against Israel? As a matter of fact, even now more so we see an invasion. Why do we see Israel at war? God, if these are your people, if you have a promise for this nation and for this land, this is the place where after all the Messiah is going to return and your scripture say that he's going to set his foot on the Mount of Olives there and he is going to reign and rule from there, well then why do we see this happening? Well again they are going to turn their hearts back to him but when is that going to happen? And then even more germane to the point is why are we seeing what we're seeing happening in Israel right now? Well this goes back to what he said initially. He's going to leave these people, these enemies of Israel and by the way enemies of God there to be a problem, a thorn in the flesh to prick them to come against them to attack them. Why? Because at some point in time Israel is going to eventually yield because they are desiring of peace they are going to accept the terms of peace with ultimately this lawless man. Remember Daniel gives his prophecy of these 70 weeks or these 77s and the 7s are seven years and the first 69 have already taken place after the 69th week the Messiah has been cut off he will be crucified that's already happened. The 70th, the last seven is yet to come and the Bible says Daniel says in his prophecy that in the middle of it that Israel will make an agreement with this lawless man this Antichrist for peace and he says he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week that's one seven but in the middle of the seven, the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offerings on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate even until a complete destruction one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate and so Daniel's prophecy is that Israel is going to settle for peace have this agreement but in the middle of the seven years there is going to be a breaking of this covenant. Daniel is asking for more clarity on this prophecy and to know when will the end of this be how long will this be and notice what he says in chapter 12 of Daniel starting verse 11 says from the time that the regular sacrifices abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up there will be 1290 days how blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1335 days this is this is literally guys three and a half years and so how blessed is he he says but first 13 but as for you go your way to the end then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of age there is going to be peace after all of this and so all of this is used to kind of bring Israel one to her knees two to have her to look to the Messiah eventually remember we talk about Isaiah 53 and we apply that sometimes to us but this prophecy is what Israel is going to say and notice what he says in 53 let's start and read it and you'll notice that he's speaking in past tense the reason why is because after all these happen and there's a conclusion that comes about and Israel is brought to his knees and even after this covenant is broken through this great tribulation I know some folks may disagree with this tribulation this this issue about the tribulation but this goes right along a line with prophecy he says that Israel is going to eventually say this what are they going to say who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed for he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of the parts ground he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him now notice the the tense of the verbs that are being used here speaking about Jesus this is why Israel is going to say this after all of this is done they'll look back and say this he was despised and forsaken of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and like one of whom men hit their face he was despised and we did not esteem him so they're speaking these past tense verb remember Jesus already when they say this Jesus has already been crucified when Isaiah is writing this Jesus is not coming to sing but they're going to look back and they're going to say this surely our griefs he himself bore they'll finally recognize that he has bore their grief and our sorrows he carried so get the picture they're finally going to see who Jesus is who he was and in verse five it says but he was pierced through for our transgression he was crushed for our iniquities the chastising of our peace or our well-being fell upon him and by his scourging we are healed and so Israel is finally going to make that point even though they're going through what they're going through now and we pray for Israel's health we pray for Israel's well-being know this God is going to keep Israel however God is going to take them through many tribulations and they're going to be one great like they never as Jesus says like has never happened nor ever will be they will never know anyone else if it will experience what they are going to experience but this is all to bring them about like Paul said a partial hardening has come upon them which is why in either we see in Zachariah why Israel has turned their back on God and there's a reason for that God has allowed this to happen for the benefit of us as Gentiles but the time is going to come when as Paul says when the fullness of the Gentiles has come then God will then turn his attention to Israel and fulfill his promise not because he loves Israel so much but because he made a promise to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and Israel is the result of that promise and to bring them into their land and to give them peace peace that they've never enjoyed but at some point in time because God is a God of his word they are going to finally enjoy the peace that God has promised and so we can take heart that even though this is troubling to see even though that there are people being killed on both sides it's not as though that God doesn't love even those who attack Israel however all of this is going to work for God's purpose he still has a plan for Israel not all of Israel is going to be safe but God is going to save a remnant out of Israel the same way he's in the same for Gentiles God is going to save Israel and therefore his promise towards Abraham will finally be fulfilled and at that time all the wars will be done away with all the fighting all the bloodshed and there will finally be peace in Israel and there will be peace on the earth and Jesus will reign as Lord. Amen