 Hey guys, I want to be real brief. Some people have asked why is Israel so important and do we focus too much on Israel? Well, the reason why Israel is important is not so much about Israel. As a matter of fact, it's not about Israel at all. It's not even about us. However, we are actors in this. So too is Israel. So too really is the rest of the world. But really, what's more important or should I say who's more important is God and his word. God makes promises not just to us, but he's made promises to the nation of Israel. More specifically, not so much to the nation of Israel, but to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob. Remember, God has given a covenant. The covenant that was given was an unconditional covenant. It was not predicated upon Abraham or anyone else doing anything. This is God making a covenant. God makes the covenant. He's the person that's responsible for keeping the covenant and to making sure the covenant comes to fruition. And so if the covenant does not come about, then that means that God cannot be trusted. And what does the covenant say? Well, we see it ratified in Genesis 15 where the two with animals are cut in half and then the smoking oven, the fire comes through and walks through. And Abraham is to the side sleep. But we see some of the tenets of the covenant being spoken up in Genesis 12, 13. I'm sorry, 12, two and three. And he says that he will bless him. He will be a great nation and meaning also his descendants. But in verse three, he says that through him, all the families of the world will be blessed. Now, this is God making a statement. It's not, he's not doing so because Israel's a great nation. He wants to give them promises. Israel wasn't even a nation at the point at that time. And so God is making a promise. And the question is, is God going to fulfill his promise? Now, it's interesting to note that all of the promises that he's given to Israel specifically have never been fulfilled, have never come to fruition yet, meaning they've never enjoyed all of the land that was promised and to have peace. And for the people there to have a heart for God that has never in the history of the world been the case. And so did God miss that? Well, surely he didn't miss that. And so if God is going to make a promise, it's important for us to know that he is going to carry out that promise. If he doesn't, then we don't have a God worth listening to, a God worth serving, a God worth worshiping. We don't have a God at all. However, I'm here to say that we do have a God worth listening to. We do have a God worth worshiping. We do have a God that will keep his word. Keeping his word for Israel is important for us. Why? Because he gave us his word also. It is vitally important that we can trust God's word. Remember, he's not a man like us who would lie. And so when he makes the statement of what he's going to do with Israel, he means that he's the one that tells Israel he's going to take them out of the land. He's going to punish them and then ultimately even bring them back into the land. And after he does so, he's going to start working on their heart, but not completely. He tells us that he's not going to completely change all of Israel heart, all of all of their hearts. There's going to be a spirit of stupor, a partial hardening on Israel's heart, which we see that. But then he says though, and Paul lets us know that God is not finished with Israel. The promise that he's made with him, he's going to fulfill them. And it's not as though God has decided, you know what? Israel, Jews, I'm moving you to the side. I'm going to fulfill my promises and bring someone else in to take your place. No, because he could have did that with the Amalekites, with the Hittites, to the Jebusites. Could you imagine if God would have said, you know what? Israel, you're out. The Canaanites are in. You're out. Israel, the Philistines are in. He could have done so. They were no less wicked than us as Gentiles are. And so God made plans. He made a promise specifically for them. But sometimes we feel as though because God made promises to Israel that he didn't love us. Well, no, because they have a promise that means that we don't have a promise. And our promise is that he won. The Bible tells us that those that are in him were in him before the foundation of the world that God chose us to be in him. And I'm using the exact verbiage correctly because according to the grammar, he did so. He chose us to be in him before the foundation of the world and his promise is that we will have eternal life. The reason why Israel is important is because God's promises are important. The reason why God's promises are important because he's made promises to us as well, that those of us that are in him, we shall never, ever see or taste death. I don't mean physical death, but I mean death where we're separated and have to be in hell forever. His promises can be trusted. We could, if we can trust his word that he's given to Israel, then how can we trust that he won't go back on his word in relation to our salvation? That if we place our faith in him, then he is faithful. Remember the Bible says that if we confess our sins, then he is faithful and just to cleanse us and to forgive us. And so if we can't trust that, that he said then that we can't trust what he says over here pertaining to us. That's why Israel is important. And remember, the promises aren't through. God is not through with us and he's not through with Israel. Israel as a nation will come to her Messiah when we don't know. Obviously we see all this chaos is happening, but they will. Rest assured, no matter what they've gone through, and there's going to be a time, according to the Bible, where it's going to get a lot worse. Imagine that. How bad we're seeing it now, how bad we saw during the Holocaust. It's going to get worse for Israel, but this is what God is going to do to bring them to bring her to her knees. Remember, God promised, if you don't remove these people from the land, then they're going to be a problem. And then he states that I'm going to leave them there for you. So this is going to be something that's going to happen and continue to happen, but he's doing so to show his love for them. I know it's hard to see. Sometimes you can't see what God is doing, but sometimes you don't need to just trust his word. Same for us. And we can see, many of us, if we've trusted in him, can see how he has carried, shown himself to be trustworthy and has brought us through. And at the same time, while we struggled, we grew from it. And so the importance of what's happening with Israel, both now, the past and in the future, can be something that we can see for ourselves. God is a God of his word. He's not a man that he should lie. He's a God of his word. And so we can trust what he said about Israel. Every single prophecy that he's given has come true, except those of a second coming, which means everything that he said about us, we can also take to the bank as well. And so that's why Israel is important, not because of Israel's sake, but because of his own word sake. And so we can trust him and rest assured in his word and his promises. Amen.