Israel: Covenants, the Divided Kingdom, and Prayer for Jerusalem

Shalom. Shalom everybody. Well, tonight we are continuing our Israel, what the Bible says and prophecy on Israel. And we're going to continue tonight. And I'm going to just give a foundation. If anyone's here for the first time, let me just ask just a real basic question as I just set set myself up here for success. But just by a show of hands, who was not here last month? Just raise your hand. Show of hands. Oh wow. That's incredible. Thanks for coming tonight. Uh that's absolutely amazing. If if you missed last month, it is online. You can go to our YouTube channel. Just go to Journey andBend and you can watch last month's and you can catch up because each month I'm going to build on a foundation and I'm not going to

regurgitate exactly what was said. And so if you feel like, wow, I feel like I missed something, you can go back and watch it. These nights are just very raw and real. There's not a lot of production put into this. We just kind of uh jump into the Bible. But I will say that worship was just off the hook with Pastor Brandon tonight, wasn't it? Praise God. Yeah. I will say for those watching online, we do have people watching on Facebook and YouTube and whatever platform you're streaming on right now. Today was just a weird day, wasn't it? Uh it was like apocalyptic in nature. Uh, we had hail the size of my head and it just rained torrential at the same time as the hail. It was just kind of surreal. It was loud. It was weird. And I'm sure that even hindered some people from coming out here in person tonight. But I would just say what that worship did for me is it like calmed my soul.

It reminded me of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee when it was stormy. And he didn't need to lecture the wind and the waves. He simply said, "Peace, be still." And I felt like in my soul tonight with just that apocalyptic weather that was happening today, [laughter] the Holy Spirit was just like, "Peace, be still. We're going to have storms." But sometimes we just need to let Jesus speak to us. So these nights are getting to know God's plan for Israel according to what the Bible has to say. When you see the word prophecy, it's important to know that God's not finished with his promises yet in the scriptures. So, as God's people, we want to be aware of what God says in his word, and we want to care about what God cares about. And Israel is absolutely important to God.

And if it's important to God, we want it to be important to us. Last time we gathered, we shared about the origins of Israel, God's covenant with Abraham. In Genesis 17, God is speaking to Abram before he gives him a new name. And I want to just read this because this is the Abrahamic covenant. It's essential for you to understand that God's promises are true and cannot be broken. And the Lord says this, that I may make a covenant, Genesis 17:2, a covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly. Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be

the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but you your name shall be Abraham. For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring, and you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant. I don't know if you've thought about how long everlasting is, but it's a really long time. So here we are still speaking about this today. Here's my covenant to be

God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring and after you the land. Everyone say the land. The land of your sojournings. All the what? The land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. and I will be their God. Now, tonight I want us to be challenged with what God's word says. This is either true or it's not. This is either everlasting or it's not. There's a land that God says is his. There's a people that he says are his. And this is a foundational covenant even to our theology. As you

step into faith w with Jesus Christ, you'll quickly understand that it's not just a new religion. The whole foundation is Judeo. We are Judeo Christians. We stand upon the principles that are found in the Bible. God essentially says to Abraham, I will give you a people, which at this time was amazing because he had no kids and he was way past the childbearing years. which reminds us is never too late for God. I will give you a people. Not just a people. I'm giving you a land. And through these people, and through this land, there will be a seed to the nations of all the earth that will be blessed. God fulfills to Abraham this promise and says, "I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you."

This is a great promise. Can we just stand in agreement with that? The Abrahamic covenant is a great promise of God that we want to continually come back to and say, is this still being fulfilled? Now, later God would send Moses to deliver his people. And there would be another covenant that was committed to God's people. This is called the Mosaic covenant. The Mosaic covenant is that God gave a law to his people. Now in the Abrahamic covenant, God established there is only one true God. No matter what the other nations say, no matter what other people say, there is and there will always only be one God. So we have a choice to stand upon today. Is there one God? And if there's one God, in the Mosaic covenant, God gave a law to his people so that they would

follow the one true God. And now we know looking at the Mosaic covenant, it all points to Jesus. In this Mosaic law, the foundation is ten commandments. The first and foremost is there's only one God. You shall only have one God. The second is so similar in that you should have no idols. Do not love something more than me that's made by hands and that's not God. And so each one follows. Don't use the Lord's name in vain. Keep the Sabbath holy. Over and over. God's going to command us what it means to live rightly with him and with one another. And if we would just do that, we would be blessed. But the Mosaic covenant wasn't about God giving us a law. It all points to Jesus.

For it's through the Mosaic covenant that God gave the sacrifice of the lamb, the shedding of the blood for our sins. He would use this covenant of of keeping his law, pointing us forward to who he is and what he's done for us. Are you still tracking with me? I'm making sure that we have a foundation. Now, Jesus on the very night he was betrayed is participating in what's known as the seder, the Passover meal. Very important. They're in the upper room, which if you come to Israel with us, we'll go to the upper room together. Not quite sure it was the original, but they call it the upper room, and we'll go there together, right in the heart of Jerusalem. And and we too can can imagine what it was like in that moment. And Jesus takes two simple elements of this meal, what we call today communion or the Lord's supper. A and after giving

thanks, he breaks the bread and says, "This is my body broken for you." Now, we look back at the sacredness of that word. Jesus would say, "Do that in remembrance of me. Remember that my body was broken for you." And then he takes the cup and he said, "This is a what? new covenant. Now, is he eradicating the Mosaic covenant? Is he getting rid of the Abrahamic covenant because this is a new covenant? Well, actually, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel parallel like a train tracks and it says the exact same thing that the Messiah will bring forth a new covenant. The time will come God says that I will make my law, that Mosaic law that God gave to his people so that they

would know him and trust him. I will make a new covenant with you. And here's how you'll know there there'll be a new covenant. God says in both Jeremiah and in Ezekiel, both of them, he says, "And I will put my spirit within you." This is what's substantial about the new covenant. So, you will understand the Abrahamic covenant. You will understand the Mosaic covenant in this new covenant that Jesus gave on the very night he was betrayed before he went to the cross. so that you would have the very spirit of the living God, the one that spoke to Abraham, the one that spoke to Moses, can actually be inside of you. We learned last time we gathered together about Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, how he is the fulfillment of this promise that Abraham had a son named

Isaac. And Isaac had a son named, say it with me, Jacob and Jacob had made some dumb decisions in his life. But how many you know that does not forfeit you or disqualify you from being used by God. And he wanted to be blessed by God. And although he feared his brother on one particular occasion, God gave him a dream that that heaven was coming to earth. He saw angels ascending and descending, we now know that we too can experience heaven here on earth. Just as Jesus said to to Nathaniel, was it Nathaniel or Philillip? Somebody just somebody double check me in John chapter 2. This is going on the internet and somebody's going to tell me. Nathaniel, thank you. Somebody we're just going to stand with this. It was Nathaniel that Jesus says, "You too are going to see what Jacob saw because we now know that's fulfilled in Jesus." So

Jacob meets with God. He meets with this man and he wrestles with him all night. Do you all remember that story? Since most of you weren't here last time, you can find this in the book of Genesis. He wrestles with God and he he has one ask. Bless me. Bless me. And God has a question for him. What's your name? And he tells him, my name is Jacob. But isn't it just like God to give us a new identity? God gives him the name Israel. Israel meaning God prevails. It means one who has wrestled with God, struggled with God. Because if you think about this, if there is one eternal God, if there's a God that gave us his law that if we break it, we die, do you really want to wrestle with that God?

That gives a huge significance to this name, Israel, that you can wrestle with God and come out okay. God wants you to wrestle with him. And at the end of the day, what happens to Jacob? He gets blessed. Even though he walked away with a gangster limp. Come on, somebody. Let's go. And to this day, even the Jewish people, they remember that story and the significance of it. Now, Jacob had help us out here. How many kids Jacob had? 12 kids. He had 12 kids known as the 12 tribes of Hey, Israel. Praise be to God. So, now we're starting to formulate here where Israel came from. It was God's idea. God gave a promise to Abraham. Jacob's name

is changed to Israel. He has 12 children which will be the descendants of Abraham. God is fulfilling his promise. And from that point forward, the descendants of Jacob would be known as Israelites. These are the patriarchs. The true patriarchs of the Old Testament would be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We often will refer to the 12 sons of Jacob as the as the patriarchs of the Old Testament. As as we think of patriarchs, we think of who's leading a family. As we look back at our faith, h how do we know where this ca comes from? But we can see that God had a plan and he brought forth 12 tribes of Isra uh Israel. We now call them the Israelites.

And all of this, by the way, is extremely simplified. We haven't got into the juicy details of the 12 sons and we're not going to go into that now. But as we look at this, we understand where the Israelites came from. If we were to fast forward, the Israelites end up as slaves in Egypt. They're there for several hundred years. God would send forth a deliverer named who again? Moses. Moses would lead the Israelites through the wilderness for how long? 40 years, but an entire generation would not get to enter into this land that God promised, which at the time was called Canaan. But the next generation would go in. Joshua would lead the next generation into this land

that God promised that would end up being their home that today we now know as Israel. When we fast forward through the story, eventually these Israelites settled. Each tribe had their own place of land. And after a while, they looked at all the other nations and they saw that they had gods. Yet the Lord had established a theocracy that he was their king. He was enough. He's already given the law on that journey from Egypt through the wilderness. He's given them the covenant that he's a god that will never forsake them. All they have to do is keep the law. Yet, just like the stiff neck people that they are, they commanded that they ought to have a king. And the Lord was a bit frustrated with this this idea. But but he relented and he chose the first king Saul and

anointed him as the first king over Israel. And Saul would be this king under the power and the anointing of God. They would be able to defeat enemies. But Saul, like so many of us, eventually lost sight of what really matters. He thought he could just treat God casually and do what he wants to do. when he lost that anointing. And so God established a second king over Israel. Come on. Who was that? Shout it out. David. Well done, young man. Ah, you're going to be a pastor someday and do great things for God. Let's go. Uh, so David is the second king of Israel. And David is known as a man after God's own heart. But that doesn't mean he was perfect. How many of y'all know that David made some mistakes?

First of all, having more than one wife is a mistake. Near the end of his leadership, we see that he made a grave mistake in committing adulterous acts and covering it up with murder when he was called out with the prophetic word, he repented. One of the great Psalms that we ought to be familiar with, Psalm 51. And God told David, there's a consequence to your sin. There's always a consequence to sin. And he warned David that it wouldn't happen in his generation, but his son's generation. Your sin will impact future generations. And so Abselum was trying to take the reigns of of a king. Yet he wasn't called by God or anointed by God. God's

plan that he would use David's son with Basheba known as Solomon. Solomon would be the third true king of Israel. Now, Solomon was the wisest man according to the scriptures that's ever lived. He received this wisdom because God said that he would grant him whatever he asked for, just as Jesus told us, "Ask and you will receive." And he simply wanted some wisdom to lead people. If you've ever been in a leadership position, leading people is difficult. Come on, somebody. Or just have kids. Come on, let's go. But leadership can be hard. And Solomon asked for wisdom, and he got it. Solomon started off so well. It was Solomon that built the first permanent temple for God. Solomon's temple was

unlike any other. Finally, the Israelites had a permanent home, not the tabernacle that traveled with them over and over again. But by the end of Solomon's leadership rule, like so many leaders, he lost sight of what mattered most. His worship was not devoted just to one god. He was motivated by the women in his life and he started to practice other things. And when Solomon lost his reign by the next king, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, not just one kingdom. It was split into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom would include 10 of the 12 tribes. And that kingdom would be defined by the name Israel. And the southern kingdom would

be described as Judea or Judah, which included two tribes. And that's where that capital city of Jerusalem is. Why do I give you that backstory? Because as you're reading the Bible, it's important for you to understand the timeline of when these things are happening. because that northern king of Israel compared to the southern kingdom was almost always evil. And so when you read prophecies about Israel and in the timeline in which it happens, it could be talking about the northern kingdom and not the southern kingdom. And so it's important for us to identify, is it talking about the Israelites prior to the separation or is it talking about the future Israelites or is it talking about the Israelites that constantly had wicked kings like Ahab, Jeroboam?

And they continually walked in the ways of Baal and refused to come back to God's commandments. So now, as we're reading through the scriptures, we've got to try to understand, is it talking about the Israelites of the north? Is it talking about the Israelites prior to the two kingdoms? Or is it talking about the Israelites of the future? Because prophets would often call out Israel, meaning this northern kingdom, so that they would turn to God. The people in the land of Judea also had evil kings, but periodically there would be some righteous kings that would live like David. Now, if we fast forward in this story, since they did not live rightly unto God, God gave them over to

wicked and evil enemies as an opportunity of grace to repent and turn to him. When the northern kingdom was taken over by Babylon, it wouldn't be long before the southern kingdom also got ransacked by Babylon. And when Babylon came in, they destroyed the temple. They took people, they killed people, and they took them back home to Babylon. Have you all heard of the Babylonian exile? Okay, so the Israelites are taken to exile, but so were the Judans. And while they're there, that southern kingdom started to be known as Jews. Hence the name Jews. If you ever wondered why do we call Israelites Jewish people? It's from the southern kingdom Judea. Now, some people have

have mistaken and thought that it came from the one tribe of Judah that we call Jews from the tribe of Judah. But that's a mistaken thought because it also includes Benjamin. And I just want to give a little context for that. For example, while they were still in exile, the Babylonians were taken over by, this is more history. This is a little history lesson tonight. Who were the Babylonians taken over by? The Persians. So now the Persians have taken over the Babylonians, which have taken over the Israelites and the Jewish people. And we're told in Exodus 2:5, now there was a Jew in Susa the Citadel whose name was Mori. Now they're starting to be identified by this name Jew. Not just the Israelites, not just

the Hebrews from the days of Moses, but they're now identified as a Jew. Now Mori was the son of Jared, the son of Shemi, the son of Kish. He was a Benjamite. So he wasn't of the tribe of Judah, but he was from the southern kingdom of Judea. Now, if you know the story of Esther, which is a fantastic one, it great Hollywood movie material. In the story of Esther, while the Jewish people, the Israelites were in exile, the Persians have taken over. There's a young Jewish girl named Esther who happens to be made queen. And during this time, there's a wicked evil man named Hmon. Everyone say Hmon. Hmon who wants to eradicate all of the Jewish people. Now, let's just be really clear.

This isn't the first time someone wicked wants to eradicate all the Jewish people. The devil constantly wants to get rid of all the Jewish people. Why? Because they're God's people. It's a part of God's promise to Abraham. So, the devil wants to destroy God's promises. He wants to show God unfaithful, untrue. So, even today, you're going to hear phrases all over the world today. There's more anti-semitism than ever. And you've got to open your eyes and your ears because you may not hear it on the news and see it like it truly is. You'll hear phrases like this. from the river to the sea. It's a declaration that all of the Jewish people should be wiped out. Now, Hmon sounds a lot like the wicked evil group today, Hamas, which is still holding 50 captive

Israelites in what we know as Gaza. This land that Israel gave to the Arab people after the 19686 day war. Now, Hamas is holding those. They believe only 20 of those 50 to be alive. Just this week, they've revealed horrific footage of an Israeli who was digging his own grave, completely uh starved, complete bones. Looks like someone straight from the Holocaust. And they're showing him off to the world that they're making him dig in the tunnels while Hamas controls what happens in Gaza. I will tell you today, the evil ones always want to twist the story of God. And Hmon wanted to

eradicate the Jewish people during the Persian Empire. Yet he would be hung on the very gallow that he created to hang Morai. This is what God does. He turns things around. That which is intended for evil is used for good. Now, I feel the need to give a little bit of a asterct of of what's going on politically with the war. as I mentioned it and it wasn't in my notes, but now I just have to say this. When we support Israel as a nation, a land, a people, and the Jewish people, we are not saying we're in agreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu or whatever leader they're going to have in place, both prior, present, and future. So, I just want to clarify that I'm not saying I'm in agreement with all of the tactics of war that Netanyahu does, but what I do want to continually come back

to is God's word. Does that make a little sense? That's the legal lawyer language in me that just wants to make sure since there's not much of a a dialogue here. So, let's come back to this. Hmon wants to eradicate the the Jewish people entirely and and and Mori goes to Esther and he gives her a vision. This is how we left off last time we were together. Morai speaking of this vision, I believe it's prophetic to our day as well. He tells Esther, "For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish." Why would Mororti say this? He believed in the Abrahamic covenant. He believed in the Mosaic covenant. He knew that God was faithful even if they're in exile. He knew that God would be true. And he knew that even if this

generation wiped out, the Jewish people as a whole would never be wiped out according to God's plan. And so he tells Esther this. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Meaning, who knows if you're not alive for such a time as this? Who knows that if God might just want to use you for his glory for such a time as this? Who's going to stand for God's people? Who's going to stand up and protect them? Who's going to stand up for God's promises? And oh, how I love Esther's response. For she didn't do what so many of us would do if we heard such a vision. She didn't argue. She didn't run. She didn't

do something differently than what Morai proposed. Instead, she prayed and she fasted. She invited others to join her to pray and to fast to take serious what what was happening in her day and her age. And I'm telling you friends, we should be a praying people in our day and in our age. If I'm going to do something in our day, it's got to start with prayer. If we're going to do great things for God, it starts with prayer. In the last 18800 years or so, so many saw the destruction of the second temple. This was known as Herod's temple. For the first temple was destroyed by, do you remember who? The Babylonians.

Then later we read the story of men like Nehemiah and Ezra heading back to Jerusalem to not only rebuild the city of Jerusalem, but to rebuild the temple. and they did, but it was not nearly as spectacular as what the wealthiest man on earth created, Solomon's temple. So, the ones that knew what that former temple looked like, they were wailing in tears because they said, "This is nothing compared to the old temple." And it wouldn't be long before a leader over the Jewish people known as Herod, who was an absolute nut job. And if you come to Israel, you'll get to see some some of his remnants. It reminds me of some of the leaders today. He was absolutely crazy, but he was a great leader, a a wonderful real estate mogul. He knew how to build things up and do things outlandishly large. I don't know if that reminds you of anybody, but Herod uh he was a little wild and he he

wanted to he he wanted to compromise and please the Jewish people. So, he knew that the temple wasn't quite up to what it used to be with Solomon. So, Herod came in and he did a complete remodel. He actually expanded the temple to make it bigger. He made it better. He brought in greater marble, greater stones. And so the second temple that was built was known as Herod's temple. But the problem is Herod's temple did not last because Jesus said that if you tear down this temple and three days later I will build it again. I will rise it again. Now what was he talking about himself? He was talking about the resurrection. And so many people thought it was heresy. Who could tear down this temple? But in 70 AD, the emperor of Rome burned down Jerusalem, including that temple, and it

was destroyed in 70 AD, never to be rebuilt. Now, if you want to get on some really cool rabbit trails, start following the Temple Institute of Israel on social media. They are ready to rebuild. They are excited to rebuild. The plans are done. The materials are ready. They're ready to rebuild. They have the spot where the Holy of Holies is. We're going to visit that place if you want to go there. But for 1,800 years, those who have their faith in Jesus have looked at the Jewish people and they've witnessed that the temple is destroyed. It was never rebuilt. God sent a Messiah named Yeshua. Many have believed in him. So maybe God's plan for the Jewish people is just null and void. the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant.

God is doing a new thing. And and I warned you the last time we gathered together, and I'll continue to warn you that there is a theology, and many have this theology, and they don't even know the name of this, but it's it's called replacement theology, that the church is the new Israel. The church is the new fulfillment of God's plan or new covenant. And as as as you study the scriptures, I I want you to understand that God has not rejected the Israelites. He has not replaced Israel with the church, but he wants the church to be a part of his plan called Israel. Now, where do I get scripture to support this? And I'm going to give you some context of this tonight. And we're laying the foundation for the months to come because we're going to go deeper and wider because we could spend eternity studying this and it wouldn't be enough. But Paul's letter to the Romans. Now, were the Romans Jew or Gentiles?

Gentiles. They're not Jewish people. He writes to the Romans as a Jew. And he explains God's heart for Israel in Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11. So, if you want some homework and study from this night that we're calling prophecy, a night that we're studying Israel in the Bible, Paul tells a group of Gentiles, God's not done with the Jewish people. Let me just share some some context. In Romans chapter 9, let me just start with verse four and five, but it starts earlier. His heart is so broken. He even uses hyperbole that I would lose my salvation if they would just believe that that's his heart for the people. And he says in verse four and five, they are Israelites. So that name has come back as a generalization for all of God's people.

They are Israelites and to them belong the adoption. Know all of these promises. the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. He doesn't say they were given to the Americans. He doesn't say those things were given to the Europeans or the Asians or the Africans. Those things, the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, they were given to who? Shout it out. Israelites. So Paul's saying this to Gentiles. God's glory was first shown to the Israelites. God's covenants first given to the Israelites. God's promises first to the Israelites. To them, he says, verse 5, "Belong the patriarchs." Remember who we talked about? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the 12 sons of Jacob, now known as Israel.

Those names are now interchanged throughout the Bible. To them belong the patriarchs from their race according to the flesh is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. In a nutshell, the Christ in Hebrew, Hamashiach, the Messiah, is an Israelite. He's a Jew. Jesus is a Jew. Of all of the races on earth that God chose to bring forth the Messiah, he decided to bring the Messiah through the Jewish people. And here Paul calls Jesus God over all blessed for how long? Forever. Amen.

He goes on to explain in the next chapter the importance and the significance of understanding your Jewish faith because as a believer in Jesus, you've been grafted into this Jewish faith. He likens Israel to an olive tree. And I'll tell you, when you come to Israel, you see the most beautiful olive trees. When you go to the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed the night he was betrayed, you will see olive trees that are over 2,000 years old. These trunks are enormous. The roots go deep and and wide and connect to one another and these trees and and and there's so much beauty and story behind olive trees. And so in Romans chapter 10, Paul is

explaining to the Gentiles, and by the way, if you're unfamiliar, Gentile just simply means non-Jew. You have no Jewish blood in you, no Israelite blood in you. I took the ancestry test to see if I even had a drop of Jewish blood in me. I spit in the vial, sent it in, and waited six weeks just hoping I would have a little drop, you know, maybe from the tribe of Judah or maybe from the little tribe of Benjamin. I don't know, like just something like give me some story with the Jewish people. I'm a complete Gentile. Zero Jewish in me. Like not even a 0%. I was also hoping for some African, but none of that either. So, I'm just a stinking European white mut.

Amen. We embrace who we are. But this is the importance of Romans 10. Paul says there's this this there's this olive tree that represents Israel and you by believing in Jesus get grafted in. It's not the other way around. We get grafted into the promises of God. Romans 10, let me just read four verses. Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God is for them. Who's he speaking of again? The Israelites, the Jewish people. My prayer and desire for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witnesses that they have the zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They've not gotten the revelation. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Where's that

righteousness found? He continues in verse four, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. So that law that Moses was given, the 613 commands, oh, we don't have to try to be righteous enough. The fulfillment of what was given to Abraham, he was counted as righteous because he believed God is yours by believing in him. Hallelujah. That's a big deal. meaning you get to go to heaven and God sees you as righteous. Not because you were righteous, but because you believed in the one that is righteous. God has given you that promise. And Paul's promise in Romans chapter 10 is, I just want the Jews to know this. What a big

burden to have to think that you have to do everything enough to please God. And many of us will know now that they've even added to the law because how do you interpret the law? that someone's got to say do this about the law and then do that about the law and then it's no longer even what the law was intended to be about and and so so he's urging us to understand these things and then he goes on in Romans chap 11 I'm giving you an overview of these three chapters I ask then has God rejected his people so since they haven't believed in him since they haven't called Yeshua Jesus the Messiah the Christ is God just throwing out his plan and his purpose for what He said to Abraham, he answers his own question. By no means, for I myself, he says, am an Israelite, a descendant of

Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, just like Mori was. God has not rejected his people whom he forneew. Now, the challenge for us as the church today is, do we take Paul at his words? God has not forsaken the Jewish people. 2,000 years after this writing, can we stand firm on God's word? He has not rejected his people. Despite what every large university says across the great nation that we live in, despite what any political leader will say or what other protests say or despite how the news projects these people, God says, "I have not rejected them." A few verses later, Paul would continue and say, "So I ask, did they stumble in order that they

might fall? Are they finished with? Are they done with as God so over these people?" Oh, this is not new for God. By no means. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. It's as if God said, "Listen, if you won't take this salvation, I'll give it to anyone who believes. And I'll just tell you my own personal opinion here. This is not theological or scriptural here. It is a mystery that when you go to Israel, how appreciative Jewish people are who have not believed in Jesus as Messiah to Christians. Now, of course, we're a major market in the tourism. So, we boost their economy greatly because we visit these holy sites.

But it's a mystery. I'll tell you why. Because so many times Israel will be defined as as just the Jewish people and they're only for themselves and they're not for anybody else. But you'll find a radically different hospitality when you go there. 20% of the nation of Israel is Arab, which is a representation of the racial group of all the nations surrounding them. So 20% of the population is choosing to live in Israel when they can live in any other country around them. And Arabs that live in Israel absolutely love Israel. Even if they don't believe in the God of the Torah, meaning they're they're Muslims or they're of no faith or they're of a different faith. There's there's something special that happens

in this place. But it's as if God just said, "Whoever will believe in me, I'm going to give you grace." It's a free gift. Now, I I want to uh continue. This is where I didn't really get to last time, but I really want to get to this tonight if you would just um how would you say uh bear with me. [clears throat] That's if you need to leave, I will understand tonight. But I want to just continue in this for just a moment so you see God's heart for his people. Why we're going to study this in the weeks come. Isaiah is the largest of the prophetic books. Isaiah is a a great book, but it's hard to read. Has anybody ever tried to get through Isaiah? Has anyone know how many chapters are in Isaiah? 66. You're just amazing. Come on. You're going to teach this next month. Okay. Uh what is your name, young man? What?

Cal. Cal. Cal is Are you guys amazed with Cal tonight? So, as Cal just said, those watching online, there's just a wonderfully young, handsome young man that knows all the answers before I even ask this. And it it's so good because there is 66 chapters and there's also 66 books of the Bible and Isaiah frequently references the Messiah. You'll find more references to the Messiah in Isaiah than any other of the prophetic books. And I want to just point to you God's heart for Israel through the Messiah in the teachings that Jesus shared in his own hometown of Nazareth. He goes into a synagogue. He asks for the scroll of Isaiah. opens up to what we have as Isaiah 61. And I want to read Isaiah 61 to you. Just verse 1 and two that Jesus read. The spirit of the Lord of God is

upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. So he is fulfilling what we learned earlier in that new covenant from [snorts] it was Ezekiel and Jeremiah that said there is a new covenant coming that God will establish his spirit and his people. Jesus after reading this scroll I believe like a boss rolled it up and said today this has been fulfilled in your hearing. I am the one that's going to set you free. I am the one that gives true freedom. I am the one that's going to bring the good news

to the poor. I am the one to bind up the brokenhearted. He can restore absolutely anyone. Now, Isaiah 700 years before Jesus was talking about Jesus. Now, now here's a key to really studying the Bible. You've got to understand the context. To understand the context, you've got to read the pretext and you've got to read the postext. That will always help you. If someone ever traps you with scripture and you're kind of stuck and they're like, "Hey, what about this scripture?" and you're really not sure what to do, what you've got to do is say, "Well, let's understand the context. Let's understand the before. Let's understand the after." And when you study those things, almost always you have a greater revelation of what you've just read. So, the context of Isaiah 61 where Jesus read, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me." Let's the post text is Isaiah praying that these things

will come. As a prophet, he he's calling out people to to be watchmen. He's calling out people to stand firm and look for this. Now, the pretext of Isaiah chapter 60 is God fulfilling his promises in Jerusalem. That God will do it in Jerusalem. So, you have chapter 60, God saying something great's going to happen to Jerusalem. Chapter 61, God's going to send a Messiah that's going to bring forth the spirit of the Lord. Chapter 62, he's looking for some watchmen so that these things will happen. Are you tracking that whole context? Few of you still awake, just nudge your neighbor, still say shalom because I want to read to you some text that could be boring without the revelation of what we just said. So let me read to you Isaiah 62 now that we have that context. I I want to read verse 1 through7, but it's going to seem just a little bit long. So here

we go. For Zion's sake, now Zion is the hill that the temple was on. When you go to Israel, you're going to see it and they call it Zion. I always consider when you see Zion, think of the holy city of God, Jerusalem. For Zion's sake, I will not keep silent. And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not be quiet until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. Do you hear God's passion for Jerusalem? The nations shall see your righteousness. The kings of your glory shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed desolate, but you shall be called my delight is in her, and your land married, for the Lord delights in you.

And your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. Now, pay attention. Here's what I want you to hear. On your walls, oh Jerusalem, I have set watchmen. All the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. Now, if you watch the news today, not everybody loves Jerusalem. Not everybody praises Jerusalem.

When I was in Jerusalem on my last night before I came home in June, we got a a warning on our phones that there was a bomb from Yemen that was headed our way. And when you get those text messages, pretty soon there's a siren that sounds in all of the city. Everyone can hear it. And then you have to go to a bomb shelter. And we went into the bomb shelter and we and we're right in the heart of Jerusalem. You could walk to the Wailing Wall. I mean, we're talking less than a half mile from the Wailing Wall and Old Jerusalem, the city of David where David was and remnants of his house. And right there, we go into the bomb shelter. Maybe 3 to 5 minutes. We come out and we're on the balcony of the the roof of this tall hotel. And we look up and there's remnants of the missile that had just been shot down by the Iron Dome.

I only share that story to say that not to scare you out of Israel, but to say it's incredibly safe. if they take care of those missiles quickly. But I say that to say not everyone's praising Jerusalem. And so God's word says this, and this was the theme of the trip I went on. The theme was I will not be silent. Was Isaiah talking about himself as a watchman? That he's a prophet that's going to tell the world at no cost what God's plan is. Was Isaiah talking to all the prophets of God that if you're going to be a prophet, you need to be a watchman? Now, historical context in case you don't understand, fortified cities. So cities that were strong had a wall around them. There would be watchmen on the wall that would look out for several different things. They would look out if an enemy is coming. They would take a loud trumpet or a chauffar and they would blow it for the whole city to hear

and they would know a certain blow meant war. An enemy is coming. So the watchmen's job was to protect the people and get them ready for war. Or if there was a war happening somewhere, they would look for someone who would bring news. And they could tell by the body language if it was bad news or they could tell by the body language how beautiful are the feet who bring good news. They must have won. They must have victory. So the watchmen would be on the wall and they would look out. And Isaiah says that God is looking for watchmen on the walls. I believe that God's word is still being fulfilled today. And he's looking for some people to say, "I love what you love." And if you didn't catch what God just said in this text, I love Jerusalem.

It's like my bride and I love it. And I don't care what the world says. I don't care how many bombs you send that way. This is my plan. These are my people. And I'll tell you this is my place. And just as I was crucified in that place, when I come again, I'm coming right there to that city, to that place. And that's what gets me even more excited to go. I want to go because maybe Jesus will come back when we're there. [laughter] Let's go. I wish I would have gone much earlier in my life because this has been God's plan. And the more I study this, the more my mind just gets blown. Our place in God's sovereignty and order that you're alive, I believe, is to take God at his word. And it's impossible for us to separate what God's word says to the time that we're living in there. Thereby, we have to look at the

land of Israel according to what God's word says. And if we've put our faith in the redeemer, Jesus Christ, who happen to be a Jew, we enter into the line of the Jewish people who God has always been faithful to. Even when they didn't deserve it, they didn't earn it. God has given his grace. He's given his purpose. Scripture declares, so spiritually speaking, when you receive the Lord, when you believe in the Lord, just as John chapter 1 tells us, you become a child of God. But it's so much more. Paul actually says that you are grafted into the Jewish legacy. He says that in Romans chapter 2, and let me read what Galatians chapter 3 says. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. For

as many of you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There now is neither Jew nor Greek. We could also say Gentile there. There's neither slave nor free. There's neither male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. As if that wasn't grand enough and great enough. That there's equality in Jesus. When you get to heaven, there's no rich or poor. There's no Jew or Gentile. You're a child of God that got in because of the grace and the blood of Jesus. Now, he says in verse 29, if you are Christ, and I pray tonight that you are, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Did you catch that? You get everything that God promised to Abraham in Jesus. If you're a believer, that should get you excited. You should want to get into the Bible more and be consistent with the scriptures. You shouldn't take a passive position in our day. And I'll tell you, the enemy did a good job in my life just getting me distracted not to study these things that were already in front of me. I didn't have a passion for it because I wasn't looking for it. And you'll get what you go after. And I believe that God is doing a new thing in our church. And as Christians, when we stand with Israel, we receive the blessings that God promised. Kara and I had lunch with uh a leader of a ministry that we support here at Journey Church called One for Israel.

And one of their leaders happened to be passing through Oregon. He's originally from Boring, Oregon and was visiting family and said, "Hey, you guys support us. Can I drive over to Bend and have lunch with you guys?" He was very grateful. Uh he called us a great supporter. He thanks Journey Church uh for their support. This is a ministry that's based out of Israel by Israelis and they are reaching Jewish people with the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And he was telling us that it's so hard to be a Christian there that they can't put any type of symbols on their building that represent Christianity because they'll be targets. And they have a Bible college, a seminary that is all in Hebrew. And how

many were Arabs speaking or Arab students? Do you remember? I don't remember either. Um, a huge chunk of their students are Arabs. They're interested in Jesus. I mean, like like seriously interested and they want to be trained in the Bible. When I say the Bible, the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John through Revelation. and they're being studied and equipped and they've been trying to buy new land but buying land in Israel is almost impossible for the Jewish people and it is impossible for the Christians but they got land and he was telling us they can't they I I was like where where is it? He's like I can't disclose it because they're building right now and they can't even tell you where it is. That's what it's like to be a Christian in Israel right now. And if you're a believer, we've got to support the

believers in Jesus in Israel. We've got to love the Jewish people in Israel. And we've got to love this land. As promised, I'm going to close each of these times each month with just a short story about my time in Israel and try to woo you to attend this trip with us. Uh since we're grafted into the promises of the Messiah that includes Israel and for his name's sake, we get to be watchmen on the wall, if you will. I want to just encourage you. Um, today I'm I've chosen the location of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the B in the Bible as the Sea of Tiberius. Tiberius was the second emperor of Rome. And how great is it to name a lake after yourself? And so, uh, this this particular place, um, this is the town of Tiberius. It's a beautiful

little, um, fishing village. It's a small city um uh probably about the size of Redmond, maybe just a little bit larger. And Tiberius is where you port on and go onto the Sea of Galilee. Now, do you guys know about the Sea of Galilee? Uh let's just go through some pictures unless it comes to a video, then we'll stop. Let's this is um this is on the Sea of Galilee. So, we together, if you join us on this trip, we'll go on the Sea of Galilee. The day I went, it was just like glass. Now, they call it a sea, but it's not a sea. It's just a big lake. Um, it's not even that big of a lake when you see how small it is, you know, maybe five miles by two miles. We have much larger lakes than that in um in the US, but it's it's certainly not an ocean. It's fresh water. Um it's full of of fish and um

it's beautiful. They they throw bread into the water for there's a proverb that talks about throwing bread into the water to attract the fish. Very loosely paraphrased. I don't even know exactly what the proverb says, but throw in the bread and it does something. And so like actually near the water there's just tons of bread and all the fish come up and eat the bread. So it's just kind of a weird fun fact on the Sea of Galilee. But you go out there there's there's birds and there's hardly anyone out there. In fact, while we were out there, these two showoffs came on um um uh like jet skis. Thank you. On jet skis. I think they thought there might have been girls in our boat, but they didn't know it was full of male pastors. And uh they were coming and they were doing flips on their jet skis and they just kept trying to flip to show off and they just kept flipping and flipping and one of the pastors is trying to do a

devotion. And so the Lord was like the whole lake is silent except for these two little jet skis, you know, that they're trying to show off. But uh it's an absolutely beautiful lake. Uh this is the place that many miracles took place. Let me just share a few. Remember when Peter couldn't fetch catch fish all night and then the Lord finally told them to to cast on the other side and there was a boatload that was so big it it would actually made the boat start to sink. This is a place where the coin was in the fish when Peter needed to pay taxes. This is where Jesus walked on water. Jesus calmed the storms and many more things happened right here. And I want to encourage you to go with us so that we can go on the Sea of Galilee together. You could keep flipping through here uh through the pictures. You can see uh the mountainside shores.

Um Tiberias would have been uh the place that Jesus, it would have been near the place that Jesus fed the 5,000. Uh the multitude with the five loaves and two fish. It was in this place. And remember Jesus sent them on the other side of the sea. That would be um this particular lake. You can see the shores. You can see the places where Jesus was. You can keep flipping through um as you just see the beauty. That's a Tiberius, this small uh village or city that that we um go off of here. Um it's just absolutely beautiful. Uh Jesus love the water. There's something sacred and mysterious about water. Uh and it's fun. One of the places we'll stay is in a brand new resort that was just created. It's called David's Harp because the Sea of Galilee is in the shape of the ancient harp that David would have played. And so many times, uh the Sea of Galilee is

actually referenced as David's harp. And so you'll see that a lot of times and and this cool resort actually oversees um this Sea of Galilee and you actually have a deck that goes right out and you'll get the view of the sunsets and you have a hot tub right there and there's pools and they love to party and so the music is loud until 8:00 p.m. That's their shut off time. It's not 10 p.m. like here, you know, like the big concerts here. I mean, I got there and I'm like, "Oh no, how loud's this going to go?" And they said by 8:00 p.m. it will not only be quiet, everyone will be gone. And so, uh, the Jewish people, they love to celebrate, they love to party. Do you have a a video? Uh, Kayle's back there, uh, showing us. [singing] This is us just worshiping on the Sea of Galilee. It's what we'll do, too. Pastor [music] Brandon will bring his guitar.

It's just something about worshiping Jesus on the Sea that [music] Jesus was on. What a powerful [singing] name it is. the name [music] of Jesus. What a powerful name. So, just just a glimpse of what we'll do as well. Uh somehow it was zoomed in because of the big screen, but uh we too will go and we will worship, we'll have devotions, uh we we'll get to to study what happened in the very places where we are. I want to make sure to throw up a QR code that if you want to join us on this trip, the dates are September 28th through October 9th of 2026. You've got plenty of time to plan it out. Some people have asked me, "Oh, no. When's the deadline? Is the deadline coming soon?" No, the deadline's not coming soon. So, there's no rush to sign up.

This is just a matter of preparation. If you don't have a goal, you'll never hit it. So, sometimes it's good to just set a goal and say, "I'm putting down my deposit. I'm going to put a little down each month." And if you do that, it actually won't feel like that big of an amount. I want to just go through some details. I think we have the slide that's going to show up here. Um, it does require a $1,000 deposit to reserve your spot on it. If for some reason you can't go, you'll get the money back less $250. So, you would lose $250 if you sign up for the trip and you decide not to go. So, you just scan that QR code and it's going to give you all of the details. Now, some questions that have come up. Someone asked as they signed up, there's a place there to check the box. Do you want to be a watchman on the wall? Do you have a better understanding of what that means tonight? Here's what it means. You're going to pray for the

peace of Jerusalem. That's in the Psalms. It means you're going to love Israel and you're going to be a prayerful person for Israel, the land, and the people. So, when you see the box, will you commit to be a watchman on the wall? We're going through an organization called Eagles Wings Ministry, which is a ministry to the Jewish people in Israel, and it's just a side group of this ministry. They are Jesusloving people. And so, this trip is absolutely awesome. If you haven't heard details of the trip, I'm not going to go into all of them, but one of the things we'll do while we're there is we're going to pray for the peace of Jerusalem along with thousands of other Christians. We'll be joined with many Christian artists like Jonathan Trailer, Joel Barnes, and uh many more. I I can't always remember them, but um we'll let you know more. And we will be worshiping uh in Cesaria in the Roman

coliseum that Paul petitioned agria to go to Rome. Uh so that's where we'll be worshiping for two nights. So it'll be a spectacular time. It'll be uh memory maker. The tour will be just be journey church. So the devotions will be journey pastors. It'll be myself along with pastor Kara and any other pastoral staff that joins us. I I've definitely convinced Pastor Brandon to join us that wherever we go, even in the months to come, you'll see uh worshiping on the top of Mount Carmel where uh Elijah called forth fire uh against the priests of Baal. There's just something sacred about that. Um being able to to go into the Garden of Gethsemane and to look across the hill where the temple is to know that Jesus was was preparing for his walk. He was preparing to get on

that donkey. Um I mean, you can see it all. So we want to join you uh on this trip. You uh if you purchase the full trip is 5700 which includes all airfare, all travel once we land, all hotel rooms and most of your meals, all breakfast and dinners and some of your lunches. Uh some of your lunches will be on your own when we're out and about where you get to choose what you want to do for that. So the 5700 is airfare from Redmond to LAX to Israel. So, just a great flight. Um, and then on the way back, the same return flight. Um, it will include all tips, so you don't have to tip the bus drivers. It includes all fees into all the places. Um, all entrance fees and everything. There is a land only option,

which is uh much less. Um, if you choose to use your own points, some people have two billion airfare points and they say, I want to do that. Or if you want to upgrade to first class, you would do that on your own and then we would give you the details and you would just book on our flights as well. So if you chose land only, that's the that's the only reason you would choose land only is if you wanted to do a different option or you were choosing to go somewhere else from there and meet us at at that location at that time. Uh it's absolutely awesome. I was just sharing uh with a couple that's already signed up and we were talking about food. They were saying how Ben Shapiro says that the food is really bland there. I'll tell you, the food's not bland where we go. Um, we go to the resorts and it's absolutely incredible. Uh, desserts for breakfast, everybody. Come on. U, like

whole buffets. I mean, uh, the food is very healthy. It's organic. They don't use the same type of, um, farming methods that we do here. Uh, so I just I I I had a tremendous time. Um, my wife has not been yet, but I was sending her pictures. They have fish breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And not just one type of fish. There's a whole buffet of fish. I hate fish personally, but my wife eats healthy and I'm like, "Babe, you would love it here." Uh, so, uh, we drink a lot of coffee. Um, this is not a mission trip, just so you know. We're not there to prostitize, uh, Jesus to the Jewish people, even though if the spirit leads us, then we will. Um, but I will say when you sign up, we'll help you in the weeks and months to come that if you wanted to ask for support, you can.

There's a way that you can share a link where it'll give details of the trip where if you have friends, family members, maybe for your birthday, hey guys, it's my birthday. Uh please, I don't want anything. If you want to support me or bless me, I want to go to Israel. It costs a lot of money. I would love for you to support me. Or if it's Christmas time, this coming Christmas, and you want to say, I don't want gifts from anybody. Here's the link. Would you please give towards this? I tell you, God can provide. If anyone looks and says that this is too much money, you just don't know my God. Um, anything is possible in America. Uh, anything's possible. And so, uh, for for my wife and I, we'll be hosting this trip, but we've never been to Hawaii. So, I'm actually saving our 10 cans right now because I'm going to be saving for a trip for Hawaii for my wife and I. Let's go. Uh, I only share that story with you

because you could do anything. Just save your 10 cans. Come on, somebody. Uh Sherry was just sharing that she could just save her tips each week and between now and next September she would have her trip covered. So it's just it's thinking creatively and we would love for you to go on this trip. Um there's no cap but as it gets closer there will be a cap in just the planning of how many buses we're going to get and so forth. So um with a smaller um amount of people tonight. Any questions about the trip that I didn't cover? I'll Yes. Uh, I don't have it. It's on the website. 42. It's about 42. Yep. Great. 42. If you scan that, it'll it'll give it to and and there's once you scan that, there's a whole slew of different things, too. But anything else that I

can't answer you just that was a joke, but nobody got it. Yes. How many days? It's nine days in Israel. So September September 28th through October 9th, but it takes a second to travel there and to travel back. Good question. So nine days in Israel to be clear, but it's more days than that because of travel. Any other questions? Just raise your hand or shout it out. Either one. I should probably repeat it for those watching online. Yes. About 16 hours. Uh no less. is um well actually from LA it might be. I I went from New York and it was just under 12. So if we add the

four or five hours it took to get to New York. Ralph that's probably about right. So uh let's see. Yes, probably from LA. I did 16. Connor says 16 and he's been before. So yeah, that's a long flight. Uh they feed you like every few hours. It's like it's another meal. I was like, "What in the world? Didn't I just have a meal?" You know, uh, but they feed you on the flight some some good food. How many days is it on the ground? Nine days on the ground. Yeah. Yeah. So, what would that nine? It said 10, 11, 12. So, it's like 12 or 13 days total of the travel, the trip, but nine days in Israel. And once we arrive, we just hit the ground running. you land in Tel Aviv and you just get on the buses and you go and

there have been questions about like well uh what if I can't keep up with this and you know what if you guys are going there all the time you you go at the pace that you want to go if you want to stay on the bus you'll just miss something um but uh we're not going to force you to do anything that you don't want to do or if you want to stay back at the hotel sometimes you will get back at the hotel at let's say we're staying in Jerusalem and you get back at 7:00 p.m. and it's dinner time. Uh it's free time after that. So if you want to go to the wall, the whailing wall, you could do that. If you want to go shopping, you can do that. So there is a little bit of wiggle room in there, too. It's not just um you're stuck with the same people the whole time. Um and by the way, the price that we've mentioned for everything is for two people in a room. If anyone wants to have a room by themselves, um

there's an upcharge, but it's on the website. I think it's like $1,300 more. I don't know exactly what the cost is. Might be even a little more.