Today like never before the church must understand what is happening in the Middle East and how it relates to the nation of Israel. As a result, how Christians view the issues surrounding Israel will greatly effect their world view and eschatology.  Even despite some Christians who try to minimize the role of modern day Israel, I believe that Israel is the “fig tree” of God that holds the keys to understanding Jesus’ timeline to His eminent return, Jeremiah 24:5-7 & Matthew 24:32-35.

SERIES TEXT

2 Timothy 4:1-5, “1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

TODAY’S SERMON TEXT

Numbers 24:9, “Like a lion they crouch and lie down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse them? “May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!” Psalm 122:6, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure. 7 May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.” 8 For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” 9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.”

BASIC TIMELINE OF ISRAEL

  1. 2,000 B.C.: Abraham is given the promise of the being a nation and occupying the land of Israel, Genesis 12.
  2. 1446 B.C.: Exodus with Moses, Exodus 12.
  3. 1406 B.C.: Conquest of the land with Joshua, Joshua 6.
  4. 930 B.C.: Israel separates into Northern & Southern Tribes, 1 Kings 12.
  5. 722 B.C.: Assyrian Exile (Northern Tribes), 2 Kings 17.
  6. 586 B.C.: Babylonian Exile (Southern Tribes) with destruction of Jerusalem and the 1st temple, Daniel 1.
  7. 537 B.C.: Return to the land with Nehemiah under Persian rule and second temple is built, Nehemiah 7.
  8. 332 B.C.: Ruled by the Greeks.
  9. 164 B.C.: Jewish Maccabean Rule.
  10. 63 B.C.: Roman Rule.
  11. 3 B.C.: Jesus was born
  12. 30 A.D.: Jesus is crucified, buried, raised from the dead, and ascended into heaven.
  13.  70 A.D.: Jewish temple is destroyed by the Romans, Matthew 24:1-2.
  14. 70-1948 A.D.: Jews live under the oppressive rule of Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans (Muslims), & British.
  15. May 14th 1948: After the Holocaust the Jewish people were able for the first time since the exile of 586 B.C. to rule their own land.

Isaiah 11:12, “He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.”

BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE OF ISRAEL

  1. PROMISE: God promised the land to Abraham and his descendants, Genesis 12:7
  2. DEFINED: God defined the land and its exact borders, Genesis 15:18-21. See picture below.
  3. FOREVER: God said this was a promise that would not be broken, 2 Chronicles 20:7.
  4. GOSPEL: God promised that all Israel will be saved, Romans 11:26-29.

promised-land-to-israel-2

UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT DAY CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

  1. Islam is the main reason why there is conflict in the Middle East because they believe they should conqueror the world. Surah 2:191, “And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have Turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith.” More on Islamic “jihad” here.
  2. Surah 7:166, Concerning the Jews Muslims believe Allah said, “So when they were insolent about that which they had been forbidden, We said to them, “Be apes, despised.” So they believe the Jews no longer deserve the land because of their past sins. However, God said He would never break His promise to them, Romans 11:26.
  3. Muslims believe that in Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 6985: Mohammed said, “The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.” [Source]
  4. Osama bin Laden, in his fatwa (religious ruling), “Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders,” wrote, “…to kill the Americans and their allies — civilians and military — is an individual duty for every Muslim” because of the following three reasons, (1) “United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places [Saudi Arabia], the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches [gas], (2) “The crusader-Zionist alliance… despite the huge number of those killed… are once again trying to repeat the horrific massacres [all the wars against Muslims from 1948 to Iraq War]” & (3) The “Americans’ aims behind these wars are religious and economic, the aim is also to serve the Jews’ petty state and divert attention from its occupation of Jerusalem and murder of Muslims there.
  5. So according to Osama bin Laden the main reason the U.S was doing 1 & 2 is because they support Israel and “kill Muslims.” Therefore, according to many Muslims there can never be peace in the Middle East until Israel (and her allies) are destroyed.
  6. Article 7 of the official Charter of Hamas quoted Mohammed as their goal: “The Final Hour will not come until Muslims fight against the Jews and the Muslims kill them, and until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, and a stone or tree would say: O Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!” “The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) looks forward to implementing Allah’s promise no matter how long it takes.” And Article 8, “Allah is its goal, the Prophet its model, the Qur’an its Constitution, Jihad its path and death for the case of Allah its most sublime belief.” [Source]
  7. Below is proof that Islam has been trying to conqueror the world ever since its beginning.

LANDS THE MUSLIMS HAVE CONQUERED

  1. Most people today do not realize that that “all” the lands the Muslims now occupy used to belong to someone else.
  2. Here is an in-depth outline of all the Islamic conquests.
  3. Just a few of the nations, Syria, Armenia, Egypt, North Africa, Hispania, Persia, Turkey, etc…
  4. Watch a video that explains how ISIS is following the example of Mohammed and the Qur’an and read the percentages of Muslims who share “extreme” views.
  5. Below is map today of Israel compared to surrounding Muslim nations.

isr-world

HOW ISLAM & ISRAEL EFFECT THE WORLD & END TIMES

  1. Islam believes a world ruler named Mahdi will come with Jesus and establish Islam as the world religion and rule from Jerusalem.
  2. Muslims believe he will rule for seven years, behead non-Muslims, and slaughter the Jews to take back Israel.
  3. What is interesting is the similarity of the Islamic “Mahdi” to the “Anti-Christ,” the Muslims Jesus to the false prophet, and related end time events.
  4. Therefore, because of Satan’s deception he actually has convinced Muslims to adopt his overall plan.
  5. However, this plan will be stopped at the Battle of Armageddon when the real Jesus returns, Zecheriah 12:8-9 & 14:3, Revelation 16:12-21 & 20:1-15.
  6. As a result, I believe that Israel is the “fig tree” of God that holds the keys to understanding Jesus’ timeline to His eminent return, Jeremiah 24:5-7 & Matthew 24:32-35. In other words, how it goes with Israel is how it will go with the rest of the world!

APPLICATION

  1. Pray for Jews to come to their Messiah, Romans 10:1.
  2. Pray for the safety and prosperity of Israel, Psalm 122:6-9.
  3. Help Muslims See Christ in Christianity (actually the name of a book I wrote!).

Ezekiel 36:24-28, “24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.”