"What Is the Big Deal About Israel?" S4 Ep21

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Welcome to Keep It 100 podcast with Sean and Christa Smith. Join us in the space where we

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take on real issues with real insight and real inspiration. This podcast is for those not looking

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for temporary relief to change circumstance, but revelation to forever change lives.

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Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Keep It 100 with Sean and Christa Smith.

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Hey, what's going on everybody? We're so excited you join us. Keep It 100 Tribe. We love you guys.

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You know, this week we really wanted to have a conversation that was really apropos for the

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moment and the hour we're in. But before we jump into what I think is a really important conversation

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for today, we have a really fun announcement and it's just really a reminder that we're doing

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Momentum, the conference 2024, which if you've not heard that, get on board for that. But I actually

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want to take a moment to plug our monthly gatherings. We only have two left for the rest of 2023.

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Our next one is October 20th and we're so expecting for this. We're calling this a night

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of healing. And if you live in the Bay Area, you know anyone that lives in the Bay Area,

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we want to encourage you to get in the room at Sequoia Community Church, 7 p.m. It's a free

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gathering and we're really believing for God to touch people. We're believing for breakthrough

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and we're just believing for the power of God to rule and reign. And so we really want to invite

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people to come that need a touch, not just physically, but maybe emotional healing, some

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mental healing, just need a breakthrough in their life. We believe we serve the God who is our

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deliverer. We serve a God, the great physician. And so we just know he's in the room as we gather.

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And when that happens, people's lives get changed and bodies get healed. So we're coming in full of

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faith. We want to invite you to join us October 20th at Sequoia Community Church and be a part of

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our monthly Momentum Gathering. We're going to be having our large annual gathering in January.

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We'll be talking more about that. We're really excited about that. But we really want to hit

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these last two gatherings of 2023 because we believe as we continue to contend for a move of

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God in the Bay Area, we're really beginning to see things open up and it's really exciting.

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And you know, I think that's so important, Christa, because in Acts chapter three,

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what broke the revival of the first century church wide open was a healing. The guy who was laying

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at the gate, beautiful, Peter and John said, look at us. They said, rise up and walk. And he walked.

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And we just really have felt that healing is going to be so significant to not only break an open,

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just I believe a harvest for this generation that's emerging that needs that reference point,

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but I believe specifically for the Bay, we need that guy at the gate, beautiful,

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to rise up on his feet. So we're asking God to come heal. So bring the sick, bring friends,

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come and let's just experience God together. And so I'm so glad October 20th, seven o'clock, Oakland,

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California. It's a free event. You know, we're just expected for what God's going to do. So we're

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excited to see you there with us. And so it gets your getting your seat and invite your friend.

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And we're just excited for what God's going to do. You know, we're going to be having a conversation

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today. We all know there's a major conflict happening in Israel. And yet there's a lot of

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Christians and people in general that don't understand the significance of that. We're going

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to be speaking to you as a believer, as a follower of Jesus, one that says, you know, I love the word

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of God. I believe the word of God, but I think there's a lot of us that don't have an understanding

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fully of why Israel is so significant. And so we wanted to do a snapshot approach, a really

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digestible approach for people to really have a biblical understanding, a theological understanding

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on why Israel is so important. I'm going to be doing a bit of an interview with Sean, but before

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I begin to ask him some questions, I really just kind of want to set the current context as to even

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why we're having this conversation and why it's so important. In early October, war broke out

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between Israel and Hamas, the militant Islamic group that's controlled Gaza since 2006. Hamas

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fighters fired rockets into Israel and stormed southern Israeli cities and towns across the

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border of the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring hundreds of soldiers and civilians and taking

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dozens of hostages. The attack took Israel by surprise. And though the state quickly mounted

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a deadly retaliatory operation, one day after the October 7th attack, the Israeli cabinet formally

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declared war against Hamas, followed then by a directive from the defense minister to the

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Israeli defense forces to carry out complete siege of Gaza. So that's the background when we really

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begin to understand why are we having this conversation day? It's because of what just took place

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on October 7th and what has ensued since the initial attack. So to really break it down even

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farther and just give you a little bit more history. So we're becoming more informed socially

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about what has happened and even the historical relationship between these nations. The Israeli

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Palestinian conflict dates back to the end of the 19th century. In 1947, the United Nations adopted

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resolution 181 known as the partition plan, which sought to divide the British mandate of Palestine

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into Arab and Jewish states. On May 14th, 1948, the state of Israel was then created,

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sparking the first Arab-Israeli war. The war ended in 1949 with Israel's victory, but then 750,000

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Palestinians were displaced and the territory was divided into three parts, the state of Israel,

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the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip. So when we're understanding this is the

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historical background, there has been a tumultuous relationship between these nations for decades.

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So who in the world is Hamas then? Okay, so let me quickly break down that Hamas is actually an

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Islamic militant movement and one of the Palestinian territories of two major political parties. It

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governs more than 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but the group is actually best known

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for its armed resistance to Israel. You know, Christa, that is so helpful because I think a lot

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of us don't understand the history and obviously this Israel-Palestinian kind of tug of war over it,

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it leaves a lot of us scratching our heads, but it's important for us to understand there are

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Palestinian Christians. Yes. There are Palestinian good, great people. Yes. And Hamas does not

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represent all of Palestine. We're familiar, some great friends of ours, in particular, her parents

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have literally been forerunners in Iran with the great revival. So there's great moves of God

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taking place in both. So it's not even so much this thing of on a political war level, do you

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side here, do you side there? It's understanding the bigger scheme really for what God has for

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Israel. I'm so glad you're kind of giving us that history, but yet there still begs the question.

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And I'm so glad that we're talking about this. You know, and that's so good because there's

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people that love the Lord on both sides of this, right? And we're just trying to help people

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understand what does the Bible say, what's happened historically, and really just bring,

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I think, knowledge that's going to help people kind of understand the current conflict. And I think

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if anyone's like me, right, you've kind of wondered why does the church play such an importance on

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standing with Israel? You hear that all the time, like, standing with Israel, we're praying with

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Israel. And you're like, why? Like, help me understand that. And that's really something

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we're going to try to do for the Keep it One Hundred tribe today is we're going to try to help you

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understand what the Bible says about it. And you've probably even seen some believers that even

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maybe it seems a bit odd or kind of maybe bizarre. And you're like, why are you so aligned with

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Israel? And there's a love of Israel. There's a love of the Jewish culture. And it might seem

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a little bizarre. It might seem a bit out of sorts rather than just showing allegiance to Israel

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without really knowing the why it's important to get God's heart for Israel and to understand

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Israel's biblical importance even to you and me as individuals. So that is really the backdrop.

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And I just think that's an important context and a background to really create for the listeners

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to understand this conversation that we're about to have. Sean, I have a question for you.

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Really, I think this starts off this very important conversation for what's happening right now.

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Explain to all of us, what is the importance of Israel? Well, first of all, I just got to say,

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there were several years back I went to Israel for the first time. And when I first went to Israel,

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I have to admit I was largely ignorant of a lot of things as it relates to Israel. And I just thought,

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hey, I'm just going to love God. I'm going to walk, circumvent with scripture. I'm just going to,

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like, love my neighbor as myself. I'm just going to obey Jesus. And I'm good. But when I got over

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there to Israel, and I happened to go with a great minister and ministry that ministers to there,

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I began to realize there was a whole lot more. So first of all, I just want to challenge any

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of our listeners that part of it is as Christians, you have to understand you have a different script

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to follow. I was seeing some people in particular, and they were kind of like doing this thing,

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I think, where BLM where it was kind of pro-Palestinian, let's do this, let's do that.

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And people might say, hey, you know, out of sensitivity to different races, because BLM is

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kind of siding with the Palestinian, should I? And I think the bottom line is you have to first say,

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as Christians, you have a different script to follow. And the reason why I stand with Israel

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matters so much, and we're going to give a lot of different quick hitters on this. I think one of it

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is to understand that Jesus himself is going to step foot in the second coming in Jerusalem,

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in Israel. He's not going to come back to the Bible Belt in the United States of America,

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although we know by his spirit, he touches people there. He's not going to step foot in some sort of

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the largest church in the world, I think would probably be the Asian church. He's not going to

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set foot in places where we think he would. The Bible is pretty clear where he's going to place

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his foot. And he is going to actually reign physically over the globe from the focal point

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of Jerusalem. So even though right now you see this place dominated, boo, with strife and violence

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ever since the days of Abraham, we really should be concerned over this kind of somewhat say tiny

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speck of land because of that. But let's back up and talk about some other things. Number one,

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Israel's interactions with God is how we understand the character of God, because the Bible of the

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Old Testament was the God of Israel. That's what he was known as. And so when you understand God's

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mercy, his righteousness, reliability, his faithfulness, we see his wrath, we see his love,

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we see his goodness, glory and power. It was always demonstrated towards Israel. And so we see that

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the Old Testament of the Bible, which is an important part of scripture, includes all these

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stories and prophecies related to the land of Israel and the land of Israel central, obviously,

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to the history of Jewish people. And the Bible contains it. Another obvious reason is, hey,

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Jesus emerged from Israel. Prophets told that God would come down and he would be an Israelite whose

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lineage could be traced back directly through all these great patriarchs, Abraham and that whole

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thing. And obviously, when I went to Jerusalem, Jerusalem as a city is obviously a city of immense

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religious significance. It's a place where Jesus was crucified. Obviously, he came up out of there.

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He was resurrected there. It is believed obviously to contain the tomb of Jesus. And obviously,

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like myself, a lot of people are able to go to Jerusalem and retrace the steps of Jesus. And

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when I was there, people say, what do you feel was so special about Israel? And I shared with

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people, Christa, that I didn't know my dad as an adult to an adult. He was taken out of the picture

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when I was in grade school. But when I go to his hometown of Orkney, Oklahoma, it brings me closer

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to my father to know that he walked these streets. He went to this high school. He played baseball at

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this field. Something else happened and my relatives are telling me stories. So I am able to

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feel closer to my earthly father by going to his homeland. So I think Jerusalem, as I went there,

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just had a significance, is it caused me to feel closer to Jesus. But I want to say to you, why,

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also putting it back on you, why do you think from your thought process that Israel is significant

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as well? I love this because I think it really focuses, it causes us to focus on God's covenant

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with Abraham. And the primary and arguably the most compelling reason why we should care about

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Israel is because of covenant. And this irrevocable bond between two parties, in this case, between

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God and the descendants of Abraham, it's directly related to you and I. God made covenant with his

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people, Israel, to make them a great nation. And he would send them a savior to rescue Israel from

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oppression. And that savior ushered in a new religion, Christianity. And Israel was no longer

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the sole recipient of God's grace and care. And yet Israel is still important to a full understanding

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of God and the Christian faith, which I think is really key for people to understand that God

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has chosen Israel for his treasured possession out of all of the peoples who are on the face of the

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earth. And we find that in Deuteronomy 14 too. We must get to know his beloved people for at least

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that reason. And the reason is of covenant. So consider Israel as a microcosm of all mankind,

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how God speaks, relates to, and deals with Israel is a pattern for how he speaks, relates to,

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and deals with the rest of the world. It really is a picture of who God is with all of us.

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You know, it's so true. And I love that you say that it is a microcosm because that's why the Old

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Testament has value to us because we see how God spoke to Israel. And we understand, I love that

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covenant that he said to Abraham, he said, I will bless you and I will make your descendants a

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blessing. And the descendants of Abraham are, is Israel. It is the Israelites. And in spite of the

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repeated fallings of Israel, I'm speaking of in terms of biblical context right now, there still

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remains a plan and a purpose for that nation. Just like despite the fallings in your life or my life,

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there still remains a plan and a purpose for each of us. And second Timothy says this, that our

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faithlessness does not nullify the faithfulness of God. Somebody said, thank you, Jesus.

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And really the entire storyline of the Bible is about Israel. It's about faith. It's about

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covenant. And to understand salvation came first for the Jews, Romans 1 16 and Romans 11 11. And

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thank God the Gentile church has been included. The verse that we'll share later, but it talks

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about that we were engrafted in the vine. It includes the plans that God has for us as well

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as for Israel. So question following that, cause I think that's a great like baseline. What's another

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factor that should influence our opinion toward Israel? You know, I think it really comes to the

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fact that God chose Israel to be his people. So we have to agree with God's sovereign decision to

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really understand why, why is it important? I think you have to go back to the Garden of Eden,

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when God made man and told him that he could eat anything but the fruit of the tree of the knowledge

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of good of evil. And of course, after the disobedience, the fall, God made a way for mankind

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to be reconciled to himself. But God knew that the only way that man could be reconciled to himself,

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mankind, that is male and female, would be for him to do it himself. No man would be able to do it.

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So it must be God. So through Israel seed, and you'll see that phrase over and over and over,

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God would raise someone who would crush the serpent's head, Satan, and he would sovereignly

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choose that seed that would come from the house of Abraham. That's Genesis 3 15. So you fast forward

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now to God's promise, what you were talking about, Christa, and it says, I will bless those who bless

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you. I will curse him who curses you. And in you, God speaking to Abraham, all the families of the

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earth will be blessed. That's now Genesis 12 3. And then God said, lift up your eyes and look for all

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the land which you see I've given it to you and your descendants forever. But you got to understand

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what is the devil tried to do? The devil throughout history has tried to annihilate Jewish people,

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Israel, so that Jesus cannot return. So you saw that all like Philistines would attack the Israelites,

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the Moabites would attack, right? All these different groups, because the enemy was trying

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to stop Jesus's birth, but he's now still doing it to stop Jesus's return. So it really puts a

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whole new perspective on things like the Holocaust in World War II. And why did Hitler get so demon

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possessed? And I know we're going deep for you guys listening, but you ever thought why did Hitler

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get so demonized that he wanted to perform a genocide against God's people? Why is there such

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hatred? You know, it's called anti-Semitism. And I believe it's just a tactic of the enemy to get us

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to devalue Israel's place in God's overall scheme of human history. You know, and I love that you

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talked about Genesis 12, 3, I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you, I will curse you

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and on all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. And I think that's a really important verse

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because the scripture really is telling us right there that if we bless Israel and her people,

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those blessings will be returned to us. So really as we stand with Israel, we pray with Israel,

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we bless Israel, we're actually acting on scripture and we're aligning ourselves with what the word of

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God says, which is a powerful posture as a follower of Jesus, right? And as we read in the Bible,

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those blessings are then going to be returned upon us. And we can't forget that Psalm 122,

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6 says, we're told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. So again, scripture really guides us

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in that posture of that God blesses those who bless Israel. You know, I want to give just some

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scriptures that I think will back it up. And one of the key things to note is that really biblical

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prophecy comes to life in Israel. Israel's mentioned in the Bible over 2,500 times. It's all the stories,

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lessons, parables through scripture. And there's different scriptures that talk about it. For

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instance, Zechariah 14, 1 through 4 says, the day of the Lord is coming Jerusalem when your possessions

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will be plundered, divided up within your walls. I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to fight

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against it. City will be captured. Houses ransacked, women raped, half the city will go into exile,

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but the rest of the people will not be taken. But now verse three, then the Lord will go out and

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fight against those nations as he fights on the day of battle. And that day his feet will stand on

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the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will be split into east to west, forming

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a great valley with half the mountain moving north, half moving south. Obviously these are prophetic

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passages that are speaking towards Jesus's second return. Amos 9, 14 and 15 says, I will restore

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the fortunes of my people Israel. They shall rebuild ruined cities, inhabit them. They shall

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plant vineyards, drink their wine, they shall make gardens, eat fruit. I will plant them on their land

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and they should never again be uprooted of the land that I have given them, says the Lord. Of course,

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we know 1948 was the consolidation of the nation of Israel. And Amos 9, 14 lets us know that God

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planted them there. It wasn't just their idea to kind of all come together because Jewish people

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were dispersed all over in different nations. They didn't really have their own place. So for

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instance, maybe you'd have Russian Jews or you'd have Yugoslavian Jews or you'd have American Jews

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and you have, but they actually had a place that they could call home. But the Bible says, I'll

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plant them in their land. They'll never be uprooted out of the land. So if you're trying to uproot

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Israel out of their land, according to Amos 9, 14 and 15, you're fighting the Lord on this

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because God's doing just the opposite. Another scripture I think is important, Chris says,

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Jeremiah 30, but it just basically said the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and he says,

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thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, write any book, all the words I spoke to you, for behold,

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days are coming, declares the Lord, while I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. And

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Judas says, the Lord, I will bring them back to the land I gave their fathers. They shall take

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possession of it. And so here are all these different words and thoughts, but it's biblical

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prophecy being fulfilled that all of God's people will come home to Israel. So I believe part of it

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is supporting Israel and her people. I think it's an opportunity to take part in God rebuilding the

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things that he's promised. And then of course we have things like the early church emerged in the

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region of Israel, the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the upper room was in Israel, the book of Acts.

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We understand that all this stuff. And then ultimately revelation lets us know that there's

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going to be a heavenly Jerusalem. There's that name of that city. The holy city is the image of all

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of new creation, all of the aspiration of its people where God will wipe away every tear.

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There'll be no more death, mourning, crying out in pain, former world has passed away.

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So heavenly Jerusalem obviously is connected to earthly Jerusalem. So we have to understand

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there are things beyond our comprehension that as revelation unfolds, we're going to see the

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significance of that original covenant given to Abraham as it relates to that tiny sliver of land

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and the people. That is so good. So good. I think that's really going to help people

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really grasp why and what the word of God says. I love that you took us through some scripture

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so people are really getting a grasp for the word. We've talked about how our affections for Israel

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plays in God's prophetic storyline, but how does that storyline continue on for us today?

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Well, I think in Romans 11, Apostle Paul makes two amazing statements. He speaks of Israel and he

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says, their fall is riches for the world and their failure riches for Gentiles. How much more their

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fullness. This is in Romans 11 verse 12. And it goes on to say, for if they're being cast away

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is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be but life from death? So Paul is

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actually, I mean, this is deep. He's looking at Israel stumbling and casting away, but yet,

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and he's relating it to the riches of the Gentiles, but he's also looking to Israel's future

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fullness and he foresees an even greater release for the world in quote unquote Romans 11, 15,

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life from death. So when life comes after someone dies, it's called revival. Could it also be that

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what God wants to do with natural Israel also connects to a revival for the church? You and I,

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I mean, we love revival. John Wesley says it like this, it was a revivalist. He says, so many

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prophecies refer to this grand event. He's referring to this passage we just read out of Romans, that

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is surprising. Any Christian can doubt it. John Wesley said, he says, when it's accomplished,

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it will be so strong a demonstration, both of the old and new Testament revelation that would

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doubtless convince many it will release overflowing life to the world, which was dead. This is John

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Wesley commenting on this. He's doing a commentary on these verses, on these very verses. And he's

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saying that when this is accomplished, it's going to release overflowing life to the world, which

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was dead. So I believe maybe one of the strongest reasons why Israel should be important to us is

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there's a connection between what happens in that nation and revival spilling out to the church

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abroad. Well said. I love that you tied it to a revival narrative. I think that's so cool. And

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you really kind of see how that connects to today. You know, in terms of salvation, does Israel have

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an automatic end? I think a lot of people wonder that. You know what? This is what we're going to

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keep it 100 and just be totally honest. No, Israel does not have an automatic end. You got to come

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through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think part of it is there are two errors, as I

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would see it on both sides. And one of it is what's called dual covenant theology. And dual

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covenant theology is this unique holding that the new covenant only applies to non-Jews or Gentiles,

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while the Jews, the Mosaic covenant remains valid for them. So in other words, you just fulfill the

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law, do the best you can, and you'll get into heaven. And all you Gentiles and non-Jews,

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you got to come through the blood. Dual covenant theology is not accurate. There's this one covenant,

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there's one mediator between God and man. And the Bible actually challenges us that we should

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actually live our lives in such a way that would provoke, the Bible says, Israel or the Jews to

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jealousy. So why would our lifestyles as followers of Christ need to provoke Israel to jealousy

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so that their eyes would be open and see the Bible talks about one of the minor prophets,

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the one whom they have pierced. Why would he have to do that if Israel has an automatic end?

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And then it would really kind of make Jesus' death in vain in many of his words. So dual covenant

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theology is wrong in saying that Israel has an automatic end. No, we need to pray for Israel that

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their eyes are open and to see that the Messiah has come. The one that their prophets have said

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about is come Jesus. They have to look upon Jesus, the author and perfected of their faith. But then

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there may be another error and this is kind of off the question, but it's replacement theology.

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And that's that the Gentile church has totally fulfilled all of God's intention. So the Israel

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holds no significance. And I think a lot of people fall into that. It's like, hey, I just read the

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Bible and everything just applies to me as a believer. None of it applies to Israel. And that

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means the church has replaced Israel completely. So I say those are two extremes. Like I'm not

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in the replacement theology and I don't think it's biblical. I'm not in dual covenant. And I think

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that someplace in between is this thing of God has prophetic words and a covenant with Israel.

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But at the end of the day, that covenant is about them waking up and God actually,

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and we can see over and over again, he purposely brought the gospel to the Gentiles.

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And so although originally Israel was God's chosen people, now we begin to realize it's his church.

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And so I think that that is so important in understanding that. And it's important because

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a pastor of one of the largest churches in our nation with considerable influence among the

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younger generation recently published a book explaining that the Old Testament is completely

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irrelevant and has been replaced with brand new teachings, morals, and ethics of Jesus.

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It's kind of almost that replacement theology. First of all, he needs to understand Scripture

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is a part of the Bible. And in fact, the Old Testament is nearly 80% of the Christian Bible.

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So to ignore it and to not know it is to be ignorant of most of Scriptures as it relates.

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And so that is so important to understand that. And, you know, Paul said, let me throw this out.

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I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceded. Israel

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has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in or been saved. So

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all of Israel will be saved, true Israelites, rather, you know, ethnic or spiritual, of course.

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And the deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn godlessness away from Israel. And this is

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my covenant with them when I take away their sins, Romans 11, 25 through 27. So we can see

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that this doesn't mean all of Israel will be saved. It doesn't mean the entire nation and all

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Israelites of all time, but those who come to believe in Jesus Christ. And we're going to see

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a mass revival amongst people of Israel finally recognize that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

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And there's a whole movement of Messianic Jews and their nation will finally accept him as the

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prophesied one. I love that. It's very well said because that's kind of a complex question. And I

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think that's hard for people to get their brain around. So I think I just love you kind of gave

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that bite-sized piece for people to kind of understand on a very digestible level.

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So with everything that's been said, you know, with everything that's happening with Israel

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and Hamas right now, you know, and the future of Israel, the question really is where does that

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leave us today? Well, there's one kind of theologian he wrote. I love this. He said,

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the Jewish people are going to have to be believers in Jesus as their Messiah in order to be rescued by

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him at the second coming. This is exactly what will happen. And he cites Ezekiel 20, 33 through 38,

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which says, as I live says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand with an outstretched arm and

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with fury poured out, I will rule over you. I will bring you out from the peoples. I will gather you

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out of the countries where you're scattered with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with fear.

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I will bring you into the wilderness of peoples and there I will plead my case to you face to face

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just as I pled my case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt. So while I plead

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my case with you, says the Lord. So God is going to bring about this inward persuasion, convincing,

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sending forth a glorious witness. I believe that scales would fall from eyes in very same way. The

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Saul of Tarsus was this particular Pharisee that was killing Christians and rounding them up. But

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it says scales fell from his eyes. I think Saul of Tarsus, who was a Roman citizen, but Jewish,

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just as his eyes were open, I believe the Bible points again and again that that's going to happen

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on a mass scale. So go on now in verse 37 of Ezekiel 20. He says, I will make you pass under

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the rod. I will bring you into the rod of my covenant. I will purge rebels from you and those

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who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the country where they dwell that they may not

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enter the land of Israel. Now here's the verse. Then you will know that I am the Lord. So although

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we're throwing a lot of scripture at you and that text is thick, it's dense. It's basically saying

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that God was going to bring them together as a nation, which he did. He's going to purge them.

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They're going to pass on the rod. They're going to be trials and tribulations. I believe it's

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probably the most reward piece of territory on planet earth. But he says, I will bring you out.

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And he says, then you will know that I am the Lord. So this is just the future right here. And so I

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say, Christians, watch Israel closely, follow the messianic movement. That means messianic Christians

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or completed Jews, some would call it, because we're going to see this mighty move of God. It's

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going to signal the end times and it's going to be this incredible, I believe, firework of God's

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prophetic fulfillment. And at the end of the day, all who believe in Jesus for salvation are beloved

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of the Lord. And they're going to reap the fruit of God's promises to Israel. And we can have

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confidence in God because he's always been faithful to his people. You know, I hope this has been

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helpful. Literally, they're theologians that spent their life to this kind of stuff. But we just want

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to set up some things for you to understand just how Israel is important. It's important. I'd say,

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if you don't have anything else, what can I just really submit to you? There's something you can

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immediately implement. Just pray for Israel. Pray for Palestinian believers. Pray for that strip of

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land. I think to say that you understand Israel's significance in God's purposes doesn't mean by any

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means that you have to become an enemy of a country that has other believers in. Really, the Hamas is

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a unique, terroristic group. And their intentions, really, I think, could be traced back to Haman.

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And Haman wanted to wipe out the Jews in Esther's day. But if you notice what Esther did, and we all

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love Esther, but you understand she stood up and she prayed that that obviously would be exposed

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and that wouldn't happen. And her cousin, Uncle Mordecai, said, hey, you were raised up for such

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a time as this. And so we want to believe for revival to happen in that part of the world.

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So just continually lift it up in prayer. Great job, baby. That was not an easy topic. And I love

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that you were able just to break that down for everyone. For the people in our tribe, our hope

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in prayer is that you really gain some knowledge, some wisdom, some understanding of what currently

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is a social climate, but what's also the foundation biblically. It's important as a follower of Christ.

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Remember, if you live in the Bay Area, join us October 20th. We're having our

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second to last gathering for our monthly Momentum Night. It's Quay Community Church, 7 p.m. It is a

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night of healing, night of breakthrough. Get in the room. God is going to encounter you.

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Thanks so much for tuning into the Keep It 100 podcast. Make sure to rate, review and refer us

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out at SeanandChristaSmith.com. You can also find us on Facebook at Sean and Christa Smith

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Ministries. We would love to hear from you on how this podcast has impacted you. So be sure to show

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us some love and remember, relief may change your circumstance, but a revelation will change you.