Session Understanding the Times Part 1

Unknown: Well, Shalom, and
welcome to our series,

understanding the times. I'm
Susan Michael, and I welcome you

and my prayer for you is that by
the end of this series that you

will be as the sin sons of
issachar that were spoken of in

first Chronicles 1232. It said
that they understood the times

and what Israel ought to do. And
my prayer is that you will

understand the times in which we
live, and what God is calling

you to do. Now, this series is
all about the big picture. You

know, I'm one of those people
that I often can't see the

forest for the trees. I'm very
detail oriented. And I love

focusing on my tree and tending
to my little tree. And I it's

very hard for Me too often get
that big perspective. So I've

trained myself to step back and
take a look so that I can see

the forest, I can see how my
tree relates to all the other

trees, I can see everything else
that's going on in the forest

around me. And so that's what
we're going to do in this

series, we're going to step
back. And we're really going to

look at the big picture about
three major shifts that have

been taking place in the world
around us, whether we even knew

it or not. So the first of
course, is the return of the

Jewish people to their ancient
homeland. Secondly, a major

shift has taken place in the
Christian world regarding our

relationship with the Jewish
people. And thirdly, there is a

major shifting taking place
right now in the Muslim world.

And so in the fourth part, we'll
discuss the days that we're

living in And wrap all of this
up and and talk about what it

means for you and for me. So
let's start with our first

subject, which is the Jewish
people coming home to their

homeland. Now to understand what
a miracle This is, you have to

understand three things. One is
the calling on the Jewish

people. Secondly, is the land of
Canaan, which was their gift to

them, and their right to live in
the land of Canaan. And thirdly

is what is the message that God
is giving to the world in their

return. So we have a lot of
ground to cover. And at the end,

I'm going to tell you how you
can actually receive an outline

of today's content, in fact, for
the whole four part series. So

sit back and listen, don't try
to remember all the details or

take it all In, just get the big
picture with me of what God is

doing here in bringing the
Jewish people back to their

ancient homeland.

So, first to discuss the calling
on the Jewish people. You know,

the story of the Bible is the
story about Israel. I don't know

if you've ever thought about
this, but if you try to take

Israel, the Jewish people out of
the Bible, you literally won't

have much Bible left at all. So
the story is the story of

Israel. But it's very important
that as we're reviewing what

this story is that we
understand, the goal of the

story always was you and me.
It's God's love for the world.

But he chose the people to work
through in order to bring about

his plan to redeem Paul and
mankind. That world that he

loves so much, that world made
up of people like you and me.

Now, the plan that God has It
actually is an eternal plan. And

Ephesians one, verses four
through five says that you and

I, we were pre that sorry before
the foundations of the earth

were laid, that you and I were
predestined to be adopted into

the family through Christ Jesus.
Now that's a lot to impact, to

unpack that before the
foundations of the earth were

laid, that you and I were
predestined to be adopted into

his family through Christ Jesus.
Well, that means one thing that

means that Jesus's death on the
tree for you and me was always

Plan A so don't get this idea
that plan a failed and God had

to reject the people of Plan A
and go with a new people the

church for Plan B No, no, no g
His death on the cross was

always planned a God was not
caught by surprise. And that did

not end with the rejection of
the Jewish people. Now, the

story of Israel in the story of
the Bible begins, of course with

Genesis one and Genesis one
through 11 describes the fall of

mankind into sin, and our
gradual and increased decline

into idolatry and all kinds of
wickedness and I mean, it's a

dismal picture. There's no hope
for mankind, we are all destined

for hell. But in Genesis 12, it
all changes. And Genesis 12 is

known as like the watershed
moment of the Bible story that

from here on Genesis 12, is what
pushes the story all the way

through the rest of the Bible,
in Genesis 12, is when God

announces to Abraham His plan of
redemption. God decides at this

moment now it's time to initiate
my plan. And so he shares that

news with his friend Abraham.
And I want to read to you

Genesis 12, verses one through
three. And this is what God

tells Abraham. You know, Abraham
was a gentle man living in

earth. The Kennedys and rabbinic
tradition is that his family

were idol makers. And here, the
God of the universe speaks to

him and he says to Abraham, get
out of your country, from your

family and from your father's
house, to a land that I will

show you. I will make you a
great nation. I will bless you

and make your name great, and
you shall be a blessing. And I

will bless those who bless you
and I will curse those who curse

you and in you, all the families
of the earth will be blessed. So

this is God's announcement here
that Abraham through you follow

me to a land that I'm going to
show you.

And I'm going to make you a
great nation. This means that

Abraham is going to have
descendants, and it's going to

become he's going to become his
descendants are going to become

a great nation. And God's going
to bless Abraham. And he's going

to bless everybody that blesses
him, and through him through

what he's doing and creating
this nation, all the families of

the earth will be blessed. So
the Apostle Paul says that this

verse is the first preaching of
the gospel, that the blessing

all the families of the earth is
through Christ Jesus. So this is

God's announcement, that he's
going to redeem mankind through

this family through this nation.
that Abraham is going to birth.

Interesting that the one thing
Abraham has called to do, which

is to birth a nation which
starts with one child, right?

You start with one, and it
grows. The one thing he

couldn't. He was called to do.
He couldn't do because Sarah was

barren. Interesting, isn't it?
And here, so here we have a

description of this. It's a call
on Abraham to birth a nation.

But it's a call on this nation
to birth, God's redemptive plan

into the earth whereby all the
families of the earth will be

blessed. This is the calling on
the Jewish people, you could

call it a birthing call. They
were to birth, God's redemptive

plan, and it was piece by piece.
It didn't all happen at once. So

the Apostle Paul lists the
various redemptive products that

were given. To the Jewish
people, but through them we all

are able to gain from them and
receive from them. And so in

Romans nine, verse four, he
lives, some of them the

covenants, the law, the
promises, the service of God and

the temple and the birth of the
Messiah. And Romans Three, two,

he says, the Jewish people were
the custodians of the Word of

God, they gave us the Bible.
Jesus goes even further and in

john 422. He says, salvation is
of the Jews. Have you ever

thought about that? You and I
are enjoying a salvation that

was purchased by a Jewish
Messiah sent for the Jewish

people, and through them, were
all able to partake of that

great salvation through the
Jewish Messiah. You know, in

Revelation 12, the apostle john
had this tremendous vision and

he saw Israel as a pregnant
woman, which is a perfect

depiction of this birthing call
that was on her. It says she's

pregnant and will give birth to
the male child that will rule

the world. And sitting at her
foot is the evil dragon seeking,

of course to devour the man
child, but what a perfect

picture of the birthing call on
the people of Israel.

But you can bet that this call
came with a suffering, they

would suffer for it in Genesis
15. God reveals us to Abraham

and and Abraham has this
tremendous experience cutting a

covenant with God and in it says
he falls into a deep sleep and

that heart fills his soul. It's
like he sensed it he since the

evil as the vultures were coming
down and devouring the very

carcasses he had laid out. In
order to cut this covenant with

God, and God then speaks to him
and reveals to him that the

people will go into slavery into
Egypt, they're going to suffer.

But he says, One day they will
come and they will inherit the

land. But he revealed to Abraham
a degree of the suffering. And I

don't think that Abraham may
even understood all of the

suffering that would take place
for generations, as these evil

forces like these evil vultures
would be after the people. Why?

Because the forces of evil or
after the covenant, they want to

stop the covenant. They want to
stop God's plan to redeem the

world. Because that plan means
that at the end of days, that

the powers of evil have no more
power on this earth. It's all

over for them. So they have
fought this throughout the

generations and you can be sure
that they're finding it today.

Now a third aspect about the
calling on the Jewish people.

Not only that it was a birthing
call, and it would come with

great suffering, but they also
had a priestly call, we get a

glimpse of this in the story
where God tells Abraham to take

Isaac up in the mountains of
Mariah, and, and to sacrifice

him and we know the story God's
God stops him. And he's, he

provides a ram in the thicket.
And but it was a foretaste of

this priestly role of the Jewish
people. When centuries later,

God himself would sacrifice his
own son on that hilltop, and he

would use the Jewish people to
bring it about they had a

priestly role to play. And you
know, the church has blamed the

Jewish people ever since for the
crucifixion of Jesus for their

rejection of his messianic
credentials that led to his

crucifixion, they handed him
over to the Romans For the

crucifixion. And so there's been
great blame laid on the Jewish

people for this. And the church
for centuries, which we're going

to talk about in our next
episode. In part two, we're

going to talk about this very
ugly history of how we blame the

Jewish people. And we said that
God hated them and had rejected

them. But you know, in Psalm
118, it says, that this is the

day that the Lord has made Let
us rejoice and be glad in it.

And when you read that song,
what is the day the psalmist is

talking about?

It's the day that the rulers
rejected the chief cornerstone.

Wow. Why? Because it was
necessary for our salvation. So

this is the calling on the
Jewish people. It is not over.

It has not been revoked because
the Apostle Paul said that the

gifts and calling of God are
irrevocable. It cannot be

revoked it has not been revoked,
it is still in place. Now let's

talk about the land of Canaan
because this is a, a very

crucial part of the covenant.
God tells Abraham in Genesis 12,

to leave his family and go to
the land that God would show

him. Later in Genesis 17, and 15
and 17. It is specified that

this land is the land of Canaan.
And in Genesis 17, seven through

eight it discusses this gift of
land as an ever lasting

possession of the Jewish people.
Why? Because it's part of an

everlasting covenant. This is
according to Genesis 17. As long

as this covenant is in place,
the land is their eternal

possession. But let's go on
Because their right to live on

the land is actually
conditional. It's their eternal

possession. But in order to live
on the land, they have to live a

life of righteousness and with
right relationship with their

God. That's what they were told
during the sign Sinai covenant,

or giving up the law through
Moses. And you can read in

Deuteronomy 2829 and 30 what God
required of the Jewish people,

and for them to walk in right
relationship with him. You know,

we often think of the law as
it's about this angry,

judgmental God and he's telling
you, you can do this and you

can't do that or you're going to
be punished and, and it's all

because he's so strict. He's so
legalistic. He's so judgmental.

He's so angry. But that's not at
all what's going on with the

giving of the law. God is
revealing his character to it.

People, and he saying, I am
righteous and holy, and I cannot

have fellowship with sin. So for
you to live in fellowship with

me, you must live righteously,
and holy, you must abide by

these things, you must be this
way. And you can walk in my

blessings. And all of these
things are my blessings. And he

lists them. He says, but if
you're going to walk in

rebellion, and you're going to
walk in sin, I can't be in

fellowship with that. You are
choosing to walk in cursing. And

these are the terrible things
that will overtake you by

rejecting me. And one of those
terrible things is that they

would be spit out of the land,
they would be spewed out of the

land. They would be taken into
exile as a part of God's

judgment for their sin. But when
you read it randamie through 30,

you find that even if they're
taken into exile, even if

they're taken into every country
of the world, that one day, he's

gonna bring him back. It's an
eternal promise, he will do it

and it's not based on anything
they're going to do. So now the

biblical principles at work of
righteousness required to live

on the land and if not, judgment
would come and exile and return.

I want to quickly scan the story
of the Bible and how these

principles are played out. We
have after the law is given and

God explains these things to his
people, they are eventually

allowed to enter the land they
take possession of the land, and

the highlight of their time in
the land of Canaan is known as

the Davidic kingdom and that's
when David was their king

because They had a king whose
heart was right before the Lord,

He loved the Lord. And so the
dividit Kingdom is when the

kingdom was the largest it's
ever been. It was at peace with

its neighbors. It was strong and
prosperous, and the people lived

at peace and we're happy. And
that's the Davidic kingdom. And

God promised David, and eternal
kingdom.

And then it's David that
established Jerusalem as the

capital of his eternal kingdom.
Now, after David we have King

Solomon and Solomon begins to
let sin enter in and by the time

the kingdom passes to his son.
There's such sin and rebellion,

that the kingdom is divided and
you know, division is always a

sign of judgment. So there's a
northern kingdom of Israel and

there is a southern kingdom of
Judah and you find Jerusalem is

in that southern kingdom of
Judah and the prophets, Hosea

and Amos and Isaiah began to
warn the people of the kingdom

of Israel, the northern kingdom.
If you do not get your life back

in order with the Lord, if you
don't turn from your idols and

your wicked ways, judgment is
coming. The prophets knew that

because the law had said so. But
they since the time was near,

they were sensing in their
spirit. judgment is coming

judgment is coming. Whoa is to
you. judgment is coming. And

sure enough, it came in the form
of the Assyrian army and in 722

BC, the northern kingdom of
Israel fell and was taken into

exile into a Syria, the 10
tribes of the northern kingdom

of Israel are taken into exile.
Well, then we have the prophets

Jeremiah and Ezekiel, warning
the southern kingdom of Judah

the same thing. If you Don't
turn back to the Lord and turn

from your wicked ways. judgment
is coming. And finally judgment

came on the southern kingdom.
And this is by the Babylonian

Empire that had taken over the
Assyrian Empire. And the

Babylonians came in and they
took the southern kingdom of

Judah, and they took the people
of Judah and Jerusalem into

exile. Now, this is known as the
end of the first exile that came

in two parts. It took 150 years,
and two different kingdoms. But

this was the end of the first
exile. It was all over. But the

prophet Jeremiah had prophesied
that the exile was going to be

70 years and we have the story
of Daniel and Babylon, praying

and he sees this in the the
prophecies of Jeremiah and he

begins to pray about it. And
then we have that miraculous

moment when Now the Persian
Empire has taken over the

Babylonian Empire. And the king
of Persia, King Cyrus makes a

holy decree that allows the Jews
to go back to the city of

Jerusalem and rebuild their
temple and rebuild the walls

around Jerusalem. And we read
about this in the book of Ezra

and Nehemiah, and we, we read
about the building up of

Jerusalem, and that building of
the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

Now, there's a lot of history
that takes place during the

Second Temple period, which is
roughly about 500 years. But

what's interesting to note is
that it took centuries before

the stage was completely set.
The Jewish people had now filled

the land again. It was very
vibrant Jewish life beautiful

Second Temple, that kingdom
Herod had rebuilt the Second

Temple and an amazing Jewish
life there in Jerusalem. And the

stage is set in the land of
Canaan, for the coming of the

Messiah, and we have the
beginning of the New Testament

then and the birth of Messiah.
So the point I'm wanting to make

here is that God takes them into
the land and makes them a people

and makes them a nation. But due
to their sin, they go into

exile. But then he brings them
back and he sets the stage for

the second great act of God in
the earth that has the birth and

the ministry and the death of
Jesus, but they're still in sin

and rebellion. And Jesus
prophesied over them, that

Jerusalem was going to be
destroyed that the temple would

be destroyed, that there
wouldn't be one stone that

hadn't been turned over. And
sure enough, 40 years after the

death of Jesus, the Roman Empire
does A seed around Jerusalem,

and they end up destroying
Jerusalem, and they destroy the

temple. And this is known as the
second exile prophesied by

Jesus. Now, in Isaiah, in Isaiah
1111, it refers to a second

exile. It says that God would
raise his hand a second time,

and regather, the outcast of
Israel. Now, it doesn't mention

a third time, but it does
mention a second time and you

and I have been privileged to
witness this second Return of

the Jewish people to their land.
And sometimes, you know, our

people get a little confused
about this. And they're like,

how, why do we think that God is
in this is God really behind

this? Zionism was just a
political secular movement. Some

of the finest leaders didn't
even believe in in God. And

while that's true, God is not
limited as to who he chooses to

use and how he chooses to bring
about his purposes in the earth.

And so his zekiel describes this
return to the land and n is

equal 36 verses 24 to 28. It
describes their return and I

would say in three parts, first
is just a physical return. It

doesn't say that it's because of
any spiritual reason, or that

they're deserving or that
they've done anything great to

deserve it. Is zekiel says that
out of dry bones, that he's

going to raise him up and bring
them back to the land and

Ezekiel 36 says that he will
bring them back and then he will

sprinkle clean water on them
which is a a description of a

spiritual restoration of
spiritual renewal of his peace.

And then it says, and then they
will remain in the land. So at

that point, they will be that
holy people walking with a holy

God, and they will never ever be
uprooted from their land again.

So we are in the middle of this
process, God is bringing his

people back to the land, they
have not yet experienced that

national spiritual restoration,
which we believe is coming. And

and then they will no longer be
deserving of any exile and will

remain in the land but you and I
can be certain that it's coming,

because the Word of God has
promised that. So now we have

talked about we understand the
calling on the Jewish people

that it's through them and
through their presence in the

land of Canaan, that God is
doing these amazing acts of

history. He took them there the
first time and created them made

them into a nation. Then they
went into exile and he brought

them back and he birthed the
Messiah and brought about one

redemption on the cross for us.
But then they went into exile.

And now he's brought him back
for that final chapter of

history, when the Messiah will
come and pious feet will stand

on the Mount of Olives, in the
kingdom of God will be

established here on Earth. This
is the crux of the calling on

the Jewish people and the
importance of the land and their

the importance of their return
to the land. But in that

scripture, Isaiah 1111 that I
quoted earlier, it refers to the

return of the Jewish people to
their land, as though God was

lifting a banner to the nations.
That's an interesting picture,

you know, a banner, what is a
banner? Well, it's a sign a

banner usually has a message
attached to it. And in war, a

banner would progress claim,
victory and territory. But let's

imagine for a minute that this
banner that God is raising has a

message to the nations. What
would that message be? It says

he will set a banner for the
nations and will assemble the

outcasts of Israel. So what is
this? What is this message that

God is giving? Well, I think the
banner actually has two sides.

And for those of us that are on
God's side in this, the banner

has a positive message and it
says, the God of Israel is

faithful. He is fulfilling his
promises to the Jewish people.

He has brought them back to the
land as he promised them, and

you and I can rejoice in the
faithfulness of God to his

promises that he is, yea and
amen that he doesn't change. And

he doesn't break the bow that
has come out of his mouth. It

doesn't change but on the other
side of the band or there may be

a different message for those
that are on the side opposing

this return to the land, those
in the nations that are fighting

against the return of the Jews
to their land. And that message

is be careful, because judgment
is coming. And I will judge the

nations based on their treatment
of my people.

So very, very interesting what
God is doing, you know, Israel's

just this tiny little.on the
world map, and yet it's got the

attention of the whole world.
Why? Because God is using them.

And he's sending a message out
around the world. Israel is back

in the land. It is time for the
final chapter. It's for the time

that Jesus prophesied that
Gentile rule over Jerusalem

would come to an end and we've
seen that in our generations

we've seen that, that the Jews
are better In the city, they're

back in the land, and he's going
to return. And we have beautiful

description of that return in
Zechariah 10, actually Zechariah

12 through 14. And it describes
in Zechariah 12 how that the

Lord will pour out a spirit of
grace and supplication upon his

people, Israel, and that they
will look upon Him whom they

pierced and mourn his foreign
only son. But then it says just

two chapters later, that he will
return and his feet will stand

on the Mount of Olives. And that
the saints will come with him

and he's coming to defend
Jerusalem. He's coming to defend

his people, against the nations
of the earth, and what's going

to happen then, all the nations
will come up to Jerusalem and

celebrate Feast of Tabernacles.
So you and I now are celebrating

and practicing for that day,
when all the nations will come

up to Jerusalem to celebrate the
Feast of Tabernacles. Israel's

back in the land, she is
threatened by evil forces, as

she always has been. And this is
why it's so important that we

stand with her, that we defend
her, that we support her, and

that we pray for her. And that
is the at the heart of the

Ministry of the International
Christian embassy, Jerusalem. So

I hope after our time together
today, and throughout this

series, that you will get more
involved in the ministry of the

ICJ than you ever have, that you
will support our projects of

reaching out to the people of
Israel with love and support and

humanitarian aid and just
encouraging them, to let them

know that God is with them, and
that you'll get involved in our

Isaiah 62 Prayer initiative
where we pray for Israel every

month from all around the world
will send you prayer points and

stand in the gap on behalf of
what God is doing in Israel. So

thank you for joining today. I
look forward to being with you

on our next episode part two of
the understanding the time

seminar where we're going to
talk about a comparable major

shift that God has brought about
within Christian history, the

Christian world as we have
turned away from an anti semitic

past and are turning towards the
Jewish people in love and

getting grafted into that tree
that supports us of the Jewish

people. So join me on part two.
I look forward to seeing you

there. Shalom, Shalom.

Hello, my name is Shmuel Bowman
and I am the Executive Director

of Operation lifeshield.
Kibbutz. olamine is one of the

closest kibbutzim to the Gaza
border contains many

communities. And they're all
within very short range rocket

attack, the siren goes off, and
you have about 10 seconds to run

to a shelter. On the other hand,
if it's a mortar, a mortar shell

literally goes up and goes down,
which means you'd have between

zero and between seven to 10
seconds. There's really not a

lot of time here. And you have
to you have to really be quick

and aware that at any split
second, even now, even right

now, at this very second, there
could be an alarm and we would

have to stop this interview.

A year and a half ago, we saw
something new happened. And that

was these arson attacks first
started with kites where they

would attach a very simple,
rudimentary piece of hot burning

charcoal attached to a string
and it would be flown over and

then drop down and boom, but
then they got smarter. And they

started using balloons first one
balloon, and now we have

multiple balloons. And instead
of having a hot piece of

charcoal in like a little wire
cage, instead what you have is

an IED, which is an explosive
device that literally explodes

and ignites a flammable material
and poof, the fields around the

kibbutz or the forests
immediately ignite, and that's

been something that has caused a
lot of distress in the past year

and a half.

Essentially Rafi Bobby on
vitanza lamotta so it says dot

negative. We have our key boots
alumium bomber Hawk. And

according to him, Ben Kibbutz
alumium let it SWAT aza ship oma

Whoa, no, Tim collega Shatta she
literation Shawn nice love me

Milan tava wisata.

So the shelters and the
firefighter trailers and the ATV

vehicles like the one I'm
sitting in right now has been a

game changer when it comes to
dealing with terrorism. When a

rockets are being fired at this
region, there is only one thing

one physical thing that can
protect you and that's being

inside a strong protective
structure and we have been

placing shelters here we are
putting the by kindergardens In

medical clinics by all the
places where the most vulnerable

in the population are going to
be situated. And so that means

that now you can continue taking
your child to the kindergarten

without having to worry, you can
take your grandparent, to the

seniors day center, you can go
and pray in the synagogue and

know that because of that
shelter, you can have a normal

life again. ICJ aid has
literally saved and protected

the lives of thousands of people
and all the people who are

connected with those lives.

I want to say that if you're
giving then you are sitting here

in this ATV with me right now,
we're literally running to the

fire together. We're literally
covering the children who are in

kindergarten, who are running
and getting injured. Getting

safe refuge inside a shelter.
And that's what every dollar

that you that you give is
actually doing. It's not some

abstract obscure that doesn't go
to that it goes to these things

and you are literally sitting
behind the wheel with me saving

lives.