The Bible’s Perspective On World Affairs

Transcript

GRM 1125
9/7/1914
The Bible's Perspective on World Affairs
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh


Being away and thinking about things and watching the news I thought it would be a good time for us just to remind ourselves of what God says He is doing in the world. As you watch the news, as you hear what is going on, it's easy to get the idea it's just chaos. Who is in charge? What is going to happen? One part of the world is in chaos and then things move over here in another part, and we get frustrated. The liberals say this in our country, the conservatives say that. And if we are not careful we as believers soon get drawn in and we're talking with the same level of frustration, concern, exasperation as the unbeliever does. I think it is just exciting to sit back, look at the news, see all the mess there is in the world and say, everything is under control. It is exactly as God has planned and we are exactly in His plan where He planned for us to be at this time.

So we ought to be careful that we don't lose our perspective. Our God is sovereign, He rules over all. I couldn't help but think, as I watched some of the things going on, this God who moves and maneuvers the nations, directs them according to His will is the God who takes care of me and directs in my life. Here is my prayer. How can I conceive of such an awesome and mighty God. And He has provided salvation so that I might become His child through faith in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. It's amazing, it's awesome.

So what we are going to do today, and this will help me just get back into the groove, we're just going to roam a little bit through prophecy. If it's new to you, good luck. No. It may seem a little confusing, and I'm going to be summarizing things. I'm going to attempt to move through the details, just be stating what happens here and there, give us an overall perspective just to remind us. Talk a little bit about particularly Russia, what's going on in that part of the world. The Islamic countries as they are identified in Scripture and what is happening there.

Let's start out, if we could, with the chart, called the chart on the resurrections. We're not primarily going to focus on the resurrections, but I just want to put it into perspective for you. You see there the chart, it's called the resurrections because everybody is going to experience resurrection or transformation—resurrection of dead bodies to life or the transformation of the body that is alive for believers. But this unfolds for you the scope of what is going on. You see it starts at the cross and before that we have all the Old Testament prophecies and they prophesied the coming of the Messiah who would suffer and die and who would also rule and reign in glory. And the rule and reigning in glory, and you won't see this on the other, but the second stage to earth on these where you see the second stage. The Second Coming of Christ has two parts, the first when He comes for the church and the church is caught up to meet Him in the air. The church, we're talking about true born again believers. Then He returns to earth seven years later and establishes His kingdom. That kingdom goes on for a thousand years, then certain things are taken care of, then we move into eternity where the kingdom goes on endlessly.

That period between the cross and the first stage of the Second Coming does not appear in Old Testament prophecy. Sometimes we put a parenthesis around that, not because it's a parenthesis in God's plan but it's something in God's plan He did not reveal until after the first coming of Christ, His suffering and death on the cross. So when you read your Old Testament there is nothing in it about this period of time in which we are living. Doesn't mean we don't benefit from it and learn from it, but as far as telling us about what will be taking place it does not give us information. So when you read the Old Testament you really have a collapsed view. You go from the cross to the seven years, dividing it into two 3½ -year periods there.

Let me just read a passage with you from 1 Corinthians 15, we're not going to dwell on this. We call it the rapture of the church. The word rapture comes from a Latin word so people look in their Bible and say the word rapture doesn't appear. The Greek word is harpazo, been translated into Latin and then carried over into English as rapture. Means to be caught up, caught away, removed. And the first stage in Christ's Second Coming is to come in the air. He does not come to the earth, but He calls believers to meet Him in the air. So in 1 Corinthians 15 we are told what it will be like for us when that event occurs. Verse 50, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” I'll just say he is talking to the church here and no one in the church of Jesus Christ who has come to believe in Him and His salvation from shortly after the cross, the Day of Pentecost, down until this event, the first stage, the rapture of the church will go into the kingdom in a physical body. They are going to be changed. That's who he is talking about there.

“I tell you a mystery.” A mystery in the New Testament is something that had not been revealed before. So you search through Old Testament prophecy, God hadn't made this known yet. What we call progressive revelation—God progressively revealed more of His plan. “I tell you a mystery, we will not all sleep,” the word for the death of a believer. Their body becomes inactive, their spirit has left their body. “but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable.” So all believers from this period of time called the church age who have died will have their bodies raised up from the dead and they will move back into those bodies, their spirit. For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Immediately following the resurrection of the dead bodies of church saints there will be the transformation of the living. “The dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed.” That's when this perishable will put on the imperishable, the mortal, immortality.

So what will happen, if the rapture of the church would occur now, every believer in this auditorium, not everybody in the auditorium necessarily, because attending a church doesn't make you a believer. A believer is one who has come to recognize his sinful condition, his lost condition, recognize that Jesus Christ the Son of God died on the cross to pay the penalty for his sin, was raised from the dead because the penalty was paid, and he has placed his faith in Him and Him alone. Not in Him and in this church, not in Him and in baptism, not Him and in communion. In Him alone. If that would occur now, every believer in Jesus Christ in this auditorium and around the world would immediately disappear. It happens in a moment, in an atom of time, faster that you can blink you eye. Gone. So that's the rapture, that's the next event in God's plan. 1 Corinthians 4 talks about that in some detail, also 1 Thessalonians 4. We're not going to delve anymore into that.

This seven-year period following that rapture that completes the church age is the subject of much prophecy in the Old Testament because that is the seven-period that will climax with the return of Christ to the earth, the judging of all who are alive and the separating out those who will be cast into hell and those who will go into the kingdom that God is going to establish. So that seven years is a key period of time.

Come back to Daniel 9, again just in summary fashion, if you will, Daniel 9. Verse 24 says, “seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city.” He is talking to Daniel, the man whose name is the title of the book. These are seventy weeks. Now we are not going to go into the details of how you discern this but these are weeks of years, not weeks of days. Literally it is seventy sevens have been decreed for your people. 70 x 7 is 490. It's a period of 490 years have been decreed for the Jews and Jerusalem, the holy city. Six things will be accomplished, laid out there which will enable the kingdom to be established.

And then he breaks it down in verses 25-26, there will be 7 weeks, 49 years, seven sevens; then there will be 62 weeks. So after a total of 69 weeks, 7 weeks plus 62 weeks, 69 weeks, 483 years. Look at verse 26, “after the sixty-two weeks,” which was after the seven so it's a total of sixty-nine, “Messiah will be cut off.” So that brings us to the cross. If you are Daniel 500+ years before the birth of Christ, says specifically when it will occur—483 years from the issuing of the decree to rebuild. We can date that. Four hundred eighty-three years brings us to the week before Christ was crucified. We looked at that in more detail on other occasions. You'll note he is not cut off in the 70th week. Old Testament prophecy doesn't talk about that church age, the period of time between the cross and the beginning of that seven-year period. But it is clear it doesn't make any mistakes. Christ isn't crucified in the 70th week, He is crucified after the 69th week. We say, wouldn't that be in the 70th? It would be if the 70th week followed right after the 69th, but there is a break. God will reveal the details of that break when the New Testament is written. So we have the church age.

The 70th week is the one seven-year period left in God's plan for Israel, to prepare them for the establishing of the kingdom. That is yet future. It's the subject of much of Old Testament prophecy and some of New Testament prophecy. That seven-year period is the subject of the book of the Revelation, the last book in the Bible. Revelation 6-19 is all about that seven-year period, what goes on there, drawing from all the references in the Old Testament that refer to that period.

Now what starts this seven-year period, divided into two 3½ -year segments. You'll note “after the 62 weeks Messiah is cut off, the prince who is to come” is going to destroy the city and the sanctuary. Not you'll note here verse 27, “he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week,” one seven-year period. In the middle of the week, the middle of that week of years, seven-year period, 3½ years in “he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering and on the wing of abomination comes one who makes desolate.” And in Matthew 24 when Jesus talked to His disciples about what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the age when He would return to establish His kingdom, He says, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, you better get out of Jerusalem. Don't even take time to go back into your house to pack a bag. Persecution will break out so quickly and so ferociously, you won't have time. And it will be a sad day for those who have babies, small children because how do you flee and make any time. So anything that would hinder you, warning of the terribleness that is to come.

So that's what will mark the beginning of that seven-year period after the rapture of the church. How long after? The day after? Two days after? Two weeks after? A few weeks? There may be some time in there but not long time because part of the purpose of the rapture of the church is to remove the church so God can resume and bring to completion His prophesied plan for the nation Israel. Because the Bible is all about Israel all the way through the Gospels. Not until Acts 2 that we have the church come into the picture.

So this man called the prince who will come, he is a man who will be the leader of a revived Roman Empire, a federation of ten nations or kingdoms that come together. And he will be the dominant figure and ultimately in the middle of that seven-year period will become world ruler.

That's a little bit of the broad setting and we wonder where we are in God's plan. We are looking for the rapture of the church as believers. It could occur at any time. We see events that are going to take place in the seven years after the rapture of the church in preparation for the coming of Christ to establish His kingdom. And there are numerous details. For example, I'm anticipating we may study the book of Daniel in the days ahead. It has great prophetic messages in it. And it talks in detail about the ten-nation confederacy because ten nations, kingdoms, to join together. They'll have the strength of iron like Rome with the weakness of clay, the brittleness. And they will be dominated and ultimately controlled by the man called the prince who is to come, the Antichrist, the little horn, and so on. He'll make a firm covenant for the many for one week, in the middle of the week he breaks the covenant.

Some of the things going on, come back to Ezekiel 37, it's a chapter you are familiar with even if you are not familiar with the Bible because there is a song, 'dem bones, 'dem bones, 'dem dry bones. Ezekiel is writing in the context of the Babylonian captivity. The Babylonian captivity happened in three parts. First in 605 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar comes and defeats them but he doesn't truly wipe them out or deport them, leaves some people there. He has to come back in 597 B.C. to deal with some problems. That's when Ezekiel was carried away to Babylon. Then in 586 B.C. he comes back finally in frustration and destroys the nation, brings an end to the southern kingdom. Remember under Solomon's son in 931 B.C. the nation Israel divided into two parts—a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. The northern kingdom had ten tribes, the southern kingdom had two, the southern kingdom had Judah and Benjamin. Usually called Judah because Benjamin was such a small tribe, dominated by Judah. In 722 B.C. the northern kingdom ceased to exist—the Assyrians came in, conquered them, deported them, carted them off to other places of their empire. Now the southern kingdom has continued in its rebellion against God so in judgment on them He brings the Babylonians. That's the context.

But Ezekiel writes about God's plan. The first 24 chapters of his prophecy he talks about God's judgment on Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel and its causes—their sin. In chapters 25-32 he talks about other nations of the world and the judgment he will bring on them. Then beginning in Ezekiel 33 and through the end of Ezekiel 48 he talks about the restoration of the nation Israel. God will bring it back into the land, they will once again be a nation. And not a divided nation. And Ezekiel closes in those great chapters, closes his prophecy about the millennial temple, the temple that will be in existence during the thousand years, first phase of the eternal kingdom.

So when you come to Ezekiel 37 and you talk about the dry bones, it has nothing to do with the son. Ezekiel is brought out and has a vision. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon him,” verse 1, “he is brought into a valley, the valley is full of dry bones.” Ezekiel 37:2, “and they are very dry.” It is desert region here and there are bones there. And we've seen pictures of bones that have laid out in the desert region, baked in the sun. They are dead, dead, dead. They are bleached out, dried out. And there were very many. And the end of verse 2 says “they were very dry.” “And the Lord said to Ezekiel,” verse 3, “son of man, can these bones live?” It was hopeless. But you see Ezekiel's confidence in God. He doesn't say, no, that would be an impossibility. Nothing could bring life back to these bones. Do you know what he says? “Oh, Lord God, you know.” I mean, it's in your hands. Can they live again? It depends upon your will. If you decide they will live, they will live. You see Ezekiel's faith in God.

So God tells him, “Ezekiel, prophesy over these bones and say, hear the word of the Lord, dry bones.” And He is going to call them to life. And the picture is of the bodies coming back and the muscles and the sinews and the bones get joined together. And there is a rattling of the bones as they come together. What is this all about? You know it is not difficult to interpret. Anybody who keeps reading will understand it. Verse 11, “He said to me, son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say our bones are dried up, our hope has perished, we are completely cut off.” Israel as a nation has been destroyed. The ten tribes have not existed since 722 B.C. Over a hundred years have gone by and now the southern kingdom has been conquered and crushed and Israel is in despair. There is no hope, scattered throughout the world. Out of our land. And then God promises He is going to bring them back to the land. Then I'm going to put My Spirit back within you and you will be revived. And there is going to come a day in the future when the nation Israel will belong to Me and will acknowledge Me as their God.

Ezekiel 37:21, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from every side, bring them into their own land, make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel. One king will be over them,” no longer two nations, a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom, one nation Israel. The end of verse 23, “they will be My people, I will be their God. They will have peace forever and an everlasting covenant.” And the chapter goes on. There is a future for Israel. Israel is at the focus. All that goes on in the news about the world is peripheral to what God is doing with the nation Israel. Everything happening. We think the United States of America, it is powerful; Russia, it has power; Europe united, it has power; China has power. They are peripheral. Their role is to fulfill the purpose and plan of God to establish a kingdom for His people Israel. There is no debate, there is no argument. The future belongs to Israel as far as the nations of the earth go. God has said it. You can believe God or refuse to believe God, but you can't believe God and deny that Israel is God's plan for the future nations. It will be the center of the world. Other nations will exist but Jerusalem will be the capital of the world. The King of the Jews will be the King over the nations of the earth. That's the destiny of the world. That's why what is going on in Israel, it comes in and out of the news.

You couldn't get anything else on the news but Israel and Gaza and that problem. Then Muslim nations begin to stir and all of a sudden they take over. Then Russia begins to move. So that brings us to Ezekiel 38. “The word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him.” And what we have here is a prophecy of an event that will take place in this coming seven-year period when Russia and her allies which are comprised almost totally of Muslim nations will join together in the attempt to launch a ferocious overwhelming attack on the nation Israel. And God will intervene. So it's interesting, you watch the news and things come and go but some things don't change.

I want you to note a few things in your Bible if you haven't already, key statements here in Ezekiel 38 and into Ezekiel 39 which will help put things together for us. First statement is in verse 6, “from the remote parts of the north.” Underline it, circle it, highlight it, however you mark your Bible. In verse 8 mark “in the latter years.” At the end of verse 8, “living securely.” Down in verse 11 again you have “live securely.” Down in verse 14 at the end of the verse, “living securely.” Verse 15 again you have “out of the remote parts of the north.” Verse 16, “in the last days.” And then in Ezekiel 39:2 again you have “from the remotest parts of the north.” So what these expressions have done for us, and we'll talk more about them in a moment, they tell you where this attack on Israel will come from. The alliance that will come, intending to destroy Israel, they will come from the remotest parts of the north. We'll get more specific in a moment.

When will it happen? Well we read in verse 8, “in the latter years;” in verse 16, “in the last days.” You see in those two 3½ -year periods, that seven-year period, in Old Testament prophecy those are the last days because as the Old Testament prophets prophesied, the last days are the days of Messiah. The particular focus on the prophecy here is on the seven-year period that will climax with the establishing of the kingdom.

And then what will Israel's condition be? And this is very helpful. They will be living securely. Ezekiel 38:8 says, “after many days you will be summoned.” Do you see who is in charge here? Russia and the Muslim nations are going to join together to attack Israel. Things are out of control, what do we do? No, it is God's plan. He summons them. Now it is time, come on. I summon you. And when God summons, you come. He summons them, you will be summoned. You see God's sovereignty in this.

You will come into the land that is restored from the sword. The inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel. And they are living securely. So you see Israel has been restored to the land as Ezekiel 37 said would happen. Now we find out as we get more prophecy they are going to get back into the land, but that doesn't mean immediate revival and restoration. And they are placed before God. So they are living securely. These nations will come up like a storm, like a cloud. You'll come up, verse 10, the Lord tells you what is in their mind. This hasn't even happened, won't happen for several years for sure. God tells you what they will be thinking in those days. There is no hiding from God, not even your thoughts.

“Thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan. You will say, I will go up against the land of unwalled villages.” Back in those times, you see pictures in movies and so on what it was like, people farmed and everything but the town or the city had a large wall around it, high and thick. And when an enemy would come to attack, everybody would flee into the city and close the gates. And they would have provisions stored in there and everything, that was their protection. But you see when Israel during this time, they are living with unwalled cities. It means they are without military defenses. They are at rest. They are living securely without walls, verse 11, “having no bars or gates.” They look like some nation ripe for the picking, they have disarmed. Can you imagine that?

“They come to capture spoil, seize plunder” and so on. They come against the people, verse 12, “who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods.” They have become wealthy. You'll note that last statement, you should have that marked in your Bible because of its importance. “They live at the center, the navel of the world.” This is God's perspective. Not the United States of America, it's not Europe, it's not Russia, it's not China. The center of the world in God's dealing with the nations is Israel. Amazing!

The nations here, and we've gone at other times, the way you find out what nations are here is you go back to the nations and the table of nations in Genesis 10. And here after the flood of Noah, we are all descendants of Adam through Noah because the flood destroyed all humanity on the face of the earth except for Noah and his three sons and the families. So what Genesis 10 does is tell you about the descendants of Noah through his three sons. So the world can be divided under these three sons and then under the sons, their children and so on. So you have first the three sons of Noah are Shem, Ham and Japheth, verse 1. He picks up with the last son—“the sons of Japheth, Gomer, Magog,” further on in that verse, “Tubal, Meshech.” They are all people, nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38. The coastlands down in Genesis 10:5, then you have the sons of Ham in verse 6, and they are described in verse 7. In his descendants you have Sheba and Dedan, the end of verse 7. They will come up in Ezekiel 38. In Ezekiel 38 where do these nations come from? Well, we can trace where these descendants settled and what region of the world we are dealing with. You get down to verse 21 and you have Shem and he becomes the most important because the Hebrews, the Jews are from the line of Shem.

And so Genesis 11 will tell you how God divided these descendants of Noah, his three sons and their descendants at the tower of Babel and divided the language. And so why different ones end up going to different parts of the world. In Genesis 12 you pick up with the nation Israel and the rest of the Old Testament is focused on the nation Israel. The other nations come in only as they intersect with the nation Israel, that's their relevance, their importance.

Come back to Ezekiel 38. All you have to do is see Israel is here. I love this map and I've pointed this out to you before, all the Muslim countries are here and you can go over here to Libya, Saudi Arabia. And you have Iraq here, old Babylon, and Iran here and you come up and all these are all Muslim nations. All the Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and so on, and Turkey here. And I just love it, all these are Muslim nations and what do we keep hearing from the Muslims? Israel ought to give back at least half of this little strip right over here. That's the whole problem in the world, Israel. Look at what they have here. I mean, you can't even see it; that little green strip, you can't even see it. Isn't it amazing? Why doesn't Saudi Arabia say, you can have this, we have billions and billions of dollars and we'll just build you a . . . You can't come here, we don't want you here, don't come over here. And the western world . . . What do we hear leaders of our own country saying? Israel is going to have to make a Palestinian state, which is another way of saying they have to give part of their land back to the Muslims. I mean, that's just the way it has to be. There will be no peace in the world until they do. There will never be peace in the world, true peace until the Prince of Peace comes. And Israel will always be the problem in the world.

So what you have here, you go straight north, we're talking about the remotest parts of the north. You see where we are? That's Moscow. So you see, now the enemies of Israel always came in from the north. When Babylon attacked Israel, they came from the north; when Assyrians attacked, they came from the north. Because this is the Fertile Crescent, it comes around here, this is desert. You don't take your armies and all of that across the desert, it's too formidable. It would have to be a rare exception. Nebuchadnezzar, when he was in Israel after he defeated them, got word that his father had died over here in Babylon. He took a contingent of soldiers and went straight across the desert to get back because he had to secure the throne, but when he marched his armies they went around this way. And those armies coming from the north become an anticipation of the ultimate enemy of the north, which will be Russia and her allies. And we see even though Russian claims to be an atheistic country, they find themselves supporting the Muslim countries. One thing they have an agreement, whether atheistic or Muslim, they hate the Jews. You understand anti-Semitism is universal? The exception, true believers because true believers understand the Jews' part of the plan of God. The devil hates the Jews because the Jews are key to God's plan for a kingdom over which His Son will rule and reign. And that is a kingdom which centers in the Jews with its capital at Jerusalem. So whatever else Satan’s doing in the world, his ultimate end would be to destroy the Jews.

People say, I don't hate the Jews. But you see how people's attitudes change very quickly to what God has said. Look at how acceptable what we call non-traditional marriages, homosexual marriages has become. Now you can take polls and people say, I don't have any problems. Why should we tell them what to do? Courts rule in their favor. Well in my lifetime that's a total change, in my lifetime it was changed even from the psychiatric manual that it was a disorder. Now it is to be accepted as commonplace. What happens? One says it is okay. What happened in Germany? I watched a program yesterday on World War II. Once it became acceptable, everybody turned against the Jews. So don't make any mistake. People are right, the problem in the world is the Jews because the ruler of this world, the god of this world (small “g”) is the devil. “And unbelievers always do the will of their father the devil,” Jesus said to the religious people of His day, which greatly offended them. You always do the will of your father the devil. And the devil hates the Jews. It's where the world is going.

So here we have Israel going to be attacked by an alliance and these nations, and we've gone before so we're not going in, but the nations like we talk about the different . . . Kazakhstan is large enough there for you to see and those other related nations. Turkey here, a number of these are now found in Turkey—Meshech, Tubal, those kind of nations all are within the confines of Turkey. So you deal with Turkey, you deal with out here these others—Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan. These nations here are what your, Ukraine would be included in this, not Muslim here, but all the rest are. They are going to join together with Russia. Would that surprise anybody?

I read a commentary done in 1994 and the man believes much of what we believe about prophecy, but he says in light of the collapse of the Soviet Union you can't really believe that Russia is a power that would be in Ezekiel 38. Well, fast forward twenty years, anybody here think Russia is no longer a power? No longer determined to assert its power and be great again? We want to be careful, not get myoptic. We understand what God says will happen. I don't think they are going to join together with ISIS or ISIL or whatever you want to call them and attack Israel tomorrow, because something has to happen. Israel has to be at peace, and Israel hasn't disarmed. An agreement hasn't been signed by the leader of the revived Roman Empire guaranteeing the security of the nation Israel, although some shared with me this morning some things that were in the paper while I was gone, maybe you saw it, that Israel with the European Union getting involved said we would be happy to have the European Union involved if they will guarantee our security. That's going to come. We read in Daniel 9 the prince that will come will sign a covenant with Israel for one seven-year period. But what happens in the middle of the seven years, he will break it.

What happens here is this alliance of nations all joined together with Russia will come down with an intent to destroy Israel. But God will intervene and we are told here, Ezekiel 38:18, and this is a time that God says in verse 17 that He has spoken through his prophets for many years, he prophesied about it. Ezekiel is prophesying about this 500-600 B.C., so 2500-2600 years go by but it is still going to happen. Verse 18, “it will come about on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord, My fury will mount up in my anger, my zeal, my blazing wrath. I declare on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.” And it will disrupt everything and there will be chaos. He will rain down sulfur from heaven like Sodom and Gomorrah. You have this alliance and all these nations that have come to attack Israel, now there is such confusion they are fighting against one another. And He destroys them. I take it that takes place somewhere around the middle of the 70th week of Daniel. That's the only time I can find in biblical prophecy of the last days that Israel is at peace.

Come back to Daniel 11, prophesies about this point, this time. You get to the end time, verse 36, “then the king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god, will speak monstrous things against the God of gods.” The king who will come is also the prince who will come, he is the one who set up the abomination of desolation, referred to also at the end of verse 31, that we saw in Daniel 9 and Jesus refers to. This man sets himself up. Now what happens, verse 40, “at the end time the king of the south will collide against him and the king of the north will storm against him.” That's Egypt will be in this alliance. I take it he is referring here to the battle we've been talking about. The king of the south here, and you're going to have regions down here with Ethiopia join with this alliance from the north to come.

What happens when you have a treaty? What have we been hearing with Russia? Well, we've agreed, those part of the alliance that we have for military defense, if Russian attacks one of those nations, then we will respond. Well when Russia and these allies attack Israel, this western revived Roman Empire under the leadership of the willful king, it's an attack on them. So he begins to move his armies in to defend and God destroys this northern alliance. And the result is now the antichrist is in the position to declare himself. You take away my enemies, now we will have peace. No, now I will rule absolutely. My first agenda, we have to get rid of the Jews. This is Revelation 12 and 13, for those of you who are familiar with it.

I was interested in watching this documentary. It was interesting because they do a lot of the newsreels, some of you may have seen it. It's been on many times. Germany is collapsing, but Hitler never lost his intention—we have to destroy the Jews. I mean, you realize you are losing a world war but he is still intent on killing Jews. You say, what are you thinking? And you let that go, do what's important. But for the devil, the most important thing is get rid of the Jews.

So here you have now a man who is in total charge. And that's when Jesus said in Matthew 24, when you see the abomination of desolation standing in the Holy Place, don't even go back to pack a suitcase. You better head for the mountains because that quickly persecution such as has never been seen, the holocaust, this will be far worse than the holocaust. And it will be directed toward Israel, but any believer in Jesus Christ will also become the object of that persecution.

Come back to Ezekiel, I just want to point out another nation that is well-known here. Saudi Arabia is mentioned as Sheba and Dedan in Ezekiel 38:13. “And the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, have you come to capture spoil?” Saudi Arabia is not part of this alliance. They are a Muslim country and they have radical Muslims, but even today we see they have a certain fear and they want to help the western countries against the more radical Muslims. So it’s interesting to see how things can shake out. The context here, verse 13, “Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish.” Now here is Israel here, this is Spain. Tarshish is Spain. In biblical times Spain is the west. Sort of like when I came to Nebraska, this was the far west. I thought you fell off the edge of the earth there around Scottsbluff.

So when he talks about Tarshish and Saudi Arabia are saying, what do you think you are doing? Interesting. Now some would take this, since this was the west to them and it says in verse 13, “the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages,” literally as you have in the margin, its young lions, will question this. Some would take this as representative of the west. The young lions are the younger nations associated with it so would put some of the other nations there, some would put the United States there since we came out of that western, like Spain, Britain, France. This is a reference to the west here. The west will be involved under the leadership of the antichrist.

Back up to Ezekiel 33 and we'll read some verses in light of this and verses we ought to take in mind. God is so gracious. Peter warned in his second letter, people will say, “where is the promise of Christ's coming?” Nothing changed, everything remains the same. They remain willfully ignorant. The reason the Lord hasn't brought final destruction on this sin-cursed earth, He is patient, Peter says, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Think about it. God has patiently reserved His judgment so you can come and hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, hear that God provided His Son to be the Savior so you could trust in Him and be delivered from coming wrath and an eternal hell. Look what God said to Israel in Ezekiel 33:7, Ezekiel is the son of man here. “Now as for you son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel so you will hear from Me a message from My mouth, give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, oh wicked man you will surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, the wicked will die in his iniquity but his blood I will require from your hand. If you in your part warn the wicked man to turn from his way and he doesn't turn, he will die in his iniquity. You have delivered your life.” Verse 11, “Say to them, as I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways. Why will you die, oh house of Israel?”

Twenty-five hundred years later Israel still fights against God, refuses to turn back from its sin. We say, why would they do that? Think about it, look around us at the world. God says we are sinners, our sin is so serious it will result in our condemnation to eternal hell. But He says, you don't have to go to hell. I am a God of love and mercy, I sent My Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, and if you will turn from your sin and place your faith in Him, you can have life, spend eternity in the glorious kingdom I will establish instead of an eternity of burning hell. But how do people respond? I don't believe that, I don't think that's what God will do. Well, Israel didn't believe it either, but judgments come.

So a reminder as we talk about these things, God is sovereign. That's the encouragement and comfort for us as believers. Have no fear of what is going on in the world today, God is in charge, all moving according to His plan, His appointed end. Judgment is coming so we have the privilege to tell people there is deliverance, there is salvation. God is a God of fierce anger, it will be infinite when men and women are sentenced to hell, but He is a God of infinite love and mercy. And that salvation will go on for eternity for those who turn from their sin and believe in Him.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your grace. How awesome and amazing it is to consider You the sovereign God who dwells in eternity, who has created all things, who rules over all things. You are a God of kindness, patience, mercy. There is no excuse for our sin, our rebellion, our rejection. We indeed are deserving of an eternal burning hell, but You offer us the gift of life in Christ. Lord, as we see the events of the world around us, chaos and confusion, we are reminded everything is in order, everything is on schedule. What is most important in these days is we recognize and believe in the Savior You have provided. We thank You for it, in Christ's name, amen.