October 9, 2011

No specific dates, but enough data to say:

1. It is for your comfort. I Thess 4:18

2. It is evidence that He is Real

3. It is evidence that He is Omniscient

4. It is evidence that He is Omnipotent and Sovereign

5. It is evidence that He Loves Us Enough to Tell Us

6. It is a large portion of His book to us.

7. It reveals the Bible is relevant in real time.

Prophesy Update: Why Study Prophesy

1. The Psalm 83 War

2. The Ezekiel 38 War

3. The Battle of Armageddon

4. The Millennial Revolt.

Today's Menu: Four (4) Major Wars of the End Times

Psalm 83:1-4 says:  

O God, do not remain quiet;

Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.

For behold, Your enemies make an uproar,

Those who hate You have exalted themselves.

They make shrewd plans against Your people,

And conspire together against Your treasured ones.

They have said, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

The Psalm 83 War

Psalm 83 Lineup: •Palestinians•Syrians•Saudi Arabians•Lebanese• Jordan•Egypt (1979 treaty “not sacred” could be revised) •vs. Israel

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Psalm 83 War: Winner?83: 17-18: “ Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever,

And let them be humiliated and perish,

That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD,

Are the Most High over all the earth.”

Israel, because: 1. Israel continues to exist through

Revelation2. Psalm 83 Attackers fade away

In Your Life…• God is Real. He lives. He speaks. His prophesy comes true. Now.

-- Evidence supports faith in Him

• God Does the Impossible, In His Time.

-- Numbers 23:19: God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

• What promises of God are you ready to give up on?

• We’ll pray for them together.

 

Ezekiel 36-38:

 

-- Prophesy of Re-Establishment of Israel

-- Prophesy of Expanded Attack on Israel, and God's Deliverance

II. The Ezekiel 38 War: Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Gog

Ezekiel 36: Context: -- Babylonian Exile. 70-years of

discipline

-- Ezekiel captured 597 BC.

-- Jerusalem besieged and 1st temple destroyed in 586 BC.

Ezekiel 36:17-19: "Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them." (36:17-19)

Why the exile?

In Your Life:  1. God disciplines those He loves. 2. Obedience Check

Ezekiel 36:22, 26-38

Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. . ." He says "I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God." (36:22, 26-28)  

-- fruit and produce will multiply, and -- they will repent of their "iniquities and your

abominations." -- Jerusalem and Temple Rebuilt Under Persians-- But 2d Temple destroyed by Romans, 70 AD.

God Heals and Restores, By Grace Alone:

 Ezekiel 37:1-14. Vision of the dry bones being brought together, clothed with flesh, given breath. (3): “Son of man, can these bones live?”

7-9: So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. . . .”

(11) "Then He said to me, "son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.'.

Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Go, "Behold,I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it."

Ezekiel 37: Prophecy of the Dry Bones

God has partially done it. -- Israel is about half regathered.

-- The land is fruitful, but not secure

-- The bones are together, but no Spirit indwelling yet.  

In Your Life: God has His timing. He does things incrementally sometimes, for us to learn as we go.

1. See mankind rejecting God as one2. See God's prophesies coming to pass3. See God's judgment and grace

 

 God calls out Gog and other Countries;  

Ezekiel 38:1-6: And the word of the Lord came to me saying,. . . 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north, many peoples with you . . .

 

1. Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal (Russia?)2. Meshech, Tubal, Togarmah (Turkey)3. Persia (Iran)4. Ethiopia/Cush (Sudan)5. Libya6. Many peoples with you (Other Arab remnants?)

Ezekiel 38: Prophesy of War with Gog & Magog

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Ezekiel 38:8-12: "After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste: but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you."

"Thus says the Lord God, "It will come about on that day, the thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan, and you will say, I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world."

 

Pre-Conditions: 1. Israel gathered from the Nations (38:8, 12)2. Living securely, all of them, no walls, bars, gates (38:8, 12)3. Rich with cattle and goods (38:12)4. Live at the center (navel) of the world (38:12)

In Your Life:

1.God's sovereign control: "I will turn you about and put hooks in your jaws." Like a fish. "you will be summoned." Like a slave.

2. Man's free will, to devise an evil plan. Who is in control?

Ezekiel 38:17-39:6: "It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," declares the Lord God, "that My fury will mount up in My anger. In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. . . . I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains," declares the Lord God. "Every mans' sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.

I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the Lord. . . .

God Fights for Israel

Ezekiel 39:9-16: "Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them . They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them," declares the Lord God.

* * * *.

For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. Even all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be to their renown on the day that I glorify Myself, declares the Lord God.

Aftermath

Ezekiel 39: 21-29: And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see my Judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. And the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord God from that day forward . . And they will know that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.

I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel.," declares the Lord God."

Setting Stage for Antichrist?

-- Powerful Post-War Israel, Desiring Temple

-- Post-War economic distress

-- Opportunity for a deal-maker.

The Spiritual Restoration of Israel