The Danger of Signs Without the Savior

• End Times Prophecy [00:00:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that the Bible contains extensive end-time prophecy and that current events are fulfilling these texts, specifically linking the rebirth of Israel to the start of the end times.
• The Rebirth of Israel [00:03:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker details the historical dispossession and regathering of Israel, citing Isaiah 66 and the establishment of the state in 1948 as a miraculous fulfillment of prophecy.
• Dividing the Land [00:06:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor claims God is angry because nations are dividing Israel's land, citing specific examples of US pressure on Israel and subsequent natural disasters in the US as divine judgment.
• Russia and Gog/Magog [00:11:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker introduces Russia as a prophetic player in the end times, referencing Ezekiel 38 and identifying 'Rosh' with Russia.
• The Existence of Israel as a Prophetic Sign [00:11:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that the regathering of Jews to Israel since 1948 serves as God's 'super sign and stopwatch' confirming the end times.
• [Ezekiel 38](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+38&version=KJV) Prophecy and Russia (Gog/Magog) [00:11:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies modern Russia as 'Rosh' from Ezekiel 38, describing Vladimir Putin as a leader controlled by God ('hooks in your jaw') who is a major player in the end-times invasion.
• Geopolitical Alliances Against Israel [00:15:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor lists nations mentioned in Ezekiel (Iran, Turkey, Sudan, etc.) and identifies their commonality as being allies of Russia and hating Israel.
• Motivations for Invasion: Natural Gas [00:17:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Russia's motive for attacking Israel is to seize 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to compete with Israel's energy market, which has disrupted Russia's economy.
• Islamic Eschatology and Iran [00:21:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts Russia's economic motives with the religious motives of Muslim nations, explaining that Iran believes destroying Israel is necessary to usher in the 'hidden imam' and the end times.
• Iran's Theological and Military Threat [00:21:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains Iran's eschatology, noting their belief that destroying Israel ushers in the end times, and details their progress in enriching uranium and developing ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel.
• Geopolitical Alliances and Conflict [00:25:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker analyzes the relationship between Russia and Iran, noting Russian support for Iran's nuclear program and the potential for Russia to attack Israel if Israel strikes Iran, framing this within the context of the Gog and Magog war.
• Biblical Prophecy and End Times Signs [00:26:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Ezekiel 38 to describe the Gog and Magog war, arguing that Israel's restoration, prosperity, and security are signs that these events are imminent, occurring before the rapture.
• Pastoral Application and Comfort [00:29:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker concludes that believers should be comforted by God's control over world events, advised to live practically (plan for the long term) while spiritually being ready for Jesus' return at any moment.

• Sermon Illustration [00:07:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the book 'Eye to Eye' by William Koenig, which lists 126 examples of natural disasters occurring after the US pressured Israel to give up land. Specific examples include Hurricane Katrina hitting five days after the Gaza withdrawal, and a historic tornado in Kentucky occurring while the Biden administration pressured Israel regarding East Jerusalem settlements.
• Sermon Illustration [00:06:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his age (68) and his dislike for Psalm 90's definition of a generation as 70-80 years, using it to calculate that only about six years remain since Israel's 74-year existence.
• Sermon Illustration [00:12:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of putting a hook in a stubborn mule's mouth to drag it where the owner wants it to go, illustrating how God will control Vladimir Putin ('Gog') despite his evil actions.
• Sermon Illustration [00:21:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor compares the structure of Iran's government to the US Congress having to report to a group of pastors, with one pastor (the Ayatollah) over them all, to explain the theocratic nature of the Iranian leadership.
• Sermon Illustration [00:25:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy to describe the desperation of the nuclear deal negotiations: 'That's like having to tie a pork chop around your neck to get the dog to play with you.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:30:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Ukraine as the 'breadbasket of Europe' and notes that rationing flour in Lebanon due to grain supply issues is a sign of the famines Jesus predicted would occur in the end times.

• Pastoral Charge [00:30:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > Comfort others who are distressed by current world events using the theological perspective provided.
• Pastoral Charge [00:31:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > Continue daily life responsibilities while maintaining spiritual vigilance and hope for redemption.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] A third of the Bible is prophecy, and most of that is end-time prophecy.
[00:00:03] This is the most prophesied about period of time in human history.
[00:00:07] The Bible tells us exactly what's going to happen in the end times, and it's happening right before our very eyes.
[00:00:13] I'm going to finish up this series that Pastor Ed and I have been preaching for the last four weeks called When the Levee Breaks, talking about the signs of the end times.
[00:00:23] And my message today is called What in the World is Going On?
[00:00:28] And I'm going to talk about Russia.
[00:00:29] I want to talk about the real events that are happening in the world right now.
[00:00:33] Very, very significant events that are happening, especially right now in Russia, but also pertaining to the nation of Israel.
[00:00:41] And I want to ask and answer three questions in this message.
[00:00:45] And the first question is, how do we know we're living in the end times?
[00:00:48] You know, just about every generation of Christians since Jesus has believed they were living in the end times.
[00:00:53] So someone might ask you, how do you know that you're living in the end times and you're not just pretending that you are? Joel chapter three is a very important text. And this is God in the
[00:01:04] first person speaking through the prophet Joel. Here's what he says. For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with
[00:01:21] them there on account of my people, my heritage Israel, whom they've scattered among the nations, they have also divided up my land. And so God here is saying, in the time when I bring back
[00:01:32] the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, there's also going to be Armageddon. In the same period of time when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem from all over the world, all the nations of the world, there's going to be Armageddon. I'm going to bring all nations down
[00:01:46] to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat means Jehovah has judged. And the Valley of Jehoshaphat is the valley between the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount. And that's where Jesus, according to Zechariah 14, Jesus' feet will touch the Mount of Olives when he returns.
[00:02:00] So this is the battle of Armageddon. Israel has been dispossessed twice. Israel is the only nation in the history of the world that has been dispossessed twice and come back to be a nation.
[00:02:11] The first time they were dispossessed was around 500 BC.
[00:02:15] Because of their sins, God allowed the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar, to defeat the Jews.
[00:02:20] They took them captive from Israel, took them to Babylon.
[00:02:24] While they were in Babylon, Persia defeated Babylon.
[00:02:27] That became Persia.
[00:02:29] So at the end of the 70 years, they were able to go back and literally revive their nation.
[00:02:34] That's the first time it happened.
[00:02:35] But they only went back from one nation.
[00:02:37] They only went back from Persia.
[00:02:38] They only went back from Babylon where they were taken.
[00:02:41] The second time Israel was dispossessed was in AD 70.
[00:02:44] Jesus prophesied this in Luke 21.
[00:02:47] In AD 70, the Roman general Titus with the Roman legion came and defeated the Jews, killed over a million Jews, destroyed the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the temple and raised the temple mount, took the remaining Jews hostage, captive back to Rome.
[00:03:05] They were ultimately scattered all over the world.
[00:03:07] So God is saying, you've scattered my people all over the world, but I'm regathering them.
[00:03:12] That has happened on May the 14th of 1948, Israel came into existence for the second time.
[00:03:19] Isaiah 11, God says, I will again for the second time, take my hand and regather my people from all the nations.
[00:03:25] So they've been dispossessed twice.
[00:03:27] They've come back to life twice.
[00:03:29] It's unheard of.
[00:03:30] But on May 14th of 1948, the British mandate ended and David Ben-Gurion, the leader of Israel, declared their independence.
[00:03:37] on the same day president harry truman our president recognized israel as a nation many other nations followed suit so literally in one day in may of 1948 israel became a nation this is isaiah 66 who has heard such a thing who has seen such things shall the earth be made to give
[00:03:55] birth in one day or shall a nation be born at once for as soon as zion was in labor she gave birth to her children the rebirth of israel on may 14th of 1948 was a fulfillment of the prophecy
[00:04:06] and Isaiah 66. And so God is saying this, in the same period of time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, May 14th of 1948, in that same period of time, Armageddon is going
[00:04:18] to happen. Here's what Jesus said, Matthew 24. Now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branches become, already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know summer is near.
[00:04:30] So you also, when you see all these things, he was talking about the end times, when you see all these things know that it is near at the doors. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by
[00:04:40] no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. So Jesus says, the generation that sees the beginning of the end
[00:04:51] will see the end of the end. Now the beginning started, God told us from his perspective, the end started when he brought back the captive of Judah and Jerusalem in 1948.
[00:05:01] So the last days began.
[00:05:02] Every generation has had signs of the end times.
[00:05:06] Every generation has had earthquakes.
[00:05:07] Every generation has had famines.
[00:05:09] Every generation has had pestilences.
[00:05:10] Every generation has some evil person I thought was the Antichrist.
[00:05:14] But we're the only generation that has the existence of Israel.
[00:05:17] That's what makes us different.
[00:05:18] That's why we know we're living in the end time.
[00:05:20] Israel has to exist for dozens of end times prophecies to come true.
[00:05:25] For there to be a covenant with the Antichrist in Israel, they have to exist.
[00:05:29] For the abomination of desolation, take place. They have to exist. There has to be a rebuilt temple for the two witnesses to come.
[00:05:34] There has to be existence of Israel. So Israel has to exist and they have existed since 1948.
[00:05:40] So Jesus said the generation that sees these things will see all things fulfilled. God says at the same time I bring back Israel, Armageddon is going to happen in that same period of time.
[00:05:50] So a really important question is how long is the generation? Jesus said that generation won't pass away. How long is the generation? Well, one of the important things about Bible interpretation is the Bible interprets the Bible. So Psalm chapter 90 says this, the days of a man's life
[00:06:05] are 70 years, or if by reason of strength, they're 80 years. And I'm 68. I don't like that scripture.
[00:06:11] I don't like it at all. So the days of a man's life are 70 years, 70 years is a generation, or possibly 80 years. Well, how long has it been since Israel was reborn as a nation? It's been
[00:06:25] 74 years. They'll celebrate their 74th anniversary this May the 14th. So 74 years. So if a generation is 80 years, we have six years left. Now I'm not setting dates. I'm just telling you what the Bible
[00:06:35] says. And so in God's mind, the end times is a compressed period of time. It doesn't go on for two or 300 years. It goes on for one generation, however long that is. Okay. So God says in the
[00:06:46] same period of time that I do this, I'm going to do this because I'm mad. And I'm mad for two reasons. I'm mad because the way you treated my people and you've scattered them around the world
[00:06:57] and I'm mad because you're dividing up my land. God calls the nation of Israel his land. So is it true that we're dividing up the land of Israel? Well, Israel is about the size of the state of
[00:07:08] New Jersey. It's a tiny, tiny little nation. If you put Israel into Lake Michigan, there'd be room left over. So it's this tiny little nation in the Middle East and we have been dividing it up
[00:07:20] since 1948, since they got there. So this is a book called Eye to Eye by a man named William Koenig. And the subtitle of his book is Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel. And so in
[00:07:32] his book, he has 126 specific examples of when the United States has tried to force Israel to give up land and natural disasters, historic natural disasters that have happened as a result.
[00:07:45] And let me give you a couple of examples of that.
[00:07:48] In 2005, the United States, under the George W. Bush administration, the United States forced Israel, along with the United Nations, we forced them to give up the Gaza Strip.
[00:08:00] The Gaza Strip is this piece of land on the Mediterranean, very lucrative piece of land, but the Palestinians said, that's our land.
[00:08:07] And if you give us that land, we'll have peace with you, land for peace.
[00:08:10] They gave them the Gaza Strip and they shoot rockets out of it.
[00:08:13] There is no land for peace.
[00:08:15] And so we forced Israel out of the Gaza.
[00:08:17] Five days later, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.
[00:08:21] Historic damage, worst natural disaster in American history at that time.
[00:08:27] Immediately Jewish rabbis came out and said, that's what God does because you made us give up the Gaza Strip.
[00:08:32] Another example, last December, there was a 230 mile long tornado.
[00:08:37] Some of you may remember it, an F4 tornado, this horrifically powerful tornado that hit four states in four hours.
[00:08:45] did most of its damage in the state of Kentucky.
[00:08:48] 230 mile long, historic tornado, historic damage.
[00:08:52] What was happening at Israel at the same time?
[00:08:54] The Biden administration at exactly the same time was trying to force the Israelis to stop building 9,000 houses in a settlement in East Jerusalem because the Biden administration doesn't recognize East Jerusalem as belonging to the Jews.
[00:09:07] They believe it belongs to the Palestinians.
[00:09:09] And they are trying to pressure the Israelis to give up East Jerusalem, the West Bank, their settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights. And what that means is 200,000 Jews lose their homes in East Jerusalem, 400,000 Jews lose their homes in the West Bank, and they give up
[00:09:24] the Golan Heights, which is an incredibly militarily strategic area of Israel. This is what the Biden administration is doing. You remember the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as belonging to Israel, and we put our embassy there. This is not political. This is just facts. And so the Trump
[00:09:40] administration recognized Jerusalem, the first world leader since King Cyrus of Persia that recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. And so we now see our current administration is trying to force them out. When this historic tornado hit, the Biden administration was trying to force the
[00:09:58] Jews to stop building 9,000 houses in East Jerusalem. They also announced that they were going to open a consulate for the Palestinians in East Jerusalem. In other words, an embassy.
[00:10:06] They were recognizing East Jerusalem as belonging to the Palestinians.
[00:10:11] And so God says, I'm ticked.
[00:10:13] And I'm gonna tell you why I'm mad.
[00:10:15] I'm mad because of how you're treating the Jews and I'm mad because you're dividing up my land.
[00:10:20] And it's happening.
[00:10:22] 126 specific examples in this book of when we tried to force the Jews to give up land and historic natural disasters that happened as a result.
[00:10:32] So this is true.
[00:10:33] The Joel 3, the text that I'm reading you here, This is current events that's happening right now.
[00:10:38] But in God's mind, the end started May the 14th of 1948 when he began bringing back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem.
[00:10:45] And by the way, today, 600 Ukrainian Jews will fly from the Ukraine to Israel and immigrate back to Israel.
[00:10:52] When the Iron Curtain fell in 1991, 1.1 million Jews immigrated from Russia back to Israel.
[00:10:58] So since 1948, the Jews have been coming from all over the world back to the nation of Israel exactly the way God said would happen.
[00:11:04] So that's my first question.
[00:11:05] how do we know we're living in the end times? My answer is the existence of Israel. Israel is God's super sign and stopwatch related to the end times. Everything starts there and everything ends there
[00:11:17] with Armageddon. Number two question, what is the significance of what is happening with Russia right now? Now the Ukraine is not necessarily a prophetic place. Russia is a highly prophetic place. Russia is a major player in the end times and Ezekiel 38 and 39 gives us prophecies
[00:11:35] that tell us where Russia will be and what Russia will do in the end times.
[00:11:40] This is Ezekiel 38.
[00:11:41] The word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh.
[00:11:49] Rosh is Russia.
[00:11:51] Meshach and Tubal and prophesy against him and say, thus said the Lord God, behold, I'm against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshach and Tubal.
[00:11:59] I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and lead you out with all your army, horses and horsemen all splendidly clothed the great company with bucklers and shields all of them handling swords persia ethiopia and libya are with them all of them with shield and helmet
[00:12:13] gomer and all of its troops the house of togarma from the far north remember that phrase from the far north and its troops many people are with you so let me talk about the players here now this
[00:12:26] this prophecy is against one man. This man is named Gog, and he's the leader of Russia.
[00:12:33] And God says here, you prophesy against this man who's the leader of Russia. And you say to him, listen to me, Gog, I'm against you. And I'm going to put hooks in your jaw. The hook was an animal
[00:12:45] hook. When you had a stubborn mule that wouldn't do what you wanted it to do, you would put a hook in its mouth and drag it around, force it to go where you want it to go. And what God is saying
[00:12:52] here is, hey, Vladimir, you don't make the decisions here. I'm going to make the decisions for you. Today, I would say Vladimir Putin is God. Now, if this is going to happen years in the
[00:13:04] future, God could be somewhere else. But now we have a leader in Russia who's a very evil man.
[00:13:10] You're seeing in Ukraine how evil Vladimir Putin is. Bombing women and children, bombing nursing homes, bombed a mosque this week and killed the people in it that were hiding there. This is an evil man and Ukraine is not his end game. He wants to reassemble the former Soviet Union, even take
[00:13:25] over parts of Europe more than likely.
[00:13:27] So this is a new Hitler on a rampage.
[00:13:30] This is the most aggressive military action that's been taken since World War II.
[00:13:34] And so God is saying here, I'm against you, Gog, leader of Rosh, Meshach, and Tubal.
[00:13:39] And he lists all these nations that are gonna be with Gog in this invasion of Israel.
[00:13:45] And let me just put a map up here because I wanna show you this map.
[00:13:47] I think it's helpful to actually see the map.
[00:13:49] Now you'll notice right, all the arrows are pointing to Israel.
[00:13:53] And if you'll just put a circle around Israel there, right in the middle of the map there, that's it.
[00:13:58] Israel's the tiny, that's all of that's not Israel.
[00:14:00] That's part of Iraq and Jordan and Syria.
[00:14:03] That tiny little area there to the left of that circle, that's the nation of Israel, about the size of the state of New Jersey.
[00:14:10] Now, remember I said, remember the term to the far north?
[00:14:13] God says, you're going to be coming from the far north.
[00:14:16] So when the Bible gives directions, it's always giving them from Jerusalem.
[00:14:20] When the Bible says north, it means north of Jerusalem.
[00:14:22] When it means south, it's south of Jerusalem.
[00:14:25] Okay, so you're gonna come from the far north.
[00:14:27] If you go from Jerusalem, right there in Israel, directly north, you hit Moscow.
[00:14:33] Rosh is Russia.
[00:14:34] At the top of the map, that's Russia.
[00:14:36] You'll notice Ukraine is there to the left.
[00:14:39] Now, the Ukraine could be biblically a part of Rosh, especially East Ukraine, which is historically Russian.
[00:14:45] So the Ukraine could be a part of that.
[00:14:47] Magog, Ezekiel 38 mentions Magog.
[00:14:50] today that's Kazakhstan Uzbekistan Turkmenistan Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan that's the stand club if your name ain't stand don't apply that's the stand club right there then Gomer Togarmah Meshach and Tubal this is modern-day Turkey that's the nation of Turkey okay and so then when you go
[00:15:08] over here to the left put that's Libya could be Algeria parts of Tunisia that's northern Africa and then Ethiopia this is modern-day Sudan okay so these are all the nations that are mentioned there. By the way, Persia is Iran. Okay, right here. This is modern day Iran. Iranians are not
[00:15:27] Arabs. They're Persians. And by the way, the Iranians are precious people, the nation. There's a huge revival happening in Iran. The leaders of Iran are crazy, crazy, crazy. The people are precious. The Palestinian people are precious. The Russian people are precious. Don't judge people
[00:15:44] because of their crazy leaders. They have a bunch of crazy leaders, but the people are precious.
[00:15:48] So Iran is, these are all players.
[00:15:51] So you say, well, what do these nations have in common?
[00:15:54] Okay, do they have anything in common?
[00:15:56] They're all allies of Russia and they all hate Israel.
[00:15:59] These are all Muslim nations except for Russia, okay?
[00:16:03] And Russia's very, very angry at Israel right now.
[00:16:06] Okay, so all of, 2,600 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel sits down and writes this prophecy.
[00:16:13] It's exactly what's happening in the world right now.
[00:16:16] Exactly.
[00:16:17] All these nations are in their place.
[00:16:19] They're all politically and militarily aligned and they all hate Israel.
[00:16:23] They would attack Israel in a heartbeat if they could.
[00:16:25] Okay, so those are the nations.
[00:16:27] The question is, why are they attacking?
[00:16:29] For what purpose are they attacking Israel?
[00:16:31] Ezekiel 38.
[00:16:33] Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you and be a guard for them.
[00:16:38] After many days, you will be visited in the latter years.
[00:16:40] That's the Old Testament way of saying last days.
[00:16:43] In the latter years, you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They were brought out of
[00:16:51] the nations and now all of them dwell safely. You will ascend coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud. You and all your troops and many peoples with you. Thus saith the Lord God. On
[00:17:02] that day, it will come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind and you will make an evil plan.
[00:17:07] You will say, I will go up against a land of unwalled villages. I will go to a peaceful people who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, having neither bars nor gates to take
[00:17:16] plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited and against the people gathered from the nations who have acquired livestock and goods who dwell in the midst of the land. So there are three reasons stated of why these nations are
[00:17:32] going to invade Israel. To take booty and plunder, number one. Number two, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are going to inhabit it to get the land back. That's the way I say it.
[00:17:42] They want the land back. Number three, to stretch out your hand against the people gathered from the nations, the Jews, to kill the Jews, to get the land back and to take their goods. Okay. So
[00:17:51] there's two groups of people that are going to invade. There are the Russians and there are the Muslims. And they have two completely different agendas of why they're going to invade. For the Russians, their motive is 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off the coast of Israel.
[00:18:08] Now, 10 years ago, if you would have asked me, what did Israel have that Russia would attack them for to take booty and plunder?
[00:18:16] I'd just say, I don't, unless you enjoy swimming in the Dead Sea, I don't know.
[00:18:19] You know, there's nothing in Israel that valuable.
[00:18:22] In the last seven or eight years, Israel has discovered in two gas fields off of its shores in the Mediterranean, 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
[00:18:32] You say, why is that important?
[00:18:33] Because Europe buys one third of their natural gas from Russia.
[00:18:37] The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was being built from Russia to Germany to supply Germany and Europe.
[00:18:43] They shut it off.
[00:18:44] Germany shut it down because of the invasion of the Ukraine.
[00:18:47] That cost Russia billions of dollars.
[00:18:51] We are buying 100,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia until this week.
[00:18:58] The Biden administration thankfully shut that down.
[00:19:00] We're no longer buying oil from Russia.
[00:19:02] So Russia's losing, their number one part of their economy is energy.
[00:19:08] They're losing natural gas business.
[00:19:10] See, Europe hates buying natural gas from Vladimir Putin.
[00:19:14] He constantly manipulates you and controls you when he has that kind of power over you.
[00:19:18] When they invaded the Ukraine in the dead of winter, they shut off half of Ukraine's natural gas so they could just barely heat their homes.
[00:19:24] They wouldn't give them the gas until they gave up their country.
[00:19:27] And so Russia is a horrible provider of energy.
[00:19:30] Now, their number one competitor is Israel, the nation of Israel.
[00:19:34] And Russia is very angry with Israel because Israel came out and denounced the invasion of Ukraine and stood with Ukrainians.
[00:19:42] The day after they did that, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations declared in the United Nations that Russia no longer recognizes Israel's right over the Golan Heights.
[00:19:53] The Golan Heights sits high above the Galilee area in Israel.
[00:19:57] It's a strategic advantage.
[00:19:58] It's on the border of Syria.
[00:20:00] It's a strategic advantage to whoever has it.
[00:20:02] The last time Syria had it was before the Six-Day War in 1967.
[00:20:06] And when they had it, they used it to bomb Israel.
[00:20:09] Israel took over the Golan Heights to keep Syria from doing that again.
[00:20:12] This last week, Russia now declared, we don't recognize the Golan Heights as belonging to Israel, which means if Syria attacks it, Russia will support them.
[00:20:22] And by the way, Russia and Iran are currently on the northern border of Israel, ready to attack.
[00:20:27] Assad, the leader of Syria, is a puppet for Vladimir Putin.
[00:20:32] Vladimir Putin controls that entire area of the world we were just looking at.
[00:20:36] He either directly controls or he heavily influences every nation that we just listed in the Gog-Magog conspiracy.
[00:20:43] So Russia has a huge interest in the natural gas of Israel.
[00:20:50] And all their friends are Muslims that hate Israel.
[00:20:53] They have another purpose there.
[00:20:54] So I believe the booty and the plunder, that's gonna be Russia's agenda.
[00:21:00] To get down there and to take 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, they would lock up the market in that entire area of the world on natural gas.
[00:21:08] So why are the Muslims attacking?
[00:21:11] They have a completely separate agenda.
[00:21:13] Now we have an eschatology, I'm teaching you eschatology right now.
[00:21:17] Eschatology is a study of the end times, okay?
[00:21:20] The Muslims also have their own eschatology.
[00:21:23] So let me talk about Iran, okay?
[00:21:25] We all know the Muslims hate the Jews.
[00:21:27] Most of them will not recognize their right to exist with the exception of the Abraham Accords that are taking place, especially on the Saudi Peninsula.
[00:21:34] And so Iran is not Iran.
[00:21:37] Iran is the Islamic Republic of Iran.
[00:21:41] Iran is officially a Muslim nation.
[00:21:44] And Iran is not run by politicians.
[00:21:46] They have a parliament.
[00:21:47] Iran is run by mullahs and the Ayatollah.
[00:21:51] Iran is run by leaders of the Muslim faith.
[00:21:55] It would be like the Congress of the United States having to report to a group of pastors and one pastor being over them.
[00:22:00] And so the religious leaders of Iran believe that Allah has called them to destroy Israel and to usher in the end times.
[00:22:11] They believe that's their call as a nation.
[00:22:14] And their eschatology is this.
[00:22:16] They will attack Israel.
[00:22:18] They will destroy Israel.
[00:22:19] and when they do that, the hidden imam who is their Messiah will come into Jerusalem along with Jesus and Jesus will tell the world that he's a Muslim and call on all the world to convert to Islam.
[00:22:34] That's their eschatology.
[00:22:35] They have to destroy Israel for the hidden imam to come and for the end times to come.
[00:22:40] That's their eschatology.
[00:22:41] And so they have told Israel on multiple occasions, we do not recognize your right to exist and we're gonna destroy you.
[00:22:48] They've told them a hundred times they're going to destroy them. They've been enriching uranium for years, but they haven't been close until now of getting enough enriched uranium to build a bomb. Last summer, Benny Gantz, who's the defense minister of Israel, said Iran is eight weeks away
[00:23:02] from having enough enriched uranium for one bomb. That was last summer. It's believed right now by the international intelligence community that Iran probably has enough enriched uranium for one bomb.
[00:23:14] up until now they didn't have enough enriched uranium and they didn't have a ballistic missile that could reach Israel until last month and then they came out with this missile this is this is the Iranian missile that they announced last month this has the range to hit the nation of Israel
[00:23:30] and you see that Arabic inscription on the left side of the missile there that missile is named after a battle where the Muslims beat the Jews in other words they built a missile and put Israel's
[00:23:42] name on it. So they've been enriching uranium. They have, it's now believed they have enough enriched uranium for one bomb. They now have a delivery mechanism for that. And Israel has put this year in their budget, $5 billion in their budget to bomb Iran. They have been conducting
[00:24:02] massive military drills, practicing bombing Iran. They have told the Russians, we're going to bomb Iran. If they keep enriching uranium, we're going to, they've told America, we're going to bomb Iran, if they keep enriching uranium. Because Iran is an existential threat to the nation of
[00:24:17] Israel. Israel cannot afford to let them have any nuclear weapons. And they're on the verge right now, it is believed, of having the enriched uranium and delivery mechanism to bomb Israel.
[00:24:28] Now, there's been these talks in Vienna, which are the biggest joke in the entire world.
[00:24:33] And everybody walked away from the table this week. The Iranians have been playing the entire world while they've been building all their nuclear stuff. And so the deal that we had on the table this week before we walked away is we were prepared to pay them. The United States was
[00:24:47] willing to prepare, prepared to pay Iran billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars if they would agree to any nuclear deal, but they got to keep their enriched uranium and they get to keep their centrifuges. That's like having to tie a pork chop around your neck to get the dog
[00:25:04] to play with you. That's when you know you're really desperate. And so we have this terrible deal trying to make with Iran just to have a deal. And Israel has a completely separate agenda.
[00:25:15] Israel has to bomb Iran. Remember that God says, I'm going to put a hook in your jaw and I'm going to drag you down. This is my personal opinion. I'm about to share. I believe
[00:25:22] that Israel is about to bomb Iran. I don't think, I don't think there's any way that they can not bomb Iran. They have to stop Iran. It's in their budget. They've been practicing it. They've
[00:25:32] been announcing it. If they get closer, we're not going to let Iran get a bomb. They're going to kill us with it if they do. And so they're going to bomb Iran. That will provoke Russia and the
[00:25:42] Muslim nations to attack Israel. This is my opinion. Russian scientists are all over the Iranian nuclear installations. Russia has helped to supply and fund the money for all the Iranians are doing with their nuclear program. And so when Israel bombs Iran, they're going to kill a bunch
[00:25:59] to Russians. And Russia has warned the United States repeatedly, and they have warned Israel repeatedly, if you strike Iran, you'll have us to answer for it. They've told us this.
[00:26:11] And by the way, we've put all the sanctions on Russia. Do you know what Russia said to the United States last week? That's fine, you can sanction us, but you can't sanction our dealings with Iran.
[00:26:20] We want the dealings with Iran to be out of the picture with the sanction deal.
[00:26:24] They have a very, very strong relationship with Iran. Okay, so there's one other question I want to ask and answer. Well, by the way, the question is, how does this war end? This is Ezekiel 38. This is the Gog and Magog war. It will come to pass at the same time when God comes
[00:26:39] against the land of Israel, says the Lord, my God, that my fury will show in my face for in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath, I've spoken. Surely in that day, there shall be a great
[00:26:48] earthquake in the land of Israel so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beast of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth and all men who are on the face of the earth
[00:26:56] shall shake at my presence.
[00:26:58] The mountains shall be thrown down.
[00:26:59] The steep places shall fall.
[00:27:01] Every wall shall fall to the ground.
[00:27:02] I will call for a sword against Gog.
[00:27:05] Throughout all my mountains, says the Lord, every man's sword will be against his brother.
[00:27:09] I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed.
[00:27:12] I will rain down on him and his troops and the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire and brimstone.
[00:27:18] Thus I will magnify myself and sanctify myself and I will be known in the eyes of many nations.
[00:27:24] Then they will know that I am the Lord.
[00:27:25] And so God is going to kill Gog and all the nations that come down. Israel won't have to fire a bullet. God himself will miraculously destroy all these nations that attack Israel and he will sanctify himself on the side of the nation. So the first question I ask is,
[00:27:39] how do we know we're living in the end times? Okay. The existence of Israel as a nation.
[00:27:43] My second question is, how does Russia tie into that? And I showed you how Russia, Gog and Magog very much ties in with what's happening in Russia, Iran, Israel, all of that right now.
[00:27:55] my third question is, when's it going to happen? When is the Gog Magog war going to happen? When are they going to attack Israel? Okay, well, there's a text in Ezekiel 38 that I won't read.
[00:28:04] Before things have to happen, before they attack, Israel must be restored back to their land after it had long been desolate. Check that box. Israel must have come back from many nations. That's true. They must be dwelling securely and they must be prosperous. They're filthy rich. The
[00:28:19] Israelis are filthy rich. Their tech sector is incredibly successful. They have 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. They export huge amounts of agricultural produce. The Dead Sea has a billion tons of chemicals in it. The Israelis are rich beyond belief. Okay. The only
[00:28:35] question is, are they dwelling securely? Because some people say this can't happen right now because they're not dwelling securely. Let me just tell you, Israel is the most powerful nation in the Middle East. Even though they have a lot of enemies, they're dwelling securely because they
[00:28:48] have the most incredible military force you've ever seen. And so in my opinion, this is going to happen before the rapture. This will happen around the time of the rapture, and this will set up the covenant with the Antichrist that begins the tribulation period of time. So let me say
[00:29:05] in response to this message, because I wanted to give you some context for what's happening in Russia and all those things. I can't predict what's going to happen to the Ukraine and things like that, but I am telling you how this ends related to Israel. So how do you respond to this
[00:29:18] message? Well, here's what I would say. Everything I've just told you, I want you to know our God is in control. Thousands of years ago, Vladimir Putin is God's puppet. Iran is God's puppet.
[00:29:36] These people are not in control. They're being controlled by God. God will use them for the very purpose he wants to use them for. The end times are God's times. And so the main thing in talking
[00:29:47] about Bible prophecy is if you're a believer, you should be comforted to know two things, that God predicted all of this would happen.
[00:29:54] He's in control of it.
[00:29:55] And we're not gonna be here when the worst of it happens.
[00:29:57] Jesus is coming for us.
[00:29:59] And I talked about that in my last message.
[00:30:00] Jesus is coming for us.
[00:30:01] We ought to be comforted.
[00:30:03] And I want you to be able to comfort people who are very upset about what's happening in the world right now.
[00:30:08] Jesus predicted, by the way, one of the things that would happen in the end were famines.
[00:30:11] The Ukraine is the breadbasket of Europe.
[00:30:13] The Ukraine, they're rationing flour in Lebanon right now.
[00:30:17] The Ukraine supplies Lebanon with their grain.
[00:30:20] And so what's happening in Ukraine right now will affect the world food supply, which is already fragile.
[00:30:26] Last year, the head of the UN World Food Bank said, if we don't have billions of dollars poured in to the World Food Bank, we're gonna watch famines of biblical proportions in the last several years.
[00:30:37] That was before what's happening in the Ukraine and Russia right now.
[00:30:39] And so the world is set up right now for what Jesus said would happen in the end times.
[00:30:45] And it means that Jesus is coming.
[00:30:46] It means that God is in control.
[00:30:48] and it means we need to be living our lives for Jesus.
[00:30:51] And I said to you last time, and I'll say it again, plan like Jesus isn't coming back for 100 years.
[00:30:56] Get an education, get a job, build a house, have children, get married and have children.
[00:31:02] Get married first, then have children.
[00:31:04] Don't have children, then get married, okay?
[00:31:06] But get married, have children, but live like Jesus is coming back today.
[00:31:13] Be ready for Jesus.
[00:31:14] He's gonna come back.
[00:31:16] Everything the Bible said would happen in the end is happening right before our very eyes.
[00:31:20] And if any generation of people ever needed to be ready, we need to be ready.
[00:31:24] Don't stop living your life, but look up, your redemption's drawing near.
[00:31:28] Bow your heads with me if you would.
[00:31:30] Lord, we just pray today, pray for the Ukraine, pray for the precious people of the Ukraine and pray that you'll protect them, Lord.
[00:31:39] Stop this war, stop the brutality and the murder of this war.
[00:31:44] And we just pray, Lord, for the leader, President Zelensky, and for the people of the Ukraine, that you'll protect them and be with them in a special way right now.
[00:31:53] And Lord, we pray for your comfort.
[00:31:55] Let your supernatural peace guard our minds and hearts.
[00:32:00] As your people, let us be a witness to the people around us of the peace and power of God in the midst of the times that we're living in.
[00:32:08] But I pray, Lord, today, be with us in a special way.
[00:32:11] Give us your peace and comfort this week.
[00:32:14] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:32:15] God bless you guys.