Turn to Revelation chapter 12, if you have your Bible with you. Revelation chapter 12. I'm going to read just the first six verses. We're going to look tonight at this subject, why is Israel for the umpteenth time still under attack. What is the root of it? What's causing it? What's driving it? And ultimately, where's it going to end for this world? We'll be jumping around a few passages this evening. But we'll start here in Revelation chapter 12. Now, this chapter is part of what we call a parenthetical section. It's a section that gives you an explanation of certain themes that runs through history. And one of the themes that is explained in Revelation chapter 12 is why the devil hates the Jewish people. You look at it very carefully, you'll pick out. It says, and there appeared a great wonder in heaven. a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and peeing to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven. Behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and they cast him to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness. where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." And then you'll see in verse 13, continuation of this scene, says, when the dragon saw that he was cast onto the earth, he persecuted the woman. which brought forth the man-child. And then in verse 17, you have the same theme. It says, the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Amen, and God will bless the reading of his word. Now, the whole world has been shocked, hasn't it, by the violent, sudden, bloodthirsty attack of Hamas upon the Jewish people. Just over a week ago, the United States National Security Advisor, a man called Jake Sullivan, boasted. He said that the Middle East hasn't seen peace for at least two decades as it has today. It's a time of great peace, he said, in the Middle East. Well, what a mistake that was. And the latest atrocity, and that's what it is, the latest genocide, genocidal attempt, is one that has been going on for centuries against the Jewish people. And no other national group, no other racial group has faced such an onslaught from her enemies as the Jewish people has faced. And the devil has blinded the minds of the Gentile people to ignore the sufferings of the Jewish people. And just hours after almost a thousand people were massacred on Saturday, people were celebrating the murder of these innocent women and children, the beheading of these women and children in every corner of this earth. And even in the United Kingdom, there were groups on the streets celebrating the massacre. And of course, we have to ask the question, why? Why? Why is this group of people hated so much? Why is the devil devoted to destroying this group of people, and particularly to destroying the state of Israel, those Jews who live in the state of Israel? It's not because they're particularly religious or moral. If you noticed, many of those who were killed, in fact, the bulk of those who were killed, were attending a New Age rave. They were godless Jews, secular Jews. So it's not because Satan was offended by their moral character, because the vast majority of them seemed to be people who had no moral character in terms of godly behavior. Revelation 12 tells us, and if you read it very carefully, and I won't go into the detail here, it's not my point, the woman here, as most commentators understand, is Israel. And the man-child that she bears is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the dragon, of course, is the devil. And we're given a clue that when She is giving birth to this man-child, the Savior. We're told in verse 4, the dragon stood before the woman, so he keeps close to her, has his eye upon this woman, Israel, and he's there to devour her child. He's ready to pounce, always looking for an opportunity to attack this woman. because Satan has learned in the Old Testament history that Israel would be the instrument to bring forth the Messiah. That was revealed gradually through the Old Testament. Then he learned that within Israel, Judah would be the tribe. And then he learned from the prophecies given to King David that it would be from David's house, David's family within the tribe of Judah, that the Messiah would come. And Satan has always had his eye throughout all the Old Testament history on the nation of Israel. And you'll see time after time, he tries to wipe them out. Right at the very beginning, Esau plotted to murder who? Jacob, didn't he? It wasn't long before we saw mass genocide when Herod came, or sorry, Pharaoh came and he tried to wipe out all the Jewish boys. And you'll see a pattern emerging of targeting particularly the children. We saw that just the other day, continues on. The massacre of the next generation. And you go through the history of the Jews, you'll discover the Assyrians attacked them, the Syrians attacked them, the Philistines attacked them. Then you discover the Babylonians attacked them. Then the Persians took them on. And then we read even in the book of Esther, a man called Haman, the Malachite, sought the law to be changed so he could have a first holocaust before Hitler had his holocaust and eradicate the Jewish people from off the face of the earth. And that has continued through the Greeks and the Romans right up until Herod got on the throne and he tried to wipe out all the Jewish boys in Bethlehem, if you remember. That was Satan's attempt to block the coming, the first coming. the Messiah. And we know what happened. He failed. God overruled, and the Lord Jesus Christ was born a Jew in the land of Israel from the tribe of Judah, and he lived and died and rose again in Jerusalem. And then he ascended up to heaven from Jerusalem, and Satan's plot failed. And before he left, he empowered his Jewish apostles to go and spread the gospel into all the world. So that's the first part of why Satan hates the Jews so much and tries to devote so much of his attention in trying to eradicate this race of people. this nation from off the face of the earth. But the next question is then, why does he still hate them so much? I mean, Jesus has already come and ascended. And of the 16 million Jews or so that are on the earth today, they make up 0.2%, just over a thousandth percentage points of the world's 8 billion population. They're not a very significant number anymore. They don't have great influence, just 16 million people. Most of them are secular, or at least over half of them are secular, Jews. They're not particularly religious. So now that the Lord Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and ascended, why does Satan still have this fanatical hatred of the Jewish people. Is it because he's just angry that he failed to wipe them out to prevent the first coming of Christ? Well, no. I think it's far more than that. The answer in the Bible is that the Jewish people were the pillar, really, the lever for the first coming. But this may surprise some of you. They're also the pillar upon which Christ will come in the second coming. They're the lever. And just as Satan was devoted to destroying them before the first coming, so he's equally, in fact, he's probably even more desperate to destroy them before the second coming. If you turn to the book of Zechariah, a book that's not often studied and it should be studied, the penultimate book of the Old Testament. Go to chapter 12. We come to one of the most wonderful chapters in all of the Bible. It's a chapter that deals with the second coming of Jesus. It's amazing that there's so much detail in this chapter about the second coming of Christ before he even had come the first time, but it's there. Over 2,700 years ago, God wrote all this detail about the Jewish people and the end times from Zechariah chapter 12 to Zechariah chapter 14, those three chapters. And Zechariah chapter 11, just to give you a little background, details the rejection of the Jewish people of the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it details their seduction by the false shepherd, the Antichrist. But when you get to chapter 12, things begin to change. Now just by way of information, the writer of this book, Zechariah, was murdered by the Jews not long after he wrote this book. And really, his murder began the next 2,700 years of the Jewish people rejecting the truth of the Lord. But when we come to Zechariah chapter 12, 12, 13, and 14 really should be read together and understood together, because they culminate, if you just keep your finger in chapter 12, in chapter 14, verse 4, with the physical return of Jesus Christ to this earth. And remember, this is before He even had come the first time. Zechariah 14, verse 4 says, His feet, it's a man's feet. It's a person's feet. the God-man's feet. His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst, or in the middle thereof, toward the east and toward the west. And there shall be a very great valley, and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." It's a very specific location. It's a very specific place within the city or in the confines of the city of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives. And it says, one day, the feet of Jesus Christ will touch the Mount of Olives and the mountain will split in two. Now, those of you in the room who've been to the land of Israel will know that the Mount of Olives is still standing. hasn't moved an inch probably in 3,000, 4,000 years since the Genesis flood. And if you haven't traveled, you can Google it, maybe a live Google view, and see that it's still there. Those of you who knew your Bible will know that when the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, where did he leave? From the Mount of Olives. And his disciples were told by the angel, this same Jesus, same Jesus, that he saw going, and like man it shall so come back, so return to the same Mount of Olives. So Zechariah 14.4 describes the greatest moment in history. when the Lord Jesus Christ will return and stand on the Mount of Olives. Now going up, he's coming down. Feet touch the Mount of Olives, it splits. And then you read the rest of chapter 14 of Zechariah, describes what happens then to this earth. Not just the topography changes, but the religious environment changes. and Christ will rule with a rod of iron in what's called the Millennium Age, a thousand years. Now, that's where we end up in Zechariah 14.4. That's what the devil is terrified of, that second coming. Go back to chapter 12 now, because what happens in chapter 12 and 13 leads up to what happens in Zechariah 14.4. And look at verse 1, chapter 12. The burden of the word of the Lord, and if you like to underline things in your Bible, underline the next two words, for Israel. This is not for the church. It's not for the Gentiles. Make that very clear up front. The Bible is crystal clear here. Whatever is coming, in the next chapter and chapter after that, pertains to a prophecy, a burden that God himself is declaring will be for the Jewish people. Now, it will have some effect on the Gentile people, but it is a burden That's for Israel. It is a prophetic revelation of the end times for Israel. Now you start to get your first clue why Satan is targeting the Jews in Israel today. And verse one says, it's the Lord, saith the Lord, this is God speaking, the one who controls the future, the one who understands history perfectly. And he's giving us a little insight here of history forewritten. This is history before it happens. It says, the Lord which stretches forth the heavens, layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within. So whatever is going to be revealed comes from the God who made all things. That's what Zechariah says. This isn't someone's opinion. This is God himself, the real God. Verse 2, behold, I will make Jerusalem. Well, here we go. Jerusalem, a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem." Israel and the city of Jerusalem are going to be central, the pillar upon which the end times will revolve around. Just as they were in the first coming, so they will be in the second coming. And although it may look to us today that the Jewish people are irredeemable, in fact, there are some Christians who think that the Jewish people are irrelevant to the end times. Nothing could be further from the truth. Satan doesn't believe that. That's why he's so vicious, so unrelenting. over the centuries in trying to wipe them out. And Hamas are just the latest attempt by the devil. And make no mistake, if they could have got over from where they were on the Gaza Strip to the city of Jerusalem itself and to Tel Aviv, they would have wiped out every Jewish person they could have put their hands upon. So leading up to the return of Christ, there's a number of events or things that jump out from chapter 12 and chapter 13 that must precede Zechariah 14 and 4, the feet of Christ touching man above. So what are they? Well, here, I'll list them for you. Number one, here's the first thing that must happen. Satan was aware of this. The Jewish people must exist as a distinct race of people right up until the return of Jesus Christ. That's the first thing that must happen. Now you say, well, why is that significant? Well, all the other kingdoms and races of this world have assimilated, been wiped out, The Hittites have disappeared, the Hivites have disappeared, the Philistines have disappeared, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Jebusites, the Gergesites. Empires have risen and fallen. And yet this tiny little race of people, 16 million, 0.2%, God has promised they will never disappear. They will never be allowed to assimilate, even though they're scattered in every corner of the earth. I don't need to tell you who the Jews are in Balaamina and Larne and Belfast. You can still spot them, can't you? They may even physically look like some of us and go to our schools and go to work in the factories and the offices, but somehow God has marked them in a way that they can never escape their identity. And this chapter 12 and chapter 13 tells us that that marking by God will remain right to the very end of this world. That's the first thing. Number two, you'll notice from chapter 12 and chapter 13, that the Jewish people will be back living in the land of Israel and in control of the city of Jerusalem when the Lord Jesus Christ returns in Zechariah 14, verse 4. Now you may say to, that's not that significant. Well, if you've been studying history for the last 2000 years, you will know that for almost 1900 of the last 2000 years, the Jews were not living in the nation of Israel. And for even longer than that, they didn't control the city of Jerusalem. They have controlled the city of Jerusalem for just over 50 years of the last 2000 years. But of this, this Zechariah 12 and 13, in order for these to be fulfilled, the prophecies here, the Jews have to be, first of all, a distinct race of people on the earth. Number two, they have to be in control of the land of Israel. And number three, they need to be in control of the city of Jerusalem. And only since the middle of the 20th century could those things be said to be true. Number three, or four, depending on how you want to put city of Jerusalem. The Jewish people will not only have to be living in the city of Jerusalem and control of the city of Jerusalem and the land of Israel, but it's very clear from Zechariah chapter 12, they will have to be in disbelief or unbelief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what do we discover today if you go around the land of Israel? Yes, there's a few pockets of Messianic Jews, but by and large, the vast bulk of them, more than 95, 96 percent of them, reject Jesus Christ as their Messiah. But then the fourth thing that must happen, Zechariah chapter 12 and 13 is this, is that God will bring the most terrible crisis on the nation of Israel and on the Jewish people before Zechariah 14, verse 4 can be fulfilled. If you look at verse 4, I know I'm jumping through these, Zechariah 12, verse 4. In that day, saith the Lord. Now, as you read chapter 12, notice all the pronouns. And notice this expression that comes up, I will. This is not something that Israel brings upon itself. This is not something that other nations bring upon Israel by their own plans and thoughts. This is God at work all the way through this chapter. And in verse 4, it says, In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite, I will bring, I will deal, I will make Jerusalem, verse 2, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling. Verse three, I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone. So all the way through, you'll see that whatever this crisis is called a siege, happens on the city of Jerusalem, on the Jewish nation, before Christ returns, this last great confrontation of the ages, that God is behind it all. In fact, God is planning it all. God is the main player in the drama. Everybody else are dancing to his tune in this final confrontation of the ages. And of course, this siege in verse 2 is described both against Judah and against Jerusalem. So, the nation of Israel is going to be surrounded by their enemies. Verse 3 says, all the people of the earth be gathered together. It seems that from every corner of the earth, a great confederacy of nations will gather. We know from Revelation, led by the Antichrist, to destroy the Jewish people for the last time. Now, we're already seeing little hints of it. If you've been watching the news, You'll see how the United Nations and all these groups are mealy-mouthed about what's happened in the last few days. And they're calling for moderation, aren't they? And calling for no retaliation. And we've even seen in every corner of the earth groups celebrating the massacre of the Jews. And very little is done to condemn them. Never mind prosecute them for what they're saying. We had these EPL footballers take a knee, didn't we, for three years because of the death of one black man in America. And yet last Saturday and Sunday, not a single EPL player took a knee for the murder of a thousand Jews. Oh, you see, the world is gathering, Satan is gathering his forces against the Jewish people. And Israel really has only one significant friend in the world, the United States. Sad to say it's not the United Kingdom. And the United States, Afghanistan have discovered recently, are not a very consistent friend, are they? And they're led by a group of people today that can't be trusted. And it's not hard to see where their last remaining powerful friend could fall. And the whole world gathers like a pack of wolves around the nation of Israel. But then something else will occur. If you go to chapter 13, we're given a wee bit more detail of what happens in this siege. Because in verse 7 to 9, It describes what happens to the Jews living in the nation of Israel at this time. Firstly, it says, two parts thereof shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. Of the six million or so Jews that live in the nation of Israel, about a thousand or so, we believe, were killed over the weekend, maybe a bit more. The body count might rise a little bit more. But God says here, when this great confrontation of the ages gathers around the city of Jerusalem and the state of Israel, that two-thirds of the Jewish people will be wiped out. Now, you do the math. In the Holocaust, there was about 15 to 16 million Jews. on the world at that time. Hitler wiped out about a third of them in the Holocaust. Two-thirds are going to be wiped out in this last great battle. Two out of every three Jews will die. In other words, this is the Holocaust mark two, to the power of two almost, double the impact. And instead of having a Holocaust that lasts for four to five years that Hitler had, this will happen in a very short time. Now you saw the butchery and the savagery of those Hamas fighters on Saturday that went in. That's only a fortieth, a fraction of the damage to the Jewish nation that will happen in this last great battle. Two out of three will be wiped out, and verse nine repeats it again, I will bring the third part through the fire. Only a third will survive of the 16 million or so that are on the earth today. And I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. And they shall call on my name, and I will hear them, and I will say, it is my people. But notice the response, and they shall say, the Lord is my God. Oh, there's a change. Whatever happens in this last Armageddon, this last great confrontation will leave the result of a third of the Jewish people saying, Jehovah is our God now. And God will say to them, they are now my people. Now, how does it get there? How do they survive? How are they, first of all, physically delivered from their enemies, surrounded by all these nations that massacres two-thirds of them? And if you read carefully in chapter 14, it even says that the women are attacked in verse 2 and 3. The houses rifled, the woman ravished and raped, and half the city shall go into captivity. So how will it happen that God will end up with a third of them preserved and not just physically delivered, spiritually delivered? How does it happen? Well, that's the summary in chapter 13. Chapter 12 tells us how it happens. Here's the physical deliverance. Verse 4, chapter 12. In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness. And I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and I will smite every horse of the people with blindness." So God says, I'll step in. It doesn't matter how big the armies are. It doesn't matter how powerful their weaponry may be. And we don't know if this is talking about them on horses physically, or it's a metaphor for strong armies that they may have. People would say, well, why would they be using horses if it's a physical thing? Well, if you've been reading the book of Revelation carefully, you'll discover that just before the battle of Armageddon, all the oil of the world is wiped out. And all the electricity plants of the world are wiped out in the Great Tribulation period. So it could be that it's physically their own horseback in this last battle. But they gather this vast army, a confederacy of nations led by the Antichrist around the city of Jerusalem, and they almost succeed. They wipe out two-thirds of the Jewish people. No doubt the devil thinks, this is it. I'm going to win. And just as they appear to be winning at the very last minute, God says, I'll step in. and I'll destroy them all. And I'll destroy their armies, and I'll destroy the nations that come against the Jewish people." Physically, he promises to deliver them. But how are they then spiritually delivered? It says in verse 10, here's the spiritual. And again, notice the pronouns. Notice the order. having physically delivered them, God then acts spiritually on their hearts and says, and I, what comes from God, they're still in their darkness, but this physical deliverance changes them. And it says, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The spirit of grace and of supplication. God moves in mighty reviving power. Remember the prophecy of the dry bones? They live again. God says, I will reach down, I'll physically deliver them. I'll destroy their enemies in the battle of Armageddon, the last great battle. And then he says, I'll open their eyes. I'll hope from the windows of heaven, I'll pour out the spirit of grace and supplication. And that grace of people, that third of the Jewish people that have resisted Christ for centuries, suddenly their eyes are open and the veil is lifted. And they see Christ as their Messiah for the very first time. And it says in verse 10, and they shall look upon me, me as a person, Christ. Who's the ones touching the feet of the Mount of Olives? Jesus. They shall look upon him whom they have pierced. Who pierced him? At the cross. Remember what it says in John's Gospel, chapter one, he came unto his own and his own received him. pierced him. In fact, that word pierced, that Hebrew word, is only ever used of a physical piercing in the Old Testament. It's a man they pierced. It's not talking about a spiritual piercing. It's talking about a physical piercing. They crucified him. They turned their backs on him. But this time they look upon him not with rejoicing, not with mockery, But it says, they look upon him whom they have pierced, and they mourn, they weep, they repent. And it describes the repentance in verse 11. Well, in verse 10, first it says, one who is in bitterness for his firstborn, as if you lost your firstborn child, that depth of sense of grief. And then it says, verse 11, a great mourning Jerusalem as the mourning of Hadad-Rimon in the valley of Megiddon. What's that referring to? It refers to an incident in the Old Testament when King Josiah died. one of their great hopes for the future, who was murdered, killed in battle, foolishly, by the king of Egypt. And the whole nation was heartbroken and wept for the loss of King Josiah. And the Lord says they'll be weeping like they were weeping that day at Josiah's death. As a nation, corporately, individually they weep for their own sin, and as a nation, They weep for the wasted years, for the wasted generations of Jews that turned their back on their Messiah. So, why is Satan attacking the nation of Israel today? Why is Hamas and groups like Hamas geared up, celebrated, supported, applauded, not just in the Middle East, but all around the world? because Satan still has his eye on the Jew. And he thinks that if he can just wipe them out, he can block the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. But Zechariah 12, 13, and 14 is written to us as Christians, not only to pray for the Jew, to love the Jewish people, but is written to you and I to encourage us Because as we look around the world today, we see dark days coming, don't we? Very dark days. In fact, I believe we're very, very close to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I have a little feeling it may be much sooner than many people here even imagine. Maybe within the next 10 years. I think the Bible gives certain clues, numerically, and in the signs, and maybe on Sunday morning we're on that harvest message, how much time is left for the world, I'll set it out in detail. We're very, very close. And Satan doesn't know exactly when Christ is returning, but he's guessing, like you and I are guessing, from looking at the signs and the statements of Scripture. And he's starting to ferment this chaos, particularly around the nation of Israel. because he knows his time is running out. And he only has a little window left to destroy this people, to try and block the return of Jesus Christ. You may say, well, he's never going to succeed. Well, you and I know that, and we believe that, but he doesn't. He still believes in the delusion that he lives within, that one day he will win. One day he will succeed. And let's finish with Zechariah 13, verse 8 and 9, or verse 9, sorry, because you can't get any more beautiful verse in the Bible than this to encourage It says, I will bring. Notice it's I again. God says, the reason this third even will survive is because I will do it. Not because the IDF are going to be a clever army, or because the Jews are smart people, or because they have some nuclear arms to protect them. He says, no, no, the only reason that a third of them will survive this last great confrontation of the ages, God says, is because of my sovereign grace. I'll do it. And because I promised it, I'll deliver it." And he says, I will bring them through. And what will come from this great fire of the confrontation? He says, I will say, it is my people. Oh, these people are my true people, saved by grace, washed in the blood of the Lamb. And they will reply to him, the Lord Jehovah, is my God." You can sum up the last three chapters of Zechariah this way. Refined, redeemed, restored. All right. That's what happens. They're refined in the fire, in the last great confrontation. They're redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Acts chapter 13 describes a fountain for sin and uncleanness in Zechariah 13, verse 1. So they're refined by the fire of the confrontation. They're redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And then chapter 14 tells us they're restored as God's true people at the center of his will. That's why hates the Jewish people. And what happened there on Saturday, you remember, how many died? A thousand. How many did Satan want to die? Every single one, six million. And although it's a terrible loss to the families and to the nation of Israel, We have to also look at it and say this, God foiled the devil again, didn't he? He tried, and he failed. But he's going to try one more time, at least one more time, with the greatest assault in human history. And he's going to get very close to wiping them out. But ultimately, he's going to fail. in the last great battle. And in the end, God wins, and he wins big. Many years ago, many years ago, it was probably seven or eight years ago, I went to the land of Israel with a group from Singapore. And on the Friday, we were asked to go and visit a rabbi's house. He was quite a conservative rabbi, but he wasn't an ultra-Orthodox rabbi. He was willing to have Gentiles come and participate in their Sabbath meal on the Friday nights, and we went there. And he asked the group—he was born in America, he could speak very good English—he said, I want to ask you a question. You Christians from Singapore, He said, what have you learned in your two weeks in the land of Israel? And we had just come that day from the Yad Vashem memorial or museum, which details the sufferings of the Jewish people, not just in the Holocaust, but throughout the centuries. And when it came to my turn, I said, there's two things that strike me. about the history of the nation of Israel. The first thing is that throughout the centuries, in every culture, in every continent, in every century, there has been this consistent hatred and persecution of the Jewish people. This anti-Semitism. It's consistent wherever you go, it's there. Whatever century you go, it's there. And I said, the only explanation that I can come to is behind that hatred is a supernatural force. It's way beyond anything natural or any natural explanation for it. I said, that's the first thing I've observed. Coming to Israel, seeing all the barbed wires, seeing the hatred between the Arab and the Jew, and then seeing the museum. I said, but the second thing that I noticed as I traveled in this land is this. Not only was there this consistent hatred and persecution, but there was also this consistent preservation and deliverance of the Jewish people in every century, in every continent, and in every culture that they find themselves in. And the only explanation for that is that there had to be a supernatural force behind them. And the only conclusion I can make between the first two points was this, that the supernatural force that was protecting was greater than the supernatural force that was assaulting them. And the rabbi said, you've spoken well. He was pleased. with that analysis. But that's what I thought, and, you know, I still believe that, because it's what the Bible teaches. There is a supernatural force that hates the Jewish people, that hates the Church of Jesus Christ, the devil and his forces. And they are powerful, and they are influential, and they do damage. They're allowed to do damage by God for his own purpose and for his glory. But ultimately, this book tells us, and history reveals, that behind everything, God is at work, preserving, building his church, and preserving the Jewish people for the last great revival that's going to hit this planet. Do you remember when Jonah went to the city of Nineveh, a city of a few hundred thousand people, In 40 days, the whole city repented. And that was probably the greatest revival in the history of this planet. But there's a greater one coming. You just read it tonight. Because in one day, one day in the future, six million Jews, one third, will be saved. and turn to the Messiah as their Messiah. That's the greatest revival. No wonder John says, Maranatha, even so, come Lord Jesus. I hope you've learned something this evening from the Word of God. What's going on? What you see in the Middle East is not some geopolitical forces playing out some game Now what's going on in the Middle East is Satan is at work, trying once again, and failing, to destroy the Jewish people, the fulcrum upon which the second coming of Christ will be moved. And what's going on in the Middle East is God's still preserve, protect, watching over, because God's promises can't fail. even for unsaved Jews cannot feel. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for what we have learned tonight from your Word, that God is at work, although the devil is busy, and we see his fingerprints all over the Middle East this evening. In fact, we see his fingerprints all over our own nation towards the Jewish people. but how we rejoice that there's a greater force, God himself, who's working behind the scenes, working through providence, because God has a higher purpose, the salvation of the Jewish people and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to rule and reign from the city of Jerusalem. And we, your blood-washed people, look on with awe, look on with confidence that the God who has kept his promises to punish the Jewish people, and he has punished them over the last 2,000-odd years, the God who's kept his promise to keep them as a distinct people, and he has kept them as a distinct people, and to bring them back to their ancient homeland, and he's kept that promise. and allowed them to regain the city of Jerusalem. He's kept that promise. The same God we can look to with hope for the future, that He will keep His promise to save them, not just physically, but spiritually from their sins. What a blessing the last days will be. Hard days are coming, but great days when God will save all of Israel once again. For we ask these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen.