Well, let's turn over to what we're going to talk about today, and I trust that the messages in December on the rapture and the promise, the imminent return of Jesus for His church have strengthened you with that blessed hope. We have a confident assurance that our bodies, if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, your body's going to be transformed, it's going to go into a glorified state, and you're going to dwell with Jesus forever in His Father's house. That is a great hope for us. A confidence assurance, that's what He's promised. And so I trust that it's also encouraged you to live a holy life now in the present because that's the purpose of God telling us what's coming in the future. It's to affect us in the present that we will walk with Him in holiness, being ready for His return at any time. And though there are many things that could happen before Jesus appears again, knowing that nothing must happen before that gives us an eager anticipation of it, as well as a sober reminder to be ready for his return and his sudden presence at any time. In fact, I would be fine if I don't finish the sermon. Okay? That needs to be the kind of anticipation. I will plan, but I need to be ready anytime. He can come right now, it's good. And then those who are gonna go with me, because I don't know that all of you will, but we're gonna get better sermons in heaven, right? That'd be great. I'm looking forward to that. Well, this morning I wanna turn our attention to promises that God has made to the Jews as God's chosen people. Many of the problems in studying prophecies concerning the last days, the fancy term for that is eschatology, means study of the last things, is directly related to either being ignorant of what God has promised to the Jews in the past for the future, or in trying to replace those promises to the Jews with the church. Now why is that important? Let me give you two brief reasons. The first, eschatology includes doctrine directly related to those who are part of the church, the body of Christ. Both Jesus and the apostles included teachings about what's going to happen in the future. In fact, the whole book of Revelation is going to be dealing with in time events that is going to culminate in eternity. Revelation 22 7 even promises a blessing to those that will heed that book of prophecy. So we as our Christians should learn and know why God has revealed to us about the future. What's going to happen lest we end up being led astray by false teachers into either a false hope or a complacency. Both can happen. The second is that God's faithfulness to His promises to the Jewish people is an aspect of His own character. And that enables us to trust the promises He's made to us who are part of the church. That's actually Paul's point in Romans chapters 9 through 11. In fact Paul emphatically states, Romans chapter 11 verse 2, I say then God has not rejected his people. Has he? May it never be. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. God has always preserved a remnant of Abraham's ascendance both physically and in faith. That's Romans chapter 11 verses 2 through 7 and verse 11. There's always been a remnant. And regards to that remnant, Paul states in verses 26 and 29 of that chapter, and so all Israel will be saved. Why? Because the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. If God's gifts and calling were revocable to them, then we would stand in grave danger because it means His gifts and calling of us are also revocable. However, and here's the good part, God's attributes of infinitude, that would be omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, being immutable, eternal, combined with his attributes of his character, including grace and mercy and love and patience, veracity and faithfulness, guarantee that he always, always, always keeps his promises. And since God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants going through the lines of Isaac and then Jacob and his descendants was unilateral and even their disobedience could not break the covenant that God had made with them and remove his promises. The same thing is true for us as Christians. God, according to Ephesians 1-4, chose us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, Resulting, the truth of 2 Timothy 2.13, if we are faithless, he is faithful, he cannot deny himself. Aren't you glad that salvation rests in him and not in you? Okay? That's what's important about this. Now though God's choice of Abraham and his descendants is well known, I wanna quickly review the covenants that God has made with them because it is part of his essential character. So first is gonna be Genesis chapter 12. We'll be in Genesis for a little bit. Let's trace these covenants and the aspects of it. So first is Genesis chapter 12, verses one through three. Abram has, and at this point his name is Abram, not Abraham, that's going to come a little later. Abram has already immigrated with his father, Terah, his wife Sarai, that's become Sarah a little later, and his nephew Lot from Ur of the Chaldees to a place called Haran. Now after Terah dies Yahweh intervenes in Abram's life and makes his covenant starting in verse 1. Now Yahweh said to Abram go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you. I'll make your name great. And so you will be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Now this covenant involves God giving Abram four things. A land that God is going to show him. Two, make him a great nation, many descendants. Three, make his name great. And four, make him a blessing to all the families on the earth. Now there's also an element of protection in those blessings that's shown in those who bless Abram will be blessed, those who curse will be cursed. Now all Abram needs to do is go where Yahweh shows him. Trust him, which Abram does. It's in the next verses. And he finally ends up in the land of Canaan. Now, I'm going to be jumping through Abram's life pretty fast here. Due to a famine, Abram has a brief sojourn in Egypt where he gains great wealth. That's the important thing there. Okay? He ends up, when he leaves Egypt, he's now a wealthy man. God's blessed him in the midst of adversity. After returning to Bethel, Abram and Lot separate because their flocks had become too large to live in close proximity together. Lot moves to the plains of Sodom, which at that time were well watered, looked very inviting. However, eventually, Lot is captured in a war. And then Abram and his servants have to chase down the invaders, which they defeat. And on the way back, he meets Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God most high. Melchizedek brings bread and wine and blesses Abraham saying this, so here's one of his many blessings which actually is arising out of a covenant. Blessed be Abram of God most high, possessor of heaven and earth, blessed be God most high who has delivered our enemies into your hands. Genesis 14, 19 and 20. because it recognizes, this is God at work. It's not because Abraham was strong. He actually was, he only had about 300 men and he's going after a coalition of kings. God defeats them. This is God keeping his covenant with Abraham. Now in Genesis 15, Yahweh renews and then ratifies the covenant with Abram. He states in verse 1, Genesis 15, 1, do not fear Abram, I am a shield to you, your reward will be very great. And then as the chapter continues, God assures Abram he would have an heir from his own body saying to him in verse 5, now look toward the heavens and count the stars if you were able to count them. Anybody be able to count all the stars? Don't get a telescope, it just makes it worse, right? Okay? So your descendants shall be. Well, that goes back to the first part of the covenant back in chapter 12. This multitude of descendants. Verse 6 is Abram's response. Then he believed in Yahweh and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. Well, that's the same faith that we're called to have too. Do we believe God and His promises? And that's what Abraham does here. He believes God is going to fulfill the promises made to him. God continued in verse 7, quote, That's one of the elements of the first covenant, too, isn't it? A particular land, and in fact, the rest of the chapter goes on to record a very formal covenant. Now, in the ancient world, if you were gonna make a covenant with someone, you took an animal, you sacrificed the animal, you cut the animal in half, you laid half on one side, one half the other, and the two would walk between this animal that's been split in half. Now, to us, that sounds pretty gross, right? Well, it probably is a little gross. What is the idea behind it? As you walk through it, it's, I will keep my end of this covenant. If I don't, let it be to me as we just did to this animal. That would be pretty serious. Can you imagine if lawyers did that? Wow, we would have almost no lawyers, would we? Are those manipulating Lawal that way? No, we're serious about it. But in this case, Abram is put into a deep sleep by God and only God walks through. This is a unilateral covenant. God is making the promise regardless of Abram. That's extremely important. Yahweh is symbolized in this by the smoking oven and flaming torch that pass through the pieces, the sacrifices. So it's unilateral. Then in verses 18 through 20, Yahweh then reiterates the covenant saying, to your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river of Euphrates. And then he specifies the particular nations in those lands that Abram's descendants are going to supplant. So it's very particular. Now in Genesis 16, Sarai's maid Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, but he is not going to be the son of promise. This was man's effort to force something that should not have been. And this is Sarai's idea. I'll have a child through my maid servant, which is something that was done in the ancient world. In Genesis 17, God Almighty expands a come to make Abram a father of a multitude of nations. And that's when his name is changed to Abraham. So now instead of exalted father, it's exalted father of nations. He also institutes the right of circumcision as the sign of the covenant. And though Abraham had pled on the behalf of Ishmael, who had been born 13 years earlier, God's emphatic in Genesis 17, verses 19 and 21, saying this, No, but Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him." Now Ishmael is going to become a great nation, but the covenant is going to be established with Isaac. Now to emphasize it, it's repeated again in verse 21. Abraham now, about 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was 90. Any of you ladies want to think about getting to 90 years old and having a newborn? Man, they're tiring enough when you're in your 30s, right? Well, she has a child in her old age, as God had promised. Genesis 21 records Sarah did not want Ishmael around to compete with Isaac. He was mocking Isaac. And it distressed Abraham, but God told him in verse 12, quote, do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid. Whatever Sarah tells you to do, listen to her, for through Isaac, your descendants shall be named. And so their son away, Isaac is the son of promise, not Ishmael. Now there's a test of Abraham's faith in Genesis 22. It is a supreme test as shown by the comments made about it in Hebrews 11, 17 through 19, which says this, By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son. It was he to whom it was said, In Isaac your descendant shall be called. He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. Because the covenant with Abraham was bound up in Isaac, When God told him to go sacrifice Isaac, Abraham believed that God must raise Isaac back from the dead. Otherwise the covenant would be of null and void. That's faith. But Abraham believed God. Now, we know the story. God provided a ram caught in the thicket instead of Isaac. But as he's got the knife, he's about to plunge it into his son. That's when the angel of the Lord stops him. There's the ram. That becomes a substitute. But that's the faith of Abraham. Now because of Abraham's obedience to God, God then reiterates this promise to multiply his descendants in that chapter. Chapter 22, verses 16 through 18. As the stars of the heavens, as the sand which is on the seashore, and in your seed all the nations shall be blessed. The covenant again reiterated, it's through Isaac. Now Yahweh confirms this very covenant in Genesis 26-24 with Isaac saying to him this, I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not fear for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham. Now emphasize that. It's not because of who Isaac is, it's because of who Isaac's father is. Because of my servant Abraham, I am going to keep this covenant. Because that's who he made the covenant with, was Abraham. Now it's going to go through Isaac. Then he does the same thing with Isaac's son Jacob. That's recorded a couple places, Genesis 28, 13 through 15. is one of those places. It also occurs in chapter 25, 23 and 27 through 29. Three times God reiterates the covenant with Isaac's son Jacob. Not Esau, with Jacob. He is gonna be the Son of the Covenant. If you're over there, Genesis 28 verse 13, I am the Lord, the God of your father, Abraham, and the God of Isaac, the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth. You will spread out to the west, to the east, and to the north and the south, and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you. I will keep you wherever you go. I'll bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised." Now, the covenant then is confirmed again, Genesis 35, 9 through 12. And this is after Jacob returns to Bethel. 3, 5, 9 through 12. Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padam Aram and he blessed him. God said to him, your name is Jacob, you shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. And thus he called him Israel. God also said to him, I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply, a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come forth from you. The land which I gave to Abram, And to Isaac, I will give it to you, I will give the land to your descendants after you. Now it's important to emphasize here again, Yahweh's covenant with Abraham, then reconfirmed to his descendants, Isaac and then Jacob, is an everlasting covenant. Genesis 17, 19. These are promises of what God is going to do for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's descendants. regards to their land, it belongs to them, a multitude of descendants, and them being a blessing to the world without condition on what they themselves do. Yes, God told them to obey, but the covenant promises are gonna be kept by God, though all three of them fail to obey Yahweh at different points. They all failed. All three of them. They didn't do everything God told them to do. But God keeps His promises. In Exodus 6, Yahweh refers back to this covenant from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the basis for an unconditional promise to bring the sons of Israel back out of Egypt where they had been held in bondage. He's going to take them to be His people. He's going to establish them in the land sworn to them in that covenant. In Exodus 19, there are conditional aspects added to this that would become the Mosaic covenant. If they would keep the covenant by obeying His commands, then God says He is going to establish them as His special treasure and they would become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. That's Exodus 19, verses 5 and 6. The establishment of the Mosaic covenant did not change any element of the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants. It put conditions upon what each generation would experience in terms of blessing or curses. If they obey, they're going to be blessed. If they disobey, they're going to be cursed. So in short, are they going to obey God or not? The outcome of how they're going to experience life is going to be related to that. Now these conditions were given in detail to the generation that came out of Egypt. First, in Leviticus 26, it's told to them in advance. And then in that chapter, the first 13 verses are the blessings. the curses, verses 14 through 39, and then a promise of restoration in verses 40 through 45. Now this is in advance, the first generation. Fast forward, we go about 38 years, the second generation's about ready to go into the land, and Moses, in Deuteronomy, which means second law, reiterates the law to this next generation of what God's requiring of them as they're gonna go and possess the land again. In chapters 27 through 30 of Deuteronomy, he goes over again in great detail, curses, blessing, and restoration. This is important to us. This is the character of God on display. These are his promises. Now Moses begins the book of Deuteronomy with a very short history of the nation coming out of Egypt and their wanderings. They wander in the wilderness because they didn't believe God and wouldn't go in and possess it when they should have. So they're going to wander until that generation dies out. Everyone who is 20 and older would die in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb because they believed God. In chapters 5 through 26, Moses restates the laws of God's covenant with them, and then he gives this warning in Deuteronomy 11, 26 and 28. See, I'm setting before you today a blessing and a curse, the blessing if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I'm commanding you today, and the curse if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today by following other gods which you have not known. So it goes back to what God had said before. You obey me, there'll be blessing. You don't obey me, there's gonna be curses. In Deuteronomy 27, Moses instructs them that after they have entered the land, they were to build an altar on Mount Ebal and sacrifice peace offerings there. Mount Ebal is just the west of Shechem, which is about in the middle of the modern state of Israel. Now half the tribes were going to stand on Mount Ebel. There's a valley, a steep valley right between it and Mount Gerizim. Ebel on the north, Gerizim on the south. So half on the north, half on the south, half on Mount Ebel, half on Mount Gerizim. It forms sort of a natural amphitheater. I've been there. And you could shout and you'd be able to hear it. Blessings and curses. Verses 15 through 26, Deuteronomy 27 then, are a series of curses on those who break specific commandments that are listed. Then in chapter 28, verses one through 14, are the blessings for obedience, and I'm gonna read this in its entirety. Deuteronomy 28, one through 14. It reads this. So follow along or listen carefully. Now it shall be if you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city. Blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beast, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall be you when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessings upon you in your barns and all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. The Lord will establish you as a holy people to himself as he swore to you. If you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways, so all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord and they will be afraid of you. The Lord will make you abound in prosperity and the offspring of your body and the offspring of your beasts and the produce of your ground and the land in which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to you. The Lord will open for you His good storehouses, the heavens to give rain to your land at seasons. Bless all the work of your hand and shall lend to the many nations You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today to observe them carefully. Do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods or serve them." So all these blessings would be theirs on the condition obey Yahweh. However, please note this. The covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, his descendants are not included. God's promise of a land, a multitude of descendants, a blessing to the world are unilateral. God is going to fulfill his covenant promises regardless of their obedience or disobedience. The blessings here are associated with those promises to the particular generation would experience, whether it's blessing or curses, depending on their obedience. Now that includes occupation of the promised land, abounding families, material blessing that are associated with both. Life is better when it's lived in obedience to God. Did you know that's still true? It really is. Life is better when it's lived in obedience to God. Well, the opposite is also true. Life lived in obedience to God is cursed. Now, Deuteronomy 28, 15 through 68 are the opposite of the blessings listed in the previous passage, what I just read. with detailed expansions on how those curses are going to be carried out. That's why it's a much longer section. The specifics go from bad to worse. Material prosperity is loss. It descends into famine and poverty. Personal health is loss. It descends into horrible diseases, blindness and madness. Security and victory over enemies, changes to defeat and oppression, and eventually deportation. And while Deuteronomy 28 mixes the horrors of these curses with one another, Leviticus 26, which foretold what was going to happen, gives a pattern of greater curses as the people continue in disobedience. So going to Leviticus 26, so back a couple books. Verses 14 through 20, those are bad enough because in those section you have loss of prosperity, of health and prosperity and defeat by enemies. Verse 21 then states this, if then you act with hostility against me and are unwilling to obey me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. The curses now include an increase in dangerous wild animals, the loss of children and cattle. So there is a population decrease. Verses 23 through 24 marks the next decline. 23, and if by these things you are not turned to me, but act with hostility against me, then I will act with hostility against you, and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins. Now the curses include oppression and famine. Verses 25 through 27 then mark another increase in curses, verse 27. Yet, if in spite of this, in other words, as these punishments are meted out, if they don't cause you to turn, it's going to get worse. If in spite of this you do not obey me, but act with hostility against me, then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins. The curses now include famine so bad it results in cannibalism. The cities are laid waste, the people are deported, the land is left desolate, and the few that would be left would be in constant terror. The history of the nation recorded in Judges through second Kings demonstrates absolutely that Yahweh did exactly what he had warned. Both the nations, Israel and Judah, as they went farther away from the Lord, the curses increased until finally the northern part, Israel, was deported by the Assyrians and then the southern part, Judah, was deported by the Babylonians. Now if Leviticus 26 ended at verse 39, or if Deuteronomy did not include chapter 30, then you would probably find that people would find some way to conclude God had rejected the Jewish nation because of their disobedience, and somehow the covenant promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we don't understand this, but he's not going to keep them. If that chapter ended at that verse, and Deuteronomy 30 is not there. We would think somehow it was conditional. But Leviticus 26 does include verse 39 and forward. Deuteronomy does include chapter 30 and the promises of restoration despite their obstinacy and disobedience of the people. There are promised restorations. Leviticus 26, 34-43 ties restoration to confession of iniquity and unfaithfulness against the Lord. And that is the pattern in Jewish history. From the time of Judges onward, Judges is a cycle that keeps repeating. There's prosperity, which leads to complacency, which leads to unfaithfulness and idolatry, resulting then in the forewarned curses, and then oppression, leading to confession, then repentance, and God delivering them. During the time of the kings the pattern was more directly related to the godliness of the particular king. Because that good king would bring the blessings because he would force some obedience to the law of some sort. And so there would be more blessings. But an evil king would lead them himself in the opposite direction. Often that king would even oppress the people themselves. Eventually they would be oppressed by a foreign power. That is simply the history of the Jewish nation and it's recorded there in scripture for you. However, the passage continues on to tie restoration to unconditional covenants. Verses 44 through 45, Leviticus 26. quote, yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, so they've been deported, I will not reject them, nor will I abhor them as to destroy them, breaking my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt and the side of the nations, that I might be their God, I am Yahweh. That's unconditional. That's why they're deported. God is not going to break his covenant that he made with their ancestors. Now, portions of the nations, at times the entire nation, have experienced God's curses upon them due to their unfaithfulness. And yet, there always has been and always will be a remnant to which God is going to keep those covenant promises. Now Joseph actually recognized this when he told his brothers in regard to them selling him to slavery. This is Genesis 45, 7. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth to keep you alive by great deliverance. That's when he finally let his brothers know, I'm Joseph your brother. They didn't believe it. He said, yes, this is why God sent me. Joseph recognized it for himself. It was part of Isaiah's prophecy in 2 Kings 19 against Anakarib, king of Assyria, when he had this large army came and it was besieging Jerusalem. And Isaiah encouraged Hezekiah and the people, stating this, verses 30-31, 2 Kings 19. The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord will perform this." Sennacherib's army had like a wave had washed around everything leaving only Jerusalem standing. And then God destroyed that army. One angel takes out 180,000 Assyrian army. Me, I'm gonna stand with God, you know? All right, he only needs one angel. Don't need to worry about any army. God's keeping his promises, this very one. Jeremiah 23, three and 50, 20 both prophesy concerning a future remnant that is gonna return to the land after the deportation by Assyria and Babylon and the time of exile has passed. Jeremiah 23.3 and 50.20 both prophesy concerning that future remnant and the return to land after the deportation. Ezra recognized that in his day, he states this in Ezra 9.15, He recognizes it's only a small portion. As it is this day, behold, we are before you in our guilt. No one can stand before you because of this. Prophecy statements about this remnant also occur in Ezekiel, Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah. Now Deuteronomy 30, though, goes into more detail. There's a promise of a restoration of a remnant of Jewish people to land following deportation when they're scattered among the nations. When you start comparing what ends up in Deuteronomy 30 at the end with these other prophecies concerning a deliverance back under Ezra, you start finding out that there's a restoration, regathering, that there's more than one. such regathering and restoration. Arnold Fruchtenbaum of Aerial Ministries has made a study of this and he published in a book called, Israeology, The Missing Link in Systematic Theology. The first regathering is well known and is very specific in detailed prophecies concerning it and the historical account of its occurrence. Ezra and Nehemiah are the fulfillment of those particular prophecies. Prophecies in Isaiah 44 and 45 foretell this restoration. In fact, even naming well before he's ever born, generations beforehand, that a man named Cyrus would bring it about. Jeremiah 29 10 is the prophecy of the timing until the punishment of Babylon and that restoration. In fact, Daniel 9, that's what he's reading. 70 years and he recognizes we're at that. Says, for thus says the Lord, when 70 years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you, bring you back to this place. And Daniel realizes this is like, that's what the prayer in Daniel 9 is all about. 2 Chronicles 36, 22 and 23 and Ezra 1 and 2 both record in recognition of Yahweh's appointment that indeed it was a man named Cyrus who makes a decree for a remnant of those who so desired to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Now Fruchtenbaum then points out that there's some other passages. Ezekiel 20, 33 through 38, and then 22, 17 through 22, it describes a different gathering and return. The return under Cyrus' decree was of those who freely desired to do so, and it was only a remnant, 42,360. That's a small remnant of the amount that had been in Israel and those who had been deported. These passages in Ezekiel describe a return driven by force instead of free desire and it's followed by a purging and a refining under Yahweh's wrath. Ezekiel chapter 20 starting in verse 33. It reads as follows, As I live, declares Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness, the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God. I will make you pass under the rod. I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against me. I'll bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you'll know that I am Yahweh. Simralvain, a couple of chapters over, Ezekiel 22, 17-22 states this, "...the word of Yahweh came to me saying, Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace. They are dross of silver. Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh, because all of you have become dross, therefore behold I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. as they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin of the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it. So I will gather you in my anger and my wrath, I will lay you there and melt you. I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath and you will be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured my wrath upon you." Ouch. That's not really exciting, is it? So obviously there's a difference between this restoration and the one we looked at before. And historically, that's a different restoration than what had happened when Ezra and Nehemiah went back. It's compulsion, accompanied by God's judgment and wrath. Now the restoration spoken about in Generality 30 though is one in which Yahweh brings his people back from the ends of the earth and he blesses them. That's described, back over to Deuteronomy chapter 30 starting in verse 5 And Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed. You shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. Moreover, Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and your heart of your seed to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live. And Yahweh your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. you shall return and listen to the voice of Yahweh, you shall do all of His commandments which I am commanding you today. Then Yahweh your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body, the offspring of your cattle, the produce of your ground, for Yahweh will return to rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers." Now the passage continues on with the blessings conditioned on obedience and turning to Yahweh with all their heart and soul. But with circumcised hearts, that will be easy to do because it matches the new covenant described in Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34, in which Yahweh writes the law on their heart so that He will be their God and they will be His people. A new covenant. They will know Yahweh, He will forgive their sins, He will remember their iniquity no more. Moses even directly states in Jeremiah 30 verses 11 and 14, for this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. But the word is very near you, in your mouth, your heart, you may observe it. Something's going to change so they're going to be able to obey. And that's the new covenant. The physical blessings of this new covenant, the restoration of the land, are described in other prophecies of a future return, a future restoration, and such passages as Amos 9, 13-15, Joel 3, 18-21, and we'll go through some other ones. We're going to go through those in detail in the future. The point of today's sermon is actually fairly simple. The Jews are God's chosen people. not because of anything inherent in them, and that's in despite of their obstinacy in sin. Deuteronomy 7, 7 and 9, 6 are very clear on that. A stubborn, obstinate people. I have chosen you despite that. He set his love upon them because of the oath he swore to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That's Deuteronomy 7, 8. Now that does not mean that all Jews will receive God's blessings since their disobedience to him brings upon God's curses. And yet God always has a remnant that are descendants of Abraham both physically and in faith. Not present. The Jews are still in this time of refining and purging to make them pure until the end time. And we saw that in our study of Daniel 1135. That's the current time they're in. The current state of Israel is part of this. The current state of Israel is a nation there in unbelief. They've been gathered back out of the land out of compulsion and under God's wrath as prophesied. God has kept his promise of blessings, of curses, of restoration and God is going to keep all of his promises that are still to be fulfilled including a future nation of Jews gathered in belief under the new covenant and all the blessings that come with it. That's still future. Now those who discount or even deny God's covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that extends to the living descendants today and those that will be living in the future, also discount or even deny God's attributes related to his sovereignty and those related to his love, his faithfulness, and veracity. That's actually very serious. Why? Because that makes him a different God. He's a God of a different character. A God that cannot be trusted to keep his covenants and his promises. That in turn changes the gospel from a message of a confident hope. An absolute assurance. I know what is gonna happen to me when I die. Right now it's pretty personal. I know where my father is. Because of God's promises. But I can't believe that God keeps his promises then it's only a nice wish that my father's with Christ and that I eventually will be with Christ too. Because you've actually attacked the character and nature of God. And I will point out again, that's why Romans 9, 10, and 11 are included in Romans. It's all about the character and the nature of God. He keeps his promises. So the gospel which is presented in the first eight chapters, he is as faithful to that as he is to the Jews. All Israel will yet be saved. And so we can go on chapter 12 and further, this then is how we should live. My trust of God to keep his promises made to me and all those who placed their faith in the person, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ needs to be the same as that of Abraham. A trust of God even when he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. It needs to become something that becomes complete and yielding, and be careful here, yielding that my God can do the impossible. But think about it. Has he already done that? He has in my life. He takes a wretched sinner and makes him righteous. Adopts that sinner into his family. God set his love on this sinner. He redeemed me through Jesus' atoning sacrifice. He forgave me. and declared me righteous before Him all because of His mercy and grace applied to me by the simple act of believing Him to be true and faithful to His promises." That's it. I didn't do anything. I only responded to what God did for me. What is your level of trust in your Creator, Yahweh, the Lord God? If it's not already at that level, then I pray it will be soon. Part of the Christian life is learning and growing and getting to that level. Remember, Abraham didn't start off there. He started off as Abram. And God kept giving him different tests. And as he went through these things, he learned to trust God. And that's what God does in our lives. We learn to trust him more and more, but that's where he's taken us. Do you actually believe God to do the impossible according to his promises? I pray that if it's not there, it will be soon. Talk to myself, any of our church leaders, it's part of what a church is for, to help each other grow. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for the blessings you've given to us in your word, for these precious and magnificent promises that occur throughout it, and that you're the same God today as you were hundreds, thousands of years ago. The same God today as the one who made covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants. You will keep the promises you've made to us of forgiveness in Christ, a salvation by your grace through faith in Him, reckoning that faith to be righteousness, giving us a standing that we do not deserve. adopting us into your family by transforming us, changing us radically, converting us from sinners to saints, from those under your curse to those under your promised restoration. Thank you that we can trust you to keep all of your promises, every single one of them, in Jesus' name.