The point of last week's sermon, if I can put it, encapsulate it, is pretty simple. The Jews are and remain God's chosen people. Not because of anything inherent in them. In fact, it is despite their obstinacy and sin. Moses told them that in Deuteronomy 7 and 9, 6. You are a stubborn people. You're obstinate. The reason they are His chosen people is that God set His love upon them according to the covenant He made with Abraham that was passed to Isaac, Jacob, and his descendants. Now that doesn't mean that all Jews will receive God's blessings since disobedience to His commands is going to bring His curses. God spelled that out in the Mosaic Law. Yet God has always had a remnant of descendants from Jacob physically and in faith. And I should also quickly state here, there is not just a remnant in that sense, there's always been a remnant in the land. Even after the deportations by Syria, Babylon, and Rome, there has always been Jewish people in the land. Sometimes a very small group, usually oppressed, But Jews have been tied to that land since God made the covenant with Abraham, and there have been at least some Jews in it ever since Joshua conquered and supplanted the various Canaanite tribes that had dwelt there. Arab claims to the land are contrary to God's decrees. And the reason I need to say that is there's a lot of nonsense being pushed out there in support of Hamas. It's wrong, okay? They don't have a claim to the land. God's decree, it belongs to the Jewish people. Now at present time, we need to understand that Jews as a people are in that section, Daniel 11.35, we talked about that a month or two ago, maybe two or three months ago now. It is a period of time and will last until the end time in which God is refining and purging them. So the current state of Israel is a nation of unbelief gathered back to the land out of compulsion under God's wrath as prophesied. Nothing here is something that should surprise us. The modern state of Israel should not be confused with the future eschatological nation of Israel even if God's purging eventually results in the current nation becoming that eschatological nation. Now the importance of the Jews being and remaining God's chosen people is directly related to God's attributes and character. God keeps his promises. And he had promised blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience, and restoration, detailed in the Pentateuch and the prophets, demonstrated in history. God's attributes related to His sovereignty and His character of love, of faithfulness, and veracity means He is going to keep His promises, all of them, including those still to be fulfilled to the nation of Jews. Because one day they will be gathered back in the land in belief and operating under the New Covenant and the blessings that come with it. to discount or deny God's covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants living in the land today and in the future is actually an attack on God's character, his nature, his very attributes, whether intended or not. A God that cannot be trusted to keep his covenants, his promises, is not the God that's revealed himself in the Bible. That would be a different God. And our own hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ is completely dependent upon the faithfulness and the ability of God to keep his promises, right? That is the whole point of Romans 9, 10, and 11. We can trust God. The gospel is true. It is a hope, a confident assurance, not a wish. Now this week, I want to expand on a point I made somewhat briefly last week, is that there are multiple restorations of Israel. Failure to recognize that as fact is a reason for confusion about the future of Israel as a nation. And while the promise of restoration of Israel back to the land following the Babylonian captivity is easily recognized since it's been fulfilled in history, additional restorations are not as easily recognized. The Confucian is then compounded by theological systems that believe the Jewish rejection of the Messiah resulting in God rejecting them and then saying it's demonstrated in Rome conquering and deporting them in 70 AD. That's usually accompanied with a companion belief that the Jews had been replaced by the church in the covenants. Now, that's simply not true. But it is a common belief, and it's one that's becoming more popular, But then, I've also noticed biblical ignorance, even among professing Christians, is also increasing, too. So, okay. They may have something to do with each other. Now, as I pointed out last week, God's covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's descendants were made unilaterally, and they're eternal. The promise of blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience within the Mosaic law, we covered that last week, Deuteronomy 27 and 28 and Leviticus 26, are only related to a particular generation or population of what they would experience, whether they are obedient or disobedient. They have no effect at all upon the Abrahamic covenant that extends through Isaac, Jacob, and his descendants. Within the Mosaic Law, there are also promises of restoration. We talked about that briefly last week as well. Some of that restoration is conditional. They meet certain requirements, this is what's going to happen. But there are also aspects that are unilateral statements of simply, this is what God is going to do. So this morning, I want to point out some of the details of that, which will be followed by details of promise concerning the first restoration, and then, frankly, it's what's currently going on, a second restoration, and then finally, we'll be looking at the future restoration that leads to a millennial kingdom. Now, I pointed out last week that in Leviticus 26, 40 through 43, There is a tie there of a restoration after the deportation to confession of iniquity and unfaithfulness against Yahweh, but then he would remember his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the land. The land's included. He's got a covenant with it. Godliness followed by prosperity leading to complacency, then unfaithfulness and idolatry resulting in the forewarned curses and oppression is simply history. That's what God said was going to happen. That is what happened. We can look back in the Old Testament and see this is the pattern. But eventually there would be a confession repentance and the result would be God delivering them. But then if you look at Leviticus 26 verses 44 and 45, there is a unilateral promise that God makes that he is not going to break the covenant. Starting in verse 44, So it's a promise based on the covenants that have already been made. and He's not going to break them. Their sin is going to result in suffering, the curses, due to that disobedience, just as God had said would happen, but God always keeps His covenant promises to the remnant. Deuteronomy 30 includes more details and specific promises concerning restoration after the deportation and then being scattered among the nations. In verses one through five, there are general promises of a gathering them back from the nations to which they were scattered, and then bringing them back to the land of their forefathers. Then in verses six and in eight, there's a promise regarding a future restoration, which God would circumcise their hearts, and those of their descendants, in order to love Yahweh their God with all their hearts and soul, so they would obey Him. In verses 9-10, there is a promise of blessing after they've been restored if they obey Yahweh their God, and yet in verses 11-14, in obeying God's commandments, suddenly it states that it's not too hard for them. Because it is near to them, in fact, it is in their mouth and heart. In order to have that happen, they'd have to have circumcised hearts. Because, obviously, keeping God's law is too hard for us as humans, isn't it? Something will have to have changed, but that is the promise he makes. Now, because of this reference to circumcised hearts, I equate this to the prophecy of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31. And we're going to go over that in detail a little later. Because that states they're going to have new hearts. That is characteristic of a future eschatological restoration and not either of the historical restoration after the Babylonian captivity or what is currently going on have anything to do with this. This is something different. So it's something future. Now the first restoration occurring after the Babylonian captivity is well known because there were very specific prophecies concerning it, and then the historical record demonstrates it was fulfilled. It's in Ezra and Nehemiah. Now what had happened is Sargon II of Assyria had taken Israel captive in 722 BC. A little more than 20 years later, his son, Sennacherib, invaded Judah. Not long after that invasion, the threat was removed because Hezekiah prayed, people prayed, and the Lord sent his angel. And one angel versus a Syrian army. Syrian army doesn't stand a chance. 185,000 of their army are wiped out in one night. Sennacherib is sent back home to Nineveh. Right after this, Isaiah prophesies a future capture of Judah and Jerusalem by the Babylonians. There's some envoys who are visiting, and now there's a prophecy. They just escaped Syria, and now he's saying, yeah, but in the future, Babylon's gonna get us. Right after he does that, he also prophesies the future destruction of Babylon because of what they will do in the future. It's Isaiah 43. And then there's gonna be a restoration of the Jews back to the land due to decree by a future king named Cyrus. These prophecies are at least 160 years before that decree is made. Cyrus' decree is recorded historically in 2 Chronicles 36, 22, and 23, and Ezra chapter one. It's just now part of the historical record. Now, these kind of fulfillments are important for us because their fulfillment confirms that the additional prophecies still to be fulfilled also come from God and will be fulfilled. In fact, Isaiah 44, states it this way, of the importance of fulfilled prophecy, giving us confidence for what's still to come. Thus says Yahweh, the king of Israel and his Redeemer, this is verse 6, Yahweh of hosts, I am the first, I am the last, there is no God besides me. Who is like me? Let him call out and declare it, and let him tell it to me in order, from the time that I established the ancient people. And let them declare to them the things that are to come and the events that are going to take place. Do not be in dread, and do not be afraid. Have I not long since caused it to be heard to you and declared it? And you are my witness. Is there any God besides me or any other rock I know of none? God fulfills prophecy. And when he does, it demonstrates it is from God. And so the related prophecies are going to carry the same weight. They're from God. It is going to happen. Jeremiah 29.10 is the prophecy about the time length concerning the Babylonian captivity, saying, "...for thus says Yahweh, when seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you and bring you back to the place." It was that prophecy, as Daniel was reading, that caused him to pray, recorded in Daniel chapter 9. And then for the angel to come and answer to that prayer with a prophecy about what is to come in the future. We studied that some months ago in our study of Daniel. These are prophecies concerning the first restoration of the Jews back to the land after the Babylonian captivity. These are simply now matters of history. They've been fulfilled. So that's the first restoration. Now last week I also mentioned that Arnold Fruchtenbaum of Ariel Ministries had published a book entitled, Israelogy, The Missing Link in Systematic Theology, in which he pointed out some other prophecies that indicate there's at least two more restorations to come. Now since the future is still unfolding, it remains possible there could be more. But the difference in these prophecies indicate there's at least two. One of them began with the Balfour Declaration in 1917. And it became a reality with the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948. And it continues in the present time as God is gathering Jews from around the world back to the land of their forefathers. Now, we had a glance at both Ezekiel chapter 20 and 22 last week. I want to look at them again because the details here are important. Ezekiel 20. The first restoration under Cyrus, under Cyrus' decree, was one that was to give unto anybody who wanted to, and it's those who freely desired that went back, and there was 43,360 that did. We even have the number. We know who went back. The passages here in Ezekiel describe something very different than that. Look at Ezekiel 20, verse 33. As I live, declares Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. I'll bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, 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 of 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 you from the rebels and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel, thus you will know that I am Yahweh." In a similar vein, Ezekiel 22, starting in verse 17, And 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 Lord Yahweh, Because all of you have become dross, there, if we behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem, as they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into 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 out my wrath on you." Doesn't that excite you? No, that's terrible, right? This is judgment, okay? Both of these passages, though, describe a return to land, but it is by compulsion, and accompanied by God's judgment and wrath. Again, that doesn't match the first return, which was voluntary, and accompanied by blessings, going back to the Mosaic Covenant. If they obey, there's blessings. If they disobey, there'll be curses. And as we'll see in a few minutes, the future final restoration is also one, though preceded by great judgment of nations, is going to conclude with blessings on the Jews in which they will never be made a reproach to the nations or put to shame again. We'll see that in a minute in Joel. Amos 9.15, as was read earlier, is that they're going to be planted in the land and they will never be rooted out again. That doesn't match what Ezekiel says here. Well, what does match what Ezekiel says here? Well, that's the current one and the modern state of Israel. It was born out of the Holocaust. The Balfour Declaration was to give it to them, but until after the Holocaust, it didn't happen. Its expansion of population has largely been due to persecution suffered in other nations. Now certainly there has been some positive voluntary immigration to Israel from places like the United States where persecution has been relatively minor. It exists here, but compared to other nations, it's minor. But the living in situations in other nations compelled the Jews to leave, to immigrate. Now Europe, of course, was the major source of immigrants in the aftermath of World War II. European Jews still immigrate due to persecution in Europe today. The Jews in communist countries got out if they could, but when the Iron Curtain fell, there was a mass exodus. That's something in my own time, I remember it. Many fled at the first opportunity. After the formation of the State of Israel in 1948, there was another huge population shift of Jews leaving all the Islamic nations. They were compelled, they were forced out. Most of them received no compensation for the businesses or homes they had to leave behind. These were places they had lived in since the Assyrian and Babylonian deportations. Now, seldom was there any compensation, but that fact is conveniently ignored by apologists for the so-called and actually misnamed Palestinians. The Palestinians of Gaza are not Palestinians. They're Gazians. I don't know how else you can say it. Prior to 1948, if you talked about a Palestinian, you were talking about an Israeli. You were talking about a Jew. But they co-opted the word and want to call it for themselves like they belong to the land. The current rise of anti-Semitism, which actually should be called anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish, because the Jews are only one of several Semitic peoples. The Semites are those who are descendants of Shem. But this feeling of animosity against Jews has been compelling them to immigrate to Israel from all over the world, even though Israel's a dangerous nation. It's a dangerous nation to live in. Now, we don't think about it because we don't live there. Since its founding, the State of Israel has been under constant attack, if not outright war, as currently is going on. There's been the Intifadas, and then there's terrorism that has occurred all through their history, and then there's the stuff that goes on in the halls of the United Nations. The people who live there have learned to live in the tension of being under constant threat. I got to spend three weeks there in 2017. And I admit, when you get off the plane, you go in the airport, and you see Israeli military there with their Uzi submachine guns, it's a little unnerving. You're like, where am I, and what is this? And you notice them all over the place. Well, I have to admit, by the third week, I was like, I'm glad they're here. They're here to protect me. I'm glad they're here. But when you first see it, it's like, what kind of nation is it that you have to walk around like that? Well, that's what they live in. The modern state of Israel fits the restoration foretold in Ezekiel 20 and 22, but it does not fit the restoration that's still to come. Now whatever becomes the modern state of Israel, it should be understood that there is a future restoration that's going to be quite different than what that state looks like today. And the first hint of it actually is in the Abrahamic covenant itself. Some of the elements of the covenant have been fulfilled or ongoing. For example, Abraham's name is great. That's been fulfilled. He became the father of a great nation and the father of a multitude of nations. All the families of the earth have indeed been blessed through Abraham, because it is through him that came Messiah. Those who bless him and his descendants are blessed, and those who curse him and his descendants are cursed. But there is one element of the covenant that is still to be fulfilled. A very specific description of the land given to Abraham's descendants is in Genesis 15, 18-21. It is promised to him and his descendants as an everlasting possession. That's the term used. Genesis 13, 15 and 17, 8. The current state of modern Israel possesses less than half of that land. So that promise has not been fulfilled. That is still to be fulfilled in the future. The next clue is in the Torah, the books of Moses, and it's in the promise of restoration we looked at earlier in Deuteronomy 30. God circumcising their hearts to love Yahweh with all their heart and soul. And that is the reason that the Lord's commands could then be near them, in their mouth, in their hearts, to observe, and it wouldn't be too difficult for them to obey. Again, that matches the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31 through 40. Let's look there now, Jeremiah 31. What are the elements of this New Covenant? Starting in verse 31, Behold, days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not like the covenant which I cut with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them, declares Yahweh. But this is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days, declares Yahweh. I will put my law within them, and on their heart I will write it. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they will not teach again, each man his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh, for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares Yahweh. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin, I will remember no more. Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for light by day, and the statutes for the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar, Yahweh of hosts is his name. If these statutes are removed from before me, declares Yahweh, then the seed of Israel will also cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus says Yahweh, if the heavens above can be measured and the foundation of the earth searched out below, then I will also reject all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, declares Yahweh. Behold, days are coming, declares Yahweh, when the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the corner gate. The measuring line will go out farther and straight ahead to the hill of Gereb, and then it will turn to Goa. And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes and all the fields as far as the book Kidron to the corner of the horse gate toward the east shall be holy to Yahweh. It will not be uprooted or pulled down any more forever. So what are the elements in this? Yahweh will put His heart within them, riding it on their heart. Second, Yahweh will be their God and they shall be His people. Third, each one will know Yahweh. Fourth, their iniquity will be forgiven, their sins remembered no more. Fifth, the seed of Israel will not cease to be a nation before Yahweh forever. Sixth, the seed of Israel will not be rejected by Yahweh. and seventh, Jerusalem will be built and be holy to Yahweh forever." That's the New Covenant. And while Hebrews 8 quotes this New Covenant, and those who are part of the Church are beneficiaries of this covenant mediated by Jesus, ratified by His blood, since we are grafted into the root of Israel, this specifically Jeremiah 31, 31 and Hebrews 8, 8 is a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. This is a new covenant made with the remnant that's referenced in Romans 11, 26. There is coming a day when all Israel yet will be saved. It's a remnant, but all of them will be saved. The Church does not replace Israel because the gifts and the callings of God are irrevocable, Romans 11, 29. Now there are additional prophecies given to Israel that will only be fulfilled in the future, in this future and final restoration, as demonstrated by the language used in describing its blessings. Again, these are promises made by God to Jewish people for a future nation that were made long before the church was born. Now, there's a simple rule in hermeneutics, that's the method by which we study the Bible to understand what it means. And it just says this, any scripture passage to be interpreted must be interpreted according to the meaning intended for those to whom it was first written. So that excludes reading into these ancient texts that the church is replacement for Israel as God's chosen people. Again, the Church benefits from God's promise to Israel, but that benefit is not the same as replacing Israel as the recipient of God's promises. The Church is but one subgroup of all the redeemed people of God. Old Testament saints were saved by placing their faith in God to provide a future Redeemer. The Church was born on the day of Pentecost, And salvation comes the same way, by faith in God who has provided a Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. They were looking forward, we look back. In the future, there will be Tribulation Saints who will be saved by faith in Jesus, while the Church itself is actually in Heaven with Jesus. In fact, we're going to have the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And then during the millennium, there will be millennial saints who are saved by faith in Jesus, while the church rules and reigns with Christ. All subgroups of the people who are redeemed by God to be His people. It's really a subgroup. Turn over to Joel. We're going to kind of flip through here. Joel is the second book in the Minor Prophets. So if you can find Daniel, go two more books. There you got it. Now, Joel is written in response to a terrible plague of locusts described in the first chapter. And it's horrible. You can look, it's a horrible plague. But in chapter one, verse 15, the prophet projects forward concerning a coming day of Yahweh that he says is near. You can see there in verse 15. Now the results, of this, he starts describing of this impending day of Yahweh in the rest of the chapter, and then in chapter 2, verses 1 through 15, there's a call to repent in verses 15 through 17. So there's a locust plague, prompts the prophet to say there's a future day of Yahweh that's imminent, and he describes what's going to happen there, and uses that as, there's a call to repent. Follow the Lord. Starting in verse 18 of chapter 2 through the end of chapter 3, Joel starts describing the eschatological day of Yahweh. That's the section I want to concentrate our attention on. It begins there, verse 18, "...then Yahweh will be zealous for his land, and will spare his people." The promised land is Yahweh's land. Now in verse 19, chapter 2, the promise from Yahweh is to send them grain, new wine, and oil. He's going to satisfy them in full. And then he makes a statement, and I will never again make you reproach among the nations. In verse 20, God describes destruction, the military forces that are threatening Israel and all its sides. Verses 21 through 25 is a call to rejoice because agriculture is revived. There's plenty of grain and new wine and oil and it will replace all the prior depredations. In verses 26 and 27, a statement is repeated. You can see it there. My people will never be put to shame. It's not going to happen again. Those statements do not fit anything in history. They don't fit the present time. there of the future. Joel 2.28-32 is the section that Peter quotes in his sermon in Acts 2.17-21. Verses 28 and 29 describe the coming of the Holy Spirit and his ministry to people. Verses 30-32 describe the celestial and terrestrial signs that accompany the day of Yahweh. Notice there's blood, there's fire, there's columns of smoke, there's a darkening of the sun, the moon turns to blood. The same or similar signs are given in other passages, other prophecies concerning eschatology. What's going to happen at the end? Like Matthew 24, Revelation 6, Isaiah 13, they describe similar things. Now these signs are part of the judgment which is further described in Joel 3, 1-16. God judges all the nations but that is accompanied by his restoration of the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem. So all these other things, it's judgment, and it's bad. That is what leads directly to, now there's blessings, a restoration of Judah and Jerusalem. Joel 3, 19 and 21 specifically describe God is going to judge Egypt and Edom, and his avenging of the innocent blood they had shed. But going down to verse 17 and 18 and verse 20, it describes a bounty of restoration of Judah and Jerusalem that goes beyond anything in history or in the present. Therefore, it's future. Yahweh will dwell in Zion so Jerusalem's going to be holy to the Lord and strangers will not pass through it again. That's a reference to all these outside forces that had come in and disrupted Jerusalem or even conquered it. That's not going to happen again. It's holy to the Lord. And then it goes on and says this, the mountains will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with water, a spring will go out from the house of Yahweh to water the valley of Shittim, and Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem generation to generation. That's future. That's an in-time event. That is at the end. It's forever. And Israel being a dry place, when it talks about the streams flowing, that's a good thing. Because normally in the summer, it's dry. All dries up, but they're gonna keep flowing. It's gonna be a different climate even. Go over to the next book, Amos. We looked at this earlier, but let me just briefly kind of outline the book itself. There are five promises of a future restoration of Israel that are far beyond anything in history or the present. And these future blessings for Israel also follow the judgment of the nations. Amos chapter 1 and 2 contains eight prophecies of judgment against the nation for its sins. That's many nations. Then Amos 3 through 6 gives three sermons about Israel itself. Two concern God's judgment of them because of their sin and one of those sermons is a call for them to repent and seek Yahweh that they might live. Amos 7-9, verse 10 reveals five visions of God's condemnation for Israel. For the most part, the vast majority of Amos is condemning. It's not the kind of thing you want to read if you're a Jew living in a time like, oh good, look what God's going to do for me. It's like, I don't want that. It's not until you get to the end, but that's the pattern we find throughout the Old Testament. You obey me, blessings. You disobey me, there's curses. Here's the result of the curses, but I'm going to make a restoration. He always gives hope. There is something coming following all this that's dependent upon God himself. We read this earlier as a scripture reading, but we're going to read it again. Amos 9, verse 11. In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David and the wall up its breaches. I will also raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the ancient days, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, declares Yahweh, who does this. Behold, days are coming, declares Yahweh, when the plowman will overtake the reaper, the treader of grapes, him who sows seed. When the mountains will drip sweet wine, all the hills will melt, and I will restore the captivity of my people Israel, and they will rebuild the desolated cities and live in them. They will also plant vineyards, and drink their wine, and make gardens, and eat their fruit. I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be uprooted from their land which I have given them, says Yahweh your God." Now that's an unparalleled prosperity. Now admittedly, the idea to those of us here living in the north doesn't make sense. What do you mean the plowman is preparing a field and the reaper hasn't finished harvesting it? Because between our season for growing things, we have this thing that's sitting out there right now called winter. And not much growing out there, especially when it got down to four this morning. Four degrees tends to kill plants that you would eat as crops, right? That's not good. So what is he talking about? Well, Israel actually, even today, has areas where you can plant all year long. But this goes beyond that. There is such a large harvest every time they plant that they haven't finished harvesting before, you know, it's time to plant again. And so they're plowing down what hasn't even been harvested to plant the next crop. That's abundance. Wow! Nothing like that in history. Nothing like that in the present. And modern Israel, it's amazing what they're able to do agriculturally. Remember, that's my major in college. So when I was there in 2017, I was seeing the things I studied in college that were now reality. And just what they can do with very little water and yet grow tremendous crops to feed themselves and export. This is far beyond anything going on in Israel now. How do we know this is really eschatological, it is the future? It's verse 15. Any question about it is solved there. I will plant them on their land, they will not again be uprooted from their land which I have given them, says Yahweh their God. The land belonged to them because it's given to them by our creator. And they won't be uprooted. Currently, that's not the promise of the current restoration, because we're not into the new covenant. They could be. And if they are, this restoration's still gonna come in the future. A final restoration, no more deportation, and applying what is said in the other prophecies concerning the same period, then the reason there will not be another deportation is that the new covenant is implemented here. God's law is on their heart for the remnant of Jews that are saved so that they will all walk in obedience to Yahweh. And so they will receive his blessings and because they're not disobeying him anymore, there are no more curses. That's the blessing of the new covenant for them. Now, there are prophecies of restoration given to the Jewish people that are both near and far, so we've looked at those. The first restoration after Babylonian captivity, what's actually current going on now from Ezekiel, and there's a future one. So near and far, the first restoration is ancient history. The formation of the modern Israel, again, it's in keeping with the prophecies in Ezekiel 20, 22. But there's going to be this future restoration of Israel that is permanent and it will bring forth all the aspects of the New Covenant, Yahweh will be their God, and they will be His people. So why is all this important to us who are Christians living in the 21st century? Why not just leave that for the Jews? Well, first and foremost, because this is the display of the attributes of our God. He is sovereign. He is faithful. He is true. Because He will fulfill every one of His covenant promises to Israel, we can become confident He is going to fulfill every promise He's made to us who have placed our faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can trust God in the present, I can trust Him for my future, because He's proved Himself throughout all of history. And for me at this moment, It also means this, when I officiate at my dad's funeral on Tuesday, there will be sorrowful aspects of this because I won't be able to talk to him anymore. And I know it's probably going to hit me when I go in that back room and his chair is going to be empty. At the same time, I know there's going to be a joy because I know the promises of God and I know my father is actually with Christ now. And all we're going to be bearing is the shell. And someday, If the Lord tarries, we'll meet in heaven. If he comes, and I'm kinda angling for this one, okay, you can come to, I don't have to get on the plane, I don't have to do the funeral, we just come tonight and we're good. If that happens, I'm gonna meet my dad in the air. And then we'll be with Christ forevermore. That's the confidence and that's why this is important. This is the character and nature of God. And we can trust him. Father, thank you. for these great truths. And it's a reason we can actually celebrate communion. We understand that. We celebrate it because it's true. Your word tells us we show forth his death until he comes. His death is history. It's recorded. The effects of it. But his coming is a promise. But it is as sure as everything that happened. according to your prophecies of his death and resurrection. And we are looking forward to that. In Jesus' name, amen.