Israel: God’s Timepiece

SERMON STARTER

          Time is the essence of all living things.  We are deeply concerned about time.  Would you like to know what time it is?

Consult your watch or your cell phone. Would you like to be informed about international time? Check out this incredible website on the internet.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html

          Would you like to know how much time is left for planet earth? Keep your eyes on Israel. Over the years I have owned a lot of watches. I have worn Timex watches for several decades. Personally, I wear out a Timex watch about once a year.  I’m hard on a timepiece, but not nearly as hard as time is on me.  We always want to know what time it is.  The disciples had our kind of problem when they asked Jesus a time question:

 

6So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going
to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has
set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

 

          The Koine Greek terms here are “chronos” and “kairos.”  The chronos moment refers to chronological time: “Tick-tick-tick-tick.” Chronos is "Man's Time," and is essentially decided by the ticking "time bomb: in our chests, "Lub-Lub-Lub-Lub-Lub."

          The kairos moment refers to the fateful and decisive opportunity involving choice and forceful, deliberate actions. Kairos is "God's Time." The disciples were not to know the chronological time or kairos moment when God would restore the Kingdom to Israel.  These things were to be determined by the Heavenly Father.  The disciples and we, have been left to "occupy until He comes."

          Israel, however, is the God’s key timepiece by which we can know that God’s kairos is not far around the corner.  Watch and be amazed at how God keeps his promises to Israel.

Isaiah 49:15,

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! (Zion/Israel)

Israel, God's Timepiece, cont.

 

This sermon is a message of hope for God’s people that He is in control and keeps his ancient promises. Want to know how much time we have left? WATCH ISRAEL.

 

Pastor Phil  <><<

 

 

 

 

 

ISRAEL, GOD'S TIMEPIECE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 10, 2014

Sheepfold Ministries / Pastor Phil Roland

 

Israel: God’s Timepiece

Psalm 84

“God has made an eternal promise to Abraham and to the land of Israel. God never forgets and always keeps his promises. A curse is promised to those who curse Israel. His People will always have His Blessing.”

                                                                                                                        Pastor Phil

Genesis 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

 

Four modern Israels could fit into the USA’s state of Florida.  It is small but becomes the focus of world attention again and again.

 

I.  ISRAEL WAS SCATTERED 2,520 to 1900 YEARS AGO

          A. Diaspora was the dispersion of the Jews from their homeland

                        There have been several Diasporas over the centuries:

                        1. 926 BC Israel becomes a divided kingdom

                        2. 721 BC Assyrians conquer northern kingdom of Israel

                        3. 612 BC Babylon conquers Nineveh (Assyrian Empire)
                        4. 605 BC Babylon exerts influence over Judah
                        5. 597 BC Babylon attacks Judah
                        6. 586 BC Babylon destroys Jerusalem and Temple
                        7. 586-573 BC Babylon king Nebuchadnezzar attacks

                        8. 70 AD Roman genocide, temple destruction and dispersion                                of the Jews

            B. Israel/Jordan renamed "Palestine" by British Mandate after WWI

                        1. Palestine HAS NEVER EXISTED as an autonomous entity

                        2. Ruled by Rome, Islamic, Crusaders, Ottoman Empire and                                    the British

                        3. The name was a perversion of the word, "Philistines"

                        4. Philistines were the Jews hated enemy in Jesus' lifetime

 

II. LAND WAS CLAIMED AND NAMED BY GOD

          A. Abraham given God’s Promise - Genesis 15:12-21; esp. v. 18

                18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To                    your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the                      great river, the River Euphrates--
                        1. God's Promise to Abraham and his descendants is forever

 

ISRAEL: God's Timepiece, cont. p.2

 

                                7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your                                descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting                                   covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Gen. 17:7

                        2. All Nations of the earth shall be Blessed - Genesis 22:17-18

                                17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your                                     descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on                           your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
                        18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because                           you have obeyed My voice."

            B. Abraham believed God and acted on that belief - Genesis 15:6

               6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
                        1. Abraham left his homeland in Ur of the Chaldees

                        2. He left his polytheistic country of birth to obey God

                        3. His pursuit was obedience and faith in the One True God

                        4. He left family, friends, wealth and position - Hebrews 11:8

                        8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place

                         which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not

                         knowing where he was going.

           

III.  ISRAEL HAS ALWAYS BEEN SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES 

            A. Then and Now - Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon

            B. Hamas are modern Philistines, strongly anti-Semitic

                        1. Hamas was established in 1987

                        2. Supported by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement

                        3. In June of 2007 Hamas became Gaza's ruling party

                        4. They are pledged to terminate all Jews in Israel  

 

IV. ENEMIES HAVE ALWAYS CONSPIRED AGAINST HER

            A. God's blessing and favor on His first-born has birthed jealousy

                        1. Cain and Able

                        2. Jacob and Esau

                        3. Isaac and Ishmael

                        4. Brothers, yet envious of the other's unearned favor

            B. David was opposed continually by his enemies - Ps. 109:2,3; 35:4

            2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened                against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. 3 They have                       also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without a  cause.   Ps. 109:2,3

                15 But in my adversity they rejoiced And gathered together; Attackers

             gathered against me, And I did not know it; They tore at me and did not

             cease;     Psalm 35:15

                        1. Nehemiah was vehemently opposed from wall building

                                7 Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the                                            Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem                              were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that                            they became very angry, 8 and all of them conspired together to                                   come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. Nehemiah 4:7-8

 

ISRAEL: God's Timepiece, cont. p.2

 

                2. Arab's hatred of Israel today is not a new thing

                        3. The practice of Islam has always included anti-Semitism

                        4. The "Jizya" is the Islamic practice of taxing Jews and non-                                  Muslims for the privilege of living in a Muslim country

                   5. Nazis got the "Yellow Armband" from the Muslim practice

 

V.  GOD HIMSELF WILL PROTECT HER AND KEEP HIS WORD

          A. June 5, 1967 - Six Day War

1. The United Arab Republic was joined by Jordan, Syria, Iraq,

Algeria, Sudan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco.

2. This unholy confederacy was unsuccessful

B. HAMAS complains,

            "Their God changes the paths of our rockets in mid-air"

 

 

 

            1. Those who oppose Israel oppose God, Himself

            2. French Ambassador to England,

"ISRAEL IS NOTHING BUT A SHITTY LITTLE COUNTRY"

     3. Really?  Think again. . .God's not forgotten His People

            4. Neither has He forgotten you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISRAEL, GOD'S TIMEPIECE

Psalm 84:1-12

1 To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts!

2 My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young-- Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah

5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.

8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

9 O God, behold our shield, And look upon the face of Your anointed.

10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.

12 O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!