{"id":18235,"date":"2015-11-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/6-what-does-bible-prophecy-say-about-islam-part-2\/"},"modified":"2024-01-30T15:13:24","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T21:13:24","slug":"6-what-does-bible-prophecy-say-about-islam-part-2","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/6-what-does-bible-prophecy-say-about-islam-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"6. What Does Bible Prophecy Say About Islam? – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[71],"series_event":[458],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18235","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-ezekiel","series_event-answering-islam-conference","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"6. What Does Bible Prophecy Say About Islam? - Part 2","sermon_date":"20151108","sermon_month":"11","sermon_year":"2015","sermon_notes":"","sermon_slides":3137,"sermon_mp3":3140,"sermon_id":"11815101945","series_or_event":458,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":71,"chapter_and_verse":"38-39","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\r\nAnswering Islam Conference\r\nWhat Does Bible Prophecy Say About Islam? \u2013 Part 2\r\n11-7-15 Ezekiel 38-39\r\n\r\nGood morning everyone. Let\u2019s bow our hearts, shall we, for a word of prayer. Father, we\u2019re grateful for this yesterday and today and some of the difficult topics that we\u2019re trying to deal with in this conference, Answering Islam. I pray, Father, for the enablement of the Spirit today, a lot of us are tired, that the Spirit comes to illuminate the Scripture to us and we specifically pray for His illuminating ministry, both in this hour and the hour that follows. And help us, just awaken us Lord to things that You would have us to understand in the times that we find ourselves. We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said Amen.\r\n\r\nIf you have a copy of your Bible with you, you might open it to Ezekiel chapter 38, one of the things that can be dangerous in a conference, kind of like the one that we\u2019re doing, is it can come across as the world has gone to hell in a hand-basket type of conference, so you leave sort of depressed and that\u2019s why I wanted to kind of interject the difficult discussion that we\u2019re having about Islam with actual prophecy because Peter tells us that, in 2 Peter1:19 that prophecy is like a light shining in a dark place. [2 Peter 1:19, \u201cSo we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.\u201d]\r\n\r\nSo it reminds us that God has not lost control of this world, even though from the human point of view it looks like it\u2019s out of control. So that\u2019s why we\u2019ve sort of given ourselves in the two sessions that I have, both yesterday and today, to this topic, What Does Bible Prophecy Say About Islam. I feel that the section of Scripture that best answers that question is Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.\r\n\r\nYou might recall that we had worked our way through a series of journalistic questions as kind of a way to organize our thoughts on these two chapters. We\u2019ve already, in the prior session and this session built in the prior one, so if you missed the first one you might be confused a little bit with some of it but if you listen to two of them together you\u2019ll get the whole context.\r\n\r\nYesterday we looked at the \u201cwho\u201d question because Ezekiel mentions these very strange names. He mentions Put, Cush, Persia, Magog, Rosh, Meshach, Tubal, Gomer and Torgarmah. And you say I thought you weren\u2019t supposed to speak in tongues without an interpreter. Those sound like strange, very strange words to us, don\u2019t they.\r\n\r\nWell, yesterday we documented that Put is Libya, Cush is the Sudan, Persia is Iran, Magog would represent the various nations of central Asia, Rosh is Russia, and Ezekiel actually gives four names that speak of what we think of as modern day Turkey, Meshach, Tubal, Gomer and Torgarmah. Then we kind of looked at the when question, which is a subject of great controversy amongst prophecy students and I kind of stepped out on a limb and gave you my view as to when this is going to happen, November 15th\u2026. No, I\u2019m just kidding! [Laughter]\r\n\r\nI basically think chapter 38 is going to happen with the second seal judgment, towards the beginning of the tribulation. And chapter 39 is really talking about the after effects of everything and it\u2019s pretty much speaking of things that are going to happen at the end of the tribulation period. So I think that these two chapters are talking about two different phases of this event. And then we took a look at the why question, why is this attack coming against Israel? And we basically saw two reasons; number 1, it has to do with Satan\u2019s longstanding hatred against the Jews and the Jewish people. That\u2019s why these nations are inspired in the very last days to attack Israel. This is what Ezekiel foresaw all the way back in the 6th century.\r\n\r\nAnd we also saw from Ezekiel 38:12 that the issue is spoil or wealth, or money. [Ezekiel 38:12, \u201cto capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.\u201d]\r\n\r\nSo they attack Israel for a spiritual reason, it\u2019s satanically motivated but from a human point of view there\u2019s a humanistic reason which is the desire for Israel\u2019s wealth. So what we\u2019re moving into now is the what question; in other words, what is going to be the aftermath of this battle? What is going to happen as a result of these things? And take a look, if you will, at chapter 38, verses 19-22; I\u2019ll make a lot of references to a lot of Scripture throughout this talk.\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s going to be a divine annihilation of this coalition and I think that\u2019s described there in chapter 38, verses 19-22. [Ezekiel 38:19-22, \u201cIn my zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. [20] The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground. [21] I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains.\u2019 Declares the Lord GOD. \u2018Every man\u2019s sword will be against his brother.\u2019 [22] \u2018With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. [23] I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD.\u201d]\r\n\r\nAnd as you look at those verses what you\u2019ll discover there is there\u2019s going to be an earthquake, there is going to be disease, there is going to be torrential rain and hailstones and fire and burning Sulphur. In other words, what\u2019s being described there is God shows up and isn\u2019t it great when God shows up in our lives. And when Israel has not a friend in the world God\u2019s their friend. God shows up supernaturally and protects the nation of Israel.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s very interesting here, it talks about (in these verses), \u201cEvery man\u2019s sword will be against his brother.\u201d And if you know a little bit about the Bible, if you know a little bit about the Old Testament you\u2019ll know that that\u2019s a common battle strategy of the Lord. In fact, you might think back to the days of Gideon and the Midianites. Remember how God told Gideon to send a lot of the troops home? Now why does God tell him to send the troops home? Because He wants to be the one will win the battle, He wants the full credit to go to Him.\r\n\r\nAnd this is exactly what\u2019s happening with Israel; she has no friend in the world and yet God shows up and protects her. So who does the glory go to? It goes to God. God doesn\u2019t need a large army; He doesn\u2019t need nuclear weapons to accomplish His will. He is omnipotent. Judges 7:22 describes the Midianites being defeated, using the same strategy that\u2019s described here in Ezekiel. It says, \u201cWhen they blew the trumpets the LORD set the sword of one against another, [even throughout the whole army; and the army fled\u2026.]\u201d and that\u2019s what is happening here in this battle as this coalition is brought to an end.\r\n\r\nDown in chapter 39, verses 4 and 5 what you\u2019ll discover is the aftermath of the battle, there\u2019s going to be so many corpses lying around that the birds themselves will begin to come and gorge themselves on all of these corpses. [Ezekiel 39:4-5, \u201cYou will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who ae with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. [5] You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken, declares the lord GOD.\u201d]\r\n\r\nAnd in fact, if you go down to chapter 39, I believe it\u2019s around verse 12, this is what it says: \u201cFor seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.\u201d So there\u2019s going to be a seven month burying of the dead, which is a lot of funerals when you think about that, happening at the aftermath of this battle.\r\n\r\nAs you go back up to Ezekiel 39:9 it talks about the destruction of weapons. Notice chapter 39 verse 9, it says, \u2018Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them,\u201d or fires for them. Now a lot of people say well, doesn\u2019t the millennial kingdom come at the end of this battle? And the answer is yes. And people are bothered by this and they say well how can you have the burning of weapons in the millennial kingdom?\r\n\r\nWell, to me that\u2019s no problem at all because according to the book of Revelation, chapter 19, verses 2-3 Babylon, the great city of Babylon is going to burn throughout the millennial kingdom. Revelation 19:2-3 says this, \u201cBECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot\u201d Babylon of course being the height of the antichrist system, \u201cfor He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.\u2019 [3] And a second time they shouted, \u2018Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.\u201d\r\n\r\nSo if Babylon is burning throughout the millennium what\u2019s the problem with some weapons burning for a few, seven, years? And you know, a lot of people, I think, and what you\u2019re starting to see in a lot of theologians, and I think this is misguided, is they\u2019re merging the eternal state and the millennial kingdom and acting as if they are one and the same. In fact, the millennial kingdom is totally different than the eternal state. The millennium is described in Revelation 20; the eternal state is described in Revelation 21 and 22. In the millennium sin is restrained; in the eternal state totally removed. In the millennium the curse is restrained; in the eternal state the curse is removed. In the millennium there will actually be death.\r\n\r\nNow those of us that are part of the church that have been raptured and are returning with Christ to rule and reign in glorified bodies will not die but there will be those who are believers that survive the tribulation period and enter the millennial kingdom and they\u2019ll begin to reproduce and the earth will be repopulated again. And as that happens the sin nature gets passed down. And so what you discover in prophecies like Isaiah 65:20, it says if someone dies at the age of 100 everybody is going to sit around sad and say wow, how sad that is, such a young man died. Today if you make it to 100 you\u2019re considered lucky. [Isaiah 65:20, \u201cNo longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred, and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed.\u201d]\r\n\r\nSo death is still a reality in the millennial kingdom but you\u2019ll notice that the curse is restrained to quite an extent. But in the eternal state there\u2019s no death at all, Revelation 21:4 says that. [Revelation 21:4, \u201cand He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or drying, or pain; the first things have passed away.\u201d]\r\n\r\nIn the millennium you\u2019ll have mortals and resurrected people living together; in the eternal state only resurrected people. In the millennium destinies are undecided, those that are the descendants of the mortals that repopulated the earth, that survived the tribulation period, their grandkids, their children, their great grandchildren will need to be evangelized during the millennial kingdom because God has no grandchildren. Right? He only has children. You come to God through your own faith or you don\u2019t come. You can\u2019t come to God based on your parent\u2019s faith. But in the eternal state destines are all sealed.\r\n\r\nThe millennium is a renovation of the present earth; the eternal state is a totally new earth. The millennium is temporary, it last for a thousand years; the eternal state lasts forever. The millennium is transitional, the eternal state is non-transitional. In the millennium time exists, it\u2019s a thousand year kingdom but there is no time in the eternal state. In the millennium there will be a temple functioning that\u2019s described in Ezekiel 40-48 but John is very clear in the eternal state there is no temple. There\u2019s satanic activity at the end of the millennium. Satan will lead, he\u2019s incarcerated during this time but he will lead a worldwide revolt at the end when God releases him from the abyss. But Satan is a thing of the past in the eternal state. So there\u2019s rebellion to some extent in the millennium but not the eternal state.\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s just a vast difference between the millennial kingdom and the eternal state. And so if you\u2019re taking Revelation 20 and22 and just merging it altogether as if it\u2019s one and the same, as many people do, when we do that we\u2019re really not doing good Bible study, we\u2019re not paying attention to the details of the passage.\r\n\r\nBut as we described sort of the aftermath of this battle with the seven year burning of weapons which I don\u2019t have any real issue with taking place during the millennial kingdom. The most important issue that I think Ezekiel is drawing our attention to is this battle will result in the conversion of Israel. Take a look at chapter 39 and notice verse 22, it says: \u201cAnd the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.\u201d Look at the very last verse of chapter 39, the very end of the verse, it says: \u201c\u2026for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,\u2019 declares the Lord GOD.\u201d\r\n\r\nWhat is the aftermath of this battle? Why is God always allowing this to happen? He is allowing this to happen so Israel, who is currently in unbelief, the remnant of the nation will be brought to saving faith. Why is that? Because God knocks us down so that we look where? We look up. That\u2019s how He\u2019s worked in all of our lives and that is His purpose in sending the nation of Israel through this tremendous ordeal called the tribulation period. The tribulation period is not a time period that we as the church are destined for. Why is that? Because we are already in faith; we are already believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose of the tribulation is to bring unbelieving Israel to saving faith. So if we, as God\u2019s people, are already in faith, there\u2019s no reason for us to be in the tribulation. That\u2019s why when you study any tribulation text in the Bible, whether it\u2019s Old Testament or New Testament you never find a reference to the church being on the earth during that time. And this is a doctrine that we call the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. The church is not exempted from normal persecution and difficulties of life but we are exempted from THE wrath of God. Amen! And we\u2019ll be removed from the earth before that happens.\r\n\r\nThis is the darkest time in Israel\u2019s history, that Ezekiel is describing, where she doesn\u2019t have a friend in the world other than God. And that\u2019s a pretty good place to be in, isn\u2019t it? Who cares if all of your friends desert you if God is backing you up. Why does God back up Israel over and over again? Why is Israel such a big deal in the mind of God? It\u2019s very simple: Israel is the only nation in the history of mankind that\u2019s ever had a covenant from God, a covenant made by God to them.\r\n\r\nNow you say, well, doesn\u2019t America have a covenant with God? Well, I don\u2019t know how you could determine that unless you have some kind of extra biblical insight for me. I think in the Mayflower Compact we made a covenant with each other and a covenant with God our way to Him. Right. That\u2019s part of American history, you\u2019ll see that in the Mayflower Compact, which is a document that precedes the Declaration of Independence, I think by over a century. That\u2019s what our forbearers did when they came to these shores. But Israel is different because Israel never made a covenant with God; God made a covenant with them. That\u2019s why God cannot abandon Israel, if He did He would prove Himself to be a liar.\r\n\r\nJeremiah 31:35-37 says, \u201cThus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the LORD of hosts is His name; [36] If this fixed order departs from before Me,\u2019 declares the LORD, \u2018Then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever. [37] Thus says the LORD, \u2018If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,\u2019 declares the LORD.\u201d\r\n\r\nGod, through the prophet Jeremiah, just before Israel went into, Judah went into the Babylonian captivity He said this: Yes, you\u2019re going into a time of discipline but as long as there\u2019s sun, moon and stars you\u2019ll always be a nation before Me. So if you want to get rid of Israel it\u2019s a pretty easy thing to do, you just get rid of the sun, moon and stars. Get rid of those Israel stops being a nation because that\u2019s what God, the Creator, said. So it\u2019s a tremendous thing that is happening here in these chapters.\r\n\r\nSo that\u2019s a little bit about the \u201cwhat\u201d question. Let me move now into the \u201chow\u201d question. We analogized a lot of these things to a chess board last night. The chess pieces have to be set up a certain way on the board before a chess game can take place. And I\u2019m not a date setter nor the son of a date setter but I do believe this much, that there are things happening in our world today that are unexplainable unless you understand a prophecy like Ezekiel 38 and 39, and how God is moving things around to fulfill His Word. And I see happening here three strategic trends. One is the regathering of the nation of Israel in unbelief. How can this whole scenario happen unless there is a nation of Israel in existence in unbelief? And for many, many centuries theologians just looked at these verses and said they\u2019re not literal; they got into a mystical allegorical kind of interpretation. But isn\u2019t it interesting that with the rebirth of Israel, May 14, 1948, you have exactly what Ezekiel said would be there, a nation of Israel in her own land, dwelling in unbelief.\r\n\r\nOne of the things we saw last night was the fact that there are basically two regatherings spoken of in Scripture. There is the present first regathering and then there will be a permanent second regathering. In the first regathering she returns to part of the land in preparation for this Gog\/Magog invasion. In the second regathering she will return to all of her land. In the first regathering she comes back in unbelief; in the second regathering the Lord gathers His elect, Israel, from the four corners of the earth in faith. In the present regathering she is restored to the land only; but the second regathering is different, she\u2019s going to be restored to the land and the Lord. So it\u2019s not just political this second time, it\u2019s spiritual. The first regathering sets the stage for discipline, which is (I believe) what we\u2019re seeing today. The second regathering sets the stage for blessing or the millennial kingdom.\r\n\r\nHow many nations can you think of that have been displaced from their homeland and go into worldwide dispersion and come back out 2,000 years later and go right back into the land that they came from, with their culture intact, their religion intact and their nation intact, and their language intact. I think of Rome, that pushed Israel out of her land in A.D. 70. Rome spoke Latin; well, Rome is gone, Latin is a dead language. Israel is an actual nation again and Hebrew is a live language. Can we see the handwriting of God in that. It\u2019s astounding. People say well, why doesn\u2019t God, why doesn\u2019t He perform miracles today? When you look at the Middle East you\u2019re looking at literally a modern day miracle because countries when they\u2019re out of their land, sociologists tell us for a certain number of generations, they lose their distinctiveness as a culture.\r\n\r\nSo the Bible mentions the Amalekites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites and the termites and the mosquito bites and the out of sights and all those names. Where are they today, these nations? I mean, we don\u2019t say oh, a very nice Jebusite couple moved in down the street, because it\u2019s true, once you\u2019re displaced you lose your cultural identity. But Israel, who is right in the mix with all of the \u201cites\u201d is alive and well. And some people, they get mad, when we start talking like this they say well how can you see the hand of God in that nation? Don\u2019t you understand that they are a bunch of unbelievers over there? Well, guess what you have to be before you can be a believer? You have to be an unbeliever, don\u2019t you? Let me ask you a question: Did God work in your life before you were saved, as you look back on things? Of course. Why can\u2019t God be doing the same thing today with the nation of Israel?\r\n\r\nThere is, beyond this first strategic trend there\u2019s a second strategic trend that relates more to our topic of Islam, strategic trend number 2 is the alignment, there must be an alignment of the nations against Israel. There must be a present gathering of a coalition of nations with a hostile intent towards Israel; that\u2019s what Ezekiel saw in this vision going back to the 6th century. So what do we have? We have all of those names that Ezekiel mentions lining up exactly like he said. Now look at all these nations, Libya, the Sudan, Iran, Magog, Turkey, Central Asia, with the exception of Rosh or Russia, what do they all have in common? Hint\u2014this is the Answering Islam Conference. They are all Islamic nations, and what I simply want to point out is that Islam itself furnishes the motivation for this end time attack. Why is that? Because in Islamic thought Jerusalem is a holy site to them. Allegedly that is where Mohammed ascended back to Allah. Now having said that, how many times do you find the word \u201cJerusalem\u201d in the Qur'an? Goose egg, zilch, zero, nada! How many times to you find the word \u201cJerusalem\u201d in the Bible? About 800 times. But you see, in their mindset Jerusalem is holy because that is where Mohammed ascended back to Allah. So in their minds that land and that city belong to them.\r\n\r\nMuslims, once they have ruled over a territory, which Islamic forces once did, once they have ruled over a territory that area irrevocably belongs to Allah, and any nation that exists is viewed, other than an Islamic nation, as a usurper; it\u2019s viewed as virtual disrespect to Allah. That\u2019s why the Muslims will never be satisfied as long as Israel even exists.\r\n\r\nI\u2019ve used this map before, see that green area? Those are Islamic controlled countries. Do you see that little tiny red dot there? That\u2019s Israel. And what are we being told today? Well, if Israel would just give up a little bit territory we\u2019ll all be happy. Well, the fact of the matter is, it doesn\u2019t matter what Israel does, these folks will never be happy as long as Israel even exists.\r\n\r\nI remember when the leader, the former leader of Iran, Ahmadinejad, made a statement, he said we want to wipe Israel off the map. And everybody said what a terrible statement. And I thought well, that\u2019s actually a step forward because at least he\u2019s admitting Israel was on the map, you know, to be wiped off. Israel doesn\u2019t even appear on most Islamically drawn maps. I like how Benjamin Netanyahu puts it. He says, \u201cIf the Arabs were to lay down their weapons today there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today there would be no more Israel.\u201d That kind of sums up things, doesn\u2019t it?\r\n\r\nThe myth that\u2019s being circulated is we just want co-existence. But let me ask you a question. When was the Palestine Liberation Organization founded? It was founded in 1964. What are we being told today? We\u2019re being told that if Israel will just to back to her pre-1967 borders that she won in 1967, if she just goes back to those pre-1967 borders then everybody will be happy. Oh really! Then why was the Palestine Liberation Organization founded three whole years before Israel got those extended territories in 1967? See, this whole idea of land for peace, once you get into the Islamic mindset the whole thing is a myth. It\u2019s a myth because these nations are furnishing a religious motivation for this end time attack.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s take a look at some of these nations more particularly. You look at all of these nations and you remember what happened in 2010 which has been dubbed the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring essentially was one moderate government toppled after another in the Middle East and replaced by a more radical form of Islam. See, the Arab Spring itself, I think, was a huge stage setting event for Ezekiel\u2019s end time battle. Our former President, George W. Bush, dubbed these nations what he called the access of evil. And what you have to understand, as Shahram has been explaining, in Islam, I no longer call it radical Islam, I call it consistent Islam, because this is what\u2019s taught in their documents.\r\n\r\nSee, everybody is mad at right wing radical Christianity. Well, what does radical right ring Christianity teach? What does fundamentalism teach? Love your neighbor, bless those who curse you. What does fundamentalist Islam teach? Well, it teaches worldwide submission to Sharia Law. It teaches that if you die in the cause of martyrdom, like flying a plane, for example, into the World Trade Center building then your soul immediately is promised access to heaven and all of your sexual fantasies can be indulged with 70 virgins. See, if Christians were consistent they are no threat at all. But if Islam is consistent with its beliefs it\u2019s radically a threat, is it not?\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s a little something I found in the Qur'an, I don\u2019t know if I used the right one that Shahram told us to use in terms of the right website, but it says this: \u201cAllah has promised to those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that he will surely grant them succession,\u201d now succession is a translation from the word caliphate, \u201cupon the earth just as he granted it to those before them and that he will surely establish for them therein their religion in which he has preferred for them and that he will surely substitute for them after their fear of security for they worship me not associated with anything but me, but whoever disbelieves after than then those are the defiantly disobedient.\u201d\r\n\r\nWhat this is talking about is caliphate. What is caliphate? Caliphate is worldwide submission to Sharia law. That\u2019s the controlling force in these nations that Ezekiel saw all the way back in the 6th century B.C.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s take a look at some of these nations in particular. Take a look, for example, at Persia, which yesterday we documented or identified as Iran. A prophecy of Persia herself turning against Israel in the last days. That probably seemed like a strange prophecy to Ezekiel because as we mentioned yesterday Persia was becoming one of the good guys. It was under Persia that Israel was allowed to return into her land after the 70 year captivity under a man named Cyrus, and later Artaxerxes in three returns.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s what the book of Ezra is describing, that\u2019s what the book of Nehemiah is describing. This all took place under Persian reign. And Ezekiel saw this vision of Persia, who was essentially a good guy or rapidly becoming a good guy, turning against Israel in the last days.\r\n\r\nEven in our time period some of Ezekiel\u2019s prophecies seem so strange. I mean, you could not make sense of this prior to 1979. Why is that? Because prior to 1979, prior to the toppling of the Shah and replacing him with the Ayatollah the nation of Iran was essentially an ally of the United States of America. But how everything changed so dramatically in 1979 when the Ayatollah came to power and Iran became Islamized. In fact, Iran, at one point in time, even in our life time, if you look at the top of the screen, was basically a progressive country. The dress was normal, women could be educated, things like that. And look at the bottom part of the screen, look at what\u2019s happened since 1979. Look at the burkas that they\u2019re wearing, look at the rights to women that are being denied. And this all has changed in our lifetime. And people say it could never\u2026 it could never happen here in America, that\u2019s just not the pattern of the world, the world has example after example of how quickly nations can change once they come under Islamic influence.\r\n\r\nAhmadinejad, the former leader of Iran, denied the holocaust. He didn\u2019t even believe it happened. He is, was or is a Twelver Shite Muslim, essentially that means the twelfth Imam will return to the earth during a time of warfare which he can hasten through the destruction of the great Satan, the United States of America, and the little Satan, Israel. Did you catch the order on that? We are the great Satan in their minds. Israel is actually the little Satan, they\u2019re viewed almost like a puppet of the United States of America. The United States of America is really where the animosity lies, towards the United States of America.\r\n\r\nNow Ahmadinejad was replaced by Rouhani in August of 2013. He\u2019s being billed to the world as a moderate. I think a moderate is more dangerous because as long as Ahmadinejad was traveling to the United Nations and making outrageous statements it was all out there in the open. If the world thinks his successor is a moderate you can kind of sneak in a lot of things under the radar screen, and people have a tendency to fall asleep. And of course the United States of America has accelerated all of these things through its recent deal with Iran, hastening their date through which or from which they will cross the nuclear finish line. And under Rouhani the nuclear program of Iran has not slowed down at all, in fact, it\u2019s accelerated dramatically.\r\n\r\nWell, what do Iranian students read in their public school textbooks? I got this from Yoram Ettinger and he writes this: \u201cIranian school textbooks, such as The Qur'an and Life (Grade 12, p. 125) prepare Iranian children for the Ayatollahs' sublime goal: the apocalyptic, horrifying, millenarian, military battle against the USA and other \u2018arrogant oppressors of the world,\u2019 which are ostensibly led by \u2018idolatrous devils.\u2019\u201d And it goes on and on talking this way. This is what Iranian school are learning from their textbooks. I miss the good old days of Janet and Mark and See Dick Run and things like that, Dr. Seuss.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s take a look at another nation here, Cush or the Sudan. You look at the Sudan, what\u2019s happening in the Sudan. Well, that\u2019s the location of one of the greatest genocides taking place in the modern world, called the Darfur genocide. Also taking place in that part of the world is a country that actually harbored Osama Bin Laden from 1991 to about 1996. You take another nation here, Put, or Libya; you might remember Muammar Gaddafi came from Libya.\r\n\r\nYou might remember and I think it was, if I remember right, around 1986 where he was responsible for setting off a bomb in a Berlin discotheque targeting American military, and how our President at that time put a stop to it in the sense that he actually bombed back and in the process killed one of Gaddafi\u2019s daughters. And isn\u2019t it interesting after that happened the world didn\u2019t hear from Gaddafi for a couple of decades. That\u2019s the doctrine of peace through strength; sometimes you have to exert strength to prevent greater acts of terrorism down the road.\r\n\r\nAnd what is happening today? Well, the Muslim Brotherhood is alive and well in Libya, in fact, you might remember Libya from recent news. Libya is, in essence, where our ambassador Stevens was killed, four people total killed on that attack in Libya called Benghazi. And how the administration got up in front of the American people and it\u2019s now been thoroughly shown that they were lying through their teeth, they blamed the whole thing, the whole uprising on a spontaneous video, a B rated video that somebody supposedly had made.\r\n\r\nDid you know that that attack on our embassy occurred September 11th. Is that coincidental? I don\u2019t think it\u2019s coincidental at all. Did you know that in that attack there was sophisticated warfare, and weapons brought in to launch the attack. If all of that is true, how do you blame it on a spontaneous uprising due to a video. But that is Put or Libya, that\u2019s one of the nations that Ezekiel saw in his vision.\r\nWell, we also have another nation, we have Meshach, Tubal, Gomer, Torgarmah. Last time we identified those as Turkey, so let\u2019s talk Turkey just for a minute, if we could. Turkey was a longtime ally, not only of the United States of America but was also an ally to some extent to Israel, was a member of NATO, but like Iran, Turkey itself has drifted from being a secular government into being much more of an Islamic republic form of government.\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s a quote from Frank Gaffney, according to Frank Gaffney, President of the Center for Security policy, \u201cTurkey is transitioning from \u2018a secular democracy with a Muslim society into a state governed by a radical Islamic ideology hostile to Western values and freedoms.\u2019\u201d Turkey, the last time I checked, was denied admittance to the European Union so it makes perfect sense that Turkey would align herself with this coalition of nations that Ezekiel saw in his vision. You might remember the flotilla incident; a Turkish ship was seeking to break Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza in May 31, 2002. Where was that flotilla dispatched from? It was dispatched from Turkey.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s very interesting to read some of the statements of the current leadership of Turkey, both the President and the Prime Minister. Here\u2019s one such statement: \u201cBy Allah\u2019s will, Jerusalem belongs to the Kurds, the Turks, the Arabs, and to all Muslims. And as our forefathers fought side by side at Gallipoli, and just as our forefathers went together to liberate Jerusalem with Saladin, we will march together on the same path to liberate Jerusalem.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnd you read that and you look at Ezekiel\u2019s prophecy and you look at the change that\u2019s happened in Turkey, even in our own lifetime, and you say it\u2019s astounding that God\u2019s Word picked up on this very thing, back 2600 years ago. Of course God would pick up on it because God is omniscient. He knows the end from the beginning. So your Bible is revealing things, stage setting events that are sharply, and I mean sharply coming into focus, even in our own day.\r\n\r\nWell, let\u2019s talk about Rosh, or Russia just for a moment. For many, many years it seemed that a prophecy of Russia invading Israel seemed bizarre, strange, because after all, Russia was an Orthodox Christian country. The state adopted Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988, but isn\u2019t it interesting how Russia herself has fit into the scenario that Ezekiel describes, with the communist revolution.\r\n\r\nWe remember Russia\u2019s expansionistic cold war policies. We see a lot of evidence of it today, do we not, with Putin. Remember him rolling right over the neighboring state of Georgia in 2008. We\u2019ve seen his activities in the Ukraine, Crimea; you pick up the news today and almost on a daily basis Russia or Putin is involved in something, Syria. And so it\u2019s astounding that Ezekiel\u2019s prophecies picked up on this.\r\n\r\nWe remember Mikhail Gorbachev, and perestroika, and glasnost, and how the world started singing a tune that I\u2019ve got a feeling everything\u2019s going to be all right, it\u2019s a new day. And I thought to myself at that time, and I was laughed at, I was a college student and I would try to articulate some of these things in the classroom, I would say I don\u2019t trust anything that Russia is doing, I think it\u2019s just smoking mirrors, I think what is happening is it\u2019s two steps backward, three steps forward. And that type of thinking was just dismissed. But isn\u2019t it interesting how Russia is making much of a comeback today, in our time period that we\u2019re living in now, in an expansionistic way.\r\n\r\nI kind of look at Russia as one of those nations that Islam doesn\u2019t yet control but I\u2019m really starting to rethink that. Your average Islamic couple has about five children. In 1991 there were, according to Dr. Renald Showers in his book, The Coming Apocalypse, there were about 300 mosques in Russia and he projected by the year 2015, which is our year, today, that there would be 25,000 mosques in Russia. Could it be possible that even Russia herself will come under Islamic ideology and persuasion.\r\n\r\nOne of the really interesting things to take a look at is the alliance between Persia, Iran and Rosh or Russia. Iran, because it needed its military rebuilt from the Iraq-Iran war had cash but no weapons. Russia, because of the collapse of communism had weapons but no what? Cash. So it was a match made in heaven, or hell, depending on your point of view. Russia gives to Iran weapons; Iran gives to Russia cash. What is being described here is a partnership, if you will, between Rosh and Persia. And I would say to you that that very thing is happening constantly, it\u2019s just a matter of reading the newspaper and seeing evidence of it over and over again.\r\n\r\nAnd how the whole thing, even prior to 1979 seemed like it could never take place because after all, Iran, under the Shah was an ally, not of Russia but the United States of America and how everything shifted with the advent of the Ayatollah and our alliance with that nation disappeared. And how Persia is now in a very strong alliance with Rosh or Russia, the very thing that Ezekiel saw 2600 years ago.\r\n\r\nAnd of course, the burning question in all of our minds is where is the United States of America in all of this? Well, conspicuously absent from any prophetic text is the United States of America. And we say to ourselves, well, wouldn\u2019t the United States of America step in and help her long-standing ally, Israel? Most people don\u2019t know this but Richard Nixon\u2026 you might have some very strong feelings about Richard Nixon one way or the other, but I can guarantee you this, Richard Nixon saved Israel. I know the man wasn\u2019t perfect. Richard Nixon, in fact, let me just read a brief excerpt from an article.\r\n\r\n\u201cAs a young boy growing up Richard Nixon\u2019s Christian and Quaker mother told him that one day he would be in a powerful position and a situation would arise where Israel and the Jews needed help.\u201d Now as I have understood the story, his mother was reading to him from the book of Esther and she sort of paused and broke out almost like a prophecy and began to speak these things into his life. And it says, \u201cwhen it did\u201d she said, \u201che was to help them.\u201d It was reported that Nixon said he heard the voice of his mother saying these things when he was responding to a call and a plea for help from Golda Meir at 3:00 a.m. in the morning, October of 1973, during what is called the Yom Kippur War. And as the article goes on and it describes how miraculous weapons emerged from Richard Nixon, and Golda Meir went to her gave saying Richard Nixon is my President.\r\n\r\nI get a little choked up on it as you might detect because I compared that to current statements that are made where we have our own President saying things like \u201cthe future must not belong to those who slander the prophet Islam.\u201d What a diametrically different concept that is from the Richard Nixon White House. I would encourage you to Google this article by Ben Shapiro: A Complete Timeline of Obama\u2019s Anti-Israel Hatred. And it will document everything the Obama administration has done to Israel in terms of disrespect, beginning from the very day that Obama took office, in a timeline fashion. Statements like \u201cwe\u2019re going to put daylight between the United States and Israel,\u201d John Kerry calling the nation of Israel an apartheid state, the fact that Netanyahu shows up and makes speeches the President won\u2019t attend, the cabinet won\u2019t attend the speech, and so forth.\r\n\r\nI don\u2019t think Israel needs America, I think America needs Israel. And the reason I say that is because Israel has God on her side. And I\u2019m a very firm believer in Genesis 12:3. I don\u2019t agree blindly in everything Israel does, God didn\u2019t either, just read your Old Testament and you see that pretty clearly, but I have a healthy respect for Israel. I want to see them independent, I want to them thrive, I want to see them prosper because there\u2019s a spillover blessing that occurs. Genesis 12:3 is very clear, \u201cI will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse.\u201d That\u2019s what God said. And I think a lot of the blessings that we\u2019ve had in America, in this country, are attributable to our faithfulness to our longstanding ally, Israel. And it disturbs me and I know prophetically it has to happen, but it disturbs me to a large extent to see America herself turning her back on Israel.\r\n\r\nBut then again, God said it would happen because in Zechariah 14, around verses 2 and 3 it says every nation, now doesn\u2019t \u201cevery\u201d include America? Every nation will come against Israel. [Zechariah 14:2-3, \u201cFor I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. [3] Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as when He fights on a day of battle. [4] In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives\u2026.]\r\n\r\nOne of the players that we didn\u2019t really have a chance to cover yesterday was Tarshish, Dedan and Sheba, take a look, if you will, at Ezekiel 38:13, it says, \u201cSheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you,\u201d when this invasion happens, \u201c\u2018Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize pounder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?\u2019\u201d\r\n\r\nSo what are Sheba and Dedan and Tarshish saying? Well, they\u2019re just protesting, they\u2019re not doing anything to stop the invasion. It\u2019s just what we would call sort of a lame protest. Sheba and Dedan are pretty easy to document. Dedan is in Saudi Arabia; Sheba could very well be in Saudi Arabia or perhaps a little bit lower in Yemen, and Tarshish is where Jonah fled to, which most people believe is modern day Spain. So Tarshish would represent Europe to some extent; Sheba and Dedan would represent Saudi Arabia to some extent.\r\n\r\nAnd you know, you read that and we just kind of read over it, and then all of a sudden this little headline pops up, very recently: Saudi Prince, Saudi Arabia, says I\u2019ll side with Israel against the Palestinian uprising and Iran. And you read that and you look at Ezekiel 38:13 and it\u2019s like the prophetic passages are jumping right off the pages to us in our time period. There will be a lame protest uttered once this invasion transpires.\r\n\r\nA third strategic trend is this? A scenario must be in place whereby an overwhelming coalition of nations comes against Israel and is miraculously rebuffed. In other words, Israel wins against all odds, and may I just say to you that that whole scenario has happened a number of times, already, in our lifetime, on miniature scale. In 1948 who would have bet on the Jews in 1948. Everything was against them, yet Israel wins. 1967, the Six Day War, Israel was outnumbered and yet Israel wins again. 1973, the Yom Kippur War, Israel wins again. 1990, the Persian Gulf War with Saddam Hussein launching scud missiles at Israel, Israel wins again.\r\n\r\nAnd you keep seeing these things happen and it\u2019s almost like God is saying you\u2019ve seen the dress rehearsal, I\u2019ve showed you the dress rehearsal five, six, seven times, are you ready for the main act yet? And it\u2019s like we\u2019re being prepared to witness the very thing that this prophet saw 2600 years ago. You see, if I was talking like this 100 years ago, 50 years ago, 25 years ago, 10 years , would make no sense, the things I would be saying. And yet, here I am talking about these things simply faithfully trying to teach the Bible and suddenly the whole scenario is credible, where we have an interest in these things because oh my goodness, the Bible has, history has caught up to the very thing that Ezekiel said would happen.\r\n\r\nIn conclusion let me give you seven points of application. This is the \u201cso what\u201d section, great information so what, I\u2019ve got to work tomorrow, Monday morning, how\u2019s this going to help me? Number 1, prophecy is proof of biblical inspiration. Prophecy is history in advance. Prophecy comes us from the mind of an omniscient God. In fact, God Himself challenges the idols of His day in Isaiah 48:3, 5, by saying which of you can predict the future. God says I can. [Isaiah 48:3, 5, \u201cI declared the former things long ago and they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. [5] Therefore I declared them to you long ago, before they took place I proclaimed them to you, so that you would not say, \u2018My idol has done them, and my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.\u2019\u201d]\r\n\r\nBecause you\u2019re going to be challenged in your work place, even in your family amongst unbelievers that this Bible that you\u2019re reading is an absolute fairy tale, it means nothing, and you need to remember that the Bible is unique amongst any other book that\u2019s ever been written because it reveals history in advance. It gives us confidence for warfare that the Bible is God\u2019s Word. And I would say this, work this into your evangelism. I\u2019ve found that the world doesn\u2019t really care what we say but they\u2019ll give us a millimeter of hearing when you start connecting the dots with things happening in the Middle East.\r\n\r\nNumber 2, prophecy has a calming effect on the believer. There\u2019s a great amount of fear in many of the things that we\u2019ve studied at this conference and yet you study the pages of God\u2019s Word and you learn that God is in control of everything. God is sovereign, what a great reminder that is.\r\n\r\nNumber 3, we need not fear the rise of Islam. It is somewhat terrifying to examine these things as we\u2019ve studied in this conference and as you read a prophecy like this that God is going to bring Islam down on His timetable, so we need not fear its rise, God has got the whole thing under control.\r\n\r\nNumber 4, prophecy is a reminder of God\u2019s faithfulness. You think of everything that Israel has done against God, right down to rejecting His own Son, and yet through all of these centuries of unbelief and disobedience Israel may have forgotten about God but God has not forgotten about Israel, because that\u2019s God\u2019s nature. If God is going to be faithful to Israel to keep His promises, then guess what? He\u2019s going to be faithful to me and you and you may have had a season in your life where you\u2019ve been away from the Lord, and you may think that God has written you off, but we\u2019re reminded by the study of prophecy that God doesn\u2019t forget His promises. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, \u201cIf we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.\u201d\r\n\r\nNumber 5, keep your eye on Israel; Israel is the centerpiece of the action, to the unsaved world, to the political establishment, Israel looks just like a nation that\u2019s in the way of progress, but that\u2019s not the way God thinks about Israel. In fact, look at Ezekiel 38:12, the very last phrase in verse 12, it describes Israel \u201cat the center of the world.\u201d Ezekiel 5:5 says virtually the same thing, \u201cThus says the Lord GOD, \u2018This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her.\u2019\u201d This is how God thinks when He looks at the world, He looks at Israel\u2026 now the Hebrew here is very interesting, it\u2019s a translation that means the navel, or the bellybutton, the center of your being, that\u2019s in essence the way God looks at the nation of Israel. You always have to keep your eye on Israel. Israel is God\u2019s timepiece.\r\n\r\nWilliam Blackstone in 1908 wrote a book entitled Jesus is Coming, a very famous book in prophecy circles, and this is what he says: \u201cIsrael is God\u2019s sundial.\u201d Now this is in 1908, forty years before Israel was restored nationally. \u201cIsrael is God\u2019s sundial; if anyone desires to know our place in God\u2019s chronology, our position in the great march of events, look at Israel.\u201d We have to start thinking the way God thinks as we look at the world through the lens of His Word.\r\n\r\nNumber 6, support Israel. If Satan\u2019s goal is to destroy Israel and God\u2019s goal is to sustain Israel which side of the angelic conflict do you want to be on? And we\u2019re reaching a point, beloved, where we\u2019re going to have to make a choice on this because the world itself is moving into DBS, I just subtract the D call it just BS but BDS stands for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions. That\u2019s happening all over college campuses, against Israel. In fact, there are Protestant denominations, as I\u2019m speaking, that are involved in discussions related to boycotting Israel. My goodness, you\u2019re taking the wrong side in the angelic conflict when you do things like that.\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s a belief that is just gobbling up mind after mind today in the evangelic church called replacement theology, which says that God is through with Israel as a nation. You buy into that belief system and it has to do more with a spiritual decision that a person is making in the war between God and the devil himself. \u201cAs for me and my house\u201d I want to speak up for Israel, I want to be Israel\u2019s best friend and I want to show up and vote whenever I can. And I\u2019m so proud of the city of Houston for shooting down that demonic [CLAPPING] ordinance. And that\u2019s the type of thing that can happen if God\u2019s people just take seriously the issues of the Bible and the issue of stewardship over our own government.\r\n\r\nDo you pray for Israel? Psalm 122:6 tells you to do that. It says, \u201cPray for the peace of Jerusalem: \u2018May they prosper who love you.\u2019\u201d Do you want to prosper? I do. And God says love Israel, and pray for Israel.\r\n\r\nAnd then finally, number 7, we need to remember that we are living on borrowed time. I\u2019ve given this example many times and it just fits so beautifully with here we are in November. You know, I went into a department store on November 1, the day after Halloween, and they had the Christmas stuff all up; I mean, they must camp out there at midnight and wait for the calendar to change and put all the Christmas stuff up. And you see the Santa Claus, you hear the Christmas music, you see Christmas lights, Christmas presents and you say to yourself, well you know what? Christmas is coming. But then you say something else, you know what, Thanksgiving is coming too. Now why is that? Because Thanksgiving occurs earlier on the calendar than Christmas.\r\n\r\nWhat are we seeing in the world today? We\u2019re seeing the whole world being set up for the seven year Tribulation period and I say to myself, the seven year tribulation period is coming. But you know what? The rapture is coming even faster because the rapture must precede the seven year tribulation period.\r\n\r\nWe should not be living our lives as if we have a lot of time to burn. We need to be using every opportunity that we have to share the gospel with people, with the understanding that we may not have a lot of time left. Maybe I\u2019ll live out my full life expectancy, maybe I won\u2019t, but I need to be living every moment of my life as if the Lord could come back today, because that\u2019s what the New Testament teaches, and we see it so relevant with the signs related to the tribulation period.\r\n\r\nAre there people in your life you need to share the gospel with? Do it now! Is there a sinful habit in your life that you need to submit to God and say I\u2019m not going to do that anymore, I\u2019m going to ask You to change me? Then now would be a good time to do that. And some of you may have come to this conference, you might not even know how to enter into a relationship with Jesus at all, and in that case we have very good news for you, we call this the gospel. We call it the gospel because the gospel simply means good news It\u2019s good news because Jesus did it all. He said, as His last words on the cross, \u201cIt is finished!\u201d Which means we contribute nothing to our salvation, we receive salvation as a free gift and in the mind of God there is only one way to receive a free gift and that is by faith, because \u201cwithout faith it is impossible to please God,\u201d Hebrews 11:6 says.\r\n\r\nFaith simply means trust, reliance, dependence. You have to reach a point in your personal decision where you\u2019re no longer trusting in yourself or your denomination, or what your parents believe, or whatever to get to heaven; you trust totally in Jesus and that\u2019s something you can do right now, even as I am speaking, it\u2019s a moment of privacy between you and the Lord, you don\u2019t have to raise a hand, walk an aisle, join a church to do it. It\u2019s a private moment between you and the Lord.\r\n\r\nSee, Islam is teaching you\u2019ve got to work your way to God, you climb up. What the Bible is saying is God reaches down, saying I have done all the work, trust in Me. And I hope you\u2019re doing that now and if you are doing it now or have done it you\u2019ve just changed your whole eternal destiny.\r\n\r\nThe role of Islam in Bible prophecy, we\u2019ve looked at the five journalistic questions and we\u2019ve looked at seven points of application. Shall we pray.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t