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  GOD'S PURPOSE FOR ISRAEL
  by Keith Malcomson
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Summary: This sermon delves into the intricate biblical prophecy and
divine plan for Israel, highlighting their scattering, regathering, and
ultimate spiritual restoration. It emphasizes the mystery of Israel's
role in world controversy and the significant impact their fullness will
have on the Gentile nations, leading to a massive revival. The message
urges understanding and prayer for the salvation and restoration of
Israel according to God's purpose.

Topics: "Divine Plan for Israel", "Spiritual Restoration and Revival"
Scripture References: Romans 11:25, Ezekiel 36:24, Zechariah 12:2, Romans 11:26, Romans 11:12, 1 Corinthians 3:14, Romans 11:15

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon delves into the intricate biblical prophecy and divine plan
for Israel, highlighting their scattering, regathering, and ultimate
spiritual restoration. It emphasizes the mystery of Israel's role in
world controversy and the significant impact their fullness will have on
the Gentile nations, leading to a massive revival. The message urges
understanding and prayer for the salvation and restoration of Israel
according to God's purpose.

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CONTENT
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Please turn with me in your Bible here tonight to Romans chapter 11.
We're going to read from verse 1 to verse 12. You know, I wasn't going
to preach tonight.

I told Brother Suf that the other day and I've had family, very
important few days. I really needed to rest. I never shut down at the
minute.

I never rest or really take a break and I need it. And family were in
and I needed these days just to be spent with them. It was a beautiful,
precious few days for me.

And so I'd settled that I went these three days. I don't have time to
study, to prepare or anything. I've got a message, but no time to study.

And I went, I'll do it next Wednesday night. But late last night, just
as I'm about to turn the light out, my mind starts to go, the Lord
starts speaking to me and a whole new message gets inserted. And I got
so giddy and excited.

I went, I don't even have time to wrestle through all of this, but it's
a whole new message. In fact, I can't go to the next message. With my
thinking, I would have jumped to the next message, but I'm so glad I
don't exalt myself to be in charge of the order of things.

So he can suddenly insert something. Next week wouldn't mean anything if
I don't deal with this. So please bear with me.

It won't be an imperfection, all that I would have it to be, but I just,
I believe it's important that we deal with it here. Last week we dealt
with in part two of this, of Israel, what next? Last week we dealt with
Gaza and the purpose of God or God's purpose for Gaza. That was our
message.

Here in part three, I want to deal with God's purpose for Israel.
Reading from Romans chapter 11 and verse one, and this is the apostle
Paul speaking. I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid,
for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of
Benjamin.

God has not cast away his people, which he foreknew. What ye not what
the scripture saith of Elias or Elijah, how he maketh intercession to
God against Israel saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets and dig
down thine altars and I am left alone and they seek my life. But what
saith the answer of God unto them? I have reserved to myself 7,000 men
who have not bowed the knees to the image of Baal.

Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to
the election of grace. And if by grace then it is no more of works,
otherwise grace is no more. But if it be of works, then it is no more
grace, otherwise work is no more work.

What then? Israel has not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the
election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded. According as it is
written, God has given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should
not see and ears that they should not hear unto this day. And David
saith, let their table be made a snare and a trap and a stumbling block
and a recompense unto them.

Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see and bow down their back
all way. I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God
forbid, but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the
Gentiles for to provoke them to jealousy. Now, listen this carefully,
now if the fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminution of
them be the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness.

Please pray together. Father, we love you, we praise you, we thank you
for the word of God. It keeps us straight, it keeps us clear, nor God in
this hour of controversy, of world affairs, of wars, nor God of much
media attention on Israel and Gaza, nor God we ask of you help us so God
not to think carnally, nor naturally or according to church tradition or
church history, but Father we pray that you open up the word of God,
bring us to the written scriptures and give us great light on God's
purpose for Israel.

Lord God, we come to you as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We were
strangers, we were outside the covenants of promise, but through the
precious blood of Jesus, you brought us in by faith, not by works, and
nor God us that did not have mercy, find mercy in your sight. We thank
you God that we've been brought into all the blessings of God in Christ
Jesus through the line of Abraham, and Father tonight we pray, nor God
show us, make us to stand in awe of God's purpose for this little nation
of Israel in the past, in the present, and in the future, that your name
might receive all the glory and the praise and the honor, that you might
encourage us and edify us, nor God that we might see the hand of
sovereignty, nor God that you're a mighty God, that you're a gracious
God, that you're a good God, that you're a God that works according to
divine election, nor God that you are a God that works according to
foreknowledge, my God that you're a merciful and a great God, and Father
thank God you are, nor God we just submit ourselves to you tonight, that
you're very gracious unto us that are called the church, in Jesus mighty
name, amen.

My message here tonight is God's purpose for Israel, and just again that
first verse in Romans chapter 11 verse 1, I say then hath God cast away
his people, God forbid, God forbid it, and that's going to be a very
important statement for the future weeks with some of the things I'm
going to deal with. I've got several things here I want to deal with
tonight, God's purpose for Israel. Last week we looked at God's purpose
for Gaza, we went back and looked at the scriptures, the mentions of
Gaza in the Bible, 19 times Gaza is mentioned in the Bible, a small
little bit of land, 30 miles by five miles, but mentioned in the Bible,
God prophesies about Gaza, much is revealed about Gaza, but nothing in
comparison to Israel, and I want to give you several points here in this
message, and I'm going to be brief and concise, and I don't want to say
that and be a liar, so maybe I shouldn't say it, I should withhold
myself from such statements, but by concise says I'm giving you key
essential points, I'm not teaching on each of them, I'm giving you the
raw material, and I could preach an entire message on each of these, but
I want you to hear it and we'll deal with it more in weeks to come, but
I want you to see from the Bible God's purpose for Israel in the Bible.

Number one, Israel defined, and this is very important because I believe
lots of people through theology, church tradition, ideologies, go in
different extremes in defining Israel, before I show you God's purpose
for Israel from the Bible, you've got to understand who Israel is, what
it is, and where it is, that is very, very important, and so we go to
the Bible to find out our definition of Israel, don't go anywhere else,
not to the early church fathers, not to history, certainly not to
today's media or today's preachers, let's go back to the Bible, what
does the word Israel mean in the Bible, what is it, who is Israel in the
Bible, the name Israel occurs about 2,600 times in our Bible, that's
very, very significant, the name Christian is only mentioned three times
in our Bible, yet we use it all the time, but Israel is used 2,600 times
throughout the entirety of the Bible, and when you begin to look at what
is Israel, who is Israel, you see they are the physical, literal, direct
descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the entirety of Israel come
out of one man, one woman, one house, one family, and they raised up an
entire family, and that family became tribes, it became an entire
nation, an extraordinary nation, Jacob gave birth to 12 children, and
those children become the heads of entire tribes, we read in our Bible
about Jacob when Joseph is already down in Egypt as a great man, as a
man with power, second in command to Pharaoh, we read that Jacob at the
end of the story, he sends for his old father Jacob, and Jacob comes
down into Egypt, and we're told that the people of Israel, that small
family only numbered 70 people, only 70 people, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
this is Israel, when you read the story of Jacob, you read about the
night he wrestled all through the night with the Lord, and because he
wrestled and triumphed in prayer with the angel of the Lord, do you
remember the Lord changed his name, which means God literally changed
his character, and touched him, and he never walked the same again, he
always walked with a limp thereafter, do you know what the name Israel
means? It means a prince with God, you have wrestled with God and got
the victory, literally one man wrestling for one night in prayer with
God, birth for something that was phenomenal, never underestimate one
night praying through with God, I've had those nights, I can remember
when I was 10 years old, or 12 years old, or 13, or 21, or 25, or 31, I
can remember incidents one single night where I wrestled through with
God, I mean I wrestled in prayer, I would not let go of him, I didn't
just say a little token prayer and go off to bed, I was desperate, I had
faith in my heart, I needed to touch God, I wanted to get something,
well that's what happened to this man, this man Jacob, remember what his
name means, conniver, twister, that's what he was, what God do, God
touched him and changed him from being a conniver, a twister, to being a
prince with God, a man who knew how to wrestle with God, you know what,
God can change you in one night of prayer, one night of prayer, you
could be so changed that God's plan and purpose could come out of you,
you can't even imagine what God could do with your house, your family,
if you can get a hold of God, and so Israel went down into the land of
Egypt for a period of 400 years, and when they come up out of the land
of Egypt through Moses, there was two to three million people, 70
people, one family became an entire great nation that was delivered by
God, and so we see this name Israel, talking about a people, a family,
12 tribes, 2600 times plus, when you go over into the New Testament, the
name Israel is used 51 times, and listen to me carefully, in the New
Testament, it almost always, apart from maybe one or two times, it
always talks about the same national, physical, racial people who came
from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is never spiritualized, there's no
term written that says spiritual Israel, it's not there, never is the
church confused with Israel, it's important you understand this, and so
in the New Testament, we are not called Israel, never, not once, not at
all, so the name Israel is always very specific, very carefully used, in
Galatians 6 verse 16, this is one of those rare times, it talks about
the Israel of God, and theologians argue what that means, but it's
obscure, all the other times, it is very clear, in Romans chapter 9,
Paul defining what a Jew is, what Israel is, he goes very carefully, he
says, all that are called Israel aren't actually Israel, but he's not
making it broader to include the church and all believers outside of
Israel, oh no, he's narrowing it, and so the national state of Israel,
the national people of Israel, he actually limits it, restricts it,
narrows it, and says a true Israelite, the real Israel are those that
believe, those who have a spiritual condition of the heart towards God,
that's the real Israel, he doesn't deny the literal physical nation
called Israel, but he just says, if you really want to define Israel
correctly, this is how you do it, so it's not a broad term, including
all the people of God, oh no, it's actually a restricted term, even the
city of Jerusalem is also, and we can't talk about Israel without
mentioning Jerusalem, it's been the only capital of Israel ever
throughout 4,000 years of history, no other city was their city or their
capital, it's always been Jerusalem, that's been worldwide history
making, that Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people, and so when
you come to the Bible again, you read the name Jerusalem, 814 times in
our Bible, listen now, these facts need a dawn on you, because there's a
lot of media that's a load of tripe, okay, and you need to know what
your Bible says, your Bible mentions Jerusalem 814 times, guess how many
times the Quran mentions the name Jerusalem in the entire Quran, not
even once, zilch, they claim Jerusalem as one of their three holy
cities, the Quran doesn't even mention Jerusalem, but all through our
Bible, it's mentioned, it's histories given, details are given, Muhammad
never once mentioned Jerusalem, if you come over to the New Testament,
Jerusalem is mentioned 130 times in our New Testament, and then let's go
a little bit further, what about the name Jew, that is so associated
with Israel, the name Jew is used 84 times in the Old Testament, 84
times, that's not many, but in the New Testament, it's mentioned 192
times, Jew in the New Testament, more than in the Old Testament, and
again, you don't have terms of we are the spiritual Jews, that's not so,
you're not a Jew, you can't be a Jew, unless you convert and become a
Jew, and then you'd be backslidden, on your way to hell if you've done
that, so you can never be a Jew, if you weren't born a Jew, or if you
didn't convert to be a Jew, 70 times in the John's Gospel in the New
Testament, Jew is mentioned, more than any other book in the New
Testament, John's Gospel, which is about God's heavenly people, and
God's heavenly son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet it mentions Jews all
of this time, you see, these terms are very important, they're in our
Bible, what was a Jew, originally the name Jew in the Old Testament,
came specifically out of Judah, not all of Israel, but only Judah, it
was a specific name, it was limited, it was restricted, but from Judah,
it then becomes synonymous with the name Israel, so all of Israel, or
those that were religious and devoid in their faith, became known by the
time of the New Testament, to be Jews, so to be an Israelite, often
meant you were also a Jew, but not always, it was a unique name given to
these worshippers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but again,
Jew is never used of the church, you don't get spiritual Jews, and in
fact in Romans chapter 2, we have clear definitions of what a Jew is, it
defines the term, it limits it, again, it restricts it, it doesn't
enlarge it, and again over in Revelation chapter 2 and 3, when it talks
about Jews in the seven letters to the seven churches, you know what it
says, they that say they are Jews, but are not, in other words, it was
talking about those who say, we're Jews, we're practicing Jews, we're
religious Jews, we believe in the Old Testament, we believe in the law
of Moses, but yet Jesus said they're not really Jews, they're not even
practicing Jews, they're not authentic Jews, they're actually
hypocritical in all of their ways, so you've got to define this term
Israel and Jerusalem and Jew to begin understanding, and that's the
first thing I want you to see, who are Israel? They've got a capital,
they've got a nation, because the people of Israel, when they moved into
the land of Canaan, that name, that nation was renamed Israel, an entire
nation with boundaries, with borders, with mountains, with valleys, with
rivers, all of that became Israel. So what started with a man, then a
nation, became an entire land with regulated borders, and see this
Bible, it gives the land, wasn't given to the Palestinians, wasn't given
to the PLO, wasn't given to Hamas, wasn't given to Islam. You know what?
We have exact records, 4,000 years old, given by prophets, by men of
God, by Abraham himself, the father of the faith, and you're given an
exact land.

In fact, let me just tell you about this name Palestine. As we define
the name Israel, let's consider the name Palestine. Some claim it comes
from the term land of the Philistines, but where did this name Palestine
originate? It was actually given by the Greeks and the Romans, almost
2,000 years ago, speaking about the land of Canaan, when they wanted to
discredit Israel, who'd been there for 2,000 years, they created this
name Palestine.

Then it wasn't used for 1,900 years. It wasn't used, you couldn't find
Palestinians in Palestine during the 19th century. You could search far
and wide, nobody called themselves a Palestinian, and yet Israel, for
4,000 years, called themselves Israel.

We are Jews, and you go back just 150 years, and you won't find any
Arabs, any Muslims, calling themselves Palestinians. These are facts,
these are details, and so the Hebrew prophets predicted that in the
future, Jerusalem would be the capital of the world, not the Palestinian
capital. You see, Palestinian is a counterfeit name, mistermed,
misunderstood, misclaimed.

Israel is an ancient name, a historical name, a very well-recorded name,
a name that you can trace through all of history, through many different
events. That's the first thing, Israel defined. Number two, Israel
saved.

Listen to what it says in Romans chapter 10 and verse 1, and this is the
great apostle Paul writing, and I'm going to quote a lot from Romans
here tonight. You know the book of Romans we preached about many times
from it, about justification by faith, or being washed in the blood, or
being crucified by Christ. You remember all those teachings? Well, from
chapter 1 to chapter 8, you've got this progression.

You've got the fall of man, the depravity of man for the first few
chapters, then justification by faith, then the work of the cross and
the victorious Christian life, then our wrestling with sin in Romans
chapter 7, Romans chapter 8, what it really is to walk in the spirit,
then mystery of mystery you get to Romans chapter 9 through to 11, and
it's talking about Israel, national Israel, Israel as a nation outside
of Christ, but also God's plan and God's purpose for Israel. He's not
confusing it with the church. He's not spiritualizing it.

He's not doing anything of that. You know what he's showing? God's plan
to save Israel. Listen to what it says in Romans chapter 10 in verse 1.
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved.

And so you see the great apostle, what was his heart's desire? I mean
deep desire, passion, burden for Israel. What was his desire? That the
Palestinians get victory over them, that they get punished for their
rejection of Jesus Christ. Oh no, oh no.

You know what he says? That they might be saved. That was his chief
desire, and not only his desire, his prayer. Do you know how Paul was
praying for Israel? And you ought to be praying for Israel, not just to
be saved from bombs and bullets and death.

You ought to be saying, my heart's desire for Israel, my prayer is that
they be saved. If you meet someone who's a Christian, and they're
cursing Israel, and blackening them, and speaking against them, and they
never talk about their heart's desire, oh that they might be saved.
There's something wrong with that person.

Either with their mind, their mind's not right, or their heart's not
right. If their heart doesn't burn and say, oh I desire that Israel
would get saved. What does the term save mean? It means to be born
again, saved from their sin, regenerate, going from darkness into light.

You know Paul was saying here, Israel as a nation, having rejected
Christ, is in need of salvation. They actually need salvation. And
Paul's desire, as he begins to show chapter 9 to chapter 11, here he
begins to show God's purpose for national Israel, a physical people, the
seed of Abraham, outside of Jesus Christ.

Isn't it strange from chapter 1 to chapter 8, he speaks about the
church, about salvation, about redemption, about victory over sin, and
then he turns his attention, and for three chapters, chapter 9, chapter
10, chapter 11, he talks about national Israel. There's a lot of
Christians say, oh I don't know about Israel. I don't need to know about
Israel.

Do you need to know about the sinfulness of men? Do you need to know
about justification by faith? Do you need to know that you're crucified
with Christ on the cross and buried into his death? Do you think that
Israel is of no consequence? And when you read Romans, you're building
all the way through. A lot of Christians, they stop at Romans chapter 8
and go, chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 11, I don't understand it. It
means nothing to me.

I don't need to understand. I don't need to understand God's plan and
purpose for Israel. Nothing to do with me.

Doesn't affect my Christian life. Does it not? Does it not? Maybe it
does more than we can ever imagine. And so the great apostle Paul moves
from a walk in the spirit, genuine believers, he moves straight into
talking about national Israel outside of Christ.

And he begins to teach, for I bear them record that they have a zeal of
God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.

Again in chapter 9, verse 1, this is what he says. I say the truth in
Christ. I lie not.

My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have
great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. Do you see this is
hard for Israel? I'm continually sorrowful for Israel. I'm burdened over
them.

I'm broken over them. I'm praying for them. Do you pray for Israel? Are
you burdened for the salvation of Israel? Is this a part of your
Christian life or have you spiritualized the term? Have you done
something the Bible never does and the apostles never did is to take the
term Israel and go, well, God only cares about the spiritual people, the
church of Jesus Christ.

That wasn't Paul. That wasn't the apostle here. He actually goes on to
say, for I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my
brethren.

Notice how he defines who he's speaking about, Israel, my brethren, my
brothers, my kin men according to the flesh. Do you know that Paul was a
Jew, a zealous Jew, a radical Jew who killed Christians. He was of the
tribe of Benjamin.

He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was a devout Jew who with a good
conscience kept all of the law, trying to be good enough for salvation.
Well, here he is.

He's defining what a Jew is. My kin's men, according to the flesh, they
are a physical people outside of Christ. That's who Israel is in the New
Testament and Paul's heart, the great apostle of the Gentiles.

Remember, he's not the apostle of the Jews. Peter was. This is the
apostle who says, I'm going to Ephesus.

I'm going to Corinth. I'm going to Rome. I'm going to Spain.

I'm reaching out to pagans, to unbelievers, to dark nations. What does
he teach about Israel? Do you know what my passion is? That Israel might
be saved. Oh, I'm the apostle of the Gentiles, but I've got a burden for
Israel.

Listen, he goes further. Who are Israelites? To whom pertaineth the
adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and
the service of God and the promise? Whose are the fathers, talking about
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of whom as concerning the flesh, Christ
came, who is over all. God bless forever.

Amen. So this people who Paul's saying here are outside of Christ.
They're not walking according to faith.

They haven't received the righteousness of Christ. They're his physical,
natural people. But do you know what he says? They're the ones who had
all of the covenants.

All of the promises were theirs. It was all in Israel. This is Paul.

This is theology. This is what we ought to believe. This is clear
biblical teaching.

Number three, Israel scattered. I'm showing you from the Bible here,
God's purpose for Israel. And you've got to understand this, this third
point, Israel scattered.

Almost 4,000 years ago, God spoke to Abraham and said, I've given you
this land to Abraham. It was a specific land. He's only one man.

He can't have children. His wife, Sarah, was barren. They've got a
promise.

Hey, Abraham, your children are going to be more than the stars of the
heaven and the sand on the seashore. Try counting the stars tonight. See
if you get outside and it's a clear night.

Start counting the stars. Go down to the beach there, Ballybunion or
somewhere else, and begin to go one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
I'll see you in a millennium, okay? I'll see you a long time down the
road.

One, two, three. You know what God says? Can you count them? Your seed's
going to be more than what you can possibly count there. It's
remarkable.

And what does he say to Abraham? I have given you this land. You're
literally walking upon it. This is an extraordinary thing that Israel,
when we read their full history for 1,900 years, were out of that land.

Something happened to them. Why would God say this is your land? Promise
it to them, and then be there, their prophets, their kings, their
princes, their people, their patriarchs. And yet for 1,900 years, almost
half of their entire history, they weren't in the land.

Have you ever stopped and asked why? It's this third point, Israel
scattered. Do you know that was a part of God's plan and purpose, that
Israel were going to be scattered? It wasn't outside of his plan. It was
all part of his plan.

And yet that people, in a period of 1,900 years, they retained their
culture, their language, their religion, their roots, their family
structure, all of this. Do you know no nation in history for 6,000 years
have ever got removed from their nation and brought back into the same
land and retained their same language and same religion? Israel, a small
nation, is the only nation in the entire world, the entire history of
mankind, the entire history of religion. No other people have ever
managed to accomplish that.

And yet Israel, the seed of Abraham, managed to do that. So you're
beginning to see the plan and the purpose of God here. And in fact, the
Bible says not only are they going to be scattered, but they're going to
be scattered from a very specific land.

And when they get regathered, they're going to come back to a very
specific land, the same land that Abraham walked on, built his altars
on, was buried in, and buried his wife in. You read the names of, in the
days of Abraham, you read about Hebron and Bethel and Ai. You read about
all of these places like Shechem, Bethany, Jerusalem, all of these, and
yet they're there today.

They are real places in the land of Israel where the real people of
Israel are now living. It's utterly remarkable, all of these things. But
Israel scattered was in the plan and purpose of God.

Listen to what God spoke through Moses in Deuteronomy 28, 64. And the
Lord shall scatter thee among all people. It only happened once in their
entire history, once, one single time, that they were scattered as a
nation to all nations, all people, only once.

And the Lord shall scatter thee. Who's going to scatter thee? The
Romans? No. Nebuchadnezzar? No.

God is going to scatter you. He's speaking about Israel, the seed of
Abraham from the mountains of Israel. God is going to scatter you.

God's hand is going to do this. And you know what? In that scattering,
you're going to go to live in many different nations across the world,
from one end of the earth even to the other, and there thou shalt serve
other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and
stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall
the sole of thy foot find rest.

You know what he was prophesying? You'll never come to rest there.
There's going to be a day you come back. I'm going to scatter you to all
nations.

But why did he scatter them? Even Christ prophesied during his earthly
ministry. He said, I would have gathered you as a mother hen. Judgment
is coming.

You mothers in Jerusalem, you're going to bemoan the day. You're going
to cry out in this city. Your babies are going to cry out.

He warned them of judgment. Judgment is coming on this city. You're
going to get scattered.

Why? Because they rejected him. See, the Jews rejected the Messiah, the
promises of the Old Testament. Do you remember what Israel, as they
gathered in the streets, remember Pilate said, who will you have to be
delivered? A murderer, a man that's a known criminal, or this man,
Jesus, who calls himself your Messiah? You know what they said? They
said, let his blood be upon us and our children.

Remember, that's why he washed his hands. This Roman leader, he said,
you take the consequence. You know what? They absolutely did.

Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple, the destruction of the
city. Not one stone is going to sit upon another stone. Remember when
the apostle Paul began to teach and preach and minister in pioneer
churches? Remember many times he went to the Jew first, went into a town
or city.

Where's the synagogue? He went preach to the Jew first. And then if they
rejected him, he turned to the Gentiles. And so we see in the book of
Acts, I turn from you, the Jews, unto the Gentiles.

And that's where I'm going. The Jews rejected the gospel. You know what?
The branch was cut off the tree.

Blindness came onto them. A veil fell upon them. All in the plan and
purpose of God.

Do you know what happened as a consequence of that? According to Romans
chapter 11, your fall meant the gospel went to all Gentiles, all nations
of the world. I had a plan. Even in their fall, they're scattered.

Them rejecting the gospel, I had a plan on that. The gospel's going to
go to all nations. And so how did their scattering take place? You have
heard it many times, I'm sure.

In 70 AD, the city was conquered by the Roman army. 1 million people in
the city of Jerusalem died in that awful besiegement. 1 million in a
small city.

100,000 were sold as slaves. There's good records of all of this. And
the Jewish diaspora began to happen where they were scattered across
many nations.

See, in Roman history, Rome usually didn't scatter nations. It was very
rare for them to scatter an entire nation, disrupt them, displace them.
Very rare.

But they'd done it to Israel. They didn't just do it to every nation
across the Mediterranean. They'd done it specifically.

You know who was doing it? God was scattering a nation that had the
covenants, had the promises, had the truth of the patriarchs. This was
all given to them. Listen to me for a second.

The dispersion began in AD 70. But later, under Emperor Hadrian,
remember Hadrian's wall that separates England from Scotland? Remember
Emperor Hadrian, a Roman emperor who came and he built that wall.
Couldn't defeat the Scottish.

Couldn't conquer the Picts. So what did he do? He just built a wall.
What a good idea.

Just those painted barbarous men will build the wall and keep them in.
It was that same Hadrian who from 117 to 138, he was a Roman emperor.
But he went into Jerusalem and brought another final scattering of the
city of Jerusalem and an utter destruction of it.

Anything left, he finalized the work. We know that in the city of
Jerusalem that the Muslims then moved in in an extraordinary way. Let me
just say about Hadrian.

He destroyed 985 towns in Israel. Hadrian did. And he scattered and
killed.

He killed a further 580,000 men. This was a scattering that was
prophesied. Jesus tried to warn this is going to happen to your city, to
your nation.

It's going to be terrible. But still they did not listen. Because they
rejected this.

Then after all of that, Islam came in to rule the city of Jerusalem in
the year 638. In the city, they blocked up the Golden Gate or the
Eastern Gate in the year 810. Do you know why? Because the Bible
prophesies that through that Eastern Gate, the Jewish Messiah is going
to come back one of these days.

That's from Mount Oliviet that he's going to walk back in there. What
did the Muslims do? They built it up. Guess what? It's built up today
and there's a graveyard outside it.

You know what? They don't want the Jewish Messiah to come in. I'm going
to tell you someone's going to come walking in that gate one of these
days. And so we see that even in Israel scattered, God had a plan.

God had a purpose. Then 1900 years, listen to me carefully, 1900 years,
even just 100 years ago, most Jews, most Israelites scattered in the
nations thought it utterly impossible they would ever have a nation
again. Those that dreamed of having a homeland never thought it could be
in Israel, their national land given to Abraham.

They thought maybe in Africa, maybe somewhere else, but it couldn't be
in that actual spot. It would be the dream of a madman. 100 years ago,
that's what many of them, good Jews thought.

In the year 1900, the Turkish who ruled over the land, they actually had
a tree tax all through Israel, the native land of Israel. That's why it
was so barren. And you know what? The Bible prophesies they'll only come
back at a time where all the mountains are barren, the entire land is
barren.

And the Turkish ruling that said, you get taxed for every tree in your
property. You grew a tree outside your house, we're going to tax you. So
what did they do? They themselves cut down all of the trees.

It was treeless, barren, waste, desolate, lots of swampland, lots of
illness, lots of malaria, almost abandoned, uncultivated, almost
unoccupied, thinly populated. That's what it was like 100 years ago. And
yet, what do we begin seeing? God stirred up the hearts to say, I'm
going to regather Israel.

This is point four. Point four, Israel regathered. It is of great
interest that Jeremiah and Ezekiel in the Old Testament both prophesied
that Israel would be scattered amongst all nations.

Only happened once in their history, and it happened for 1900 years. Two
great prophets said it would happen. They would be in all nations, not
just Assyria, not just Babylon.

And that once they're in all nations, a day would come when they'd be
regathered again. And the regathering to their land would be from all
nations. Listen, Ezekiel prophesied in Ezekiel 34, 13, 36, 24, 39, 27,
that they'd be regathered from all nations.

That's an important term because it only happened once during this 1900
years. You know, those who don't believe real Israel has gathered, they
don't believe present day Israel is the same as the old Israel. They
argue against it.

They mock it. They say today's Israel isn't the same. Then God lied.

God lied because my Bible says the same God who scattered them from
Jerusalem into all nations is going to be the same God who at a certain
time is going to regather them once again. In 1920, Jews began to
purchase the land, drain the swamps, and began to plant trees once
again. It says in Ezekiel 39, verse 25 to 29, it speaks there a prophecy
about a literal return to the land.

Sorry, it's chapter 37. A literal return to a land, a literal war, a
literal revival to a literal Israel. All of this is happening.

Israel is going to be regathered. From Ezekiel 36 to 39, we read about
the regathering, restoration, and resurrection of an entire nation. And
you know what? Their homeland, it says they're going to come back to a
specific place, their old homeland that they left, and when they come
back to it, it's going to be barren, it's going to be desolate, it's
going to be empty, and they're going to be restored again.

An entire nation and people is going to be revitalized. What do we have
today? They've got the same religion. They've got the same capital.

They've got the same traditions. They've got the same language. They've
got the same Old Testament scriptures, and they're back in the same
towns, the same cities, the same nation, the same region.

All of this is happening according to the purpose of God. This wasn't
man who done it. If you ever hear people argue and talk about how world
government has done this, and say this is a part of the new world order,
I'm going to tell you you've got a problem with the Bible.

Because if you're listening to that, and it could all be true, all of
that in detail could be true. Or you might say, especially those online,
you won't say it, but I'm telling you someone online is going to be
saying it, more than a few, and they'll say, are you supporting them
attacking and killing and doing this to Gaza? Absolutely not. I don't
need to defend anyone.

I don't need to justify anything they do. What I'm telling you is Israel
was regathered. Present day Israel is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

It is extraordinary, absolutely amazing. And so when you come to Ezekiel
36, you begin to read of this gradual restoration of an entire nation.
From chapter 37 verse 11, the Lord gives the explanation of the prophecy
concerning the valley of dry bones.

Remember Ezekiel prophesied, here's a valley filled with bones. And he
begins prophesying, bone came together to bone, then the flesh, then the
sinews, and it suddenly rises up as a mighty army. What's it talking
about? Is it a spiritual revival? Oh no, it's more than that.

It's a nation. Because he actually goes on to explain that about being a
physical restoration. Listen to verse 11.

These bones are the whole house of Israel. When they got dispersed,
there's Israel and Judah. When they get regathered, there's going to be
one house of Israel.

Verse 11 says, they say our bones are dried. In other words, that word
dried means ashamed, confused, disappointed, dried up, we're withering.
It also says in verse 11, our hope is lost.

This is what they are saying. In other words, our expectation, it's
lost. It goes on to say, we are cut off in our parts.

We are destroyed. We're divided. It gives you an inside picture of
Israel scattered in the nations.

But what does he say? Under these, I'm going to regather them to the
nation again. And he said, very many, they're very dry. I'm going to
bring them up out of their graves.

That was the German Holocaust. That's what happened to them in Soviet
Russia. Verse 8 says, they'll be gathered out of all nations and they'll
return to their own land and a day will come when they'll dwell safely.

That hasn't just happened yet. That's never happened. It's yet to
happen.

I don't know how it's going to happen, but it's going to happen. They're
going to be very prosperous. And so chapter 36 and 37 were literally
fulfilled.

Did they come back to a barren land? Were they established again? Did
they get birthed as a nation again? Yes. The restoration of the land of
Israel on the mountains of Israel, and especially in 1948 until a still
further date when more are going to be gathered. Point five here.

Just follow me. I'm nearly finished. I've got five more pages, but I'm
nearly finished.

Point number five. Israel at the center of world controversy. There's no
nation more at the center of world controversy.

Jerusalem is the most fought over city in world history. Think of the
great leaders who have fought for the city of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar,
Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, all the Roman emperors.

And then you've got all the generations of Catholic popes through the
Crusades sending European armies against the city of Jerusalem. Then you
have all the Muslim callous, all of these different religions and
peoples and nations and cultures and empires all fighting for the little
city of Jerusalem. The entire Muslim world right now is determined that
there will no longer be an Israel.

There'll no longer be a Jerusalem under Jewish rule. And yet the Bible
denotes that Jerusalem will be the capital of the Jewish people. Even
the UN has made resolution after resolution more to do with Israel and
Jerusalem than any other people and any other city in the entire world.

The UN's eyes are focused on the little city of Jerusalem, all the
nations, the EU, America, China, Russia. Look at what's happening right
now. What's my point? Israel at the center of world controversy.

All of this began in 1947 when plans were being made that a nation was
going to be revived again. The Bible is filled with the history of
Jerusalem and Israel, its past, its presence, and its future. Jerusalem
has been besieged 50, sorry, 23 times, attacked 52 times, captured and
recaptured 44 times, and destroyed at least two times in its histories.

The Muslims conquered it in AD 638 and wanted to hold on to it, but even
the entire Turkish empire couldn't hold on to it. Do you know there was
a preacher called Henry Grattan Gitness? He preached out on this high
street, preached the gospel, preached what you believe here in this
church, and he wrote a book. He died in 1910.

But in that book, do you know what he said? Before the end of 1917,
Jerusalem will begin to go back into the hands of the Jew. And the next
important date after that will be 1948. A man who preached on this high
street knew that from his study of scripture.

Do you know what happened at the end of 1917? General Allenby, one of
the great generals of the British army, was riding in to Jerusalem. He
defeated the Turks, Islam, delivered the city. You know what he'd done
before he rode in the city? He got off his horse, took the reins, and
walked in.

Do you know why? Because one of his Christian general friends in London
said, Allenby, you're going to get to Jerusalem before the end of the
year. He said, impossible. He says, no.

Look at Ginnis' book. It says it here. You're going to fulfill Bible
prophecy, deliver the city before the end of the year.

And he says, when you get there, please remember, don't ride in on your
horse. That's reserved for one man who's going to come at the end of the
age to deliver the nation. Watch the video on YouTube.

He gets off the horse. That's why he gets off the horse. That's why he
walked in.

Because of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is going to come to reign
again in the nation. And so you see that Jerusalem and Israel is at the
center of world controversy. They always have been.

They are. They always will be. It says in Zechariah 12.1 that we
mentioned before, the burden of the word of the Lord for Israel saith,
the Lord which stretch forth the heavens and layeth the foundations of
the earth.

What does he say? I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all
people round about. Then he says, when they besiege her, I will make
Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all people of the world. This is an
extraordinary prophecy.

Do you know what he's saying? You mess with Israel, you're going to feel
the impact of it. In 1948, when this small ragamuffin people tried to
form a nation, it was extraordinary. 15th of May, 1948, they stood up
and announced.

They didn't even know to the announcement what they were going to make
the name of it. They talked about many names. But when they stood up on
that day and said, we announced the creation of the state of Israel,
15th of May.

Do you know what happens the next day? The very next day, they have no
army, nothing organized. The very next day, they're only a nation for
one day. An Arab army attacked them made up of Egypt, Jordan, Syria,
Lebanon, and Iraq.

They've only been a country less than 24 hours. 40 million Arab
soldiers, mostly Muslim, marched against them on the first day and
attacked this small Jewish population, an entire population of 640,000.
Remember, an army of 40 million against an entire population of just
over half a million.

And that army that come against them were trained, prepared, and armed
to the hills. This little population didn't stand a chance unless God's
on your side and God is fulfilling your purpose. They weren't believers.

They weren't Christians. They weren't even practicing Jews. Many of them
were atheists.

Some of the leaders didn't believe in a God or the Bible. But you know
what? God is doing something. God's never blessed Israel because they
believed.

Never. It's never been that way. This army that marched against them was
extraordinary.

40 million. They also received Israel raised a volunteer army within the
next 24 hours. Do you know what had happened in Jerusalem? 58 out of the
59 synagogues in Jerusalem were destroyed by Arab Muslim armies in a
period of 10 months.

Volunteers came to fight against Israel from Yemen, Morocco, Sudan,
Pakistan, and the war ended in March 1948. Do you know what happened?
They won. They triumphed.

I could go through and give you all the details of the armies. 1956,
1967, 1973. It's extraordinary.

Jerusalem, Israel is right at the center, right at the heart of world
controversy. I want you to begin to understand something of God's
purpose for Jerusalem, for Israel compared to Gaza. Remember last week
Gaza? We looked biblically at Gaza.

The prophets prophesy against Gaza. I didn't write it. They talk about
coming judgment.

They talk about your land being the land of the Philistines, the
Canaanites, of the giants. But God time and time again says, I'm going
to put you in the land. I'm going to regather you.

I am going to reestablish you. Let me finish here tonight. Point six as
I close.

Israel grafted back in. I'm talking about God's plan. See, people out
there can do all argument and say, but it's not a righteous nation.

You could say many bad things about Netanyahu. I won't argue with you.
What I'm saying is God's got a plan.

It's national Israel. And you know what? If God can't be faithful to
them, how do you know he'll be faithful to you? How do you know that?
Sixth and lastly, Israel grafted back in. It says in Romans chapter 11,
let me be brief.

I do entire messages on all of these things. I go into detail with us.
And that's series we've done some years ago.

But I want you to understand this. Israel grafted back in. They're back
in the land that God promised.

But there's certain things still not happened yet. They haven't been
revived. The Holy Spirit has not been outpoured upon them.

They have not been restored to the faith that Paul preached. It says in
verse 11, have they stumbled that they might fall? In other words, it's
talking about this stumbling, this fall of Israel 2,000 years ago, they
fell as a nation. That's why they got scattered.

You fell, you rejected, you stumbled. Remember it says Christ became a
stumbling stone, a stone of offense to Israel. You know what? They heard
the gospel, just believe in Christ, be forgiven, be saved.

They stumbled. No, no, no. You've got to do this and this and this.

It's a heavy burden. I've got to work all my days and I've got to have
perfect righteousness. And they stumbled.

No, just believe. You can be justified, forgiven, made perfectly
righteous before God. That's impossible.

You can be washed and made clean in the blood of the Lamb. We can't get
our head around it. That was them stumbling.

And so he says here, Paul the Apostle, a converted Jew, have they
stumbled that they may fall? It's all about the rejection of Christ. And
when he says fall, have they stumbled to fall? Have they tripped over
the stone in order to be utterly destroyed, never to be recovered as a
nation? In other words, they're diminishing. He says, no, verse 25, for
I would not brethren that you should be ignorant of the mystery, lest
you should be wise in your own conceit.

Notice this carefully. Paul says, if you think God's finished with
Israel, that he's cast them off, that there's no plan, no purpose for
the last days, that he's not going to restore them again and pour out
his spirit and raise them up spiritually. We've never seen it.

We've never seen it. Before your birth time, most of you, I think, if
not all, Israel was physically restored to the nation. We've grown up
only seeing controversy around Jerusalem, warfare.

No nation can beat them. No army has been able to defeat them. You know
why? God has a plan.

But there's one thing we've never seen, Israel coming back in, restored
again. And notice what Paul says, for I would not have you ignorant,
brethren. Are you ignorant about the mystery of Israel? Do you
understand the mystery of Israel? Oh, I know about justification by
faith.

I know about the victorious Christian life. I know about the cross. Do
you know the mystery of Israel? Because Paul is saying here, are you
ignorant of the mystery of Israel? What is a mystery? It's something, an
entire revelation, an entire teaching that can only be revealed by God.

In other words, it's an entire biblical understanding that God has to
teach you. He has to open it up. And he gave it to Paul.

And Paul said, are you ignorant? Are you stupid? Are you blind? Do you
not understand with your mind this mystery of the plan of God, of
election of foreknowledge for Israel? Some people think Israel's evil,
Israel's a tyrant, Israel's abusing the poor Palestinians. They don't
even, Christians, talk like this. You're ignorant of the mystery of
Israel.

Listen to this, that you should be wise in your own conceits. If you
don't know this mystery of Israel being grafted back in, saved, restored
spiritually, you are conceited in your own wisdom. In other words, you
think you're so wise, so eloquent, you understand the scripture, and you
say Israel is not going to have a spiritual revival.

Israel is not going to be saved. Do you know what you are? You're
actually wise in your own conceit, that blindness in part has happened
to Israel until. Do you actually believe that and know that as a church,
that Israel, she's still blind until.

Blind in part until. In other words, for almost 2,000 years she's been
blind, scattered in the nations, regathered in unbelief, in atheism.
Some of her prime ministers and leaders and generals, utter atheists,
and yet God delivered them.

Do you know that there is a plan, a purpose of God? Blindness has
happened until. Until when? Well, it speaks concerning until the
fullness of the Gentiles come in, and we're near enough. We're almost
there when Israel's going to get restored.

It says in verse 25, until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. It also
speaks about the fullness of Israel. Verse 11, her salvation.

Verse 12, that one day soon that she is the riches of the world. Number
15, about life from the dead, her fullness. There's a day when Israel's
to come to fullness.

She never has yet. Do you know what? It's not over yet. There's still
one last bit of the puzzle where Israel is going to come to fullness.

She's going to be saved. She's going to be brought back in, and it is
called this mystery. You've got to understand this mystery.

It says in 1 Corinthians 3, but even unto this day when Moses is read,
the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the
Lord, the veil shall be taken away, which veil is done away in Christ.
It says in verse 12, how much more their fullness.

If they're full, if they're rejection, if they're cutting off, meant the
gospel went to all Gentile nations. It actually says here, until their
fullness comes in. How much more their fullness? What is going to happen
when the fullness of Israel comes in? It says if them being cut off, the
gospel went to all Gentiles, all Gentile nations, and that's what we've
seen.

The world evangelized for 1900 years. It doesn't say it's going to be
the end when Israel gets saved and comes in, or is grafted back in, or
believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. It actually says that's called their
fullness.

Their fullness is when they get saved, when they have revival, and
something happens then until that happens. You know what happens? Verse
26, all Israel shall be saved. You know what all means? Many, most, the
majority.

A sudden massive increase of converted Jews on a large scale in such a
marked way that you know God has moved in that nation. If Ireland gets
impacted by the gospel, it doesn't mean all have been born again, but it
comes in such a power that we are known for the gospel once again, and
that's what's going to happen to Israel. But do you know what it says?
When that happens to Israel, what's it going to mean for the world out
there? If their fullness, the riches of the world, and their
diminishment, the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness.

In other words, when Israel reaches their fullness, it's going to impact
the Gentile nations of the world. For if the casting away of them is the
reconciling of the world, what is the receiving of them? But even life
from the dead. We, the Gentile nations, have never received that yet.

You think all the revivals are finished? You think missions is finished?
You think the good days of spiritual work in the Gentile nations are
finished? Absolutely not. You know what? God's last piece in this puzzle
is their fullness. They've been rejected all through these years, and as
soon as Israel comes back in and believes, it's going to mean a mega
explosion of a move of God across the nations of the world.

Saints of God, it's never happened. There's still going to be horrendous
days. There's still other bits of Bible prophecy in this, but all I want
you to hear tonight, God's purpose for Israel is an extraordinary
purpose.

It's a mystery. It's a revelation. It's a teaching of the Bible, and if
you don't believe these things, you're conceited by your own wisdom, and
you're blind to God's purpose for Israel.

God has a plan. Let's stand together. Father, we love you.

We bless you. We thank you, God. Father, we pray as we see this
controversy, this war in Israel and with Gaza.

We don't delight in the death of any unsaved person, any unrighteous
person, any wicked person. We don't rejoice in it, nor, God, we don't
accept it as inevitable. Oh, God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem,
nor, God, we pray for the salvation of Israel, nor, God, give us that
burden that was in Paul's heart for their salvation, for their
restoration, nor, God, that their eyes would be opened to the gospel of
Jesus.

We pray, oh, God, for those as a nation, nor, God, we have watched for,
Lord God, throughout their history, how no Arab army, no Muslim army, no
enemy army, no political stratagem has been able to conquer them, but,
oh, God, we know that you have a plan. They have not come to fullness.
They've not been grafted back in, but, oh, God, we believe, according to
your word, no, one more time, one last time, Israel's going to have a
mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and all Israel shall be saved.

Father, we're asking of you that you help us to be burdened as we watch
the news and the media. We won't take sides. We won't get angry.

We won't burn with indignation, but we're going to pray, oh, God, for
the salvation of all men, even of those in Gaza, oh, God, we desire the
salvation of all men. In Jesus' mighty name, amen.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/zTielFC09UY.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/keith-malcomson/gods-purpose-for-israel/
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