In this sermon, the speaker discusses the protection and victory that God provided to Israel during the 1973 war. Despite being outnumbered and facing opposition from the entire world, God ensured their victory. The speaker also mentions the United Nations resolutions condemning Israel and the country's isolation in the international community. The sermon then transitions to the biblical prophecy in Zechariah 11, where God declares that He will remove false shepherds and personally take care of His flock. The speaker highlights the rejection of Jesus Christ and His betrayal for thirty pieces of silver as a precursor to the events of the last days.

Tonight we have a fascinating area of scripture to cover. Pray the Lord will give me the gift of brevity, for we are surely getting into some exciting areas of biblical prophecy, as the Lord begins to speak of the events that will be transpiring in these last days. Some of them we see already in the beginning of their fulfillment, others that will be fulfilled very shortly. But before we get into the events of these last days, chapter 11 deals with the first coming of Jesus Christ and his rejection and his being sold for 30 pieces of silver. And as Jesus said, I came in my Father's name and you did not receive me, but another one is coming in his own name and him you will receive. And so, here in the 11th chapter it speaks about the true shepherd that was rejected and the false shepherd that will be followed and accepted by the people. So, chapter 11, first of all the prediction of the destruction and devastation that would come to the Jews by the Roman government as their authority and government would be taken away from them. The Romans were to invade from the north. The invasion of the Roman troops began in the northern part of Israel through Lebanon, moving south until they finally encircled Jerusalem and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and slaughtered over one million Jews. So, the prophet begins with this invasion coming from the area of the north. Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the mighty are spoiled. Howl, O ye oaks of bastion, for the forest of the vintages come down. There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds, for their glory is spoiled. Now, these are the shepherds that were ruling in Jerusalem. That is, the rulers of the Jewish people. A voice of the roaring of the young lions, for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. Thus saith the Lord my God, feed the flock of the slaughter, whose possessors slay them and hold themselves not guilty. The rulers were oppressing the people and yet did not have any feelings of guilt at all. They were derelict in their fulfilling the obligation of a ruler over the people. They were taking advantage of their position and they were oppressing the people in a spiritual sense and enriching themselves through it. At the time of the coming of Jesus Christ, the priesthood had been corrupted. And of course, the priests were a part of the rulership. There were the scribes and the priests and the rulers. But basically, the Jewish people, though under Roman domination, were ruled by the high priest and by the supposed spiritual leaders. And it was quite a corrupt system. Jesus came out against it and of course, that is what created the animosity against Jesus and the determination to kill him. He came into the temple, you remember, and he made a whip out of some ropes and he began to overturn the tables of the money changers. He began to drive them out. And he said that my father's house is to be called a house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves. Now, what was going on basically is that they had quite a little market system going within the temple itself. Very profitable indeed because they had a monopoly. The priest would not receive any coinage for the temple treasury except the temple shekel, the silver temple shekel. So that the coinage of the day was the Roman coinage. But you try and put a Roman coin in the offering plate and you were in big trouble. They just wouldn't accept it. They only would deal with the temple shekel. So, if a person wanted to give to God, it was necessary that he change his Roman coinage for the temple shekel. And that's where they had the profitable little business. That's what the money changers was all about. These men would sit there in the gate of the temple and they would exchange your Roman coinage for the temple shekel, but at a sizable profit to them. And they were actually profiteering off of the desire of the people to give to God. No wonder such a thing upset Jesus and was an abomination unto Him. People taking advantage of that desire that people have to worship God and to walk with God. Men supposedly spiritual leaders and yet using their position for their own personal gain and profit. And the same was true with the doves and the lambs that they were selling. Now, you could buy a couple of doves out in the street for just a farthing or so. But if you would bring one of those doves into the priest, he would search it carefully until he could find a blemish. And he'd say, can't take this, won't offer this to God. Look, it's got a blemish here. And so you were forced to buy these expensive doves that these fellows were selling in the gates. Whereas out in the streets, you could buy them for 15, 20 cents. These guys were selling them for five bucks and they had their little mark on it. The priest see it. Oh, yes, that one's been approved. Now that's kosher and we'll take that one and offer it, you know. And again, the idea was profiteering off of religion or off of the religious desires of the people. Such a thing has always and continues to be an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. God helped any man who seeks to profiteer off of people's desire to know God and have fellowship with God and would actually stand in the way and be a middleman to make a profit or to reap a profit off of the desire of people to know God. It angered Jesus then, it angers Jesus now. He is not any more tolerant toward those who today are profiteering off of the innate religious desires within people than he was in that day. And so the Lord in prophecy here speaks out against these shepherds who actually were destroying the people but didn't feel any guilt over it all. And they were saying of themselves, Oh bless the Lord, I'm so rich, God has prospered me. And their own shepherds did not really have pity on the people. And so God declares, I'm not going to any longer pity the inhabitants of the land but I will deliver the men, everyone into his neighbor's hand and into the hand of his king and they shall smite the land and out of their hand I will not deliver them. In other words, the Lord here predicts that the Roman troops are going to come and the power of government is going to be taken away from Israel. That Israel will be dispersed from the land and God will not spare them. God will not have mercy upon them in that day but will allow the Roman troops to be an instrument of God's judgment against these people who have been oppressed by their shepherds. Those that should be their leaders. And the Lord said, and I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, oh poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves, and the one I called beauty or graciousness and the other I called bands or union, and I fed the flock. So the real flock of God, the Lord said, I'm going to drive out these idle shepherds, I'm going to drive out these false shepherds and I myself will feed the flock. I'll take care of them. And so he took these two staves, the one he called beauty, the other he called bands. Now he said three shepherds also I will cut off in one month. The three shepherds, of course, being the prophets, the priests and the rulers. And I'm going to cut them off in one month. And my soul loathed them and their soul also abhorred me. There was a mutual, you know, not a mutual appreciation, but a mutual depreciation of each other. The Lord says they don't like me and I don't like them. So they have loathed, my soul has loathed them because they have abhorred me. Then I said, I will not feed you that diet, let it die. And that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. And I took my staff, even beauty, and cut it asunder that I might break my covenant, which I had made with all the people. And it was broken in that day. And so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. Now, beauty, of course, is Jesus Christ cut in sunder. And with the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, God's covenant with the nation Israel was broken. Their place of standing in divine favor was cut off. Paul said, inasmuch as you've judged yourself unworthy of eternal life, I'm going to the Gentiles. And God allowed blindness to happen to Israel at that point. For God's covenant was broken. When beauty was cut in sunder, God said he was going to do it in order that the covenant might be broken. So that covenant of the law, whereby they were able to relate to God, was broken. So that no longer can they relate to God by the law. But if they are going to relate to God, they're going to have to relate to God just like anybody else. For Paul tells us in Romans, there is no difference. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And all are justified only through faith. You can only come to God now on the basis of faith. And the Jew has to come like the Gentile at the present time. There is no longer a covenant that God has that is valid with these people, whereby through the law they can approach God. That covenant was invalidated when beauty, Jesus Christ, was cut asunder. That is why Jesus said, this cup is a new covenant in my blood which is shed for the remission of sins. God established a new covenant with man. And in the establishing of the new covenant through Jesus Christ, the old covenant of the law was disallowed and is no longer a valid means of coming to God or fellowshipping with God. God will not accept their offerings under the old covenant. The poor, of course, are the, as the Bible says concerning those who believe in Christ, not many rich, not many noble, but God has chosen the weak things of the world, the poor. And the gospel is preached to the poor. And I said unto them, if you think good, give me my price, and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter, a goodly price, that I was prized out of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. What a remarkable prophecy concerning the betrayal of Jesus Christ and the being sold by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. The price whereby he was prized. Judas, it says, went to the high priest and he said, how much will you give me? And I will deliver him unto you. And they covenanted to give to him thirty pieces of silver. Here, of course, the Lord spoke of the price in advance. But then he also spoke of the fact that the silver would be cast to the potter. And it would be cast down in the house of the Lord. When Judas Iscariot saw that they were crucifying Jesus, and of course there are many who believe that Judas was not guilty of such a heinous crime as many people imagine. There are those that would lighten Judas' offense by saying that Judas was only trying to force the hand of Jesus. He got tired of waiting for Jesus to establish the kingdom. And he was wanting to get the kingdom going. And so he thought, well, I'll just, you know, get the processes going here by selling Jesus to them and then he's going to have to prove his power. And then I'm going to be prime minister, you know, or the treasurer of the new state. And, of course, John tells us that he held the purse and he was, John tells us in the Greek, he was thieving out of the purse. So Judas Iscariot, covenant. And then when he saw that his little plan failed, that is his imagined plan that people have imagined that he had, he came back. At least he saw when Jesus was being condemned, he came back and he brought the 30 pieces of silver and he said, here, I can't take it. I have betrayed innocent blood. They said, what's that to us? It's your problem. So Judas took the 30 pieces of silver and just threw it on the floor and went out and he says, it's your problem. And he repented and hanged himself. Now, it was their problem because it was used to purchase blood, blood money. They could not return it to the temple treasury. One of their little rules would not allow any blood money to go into the treasury. And so they bought a potter's field to bury the strangers in the land. And so the prophecy of Zechariah is fulfilled. Now, what chance factors do you suppose are involved in this kind of a prediction? 500 years before the event. How many men in history do you know that were betrayed by 30 pieces of silver off the top of your head? How many men can you think of in history who were betrayed by 30 pieces of silver? Now, of those men that you can think of, how many of them was the silver then brought back and thrown down in the house of the Lord? And then of those, how many subsequently was the silver used to buy a potter's field? You see, it sort of points to one person. And it becomes a very interesting prophecy. And the chance factor of fulfillment is compounded because he adds these other aspects. There may be in history other people betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. That could be the ransom money paid. But yet, not many of them was the money then brought and thrown down on the temple floor. And even less was the money then taken and used to purchase a potter's field. So, it narrows it down from a broader spectrum to a very small area of the spectrum. And I only know one man in history of which these three aspects were all three fulfilled. And so, a very interesting prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. And I am interested in the attitude that the Lord has in this. Of course, this is all in advance, you know. This is 500 years before it happened. But God knew exactly what was going to happen because God knows all things. And the Lord looks on this rather scornfully. He said, a good price that I was prized of by them. Willing to sell their Lord for 30 pieces of silver. That's all the value He had placed upon Him. Selling out His relationship with the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. To me, it is a tragic thing. We look and we have great disdain for Judas Iscariot that he would do such a dastardly thing. As selling out his Lord so cheaply. But yet there are people, multitudes of people today who are just as guilty as Judas Iscariot. They are selling their relationship with God for the paltry offerings that the enemy offers to them. People are selling their souls for illicit relationships. The indulgence of their flesh. Selling their soul for pennies. Selling their relationship with God. Jesus asked the question, what will a man give in exchange for his soul? And I'm amazed at what people will give in exchange for their soul. I never cease to be amazed at how cheap people sell out. They forfeit their relationship with Jesus Christ over the most ridiculous things. Hey, you talk about the Spaniards and all taking advantage of the Indians and trading them these shiny beads for gold and all. I think of how Satan is holding up all these little glass beads and saying, Hey, you know, here are the glitter. Look at how they shine. Look at the fun you can have. Look at the excitement. And people are selling their soul so cheap. Their relationship with God. Selling their Lord. A good price that I was prized of them. The Lord says, cast it to the pond. Now, when beauty was cut asunder, then the other stave marked union. The union that man had with God, that the Jews, Judah and Jerusalem have with God, that also was broken. And that union of that nation with God was at that point broken. They had rejected beauty. They had rejected Jesus Christ. They'd sold him. So God broke bands. The union, the brotherhood that he had between Judah and Israel. Now, having rejected the true Messiah, having rejected beauty, as Jesus said, I came in my father's name, you wouldn't receive me. Another is going to come in his own name and him you're going to receive. And so in verse 15, Zachariah predicts the coming of the Antichrist, who in the initial onset of his reign, they will acknowledge and worship is their Messiah. And the Lord said unto me, take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. They had rejected the true shepherd. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd come down from heaven. But he was rejected. And so the Lord said, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that are cut off. Neither shall he seek the young one nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that which is standing still. But he shall eat the flesh of the fat and tear their claws in pieces. Woe unto that idle shepherd that leaveth the flock. The sword shall be upon his arm and upon his right eye. His arm shall be clean, dried up and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. So here's an interesting prediction concerning the Antichrist, the foolish idle shepherd that will come and be recognized by the Jews. And let me point out to you that the conditions are absolutely ripe in Israel today for this to happen. There are many of the rabbis in Israel who are predicting the coming of the Messiah very soon. But you ask the rabbis, how will you know your Messiah? How will you know he is the true Messiah? And invariably their answer will be, he will build the temple. He will help us to build the temple. Now, many of the Orthodox Jews, especially around the area of the Mea Sherem, believe that Jerusalem does not, I mean, that Israel does not even have the right to exist as a nation until the Messiah comes. And so they are anti-Zionist. But they are waiting for their Messiah. And they believe that they will recognize him because he will help them to build the temple. Of course, that's exactly what the Bible says the Antichrist is going to do. He's going to make a covenant with the people. But then he will break the covenant by coming to the temple and standing in it and declaring that he himself is God. Now here, the prediction concerning the Antichrist is concerning this assassination attempt. We are given further information on this in the book of Revelation chapter 13. When the Antichrist does come on the world scene, he is going to be able to work miracles, marvelous miracles. He will be a financial wizard. He will be a master diplomat. He will be able to bring about very sensible, peaceful solutions for many of the world problems. Right now in Europe, there is a tremendous peace movement and it is growing and will continue to grow. Demonstrations are taking place all over Europe. Not of hundreds of people, of thousands of people. And in some cases, hundreds of thousands of people. Gathering together in these massive peace movements and they are one of the greatest threats to the security of Western Europe today. The Antichrist is going to come in on the crest of a peace movement. He is going to come in with flattering words speaking peace. Bringing answers and solutions for the turmoil that exists. Bringing marvelous answers to the economic woes. Now it was the economic problems of Germany that gave rise to Hitler. When your whole economy begins to just fall apart, government has totally failed. Then the people in desperation are open to anybody who seems to have sensible, plausible answers. And they will follow even one as Hitler with all of his bizarre ideas because he promises to the people the solutions. But it was the economic woes of Germany that laid the groundwork that Hitler could move in on it and to rise to this power. And those same economic problems developing now in Europe today. And the desire for peace will be the program and the crest upon which the Antichrist will move in. Now there will be an assassination attempt upon his life. And it will appear for a time to be successful but then he will miraculously survive this assassination attempt. According to Revelation chapter 13. Now here in Ezekiel we are told that as the result of this assassination attempt he will be blinded in his right eye. And one of his arms will be withered. You say oh great we'll be able to identify the Antichrist. Well I don't hope to be here when he appears. If you're around you can identify him if you want. But that which hinders, that is the power of the Holy Spirit within the church. That which hinders shall hinder until he is taken out of the way. And then shall that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition who will come forth with all kinds of lies and deceitfulness working miracles and wonders. So the church should not be here for the revelation of the Antichrist. I'm not looking for the Antichrist I'm looking for Jesus Christ to come for me. I think it's a rather bizarre and twisted kind of an angle that Satan has people looking for the Antichrist. Trying to identify the Antichrist and looking for the Antichrist. Rather than looking for Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't say look for the Antichrist he said when you see these things begin to come to pass look up and lift up your head for your redemption draws nigh. Look for me coming for you and we should be looking for him. So interesting prophecy in Zachariah concerning the Antichrist. Now we're out of the fog and into the clear day out of the haze and smog into the glorious pure age. As this final vision of Zachariah tells us about the glorious new age that God is going to establish the kingdom age upon the earth. And over and over in these last three chapters you are going to be reading the phrase in that day. And that is the preface to the declaration of many of the fascinating aspects of the kingdom age. And that great judgment that will immediately precede the kingdom age. So this is the burden of the word of the Lord for Israel. Sayeth the Lord which stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth and formed the spirit of man within him. Francis Schaeffer said that it is important that we not just talk about God today. Or to just use the term God without defining the term because the term God represents so many things to so many people. And they really don't know what God you are talking about. So he said when we refer to God we need to give sort of a defining qualifications. And thus we should say the eternal God the creator of the heaven and the earth. And then they know what God you're talking about. Now it is interesting that the Lord doesn't just say the Lord but he gives sort of a defining of himself. The Lord which stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth and formed the spirit of man within him. Now I know who you're talking about. He is the Lord over all. He is the divine creator. He stretched forth the heavens. He created the earth. He created the capacity in man to know God and to fellowship with him. Thus the Lord identifying himself declares behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all people round about. When they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces. Though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. I would like to suggest to you that this condition is existing today in Israel. Number one Israel as a nation is a burdensome stone to all of the nations around it. They are totally surrounded by antagonistic forces. There has been a peace treaty made with Egypt but it is extremely tenuous. But when Israel became a nation. The day they became a nation she was immediately attacked by Syria. By Jordan and by Egypt. Who grabbed off great chunks of territory. When Israel was declared a nation a state by the UN resolution. And since that time in subsequent wars. When the little nation of Israel was surrounded by enemies of vastly numerically superior forces. Israel came forth from these skirmishes looking almost invincible. In 1967 when Israel took on both Egypt, Jordan and Syria. They were able to push Egypt clear back to the Suez Canal. They were able to take the entire Golan Heights. They were able to take from Syria and the entire West Bank from Jordan. In just six days of fighting. Jerusalem was a cup of trembling to all of the people around about her. And those who were in siege against Jerusalem and Judah. Jerusalem became a burdensome stone. And those that burdened themselves with them were cut off. Cut in pieces. These victories were the result of God working with them. Now the Jews did not recognize that after 1967. But they developed through the victories of 1967 a very cocky attitude. More or less the attitude of we are invincible. And if you would tour the land. They were very proud to tell you of their brilliant military strategies. Of their battles and of their fighting powers and what they had done. And any suggestion that God maybe helped them was sort of scoffed at. And yet who can deny the hand of God. In taking say the Golan Heights. For when they were pressing for a ceasefire. And the tide of battle. Of course they had already taken the Sinai clear down to the Suez. And they were moving their sources and they had taken the West Bank. And they were now moving to Syria because they wanted to capture the Golan Heights. To get the advantage of the upper positions. Military positions. And so though there was a big cry for a ceasefire. They knew that they were going to establish the lines of the ceasefire. At the you know the border would be established at the time the ceasefire went into effect. And so they were stalling for the ceasefire. Because they were wanting to get as much as the Golan Heights as they could. But Syria beginning to realize that the tide of battle was going against them. Was pressing and urging the world for an immediate kind of a ceasefire. And in order to impress the world. Damascus radio began to broadcast. That the Israeli troops are fighting in the streets of Damascus. And all of the commanders out in the Golan Heights. Listening faithfully to their Damascus radio. Heard all of these propaganda lies over the radio in Damascus. That Israel had moved to Damascus and was fighting in the streets of Damascus. Though that was not the case. But yet for propaganda purposes the Damascus radio was publicizing this and broadcasting this. The tank commanders and all began to leave their tanks. And the Israeli planes the observers saw all of these troops fleeing towards Jordan. Left all their tanks and everything in place. And they were all fleeing toward Jordan because they've been listening to the Damascus radio. That Damascus was falling. And they thought, oh man, we've been cut off, you know, and we've had it. And so they just left and they were all fleeing to Jordan. And so the planes reported, hey the guys are fleeing. So that's why Israel stalled the ceasefire for one more day. And they were able to take over a thousand square miles of the Golan Heights in just one day. Because Syria abandoned it and so they sent in their paratroopers. To the lines that they wanted. And they took it and so the ceasefire was claimed. And they had all of this territory as far out as the paratroopers had gone. Now you read in the Old Testament how the Lord had brought confusion upon their enemies. And you say, well that's the God of the Old Testament, you know. Hey, it's happening today. It happened in 1967. 1973 war was a little different. Vastly different in fact. The Arabs were better equipped and better trained. Russia had sent thousands of officers and millions of dollars worth of equipment. Armament and all to Syria, to Egypt. And trained them for the battle of annihilation. And Russia was directing the 1973 war against Israel. Attacking on Yom Kippur. They had dramatic initial successes. And they almost, almost destroyed Israel in 1973. There were a few days there where the fate of the nation was just in delicate balance. Israel received some initial setbacks, severe setbacks. Along the Suez Canal they had established these concrete bunkers and the Barlev Line. Which was considered to be impregnable, much like the Maginot Line in France. That the German panzers overran in World War II. It was supposed to be a strong bulwark of defense. And surely they'll not be able to conquer the Barlev Line. But they did. Up in the Golan Heights, the Syrians had some initial advantages and breakthrough. And they came within one mile of the Golani Headquarters. After 1973, the attitude of the Jewish people changed dramatically. They no longer felt invincible. They realized that they were almost destroyed. They realized that their nation, their dreams had almost come to an end. And after 1973 there was a much more subdued attitude among the people. We noticed a dramatic change in people that we knew. That we had talked to before the 1973 war and then talked to after the 1973 war. Suddenly this whole feeling of invincibility was gone and they were afraid. And yet how God did protect them and how God did give them victory in 1973. Now, it is interesting to me and significant that the Lord here declares, Though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Have you heard the UN resolutions in the last few years? How that the whole world stands in a resolution to condemn Israel. Even the United States has been voting in some of these resolutions against Israel. Condemning them for certain actions. For establishing settlements in the West Bank. For attacking the nuclear reactor in Iraq and things of this nature. Though the whole world be gathered together against it. And really Israel almost stands alone against the world. The United States from the time of President Truman, well even before, has been a staunch ally of Israel. But after the 1973 war the Arabs found a new weapon. And that was the oil. And they began to use it as a political tool for blackmail. And they began to influence the foreign policy of the United States dramatically with the threat of an oil boycott. They gave us a sample of what it would be like in 1973 after the war. When we were waiting in the long lines at the gasoline pumps. And they demonstrated to us the power that they had with their oil. To bring us to a grinding halt. And since that demonstration they have been using their oil. Raising the prices constantly. Creating this worldwide inflation and economic woe. And causing us to dramatically alter our relationship with Israel. With the threat that if we support Israel then they will cut off our oil supplies. And we know that the threat is legitimate. We know that if they should cut off the oil supply it does mean war. Because to survive we will have to send our forces into the Middle East to take the oil. And to force the supply to continue to come. And so the whole thing has changed. And thus the United States has even moved so many times of late in the world opinion against Israel. So the prophecy is fulfilled though the whole world be gathered together against them. And in much of our policy towards Israel we have had to alter the policy. Not from our conscience what we feel is right. But what we are being pressured to do because of the necessity of continued oil supply out of the Middle East. Now in that day saith the Lord I will smite every horse with astonishment. And his rider with madness. And I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah. And will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart. The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength and the Lord of hosts their God. And in that day will I make the governors of Judah like the hearth of the fire among the wood. And like the torch of fire in a sheath. And they shall devour all the people round about on the right hand and on the left. And Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place even in Jerusalem. 1967 that came to pass. Jerusalem was inhabited again in her own place. And Jerusalem came again under the authority of the nation of Israel. No longer a divided city. No longer half under the control of the Jordanian government and half under Israel. But Israel was united and inhabited. And of course they have since then just expanded the borders and the boundaries of Jerusalem. Even now you go out towards Jericho. After you get past Bethany and ten miles down the road towards Jericho. A huge vast new housing settlement. Part of Jerusalem and the city of Jerusalem now. Part of it and they have established over towards Bethlehem. All in the territory of what is known as the West Bank. Huge vast new apartment complexes and industries and all. As they are expanding their hold upon that land. It's all a fulfillment of prophecy. Now it's hard to many times when you talk about these things. There are times unfortunately that people of Arab extraction feel oh you're anti-Arab. No you're just pro-Bible. You're just saying what the Bible says is going to be. And because I get excited when the Bible is coming to pass. Doesn't mean that I hate all Arabs or I am against Jordan or I'm against any group of people. It just means that I get excited when I see scripture being fulfilled. It doesn't mean that I am justifying Israel in all that she does. I'm just saying that what God said was going to be is happening. And I just find that very exciting and fascinating. The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first and the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David and the house of David shall be as God and the angel of the Lord before them. So again he speaks of the power that God would give to them as a fighting force. The least of them would be as David. Now David was almost invincible conquering over his enemies. The least of them as David. And the house of David will be as God. And the angel of the Lord will be going before them. In Deuteronomy prophesying of this same time it said and one shall put a hundred to flight. And ten shall put a thousand to flight. There's a very interesting book by Haim Herzog called the War of Atonement. There is another author Lance Lambert who has written a fascinating book on the Yom Kippur War. I forget he's written the book it's published in England under one title in the United States under another title and I forget the titles of either. Lance Lambert. But Haim Herzog this book the War of Atonement goes into great detail concerning many of the battles during this 1973 Yom Kippur War. He tells how that the Syrian armored division had come within one mile of the Golani headquarters and suddenly stopped their advance. He relates how that when they stopped one mile from the Golani headquarters there was only one operational tank to defend the Golan Heights against the Syrian advance. A young 27 year old lieutenant who when he heard that the Syrians had attacked hitchhiked up to the Golani headquarters. And he went in and he reported to the CO and he said I am a tank commander and if you'll give me some tanks he said I'll go out and see what I can do against this Syrian armored brigade. The CO said I only have one tank that's operational. If you'll wait for an hour we ought to be able to get two others ready to go. Zwiggy helped them to take some of the dead bodies out of the other tanks. They loaded them with fuel and loaded them with armor armament. And he started out with three tanks and just about a half mile from the Golani headquarters as they came around the bend here they saw this whole armored Syrian brigade. About a hundred tanks, 30 armored personal carriers and here is Zwiggy with three tanks. He began to fire exploding some of the Syrian tanks. He is ordering the tanks on either side which ones to fire at. He was on his headphones and he was directing the battle. And pretty soon he noticed that he wasn't getting much support on either side so he popped the hatch and looked and found out that both the tanks that he had had were wiped out. That is on his flanks and he was left alone against this whole Syrian armored brigade. So he thought this is no place for me. And he headed up over the top of the hill. Now along the tap line route up there in the upper Golan are all these little hills, just rolling hills. And on the other side sort of a valley. And so Zwiggy began to race his tank up and down on the other side of these hills. He come over the top, pick off a Syrian tank, back down and then race up to another hill. Come over the top, pick off another tank, back down. And he was racing back and forth behind these hills that go along the tap line. Picking off one tank after another, reporting back on his radio. Zwiggy brigade just got another Syrian tank, it's up in flames you know. And back in the Golan headquarters they were listening to these radio transmissions from Zwiggy out there. And they thought, man he's got a whole brigade of tanks going out there. They didn't know that he was all alone. Finally the Syrians figured he must have a whole brigade too because he kept coming over different hills. And they began to retreat. And one put a hundred to flight. The least of them was like David. And there are stories after stories of things like this that took place. One man in a gun position near Quneitra was accredited with over a hundred Syrian tanks from his stationary position. He held off the whole brigade up in this one section of the Golan near Quneitra. I went out in the field and I climbed up in these T-62 tanks that scattered all over the field. And the interesting thing to me, right in the center of the armor plate on each of these tanks were these melted metal, the holes that were made by these heat type of projectiles that when they first hit they just have such tremendous heat they melt the metal and then they have the second impact that goes inside. And they were so powerful they would pop the turrets. And the turrets would be setting topsy-turvy. And inside the tank you'd see the uniforms and the helmets and the glasses and everything else. The guys were just... But this guy, I mean, he was hitting bullseyes in every shot. I mean he wasn't just coming in... I mean he was hitting dead center on every shot. It's absolutely uncanny to go through that field of tanks out there and to see these bullseyes on every shot. And he accounted for some 114 tanks. I will make the least of them like David, and the house of David like God, and the angel of the Lord before them. Such was the case in 1973 and in 1967. And such may be the case very soon once again. Israel has amassed her troops on the Lebanese border. General Itan has warned the PLO that they are ready to strike any provocation and they're going to move in. And of course there's high tension right now as these Israeli troops are in readiness up in the area of Metula. I told you this a few weeks ago that it was what they were planning. One division is going to move up into the Ela Valley to wipe out those SAM missile sites. The other one is going to go over to the coast to trap all of the PLO that are in the area of Tyre and Sidon and in southern Lebanon there. And they're planning to drive the PLO out of Lebanon. They're planning to drive the PLO on over to Jordan. And they're planning actually to drive both the Syrians and the PLO out of Lebanon. And then they're going to turn Lebanon over to the Lebanese people. They're going to say to the Lebanese leaders, here is your nation. You're now free of the PLO. You're now free of the Syrians. Let's shake hands and let's be friends. We're giving you your nation back to you again. And that's their plan. And then they plan to make Jordan a Palestinian state and usher over to Jordan all of those Palestinians in the West Bank who want their own state. Say, you want it? You can have it. Go over to Jordan and get it. And they plan to then annex the West Bank as they did the Golan Heights. And that will comprise the nation of Israel today. And if Egypt doesn't like it, they'll take the Sinai back again. The Lord declares, And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out upon the house of David. Now this is going just a little further into the future. I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplications. And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him as one that mourns for his only son. And shall be in bitterness for him as one is in bitterness for his firstborn. So God is going to pour out his spirit upon the nation Israel. When is that going to happen? In Ezekiel chapter 39 it tells us it's going to happen when God destroys the invading Russian army. Now I believe, I believe that when Israel moves against Lebanon and drives the Syrians out of Lebanon. That it will bring a full-scale war between Syria and Israel. I believe that a full-scale war between Syria and Israel will bring the involvement of Russia into the Middle East. That Russia will take that as their time to move into the Middle East. And that your whole scenario set for you in Ezekiel 38 will be fulfilled at that time. And of course the interesting thing is that at that time could be very soon as the troops are now amassed. It is not at all impossible that this could happen within the next month or so. That's the thing that just sort of causes you to catch your breath and look at your priorities again. The very fact that the Israeli troops are amassed now. They're on the border. They've called up two reserve units. And they're poised ready to strike at the first provocation. They more or less said, knock the chip off the shoulder. I dare you, you know. I mean they're ready. And it could, it could conceivably all come down. That which the Bible has predicted. For when Russia moves in and God destroys Russia. Then the Lord said, I will pour my spirit out again upon Israel. Now here Zachariah tells of the pouring out of the spirit. Joel tells us of the pouring out of the spirit. And I will pour out upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit. The spirit of grace and supplications. Now notice that when God pours out his spirit. The witness of the spirit is always of the crucified Lord. And they shall look on him whom they have pierced. Jesus said, and when the spirit has come, he will testify of me. He's not going to testify of himself. But he will testify of me. And it is the spirit of God that is constantly pointing people to the cross as their only hope of salvation. The work of the spirit in your heart is to bring you to the cross of Jesus Christ. To point you to the cross. And they will look on him whom they have pierced. And in looking at the cross, the spirit then brings us to repentance. And the mourning for our sins. And they shall mourn as for an only son. The firstborn who had been killed or had been slain. The great mourning and grieving. When the nation Israel realizes that they have rejected the Messiah. When God by his spirit opens their eyes to the truth and they realize we missed the real Messiah. That mourning, that grieving that will take place within their hearts. For God by his spirit will open their eyes and suddenly they will realize. The blunder of crucifying the Lord of Glory. So, in that day. There will be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of Haderibbon. Haderibbon in the valley of Megiddon. This is when Josiah the king. Oh, a beautiful popular king. And a very successful king. When he was killed by the Pharaoh Necho in the battle up in Megiddo. There was a tremendous mourning of the people because he was such a popular and successful king. And so there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem. Like the mourning that took place when Josiah was killed by the Pharaoh Necho. There in the battle near Megiddo. And the land shall mourn every family apart. The family of the house of David apart and their wives apart. The family of the house of Nathan and their wives. And the house of Levi. And the family of Shimei apart and their wives. And the families that remain. Every family apart and their wives apart. Now this is interesting to me. The family of David. Did you know that there are people today. Jews are descendants of David. Living here on the earth. Now they don't know who they are. They don't know that they have descended from David. Because the genealogical records have all been lost. Or they're no longer kept. It wasn't necessary to keep them after Jesus was born. Because once Jesus was proved to be from the line of David. That's all that was necessary. But there are Jews today who actually have descended. Now God knows who they are. And the house of David apart. The house of Nathan. Their descendants of Nathan the prophet who came to David. Their houses. There are there are descendants from this guy Shimei. Who when Absalom drove David out of Jerusalem. Was you know throwing rocks at David. And throwing dust in the air. And giving David a bad time. And there are some of his descendants alive today. Throwing rocks and giving people bad times. They put blockades up there in Jerusalem. And they have these piles of rocks on the Sabbath day. And if you dare to drive by. They'll throw rocks at you. The descendants of the family of Shimei.