This sermon by Derek Prince Ministries delves into the prophecies concerning Israel, focusing on the miraculous preservation of the Jewish identity, the gathering of nations against Jerusalem, the supernatural revelation of the Messiah to the Jewish people, and the return of the Messiah in glory. It emphasizes the fulfillment of biblical prophecies regarding Israel's restoration and the significance of God's covenant with the land of Israel.

Derek Prince Ministries, proclaiming the inspired Word of God around the world. Derek Prince is an internationally recognized Bible teacher and author. Through books, audios, videos, and radio broadcasts, Derek seeks to reach the unreached and teach the untaught. In over 50 years of ministry, Derek has reached over 100 nations in more than 50 languages. And now, Derek Prince. I don't believe my minds can really conceive the magnitude of the miracle that's involved. They were scattered for 19 centuries, under every kind of pressure to give up their identity. And they refused. My first wife was Danish, and she said more than once, She said, if you were to scatter the Danes amongst all the nations of the earth, and come back 200 years later, you wouldn't find a single Dane anywhere. They would all have been assimilated. Yet the Jews were scattered for 19 centuries, and never gave up their identity. Though it cost them, in many cases, everything they had. Now let's look at three prophecies still to be fulfilled. The gathering of all nations against Jerusalem. And I think perhaps we better look at the scripture there, in Zechariah chapter 12. Zechariah 12, verse 2 and 3. The Lord is speaking and he says, Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. What kind of people are all the people that surround Israel? Arabs, that's right. And it shall happen in that day, I will make Jerusalem a very heavenstone for all peoples. Now it extends beyond the Arabs to all peoples. All who would heave it away, will surely be cut in pieces. Though all nations of the earth are gathered against them. And that could easily happen, it could happen in a few months. As there's still a decision on the statute books of the United Nations, to make Jerusalem an international city. At any time, they could decide to carry out that and enforce it by arms. And then in Zechariah 14, the Lord says, Concerning Jerusalem, behold the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses rifled, the women raped. Half of the city will go into captivity. But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. The existence of an organization such as the United Nations, which really claims to represent all nations on earth, makes it very easy for those words to be fulfilled. And then the next great event, predicted and not yet fulfilled, is the supernatural revelation of the Messiah to the Jewish people. And it's stated in one verse, in Zechariah 12, verse 10. I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on me whom they have pierced. And that's an amazing scripture, because it's God who is speaking. And it says they will look on me, God, whom they have pierced. And they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son. And grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. God says that there will come a point in history, when by supernatural revelation, the Holy Spirit, will reveal to the Jewish people, the identity of their Messiah, whom they have rejected for 19 centuries. And then one further unfulfilled scripture, the return of the Messiah in glory. In Zechariah 14, verses 3 through 5. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. That is the nations that have gathered together around Jerusalem. And in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north, half of it toward the south. I spent my last year of military service with the British Army, in that very location. To me it's so vivid, I can see every detail. The terrain exactly answers to that description. Then it goes on, Then you shall flee through my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azzam. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with you. So that predicts the coming of the Lord Jesus, in visible glory and power, with all his saints. And it declares that his feet will stand, on the Mount of Olives, which is east of the temple area. And when his feet stand on the Mount, it will be wrecked by an earthquake. Half of it will move toward the north, that's Mount Scopus. Half of it toward the south, the Mount of Olives. And there will be a very great valley, extending eastward from the city of Jerusalem. That is so exact to the topography, that it's impossible to spiritualize that, or make it apply to anything other than what it says. And you remember the angels, who spoke to the disciples after they had watched Jesus ascend into heaven, and be taken up in a cloud. They said this same Jesus shall so come, in like manner as you saw him go. He went in the clouds, he'll return with the clouds. He went from the Mount of Olives, he'll return to the Mount of Olives. So there are three prophecies that are not yet fulfilled, out of sixteen. That means, according to my mathematics, 81% of the prophecies given concerning Israel, have already been exactly fulfilled. I don't think it's fanaticism, to believe that the remaining 19% will also be fulfilled. I for one, believe it with all my heart. Now let's talk for a little while about God's plan for the land of Israel. Which is probably the most controversial, single area of territory on the earth today. That's no accident. God is behind it. In Genesis chapter 17, verses 7 and 8, the Lord appeared to Abraham, and made a covenant with him. And he said this, I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Notice, it's an everlasting covenant. It's a covenant that will never be abolished. And then he goes on to say, also I give to you and your descendants after you, the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession. And I will be their God. So it's an everlasting covenant, granting to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the land of Canaan, now called Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. Granting it to them, as an everlasting possession. Either it's going to happen, or the Bible is an unreliable book. There is no third possibility. I believe it's going to happen. I don't lose sleep at night, worrying about it, because God said it would happen. Now in Psalm 105, the psalmist returns to this theme, with some of the most emphatic language ever to be found anywhere in Scripture. In fact, I don't know of any other passage in the Bible, where God takes so much trouble, to use so many words, to emphasize his intention. Psalm 105, verse 7. He is the Lord our God, his judgments are in all the earth. In other words, God's judgments apply everywhere. He's not just a little tribal God, he's the God of the whole earth. He has remembered his covenant forever. The word which he commanded for a thousand generations. The covenant which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac, and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant. And notice the descent is clearly stated. It's Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It sets aside Ishmael, and it sets aside Esau. That is the chosen line of descent. Think of the words that are used there. Every one of those words indicates a solemn declaration of God. There is no other place in Scripture where I know so many of the words are put together in such a short space. It uses the word covenant, the word, the word of God, the commandment of God, the oath of God, a statute of God, and finally an everlasting covenant. Let me just repeat those words, because it is staggering that God took so much trouble to assert his unqualified commitment in such powerful words. The words that are used are covenant, word, command, oath, statute, and finally everlasting covenant. Now you may well ask, what is God so concerned about? What is the subject of this covenant? What is it all about? The answer is truly amazing. I tell people if you've never been amazed, you've never read the Bible. Because it's an amazing book. The focus of this whole covenant is a little strip of territory at the east end of the Mediterranean, no larger than the state of New Jersey, or the nation of Wales in Britain. Let's read it. Saying, this is the culmination of the covenant, to you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance. It's given by an everlasting covenant as an everlasting possession. Now I think if you have spiritual insight, you can begin to understand why it's the subject of such intense controversy. Because actually the return of the Lord Jesus depends on the fulfillment of this covenant. Because he's only coming back to one place, the Mount of Olives and the city of Jerusalem. And if the devil can prevent or create a situation to which he cannot return, then he can prevent the return of the Lord. And the devil knows full well that the return of the Lord spells the end of his function as the God of this age. So he has the strongest motivation imaginable for opposing the fulfillment of this covenant. And he will use every kind of force, natural, supernatural, demonic, political, whatever it may be, to oppose the fulfillment of this word. Because it means the end of his reign over the nations. Now I want to speak briefly about the period in which we are living. Because this is the period in which these events that have been predicted are being fulfilled. And I actually have had the rather unusual privilege of being an eyewitness of the fulfillment of the amendment. I first went to Jerusalem in 1942. I lived in what was then Palestine and is now Israel from 1944 through 1948. I witnessed at very close quarters, about less than half a mile from the front line, the fighting that led to the establishment of the State of Israel. And I have had an ongoing connection with events in that part of the world ever since. And I would like to say, as a matter of my personal observation, when the State of Israel came into being in 1948, there were 600,000 Jews opposed by 40 million Arabs, with six modern armies. The Jews had virtually no military equipment of any significance whatever. And they won. To my way of thinking that is as great a miracle as some of the miraculous victories described in the Old Testament. And as I say, I watched it. We spent weeks living in the laundry room of our house, which if those of you who know Jerusalem was on the corner of King George and Agron Street. And when we emerged there were about 100 spent bullets on the floor of our living room. This was not theory. I mean I can say in a way I feel rather strongly about it because it really happened and I was there. Now we'll turn to Jeremiah 30 and see what he has to say about the period of the return of the Jewish people to their land. Beginning at verse 3. For behold the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will bring back from captivity or from exile my people Israel and Judah, says the Lord. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers and they shall possess it. Now anybody who has even a moderate knowledge of Scripture knows there is only one land that answers to that description. The land I gave to their forefathers. Originally known as the land of Canaan. Subsequently in the Bible known as the land of Israel. And in the Bible never called Palestine. Palestine is a very unfortunate name because it means the land of the Philistines. And was a name given by the Romans after they had destroyed Jerusalem for the second time to obliterate any association of the Jewish people with that land. They deliberately gave it the name Palestine. I personally, if I can ever help it, will not use the name Palestine. In the New Testament twice it is still called the land of Israel. So Jeremiah says, God says to Jeremiah I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers and they shall possess it. Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah at this time. For thus says the Lord we have heard a voice of trembling, of fear and not of peace. And now, ask now and see whether a male is ever in labor with child. So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor and all faces turn pale. Speaking about a time of such terrible fear that men behave like women in labor. All faces are turned pale. Then it says, alas for that day is great so that none is like it. And it is the time of Jacob's trouble. But he shall be saved out of it. Not from it, but out of it. Now I heard a well-known British preacher and if I gave you his name many of you would know him. Who said, the return of the Jews to that country at this time cannot possibly be of God. Because if it was of God there would be peace. And you see, unfortunately like many preachers he spoke out of ignorance of the prophets. Because God said I will bring them back and there will be a time of agonizing trouble such as has never been experienced up to this time. Which is, we have seen in a little part the greatest is yet to come. And then at the end of that chapter which goes on with the same theme in one last sentence Jeremiah says, in the latter days you will consider it. So only in the latter days at the close of the age will we be in a position to see how exactly it applies. Now I want to go very quickly through a small part of Ezekiel chapter 36 and point out to you that the return of the Jewish people in these days to that land has been predicted step by step with the utmost accuracy by Ezekiel in chapter 36. Now I'm going to go fairly quickly but if you want to get a tape or something like that you can follow it more exactly. I'm going to start with Ezekiel 36 verse 16 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Then he goes on Therefore I poured out my fury on them for the blood they had shed in the land and for their idols with which they had defiled it. In other words they had defiled the land by their wicked conduct. Verse 19 So I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the countries I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. The scattering of the Jewish people was a judgment of God. When they came to the nations wherever they went they profaned my holy name when they said of them these are the people of the Lord and yet they have gone out of his land. So God says I was embarrassed by the way my honor was affected by the Jewish people during their dispersal. See, one thing you have to admit about the prophets of Israel they were not nationalistic. They did not gloss over the sins of their own people. I've heard a few Christian attempts to point out that the Jews don't deserve to get back to the land. But their language pales behind by comparison with the language of Israel's own prophets. You read Isaiah 59 sometime and consider if you could ever add to the list of condemnation that's found in that chapter. So God is not blind nor were the prophets blind to the sins of Israel. God goes on but I had, verse 21, but I had concern for my holy name which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. God is intervening not because the Jews deserve it but to retrieve the glory of his name. If you don't understand that you'll be in a fog. Therefore, verse 22, say to the house of Israel thus says the Lord God I do not do this for your sake O house of Israel but for my holy name's sake which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. God's motive is not the deserts of Israel. It's concern for the glory of his name. Verse 23, I will sanctify my great name which has been profaned among the nations which you have profaned in their midst. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord says the Lord God when I am sanctified in you before their eyes. God is going to do something that will be a revelation of his glory and his holiness to all nations. Now, here are the successive simple steps. Verse 24, for I will take you from among the nations gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land. In this century that has been exactly fulfilled. Not metaphorically, but exactly. Verse 25, then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. A lot of Christian commentators have said well, if the Jews are ever to come back first of all they have to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and then come back. But God says it will be in a different order. First they'll come back, then I will cleanse them from all their filthiness. So notice they are to come back in the condition which God describes as filthy. Not deserving his blessing. Verse 26, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. That's a heart transplant. And the implication is that for the most part over many centuries the Jewish people have had a heart of stone. That is a heart that was incapable of responding to the Holy Spirit. But God says I'm going to do a miracle. I'm going to take the heart of stone out. I'm going to replace it with a heart of flesh which can respond to my spirit. Now I believe myself there was a specific time when God began to do that. It was in 1967, the time of the Six Day War when the Jewish people regained control of the old city of Jerusalem. And I have been associated with Jewish people off and on through those years. I remember once I spoke in 1948 to a Jewish man telling him I believe Jesus was the Messiah. And he turned and spat at the name of Jesus. That was his reaction. And that attitude still prevails amongst many Jews. But there has been since 1967 a remarkable change in their attitude. A professor in a university in Israel who teaches theology. That's every kind of theology. Said years ago my students when I taught about Christianity were interested in the theological issues. Now, he said, they're interested in the person of Jesus. That especially is true among the younger people. It's still by no means popular to proclaim the name of Jesus. But there is a very different type of response amongst many Jewish people. Because we built a house in Jerusalem, and let me say, once is enough to build a house in Jerusalem. Ruth and I have dealt with a number of secular Jews in rather respected positions. Lawyers, engineers, and so on. And what has always surprised us is they would come in to talk business and we offered them a cup of coffee. And they would just sit and wait. And we think, what are they waiting for? But we learned they were waiting for us to tell them some of the miracles that God had done in our lives. And the moment you talk to Jews about miracles that have been done through prayer, they will sit and listen as long as you're willing to talk. They're a very practical-minded people. They want something that works. Well, I don't really have time to tell you this, but, well, I think I'll try. The engineer that oversaw the construction of our house, and I have to be careful because he's well known by name, came to see us after we'd moved into the house to see how we were getting on, and he said, I'm very busy. He said, I won't give you more than ten minutes. And we didn't try to hold him. Then he said, oh, I have such a pain in my back. So my wife said to him, well, my husband has something for back pains. So he said, you do? I said, yes, I do. I said, it's a little unusual, but I'll, if you want, I'll make you sit down in that chair, and I'll check your legs, and if they're unequal, the short leg will go out, and then you'll know that God has touched you. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪