This sermon by Derek Prince focuses on the unique position of Israel in God's purposes, highlighting the historical and prophetic significance of the Jewish people. Derek emphasizes the fulfillment of numerous prophecies regarding Israel's past and future, pointing out the importance of understanding God's plan for Israel in relation to the church and the world. He addresses the debt owed to the Jewish people by all nations and the need for repentance and alignment with God's purposes.

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. Now, we're going to do what we usually do. Make a proclamation. And then I'm going to bring you a word. The proclamation is directly related to the word that I'm going to bring. It's taken from Psalm 33, verses 8 through 12. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. The people whom he has chosen as his own inheritance. And that is the theme of my message this morning. The people whom God chose as his own inheritance. I'm going to speak about the place of Israel in God's purposes. I believe this is a message which is a vital concern for everybody. Believer or non-believer. Unfortunately, perhaps many non-believers will not hear the message. But I pray that it will come to the heart of those who are believers. In the Bible and in the Lord Jesus Christ. When I speak about Israel, I'm talking about the nation that was descended from Abraham. Through Isaac and through Jacob. Later also called the Jews. Just to give you some idea of the significance of Israel and the purposes of God. Let me give you a few statistics. The name Israel or Israelite occurs in the Old Testament more than 2500 times. In the New Testament it occurs 79 times. And never to describe the church. Israel is one thing. The church is another. And I have a little book here which I want to make known to you. Because it deals with this issue. It's called Prophetic Destinies. That wasn't the original title. But the people who published it in the United States changed it. The original title was The Place of, The Destiny of Israel and the Church. I'm holding it up because there are 79 places in the New Testament where the word Israel or Israelite occurs. And never once is it used to describe the church. This is an error that has crept into the church. That has caused endless confusion and misunderstanding. And turned some people aside from the purposes of God. The word Jew occurs 84 times in the Old Testament. And 192 times in the New Testament. By contrast, the word Christian occurs only three times in the New Testament. Now, if the name America or Britain occurred more than 2500 times in the Old Testament and 79 times in the New Testament, I think we would all accept it as an obvious fact that we will never fully understand the Bible unless we understand what God means by America or Britain or in this case Israel. I believe an understanding of God's, of the place of Israel and God's purposes is absolutely essential for every Christian who wants to be aligned with purposes of God and wants to understand what's going on in the world today. Because after being off stage for many centuries, Israel has now become center stage and the focus of world attention. And there's a reason for that and through it God is working out his purposes as I seek to explain to you. Let me first of all give you a few passages of Scripture that establish the fact that Israel is a unique nation. There is no other nation like Israel. And let me say, in case any of you should misunderstand me, I am not Jewish. I am very much a Gentile. In 1st Chronicles 17 verse 21, David is praying to the Lord and he says and who is like your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for himself as a people. In other words there is only one nation on the earth that God went to redeem as a nation for himself. And that nation is Israel. Earlier when God brought the Jewish people, or Israel, out of Egypt and brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai and gave them the Ten Commandments and the law he told them through Moses his purposes for them. In Exodus 19 verses 5 and 6 he says to Israel now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. There are three purposes stated there for Israel, a special treasure above all nations of the earth a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Now I don't believe those purposes have yet been fulfilled but I believe that the devil can delay the fulfillment of God's purposes but he can never ultimately prevent it. And I believe that every purpose of God stated in the scriptures for Israel will be exactly and completely fulfilled. In the New Testament in the epistle to the Romans Paul gives a number of features that distinguish the Jewish people from all others. In Romans chapter 3 verses 1 and 2 he says what advantage then has the Jew or what is the profit of circumcision, the mark of the Jewish people? Much in every way, chiefly because to them were committed the oracles or the words of God. And that is a fact about the Jewish people which makes them unique. The entire revelation of God in the scriptures has come to us only through one people, the Jewish people. Without the Jewish people we would have no written revelation of God, whatever. I don't believe that God intended the Jewish people simply to possess the scriptures. I believe he intended them to be stewards of the scriptures. To receive them and hold them and transmit them for all other nations. Now there was one Jew who recognized his stewardship and that was the Apostle Paul. And he said in Romans 1 verses 14 and 15 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome also. Paul understood as many of his brethren did not understand that he had received the word of God as a stewardship and that he was accountable for what he did with that stewardship. And he said I am a debtor to all nations and I'm ready to bring the word of God to all nations so far as I am able. Then in Romans chapter 9 Paul states eight unique features of the Jewish people. Romans chapter 9 verses 4 and 5 he says Who are Israelites, speaking about his brethren, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises. Six things that were granted only to the Jewish people. And then he goes on with two further distinguishing features of whom are the fathers, the patriarchs, and from whom according to the flesh, Christ the Messiah came. So there are eight features that distinguish the Jewish people from all other peoples. To them belongs the adoption as God's people, the glory, the manifest presence of God, the covenants that God made, the giving of the law, the priestly service of God, and the promises of God. And then in addition from them came the patriarchs and above all from them came the Messiah. Sometimes we imagine, I think, that Jesus became a Jew just for 33 years. But that's not true. He is eternally and uniquely identified with the Jewish people. In Revelation chapter 5, John the Revelator was weeping because no one was found to open the book of Revelation. But it says in verse 5, One of the elders said to me, Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seals. So in eternity, long after his earthly life had finished, Jesus is known as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. In a special way he is eternally identified with the Jewish people. And then one final statement from the lips of Jesus himself to the Samaritan woman at the well. In John 4 and verse 22 he said to the Samaritan woman, You Samaritans, worship what you do not know. We Jews know what we worship. For salvation is from the Jews. Five words charged with incredible revelation. Salvation is from the Jews. If there had never been a Jewish people, there would never be any patriarchs, there would never be any apostles, there would never be any prophets, there would never be any New Testament, and most important of all, there would never be a Savior. So everything comprehended in salvation comes to us through one people only, the Jewish people. All other nations, including the Americans, the British, and the others, owe to the Jewish people a debt which we can never calculate. And we can never repay. But the great tragedy of history is that so far from repaying the debt, we have compounded it countless times over. And for many centuries, from about the 4th century until the present day, the professing Church, those who call themselves Christians, have been the main instigators of anti-Semitism. If you talk to a Jew somewhere and you don't know the background, and he seems reserved about the claims of Christianity, you need to know that he has a memory of 16 centuries of cruel, vicious, prejudiced, religious anti-Semitism, which is responsible for the death, the torture, the humiliation of hundreds of thousands of Jewish people. Just bear that in mind. I've said in one of my books, the Church sowed the seeds of anti-Semitism, the Nazis reaped it. That's a historical fact. The anti-Semitism of the Nazis, their deep hatred of the Jews, could never have come about if the seeds had not been sown in Europe for many centuries. And unfortunately, and I say this with regret, one of the leading anti-Semites was Martin Luther. When I wrote my book, The Last Word on the Middle East, I wanted to quote some of his statements about the Jews. But they were so horrible, so vulgar, that I refused to put them in print. So we owe a debt which we have compounded many, many, many times over. In the last 40 or 50 years, since the establishment of the State of Israel, I believe God has been giving the Gentile nations an opportunity to do something toward repaying that debt. And unfortunately, very few nations have availed themselves of that opportunity. I'll deal with that a little later on. Now I want to point out another unique feature of the Jewish people, which sets them apart from all other nations, totally and completely. It is this. That their whole history was foretold in prophecy before the events ever happened. And I'm going to list altogether 16 prophecies concerning the destiny and the future of Israel. And I'm going to point out that 13 of those prophecies have already been fulfilled. That only leaves three to be fulfilled. Now, some people have the attitude that if we believe in the destiny of Israel, we are fanatics, or illogical, or unreasonable. I don't see it that way. If 13 out of 16 prophecies have been fulfilled, it's not unreasonable to anticipate the fulfillment of the remaining three. I don't feel in any way intellectually inferior to people who refuse to believe the destiny of Israel. I believe that logic is on the side of their destiny. I'll list these prophetic events, and I will mention in passing the place where you can find them, but we will not turn to them for sake of time. First of all, their enslavement in Egypt was prophesied to Abraham in Genesis 15. Likewise, at the same situation, their deliverance from Egypt with great wealth was predicted. Third, God predicted to Abraham at the same time that his descendants would take possession of the land of Canaan. All those are predicted in Genesis 15. All have been exactly fulfilled. In Deuteronomy 32, Moses predicted that when they came into the land, they would turn to idolatry. Exactly fulfilled. He also predicted that a center of worship would be established in Jerusalem. Exactly fulfilled. The prophet Amos, amongst others, predicted that the northern kingdom of Israel would go into captivity, enslaved by Assyria. It was exactly fulfilled. Jeremiah and other prophets predicted that the southern kingdom of Judah would be taken captive by Babylon. Exactly fulfilled. Solomon and others predicted the destruction of the first temple, the temple that he himself had built. Exactly fulfilled. Isaiah and others predicted the return of a small remnant of Jewish exiles from Babylon. Exactly fulfilled. In Matthew 24 and Luke 19, Jesus predicted the absolute destruction of the second temple. Exactly fulfilled in 70 A.D. In Leviticus and Ezekiel and other passages, the prophets predicted that the Jewish people would be scattered among all nations. Exactly fulfilled. They predicted that during the time of their scattering, they would be persecuted and oppressed. Exactly fulfilled. They also predicted that they would be regathered again from all nations. In this century, Jewish people from well over 100 different nations have been regathered again in the land that God gave to Abraham and his descendants. 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'd 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 daily 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. Because 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 Azal. 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 rent 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 see, as you saw him go. He went in the clouds, he returned with the clouds. He went from the Mount of Olives, he returned to the Mount of Olives. So there are three prophecies that are not yet fulfilled, out of 16. That means, according to my mathematics, 81% of the prophecies given concerning Israel have already been exactly fulfilled.