Revelation: Week 20b - Israel (Pt 2)

Welcome to Crossroads. Glad to have you with us this morning. Thank you for being here. Thanks for coming back after last week for those of you who got round one of Israel today We're gonna be going into things a little bit deeper I'm gonna kind of jump in actually pick up right where I left off because I want to continue some continuity I gave you last week a pretty broad overview of Israel and God in the new tech or in the old testament We kind of work through some of those things we look back at those covenant promises matter fact if you weren't here Rather than me hat rehashing the whole thing I want to really encourage you go back and listen to that message that that was the first part of Two parts and I think they're both really important together one without the other today without last week or last week without today I think you're gonna. It's just not gonna be complete So if you can you didn't want to hear last week go back and listen to that today We're gonna continue the story of Israel into into the new testament I have a ton of scripture for you. So if you have your sermon notes you want to get those out You're gonna see that thing is loaded with scripture Let me tell you why that is because I am wanting to hide behind the word of God today I'm a big chicken baby is what's happening and that's my way of getting out of it So I actually believe it or not I thought of pulling a plug on this message today Just on the things that I'm saying as just watching as the news was unfolding all week long with the things that are happening in the Middle East Of course in in Jerusalem itself, and I really started just questioning God and news timing You know we had this plan that this would land right about here for a long time But I had no idea what would you be happening in the world? And I kept going back to God like man Maybe I shouldn't be talking about this. Maybe I shouldn't be but I'll tell you honestly It's time it went on throughout the week and I kind of solidified the things that I was hearing and put put them together in a way that made sense to me I I started hearing like no Actually I've become more convinced that this is the exact moment that I should be preaching this message This is something that I think we all need to hear right now maybe more than more than ever so Last week I talked about God having these covenants these eternal covenants with Israel But also that that doesn't just mean that he doesn't judge them or discipline them sometimes very harshly Right I showed you last week he allows enemies sometimes to come in and to kill to conquer to scatter the nation of Israel We saw that with the northern kingdom of Israel We saw that with the southern kingdom of Israel both of them were removed from the land because of their Persistent unfaithfulness to God God removes them from the land So this this removal never like cancels God's call on Israel as a nation You're gonna see that more today. We're gonna hear that continue today God isn't finished with Israel Israel is still is chosen people in a very real sense and a very real sense They are still connected to all those promises to God's promises They still have a future and God's plan God is still gonna be faithful to those covenants But that doesn't mean that Israel gets a free pass on any of this right the faith and obedience are still Important to God all throughout the Old Testament all throughout God's relationship with Israel So I gave you a passage due to run me 28 that you can go and read I won't read it all to you But that's basically exactly what it says it says hey listen There are consequences for not as due to run me says for not fearing The glorious and the awesome name of God the consequences for that So if you're gonna take notes today number one right out of the gate faith and obedience still matter to God Okay, just make sure we start off with that premise because that's gonna serve as a foundation for us as we continue forward Faith and obedience matter to God so Today When we get to the New Testament We are going to get a very I'll call it a very sobering picture of Israel's state after that Inter-testamental period remember those 400 years that come between the Old Testament and New Testament It's honestly the picture that we get of Israel is not that great. It's not good Where Israel is at right now when we meet him again? God has been speaking to the nation of Israel through the prophets about the things that are come I talked about this a little bit last week We've heard from Isaiah and Joel and Ezekiel and Jeremiah and they start talking about this new New thing that God is doing behold Isaiah says I am doing a new thing this new covenant that God is putting together And we start to get pieces parts and pieces of it from different prophets on this new work that God is doing that In fact, I gave you a chart on your handout that kind of shows you this and I'll go through it pretty quickly But just to give you a few of the a few of the important points Jeremiah 31 is the one that says that it will be a new Covenant and he says actually it's not like the covenant that I made with your fathers So the covenant that we read about last week to Davidic the Abrahamic covenant It's not like those he says something new and here's what's new. He says I will put my law Within them not gonna be something external to you It's gonna be within you. He says I will it will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people So we have this new covenant we have this law that is now written on our hearts. These are all things that God says are going to happen Isaiah then adds to that by something we also looked at last week by kind of extending that covenant Beyond Israel. He says this is not just for the nation of Israel. This new covenant that's coming Isaiah 49.6 says I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth This is something we saw last week that God is gonna open this up salvation to the ends of the earth for everyone who believes and Joel is right there and he's like Yes, that is gonna happen as a matter of fact I will pour out my spirit on anyone who believes Right, so Joel chapter 2 verse 28 says then it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams and your younger men shall see visions Of course if you remember back when we went through the book of Acts We got to act chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit gets poured out at Pentecost and this is exactly what Peter points to he points to Joel He says hey the things that you're seeing right now the things that you're seeing happening This was prophesied the prophets have been talking about this This was foretold exactly like this and when that spirit is given we learn another piece of this new covenant another part of it What the spirit would accomplish when he falls that the spirit we read this last week Would transform the hearts of men that there would be a transformation a zikiel 36 you might remember this I will give you a new heart a new heart and a new spirit I will put with you This is all part of this new work behold. I am doing a new thing that God is doing the spirit will give us a new heart these things have been spoken of By the prophets they've been told this was coming but if you know the story of Israel Especially the story of Israel's we get into the New Testament You know they were not they didn't have a great track record of listening to the prophets right We know that and that in fact instead of listening to the prophets They're actually killing the prophets is what they're doing often when we met when we meet Israel again in the New Testament We're coming out of that 400 year intertestimental silent period the Jews are still In the land that God had given to them like we saw that last week They're still in that land, but now they have come under the the oppression of Rome They're living under Rome and so they're still there in the land But they're not living in the same freedom that maybe they they once had The land that God gave them is theirs, but it's under Roman occupation and what we're about to see Is that all the prophecies of the Messiah? Most of them were not ready for Jesus Most of them were not ready for Jesus Matter of fact I'm going to read you one parable if you have your Bibles You want to open to Matthew chapter 21 This is one of the few things that I didn't put in your sermon notes So today when you leave here and you have all this stuff spinning in your head You want to see what I said your sermon notes have all the scriptures that I've talked about and I actually put online The entire transcript of this message again So you can go back and look at it and see what I what I said Read you one parable where Jesus describes the scene as he finds it We're going to start in verse 33 this is known as the parable of the tenants not the parable of the talents It's a different one the parable of the tenants All right, Matthew 21 verse 33 this is actually kind of hard to hear you'll hear it It's pretty pretty scathing rebuke of Israel at this point Jesus says here another parable there was a master of the house who planted a vineyard master the house And almost all of Jesus is parables is a reference to God right Who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower and Least it to tenants and went into another country when the season for fruit drew near He sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit so the servants almost universally are known as the prophets the prophets that God Sends back to the to Israel right Verse 35 and the tenants took his servants and and beat one, killed enough. and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them saying, "They will respect my son." But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance." And they took him and they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore Jesus says the owner of the vineyard comes, "What will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." Jesus says, "You never have you never read the scriptures." The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing in its marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. In other words, anyone who falls against the cornerstone, the cornerstone of Jesus himself, anyone who falls against the cornerstone will be broken. But if that stone falls on you, it will crush you, right? Here's what he says, the very next verse, he says, "Or it says when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them." Okay, so, first of all, people often will point to the fact that this is being spoken to the leaders of Israel. And I would totally agree with that. This is being spoken to the leaders. There's a real problem. We know that all the times Jesus comes up against the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees. There are real problems in the leadership of Israel. But Israel itself, as a whole, has not done that much better than its leadership. They have followed the leaders. Acts chapter 13 verse 27, Paul says, "For those who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath fulfilled them by condemning him." Now, not all Jews. There are some Jews who saw and understood. They'd read the Old Testament. They understood what was happening. They understood the signs at the times. You remember Simion in the temple. He's like, "I know what's happening here with this little kid." Some people recognized Jesus and they came to faith in Christ. But many do not. Maybe even most do not. They are unable to recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets. They haven't been listening carefully. Now listen, I'm going to pause here for just a second. When you hear that, what is that stir up in you? I know in today's culture with all of the volatility around this subject, that might stir up in you, I don't know, some kind of anger or frustration. But can I just challenge you to respond to this in the same way that Jesus responds to this? Let me tell you how Jesus responds. Remember when I'm jumping ahead to next week the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Remember how Jesus responds? He comes up on the city. He sees the city of Jerusalem off in the distance and he stops there for a second. And the Bible says that when he drew near and saw the city, what does he do? Yeah, he wept. He wept over Jerusalem. He says, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the thing that makes for peace?" Because they're going to miss it. He says, "Jerusalem, oh, Jerusalem, the city that kills its prophets and stones, those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered you as a, as gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing. See?" He says, "Your house is left to you, desolate. These rebukes, they should break our hearts for Israel." Listen, not just the Israel of Jesus' day, but the Israel of today that has rejected him. These rebukes should break our hearts for Israel. Number two on your outline, our hearts should break for Israel to come to faith in Jesus. That should be our response when we read these rebukes from Jesus. Paul says in Romans chapter 10 verse 1, he says, "Brothers, my heart's desire." And this is Paul. He is of the tribe of Benjamin. He is in Israel. He says, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer for God for them is that they may be saved, that they may be saved." But something comes out of this rejection by Israel, and again, not by everybody, but by maybe a lot of Israel that is rather unexpected. We don't really see this coming, and we learn about it. I had you read Romans chapter 9 through 11, if you got my weekend update, maybe a couple of you read those three chapters, really, really important chapters for this conversation. I'm part of that. I won't read it all back to you, but part of it is Romans 11-11. And again, all these things are on your sermon notes. Paul says, "So ask, did they, that is the Jews, did they stumble in order that they might fall?" Paul says, "By no means." Rather, this is crazy. Rather through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Salvation has come to the Gentiles because of the trespass. In other words, this was prophesied, think about this, that at least in part, okay, not this isn't the whole story, but at least in part because of Israel's rejection of Jesus, God opened the door of salvation to the rest of us, that the Gentiles could come in because of their rejection. That's not the only reason. There's other things at play, here's lots of other things, but at least it's a factor. And this is supposed to make Israel jealous. Well, what's the point of the jealousy? Well, what's the point of being jealous about it? Well, the point is that they would return to God through Jesus Christ. That's the point of the jealousy. Paul goes on in verse 12, he says, "Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, in other words, we all have access to salvation now, well then how much more will their full inclusion mean? How much more important will that mean?" In other words, God's the story of Israel and God, if not over, God still has plans for Israel. There's still a chance for Israel to be part of His kingdom. But let me just make sure this clear, and I have no idea why I would feel nervous about making a statement like this, why this is at all controversial in a Christian church of today. But just knowing what I know about the way that the world is going kind of crazy right now, this is kind of a controversial statement. Make no mistake about this. It is only through Jesus Christ that any Jewish person can be saved. It is only through Jesus Christ that any of us can be saved. Make no mistake about that. That no one Jesus says comes to the Father except through me. There's no other name under heaven by which men must be saved, given under heaven, given among men by which we must be saved. Even for Jews, okay? Even for Jews, covenant heritage is not enough for their salvation. Without Jesus Christ, it is not enough. Ethnicity does not grant one access to the Father. Jesus does. Jesus is the only one who does, and I'll tell you the minute the church of Jesus Christ stops believing that, is the minute we stop being the church of Jesus Christ. This is foundational for us. The message of the New Testament is that Jewishness is no longer the main thing. Now that's not to say it's nothing. We're going to see that in just a second. That's not to say it's nothing, but it will not be their blood that saves them. It will only be the blood of the Lamb, the blood of Jesus Christ. That is the only thing. Matter of fact, right off the bat in John's gospel, chapter 1 verse 11, he says, "He came to his own." He came to the people of Israel. He came to his own and his own people did not receive him, but to all who did receive him, to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born. Listen, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Romans chapter 2, for no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly. Nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is one inwardly and circumcision, listen to Ezekiel, circumcision is a matter of the heart by the Spirit. This is exactly what Ezekiel prophesied. This to me is kind of this great narrowing through Jesus Christ before the invitation broadens to the entire world. It's like the great narrowing. I created this picture of this hourglass that might be a little bit helpful for you. The Jesus is kind of the small part of the hour glass. The way is narrow. There is a broad way that leads to destruction, but through Jesus alone, the narrow way and then when it comes out the other side of like opens up now on a sudden Jews and Gentiles together have the same access to God. And the New Testament I think makes this really clear that Jews and Gentiles together are errors to the promises of God. The same promises that we saw last week that we are errors to those promises. So number four, Jews and Gentiles are errors together to the promises of God. Now if you don't agree with that statement, you might want to write it down. But let me try to show you a couple of passages that help us understand this thing. And these are on your sermon notes too. Romans chapter 10, verse 11. For the scripture says, "Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all bestowing His riches on all who call on Him." Galatians chapter 3, a famous passage, "There is neither Jew nor Greek. There are neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Jesus Christ." And if you are Christ, this is crazy. Listen, if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. Now listen, that does not mean that Jewishness is erased. Any more than it means male or female are erased. That's not what's happening here. What it means is that Jews and Gentiles, we stand on the very same level ground that is right underneath that cross of Jesus Christ, that we stand on the same level ground. Any attempt, any attempt by the church, by anybody else, to elevate one over the other, any attempt, any attempt has been demolished by Jesus Christ. It has been completely wiped out. God has us on level ground at the foot of His cross. That is the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to address two heirs, two heirs that I think people often make right about this time. Some of them would say that the Jews have been set aside by God now that the Gentiles are in the room. That God has done with the Jews and now it's just a church and it's just a Gentile. Some people call this replacement theology. They'll talk about how covenant theologians who kind of hold to this, you don't love that terminology, but I'll just use it for the sake of argument. But the idea that Israel has been replaced by the church, that it no longer really has a role, no longer really has a place. But God is not rejecting Israel so that Gentiles can have a place. That's not what's happening at all. The Jews are still heirs to the same promises. As a matter of fact Paul says, Romans chapter 8 or Romans chapter 11, he says, "I ask them, has God rejected his people? By no means he has not rejected his people. For I myself and the Israel I had to descend into Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. We didn't replace Israel. We joined Israel. We joined in with them. Paul says we were grafted in. We know that picture from horticulture about the branches from the wild, the olive tree get grafted and get stuck into the other tree. Now we're all part of this, the same root. We didn't replace anything. We were brought into it. That's one error that I think people fall into right about here. It's called replacement theology. I think it's incorrect. There's another error though on the other side of things that I think other people would come and they'd say, well, yeah, but God has a different track for Israel and separate tracks for the Jews and for the Gentiles. This is where, just to lay all my cards on the table, this is where I part ways with dispensational theology. At its most extreme end, this is called, maybe, a dual covenant theology. The idea of that is that God actually has two tracks for salvation, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. That's an extreme. But to me, sometimes what it can feel is it can feel like, oh, this message in different ways. I hear this sort of thing being talked about, not maybe overtly, but it can feel like Israel is God's special people. And the Gentiles are just kind of this, like, you know, I don't know, just like an add-on. You hear that Israel is special to God. And I don't disagree with that, but so are Gentiles special to God. Listen, as Gentiles, we are not some adopted child that God just had to bring in. That's not the way that the Bible pictures it at all. As a matter of fact, what the Bible says is that from the very beginning, we have been a part of the whole entire picture. We have been part of it. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. To me, I don't know, just to me, in my estimation, as I wade through this all stuff, it seems like both replacement theology on one side and dispensationalism on the other. I think they miss a very core, very important gospel truth. And that is something we learn in Ephesians chapter 2 that the dividing wall between us has been broken down through Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, let me read this to you because it's super powerful. You can read this whole section. It's amazing. Let me just read apart. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 14 says, "For he himself is our peace." Who has made us both one, this is referring to Jews and Gentiles, made us both one and has broken down in his flesh, the dividing wall of hostility that he might create. Listen to this language. In himself, one new man in place of the two, so making peace. And he might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross. You see what God has done. He has brought us together. He's grafted the Gentiles in with the Jews and for some reason, people still want to separate us out. Listen to Amir Sarfati on this. He has a great little article that I just read a couple of weeks ago that I thought was really helpful. This paragraph, especially, he says, "Replacement theology says that God has replaced his chosen people with another group, the church." "Dual covenant theology says God has different covenant through which he will save the Jews than he does for the salvation of the Gentiles." Both teachings are grievous errors in biblical interpretation and thieves and robbers of the wonderful truths of the gospel. Amir Sarfati says that. So let me just stop here and ask this question. So, okay, let's say we understand that. We see the Israel Jews and we see the Gentiles, we see the church, we see the new covenant starting to take place, we see this whole thing. So what does that mean for God's plans in the future? Moving forward with the Jews. What does that look like? Well, I'll tell you what I think His plan is. First and foremost, His plan is that they, even though they have been cut off as broken branches, as what Paul says, they're cut off, that God has a plan to bring them back, to graft them back in through Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, as we get further along in the book of Revelation, we're going to see Israel part of it. We are going to see God doing that exact thing that He is going to be grafting Jews back into the tree. He's going to be taking those roots and bringing them back in. As a matter of fact, there are a couple of verses in the Bible that seem to speak of this. I'll call it the future mass conversion of Israel. That they talk about this moment that's coming. Maybe it's through tribulation. There's a lot of people believe. Maybe it's just through evangelism. That somehow, some way, God is going to have this future mass conversion of Israel. The people in Israel are going to be brought back to faith. They're going to be brought to faith in Jesus Christ. Zechariah 12 verse 10. It says, "I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace, and please for mercy so that when they look on me, the house of David, Israel, when they look on me, on him who they pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child." This is often interpreted as Israel's recognition of the crucified Messiah, the one that they pierced. Listen, you should be praying for that to happen. You should be praying for the people of Israel to come back to God through Jesus Christ. We should be praying for that. As a matter of fact, I want to wrap things up today with something that has really been on my heart as I've gotten closer and closer to this section on Israel, as I've been thinking about this, I've got stuck in the algorithm of Israel on Facebook or whatever it is. And so everything's all, you know, all this stuff coming out me. And I'm like, I don't know how to wait. And I've just been just calming my own heart in front of the Lord and trying to think through this. And so I want to close out, as I look at the conflict and the division, I want to close out with a letter. I've done this a few times where I've read something to you. And the reason I'm going to do that is because I don't want to mess it up. I don't want to just start talking off the top of my head and say something that I haven't thought through and prayed through very, very carefully. And so I am going to read this. to you an open letter to crossroads about Israel. I need to drink a water. I probably could use something stiffer than a drink of water. And I'm not going to-- nothing. For the last few minutes, I want to speak boldly to you as your pastor about Israel. Many of you have a sincere heart to be a blessing to Israel. And that desire comes from a beautiful place. We should feel a deep gratitude toward the nation through whom God gave us the scriptures. And ultimately brought the Messiah into the world. But the question I'd like us to wrestle with is, what does it really mean to bless Israel? I thought about that question a lot. For some Christians, blessing Israel has come to mean that we should never speak critically about anything that nation does. If a fellow believer raises a legitimate concern about something happening in Israel, the immediate response is defensiveness and anger, often under the guise of holiness. You better support Israel or you will be cursed. But I would say this carefully and respectfully. There are things happening in Israel that we had better be willing to speak against. Because at the end of the day, the kingdom of God is more important than the kingdom of Israel. Like every nation on earth, Israel is capable of celebrating things that run contrary to God. For example, Israel has state-funded abortion. If a woman in Israel seeks an abortion, the government will pay for it completely. 98% of the applications are approved, sometimes late into pregnancy. Tel Aviv is widely known as the gay capital of the Middle East. It hosts the largest gay pride celebration in the world. It draws hundreds of thousands of people to Tel Aviv each year. Many people even relocate to Tel Aviv, Israel, to be a part of that culture. These are realities that we cannot pretend are good, simply because they are happening in Israel. They didn't get a free pass in the Old Testament, nor in the New Testament, nor should they now. The kingdom of God calls every nation, including Israel, to something higher. Blessing Israel cannot mean approving everything they do. Stop forcing that political agenda on the people of the kingdom of God. So if blessing Israel does not mean agreeing with everything the nation does politically or culturally, what does it mean? The greatest way that we can bless Israel is by praying for their salvation. Too often Christians have become more passionate about defending Israel politically than they are about praying for Israel spiritually and mourning for their unbelief. These are God's people chosen from the beginning of the story and yet like every other people group on earth, they are lost without Jesus. That statement is not anti-Semitic. That is not Jewish hatred. In fact, I think it's the greatest way for us to show our love to our brothers and sisters of Jewish descent. Let me say this very bluntly though. If someone in this room hates the Jewish people or carries any anti-Semitism in their heart, this is not the church for you. Find another place. The Jewish people are deeply loved by God. And Scripture makes it clear that God continues to preserve a remnant among them, a thread of faithful people who believe. That is why Messianic Jews and Christian ministries to Jews deserve our prayers and support right now. They are faithfully proclaiming the gospel in the very place where their Messiah once walked. Listen to Paul's words again, Romans 10, 1, brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. That should be our posture as well. We don't get to hate Israel. We don't get to idolize Israel. The greatest blessing Israel could ever receive from America is not security, prosperity, or even geopolitical backing. The greatest blessing Israel or any nation could ever receive is Jesus Christ. So if we want to bless Israel, let's do it in the scriptural way. Let's love the Jewish people. Let's reject any form of anti-Semitism. And above all, let's pray that the gospel of Jesus Christ would spread throughout that land, and that many in Israel would come to know their King. Thank you for listening. Email me when you get home. Pastor Paul. OK. Yeah. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] Thank you. That means a lot, because I watch it what's going on in our world. You know, it's not just people outside of the church that are able to be deceived and wrapped into culture. And sometimes I see even within the church us getting caught up in these voices, these people who are speaking one truth, the other truth, these off our side extremes, and we're kind of fallen in with it. And I'm like, wait a second. God has spoken to us through his word. Let's listen to that. Let's be people who are actually united in our love, and our care, and our prayers for the people of Israel. God loves them. We should be too. But let's not let that excuse everything that happens. Amen. Go ahead and stand to your feet. And I'll stop talking. We'll get us out of here. Thank you for being a part of that being here today. I got a little emotional. Father God, thank you for just your word, and thank you for the church. Thank you for just the passionate love you have for a people from the beginning of time. God, I know they have a place in your heart just like we all do, but God, there's something special about that longevity with you. And I know you want them to see Jesus. So God, today I have just lift up Israel to you. I have lift up just the chaos that they're all surrounded with right now, the fear, the danger, the place that they're living in that country that is not so fraught with possibility of death around the corner. It's just crazy. Lord, we pray for your protection. We pray for your peace. Lord, but more than anything else, we pray that they would give their lives over to the Messiah, the one that they've looking for and many of them are still looking for. Lord, we pray that Jesus would become just such a bright light in the nation of Israel that we'd all just enjoy your gifts off into the future and we would know your love. Lord, thank you for this church. Pray you're blessing over each and every one of them. Father, we give our lives to you. We want to hear from you louder than we hear from anybody else. God, please help us to dive into who you are. We love you. We pray all of this through your Son, Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, Amen.