Welcome to Edgemont Bible Church in Fairview Heights, Illinois, where our mission is to glorify God by guiding people into a discipleship relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's listen in to today's message by our pastor, Douglas A. White. Last week we looked at God's covenant love for and with Israel. I hope that you got a good viewpoint of that, that God loves Israel, that God set up Israel for himself. He set it up in a special way. He set it up with a special love for them and for that land. So here's what I want to share with you. As he set them up, As he set them up, he gave to them special things that helped them be on board with it. One of those things was set up watchmen. He set up watchmen on the wall, why? Because he planted them, just like the good shepherd says, the Lord prepares for me a table in the presence of my enemies. He prepared for them a land, a place for them to live, and it's in the presence of their enemies. They had enemies all around them, kid, they always have. You understand what I'm saying? When Israel was set up, he always had enemies that were all around them. And they were living as robust a life as possible with all those enemies around them. He prepared a place for them. You follow where I'm at? And because he prepared a place for them, he gave to them special people to work with them. Two groups, watchmen and shepherds. Watchmen and shepherds. So with turning your scriptures to Ezekiel 33, Let's look over that first group, the watchman. Here's what he says. I'll read the first six verses of 33 with me, would you? Again, the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, speak to the children of your people and say to them, when I bring the sword upon a land and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people that whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes, takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but he did not take the warning. His blood should be upon himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. So in other words, he's made the watchman responsible for the well-being of those people. That if he's a good watchman, he's been observant, he's discerning, he understands what's going on, he understands the times, he knows what he's supposed to be looking for, so he's always looking. And when he sees something coming, he's supposed to blow the trumpet at that time, and so that everybody can hear it. And he's gonna keep on blowing so they can hear that trumpet. And everyone who hears that trumpet has a chance then to be rescued. If they receive that, then they are saved. If they don't receive that, then he says the watchman's free. I don't hold you responsible for that. You told them what I told you to tell them. But they didn't listen. They didn't wanna listen. Their death is their own. But if you see it coming and you don't blow the trumpet, and you don't give a warning, and you don't warn anybody at all, that sword's gonna take them. But if it takes him, it's going to be you I hold responsible for. Wow, that's a pretty big deal. That's a pretty big deal. Look further what he does in the next verse, in verse seven. So you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, therefore you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them for me. When I say to the wicked, a wicked man, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way. That wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I'll require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. Do you see the responsibility he makes for those watchmen? It's an important responsibility. I was in Kansas City, Kansas. I was working with Open Door Baptist Church. I was a student at Calvary Bible College at the time. and the pastor was trying to initiate me into the ministry. So he gave me as my first task, he said, you're gonna go door to door all around these houses here, and you're gonna share the gospel of Jesus Christ. What he didn't tell me is that everybody else on the staff had already been door to door to all those houses around there. So I no sooner went, and someone came to the door and said, you're from Open Door Baptist Church, get out of here. Can I tell you about the Lord? Get out of here. Okay. And that's just about the way it went. So I came back feeling blue and depressed. I mean, I spent three hours doing this and that's what it came in. So I came back and the choir director sees me. He says, wow, man, you look bummed out. What's going on? I said, then he stopped and he laughed and he said, pastor sent you door to door. Didn't he? Well, yeah. Yep. Does it all of us? Yeah. He said, did you know this place has already been saturated with all of our weight? Oh no, I do now. So the next thing he said was, now you're gonna go to hospital ministry. So I went to hospital ministry. I went to see a man who was the father of one of the kids in our Christian school there. Went to visit with him, and I'm as timid as can be, because I walked in and he said, yeah, what do you want? Well, that's not exactly the invitation to come and let's have a great time together. I said, well, I'm from Open Door Baptist Church. I don't wanna hear it. Well, I hadn't finished telling you, and the school that your son goes to. I know, I know where my son goes to school. What do you want? I said, well, I just wanted to talk with you. He said, talk and get it over with. What is it? I said, well, I didn't share the gospel with him. I did not. Matter of fact, I was looking for every avenue. I said, well, I'd like to pray with you. And my prayer was something like this. Lord, heal this man. Thank you in Jesus name. I went, I headed down the hall and I think I was almost at a run trying to get there. Kind of doing my Jonah thing, you know? So as I got to the elevator, I pushed the button and I started to go in and said, stop, go back. And I looked around, the elevator's got people in, and I'm looking at every lip to see, did somebody say that? So I walked on in. I walked on down, the elevator's going down, I said, go back. I said, go back. I said, go back. And I said, no, no, I'm not gonna do that. I got to the bottom, I start heading toward the door, and here's what I heard. Ezekiel 33. His blood is on your hands. I went back. I ran into that room just about as fast as I'd run out of it. What do you want? I said, sir, I'm gonna tell you something that's gonna liberate your soul. What? I said, I don't think you know the gospel. I don't think you're saved right now. And I'm saying, I'm looking at you in this hospital, and I'm realizing you got some serious things ahead of you. He had, I think, cancer of the spine, if I remember right. Anyway, he was in traction and all kinds of stuff like that. So I shared with him the gospel. Well, before I even got to share it with him, I was going through the gospel, and I said, all of sin comes short of the glory of God. Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it. And before, he stopped me and said, son, get to the good part. I already know I'm a sinner. I wanna know how to get out of this mess. So I told him, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Show me how to do that. Show me what I gotta do. So I shared with him the rest of the gospel, showed him that believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is a let go of yourself and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. He trusted Christ as Lord and Savior. There's more to that story. It's a great ending. He and his wife were divorced and through this whole thing, they got back together again through this whole thing. He was healed of his cancer. I don't have an answer to any of that, kids. I just know this, we have a responsibility. We are watchmen on the wall. And he made Ezekiel a watchman on the wall, and he told Ezekiel things that Ezekiel needed to know. He shared them right here. You know, all the things that we were being warned about are right here in the book of Ezekiel. We have the messages God gave to Ezekiel about the watchman on the wall, about the things he's going to do, about the things that need to be done to take care of that. He gave them to us already. They're in this great book. That's why I've chosen to go through this, because this great book is tied to the great book we just finished going through, the book of Revelation. These two are with each other. Why? Because it is the same message. It's coming from the same God, about the same people, and about the future. Watchmen. Watchmen were important. Chapter 34. Watchmen were important. So are shepherds. Listen to what he said. 34, verses seven to 10. Listen to what he said. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, says the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did my shepherd search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock. Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God. Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I'll require my flock at their hand. I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more. For I will deliver my flock from their mouths, that there may no longer be food for them. God gave the responsibility of watching over his people to shepherds. And those shepherds, Jesus used this same analogy when he was talking about the rabbis and the Levites and all the leaders of Israel who were supposed to be leading the flock, but they weren't. They were taking them away. They were taking care of themselves just fine, but the ministry of the temple was horrible. It had fallen down and there was all kinds of corruption going on with it. They were more interested in their political power. They were more interested in how they were gonna get ahead than they were the people themselves. And the people had become very frustrated. The Pharisees had set such a high standard for people, people couldn't live by it. So people had to go around with guilt all the time. They're not living by it, we're not living by it, we're not living by it. And they had no way to get out. Those shepherds he held responsible for that mess. that the sheep had now left the flock. Matter of fact, if you remember, the sheep were now going to another shepherd who was out in the countryside in the waters of the Jordan who was calling people to repentance for the kingdom of God is at hand. They went to John the Baptist because the shepherds had been doing wrong in that place. Kids, we still have shepherds today. I'm supposed to be one of those shepherds. The elders are supposed to be one of those shepherds. Dads, you are one of those shepherds. He's looking for the shepherds to do the good job. Matter of fact, look what he says about what a good shepherd is. In verse 11, this is Jesus speaking in John chapter 10 as well, verses one to 30. Listen to what it says. For thus says the Lord God, indeed, I myself will search for my sheep, seek them out as a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among the scattered sheep. So I will seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and their foals shall be on high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong and feed them in judgment. Can you hear the Lord Jesus Christ's ministry in this? This is what Jesus came to do. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. And the good shepherd comes for his flock. He's looking for his flock. They've been scattered out. So Jesus is now coming to bring them back in again. Kids, he's got a flock all over the world. He told us that he has other sheep that were not of the fold of Israel that he wanted to bring into that flock, that there might be one fold. Jesus Christ has called all of us to be shepherds, to look for His sheep that are all around here. They don't know Jesus Christ yet. They don't know who He is. They think they do. They think they've heard, but through some, let's call it bad shepherding, they've been driven away. They need to be drawn back again. They need to be pulled back. The Lord Jesus Christ is calling us to such a ministry. He says, know this, I am against the shepherds of Israel who do what they did, all right? So he's got one good shepherd. In chapter 35, he brings up to us that Mount Seir, Mount Seir is Edom. Edom is Esau. That's the same family, all right? So Esau had done something, Edom had done something, when other enemies had come against Judah. Instead of Esau helping out his brother, Esau didn't help his brother out at all. In fact, he took advantage of the fact that his brother was now vulnerable, and he attacked Israel. And the Lord said here in Mount Seir, I hold that against you. Because you attacked your brother when your brother needed help. I hold that against you and that holding it against you I will hold you responsible for it in that day. I will take away your nation from you Matter of fact, it looks like Mount Seir is the place that Israel is gonna go during the tribulation when the Antichrist does the abomination of desolation. It looks like that's where they're supposed to go to rest. They're going to that land of Edom due south of them, all right? God had a judgment, and in the previous judgments, we're not gonna read all of those. In the previous chapters up to here, God had judged the other nations. He had told the other nations, here's what I'm gonna do to you because this is what you did to my people. Here's what I'm gonna do to you because this is what you did to my people. In other words, folks, his love for Israel puts him in a place to be the protector of Israel. and he judges nations for not doing well to his people Israel. Even when his people Israel are in rebellion against him, even when they did what was wrong, he went ahead and scattered Israel because they had done that. He took them out of his good land and put them other places. More about that in just a moment. Let's go to letter D in your outline. God's restoration of Israel and Judah in the latter days. So for this, let's go to chapter 36. Chapter 36. And you, son of man. Now that's the title God gave to Ezekiel. That is the same title Jesus used of himself. all through his ministry, he called himself the Son of Man. Seldom did he call himself the Son of God. I think there was two places where he used the title Son of God. Most of the other times he called himself the Son of Man. So his message is similar to Ezekiel's. He was the good shepherd Ezekiel talked about. He's got things to say. He's here to be the one that gathers Israel back together again. That's what he came to do. So look in with me, 36, one. And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, because the enemy has said of you, aha, and the ancient heights have become our possession, therefore prophesy and say, thus says the Lord God, Because they made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, once again, that's the mountains of Israel, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you are taken up by the lips of the talkers and slandered by the people. Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around. Did you get what he's talking to? He's talking to those things that we call inanimate objects. He's talking to mountains. He's talking to valleys. He's talking to waters. He's talking to cities that don't have anybody living in them anymore. He's talking to the inanimate objects. He's telling them something, okay? Let's go on further. Therefore, thus says the Lord God that surely I have spoken in my burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and spiteful minds in order to plunder its open country. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, thus says the Lord God, behold, I have spoken of my jealousy and my fury because you have borne the shame of the nations. I want to stop just a minute here and get the picture for you here. He's looking at a land that's been abandoned. A land that has been beat upon, warred over, had blood spilled all over it. He's saying to that land right there, you are my land. I'm gonna get this picture with you, make sure we get it. God loves the land of Israel too. It is not just the people that God loves. If you remember, God is the one who assigned that land to them. That land is sacred to God as their land. So he's speaking to his land, he's telling his land what he's gonna do to his land, that that land is going to have people on it again, and it's gonna prosper again. He's saying that to the land, kids. What you consider, well, not yet. That's in my notes, we'll get to it. God's love for the land itself. He respects all boundaries he has given, and he personalizes the land and its future, okay? I want you to get this picture. When God divided the lands up, he gave to each group of people a land. Acts chapter 17 says that God set that land as theirs. That's sacred to that people. One of the things that made Nimrod such a horrible guy was that he practiced taking what was not his and using it as if it was his. Now people, when nations started conquering other nations, they were taking away the stewardship that God had given to that nation over that region of land. Are you following where I'm at? When that is taken away, they can't fulfill their stewardship. It is a theft. It's a theft. Do you see where we're coming from with that? And that's a theft they're all gonna pay for at some time. But what he did then was to take Israel, when Israel sinned against him, and he dispersed them in those lands. In those lands, they are responsible to the principality he put over that land. they're responsible to the God who's over all the principalities. So they had to live out their covenant and live the problem of being in an idolatrous country, a pagan country, whatever it was they were in. So they're gonna have to have a special kind of living, if I can say it that way, to get along in those countries. Are you seeing where I'm at on this? That means they're either gonna have to decide they're going to stay with God or they'll become pagan. If they become pagan, they've profaned his name. If they stay with God and still obey what the nation is before them, that nation is going to make fun of them and hate them. That's going to profane the name of the Lord. What are they gonna say? Why are you people living in our country? That's not where your country, get out of our country. You go back to where you came from. And they're gonna profane the name of the Lord because they know, those nations know Israel has its own land. Get back there and stay there. Get out of our land. You are not welcome here. And so far kids, it really looks like every place that the nations of Israel went, that's exactly what happened to them. Every people that they ever got around hated them. One of them gone because this was not their land. They were now taking land that belonged to the people of that nation. Ever see where we're at? This is a big deal, guys. This is a big deal. This is one of the reasons God's going to have a big judgment called the tribulation. because this is what's been going on over what he gave to people. Continuing theft has gone on over what he gave to his certain people and held them responsible for. Okay, let me go another step from you. Here's what it says. In our outline, God repopulates the mountains of Israel and sets it free from an old reputation. Look at verses eight and following, eight to 15. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel. Say to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, thus says the Lord God, behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and my fury because you've borne the shame of nations. Therefore, thus says the Lord God. I have raised my hand in an oath that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame. But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people, Israel, for they are about to come. For indeed, I am for you. I will turn to you. and you shall be tilled and sown, and will multiply men upon you, and all the house of Israel, all of it, and the city shall be inhabited, and the ruins rebuilt. I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bear young. I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, my people Israel, They shall take possession of you, and you shall be their inheritance. No more shall you bereave them of children." All right, get the picture here. Romans chapter 8, the Lord talks about the whole of creation is moaning and groaning now, waiting for the delivery. waiting to be delivered. And it says the whole of creation, when that delivery comes, is going to shout for joy. The whole of creation is going to—all the trees of the field will clap their hands. The whole of creation is going to rejoice when it gets restored back to what it was supposed to be in the beginning. He's giving it this sort of personalized look so that you can understand that the land is going to be happy again. It gets to finally do what it was supposed to do. It had been bereaved of its children. There was nobody working with it anymore. By the time Mark Twain got to it, what, in the 1870s, he said, this place is desolate. Why does anybody want this place? Why does anybody think this is a great place to be? It's useless. And it was in 1948, 47, when Israel returned to that place. It was desolate then. And they, by the power of God, turned that into a green place again. Turned it into some fascinating stuff, kids. Why? Because it's their land. Because the one who gave them that land is the one who's working with them in that land. You ever see that? Praise the Lord. God rehearses his justification for his previous actions with the house of Israel. Look at verses 16 and following. Listen to what he says. 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. To me, their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. Therefore, I poured out my fury on them for the blood that they had shed on the land and for their idols with which they had defiled it. I want you to stop just a minute. Can you see, this is his land, he is husband to this wife, and this wife is now shedding blood of her children. I mean, sometimes quite literally. He's got the big valley of Hinnom down there where they were sacrificing their children, shedding their own children's blood in that valley, seeking to find fertility. They were killing their own kids. And he said, for the blood that you shed on this place, and for the idols that you put there, just imagine she's bringing the pictures of her lover. Matter of fact, her lovers, plural. She's bringing the pictures of her lovers and setting them up in his house. and they're bowing before it and remembering the great times they had with their lovers while they are the wife to God Almighty. Do you see why he finds this to be impure? I don't think there's one of you here that would tolerate that for a moment in your marriage. If you found out that your spouse was having all of these affairs going all around and now has got pictures of them set up all around the house, that every place you went you had to see another stinking picture, That's what he saw. That's why he said, I was furious. And in my judgment, I said, I'm done with you doing this to my house. Notice, he didn't cancel the marriage. He threw them out of the house. If it's your lovers from these different nations you like, then go to them. Let them take care of you. And what do we know is gonna happen when we go to them? After they have used Israel for what they want, they hate her. They're gonna throw her out. What effect is that going to have? One day, Israel, as God's wife, is going to say, I'm mistreated every place I go. It was better for me when I lived in my own house. And they're going to come back. That's what God has intended, all right? Now, going further with you, When Israel lived there, they defiled it by doing their own ways instead of the covenant ways He gave them. Their ways were to Him like a woman on her menstrual cycle or menstrual impurity. He poured out His fury on them because of the blood they shed on the land. He poured out His fury on them because of their idolatry that defiled the land. With this idolatry, they had said that His land was actually the property and home of the evil squatters they had let through their borders. Now, that's not about immigration, kids. That's about bringing in somebody, bringing in idols and other gods and laying claim that these gods have this property. That's giving away your own house, a stupid thing to do, a wicked thing to do that was uncalled for. So, letter E, as he did at Babel, he scattered the people among the nations and on property that was not theirs. It belonged to the nations, not Israel. It was governed by the principalities under whom God had assigned them. Now, get the picture. God honors his own system. He set up all those other nations with governments. He set them up with those who were going to be over them. He set them up with certain principalities, and he's going to honor that. That's why he doesn't go in and destroy Babylon when Israel is exiled there. No, that's being done by the Medes and the Persians. Not done by God. It's done by the Medes and the Persians. Why? Because that's not his land. His land is over here. Now, as sovereign God, they're going to get the opportunity to take as much land as they want. They're going to answer for it. They're going to answer for it, kids. Judgment is coming for that very stuff. But they're supposed to be back to their own land. So He's not going to rescue them while they're in those other nations. They're going to have to live their shame. They are there because they dishonored Him. Does that make sense to you? That's why they're there. They dishonored their relationship for them, and the nations know that, and they say that. Look at Israel. They're here because they dishonored God. They got booted out of their own land, all right? I'm gonna go another step further with you. Letter F, but even in the foreign lands, these cursed, unwelcome immigrants profaned the name of God because they were deemed unworthy by the Lord to remain in the land he selected personally for them. Listen with me as we go back to verse 19. So I scattered them among the nations. They were dispersed throughout the countries. I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name. When they said of them, these are the people of the Lord, yet they have gone out of his land. but I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel, that profaned among the nations wherever they went. Notice you see this last nine verse 20, but I had concern for my holy name. So it's one thing for the people to be profaned. It's one thing for the people to bear shame. But when you make God look ugly, he's getting involved with it, okay? So he said, therefore say 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 namesake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. Now watch. Because where they went, they had profaned the name of the Lord and the Lord's concern grew for his name, not for them. Not because they were turning in repentance, Most of the time is either a pity party or just plain rebellion Well, you don't just sort of shake your fist in God's face in what was it? Tevye said and fiddler on the roof choose somebody else for a while. I Don't want to be chosen anymore choose somebody else for a while listen They wanted their freedom, but they wanted it their way and You see, he can't invite them back to the land again until they're sick of where they are and they want it again. Now, in case you haven't seen that principle, that's the one that works in our lives too. He will let you stay in whatever sickening state you want to stay until you finally realize this rascal is killing me. This way of doing things is destroying me. That's why God gives revivals. That's why only God can give revivals. You can get sick enough of living the way you're living, but not change it. Matter of fact, not have the tools to change it with. Not even know how to change it. You can be sick of it, but you'd like to have it, a life that just doesn't have the problems with it. Until you wanna have God, you'll never experience revival. You'll never experience that one-on-one relationship that's the draw near to me, I'll draw near to you. You'll never experience that hopeful relationship that exists with someone who believes in the personal God who knows he's a person himself. I'll go another step with you. His concern was for his holy name. Listen to what he says, verse 23. and 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. The name of this series is that you shall know I am the Lord. Why does he do the things that he does? Why did he scatter Israel out? Why did he put them all in different places? It's not just so he could fill his grudge. He's wanting the people to know he's the Lord. So when they go to all those other nations, they're saying, where'd you come from? Well, I came from Israel. Isn't that Yahweh's place? Yeah, that's Yahweh's place. I thought you guys were Yahweh's people. Well, yeah, we were. We got kinda into trouble with the, yeah, you sure did. Tell me about this Yahweh. What's your God like? So as they'd set up their little synagogues or little Jewish centers, they would talk about Yahweh. So Yahweh now is being told in all of these 70, in all these nations where a principality went and took them, they were scattered to all of those so that they'd hear about Yahweh. Remember on the day of Pentecost what takes place? From all those nations that went all the way from the east, all the way to Spain, Jewish people showed up And there at Pentecost, they heard the gospel in their own language. So they could go back home to the place where Yahweh was known and bring the rest of the good news. Isn't that cool? That's what he's doing. That the nations may know that I am the Lord. He's gotta even tell his own people that I am the Lord. That's why he's gotta scatter them. Do you know why you're being scattered? Because you're my people. You are my people, and I'm the one scattering you. Now you'll know that I am the Lord. Kids, there's so many more things we gotta look at here in just these next few studies. You're going to be almost, to me, there are times, it just raises the hair on the back of my neck to think he's gonna do that. For what, wrong reason again? That you may know that I am the Lord. Okay, let me go on further with you here, a little bit more. in, as he goes on, 24. Let me go back to 23 again. And 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. So they're gonna know that. What's he gonna do? It's not because they're asking to go home. They are saying that, I mean, they're being mistreated. They're being mishandled. And God is saying, I'm gonna bring you back from all those lands. I'm bringing you back to my land so that all the nations will know that I am the Lord. I'm bringing you back here so that you will know I am the Lord. There is no other, all right? So let's go on further. He's got some really great things to say here. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all of your filthiness, from all your idols. 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. Stop just a minute, he's got some more things he wants to say here. They're gonna be gathered from all the nations. Now kids, this is not a one-time event. This is a processed event. When you read Ezekiel, you realize that Ezekiel said in 26, I'm bringing them back to the land, but I'm bringing back in the land this time to judge them. I'm going to teach them." So he's got a first time that he's bringing them back in, and the group that comes back in, he says, will you believe me? Will you believe me? And they're still holding on to some other little thing, holding on to themselves as a way of truth. He continues to judge them while he's still bringing more and more people in. So if you get the picture, This is a process of bringing people into that land. It's not simply a one-time event. You're going to look up and say, on September 15th in 2023, God restored all Israelites to Israel. Can I just ask you, what would that do? How do you handle that in immigration? How do you pass all the Israelites who are going to come from all those different places? How do you even land them at all your airports? You can't do it that way. You have to do it by a process. A little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit here. How about a little war in Ukraine? What would that do for us? Well, let's get a bunch of Jewish people out of there. Let's take about 70,000 out of there. That's a good one. I'll try. How about a little war in such and such? How about a little economy breakdown over here? How about a little, and bringing them back because of the circumstances. Do you realize how many tools are in his kit? My goodness, okay, I'm gonna do a little climate change on this one. That little bomb blows up and Israel says, I think it's better back home. So they go home. It's a process, kids. It's a process. And when he gets the ones that he wants there, when he brings enough people in, he's gonna sprinkle them with water. They're gonna come back home and they're gonna know this. What were we thinking? What were we thinking? We had our own land, we had plenty of good stuff, we had a God that loved us, we had someone who cared for us. What were we thinking? and he puts them in this new covenant, and he takes out of them this heart of stone, and he puts in them the heart of flesh, and he puts a new spirit within them. Matter of fact, it's not just a new spirit, it's his own spirit, empowering them to listen to what he has to say, empowering them to know the Lord. That's his reason for doing it, that you may know that I am the Lord, all right? If you're tracking with me, kids, this is why them being back in that land is so important for us. Them being back in that land is the key to prophecy. The rest of things fall in place when he's got his kids back home again. When he brings his wife home to refresh her, you can be looking up, guys, because it's going to be any day. He even is going, well, we'll get to that next week. Listen to what he goes on to say. Oh, there's some fascinating stuff here. Listen to what it says. Verse 27, I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and you shall be my people and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and multiply it and bring no famine upon you. Can you hear his interaction with the mountains he just spoke to earlier? The mountains are gonna bring now grain like they were supposed to. I'm gonna bring all that to it and then you will, It says, and I will multiply the fruit of your trees, verse 30, and the increase of your fields so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sake do I do this, says the Lord God. Let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. So they're gonna get back home again, and when they get back home again, the day will finally come when they say, what have we done? I hate our history. I hate what we've done. I hate the things that we have done. And that's going to be the key that starts them for that one great adventure that's going to bring them back to the Lord. One we'll look at next week, probably next week. That one adventure that's gonna take place, kids, that will bring their hearts to that place so that everybody will know, I am the Lord. Israel will know that they are the Lord, and they will turn again, and those 144,000 will rise up and become the evangelists who tell the whole world, do you know who did all this? Do you know where that earthquake came from? Do you understand where that tsunami came from? Do you understand where the destruction of that army came from? Do you grasp all that? Because it's the Lord who did that. He wants to be known, guys. He wants to be known. He's not seen, but he wants to be known. This all is coming about in days ahead of us, not very far. And I trust that today, you know Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, but if you don't, Today would be a great day to be liberated, to be born again, to be forgiven, to have a new home, to be a part of the plan of God that he's unfolding for us right here. He already told us about it 2,700 years ago. It's there, waiting. It's open for you. Today, will you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? A, admit that you're a sinner. You know you need a Savior. B, believe the Savior that God gave you. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And C, once you know Him, confess Him. Tell people about it. Tell them who it is. Confess that before the Lord. The Lord says that if you believe in your heart, that if you will confess the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. All right. Father, thank you so much for the gift of opportunity we have to be a saved people. What an awesome God you are. You could have left us in the dark. You could have told us, not told us a thing. You certainly weren't obligated to, but because you wanted to, because you did, We're a people now who are blessed with the knowledge of the Savior. Please open our hearts to this great truth. Let no one leave here today without knowing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, in whose name we pray, amen. God is working. God is moving. You want to be a part of what he's doing. That's going to require a prepared people. We want to have a prepared place. So let's get involved with the preparation. Let's get involved with it. Let's look forward to meeting with God as soon as we can possibly meet with Him. Let's look to the Lord now in prayer. Father, thank you so much for all that you're doing for us. Thank you for the way you've watched over us, cared for us, the way you've ministered to every need we have. We want to be a grateful people for everything, Father, just as you told us that everything give thanks. And we know that's the will of God. We ask, Father, that you will open our hearts to the things going on around us that we may truly see and know that you're the Lord. I want to thank you for what you're doing in Jesus' name. We hope God has encouraged you with today's message by Pastor White. Thank you for joining us at the Edgemont Bible Church. We'd love to have you visit us if you're ever in the area. For directions, more information, or to support the ministry of Edgemont Bible Church, please go to our website at edgemontbiblechurch.org. That's edgemontbiblechurch, all one word, dot org. You can also follow us on Facebook at Edgemont Bible Church where the Sunday Morning Message is broadcast live.