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Thank you lord for the saving grace for your son, jesus christ That we can be together again in heaven Bless this time lord. Thank you for this worship Be with the word this morning lord with the prophecy update We may need you to help us understand What is here before us this morning lord and by may I mean we need So would You help us, Lord? May we look to You, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Good morning and welcome. You can be seated. So glad you're here. So glad those of you that are joining us online are joining us online. Trust that you'll all be blessed that you did. Before we get started though, I want to share an email from Pastor Steve Santos regarding our ongoing Maui mission support. So Steve writes, so much has happened. That's an understatement. Yeah. Fire, loss, confusion, grief, greed, seeing the best and the worst of people, some hoarding for fear of when things are gone. people's fear of where they and their families will live, not wanting to be relocated to other islands or even to the other side of Maui. Lahaina is still their home, and it's still happening. All but the fire. All while the world has moved on. And I totally get it now with Israel. Like I had said when we were with you, JD, I'm afraid to ask what's next? And then the horrific news of Gaza. Come Lord Jesus. While the world has moved on, Lahaina is still burned. And the hearts of the people here are still filled with all that was left on that morning after. Deep depression, fear of What do we do? And again, Jesus is the only answer. We need to have answers from God's Word. So please don't stop praying for Lahaina, or for me, for God's direction for Calvary Chapel West Side, and praying for every true believer on the West Side of Maui that woke up that morning, inducted into the full mission field. Someone shared how he wakes up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep thinking on how, what to do next with Lahaina. And not just thinking about his job and the physical town, but thousands of homes and businesses, not hundreds, by the way, thousands, thousands of families, people's lives. From how and when reopening the West Side, how to meet the needs of the people with housing here, keeping their properties, clearing their properties. By the way, rental properties off the charts. You could have rented at one time prior something for maybe $2,000 a month, maybe $2,500 a month. Now it's $3,800 a month. So income for those that lost everything. Their workplace was burned. Where do they work? The children. What to do with school? The safety of the air quality, toxins or no toxins, etc, etc, etc. I don't believe he's a believer, but I believe that he genuinely cares. This is what he was sharing about this guy. I didn't feel like he had any agenda at all. One of his key appointees is a believer. This is an elected official. He had prayed over the mayor way back when he was first appointed as a judge that he, speaking of the mayor, would have the wisdom of Solomon in the heart of Job. I told him that it seems that prayer was maybe prophetic. That said, praying now more than ever for our mayor and hoping to do that monthly, which he sounded very open to after he met with him, by the way. I was thinking about it, how that right now we have the mayor's ear and he can hear the Lord's heart for Lahaina if God is speaking through us. Then do direct energy weapons. I believe. But are there people, men and women in our world that are that evil? You bet. But I need to have everything confirmed by the Spirit and the Word. Then shout, even pound, Let me give you a quick back story on him saying and ending with even pound. He shared with me how that for the first time, and you got to know Steve, some of you do. You met him when we had him here that Thursday night. He's, well, the opposite of me. Great guy, right? But he's, you know, he doesn't pound the pulpit like me. So he shared with me that for the first time ever, he'd been doing this for a long time, he pounded the pulpit. I said, Steve, dude, I do that every week. So that was, I just wanted to fill in that blank for you. So after talking with Steve at length and praying together with him about all of this, God, as only He can, has and is providing a supernatural peace and a supernatural strength. That peace of God from the God of peace that surpasses human understanding. We're working together, as you know, and as I've shared. But I want you to know that we're currently working through Calvary Chapel Westside on gifting cars to people. Right now we're working on gifting a car to a single mom, a van to a family with an autistic child, and a truck, another truck to another brother for his work. All of these people lost all of their cars. And this after we, by the grace of God, all the glory goes to God, were able to gift a vehicle to a family of four. who lost theirs as well and really needed a vehicle. And we were able to do that again by the grace of God. Lastly, in addition to our Maui mission support, I've been in contact with someone regarding a ministry in Israel that provides supplies and basic needs, much like what we were able to do for the people of Maui. Well, we want to do that for both Jews and Arabs in Israel. So I'm hoping to talk a little bit more about that in today's update, really at the end with the but God testimony at the conclusion of the update, which we'll get to. Starting with, this is our first service. Welcome. Do I need to start over again? Good morning and welcome. So glad you're here. So glad you're... We have two services on Sunday morning, the first of which is the weekly Bible prophecy update. We've been doing this for many years on a weekly basis. And then second service now is the sermon. Actually, it's a verse by verse study through the Word of God. We finished first John last week. So today we're going to begin in the next book 2nd John, because 2nd John comes after 1st John. Looking forward to it. Just the first three verses, I mean, wow. What we're going to do is look at not only how to address relational problems, but how we can specifically and even practically resolve relational problems. So that'll be live stream at 11 15 a.m. Hawaii time for those of you watching online and also for those of you watching by way of Facebook or YouTube, we want to encourage you to go directly to the website at JDFarag.org and there you will find the uncensored and uninterrupted entirety of today's update as only the first part is streamed on those platforms. So let's get to it. Last week, I asked for your prayers about doing an update that I was working on and praying about specific to the so called Palestinians and by extension, the prophetic significance of the terrorist group Hamas as it relates to Israel with the Hamas attack on Israel. Well, this is that update. So thank you for praying. You prayed, right? I chose this title of Whose Side Are You On? And I did so for reasons that I hope will become clear here shortly. I've been inquiring of the Lord concerning what's being dubbed as a war between the Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas and Israel. And this after Hamas attacked and really butchered innocent Israeli civilians and citizens. It was when this happened, after this happened, that I discerned and decided that I had to address this both prayerfully and carefully. And this for several reasons, chief of which is this, and please hear my heart on this. The second hand on God's prophetic clock. Let me maybe fill in those blanks real quick. The hour hand is Israel, the minute hand is Jerusalem, and the second hand on God's prophetic clock is the Temple Mount. And that's, by the way, what this is all about. So one of the main reasons for doing an update like the one today is that the second hand on God's prophetic clock is right at the time of the pre-tribulation rapture. Oh, there he goes again. Yes, there I go again. Now we know this. Why? Because Bible prophecy tells us this. Bible prophecy tells us this by way of the geopolitical developments at the time of the end centered in Israel as it relates to Israel. In fact, the original language of the Hebrew New Testament uses a word, Hebrew New Testament. Wow, what a long week. That's Greek. I'm sorry. The Hebrew Old Testament. Can you give me a do over on that? In the original language of the Hebrew, there's a word used to describe Israel as it could be literally translated the navel or the belly button, the center. It's the apple of God's eye, the center of the world, the belly button of the world. If that's a little bit too much, we'll just use a more physiological term and just call it the navel. Is it too early for this? I don't know. Just the navel, the center. It's the center of the world. Israel is the center of the world. Yeah, I've shared this before. I think maybe because I haven't shared in a while. So this is for those of you that are new, of which there are many. By the way, welcome. We're so glad that you're coming and actually even more so that you're coming back. That's wonderful that you came back. So I shared this many times over the years about how when I was in Russia one time, and I was teaching at the Bible college there in Moscow, a condensed course. And the students there in the Bible college in the dorm said, Hey, Pastor JD, come, we want to show you something. I'm like, okay, what? So they take me down the hall and they point me and stand me in front of a map. And they had me look at this map. You see, you don't see anything different. I'm looking at the map, you know, being the extremely intelligent man that I am, you know, just kind of musing, you know, it's more like, what? So don't you see anything unusual or different about this particular map? I'm like, no. And he said, well, what's at the center of the map? Not America, Russia. No, think about it. I'm in Russia. They have a map of the world. Who's going to be at the center of a map of the world in Russia? Russia. Well, God's got, I'm going somewhere with this, and it's deeply profound. God has a map too. You know who's on the center or who's at the center of His map? Israel. Israel. And that's why we know, because that is the center, that is the central focal point at the end of what the world will look like at the end. And guess what? It's the end. Because you look at Israel, you're going, whoa, this looks like what the Bible says it will look like at the time of the end in Israel, with everything that's happening to Israel. And that's why we know this. One more, boy, it's going to be a interesting day today, isn't it, for this update. But just real quick, we just had our pastor's meeting this morning, and I was telling the guys that the reason why people have moved away from the sound doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture is because the world right now looks like we're already in the tribulation. Why does the world look like we're already in the tribulation? Because we're so close to the tribulation. You almost It takes you back, and you've got to step back, and you're looking at this thing going, wow, it already looks like we're in the tribulation. So out goes the sound doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture. Because if we're already in the tribulation, then it must not be a pre-tribulation rapture. Well, congratulations. You know what you just did? You just superseded the Word of God with the events of the world. You're interpreting the Word of God through the lens of the events in the world and not vice versa. You interpret the events of the world through the lens of God's prophetic Word. I don't feel better. I was hoping I would, but I don't. Does that make sense? I, anyway, maybe I just need to go back to the Lord with this. Some of you are saying, yeah, just take it to the Lord. But this is a thing, by the way. Pastors, teachers of God's Word have abandoned the sound doctrine of the pre-tribulation under the banner of what I just explained. And I just, all I can think of The closest thing I could think of to anything that would even come remotely close to explaining it, not excusing it, explaining it. I'm almost done with my rant, so there's hope, is what Paul wrote to Timothy about the last days, that in the last days they will not put up with sound doctrine. They will not tolerate sound doctrine. It'll be a characteristic, a marker of the last days. So in some way, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. What's your point? My point is this, and by the way, none of this is in my notes, which is, that's a problem unto itself. Here's my point. How close to the seven year tribulation are we if people actually think we're already in the seven year tribulation? Could it stand to reason that we're so close to the seven year tribulation, which explains why people think we're already in the seven year tribulation, that we're that close to the seven year tribulation, which means the rapture can happen anytime. Okay, now I feel a little bit better. Let's move on to our prophecy update already in progress. So the center is Israel, the center of the world, the navel is Israel. And because we covered this in depth in last week's update titled Why Israel? Why now? Let me just simply say it's all happening right now. That's why. However, we have a serious problem. Oh, goodness, not another problem. It's not just my problem, because I'm going to make it your problem, too. It's a gift. What's the problem? Well, it's a problem that needs to be resolved, and it's that of choosing sides. Which, by the way, plays right into the enemy's hands. He could not be happier. This is why I chose to title the update in the form of a question. Whose side are you on? Because you see, choosing sides, we've talked about this before in prior updates, choosing sides is textbook divide and conquer. Let me say that again. Choosing sides is textbook divide and conquer. Jesus said a house divided will not stand. United we stand, divided we fall. Have you heard that one So don't you think the enemy knows that and plays that card, knowing that if he can seek to and does steal, kill and destroy, how is he going to destroy, divide and conquer? Divide. That's how he's going to destroy and conquer. Because if a house divided cannot stand, well then what's the enemy going to do? Divide the house. So it'll fall. And this is really in every arena. This is one of those principles in life that you don't break, it breaks you when you go up against it, without exception. It's textbook divide and conquer. As soon as you start choosing sides, it's game over. You've already lost. You've already lost. Okay. Here's where I'm going with this as I try to calm down a little bit. I went back to my Bible, what a novel idea, and revisited key passages that thankfully reminded me of how this can be biblically and correctly resolved. Resolved, what are you, what are you resolving? This choosing sides problem. this divide and conquer problem. And one of the go to passages, it's a most fascinating account, is found in the Book of Joshua. And it provides us with a solution to this very complex dilemma. And it is complex. I hope that I'm in no way oversimplifying something that is very complex. Joshua chapter five. You can join me there. I'll begin reading in verse 13. And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, this is now as they're approaching Jericho, getting ready to conquer Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, are you for us or for our adversaries? Translated, whose side are you on? Answer, verse 14. So he said, no. Wait, it wasn't a yes or no question. It was multiple choice. Actually, I only gave you two choices. You're either on their side or our side. Whose side are you on? And he said, no, but, and I want you to pay particular attention because your translations will capitalize he and this next word as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. Who are you? This is Jesus. What? No, this is what the Bible, what we call a Bible Christophania, pre Bethlehem appearance of Jesus the Christ prior to His virgin birth to Mary at His first coming. Oh, by the way, He was there in Genesis 1.1. He was there in the Genesis account. Let us create man in our image. That's the Trinity. It's not, let me create man in my image. That's singular. No, let us before the foundations of the earth. Jesus is there and was there, the Alpha and the Omega, no beginning, no end. And by the way, Jesus is in every chapter of of every book in the entire Bible, Jesus is there. And such is the case here. How do you know this is Jesus? Because of what Joshua does next. What does Joshua do next? Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, what does my Lord say to his servant? Now that's Jesus, not an angel, because anytime any man tried to bow down and worship an angel, the angels like, don't do that. They would never accept worship because only God is worthy of all of our worship. So that's how we know, because if this wasn't Jesus and it was an angel of the Lord and not the Lord Himself, they would have said, get up, get up. What are you doing? I'm just an angel. But Jesus doesn't do that. Verse 15, Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Jesus said to Joshua, take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. Okay, Pastor, you're not answering the question that you're asking. I mean, don't you hate it when somebody answers a question you weren't asking? I think it's worse when you don't answer a question you were asking. I need to get more sleep probably. I am answering the question vis a vis the Word of God and the Word of the Lord to Joshua who asks him the wrong question. Whose side are you on? That's the wrong question for which there is only one right answer. Here's the answer. You ready? Wait for it. It's not whose side am I on or even whose side is God on? Rather, are we on God's side? Are we on God's side? That was the answer. Whose side are you on? No, wrong question. I mean, wrong answer, but wrong question. Let's get it right first. There's only one right answer to your wrong question. It's not whose side are you on? It's are you on God's side, according to God's Word, according to God's will. What's God's will? Second Peter chapter three verse nine. The Lord is not slacking concerning His promise. This is, by the way, in the context of His return, as some count slackness, or if you prefer slowness, as some of your translations render it. And here's the reason why, by the way. He's long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. It is the will of God that no one perish. but that all should come to repentance. Please don't accuse me of universalism. Man, I can't even talk about, I'm not going to go there. It's not, it's not worth it. Hell was never created for man. Hell was created for the devil and his demons. God did not create, I love how one said it, God doesn't send anybody to hell. They send themselves there over Jesus's dead, crucified and resurrected body. That's the will of God. That's according to the will of God, that all would come to repentance, all, all Jews, all Arabs, All locals, all Howleys too. I got away with it last week. I thought I'd push, push it again this week. Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, all the E's. Portuguese, got to get the Portuguese in there. Now I'm in trouble. I didn't, I said it respectfully though. I didn't use the local pigeon way. Okay. Can you get to the point? Yes. Get to the matter at hand. I will. What's the matter at hand? The matter at hand has to include a distinguishing between the land. That's the matter at hand. And the people laying claim to the land. That's the matter at hand. There has to be a distinction, really, if you prefer a separation. between the people and the land. And that's what we're going to do. And that's what we need to do. What I'm hoping to accomplish in explaining all of this is to prove that the so called Palestinian claim on Jerusalem is illegitimate. Actually, one of the main reasons of which there are many for the illegitimacy of the Palestinians claim is that there are no Palestinians. There's no such thing as a Palestinian. The best book I've ever read on this, it's by Ramon Bennett, titled Philistine, The Great Deception. Now you have to understand that as your pastor, if I'm so privileged to be your pastor, I grew up in a home being told and taught that I was Palestinian. My dad Egyptian, my mom Palestinian. And then I got saved at age 19. And then I read the Word of God for the first time all the way through from Genesis to Revelation. Took me about six months. And I started asking some very important questions that demanded some very serious answers like, I don't see the Palestinians being the same as the Philistines in the Old Testament. And then I came across many, many years ago this book, and I mean, it was life changing for me. I have to confess, and I do recommend this book. You can still, I think, get it on Amazon. It's been a long time now, but it's not a book that you enjoy reading. It's a book that you endure reading. There was a couple of times where I just had to walk away from it because it was such a hard book to read, knowing You know, this was my roots, you know. Who am I? I don't know. I thought I was a Palestinian. I'm not now. What am I now? I don't know. Anyway, enough of that. But I just want to share with you a few quotes from his outstanding work. In the year 130 A.D., the Romans renamed Jerusalem Ilia Capitolina after the emperor Ilias Hadrianus and the god Jupiter Capitolinus. The Romans kept Ilia Capitolina as their name for Jerusalem and renamed the promised land Syria Palestina. The renaming of the land was an overt effort to eradicate the Jewish connection so that, not quoting, the name of Israel be remembered no more. The name, they renamed it. After the Muslim conquest of Palestina in the 7th century AD, the name Aelia like Ilias or Elias, Ilia, Capitolina, gradually faded from use. And in due process of time, Palestine, the Latin form of Philistia, the land of the ancient Philistines, was anglicized into Palestine. That's how they got the name Palestine. Here's a truth bomb, pun intended, It wasn't named Palestine because of the Palestinians. It was named Palestine because of the Romans. The ancient Philistines are not synonymous with the so called modern day Palestinians. How do you know? Because the Bible tells me so. This I know. Jesus loves me. This I know. My Bible tells me so too. The Bible records for us. Actually, you can start in Second Samuel five. It's actually before and after. But the Philistines were destroyed and eliminated under the rule of one King David. Second Samuel five. And that's just the biblical evidence. But there's also the archaeological evidence. There's the conspicuous absence of any Palestinian coinage. And if you want to take it further, any Palestinian language. Well, what do these so called Palestinians speak? Arabic, because they're Arabs, and Arabs speak Arabic. They're Arabs. About 25 years ago, this is, as only the Lord can, became good friends with this Jewish brother in Christ who was in my church on the mainland. This is like 25 years ago. He let me borrow some of it. He has an amazing collection. And he had this collection of life magazines dating back into the 40s, 1940s. Notice you could have bought one for 15 cents. Anyway, so I asked him, I said, hey, can I just borrow them? And scanned them, and I painstakingly scanned the main articles that relate. It was so interesting and fascinating, because these articles were prior to and in concert with the rebirth of the nation of Israel, in one day, by the way, according to the prophecy in the Word of God. Can a nation be born in one day? Israel can. One day, what was the day? May 14th, 1948. Permit me to quote from these articles. I'll do so quickly and as briefly as I possibly can to provide an explanation with this documentation proving that the so-called Palestinians are not Palestinians, they are Arabs. This first article is titled Palestine, and was published on August 19, 1946, just shy of two years before the rebirth of Israel as a nation, quoting, so what of a Jewish state? The Arabs regard it as an exotic movement, internationally financed, artificially stimulated, holding no hope of ultimate or permanent success. You probably should read Isaiah and Ezekiel and Listen to the then Saudi Arabian King Ibn Saud, as I quote him from Life Magazine dated May 31st, 1943. Notice it was 10 cents. I'm sorry, but it went up five cents, five years later. Anyway, this is five years before Israel's rebirth as a nation. Quoting the King of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud. I know of nothing that justifies the Jewish claims in Palestine. I am not afraid of the Jews or of the possibility of their ever having a state or power, either in the land of the Arabs or elsewhere. This is in accordance with what God has revealed unto us through the mouth of His prophet in His holy book, the Quran. The prophet, false prophet, Muhammad, false religion, Islam. And oh, by the way, just so you know, I hope you know, if you don't know, you better know that the name Jerusalem is not found even one time in the Quran, not one time. In the Bible, over 800, I think. I'm careful lately. If you notice this, I'm learning. not to get exact numbers, because then I just get excoriated afterwards because I was not correct. So I'm being generic. It was a little over 800 times. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How many times in the Quran? Zero. Oh, they try. It's the Arabic translation of the Quran. There's a verse in the Quran that says the holy place from afar. Yeah, nice try. That's not Jerusalem. The holy sites of Islam are in Saudi Arabia, and they are Mecca and Medina. Okay, here's another one. This one's titled The Palestine Problem. That is a problem. It was published on February 16th, 1948. Quote, The UN decided the land, the land, should be divided into three parts. Listen, a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an internationalized Jerusalem. Still quoting, the UN stands back of the decision, but so far back that from the Mount of Olives around which is being spilled the blood of Arabs and Jews, Its blue banner is almost invisible. Any move to revise would, of course, be a serious blow to the UN prestige climbed down in the face of force. Moreover, it would probably increase the fighting. Keep in mind this is 1948. Stalin could then maneuver over to the side of the fanatical ex grand mufti and try to stir up the whole Arab world. This could be disastrous to the US, the UN, and the 800,000 Jews in Arab lands. Did you notice something here? Did you notice any mention of Palestinians? They're not mentioned. Oh, Palestine? for the aforementioned reasons because it was renamed as such. But no, it's not the Palestinians, it's the Arabs. Why is it the Arabs? Am I yelling? I'm sorry. It's a gift. That's a custom in my country. We yell when we talk. We love you, but we yell at you. Very passionate people. No, no, no, no, no, no. Anyway, that was no extra charge. So why do they not say Palestinians? Why do they say Arabs? Because they're Arabs and they're not Palestinians. Are we okay? The reason there's no mention of Palestinians in the articles is because there were no Palestinians in the land. There were Arabs in the land. And by the way, there weren't that many Arabs in the land. It's a well documented fact that There were very few Arabs, actually very few people in the land, let alone Arabs and Jews in the land. And the Jews never forced the Arabs out of the land. The Arabs have been ever since trying to force the Jews out of their land. And by the way, it's not about the land. And that's why it's so important to distinguish between the land and the people. Because talking about maps, another map illustration. Have you seen a map of the Middle East lately? You should do it. Search it up. Map of the Middle East. You have to zoom out to get all of the Arab land, because the Arab lands like all of this. And then you got, now you got to zoom in, because Israel's like, where? Oh, there it is. Here, zoom in, zoom in more. Zoom in more. There it is. That's Israel. Oh, they need more land? Okay. Again, Bennett of this writes, Arabs claim that Jews forced millions of Palestinian Arabs from the lands they had farmed for thousands of years. No, they didn't. And by the way, Palestinian Arabs, did you notice that distinction? That's deliberate and for good reason. Because if you lived in Palestine pre 1948 and you were a Jew, you were called a Palestinian. Now, if you really wanted to get down and qualify it, you would then say, well, I'm a Palestinian Arab or I'm a Palestinian Jew. But you're still a Palestinian. You were considered a Palestinian. Why? Because you were a Philistine? No, because the name of the land is Palestine. That's why. Still quoting? We know that prior to modern times, millions of Arabs never lived in Palestine. We also know that Arabs have not been around for thousands of years. Only the Jews had a continual presence in the land. Rather than being farmed by Arabs for thousands of years, it was a wasteland. Eminent writers and pilgrims of the Holy Land throughout the ages have left many written testimonies of the empty, barren wilderness, and even historians report the same findings. Bennett goes on to document these historians in speaking of the prolific American writer Mark Twain, who toured Palestine in the year 1867. I love, this is a gift. Listen to the poetic nature with which Mark Twain writes this, describing what he saw in 1867. Come to Galilee, these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness that never do shake the glare from their harsh outlines, that melancholy ruin of Capernaum. We reached Tabor safely. We never saw a human being on the whole route. Wait, I thought there were millions of Arabs farming the land. No, didn't see one. Bethlehem and Bethany, in their poverty and their humiliation, have nothing about them now. The hallowed spot where the shepherds watched their flocks by night, and where the angels sang, Peace on earth, goodwill to men, is untenanted, no tenants, by any living creature. Bethsaida and Corzine have vanished from the earth, and the desert places round about them sleep in the hush of a solitude that is inhabited only by birds of prey and skulking foxes. Stirring scenes occur in the valley of Jezreel no more, Megiddo, the valley of Armageddon, as we know it in Revelation. There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent, not for 30 miles in either direction. Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes, desolate and unlovely. It is a dreamland. Citing a man by the name of Carl Herman Voss in The Palestine Problem Today, subtitled Israel and Its Neighbors, Bennett quotes, in the 12.5 centuries between the Arab conquest in the 7th century and the beginnings of the Jewish return in the 1880s, Palestine was laid waste. Its ancient canal and irrigation systems were destroyed, and the wondrous fertility of which the Bible spoke vanished into desert and desolation. By the way, Thursday nights, we just finished Ezekiel chapter 29, making our way through the Book of Ezekiel. You know what comes after 29? 30, and then 31, and then 32, and then 33, and then 34, 35, 36. Wow, the guy can count. Impressive. 37, Ezekiel 38. These, this wasteland that's desolate. God through the prophet Ezekiel says, I'm going to make it fertile and I'm going to bring life and breathe life into those dead bones. and I'm going to bring him back to life, and I'm going to bring him back in the land, and the land is going to be fruitful and prosperous, and I'm going to do it as only I can. Well, maybe that's, actually that might be next week's update. So stay tuned. A man by the name of Gunner Edward Webb in the Palestine Exploration Fund quarterly statement writes, and I want you to listen to this, nothing there to be seen but a little of the old walls, which is yet remaining, speaking of Jerusalem, and all the rest is grass, moss, and weeds, much like a piece of rank or moist ground. Quoting a French poet, a place among the nations, Bennett writes, outside the gates of Jerusalem we saw indeed no living object, heard no living sound. We found the same void, the same silence as we should have found before the entombed gates of Pompeii. A complete eternal silence reigns in the town. Okay, Pastor G, why bore us with all of this detail? Because what we're seeing now today is prophetically bringing everything full circle. And if you'll allow me to, I'll explain. This Palestinian deception is in full force in this year of 2023. And in so doing, it is beginning to fulfill major, and I mean major, Bible prophecies. And all of these Bible prophecies, major Bible prophecies are specific to Israel, more specifically Jerusalem, and even more specifically the Temple Mount. I'm getting ahead of myself again. Let's come back to the people specific to the land. Remember now we're making that distinction, we're delineating. Let me go on record and state, emphatically state, the land belongs to the Jew. Why? Because God is not through with the Jew. And the truth of the matter is we don't want God to be through with the Jew, because God has a covenant with the Jew. And so too does God have a covenant with me and you too. And if God is through with the Jew, can I ask you, how secure are you? I say that that way because it's scripturally and prophetically resolves this land dispute. There's no such thing as a Palestinian, there's no such thing as a Palestinian state. And a two state solution, which is Hitler's final solution repackaged, comes from the pit of hell. It is from Satan himself. Because see, They don't want a state with Israel, peace with Israel. They want the destruction of Israel. This is the playbook of Islam, starting with Muhammad and Saladin after him. Make peace with your enemy, then destroy them. That's exactly what they're doing. Yasser Arafat, when he would come to America, we want peace with Israel. And then we go back to Ramallah in Arabic. He would say, peace with Israel for us means the destruction of Israel. Death to America, death to Israel. Emphasis added. I didn't do it very well. Maybe that's a good thing. See, they knew they, by the way, this is parenthetically, let me say, Yasser Arafat, he was Egyptian. Like my dad, he was born in Egypt. He was an Egyptian. The head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader of the Palestinians. He's Egyptian. What are you talking about? This is why we yell. Okay. Thank you for laughing, by the way. You're too kind. So While one must delineate between the land and the people, no such delineation should be made between the people and the people. Let me explain. Whether you're a Jew or an Arab, really Gentile. What's a Gentile? A non Jew. You're either a Jew or a Gentile. It doesn't matter. There needs to be no distinction made, no delineation between Jew or Arab because of Jesus. Jesus is the only way to the Father as the way, the truth, and the life. John 14 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one, Jew, Arab, Portuguese, comes to the Father except through Me. Listen to what Paul wrote to the Galatians in Chapter three, verse 26 through 28. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ or clothed yourself with Christ. There is, listen please, neither Jew nor Greek, There is neither slave nor free, There is neither male nor female, For you are all one in Christ Jesus. This is why it is that I am learning, and this is not an easy do because it's so ingrained within me and really all of us for that matter. Well, I'm an American Christian. I'm a Jewish Christian. I'm a messianic believer. I'm an Arab Christian. I'm a, am I picking on the Portuguese? I'm a Portuguese Christian. Okay. It's like God looks at you and says, I didn't notice your nationality. I didn't notice your race. Because it's not the race, it's the human race. We're all human beings. And by the way, for those of you that are still of that ilk, wow, what do you mean that ilk? Well, you know who you are. I won't look at anybody when I say this, but you still have it. It's part of who you are. It was the way you were brought up and it comes spilling out because out of the mouth, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Every so once in a while, it becomes a matter of nationality. It's very subtle, but it comes out. Be very careful because all you have to do is go to the Book of Revelation and picture the heavenly scene which is described for us in as much as John inspired by the Holy Spirit can, which is talking about not an easy do. We're finite. He's describing the infinite glory of God, and we're all worshiping before the throne. Worthy, worthy, worthy. And we are told that people from every tribe, tongue, all people of all races, all people, doesn't matter, doesn't matter. But see, no, we've drawn a line because we're choosing sides. It's us against them. And this is, better not, I'm not going to, just to make sure. I think if we're honest with ourselves, we'd have to confess that we choose sides when it comes to people But it's against God's will for people. Because God loves the Jew and the Arab and the Greek and the Hawaiian and the Japanese and the Chinese. And this is the answer to the people dispute. So we resolve the land dispute. It belongs to the Jews. We have the real estate deed here in Scripture. We have historical, archeological, geographical, geological. Did I miss anything? Evidence. But now we've got a people problem because, okay, let's resolve the land dispute. But what about the people? Oh, that's easier in a way to resolve. How do you resolve the people dispute? It's not God's will that any Jew or Arab should perish, but that every Jew and every Arab comes to repentance and salvation, a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But you know what's sad? Again, you'll forgive me for repeating myself, but Christians, for the most part, still choose sides in this people dispute. And again, it's textbook divide and conquer. And I'll take it a step further and say that it grieves and breaks the heart of God. When you start drawing that line and you put those people over there, and you place yourself with the people over here. Come on, you know what I'm talking about. I'm going to share an email we received on Wednesday. And please know that I only do so because it speaks to how serious the choosing sides in the people dispute really is. In fact, the email that I'm going to share with you is tame compared to some of the emails I'm on the receiving end of and our staff is. We get over, I don't know, hundreds of emails every day. So here are some excerpts from the email. And again, I only do so so you can kind of get an idea of how serious this really is. I have sent two emails before with never a response, kind of disheartening since I've taken the time. I am feeling disheartened by JD's last message on Israel and Hamas. I have been following JD since COVID and Look forward to every Sunday for his messages. With his last message, I am feeling a pull away from following him. I wondered who JD was scolding in regards to calling Hamas terrorists animals. I'm surprised. JD leans on the side of acceptance of murder. only because it's done by a certain people group. Surprise. Oh, again, this is tame. Oh, I wish I could just forward you the emails. In fact, maybe I will. If you get something in your inbox from me, you'll know why. Oh, when I've spoken truth about Trump's peace deal dividing Jerusalem, You would think I was the Antichrist. No, it doesn't divide. I read verbatim, word for word, out of the agreement. I documented it. It divides Jerusalem. And I, oh, J.D. leans to the left. He must be a Democrat. I knew it. J.D. voted for Biden. What? What? This brings me to another truth bomb. These Hamas terrorist animals, as they're called, have been, are now and will still get saved. I'll have you know. We do err greatly like Jonah, who was angry at God for saving the Ninevites. The Ninevites. He gets angry at God for saving the Ninevites. And lest we come down too hard on Jonah, we would do well to look in the mirror and ask ourselves the question, will we get angry if God saves a Hamas terrorist animal? You know what? The Ninevites in that day, and for those of you that were with us during our study through the Old Testament, it was so graphic. What they would do to the Israelites was so horrific and unthinkable. It would rival, and in fact, I think was even more evil than what Hamas does to Israel today. And God saved them. No wonder Jonah was so mad. You know, when he lands on the shore, he doesn't even present any hope. There's no good news. It's just God is going to torch you guys. I can't wait. In 40 days, I'm going to go over here because I want to, I want a front row seat when He does. Bye. And then they repent. And then Jonah's like, God, you're going to, you're going to, you're going to save them? Yes, that's why he sent you there. That's why he tried to run from God, by the way. He didn't want to. Who wants to go to the Gaza Strip today with the gospel for Hamas? You want to sign up for that mission trip? That's what I thought. All right then. At least you're being honest. Uh, this last week I exchanged emails with Dee Mangan, who with her husband, Matt, were actually with us from the very start of the church before they moved to the mainland. They're dear friends, and Dee is one of our amazing transcribers on our amazing team of transcribers and team of translators. She had emailed me about what she called a quick, cool, Holy Spirit thing. in regards to the update last Sunday when I shared about Jeffrey Dahmer. It wasn't the update, it was the teaching. I shared about Jeffrey Dahmer. That jammed some gears. I'm sorry, crashed some hard drives. He got saved, by the way. No, God saved Jeffrey Dahmer after the evil things, the unspeakable evil that he committed. Do you know what he did? Yeah, but he got saved in prison. then started sharing the gospel with inmates, and then he was murdered. And now he's in the presence of the Lord. Are you going to be okay with that? Well, here's what she emailed me. I almost fell out of my chair because earlier in the morning I had tuned into Sugar Land Bible Church's Sunday sermon. The youth pastor was filling in for Pastor Andy Woods, and he was preaching on the Book of Jonah, explaining how wicked the Ninevites were. But God saved them. Then he brought it closer to our day with the example of Jeffrey Dahmer and how God saved him. Then he brought it even closer and talked about Hamas. Did you guys trade notes? So cool to hear the heart of God through you two men. Thank you so much for not holding back. Praise the Lord and Maranatha. So I replied to D with the following email. You know, me being the man of few words that I am. I'll give you the edited version. If Gabriel filled in for Andy, I can totally see this. And like you, absolutely love it when God does this. What's even more interesting is that I was about to connect the Jonah dots, but sense that the Holy Spirit would not have me to do so. But Jonah's angry action to God, saving the Ninevites slash Hamas slash Dahmers et al. sadly bears an eerily similar resemblance to the reaction of Christendom today. Also, I wanted to connect another dot to a guy by the name of Mossab Hassan Yusuf. I've actually spoken with this brother, not only as an Arab brother, but as a Christian brother, as he came to a radical and powerful saving knowledge of Jesus Christ over 15 years ago. Musab was the son of Sheikh Hassan Yusuf, one of the founding members and the most prolific leaders of Hamas. And subsequently he wrote a book bearing that title, Son of Hamas. While I eventually lost contact with him for security reasons, as he's had to stay under the radar, as you might imagine, I do know that he is still on fire for the Lord in his service to the Lord, which has to remain under the cover of obscurity. But God is using this brother to reach so many of his Arab brothers in Hamas, who are coming to Christ by the multitudes. We'll have to wait until the trumpet sound at the rapture to meet them. But we're all in for a pleasant surprise when we do. One more thing about Brother Mosab, who is very pro Israel, by the way. He makes me, he puts me to shame in how pro Israel he is. I mean, I'm pro Israel, but Mosab is pro Israel. Here's a screenshot from the UN Watch website on September 25th, 2017, titled UN Clash, Son of Hamas Chief Calls PA Enemy of the Palestinian People. I chose this screenshot. Can you guys just put it up real quick for the people online? We put the link too, by the way. Uh, this particular one, look at the two guys, uh, on each side. That one guy that's got the earpiece, he's doing a double take. He's like, and here's why. Listen to what Mossab said. Quote, um, this is from the transcript, which we have a link to. My name is Mossab Hassan Yusuf. I grew up in Ramallah as a member of Hamas. I address my words to the Palestinian Authority, which claims to be the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. I ask, where does your legitimacy come from? The Palestinian people did not elect you, and they did not appoint you to represent them. You are self appointed. Your accountability is not to your own people. This is evidenced by your total violation of their human rights. The people In fact, the Palestinian individual and their human development is the least of your concerns. You kidnap Palestinian students from campus and torture them in your jails. You torture your political rivals. The suffering of the Palestinian people is the outcome of your selfish political interests. You are the greatest enemy of the Palestinian people. If Israel did not exist, you would have no one to blame. That's about the time when the guys turn around just going, you guys hearing this? And then, anyway, there's a camera shot of, oh, it's so good. You fan the flames of conflict to maintain your abusive power. Finally, you use this platform to mislead the international community and to mislead Palestinian society. Thank you. Bye. He didn't say bye, but I mean, That's called a truth bomb. That's the truth. Well, I have to make another distinction and delineation real quick. Don't look at your watches. I think it's incumbent upon me to, and actually it might tie in with, as I'll mention in a moment, a subsequent update. But we have to not only make this distinction between the land and the people, but we've also got to make the distinction between the government entities and the people. Why? Because they rule over the land and the people. So this is when we're going to, wow, you guys got quite a bit of time before we cut you off. So bye. I hope you're at the website. Okay, we're going to end the live stream, in other words. And then second service can just join us when they get here. I need to preface this with a brother's website that I quoted from last week, because it's going to be germane to our understanding of what follows. And I do this for two reasons. The first of which is that we've had requests for the link to his website, which we provided that. It's again in the PDF file on the video. Also, For those asking about the reason that I don't use His name, it's because in His words, His words, I just want my well done to be from Jesus and no one else. I like that, and I love Him for that. Now, to the question of why this is germane to our understanding, let me simply and quickly say He is one of the few that actually gets it. What do you mean? He has God given discernment concerning the great reset of the entire world, governmentally, chiefly, militarily, geopolitically, economically, and monetarily. What if I told you that the common denominator with all of the above in this reset was and is, in a word, COVID, and the ensuing so-called vaccine. I'm even having a hard time calling it a so-called vaccine. It's not a vaccine, not even close. The best word I can use, and that's even, for lack of a better one, is injection. I don't even like to call it a jab because, oh, he jabbed me. No, You, this is an injection of a poison that damages your DNA. It doesn't alter it yet. We've talked about that. That comes later in the tribulation, but it damages your DNA. That's why people are dying suddenly because their DNA has been so damaged that it's fatal. Our daughter Noel died because of her DNA anomaly. It was not intact. It had been so damaged, the medical community referred to her as incompatible with life because she had a third copy of the number 18 chromosome. Her DNA was damaged, not altered, damaged. And that's why she died, because of her DNA being damaged. That's what's happening. That's why calling it a so-called vaccine. I think that takes the onus off of what this thing really is. This is a death shot. That's what this is. And this will be the very thing that ultimately connects the entire world so as to reset the entire world. And this reset world is the same exact world that is described for us in the pages of Bible prophecy when it's fulfilled in the seven year tribulation. And nobody's talking about it. Should I pound the pulpit, Steve? There, that was for Steve Santos. What if I also told you that all of the governments, all of the nations on earth have themselves been deceived by this, and in turn have deceived because of this? Because after all, those deceived deceive. the deceived, deceived. That's not a play on words. Revelation 18, 23, a prophecy about the fall of Babylon. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore. The voice of the bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth. For by your pharmakia, sorcery, pharmaceutical, all the nations were deceived. This is what brings it all together in the end. And speaking of end, I'm going to bring it to an end. Some of you are saying, praise Jesus. Thank you, Lord. I'm going to do it in a twofold way. First, I'm going to once again ask you to pray concerning yet another update like I did last week. This one that I've been working on praying about is actually a compilation of all my documentation proving beyond any doubt, any doubt, not a reasonable doubt, any doubt, the evil of these entities. And please know that these entities are not human flesh and blood. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against these entities with different rankings in the spiritual realm that are deceiving man. So would you please pray for me? I'm working on it. I'm praying about it. Secondly, I need to also ask that you not only pray for me, but now please hear me out. We're almost done. I need to just humbly ask you to search the Scriptures for yourself and do your own research yourself. Can I just humbly ask you to do that? Here's why I ask, because The prevalence and pronounced cognitive dissonance on the part of many Christians in this, the last hour, is the likes of which we've never seen before and will never see again. Even when presented with the truth, the evidence, the documentation, the facts, proving not beyond a reasonable doubt, but beyond any doubt, it's met with cognitive dissonance. You can teach sound doctrine and it will be rejected, which is also a sign of the last days. Well, one last thing. I don't mean to be mean when I say this, but I'm asking this with the presupposition that people will actually search the Scriptures and do the research to begin with. because sadly most do not. And the few who do, that have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. Here's what you'll hear the Spirit saying to the church. We are so close to the pre tribulation rapture of the church. That's what the Spirit is saying to the church. For those who have ears to hear, Let him who has ears to hear, hear, hear, hear, O Israel, hear, O church, what the Spirit is saying to the church. Okay. I hope you know, and I appreciate your grace to me, but I have never been as What's the word? I have never had, better said, the urgency that I have burning in me today, in my life. And I've been doing this for a lot of years. I have never had the urgency that I have today. As God is my witness and God knows my heart, every prophecy update I preach my heart out, because it might be the last prophecy update before the trumpet sounds. And I got one more chance. So I'm not going to hold back. And Jeremiah tries to quit. Problem is slaves can't quit. God says, really, you're handing me your resignation? He says, I couldn't because it just burned the Word, just burned within me. I think about the Apostle Paul, the love of Christ constrains me, propels me. I can't not, I have to. And we, not just me, we have to get people to Jesus and Jesus to people now, now, while there's the harvest is ripe. The harvest is ready. We just need labors. Pray to the Lord of the harvest for labors that will bring in the crops, because there's only a window of time growing up in a small farm town with the wheat crops. Man, they would delay school just to get the harvest in, weather permitting. Because if you didn't get the harvest in, you lose them. You lose the crops. And that's what the harvest is. It's so time driven. We've got to do it now while the window is still open, barely. We've got to harvest. We've got to bring in the harvest. We've got to drive those combines and those trucks and get to people and bring in the harvest before it's too late. This is why we end with the Gospel, the ABC's of salvation. Just real quick. The A is for admit, acknowledge. You guys should know this by now in 10 different languages, backwards and forwards. Acknowledge that you're a sinner. Admit you're a sinner. Otherwise, why would you be interested in the Savior? Romans 3.10 says there is no unrighteous, not even one. And Romans 6.23 or 3.23 tells us why. It's because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 6.23, now you kind of enter the sentencing phase because there's a penalty And the penalty is death. It's the death penalty. For the wages of sin is death. And that's the bad news first. What's the good news? The good news is the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's the good news, the gospel. It means good news. Your death sentence has been carried out by another. Your debt has been paid. You're free to go. Good news. That's the word gospel. The B very central is for believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord. Why is this so central? Because it's out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. So what's in your heart is going to come out of your mouth. Well, what is in your heart, Jesus? Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and then that will come out of your mouth when you confess Jesus is Lord and call upon the name of the Lord. That's Romans 10, 9 as well. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. See, every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess. But when that time comes, it's not for salvation, it's for damnation. When you confess with your mouth out of the abundance of your heart, believing in your heart, it's for salvation. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Thank you for your patience. Today is but God testimony. Once again, it comes from Ronit Levan, who I shared with you last week. And I shared again this week for reasons that I hope you'll understand shortly. Here's what this precious sister in Christ emailed me in response. Dear Pastor JD, I am very stunned to hear you read my email Sunday morning, 1015. I emailed you quite a few times in the last four years, but really thought maybe you never saw one. from me, but boy was I wrong. I lived in Israel a short time and I want to share with you an email that I received because in the midst of the terror and uncertainty, they prayed for the people of and in Hamas, these are Jews, to be saved. I hope this is a blessing to you. I know many Arabs in Israel as well as Jews Most were quite open and I was able to share Yeshua and His love to them and for them. Love, Ronit. Here's that email. My dear brothers and sisters in Yeshua, I am sure you have been hearing much of the devastation and turmoil in Israel. As of today, over 1,300 of my country might have been killed and over 3,300 more wounded by the terror attacks. I want you to know that God has protected and spared all of us at this ministry here in Tel Aviv. I am so thankful, but it has not been easy. We have been living off and on in bomb shelters for days with rocket sirens during our sleep. Some of our family members have been called up out of the reserves to serve in the military. Everyone in Israel knows someone fighting on the front lines. We pray for them continually. Indeed, all of Israel needs our prayers now more than ever. In fact, we are pressing forward more than ever before. Right now, we are leading a gathering of local Israeli believers and believers from the nations in the midst of this war. We are praying, worshiping, and filling our hearts of the Word of God in Yeshua in amazing ways. Let me share one of the testimonies with you about one family that was with us and lives very near Gaza. Terrorists filled their town and were killing people mercilessly. They were trapped, hiding inside their home for days, praying and trusting God. Finally, they escaped and made their way north. We all began to pray for the salvation of the terrorists. Despite all they had been through, they were asking for God's mercy on our enemies. You need to know that the Jew, the Arab, and the believers from all nations are standing together asking for mercy. This is the way of Yeshua, light from the darkest darkness. Love that cannot be quenched. Right now, Israel needs the hope, light, and love of the good news more than ever before. And this is what we're doing here in Tel Aviv. We are not stopping. We are pushing forward toward the high calling that God has given us. We preach, we pray, we encourage, and we minister to the least of these. As difficult as things are today, the military has told us that the worst of practical needs are ahead of us. Our distribution center must have the resources to provide crucial food and aid at a scale we have never seen before. May I humbly ask you to pray for Israel. The needs are so great that every moment matters and we must be prepared to respond. I thank you so much for your support and prayers. The Lord bless you in the name of Yeshua. As I mentioned at the beginning, I've been in contact with Ronit and am working with her on a way that we as a church, like with Maui, can support the people in Israel, both Jews and Arabs during this time. And I hope that you will pray to that end as well. Okay. Uh, you know, is it lunchtime yet? Why don't you stand up? I know I went really long. I know I never do that, right? No, but once again, it had to be said. Father, thank You. Thank You for the grace and the patience of Your people. They're long suffering. Lord, thank You that You save the Ninevites. You save the Arabs. You save the Jews. You save people. That's why you came. Lord, I pray that we would have Your heart and that we would reject the, and not succumb to the crushing pressure to pick a side. We don't want to be on any one particular side. We want to be on Your side. We want to be in Your will, and we know that it is not Your will that any should perish. So please, Lord, like You have in the past, are always so faithful to, use this even now to bring so many to salvation that would not have otherwise come had it not been for what's happening. So, Lord, so be it. And lastly, Jesus, please, mananapha, come quickly, we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen.
Prophecy Update - What Side Are You On?
Series Bible Prophecy Updates
Website: www.jdfarag.org
Pastor JD explains why asking, "Whose Side Are You On?" related to the Hamas attack on Israel is the wrong question for which there is only one right answer.
Sermon ID | 1023232339274480 |
Duration | 1:29:10 |
Date | |
Category | Current Events |
Language | English |
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