Transcript [00:00] [snorts] So, we're at war [00:05] and I just want to throw a question out [00:07] to you to think about just in case I get [00:10] boring with the scriptural stuff, you [00:11] can think about this question. [00:18] Right after Thanksgiving, [00:22] there was an event held in New York City [00:25] that's held every year. [00:28] Every year in New York City after [00:30] Thanksgiving to kick off the Christmas [00:32] shopping season, [00:35] there is a Christmas tree lighting at [00:38] Rockefeller Plaza. Everyone aware of [00:40] that, right? Big event. People bring [00:43] their families and they have this [00:44] massive Christmas tree and that's the [00:46] kickoff to the Christmas shopping [00:48] season. [00:50] And this year at the Christmas tree [00:52] lighting in Rockefeller Plaza, [00:55] there was a violent demonstration by [00:58] pro- kamas anti-Israel activists who [01:02] were screaming. They were chanting [01:05] Christmas is cancelled [01:07] and then the other regular anti-Israel [01:10] genocidal slogans like from the river to [01:12] the sea, etc. [01:17] This wasn't an isolated incident. [01:21] In London [01:23] during the Christmas shopping season [01:25] this year, [01:27] there were similar violent [01:29] demonstrations of pro- kamas anti-Israel [01:32] activists disrupting the Christmas [01:34] shopping in Piccadilly Circus and Oxford [01:37] Street in the main shopping district in [01:39] London. also screaming similar slogans [01:43] about Christmas being cancelled [01:46] and then the usual pro- kamas [01:49] anti-Israel slogans. [01:52] And in Italy, in Rome, every year [01:55] there's a big opera house called the [01:57] Lascala Opera, which every year has an [02:00] annual Christmas pageant, a Christmas uh [02:03] uh performance. [02:06] And at the Lascala Opera this year, the [02:09] Christmas performance was interrupted by [02:11] anti-Israel pro- kamas demonstrators who [02:14] came into the opera hall, went up on [02:16] stage and disrupted the Christmas [02:19] performance. [02:21] And a few weeks ago [02:23] on Easter Sunday [02:26] at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York [02:29] City, [02:31] the the Easter Mass was interrupted [02:34] by pro- kamas anti-Israel demonstrators. [02:38] Now, why am I mentioning all this? [02:43] Because [02:44] I'm going to state the obvious. [02:47] Jews don't celebrate Christmas or [02:50] Easter, [02:55] >> right? [02:57] Jews don't celebrate Christmas. [03:01] We're not Christian. [03:03] Israel has a 2% Christian minority. They [03:06] live with great with freedom and they're [03:08] actually a flourishing minority. But [03:10] Israel is a Jewish state. [03:14] Why does it make sense to our enemies [03:19] to demonstrate against Israel [03:23] by disrupting Christmas and Easter? [03:30] It's not stupid. You see, I I [03:33] understand. Yeah, it's stupid. It It's [03:35] It's kind of like the Queers for [03:36] Palestine thing, right? Like Like don't [03:39] they know that if they were there, [03:41] they'd be like, "What? But whenever we [03:44] laugh at our enemies and think that [03:46] they're fools, we miss what's really [03:49] going on. [03:51] >> Because we stop thinking about it, we [03:52] just go, "Oh, they're idiots." [03:56] >> I'm asking a serious question [03:59] and try to answer it for yourself. Go [04:01] home today and think about it. [04:04] Why does it make sense to them? Because [04:07] it obviously makes perfect sense to [04:09] them. In their minds, it makes perfect [04:11] sense to demonstrate against Christmas [04:13] because of their hatred for the state of [04:15] Israel, which is not a Christian [04:16] country. [04:19] Think about that question. [04:25] In the book of Ecclesiastes, [04:27] chapter 3, I'm sorry, I'm not going in [04:29] the order that I told you the [04:30] scriptures. Whoever you are who's [04:33] handling my scriptures, I don't know [04:35] where you are. You're up there, right? [04:37] So, let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter 3. [04:39] It's a famous passage in Ecclesiastes [04:42] which has this long list of of things [04:44] that it's a time for, right? And and [04:47] it's a it's a whole passage. You go to [04:49] Ecclesiastes chapter 3, read from the [04:50] beginning, [04:52] a time for [clears throat] love, a time [04:53] for hate, right? That's up there. A time [04:55] to build, a time to destroy. [04:57] For everything there is a season. It's [05:00] one of the most well-known passages in [05:02] the Bible. It almost sounds like a [05:03] nursery rhyme. [05:07] And the last line of it says, "A time to [05:10] love and a time to hate, [05:13] a time for a time for war and a time for [05:16] peace." It sounds pretty simple. [05:20] Time for war, time for peace. [05:23] Folks, this verse, [05:27] it looks simple, but it's actually a [05:30] very, very challenging verse. Let me [05:33] explain. [05:36] This verse was not written to two [05:39] different people. [05:43] It was written to each and every one of [05:45] us. And the point of the verse is to say [05:49] that you need to know what time it is. [05:54] Because if it is a time for war [05:58] and you think it's a time for peace and [06:01] you treat it like a time for peace, you [06:04] are going to make grave mistakes. [06:08] >> Now, the same is true in the reverse. If [06:10] it's a time for peace and you think it's [06:12] a time for war, and we all know people [06:14] like that, maybe some of us are people [06:16] like that. [06:18] You'll also make mistakes. But the point [06:20] is, you need to know what time it is. [06:22] Now, we like a time for peace, right? [06:24] We're people of faith and we like peace [06:26] and we want to work towards peace and [06:27] peace is comfortable and it's nice [06:30] and we want it to be a time for peace. [06:32] We want to act that way [06:35] and we don't get to choose when it [06:38] changes from a time for peace to a time [06:41] for war. Our enemies have a say in that. [06:45] But when that shift happens, we better [06:48] make that pivot. Amen. [06:51] >> And if we don't make that pivot, we are [06:53] going to we're going to be looking [06:54] through the wrong lens. We're going to [06:56] see things in a warped way because it's [06:58] a time for war and we're still thinking [07:00] it's a time for peace. [07:06] Now, do you understand what I mean? That [07:07] this is a very challenging verse. It's [07:09] not an easy pivot to make. It's a pivot [07:12] we resist. We want it to be a time for [07:15] peace. We like that. [07:19] And if we insist on staying there and [07:22] it's a time for war, [07:26] God help us. [07:30] And I'm not only talking about what's [07:32] going on in Israel on our borders with [07:35] Hamas and Iran. [07:38] I'm also talking about what's going on [07:39] in this country, what's going on [07:42] worldwide, [07:46] what's going on in the complex, sick and [07:49] twisted relationship between our [07:51] government and the Chinese Communist [07:53] Party. I don't want to get too [07:55] political. I mean, I do, but I'm not [07:56] going to. [08:01] We have to understand what time it is. [08:05] And that's what I'm here today to [08:07] discuss for the next few minutes. [08:10] Because how do we think about war? What [08:12] does the Bible does the Bible tell us [08:15] how to think about war? Is there a [08:17] theology of war? [08:20] And the answer is there is. [08:25] And to understand war, the meaning of [08:28] war, and specifically the meaning of [08:30] this war, [08:32] we'll turn to a psalm. a psalm that it [08:36] looks like was written for this war that [08:40] Israel's fighting. Like it's been [08:42] sitting for 3,000 years or so waiting to [08:45] be relevant. And it describes the war [08:47] that we're in right now. And that's [08:49] Psalm 83. [08:52] Before [08:54] we read through the psalm [09:00] before we look at it, I just want to [09:03] tell you a little bit about this psalm [09:04] and its importance currently. [09:09] On October 7th when Hamas attacked [09:14] was a young man [09:18] who's a in one of the elite commando [09:20] units in the Israeli army [09:24] who was killed [09:26] in one of those kibbutzes outside of [09:30] Gaza that that was hit hardesta [09:36] and he was one of the initial [09:39] response teams that went in there to [09:42] fight the terrorists. [09:45] His name is Yoseph Malahi Gdalia. [09:48] Ysef Malahi Gdalia's father, David, is [09:52] one of my best friends. [09:57] We grew up together. [09:59] [cough] [10:01] Yoseph Malaki Gdalo's grandfather, [10:03] David's father, and my father were [10:05] college roommates. Our families have [10:07] been connected for a long time. You [10:08] know, you have these family friends that [10:10] you're so close to, you almost feel like [10:11] your cousins. It's one of those [10:13] families. So, Yoseph Malahi was killed [10:14] in in in Farza fighting the terrorists [10:18] that day. A beautiful young man that I [10:21] watched grow up. He had recently gotten [10:22] married. He was a newlywed. [10:25] And I went to his funeral at the [10:27] military cemetery on Mount Herzel [10:30] in the early days of of the war, [10:35] a few days after he was killed. [10:38] And at the funeral, the [10:42] the Israeli army rabbi, the chaplain who [10:46] was officiating [10:48] read Psalm 83. [10:52] And I was like, that's interesting. [10:55] And the reason I thought that is that if [10:57] you've already opened Psalm 83 and [10:58] you're bored by what I'm saying, so [11:00] you're reading it already, you know that [11:02] it's not a mournful psalm. It's not a [11:05] psalm that you would associate with with [11:07] a funeral. This isn't Psalm 23. [11:11] Okay? It's it has nothing to do with [11:14] what you'd expect to read at a funeral. [11:18] And so I I was like, "Wow, that's really [11:20] interesting." And I asked someone next [11:21] to me, "Why is he reading Psalm 83?" And [11:23] I was told something that I did not [11:25] know, [11:26] which is that Psalm 83 is read at the [11:29] funeral of every Israeli soldier who [11:31] falls in combat. [11:34] And that was a decision made decades ago [11:37] that I was not aware of. [11:40] So I went home [11:42] and I took out my Bible and I read Psalm [11:45] 83 very carefully. [11:48] And if you've learned anything from me [11:49] over the years, I say it all the time. [11:51] You got to read the Bible carefully. [11:52] Amen. [11:54] >> Right? Because we even people who read [11:55] the Bible, so many of us don't read the [11:57] Bible carefully, asking all those [11:59] questions that you've heard me ask here. [12:02] Why does it say that? [12:04] Noticing all kinds of anomalies in the [12:06] text, taking them seriously. So, I read [12:09] Psalm 83 and I was stunned [12:12] because I said, "Oh my gosh, [12:15] going back to what I said about [12:16] Ecclesiastes, [12:18] this psalm tells us how to think about [12:21] war. And if it's a time for war, this is [12:24] the psalm we have to read. And then sure [12:27] enough, a few days later, something [12:29] happened that has never happened in any [12:30] of Israel's previous wars. [12:33] Even though this psalm has been read at [12:35] the funerals of every Israeli soldier [12:36] who falls in combat for decades, [12:41] the chief rabbis of Israel made a [12:44] declaration that they'd never made in [12:45] past wars. They called on all the [12:48] synagogues in Israel to start praying [12:51] Psalm 83 every day in addition to our [12:54] other daily prayers to add in Psalm 83. [12:58] It's a very interesting announcement [13:00] because as you'll see as we go through [13:02] it, this psalm is not only about war, [13:06] it's about this war. So let's take a [13:08] look. [13:09] Is it up here? We got the first verse up [13:11] there. Okay. Oh, I see. I have it up [13:12] here. Do not keep silent, oh God. Do not [13:15] hold your peace. Do not be still, oh [13:17] God. Let's keep going. For behold, your [13:20] enemies make a tumult [13:22] and those who hate you have lifted up [13:25] their head. Now, that's interesting. Uh, [13:28] your enemies and those who hate you. [13:30] Right? We have two [13:32] We have two different phrases here. Your [13:33] enemies and those who hate you. What's [13:35] the difference between your enemies and [13:36] those who hate you? Isn't that a Rabbi [13:37] Willicky type of question, right? What's [13:39] the difference between that? Your [13:40] enemies and those who hate you. Sounds [13:41] like, is this just redundant? No such [13:44] thing. [13:46] So your enemies are the ones who [13:47] actually attack. [13:50] Those who hate you, they're not actually [13:53] physically attacking, but they're just [13:55] declaring their hatred for you. So I [13:58] believe that this is describing this [14:01] strange alliance that we have today in [14:03] the world. And I alluded to it before. [14:08] What on earth do atheist Marxist [14:12] leftists have in common with devout [14:16] Muslim fundamentalists? [14:20] Why are they working together? Why are [14:23] they on the same team? [14:30] Because it's an alliance of those who [14:32] attack us [14:34] and those who hate God. [14:37] That's the alliance. [14:40] Those who who are your enemies [14:43] and those who hate you. [14:46] But now let's step back for a second and [14:49] ask a a simple question [14:51] we're talking about. Well, you know, [14:52] let's read another verse. It'll become [14:54] clear. I'll ask this question then. [14:55] Let's keep going. They have taken crafty [14:58] counsel against your people and [15:01] consulted together against your [15:03] sheltered ones. One more verse. They [15:06] have said, "Come, let us cut them off [15:08] from being a nation that the name of [15:10] Israel may be remembered no more." Now, [15:15] we just I don't know if you picked this [15:16] up. We referred to the enemies of God [15:20] as this as the enemies of Israel. That [15:22] the people who attack Israel are your [15:24] enemies, God. Now, that's a pretty [15:26] arrogant thing for us to say as as a [15:28] member of the people of Israel, right? I [15:30] mean, how arrogant is that? People who [15:33] hate me, they're God's enemies. [15:38] Why is that? [15:41] Oh, you say, "Well, we're God's chosen [15:42] people." But let me explain. [15:45] There is a phrase that appears in the [15:46] Bible a lot, especially in the book of [15:48] Ezekiel. Incidentally, [15:51] the book of Ezekiel, it's a very common [15:53] phrase, but it appears all over the [15:54] Bible, and you've seen it before when [15:56] you read the Bible, you kind of gloss [15:57] over it, where God will say something [15:58] and then say, "And they shall know that [16:00] I am the Lord." Da da da da da da da. [16:03] and they shall know that I am the Lord [16:06] or and you shall know that I am the [16:07] Lord. Right? Over and over again. In [16:10] other words, it's God's way of saying [16:12] this is how you know me. [16:15] If you look up that phrase, take out a [16:17] concordance and look up where that [16:19] phrase appears in the Bible and they [16:20] shall know that I am the Lord. Where [16:21] does God say that based on what this [16:24] people will know that he's God? [16:27] Almost every time, not every time, but [16:29] the vast majority of the times that that [16:31] phrase appears in the Bible, the context [16:33] is [16:36] the in gathering of the people of Israel [16:39] to our land after a long exile, the [16:42] redemption of Israel. [16:44] That's almost always the context where [16:46] God says, "There's other ways to know [16:48] God, but the most common is the in [16:51] gathering of Israel." Now, why is that [16:54] the way to see God? If I asked you, if I [16:56] just came into church this morning and [16:57] said, "How do you know God? How do you [17:00] see him in the world?" We could have a [17:02] whole conversation. We could have all [17:03] kinds of different answers. But God [17:05] tells us over and over again in the [17:07] Bible that the best way to see him, to [17:09] know that he is God, is to see the [17:12] redemption of the people of Israel. Now, [17:13] why [17:15] why is that the best way to see God in [17:17] the world? [17:19] It's not just Jews being arrogant and [17:21] saying, you know, we're God's people. [17:22] Let me explain. [17:24] >> [snorts] [17:25] >> You see, [17:27] the most repeated prophecy in the Bible [17:30] by far is that same prophecy that the [17:33] people of Israel will go into exile for [17:35] a long time and will ultimately be [17:37] redeemed and brought back and and [17:39] rebuild themselves as a nation. That is [17:40] the most repeated prophecy in the Bible. [17:42] It's also the most outlandish prophecy [17:45] in the Bible. the fact that it's that [17:47] it's happened and we live in a time [17:49] where the people of Israel have been in [17:51] gathered by the millions and the state [17:52] of Israel was reborn 76 years ago and [17:55] here we are. So we think it's normal and [17:58] I've talked about this in this church [17:59] before. It's not normal. Many, many [18:02] nations in the ancient world went into [18:04] exile. [18:05] Tons of them. That's why you read about [18:07] all these ancient peoples in books like [18:09] the Bible, you know, these ancient [18:11] books. You see all these names of [18:12] nations that don't exist anymore, [18:15] >> right? [18:16] Where are all those people? They didn't [18:18] all die out and get replaced by us. [18:21] They lost their national identities. [18:23] They went into exile. And nations that [18:25] went into exile never ever returned. [18:30] Never. [18:32] So empires would sweep across the world. [18:34] They conquer smaller peoples. They chop [18:36] off the heads of all the fighting age [18:37] males. And they send everyone into [18:39] exile. [18:41] And they'd mix up the peoples. And they [18:43] did that because it's much easier to do [18:45] that than to rule over them in their [18:46] homeland. So nations were constantly [18:49] getting exiled in the ancient world and [18:52] none of them ever returned. They would [18:55] dream about going home for a generation [18:56] or two. They'd ultimately learn new [18:58] languages and assimilate and mix and new [19:00] national identities were born. [19:04] So when Moses predicted for the first [19:06] time in Deuteronomy 30, but then all the [19:08] other prophets repeated it, Isaiah, [19:10] Jeremiah, Zechariah, all of them that [19:13] the people of Israel after a long exile [19:15] would come back and reconstitute [19:17] themselves as a people in their land. It [19:19] was an outlandish, ridiculous prophecy. [19:23] It was like predicting water running [19:25] uphill. [19:27] So God says, "If you watch that happen, [19:30] you will know that I am God." Because [19:32] that is a crazy prophecy. That is a wild [19:35] miracle that violates all the rules of [19:37] history. So pay attention to that and [19:39] you'll know that I am God. See, the [19:41] Jewish people's purpose is not the [19:42] Jewish people. We are a pawn that God [19:45] uses to reveal himself to the world. [19:49] So those who try to prevent that that [19:52] prophecy from being fulfilled, those who [19:55] stand against the reconstitution of the [19:58] nation of Israel in our land are [20:00] standing against the entire narrative of [20:02] the Bible. They're standing against [20:05] God's purposes. [20:07] So the enemies of Israel are God's [20:09] enemies because they're trying to [20:10] prevent that big event that reveals him [20:13] to the world. [20:16] the and they shall know that I am the [20:18] Lord. They're trying to stop that. [20:21] That's why the enemies of Israel are the [20:23] enemies of God. [20:26] Let's keep going. Oh. Oh, no. Actually, [20:29] we have to focus on that verse for a [20:30] sec. Go back. They have said, "Come and [20:33] let us cut them off from being a [20:35] nation." That's a very interesting [20:36] phrase. Notice it doesn't say, "Come, [20:38] let us wipe them out." [20:41] They want to cut us off from being a [20:43] nation. [20:45] You hear this a lot now. This is perfect [20:47] for right now because what are the [20:49] enemies of Israel saying now? They're [20:51] not openly saying kill all the Jews. [20:53] They're saying the state of Israel is [20:55] illegitimate, [20:58] right? They're fine with Jews being kind [21:01] of scattered in the exile being a [21:03] religion, [21:05] but a nation. No, no, no, no, no. This [21:09] is from the river to the sea. This is [21:10] the original. Come, let us cut them off [21:13] from being a nation. that the name of [21:14] Israel may be remembered no more. This [21:17] is like what's being chanted on college [21:18] campuses right now. Keep going. [21:21] For they have consulted together with [21:23] one account. They form a confederacy [21:25] against you. Again, it's not one group [21:27] of enemies. It's different enemies [21:28] who've come together. That's why they've [21:30] formed a confederacy. Now, here we don't [21:32] have a lot of time, so I'm just going to [21:34] run through this next piece and point [21:35] out one very, very big verse. What we're [21:40] going to have now is a list of nations [21:42] that that come up against the Jewish [21:43] people. Okay? And they're all ancient [21:46] peoples. [21:48] We're going to here we're going to [21:49] again, this is going to be another Rabbi [21:50] Willicki moment. We're going to see [21:51] something if we read carefully. We're [21:53] going to see something amazing in this [21:55] verse. The tents of Edom and Ishelites, [21:59] Moab and the Hagrites. Keep going with [22:01] me. Gabal, Ammon, and Amale, Felistia [22:05] with the inhabitants of Ty. Stop there. [22:10] Let's go back to the beginning of this [22:12] list. Go back a verse [22:15] now. Track with me here. Okay. The tents [22:18] of Edom and the IshRaelites. Moab and [22:22] the Hagites. Keep going. Gabal Ammon and [22:25] Amale. Felistia with the inhabitants of [22:29] Ty. Okay, you guys know me, my nitpicky [22:33] rabbitic way of reading biblical text. [22:36] Why in my list do I have and and and and [22:40] with? [22:42] Why' we change from and to with? It's [22:45] just a list of nations, right? [22:48] Everyone see that? And and and with. [22:53] So who's Felistia and Ty? Now obviously [22:55] there's some special bond that these two [22:58] nations have with each other and it's [23:00] being highlighted by the Bible changing [23:03] from and to with. That's the Bible's way [23:06] of saying mark this spot with an X and [23:08] dig. [23:10] Anyone know where Felistia is? [23:13] Anyone know? [23:16] >> Where was Where' the Philistines live? [23:19] Hello. It's called the Gaza Strip. [23:22] That's Philistia. That's the Philistine [23:24] territory. [23:26] Anyone know where Tyer is? [23:29] Anyone know where it is? It's in South [23:31] Lebanon. [23:34] Hello. [23:36] >> The Gaza Strip and South Lebanon. Have [23:38] you read the paper today? [23:40] This is literally the two fronts that [23:42] Israel is fighting on right now. The two [23:45] fronts that rockets are being fired at [23:47] Israel on a daily basis. And by the way, [23:50] a couple days ago was Israel's [23:51] Independence Day, Tuesday. And uh I was [23:54] in Ashkalon. We have a place in [23:57] Ashkalone. [23:58] Uh Ashcolon is the nearest city to Gaza [24:01] on the coast. We have a beautiful home [24:03] there right on the beach and we invited [24:05] our our extended family to come to [24:07] celebrate and we were in synagogue that [24:09] morning in Ashkalon and it was Israel's [24:13] independence day. So, we were singing [24:14] the psalms, psalms, the hal psalms that [24:16] I wrote this book about, which we sing [24:18] on all festive days. And we're in the [24:20] synagogue in Ashcolon singing the [24:21] psalms, praising God for the state of [24:23] Israel. And an air raid siren goes off [24:26] because there were rockets being fired [24:27] at our neighborhood. And we just kept [24:29] singing and we like the whole everyone [24:31] in the synagogue just sort of while [24:32] we're singing walks over to the bomb [24:34] shelter singing praises to God for the [24:37] state of Israel in the bomb shelter [24:41] with the air raid sirens. It was just [24:42] like I was like, man, you cannot make [24:44] this up. This is, you know, this is the [24:47] moment we live in all in one, you know, [24:49] right there in front of you. But [24:51] Felistia with the inhabitants of Ty. [24:54] Here's the psalmist writing 3,000 years [24:56] ago about a war to destroy the nation of [24:59] Israel [25:01] where different enemies of Israel come [25:03] together against us to prevent God from [25:07] being revealed. [25:09] And it tells us that there's a special [25:11] bond in this war between the Gaza Strip [25:14] and South Lebanon. [25:16] It's right there. Let's keep reading. [25:19] Assyria also has joined with them. They [25:21] have help. They have helped the children [25:22] of Lot Cellah. Keep going. [25:25] And then we ask God to deal with them as [25:27] he dealt with the other enemies of [25:28] Israel. We're going to we're going to [25:29] gloss over this. Keep going. We don't [25:32] have a lot of time, so I want to skip. [25:34] Okay, one more. [25:39] Keep going. This is just a list of other [25:41] nations that God wiped out. We ask God [25:42] do this. And if we had more time, we [25:44] would delve into each of these nations [25:46] and what exactly does it mean? We could [25:47] give a two-hour lecture on this psalm. [25:48] We're not going to do that today. [25:51] They said, "Our enemies said, "Let us [25:53] take for ourselves the pastures of God [25:55] for a possession." They of course want [25:57] our land. Oh my God, [26:00] make them like the whirling dust, like [26:03] chaff before the wind. So, we want to [26:05] completely get rid of our enemies. As [26:08] the fire burns in the woods and the [26:09] flame sets the mountains on fire, [26:11] there's a here. This is what I want to [26:13] get to. Pursue them with your tempest. [26:16] Frighten them with your storm. Fill [26:20] their faces with shame. Give me the next [26:22] verse. That they may seek your name, O [26:25] Lord. Now, we're asking God to fill [26:27] their faces with shame. [26:32] We're going to read a couple verses. I'm [26:33] going to drive you crazy. We're going to [26:34] read the next verse and then jump back [26:35] to this one. So, let's take a look. Fill [26:37] their face. No, no, go back. Fill their [26:40] faces with shame that may they seek you [26:41] that they may seek your name, O Lord. [26:44] Let them be confounded and dismayed [26:47] forever. Yes, let them be put to shame [26:49] and perish. [26:52] Interesting. We ask God to fill their [26:54] faces with shame twice. [26:57] You notice that [26:59] >> the truth is in the Hebrew it's three [27:00] times where it says let them be dismayed [27:03] forever. That word also really means [27:04] shame. [27:06] So we ask God repeatedly to to fill [27:08] their faces to make them ashamed. [27:12] Anytime there's repetition in the Bible, [27:14] that's the Bible's way of emphasizing a [27:15] point. The Bible does not have italics [27:20] or underline or bold. Okay? The Bible [27:23] emphasizes things by repeating them. [27:25] Okay? Okay, that's an important lesson. [27:27] When you're reading the Bible carefully, [27:29] look for repetition. Look for where [27:30] you're told something that you already [27:33] knew. [27:35] Okay, that's where there's emphasis. [27:38] That's like the Bible underlining [27:39] something. Okay, this is, you know, keep [27:42] that in your pocket for your Bible [27:43] study. What the Bible repeats, it's [27:45] emphasizing. You notice I'm repeating [27:46] now. Okay, [laughter] so what does this [27:48] mean? Why are we why are we so into [27:52] making our enemies feel ashamed? Like [27:54] look, frankly, I just want my enemies to [27:55] leave me alone. I want them to be [27:57] defeated. Why is it so important to me [28:00] that they feel ashamed? Well, it's just [28:02] LIKE PILING ON. NOT only do I want to [28:04] defeat them, I want them to be ashamed. [28:09] >> Let me explain why. [28:13] Shame is a very important and actually [28:16] positive emotion. [28:18] Positive? Yes, positive. Let me explain. [28:23] When we talk about someone who doesn't [28:24] feel ashamed, say someone has no shame, [28:27] we usually don't mean it as a [28:28] compliment, right? That guy has got no [28:31] shame. What do we mean? You see, I'm [28:34] going to give you a definition of shame. [28:35] Listen very carefully to this. If you if [28:37] you haven't been paying attention till [28:38] now, if you've been spacing out, this is [28:40] a good time to come back in and listen. [28:42] This is worthwhile. Okay? So, elbow the [28:45] person who's asleep next to you. [28:49] Here's a definition of shame. [28:52] Listen carefully. Shame is the gap, the [28:57] distance [28:58] between [29:00] how you see yourself [29:03] and what you've done wrong. Let me say [29:05] that again. Shame is the gap is the is [29:09] the size of the amount of shame that [29:11] someone feels is the distance between [29:14] what they've done wrong and how they see [29:18] themselves. Let me give you an example. [29:20] If I've never lied in my life, [29:23] I'm a very honest person. [29:26] I wish I could say that. [29:29] If I've never ever lied and I lie, [29:33] I feel like really ashamed. You ever do [29:34] a sin for the first time and you feel [29:36] like really [29:38] right now? What happens if I lie again? [29:42] >> I don't feel that as much. [29:44] >> And what happens if I lie again? I get [29:46] to a point where I feel no shame at all. [29:48] Why? What happened? the gap between who [29:51] I am and what I've done wrong is [29:54] shrinking. [29:55] And when there's no gap, I don't feel [29:57] any shame. So, if I'm a liar, I lie all [29:59] the time. And that's how that's who I [30:01] am. And I lie, I don't feel any shame. [30:03] But if I've never lied because I'm an [30:04] honest person and I lie, there's a big [30:06] gap between how I see myself and what [30:08] I've done, I feel shame. Which is why [30:11] when people find faith later in life, [30:14] they often feel retroactive shame for [30:16] things that they weren't ashamed of when [30:18] they first did them. cuz when they did [30:19] them, there was no gap between what they [30:21] did and how they saw themselves. Now [30:22] they've changed and they look back at [30:24] what they did and they go, "Whoa." [30:27] And they feel ashamed. [30:29] >> Okay? So shame is the distance is a [30:32] measure of the gap between what you've [30:34] done wrong and how you see yourself. [30:38] We want our enemies to feel ashamed. [30:40] It's so emphasized that three times at [30:42] the end of this psalm, we're asking God [30:45] to make them feel ashamed. You know why? [30:46] because we care about them. [30:49] >> We don't want only to defeat them. We [30:52] want them to change and realize that [30:55] what they've done is so evil that they [30:57] feel ashamed. Because right now, those [30:59] kids on those college campuses wearing [31:01] kafas calling for the destruction of [31:03] Israel are anything but ashamed. They [31:06] are so self-righteous and so proud of [31:08] themselves that they are taking this [31:10] position. [31:14] They are so wrong. [31:16] We want them to feel ashamed because we [31:19] want them to recognize what they've done [31:21] is wrong. And that brings us to the end [31:23] of the psalm [31:25] >> that they may know that you whose name [31:28] alone is the Lord are the most high over [31:31] all the earth. [31:32] >> That that is the punchline of this [31:35] psalm. The punchline of this psalm isn't [31:37] Israel wins. [31:40] The punchline of this psalm is that God [31:42] is revealed as the as the true God over [31:45] all the earth. That is the purpose of [31:47] war. [31:49] The purpose of war is to bring evil to [31:52] its knees so that they change. People [31:56] ask, if I could bring this into current [31:58] events, people sometimes ask like, "How [32:00] do you destroy kamas? How do you destroy [32:02] an idea? [32:04] How do you destroy you know this evil?" [32:07] Folks, we have two examples in the 20th [32:09] century of an absolutely evil ideology [32:14] being destroyed and the people changing [32:17] changing quickly. [32:19] And they were both in World War II, [32:21] Imperial Japan, which was an evil [32:24] genocidal culture and ideology, [32:27] and Nazi Germany. [32:30] And both of those nations very quickly [32:32] after World War II became benign [32:34] peaceful nations. WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT [32:36] HAPPENED TO THE evil ideologies? Well, [32:38] here's a harsh truth, folks. Here's a [32:41] harsh truth. The reason that those [32:44] cultures changed is that they suffered [32:47] defeat. [32:49] It was clear that they were defeated. [32:50] There was no way around the fact that [32:52] they were defeated. And defeat made the [32:55] people go, "Oh my gosh." And they [32:57] re-evaluated. If they're not defeated, [32:59] they're not going to change the way they [33:00] think. So when people ask, "Why do you [33:03] have to wipe out Kamas completely? [33:05] Haven't you done enough damage to them? [33:07] Why do you have to go into Rafa and wipe [33:09] out the last four battalions? We must [33:11] defeat them because if we don't defeat [33:14] them to the point that it's clear to [33:16] them and all their people that they were [33:17] defeated, they're not going to change [33:19] the way they think. [33:21] >> They're not going to get to the end of [33:22] the psalm where they feel ashamed and [33:24] realize what they did is evil and turn [33:27] to God. That is what war is about, [33:30] folks. [33:32] The last thing I'm going to share with [33:33] you and then I'll turn it back to Pastor [33:35] >> [snorts] [33:37] >> is [33:39] the book of Joel. [33:41] See, we're clearly living in a biblical [33:44] time. Everyone wants to live in biblical [33:46] times, right? But that doesn't mean we [33:48] want when we say that we want the good [33:50] stuff. It doesn't mean that we want the [33:52] rough stuff. But we're living in a [33:54] clearly biblical time. Like people ask [33:56] me like, "How do you know that this is [33:57] the big end times war?" I'm like, "Okay, [34:00] maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But if it [34:02] isn't, then it means we're just waiting [34:04] for another war just like this. [34:07] >> This is a war where the enemies of [34:09] Israel are trying to destroy Israel. And [34:11] the whole world is involved in this [34:13] massive struggle session over Israel [34:17] about what is good and what is evil. The [34:19] other side thinks that they're good and [34:20] we're evil. [34:24] And this goes back to my question I [34:25] opened with about Christmas and Easter. [34:28] It's very clear that there's two camps [34:30] right now in the world. [34:33] And in the book of Joel, chapter 3, Joel [34:37] speaks of judgment day at the end times. [34:39] And look at this. For behold, in those [34:41] days and at that time, I will bring back [34:44] the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. In [34:45] other words, the in gathering of Israel [34:47] will happen. Great. That's happened. [34:48] Check. And I will gather the nations and [34:51] bring them to the valley of Jehoshaphat. [34:53] Now, this is a little bit of a play on [34:54] words that if you don't know Hebrew, you [34:56] miss. The word valley emmech also is a [35:00] from the same root as the word amok [35:02] which means depth. [35:04] The word valley doesn't really mean [35:06] valley in Hebrew. It means depth. [35:08] Jehoshaphat. Jeho that prefix means God. [35:13] Sounds like the beginning of God's name. [35:14] Jeho, right? Jeho. And chafat is the [35:18] Hebrew word for judgment. So really the [35:21] valley of Jehoshaphat is a play on words [35:23] that actually means the depth of God's [35:25] judgment. So God's talking about [35:27] judgment day. I'm going to bring all the [35:28] nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat to [35:30] the depth of God's judgment and I will [35:32] enter into judgment with them. Now [35:34] what's God going to judge the nations [35:35] on? How sexually immoral they were. How [35:39] much they uh they stole from the poor. [35:42] What is he judging the nations on? He [35:43] says what he's judging them on. I will [35:45] judge them there on account of my [35:47] people, my heritage Israel, whom they [35:49] have scattered among the nations. And [35:52] also, they divided up my land. Now, [35:56] let's pause for a second. [35:59] Empires swept across the earth. They [36:01] conquered other nations. Were they in [36:03] the business of dividing up lands? They [36:05] wanted to own them. [36:08] Who divides up a land? What kind of [36:10] strange [36:11] desire is that? Oh, I'm going to conquer [36:13] that land and chop it up and divide it. [36:17] It's a weird thing to say, but it's [36:20] today's headlines. The Biden [36:22] administration, the world media, they're [36:25] all calling for Israel to divide up the [36:27] land, a two-state solution, as though [36:30] that's a solution to anything, to set up [36:32] a terrorist state. But they're literally [36:34] talking about pressuring Israel to [36:37] divide up the land. This verse made no [36:40] sense for thousands of years. And today [36:42] it's right there in the papers, [36:45] >> folks. We are in it right now. And every [36:48] single person here has to ask [36:49] themselves, "Why was I chosen to live at [36:52] this time? What am I called to do? [36:56] We are in this together. Our enemies [36:58] know it. Our enemies make it very clear [37:02] that Christians and Jews are in this [37:04] together. And it's about time we all [37:06] noticed it, too." Amen. [37:08] >> So folks, [37:10] I'm going to turn things back to the [37:11] pastor now. I just want to thank you for [37:13] your friendship. I want to thank you for [37:15] your concern. And I want to implore you [37:18] to recognize that in addition to the [37:21] private personal aspects of our faith. [37:23] We are being called right now to look at [37:26] the big picture, the big picture of [37:28] God's story which is playing out right [37:30] now. And we have a role to play in it. [37:33] So keep praying for Israel. Keep [37:35] standing with Israel. Keep being [37:37] confident in the truth of the word of [37:39] God and read your Bible carefully. [37:43] >> Thank you very much once again, Faith [37:44] family. I can't wait till my next time. [37:46] God bless you.
