PITP #05

Father, Your Word says that we are to study to show ourselves approved unto You, as those who are workers that are not ashamed, rightly dividing Your Word of truth. Tonight, we want to rightly divide Your Word of truth. Jesus, just as You told Your disciples before You went to the cross that You would not leave us comfortless, but that You would send the Holy Spirit—the Spirit who would guide us in all truth and teach us all things, bringing to remembrance the things that You had said. Jesus, I pray that right now, by Your Spirit, You would guide us in all truth and teach us all things. Give us insight into this passage that we're going to look at tonight, Lord. Help us to see the correlations, but also to see the application that You have for us, sitting here in the year 2009. Ready our hearts, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, last week, you'll remember, we looked at that passage in the first part of Exodus. The children of Israel, after 430 years, found themselves in captivity in Egypt. It was 430 years prior to the coming of Moses, or the calling of Moses, that the children of Israel went into the land of Egypt for their protection and for their blessing. When they went there, it was just a group of about 70 people.

Now, when we pick it back up 430 years later, we find that the nation of Israel has become a very strong nation. They multiplied exceedingly and abundantly in the land. They were a blessed people while they were in Egypt until there arose a king, or a pharaoh, on the throne who didn't know their history. He didn't know how it was Joseph, one of the children of Israel and one of the leaders of the tribes of Israel, who saved the Egyptians from a great famine.

The king, the pharaoh, had had a dream that there was going to be seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. He didn't know what the dream meant, but Joseph was able to interpret it. Through that interpretation, and through the ability that God had given him, and the favor that God had given him, Joseph ascended to be the prime minister over Egypt, holding very high authority in the land. Under his leadership and rule, they stockpiled food for seven years to prepare for the seven years of famine. As a result of one of the children of Israel, Joseph, we see that Egypt and many others were sustained through that great famine. But now that's past; it's in the history books.

As you well know, over a period of time, history seems to change. History seems to be revised. Even in the 232-year history of our nation, we have seen that history appears to have changed. Many of you who are over 40 remember taking history classes several years ago when you were in high school, and they are a lot different than the history classes that your kids are taking today. Things have changed as it relates to history, and I'm sure that things changed in the minds of the people in Egypt. They didn't fully know who this people group living in their midst was.

The Jewish people did not integrate into Egypt. They were a people set apart. They had their own customs, their own laws, their own language, and their own God that they worshipped. The rest of the people in Egypt looked upon them with some sort of disdain. In fact, the Scripture tells us that the Egyptians looked upon the Jews with hatred. The Jews were primarily shepherds, and the Scripture says that the Egyptians disliked and couldn't stand shepherds.

We see that there was already this dislike, and there came about a Pharaoh who didn't know Joseph or the children of Israel. He was concerned by what he saw among this nation. Last week, we looked at six different things. Number one was that there was a new king. This new king came with unrighteous decrees and heavy burdens. When he came with these unrighteous decrees and heavy burdens, what did it cause the people of Israel to do? They cried out to God, right? And as they cried out to God, did God hear? He absolutely did. He heard and he answered.

The answer of God came by sending forth Moses. Moses came down into the land, who is a picture and a type of the Messiah in the Scriptures, just as Moses declared in Deuteronomy 18:15. When Moses came down into the land of Egypt to set the children of Israel free, he came with what? What were the ten things that he brought? Plagues. How many of you read through Exodus chapters 1 through 5 or around there this last week, refreshing through the story of Exodus? You saw that Moses went down into the land with plagues that ultimately brought the deliverance of the people.

Now, when we finished last week, at the end of chapter 5 and the end of chapter 6, Moses was just really getting ready to come down into the land. When you come into chapters 6 through 12, you will see that now the plagues begin. I wanted to take a few minutes tonight to consider some of these plagues.

And what they were all about. But notice what happens. We read in Exodus chapter 6, verse 1. Now remember, to this point, Pharaoh has not allowed the children of Israel to go. God spoke unto Moses and said unto him that He is the one who promised them this land. The Scriptures declare that the land of Israel is His land; it's God's piece of property.

He made a covenant with the children of Israel, most specifically with their father Abraham, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. God also said, "I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage. I have remembered my covenant."

You see, the cry of the children of Israel to God caused Him to remember His covenant with the people that He had made. It's not that God forgot, but they forgot. They forgot that they were God's chosen people. Now they are crying out to God, in a sense reminding Him that they are His chosen people, groaning to Him because of the taskmasters that were over them.

"Wherefore, say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm and with great judgments. I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God."

Underline that in verse 7. You need to recognize that one of the primary purposes of what God is going to do for the children of Israel in the land of Egypt is so that they would know that He truly is God. He is going to show His righteous right arm. He will reveal His strength to the children of Israel, but also to the Egyptians and the rest of the world.

He says, "You will be my people, I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, which brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians." And I will bring you into a land.

Concerning the land which I did swear to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, I will give it to you for an inheritance or for a heritage. I am the Lord.

Moses spoke so unto the children of Israel, but they, notice this, did not hearken unto Moses for anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. I want you to note that verse. Put an exclamation point next to it and a star next to it, because what we see here is that Moses goes down into the land of Egypt to bring deliverance to his people. When he comes to them, did they receive him with open arms? They didn't.

But this is not the first time. How old was Moses when he went down into Egypt to bring the children of Israel out of bondage? About 80 years old, right? If you remember the story of Exodus, and if you read it earlier this week, you'll note and remember that this was not the first time he tried to exercise leadership over the people.

In fact, turn just a few chapters back to Exodus chapter 2. In Exodus chapter 2, when Moses was 40 years old and had grown up in the house of the Egyptians, he went to try and help his people who were in bondage. He saw that an Egyptian soldier was beating one of the children of Israel. What did Moses do to that soldier? He killed him. Then he desired to come in and rule over the children of Israel.

But notice what they said in verse 14: "Who made you to be a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Moses feared and said, "Surely this thing is known." Notice that Moses, at his first coming, was not received by the children of Israel when he came to be a ruler and a leader over them.

Now, he came in an unrighteous way, but still, nonetheless, he was not received by his people as their ruler or leader. Do you see a correlation? Do you see a connection? Moses, who is a type and a picture of the Messiah, the Messiah who would come the first time 2,000 years ago, faced a similar rejection. His own people would say, "We will not have this man to rule over us."

Moses, when he came the very first time, was not received by the people. But then he again would come, as sent by the Father from heaven, and the children of Israel would say, "We don't want you to take us away."

They would not hearken unto the voice of Moses for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage. Because of all the things that the children of Israel had gone through, they just couldn't possibly hear of the love of God. God sends a messenger; He sends a deliverer, Moses. He comes with a message of God's love: "I have come to set you free. I have come to deliver you." However, because of their bondage and all the cruel things they had endured, they couldn't receive the message. They didn't receive him at his first coming, and now, at his second coming, they are still having a hard time.

Do we see that again today? We do. How many of you know some Jewish people? Have you ever interacted with them? Have you ever talked with them about their heritage? Have you ever discussed the Lord with them? One of the things you'll find is that many times they will say, "God doesn't love us." They believe that if God loved them, they would not have gone through all the cruel bondage and difficult trials that they, as a people, have experienced.

As I mentioned last week, the history of the children of Israel over the last 2,000 years is filled with hardship and difficulty. Whether it was them being kicked out of Russia in the 1800s, tortured and expelled from Spain in 1492, or treated poorly in England in 1280, or the suffering they endured in Germany in the last century, the history of the nation of Israel reveals that the descendants of Abraham have lived under cruel bondage and anguish. As a result, many Jews today say, "God doesn't love us." When you bring the message of the Messiah, the one who comes to deliver them, they are often hardened toward it and will not receive it.

In this story, we see something that fits the pattern we have observed among the children of Israel even today. Two thousand years ago, when Jesus came the first time, they said, "We will not have this man to rule over us." When Moses came the first time at 40, they asked, "Who do you think you are, coming to rule and judge over us? We will not have you to rule over us." Now, the second time when he comes in Exodus chapter 6, they say, "We're not going to listen to you. Who do you think you are? Who made you a judge and authority over us?"

It would take the plagues that God would bring upon the Egyptians and the shelter He would place upon His own people for the children of Israel to warm up to Moses and see that he truly came to deliver them. You see, Jesus will come once again. We know this as the church today, and we recognize...

In the New Testament, it is clear that when He comes, He still has a plan for the children of Israel. The same children of Israel who, 2,000 years ago, said, "We will not have this man to rule over us." Right now, 2,000 years later, in the year 2009, many of them, the majority of them, say, "We will not have this Jesus to rule over us," but He will come again. The prophet Zechariah tells us that one day they will look on Him whom they have pierced, but this will not happen until after a time of great tribulation, a time of plagues, just like we see in the book of Exodus.

You may remember that last week I mentioned this passage of Scripture. Exodus chapters 1 through 5 was the portion read in many synagogues around the world just this last Sabbath. Coming up this next Sabbath, they will read the passage from Exodus chapter 6 through the end of chapter 9, which deals with the plagues. It was during those plagues, if you have read this passage either this week or at another time, that God sheltered His people, the children of Israel, while He poured out judgment upon the Egyptians.

Through the judgment upon the Egyptians and the shelter placed over Israel, they began to see that God does love them. Whereas the people of Israel today say, "God doesn't love us," they will see, as these judgments begin to be poured out upon the world and as God's hand of protection is over them, that truly God does love them. Then they will see their Deliverer; they will look on Him whom they have pierced and will ask Him, "Where did you receive these wounds?" He will respond, "In the house of my friends." One day, they are going to look on Him, they are going to look on Christ, and they will recognize that He truly is the ruler that God has sent for them. He truly is that prophet promised by Moses in Deuteronomy.

However, to this day, at this point, they have rejected Him. I believe that we are moving into a time in biblical history and prophetic history where these things are going to begin to take place once again. We see an outline of it here in the book of Exodus. It started with the children of Israel in a foreign land that had a new king who brought unrighteous decrees and heavy burdens upon them. They began to cry out to God, and God sent a Deliverer, but that Deliverer came with plagues before He ultimately delivered them. In this passage, specifically from Exodus chapter 6 through chapter 12, we see those plagues listed.

There were ten of them. They start in the next chapter, in chapter 7, verse 19. I want you to notice that these ten plagues are grouped in a very interesting way. There are nine plagues that are identified as coming from God upon the people, and then the tenth plague was a very special plague. It specifically applied to Pharaoh, but it had implications for the whole people of Egypt.

These nine plagues are divided into three sets. In the first set, the first plague is when God turns the Nile River into blood. The second plague is when He sends frogs upon the people, and the third plague is when He sends lice. That's the first round of plagues.

The second round of plagues includes the flies that God sends upon the children of Egypt, the disease He brings upon their livestock, and then the boils that He inflicts upon the people.

The third round of plagues begins when God sends forth hail that brings fire and destroys many of their crops. After that, He sends the locusts, and then the ninth plague brings great thick darkness upon the people.

The interesting thing is that we have these three groupings of plagues, and when you look at them, you'll notice that in each grouping, the first two plagues came with a warning, while the third did not. There was no warning given for the third plague. In the first two plagues, God tells Egypt, "Listen, repent, let My people go, or else." They don't listen; they don't hearken, and then the plague comes.

In the second plague, He gives another call: "Listen, let the people go, and this plague won't come upon you. Repent." Again, they do not listen, and the plague comes. But then the third plague comes without a warning.

Each of these three groups follows the same pattern: two warnings, two plagues, and then a sudden plague. This pattern repeats: two warnings, two plagues, and then another sudden plague. Finally, there is the last plague, the killing of the firstborn, which ultimately caused the children of Israel to be let go. Pharaoh not only let them go but told them to get out of here. "Leave. We don't want you here anymore."

The interesting thing about each of these plagues is that they dealt with the gods that Egypt served. They confronted the very deities that the Egyptians worshipped.

Egypt bowed down to many false gods. When God came into the land, He intended to show that He is more powerful than all these deities. The plagues that God brought were an answer to Pharaoh's question in Exodus 5, verse 2.

In Exodus 5, we read in verse 1 that Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness." Notice what Pharaoh says to them in verse 2. Pharaoh asked, "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go."

That question, "Who is the Lord?" is significant. God answers it through the ten plagues. He essentially says, "You don't know who I am? Let me show you." The people in Egypt worshiped a multitude of gods; they had a god for just about everything. They even had gods for frogs, beetles, and flies, as well as gods of the river, the sky, and the underworld. When the one true God came into Egypt, He caused every one of those gods to tremble, shake, and collapse. God was determined to prove that He is greater than all these false entities.

In Exodus chapter 7, God tells Moses in verse 4 that Pharaoh will not listen to him. God states, "That I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth mine armies and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments." He continues, "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them."

Pharaoh's question, "Who is the Lord that I should listen to Him?" sets the stage for the revelation of God's power.

God says, "You don't know who I am? I'm going to show you who I am." Then God says, "Pharaoh's heart is going to be hardened; he's not going to let you go because I am going to prove to the Egyptians that I am the Lord, that I am the one true God, the only God who's worthy of worship." When they bowed down to so many different things, God says, "I will prove that I'm greater than all their gods."

When He came into the land of Egypt and turned the Nile into blood, He showed that the god they worshipped, called Kanum, the guardian of the Nile, was nothing. When God came and devastated the Nile by bringing blood, He demonstrated that Hapi, the spirit of the Nile, was not worthy to be worshipped. Osiris, whom you may have heard of, was believed by the Egyptians to have the Nile as his bloodstream. God came and showed that He is the captain over their river. He is the one worthy of worship, not Hapi or Osiris.

He knocked the goddess Heket out of the sky when He brought forth frogs, as Heket was worshipped in the form of a frog. God brought all these frogs upon the children of Israel until they cried out to Moses, saying, "Get rid of these frogs; we don't want any more frogs."

It is very interesting because when Pharaoh called Moses into his palace and said, "Get rid of the frogs," Moses asked, "Alright, when do you want me to get rid of them?" Pharaoh replied, "Tomorrow." I always wonder about that. Why didn't he say, "Now, get rid of them today"? He said, "Tomorrow." I guess he wanted one more night with the frogs; I don't know.

Not only that, God knocked out the god Heter, which was represented by the image of a cow or a bull, when He destroyed their livestock with one of the plagues. He also knocked out the god Imhotep, the god of medicine and healing, when He brought upon the people a boil that they couldn't get rid of. This is particularly interesting because Revelation speaks about a boil that comes upon the people who take the mark of the beast and worship his image as well. There was no medicine, no god that could get rid of that boil. In fact, there were magicians...

In Egypt, Pharaoh would turn to his magicians and say, "Help us, get rid of it." However, they themselves were afflicted with boils to the extent that they couldn't even come to see Pharaoh or Moses. Their god, Imhotep, could not help them.

When God came into the land of Egypt, He demonstrated that He was greater than their god, Nut, the sky goddess. God brought hail from the skies and fire falling from the heavens, showing that He was greater than their god, Seth, who was believed to be the protector of all their crops. By sending locusts, God destroyed all the crops that had not already been ruined by the hail and fire.

The ninth plague that God brought was darkness upon all the land. One of the key gods that the people of Egypt worshipped was Ra, the sun god. For three days, God brought a darkness that was not merely the absence of light; it was a darkness that could be felt. It was a spiritual, oppressive darkness that God allowed to cover the land. Then, He struck down Osiris, the Egyptian god thought to be the giver of life, when Pharaoh's firstborn died. Pharaoh was considered a direct descendant of Osiris, and the people worshipped him as if he were a deity himself, believing he could not die. Yet, God sent the destroyer and, in one night, killed all the firstborn of Egypt, including Pharaoh's own son.

I hope you see that each of these ten plagues that God brought upon the people of Egypt was significant. Some came with a warning, while others arrived suddenly, but each was intended to confront the things that the Egyptians bowed down to and worshipped. Each plague was meant to show that their worship and their gods were not worthy of their devotion.

I believe that God works in the same ways today as He did thousands of years ago in the Old Testament. I am convinced, as I read through the Scriptures, that our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen? Jesus tells us in Revelation chapter 1 that He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the one who was, and is, and is to come. In Malachi chapter 3, God says, "I am God, and I do not change."

For some reason, the church in the West today thinks that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. I do not believe that to be the case. I believe that God is unchanging.

God still speaks. The question is, are we listening to what He is trying to say to us? Are we recognizing that He is calling out to us with the same message that He would call out to His people so many times? We see this in 2 Chronicles 7:14, where He says, "If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal their land." God says that if we will listen to His call and repent, humble ourselves, and pray, He will turn to us and heal our land.

I believe that even Egypt could have experienced that healing had they turned to God in the book of Exodus. He desired that they would repent, but Pharaoh constantly hardened his heart. You read about it over and over again in Exodus chapters 5 through 12. It says, "Pharaoh hardened his heart." Some may say, "Well, I also read that God hardened Pharaoh's heart." The words for "harden" are different. When it says Pharaoh hardened his heart, it was his action; he was hardening his heart. But when it says God hardened his heart, it means God said, "Okay, I'm going to make it strong, make it stiff. You can't go back from there." Pharaoh continually hardened his heart and would not receive the call that God was giving him to repent. As a result, ultimately, Pharaoh would be killed along with his armies.

All of this was for the purpose of, number one, the deliverance of His people, and number two, the glorification of God. We need to recognize that God is at work to deliver His people and to glorify His great name. He told these people that the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. He said, "I will have honor over the Egyptians and over Pharaoh."

A very interesting passage of Scripture that has always stood out to me comes in Exodus chapter 14. After Pharaoh allows the children of Israel to go free, he has a change of heart and a change of mind. The armies of Israel and all the people of Israel are moving towards the land of Canaan, moving towards the wilderness, and Pharaoh decides that he is going to gather all the armies of Egypt and go after them. He decides that he doesn't want them to leave. When you get to Exodus chapter 14,

The children of Israel find themselves in a bind. They have the Red Sea in front of them, two mountain ranges on either side—Piahiroth and Migdal—and behind them is the advancing Egyptian army. The children of Israel cry out to Moses, and Moses cries out to God. God tells Moses to go stand before the Red Sea and lift up his staff, promising that He will part the waters of the Red Sea so they can cross over on dry ground.

However, notice what God says to Moses in verse 4 of chapter 14: "I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will follow after you." Did you catch that? God says He wants the Israelites to cross the Red Sea, but He will cause Pharaoh to follow them. At that point, if I were Moses, I would have said, "Hold on, time out. God, if you can cause Pharaoh to follow after us, why don't you just tell him to go home?"

But God responds, "I will be honored over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am God." God is exceedingly zealous for His glory. Let me say that again: God is exceedingly zealous for His glory. He is absolutely determined to deliver all who will turn to Him, all who will come to Him. However, for those who will not turn to Him, He will still be glorified over them.

Notice this: you will be glorified; God will be glorified by your obedience or your rebellion. One way or the other, God will be glorified. If you determine in your heart that you will not follow God, His righteous wrath will be glorified in your life. That's a scary thing, isn't it? But if you say, "Lord, I want to follow You," then He will deliver you. He has delivered us in such a marvelous way to His glory. Either way, God will be glorified.

Now, what's the point of all this? Why are we looking at Exodus chapters 1 through 14? Why are we considering this passage? Because I believe that God is speaking to us. Here we have the largest gathering of the Jewish people outside the land of Israel in our nation, the nation of America.

The only nation that has ever been favorable to the children of Israel is the United States of America. Isn't that phenomenal? As you study their long history through the Bible and ever since 70 AD, you see that there has really been nobody friendly to them except for the United States. Today, there are about equal numbers of Jews in the land of Israel as there are here in the United States.

I wholeheartedly believe that there will be a new Exodus. I believe that the children of Israel will begin to depart from the United States. Several factors will play into that. Some of it we are already beginning to see in the form of the economic crisis that we have had in our nation. Additionally, as we see in the book of Exodus, there is going to be a shift in policy regarding the children of Israel and the land of Israel. However, I also think that there needs to be something to lure the people of Israel back to the promised land out of the United States.

I read an interesting article today. Israel, surrounded by many enemies, has never had much in the way of natural resources. All of their neighbors seem to have an abundance, whether you go to Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or the United Arab Emirates. What is that natural resource they have so much of? Oil. That oil has made them exceedingly rich.

However, there are some prophetic passages in Scripture that seem to indicate that oil will be found in the land of Israel in the last days. Just a few hours ago, I read an article stating that last week a very large cache of natural gas was found off the coast of Haifa in the land of Israel. So much so that they believe they will be able to use that natural gas for power in their own country for at least the next 30 years and also sell it in the world market.

There are groups, as we speak, looking for and drilling for oil in the northern portions of the nation of Israel along the Golan Heights and in the land of Jezreel, which we call the Valley of Armageddon. They are also searching in the southern part of the nation near the Dead Sea. They believe there is a great possibility of finding oil there.

Although it's deeper than in Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, they believe that there are large pools of oil under the land of Israel. As I was reading through an article this evening, one of the things that stuck out to me is that if it is true that there are these huge pools of oil under Israel, then it very well may be that in the coming years, they will become one of the richest nations in the world. I think that would be a good lure for the children of Israel to move back to their land, especially if we continue to have an economic downturn in our nation, which most economists say we are headed into, even more difficult times than we've seen.

But there's also something else that's very interesting about the possibility of oil in the land of Israel. When we read Ezekiel 38 and 39, we see that a group of nations gathers together to attack the land of Israel. One of those nations is Persia; another we read of is Gog and Magog, which are often identified with Russia. A number of other largely Islamic nations are mentioned in Ezekiel 38 and 39, and it says that when they go to attack the land of Israel, they go to take a spoil. What does it mean to take a spoil? They're trying to go and get a reward, aren't they?

Until this point, Israel has never really had anything that anybody would want, except for the Temple Mount, which seems to be a large distraction to a lot of people. There are some very interesting things happening in our day. As we look around the world, we recognize that the events happening in the passage before us here in Exodus are very similar to the events occurring globally. Many Jewish sages and rabbis throughout the years have said that the Torah portions, the passages read in the synagogues, are prophetic and align with historic events.

I was reading through the new whitehouse.gov website today, looking at the policies of our new administration. I specifically wanted to look at their foreign policy views, so I went to their section on foreign policy and searched for Israel. I found some very interesting things related to the new Obama administration and the nation of Israel. He has made it very clear that he would like to bring about a two-state solution in the land of Israel. What does that mean? It means that they would divide the land of Israel and allow...

The Palestinians are to have a portion for their state, and the Jews are to have a portion for theirs. There is an interesting passage of scripture given to us in Joel chapter 3. We read in Joel 3, verse 1: "For behold, in those days and in that time when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem." What days is that speaking of? Today, when I will regather the children of Israel.

It will happen in those days that I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. I will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and divided my land. Notice what God said there: in the last days, I will bring all the nations down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will judge them there.

Why will God judge the nations? Because they scattered my people abroad throughout the world and divided my land. It is interesting that God says judgment will one day come to those who divide the land of Israel. Why? Because it is God's land; it is His property. He essentially leased it to those people that He called and that He chose.

Now, I mentioned several months back that I believe there are certain things in the prophetic passages of scripture that I would call indicators of judgment. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 19 because I want us to consider for a moment the indicators of judgment that we see there.

In Isaiah 19, we are going to start in verse 1. We read in Isaiah 19, verse 1: "The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rides upon a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt." God says He has a burden against Egypt, and He is going to come into the land of Egypt with judgment. He will come upon a swift cloud, which means this judgment is going to come very fast. Now, Egypt...

In the Scriptures, Egypt is often a type of what the world represents. God says, "I'm going to come into Egypt on a swift cloud, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it." What is the very first thing that happens when God moves upon a nation like Egypt for judgment? We read that the gods of that nation tremble.

In Exodus chapters 6 through 12, when God came into the land, He caused all the gods of Egypt to fail and fall. Those gods had names and were identified with certain things, but the people worshipped them for prosperity, pleasure, or whatever it may be. In the Old Testament, a god is specifically something that you place your trust in. When God moves into Egypt in Isaiah 19 for judgment, the things that the people trust in begin to tremble, shake, and fall.

We have seen similar occurrences in our own nation over the last several years. Certain things that we trust in, things that we lean upon, have shaken and even fallen. We witnessed a couple of very important buildings fall in 2001. One of them, located in Washington, D.C., was partially destroyed, and Wall Street, the financial district in New York, was decimated. Not just the financial district, but also the Pentagon, our war machine, was hit in 2001.

I know that it is not the most politically correct thing to say, but I truly believe that this was God removing His hand of protection. As God removed His hand of protection, we became open season for the enemy. I do not believe that it was God who flew the planes into the buildings or who destroyed a portion of the Pentagon, but I do believe that God removes His hand of protection, allowing the enemy to come in.

Where else do we see this in the Scriptures? Remember the book of Job. In Job, we read of a righteous man who served God and followed Him. The enemy, Satan, came before God in heaven, and God asked him, "What have you been up to?" Satan replied, "I've been going to and fro about the earth." God then said, "Have you considered my servant Job?" Satan responded, "Yes, I've looked at him and considered him, but Job only serves You because of what You give him." God said, "Okay, let's test that theory. If you remove your hand from him..."

Your protection from him; you've set a hedge of protection around him. But if you remove it and allow me to come in, he'll curse you. So what did God do? He removed His hand of protection. The enemy came in.

What's the first thing that the enemy did when he came in? He removed everything that Job trusted in as it related to his riches. Job was a very wealthy man, and he had many servants overseeing all of his camels, oxen, and so forth—all of his herds. When the Lord removed His hand of protection, the enemy came in like a flood. He brought robbers who killed all of his servants and took everything that he trusted in—his riches.

This looks like just a normal, everyday thing that could happen: wicked robbers come in and steal and kill. But if you look behind the scenes, you see that God removed His hand of protection, allowing the enemy to come in. The very next thing that happened was that Job's family gathered together in a house for a party, a celebration. What came and destroyed the house? A whirlwind. That just looks like a natural disaster. Yet, when we look through the lens of Scripture and into the spiritual realm, we see that God removed His hand of protection, and the enemy caused this event to take place.

We've seen the very same things happening in our nation. God comes into a land for judgment, and the things that that land trusts in are moved and begin to fall. Just in the last six months, we've seen that man in our nation greatly trusts in his wealth, and yet those things have been decimated. We saw a few years back, in 2005, that an entire city was massively disrupted and destroyed by a hurricane—Hurricane Katrina.

You see these different things taking place, and you also see that Israel has certain connections to these events. In 2005, when Katrina hit, as this book outlines, what was happening in the land of Israel? Our president, then-President Bush, was encouraging Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to give up land for peace and to leave the Gaza Strip. That very same week, Katrina hit the United States.

There are many different events like this, and there's a long list of them in this book and in other books as well. We read on here in Isaiah chapter 19. God says in verse 2, "I will set the Egyptians against Egyptians, and they shall fight everyone against his brother and everyone against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom."

The next thing we see here that is an indicator of God's judgment is civil unrest. I was reading through some news articles today about our own state, the state of California. At this moment, our state has a 42 billion dollar deficit. To the point that this year, our governor has said that you're probably not going to get a tax refund in the mail. Instead, you're going to get an IOU from the state of California.

One of the other things our governor has said is that there's a very good possibility that, because of the budget shortfall, they will not be able to make good on many of the welfare checks in our state in the next several months. I don't know if you can see that, but to me, I see an equation for civil unrest. We see that the gods of that nation are moved, and then we see civil unrest, as Egyptians fought against Egyptians, city against city, and brother against brother. The spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof, and I will destroy the council thereof. They shall seek to the idols, to the charmers, to those that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

The next thing that we see as an indicator of judgment in this passage is that the leadership begins to fail. The spirit of Egypt, those that they trusted in, that they hoped in, and that they looked to, their hope was distressed. The council of the nation was removed. Those that judged the nation rightly no longer knew what was up or what was down. They called good evil and evil good; they put darkness for light and light for darkness. Are we seeing the judges of our nation do such things here in America? We most certainly are.

In verse 4, we read, "And the Egyptians will give over to the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them," says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. One of the next indicators of judgment is tyranny, cruel leaders, and heavy taskmasters. In verse 5, we read, "The water shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up." That speaks of a drought. They shall turn the rivers far away, and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up. The reeds and the flags shall wither, and the paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and everything sown by the brooks shall wither and be driven away and be no more. Not only do we read of a drought, which is an indicator...

Of God's judgment, we read of a famine that comes because of the drought. The fishermen also shall mourn, and all they that cast the angle and the brooks shall lament. They that spread the nets upon the water shall languish, and moreover, they that work and find flax and they that weave the networks shall be confounded. They shall be broken in the purpose thereof, and all that make wages in the ponds of the fish.

Notice what he says here: not only do we see a drought and a famine, but then industry and economic collapse—all are indicators of God's judgment. Surely, the princes of Zoan are fools, and the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh has become brutish, or stupid, or foolish. How say you unto Pharaoh, "I am the son of the wise" or "the son of the ancient kings"? Where are they? Where are the wise men? Let them tell thee now and let them know what the Lord has purposed upon Egypt.

So, not only do we see tyranny, drought, famine, and industrial and economic collapse, but we also read of the loss of wise counsel. The king doesn't know what to do. The princes of Zoan become fools, and the princes of Noph are deceived. They have also seduced Egypt, even they that are of the stay of the tribes thereof. The Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof, and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

The next thing we see here is that foolish leaders cause the people to err. They lead the people toward destruction so that the people stumble like a drunken man; they don't know what way to go. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush may do. There shall be great unemployment for the nation, for those that are the skilled or the leaders of the nation.

In that day, Egypt shall be like unto a woman; it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He shakes over it. We see the loss of courage and loss of strength in the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, and everyone that makes mention thereof shall be afraid in himself because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which He has determined against it.

The last thing we read there in verse 17 is that their captives become their captors. The ones that they ruled over, the ones that they caused fear to be in their hearts, now cause fear to be in the hearts of the Egyptians.

In Isaiah 19, we read about some very interesting indicators of judgment. This isn't the only place in the Scriptures where we find such indicators. When God moves upon a nation for judgment, the first thing that collapses is what people trust in. He provides a list of some of those things: civil unrest, tyranny, drought, famine, industrial and economic collapse, loss of wise counsel, and loss of the strong and the courageous. The people are led in the wrong ways, causing them to err.

Why do these things happen? What is it that causes these sorts of curses to come? The answer is given to us in the last passage we will look at tonight, in Leviticus chapter 26. God provides insight into why these things happen in a nation and why He would move for judgment in this way.

In Leviticus 26, starting at verse 1, God says to His people, "You shall make no idols nor graven image; neither rear up a standing image; neither shall you set up any image of stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God." The first thing He emphasizes is that we should not raise up any false gods. If there are no false gods in a land, then God doesn't need to move in and cause their false gods to shake.

He continues, "You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the Lord." In verse 3, He states, "If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them, then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit." He promises that your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time. You shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land safely.

God says that if you keep His commandments and follow Him, there are blessings in obedience. He will give you rain in due season and increase your land. Notice in verse 5 that your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time. This means that during the spring, they would reap and thresh the wheat and grains, while in the fall, they would reap from the vineyards, producing wine. He emphasizes the abundance that comes from obedience.

Your crops will be threshed all through the summer until the time you start to bring in the grapes. You will be bringing in the grapes and the vintage all the way until spring when you begin to plant your crops. It will be year-round abundance if you keep my commandments, God says, and you follow me. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. Those who serve and follow the Lord will find that God brings peace to their land.

I will rid evil beasts out of the land; neither shall a sword go through your land. You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight. Your enemies shall fall before you by the sword, for I will have respect unto you, make you fruitful, multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. You shall eat the old store and bring forth the old because of the new.

I will set my tabernacle among you; I will dwell in your midst, and my soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the Lord your God who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their bondmen. I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you go upright.

So God says, if you will follow me, if you will serve me, if you will trust in me, then I will abundantly bless you, because there are blessings in obedience. But He says in verse 14, if you will not hearken unto me and will not do all these commandments, and if you despise my statutes or if your soul abhors my judgments so that you will not do all my commandments but break my covenant, I also will do this unto you.

I will even appoint over you terror. Boy, that's interesting, isn't it? I will appoint over you terror, consumption, or disease, and the burning ague, which is the King James way of saying fever. You will have disease and pestilence that shall consume your eyes and cause sorrow of heart. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. You will go out to work and work hard, but you will bring nothing in because it shall all go to your enemies. I will set my face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies. They that hate you shall reign over you.

And you shall flee when none pursues. Proverbs 28:1 says, "The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." Here, it states that you shall flee when no one pursues you. If you will not listen to me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sin.

What does the number seven mean in the Scriptures? It signifies completion or perfection. This means complete judgment. God says, "I will completely judge you; I will bring my judgment to perfection." If you will not listen to me or follow me, then I will punish you seven more times for your sins. I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heaven as iron and your earth as brass. This speaks of drought and famine. When we read of the heavens being as iron, they are not bringing forth any rain. When the earth is like brass, you are trying to plow it, but it is hard, and you cannot plow it.

Your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. This means you are not receiving any increase from your investment. If you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. This again signifies the completeness of God's judgment. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your cattle, and make you few in number. Your highways shall be desolate.

If you will not be reformed by me through these things but will walk contrary to me, then I will also walk contrary to you. I will punish you yet seven times for your sins a third time. I will bring a sword upon you, speaking of war, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant. When you are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

When I have broken the staff of your bread, speaking of famine, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight. You shall eat and not be satisfied. If you will not, for all this, listen to me but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you, and in fury, I will even chastise you seven times for your sins.

Why would God come against a nation for judgment? Why would God allow a nation to receive plagues and curses? It has everything to do with the choices made by that nation.

To do with the disobedience of that nation, it has been said for a lot of years that the United States is a Christian nation. I do not believe that's the case anymore. I think it would be foolish for us to think that. In fact, Barna Research, a Christian research organization out of Ventura County, provided their last update, which I receive weekly. Their last update stated that Christianity is no longer the default religion in the United States. At one point in time, it was kind of considered that if you were born in America, you were a Christian. A lot of people thought that way, but today it's not the case. Christianity is no longer the default religion; we have become a very secularized nation, a pluralistic society where we invoke every God that's out there.

Did you listen to the inauguration at all yesterday? They invoked those who are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists—whoever it is—because we're all just one big happy family here in America. Yet the fact is, those who depart from the Lord and move away from His counsel, contend with the counsel of the Most High, and will find themselves in bondage. They will find themselves under the judgment of God. Why? Because God cannot dwell in the midst of a sinful people. Notice we read there in the blessings of Leviticus chapter 26. He says, "I will dwell in the midst of you." But if a nation becomes sinful, God cannot dwell in the midst of that, and so He removes His presence. When He does, the enemy comes in like a flood.

I believe that we are seeing the enemy come in like a flood in our nation, and I believe that we will see it even more. I pray for a revival in our nation, and I hope that you do as well. I firmly believe that in the last days, the Lord will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, and we will see a great revival. I'm hoping and praying that we'll see it here in our own nation. However, I also know that prophetically speaking, as far as I can tell from all my studies of prophecy and the many different books that I've read on the issue, I've never been able to find America definitively in prophetic passages. There are some minor references that might have to do with the United States of America, but for the most part, it doesn't seem to be there. Now, that could be because the Lord Himself descends with a shout and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ rise first.

And we ascend to be with Him forever, where He is. That is why we, as the church, are looking for the coming of the Lord and saying, "Come, Lord Jesus, come! Even so, Lord Jesus, come." That's my prayer tonight. The Spirit and the bride say, "Come."

But until then, even though it may be the most politically incorrect thing to say, I will say I believe that the Lord is removing His presence from our nation, and we are seeing the enemy come in like a flood. I do not believe that it is God who is specifically causing hurricanes to fly into our nation or planes to fly into our buildings. However, I do believe that a nation that blesses God will be blessed by God, and we have largely departed from that in our nation.

Even within the church, many churches in our nation no longer believe that this is the inspired and inerrant Word of God. I thank God that I am a part of a church that does. Amen.

Let's stand and pray. Jesus, You prayed there in John 17 that Your Word is truth. As we live in a nation that largely believes in relativism, that believes that every truth leads to You, Lord, we know that there is only one way, and that You, Jesus, are the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by You.

Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters here that we, as a church, would be those who boldly proclaim the truth of Your Word. It is Your Word, Your truth, that is able to sanctify and cleanse us, to make us ready for the day that we will stand before You. I look forward to that day, but until You come, give us boldness to speak the things that have become sound doctrine, the things that are able to sanctify and cleanse, to transform lives.

Lord, I know that in this city and in this county, there are many who know You, but there are also a great number of people who do not know who You are. Would You please open a door of opportunity for us to share the gospel of truth with those who are sick and dying tonight? For we ask it in the mighty and precious name of Jesus. We pray. Amen.