Defeat of the Russian Alliance - Part A

Can I just say at this point, God knows how to fight. And if you're gonna mess with God and be on the receiving end of His fury, not a good plan. And here God steps up and single-handedly comes against those who come against the nation Israel. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Pastor Skip begins his message, Defeat of the Russian Alliance, and shows you why it's never a good idea to pick a fight with God. But now let's hear about the study guide that complements the current series here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Is the end near?

That's a question on many minds. And that's why Pastor Skip Heitzig spent many months in 2023 presenting 26 full-length messages in his, The End is Near series. The second coming of Jesus Christ dominates the Bible next to the subject of faith. The coming of Christ in the future is the most discussed topic in the book. To complement this excellent series, a study guide from Skip is now available. This study guide is over 100 pages in length and covers all 26 messages in the series. The End is Near study guide includes notes, summaries, and questions for group or personal study.

We need to understand the times, and this study guide will aid in this effort. With your gift of $50 or more to Connect with Skip Heitzig, you will receive a copy of the End is Near study guide from Skip's in-depth 26-part series. Your gift will support the production and expansion of the Connect with Skip broadcast. Call 1-800-922-1888 or go online to connectwithskip.com.

That's 1-800-922-1888 or connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's teaching. We'll be in Ezekiel 38 as Skip begins. So there was a flight that was getting ready to take off. All the passengers were aboard the airplane.

They were in their seats. Seatbelts were fastened. And then the pilot gets on the PA system and says, ladies and gentlemen, the warning light just came on for the thermal expander valve on the number 2 engine. And he said, I will not fly until that is replaced. So we asked all the passengers to kindly get up, deplane, and wait in the lobby until further instructions. Well, 20 minutes later, they were invited back on the airplane. The airplane took off. And while it was in mid-flight, one of the passengers said to one of the attendants, boy, they got that new thermal expounder valve pretty quickly, huh?

And she said, oh, no, there's not one of those things within a thousand miles. We got us a new pilot. If you were a passenger on that flight and you heard that, what would that make you feel like? Vulnerable? Scared, perhaps? Whenever we talk about the topics we are talking about dealing with prophecy, I discover that there are many different reactions people have. Some are excited. Some are overly excited. Some people are confused, intimidated, and others are scared.

Here's what I want you to know. The purpose for studying prophecy isn't to make you scared. It's to make you ready. It's to make you ready for what is coming. There are many benefits to studying prophetic Scripture.

Let me just give you a few of them. Benefit number one, cleanness, of lifestyle. Nothing purifies you like living with the awareness that the Lord could come back at any moment.

When the Apostle John spoke about the coming of the Lord, he said, whoever has this hope purifies himself, even as he is pure. It's sort of like when I was a kid and my mom would say, your dad will be home soon. Things changed in our home. It changed in my behavior. I live differently knowing the soon return of my father could be imminent.

So that's one benefit. Second benefit is comfort in times of sorrow. Jesus said to his disciples, who were sorrowful in that upper room, he said, let not your hearts be troubled.

Let not your hearts be troubled. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself. So cleanness and lifestyle, comfort and sorrow, and then finally conviction for service. I believe when we study prophecy correctly, it motivates us to serve the Lord passionately.

We live and long for the day when Jesus will say to us, well done, good and faithful servant. And so all of those are benefits to studying prophecy. Corrie ten Boom, who suffered through World War II concentration camps, she said, never be afraid to trust an unknown future into the hands of a known God. There's a lot about the future we do not know. We entrust that into the hands of a God we do know. But there are some things about the future that we do know. And those are the topics in prophecy. We know, for example, that the last days of history will be challenging days. Jesus said, the love of many will grow cold. Paul the Apostle said, in the last days, many will depart from the faith.

So we know they'll be challenging times. A second thing we know is that Israel will be regathered in their homeland. The prophets all said that. Israel will be regathered in their homeland.

It happened on May 14 of 1948. They're back in their land. The Bible also predicts, as we discovered last week, that at some point in the future, there will be an alliance of nations, including Russia, Iran, Turkey, and member states of the upper Nile region, Islamic states, that will band together and at some point attack Israel to get their wealth and to gain control of the Middle East geopolitically. In last week's study, we noted who those players were, who those nations were. We also noted when they're going to attack and why they're going to attack. All of that is starting to happen right now. That is an alliance. I found this article, I wanted to show you a portion of it. This is just eight months old from the Atlantic magazine.

Here's the quote. Today the gloves are finally off. For lack of other options, Russia is opening to Iran and preparing to establish a new alliance of pariah states with the Islamic Republic to the detriment of Jerusalem. It's as if they lifted that right out of Ezekiel chapter 38. Vladimir Putin has not been a friend to Israel.

We know that. Putin called upon Israel to withdraw to their 1967 borders, also to withdraw from the Golan Heights. There's a growing percentage of Russian population in favor of restricting Jews from holding any kind of governmental position or cultural position in the country. So a lot of the things that the Bible predicts that we discussed last time is already happening before our eyes.

Here's the question for today's study. When that coalition of nations finally attacks Israel, what will the outcome be? Because if you were to think of those countries, Russia, Iran, Turkey, the Islamic states, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, some of those nations we identified, that many people and armies coming in on one nation, automatically we go, it's going to be a wipeout. Israel's going to be wiped out.

Hold that thought because the exact opposite is going to happen. And what I want to show you is three unusual features of this upcoming battle. Three unusual features, things you would not expect to happen in a war.

And here's the first one. International observation. That is, there will be nations who are watching this, who object to this, who vocalize an objection to it, but do nothing to come to Israel's aid. I want to take you back to Ezekiel 38, to one verse we read last week but didn't comment on.

I want to sort of unfold that for you as we get underway. Look at verse 13 of Ezekiel chapter 38. Again, known by their ancient names, Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish and all their young lions will say to you, that is to Gog, the invading army, have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty? And again, I told you last week, that's not the kind you shake.

That's the kind you take. It means wealth, to take wealth, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, and to take great plunder. So a few nations, we are told, are questioning this, objecting to it. Perhaps they will make a formal appeal to the Security Council of the United Nations to sanction the attacking nations. Who are these ones who object? Notice the names, Sheba, Dedan, without me giving you all the documentation as to where they settled. Sheba and Dedan historically have been the Arabian Peninsula.

Remember in the Bible, there was a woman who came to visit Solomon, the Queen of Sheba. That's the Arabian area, what we would call today Saudi Arabia. Now, why on earth would Saudi Arabia ever speak up for Israel or object to any Arab country or Russian country attacking Israel?

That's a question that I would have asked 20 years ago after September 2001, September 11. After that event, knowing that the offenders came from Saudi Arabia, this didn't make really much sense. I understand, however, now, having been to Saudi Arabia, having met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, knowing his desire for peace in the neighborhood, I now understand this, that there would be an objection.

So that's one nation, Sheba Dedan, the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia. Notice also the merchants of Tarshish. Do you remember Tarshish in your reading of the Bible? It's where Jonah tried to go to, right?

He got on a boat and tried to go to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Now, most people identify Tarshish as Spain, or they try to identify it with Spain. We know it was an ancient trading port. I think they haven't quite done their homework because the Greek historian Herodotus said Tarshish is located beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Pillars of Hercules was an ancient term for the rock formation that formed the entrance from the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Rock of Gibraltar, beyond that. And ancient sources say it is an island that was a key source to supplying tin in the ancient world.

Let me throw this out at you. The name Britain comes from a Phoenician word, buratanak, which means the land of tin. And so, most scholars would say Tarshish is Great Britain, could also include Spain, but probably the island of Great Britain, the land of tin.

But notice something attached to it. The merchants of Tarshish and all their young lions. Anybody know what the national symbol of England is? It's a lion, three lions on top of one another. It goes all the way back to the 1100s, that symbol. It's one of their ancient symbols, national symbols, the lion. Here it talks about the young lions.

Now, I can't be certain, but this could possibly be a reference to what was once the colonies of England, the territories of England, like the United States, Canada, Australia, the young lions. I get asked all the time, where is the United States in Bible prophecy? I mean, here we are at this big superpower, the world's only superpower. You would think we would feature prominently in biblical prophecy. Here's the thing, we don't. There's no explicit reference of the United States.

This perhaps is an implicit reference, a veiled reference, if you will, the young lions of England. Irregardless of who they are, these nations that are mentioned here will at some point question the invasion of Russia and the allies coming into Israel, but none of them will help. No one comes to help. No one comes to their aid. No one becomes an ally in the battle.

They're just watching it, objecting to it, and letting it happen. No one comes to their help, except one, and that's the most important one, that is God Himself will come to their aid. And the Bible is filled with promises that He would do that. One of my favorite promises, Psalm 121, He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Now remember something, this prophecy was written 2,550 years ago by a Jewish prophet named Ezekiel. It was unimaginable when he is writing this down that these nations, Magog, Meshech, Tubal, modern-day Russia, would ever become a major power, let alone form a coalition internationally with Persia, Iran, Turkey, and these other nations. And yet here it is. So we're starting to see these alliances predicted unfold before our eyes.

So that's the first is that coalition or that international observation. Here's a second unusual feature of this upcoming battle, and it's better than the first. There will be a supernatural intervention, that is God steps in. Let me take you down to verse 18. Verse 18, Ezekiel 38, it will come to pass at that time when Gog, remember Gog means ruler, comes against the land of Israel and says, says the Lord God, the Lord God, that my fury will show in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath, I have spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heaven, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, all the men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at my presence. The mountain shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, every wall shall fall to the ground. I will call for a sword against Gog throughout my holy mountain, says the Lord God. Every man's sword will be against his brother, and I will bring him to judgment with pestilence, bloodshed. I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Can I just say at this point God knows how to fight?

And if you're going to mess with God and be on the receiving end of his fury, not a good plan. And here God steps up and single-handedly comes against those who come against the nation Israel. Now back in 1973 there was an invasion of Israel called the Yom Kippur War.

It lasted a total of 18 days. In 1967 there was something called the Six-Day War and it lasted six days, very good. This coming battle will be the One-Day War and many commentators, many scholars will say these events seem to happen almost concurrently, could happen within one day, even several hour period.

So several things are going to happen in this supernatural intervention. First is an earthquake, an earthquake it is mentioned. Did you know that Israel itself is on an active fault line? That Israel was formed largely by the movement of the tectonic plates and it is called the Syrian-African Rift. It's very unusual. You go to Israel and on one side of the country you have Mount Hermon which is just a little over 10,000 feet and a few miles away you have the lowest place on planet earth, the Dead Sea, 1,290 feet below sea level.

The whole Jordan Valley is below sea level. You have this unusual geographic formation because of that fault line, the Syrian-African Rift. At some point that will become active again and there will be a great earthquake. Now let me just say coming from the land of earthquakes, coming from California, living with them, when earthquakes happen it's the most unusual feeling because you are completely out of control.

You can't control anything. You're just swaying. You're like ground surfing and you're swaying and you're watching and you're just waiting for that snap and that snap will show you the extent of the movement. So in my mom's house when the swaying and the snap came some objects, I remember falling off her shelves, up at my brother's house in the San Francisco area one of the earthquakes actually tore his house in two and moved it in two different directions. So some major quake will happen during this attack, perhaps off the Richter scale. By the way, Revelation mentions earthquakes five times and one of them in Revelation 16 could refer to this one. It says it is so bad that it will happen in Israel that there has not been a quake, an earthquake like it, since man inhabited the earth. It could totally be a natural disaster that God uses or there could be nuclear weapons that are involved that help trigger that seismic activity, we're not told.

But an earthquake will happen. A second feature of this battle is infighting within the attacking troops. Look at verse 21, every man's sword will be against his brother.

Now I can imagine the movement of the earthquake, the clouds of dust that occur, brings confusion and pandemonium and this kind of infighting. Something else to make note of in verse 22, it mentions pestilence, pestilence. Pestilence. Whenever there's death, there's disease. And this possibly, I'm not saying for certain, but it could involve biological weapons that bring disease, we're not told.

But something else, look at verse 22. It talks about flooding rain, great hailstones, fire and brimstone. I was looking this week on the internet at record storms, hailstorm throughout history, and they showed photographs of hail that was eight inches in diameter. Massive chunks of ice falling from the sky, which would kill a person. Now when I was a kid, I worked at Hugo's Delicatessen, and we had an ice house in the back with these five and 10-pound blocks of ice that you'd sell customers. This is before we bag ice, but just big ice blocks. So five and 10 pounds of ice.

Imagine this. Revelation 16 says that during the tribulation period, hail will fall from heaven weighing a talent. A talent is a hundred pounds. It's between 75 and 125 pounds. Let's just call it an even hundred pounds.

So imagine hundred-pound blocks of ice careening from the sky. I don't know if that's the same event as described here. I do know this. Do you know what in the Old Testament the punishment for idolatry was? Stoning. Could it be that God will stone the earth, at least in part for its idolatry?

This we know. There will be supernatural intervention, and the result of that intervention is the defeat of those armies that come to defeat Israel. I'm going to show you that. Look down at Ezekiel chapter 39. Ezekiel 39 verse 1. And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog this ruler and say, Thus says the Lord God.

I always like that interplay. God is against Gog. Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, Tubal. And I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north and bring you against the mountains of Israel. Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand and cause the arrow to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops, the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort, to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Same language, by the way, as in Revelation 19 in that battle. You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, says the Lord God.

That's Skip Heitzig. With a message from the series The End is Near, find the full message, as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Right now, listen as Skip shares how you can share life-changing teaching from God's unchanging Word with more people around the world.

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Here's how you can give now. No one comes to their aid. No one becomes an ally in the battle. They're just watching it, objecting to it, and letting it happen. No one comes to their help except one, and that's the most important one, that is God Himself will come to their aid. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.