Why Israel?- Part 2

Blessings to Israel presents Discerning the Times, a program committed to encouraging you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, please join us for today's program.

I want to say this to you. My allegiance to Israel is not based on any inner action that I may or may not have had with any Jew, whether Hebraic, Messianic, non-covenantial, or whatever. Whether they're actions or actions that I agree with or disagree with. My position is not based on anything anecdotal. My position is based on scripture.

Welcome to Discerning the Times. My name is Brian Thomas, such a blessing to be with you once again this week. We are going to continue our discussion on why Israel, in the voice in that opening clip, is the pastor of the Upper Room Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, Bishop Patrick L. Wooden, Sr., and he is speaking on the importance of the nation of Israel. And so this week we welcome back special guest, Elder Sherrod McCoy, who is also an elder at the Upper Room Church in Raleigh. And as I left off last week's program, if you are looking for a church that is standing on the biblical truth concerning support for the nation of Israel, look no further than the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, North Carolina. So we will bring in our guests for week two concerning why Israel shortly, but before I do, I want to remind you, as we always do, that your eternal state is far more important than your current state. If you have never received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I encourage you to do so today.

Otherwise, if you leave this side of life without having received him as Lord and Savior, you will spend eternity in the lake of fire separated from God. So will you please give your heart to Jesus Christ on today? So once again, we are welcoming back for part two this week, our discussion with Elder Sherrod McCoy of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ. We are speaking on the importance of the nation of Israel based on a sermon that he recently gave titled, Why Israel? If you missed last week, please visit our website, BlessingsToIsrael.com and look for Why Israel part one. Or you can visit our YouTube channel, search for Discerning the Times and look for again, Why Israel part one. So Elder McCoy, we had to cut off last week due to running out of time, but you were explaining to us the nation of Israel and how it transpired from Abraham to bondage in Egypt, to the promised land, to the dispersion and back to the land in 1948.

So we're going to have you pick up where we left off last week. But before you do, I want to play just one more clip from Bishop Woodin that I think really sets up our discussion concerning the nation of Israel. Romans chapter number one, verse 11, chapter number 11, excuse me, verse one and two, you will find, and you can read it when you get home, where the question is have God cast away his people whom he did foreknow? The answer is no, he has not. God has not, and I got news for you, God won't. God won't. Now when you read the eschatological scriptures in the Bible, you don't read about America, but you read about Israel. That nation has an assignment from God. God said, when he formed a nation, he said to Abraham, I will bless them that bless thee, Genesis chapter number 11.

I will curse him that curse thee. And through thee, through you, this tiny nation, I didn't write it, God wrote it. And it's not based on those people, it's based on God's promise. He said, through you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. And that is the biblical truth. God said he would bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you when it comes to the nation of Israel and through the nation of Israel, that all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

So once again, elder McCoy, it is a blessing to have you back with us this week. Pick up where we left off in which you were explaining how Israel went from the promise to Abraham to back in the land in 1948. And you were touching on the fact that in Israel, we saw something similar to what is happening in our nation today, where we have people entering our nation illegally at our Southern border. So with that going on at that time in Israel, again, Israel first, uh, Syria takes over Israel and then later Judah gets conquered. Then you have the Babylonian empire from 605 to 539, the Persian empire from 539 to 331, the Hellenistic, that is the rise of Alexander the Great and the Romans, that whole Roman rule. And then what is called the Hasmonean empire.

The Hasmoneans were Jews. That was the Maccabees. That was that Maccabean period. And then we get the Romans, the Roman empire from 63 BC to 192. And one of the things that I, it's a lot we can cover from here. And if you want, I'm going to skip just a little, if you don't mind.

All right. So from Nero to Maximus, that's from 67 AD to 235 and that Roman period really went to about 324. And we know in 70 AD, the Roman forces destroyed the temple.

But let me back up just a tad. We in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Zachariah and Hagar, they are all of those. They come back from the dysphora to come back to rebuild the temple, to come back to institute the worship of Yahweh, the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

But they, years passed. And when again, when they go through, after they come back, you have the rise of Alexander the Great. We know he conquered the whole world, the known world at that time. And after he died, they, it went through four different generals of Rome, of course, and the kingdom was split. So now we're back in the Roman period, 70 AD. And then we get the Byzantine Empire from 324 to 638. And from then we get the first Muslim period, 638 to 1099. And Caliphate, Omar enters Jerusalem from 661 to 750. Jerusalem is ruled under the Umayyad dynasty in 691. Now the Dome of the Rock Mosque is built. All right.

So, and I got a lot right here. So from 750 to 974, we have Jerusalem ruled under the Abbasid dynasty. After that dynasty, we have the Crusader period, which was 1099 to 1187. And these first Crusaders, they captured Jerusalem.

They recaptured Jerusalem. And after the Crusader period, we have the Mamluk period, that is 1250 to 1516. And then we have another Muslim caliphate who just destroyed the walls of Jerusalem and which rapidly destroyed the population as well. Now we have the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Empire period, 1516 to 1970. The Ottoman Empire captured Jerusalem. And then after the Ottoman Empire, we have the, well, during that time, we have a man by the name of Suleiman the Magnificent.

He rebuilds the walls of Jerusalem. Now, after doing this, during the Ottoman Empire, we have the British Mandate. Now the British Mandate, they captured Jerusalem in World War I.

And then after World War I from 1917 to 1948, well, World War I didn't last that long, but 1970, 1948 was the British Mandate. During that time, you have something called the Divided City, meaning that Jerusalem was divided. It was divided.

And the State of Israel was established in 1948 with our president, who was very true at the time. And Jerusalem was established. Jerusalem is still divided. It was still divided. And they had lines that were between Jordan at that time. But in 1967, Israel captured Jerusalem, which is called the Old City. And the Eastern City, they reunited. I know there was a lot of information.

I tried to pack it in a little bit, try to go, you know, bypass something. It's a lot, but you wanted me to explain how Israel went through all of those hands, all of those kingdoms, and they still are here today with all of those different kingdoms, all of those different, I wouldn't say kings, dictators and so forth and so on. But they are still here today.

Thank you for walking us through that. As you said, it is a lot, but it is necessary in order to have the correct biblical worldview for what is happening today. We need to know the history. And contrary to popular belief in our nation, it shows us when we look at scriptures that blacks are not the most persecuted people group to ever lived. And you and I as blacks, we hear it a lot. But we know that through scripture, the Jewish people are by far the most persecuted people group to ever walk the earth. And that's not to minimize what blacks have gone through.

I'm not doing that at all. Blacks suffered some horrendous things under slavery, but we see this, this irrational hatred that is satanic in nature against the Jewish people. And it has been going on for thousands of years. But as you said, God punished Israel for disobedience, but he did not revoke his promise to Abraham. So let's now transition to the fullness of the Gentiles. You spoke on that in your sermon, by Israel, what is the fullness of the Gentiles? Well, the fullness of the Gentile or the word fullness actually means complete. So the completion, the number that God has, that he set for the Gentiles in Romans, the last part of Romans, the Bible says until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. In other words, until the fullness, the complete number that only God knows that he knows that when that number is up, it will be time for, unless you're a pre-tribulationist and I am a pre-tribulationist, I do believe in the pre-tribulation period. I think that will be around that time.

Whenever that is, it may be a hundred years from now, it may be 10 years from now. But to answer your question, that is the fullness of the Gentile. All people who are not of Jewish descent will be called in. And that's, and actually it's another verse in Luke, the Bible says until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. That is the time when Gentile nations will no longer have control over Israel.

Yeah, I agree with you. As we are living in this church age and the church is made primarily of Gentiles, although there are some Jews that recognize Christ as Messiah, but for the majority, they are in a state of spiritual blindness and they do not receive him as, as Messiah. And so we're in this time period in which Jesus Christ is eventually going to call the church home by way of the rapture. And like you, I believe in a pre-tribulational rapture view. And once we are taken out, then the Gentile church age comes to an end and God will turn his complete attention back to the nation of Israel. And then we will see the seven year tribulation play out in which God calls Israel to repentance.

So you hold to that same view. And actually that's the whole chapter of verse chapter 11. It speaks to chapter 11 in verse five. It says even so, even so then at this present time, also there's a remnant according to the election of grace.

And he was talking about Israel, like you just said, and you just quoted this verse, uh, in verse seven and what Israel has not obtained that which he's seeking for, but the election has obtained it and the rest were blinded. So that, that, that just add a little something to your, to your, uh, explanation. Good stuff. Good stuff.

All right. So we touched on it last week, but I want to talk now about replacement theology, uh, black Hebrew Israelites, and for that matter, all the false views that are out there. But to set that up, I want to share a clip from Vody Baucom on what he has to say about Israel. Now dispensation of premillennialism believes that ultimately the world is moving toward Armageddon. Things are going to get worse and worse and worse.

Then there's going to be a big clash and Jesus is going to come back and bam, we're gone. Now, if you take that to its logical conclusion and think about politics, number one, you don't think about politics longterm because it's all going to burn, man. Things are not going to get better. They're going to get worse. Number two, you have an extremely pro Israel, pro Zionist eschatology.

American foreign policy is dominated by dispensationalism today. Do I think we ought to hate Israel? No. Do I think we ought to love them because they're Israel?

No. Because I believe that the church is the true, real, new Israel, Jew and Gentile alike. And that those people over there and that piece of land over there, they don't have eschatological significance to me, but only democracy in that part of the world. They like us, they're our friends.

Anything jumps off over there. I want them on our side. I love them, but currently our country's position toward Israel is not driven by that kind of understanding but by the dominant role that dispensational premillennialism plays in our theology. And so what it does is it downplays our role in politics in our everyday life and elevates our foreign policy as it relates to Israel, which is ironic and hypocritical.

Now Elder McCoy, I really like Bodhi Baka. I think he has spoken a lot of good things when it comes to cultural issues of our day, but when it comes to his position with Israel and stating the church has replaced Israel, he is obviously very misguided. Well, we just covered, we just answered his question. Number one, but the replacement theology, he just said it is the view that the church is the new, true Israel in which Paul, we just read where Paul just says that, hey man, there is a remnant according to the election of grace, but also in verse 25, when Paul says, I took the times of the Gentiles before.

We do not replace them at all. Matter of fact, there's another verse, I was just looking at this last night in Revelation chapter seven, right? And we're speaking at 144,000 and well, it's always been in the Bible, but I can't say I came across the verse, but it's always been in the Bible. And the Bible says this in verse nine, after this I beheld in low a great multitude, which no man can number of all nations and kindred and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. Now in verse one through eight, he speaks of John, well, the angel is talking to John, that is the 144,000, right?

That's after the tribulation, well, after the rapture during the tribulation, they're going to be sealed. Nowhere do we see that it is a replacement to the, to Israel, like the church does not replace Israel at all. And also another theological term is called super successionism. It's the same thing as the replacement theology, but this super successionism came about during the times of Hitler and that fueled the Holocaust and that contemporary disdain that we see with Boddy Bachman right now of Israel.

And also the doctrine of replacement theology, it reflects a terrible wide range of thinking in Christians. I'm not, I don't want to call Boddy Bachman, I don't know him, but it is a, it's very, he's misunderstood in the misapplication of the biblical text. If you are just now joining us, we are highlighting this week, the significance of the nation of Israel. We're going to pause for a brief announcement, but please don't go away. We'll be back with more on the other side with this week's special guest, elder Sharad McCoy discussing why Israel.

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For more information, please visit our website, BlessingsToIsrael.com or write to us at Blessings To Israel, PO Box 266, Knightdale, North Carolina, 27545. Now let's return to the conclusion of today's program. Welcome back to Discerning the Times as we again are discussing why Israel with our guest elder Sharad McCoy. And before the break, elder McCoy, you were speaking of the fact that bad theology and what can result of that. And the consequence of that bad theology is what we have is people like Martin Luther, the great reformist. And there were things that he said about the Jewish people during his time.

And although many hold Martin Luther in such high esteem, but yet he said things that were quoted by Adolf Hitler and you touched on Adolf Hitler and Hitler used some quotes from Martin Luther to justify in his mind, the persecution against the Jews and the Nazi Holocaust. So that leads to, when we look at what took place October 7th, when Hamas attacked Israel and many churches said nothing about it. And I grew up in church and oftentimes I would hear Israel spoken of in the Old Testament, but there was not a connection made from the Old Testament, biblical Israel to present day Israel. Why do you think it is that so many churches are ignoring or dismissing the importance of Israel as we see them getting attacked and as we just continue to move forward leading up to the return of our Lord, Jesus Christ? Well, it's just what you just said, wrong theology, improper hermeneutics, improper hermeneutics.

It's a shame that, cause we used to, you know, as you spoke to earlier about, you know, the slaves and, you know, that's where we, we identified with Israel coming out of slavery, being 400 years, even though we won't inflate 400 years, but we agreed or we identified with Israel. And one of the other reasons I think that a lot of churches, black or white, mostly, I would say obviously both now, I would say both. Who's ever, cause we know most of our churches are heavenly, one sided. I don't want to get in too much trouble, get your platform in too much trouble, but we're heavily one sided.

We vote 90 plus percent one way. And so if that particular party is pushing a particular narrative, we, our preachers nowadays, they just told a lie. They just told a lie. They don't even see it. They just dismiss it.

They don't even understand. Just like you growing up in church. Um, you know, but I grew up, I grew up, I like to say this, I grew up around the church as a younger man, but listening to Bishop Wood and also my late grandmother, they always made the connection of why we should love Israel. And one of the major reasons why Jesus was a Jew. And we dismiss that.

We dismiss it. I think a lot of, uh, again, with a lot of our black preachers, that black liberation theology, Howard Thurman was the father of it. You know, you have that and the set of the black Hebrews who were caught, you know, and that, and that set, you know, they believe the nation of gods and earth lost the fiery and so forth and so on.

And so they just dismiss it because they believe they were all Jews, white people or something. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, you're right. And it is unfortunate that things like black liberation theology and politics negatively affect so many in the church. And as you know, we just had the primaries in North Carolina a few weeks ago. And when I go out to vote, there are three things that I look at when it comes to the candidates that are non negotiable. And those three things are in no particular order, their position on marriage, their position on the life of the unborn and their position on Israel. And if any candidate is on the wrong side of the Bible, when it comes to those three issues, they do not get my vote. And the party that you're referring to the democratic party, that party's platform is in contradiction to the Bible on each of those issues. But yet many in the church, unfortunately, they have a stronger allegiance to that political party than they do to the word of God. And that is very sad.

It's very disheartening. But I'm so grateful for those like you and Bishop Wooden, who are speaking up and stressing the importance of supporting and loving Israel, because I peruse a number of sermons online following the Hamas attack against Israel and hardly was there anything out there for those saying anything about Israel. But Pastor Wooden, he had multiple sermons on why we should love and support Israel. And then your sermon on why Israel is just so great to have those of you who are speaking up as to why we should love Israel.

Well, it goes back to the first question you asked me in the statement that I made, all biblical prophecy revolves around Israel. So if something happens in Israel, it is going to happen to, I'm hoping it will happen to us, but the way we are to mourn with those who mourn and weep with those who weep. So that is our brothers and sisters. And we are grafted in, as the Bible says, we are joint heirs. We are the adopted ones. So I'm glad to be adopted. I thank God.

I thank God for him. Amen. Amen. Well said.

Well, we're going to wrap things up here shortly, but have just a couple of more questions for you. Why do we see this worldwide anti-Semitism that seems to be growing day by day? Well, Jesus said, you're going to be hated. All nations are going to hate you. They're going to hate Israel.

And one of the reasons why for no other reason is because of Satan. I believe he hates anything that comes out of Israel. Again, we talk about Hitler, but even before Hitler, we talked about, we talked about all of the dysphoras. They went from so many different hands. And John Fox, he notes a lot of the persecutions that went with the Israeli Christian for so many different centuries, so down through the centuries from Nero to Antolius and doing the Persian rule, the second Persian rule.

They just suffered. And I think that's one of the major reasons why of the anti-Semitism is because it's basically Satan. I think he's just like any other racist.

If you want to say it was racist to hate them, that's the number one, I think the number one reason why, because Satan, he hates anything. I mean, he tried to kill Jesus as a baby, you know, through Herod, you know, and he used Judas. But that's the reason why I think the worldwide anti-Semitism, one day they all going to hate him. It's just, I mean, it's in the Bible. Matter of fact, we just talked about it.

Yeah. And that's what you have to chalk it up to is a satanic hatred because Satan hates God. He does not want him to fulfill his promises. He doesn't want God, the sun to come and rule and reign on the earth and his hatred toward God in the spiritual. We see it manifested in the natural with anti-Semitism.

And I want to encourage our audience out there. If you have a distaste for Israel, then you need to repent because that is not of God. And we need to have that love for the nation of Israel. I have one final question. I love the way you concluded your sermon on why Israel.

Here's that clip. And then I want to come back with one last question. I met a man a few years ago. He was a scuba diver by trade, Christian missionary by calling. And he began to talk to me about, he had done a mission trip in Israel. And while he was in that mission trip, he began to talk about the man that he met. He was a guide and he was a soldier in the eight day war. And while talking to him and they were rehearsing his past, he said, on one high holy day, the enemy came in and they attacked us. All he had on was a tank top and a pistol. And while fighting, the rest of the Jewish soldiers were gone because it was a high holy day.

He was an agnostic at best, an atheist at worst. And while there, he said he got wounded. He got into the foxhole. And while in the foxhole, he said he waited until to die. He said, because if the enemy gets me, this is 1967, they're going to do my body something terrible.

They're going to desecrate my body. All of a sudden he heard them screaming. And while hearing them scream, he looked up and the soldiers were coming back. And when they got to the medical barracks, he was asking the enemy soldier, he said, man, y'all were eight miles from Tel Aviv.

Why didn't you get us? He said, man, we saw something. He said, we saw your mountain soldiers coming from the mountains. He looked at them. He said, man, we don't have mountain soldiers. He said, yes, we do.

They were coming from the mountains, all white and horses. We serve that same God. I love that. I love those type of accounts because it speaks to the power of God and his hand in defending Israel.

So as we approach the return of our great Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, what is the future significance of Israel? I got you. That guy that I met that day, I was working for weak man. I, you know, I went back and looked it up and you know, I could not find out what happened. And this is true about that agreement that it's just all of a sudden something happens. And I was like, oh man, he won't lie to me.

But I know he was telling me the truth. But the future significance of Israel can be summed up really in Revelation chapter one and two. The Bible says, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth. But the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the Holy Spirit, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. There will not be, there will not be a new America.

There won't be a new Rome. There won't be a new Eden, but it will be a new Jerusalem. So Israel is the Holy City, that Holy City. There's multiple references about Israel and the Holy City. And actually 21 in verse 10, it talks about Israel being that Holy City, sending out from heaven, from God. So that is what I see as the future of Israel, is that we're going to the new Jerusalem, which is in Israel. That is, that's the significance of that city. I know, you know, according to biblical prophecy, they will go through, but also according to biblical prophecy, like you just said, God is going to bring us through. So that's the significance of that city. So we don't need to worry about Israel.

We don't like to see the attacks and we should defend her. And unfortunately the worst is yet to come in the tribulation when anti-Christ betrays and slaughters two thirds of the Jewish nation. But the Bible tells us a remnant will be saved. Israel will not be destroyed. And here's the beautiful thing. Israel and all Gentiles who receive Christ as Lord and savior will live in his presence, in the perfect kingdom of the new Jerusalem, just as you said.

And that brings so much joy to my heart. And for those out there who dismiss Israel, who says Israel is not significant, is not important, the votey bacham's out there. I asked the question, why is this tiny nation always in the headlines? Why is this little nation about the size of New Jersey always has a conflict that is going on with it? Why is there so much tension over this small little nation? It is because it is the special chosen nation of God. Like I said earlier, all of these, all of those kingdoms, Israel, from the Ottoman Empire, from the Medes, the Persians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and they're still here.

But the Bible does say, I said it earlier, the Bible says pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Amen. Amen. Well, elder McCoy, it has been such a blessing to have you.

I've really enjoyed this time together. We hear love prophecy. We love Israel.

And of course you can't talk about prophecy without including Israel. And it is my desire that others would speak on these issues as well so that people can have the right biblical worldview. And I hope that people hearing you will be inspired to do the same.

So I am very grateful for what you are doing. How can people reach out to you to find out more about Israel and have you come speak for them? Of course, you can reach me on Facebook. My name is Sherrod McCoy. You can email me Sherrod McCoy at Yahoo, S-H-E-R-R-A-R-D-M-C-K-O-Y at Yahoo.

Call me, 919-702-0299. I am a member of the illustrious, upper-room church of God in Christ. I'm an elder there, and you can find me there every Sunday.

There's a little way you can get in touch with me. All right. Well, praise God. I thank him for your voice and what he is raising you up to do. And I just pray blessings upon you and your family as you continue to go forth and doing the work of the Lord.

Yes, sir. Thank you, man. And God bless you. Appreciate you, brother. Thank you. Amen.

Thank you so much. And to our listening audience, thank you for tuning in. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to discern the times by viewing life through the lens of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel, and to the only wise God, be glory through Jesus Christ forever.

Amen. Thank you for tuning in to Discerning the Times. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel, and seek first the kingdom of God. Discerning the Times is presented by Blessings to Israel.