Best of Broadcast: Why Should Christians Care About Israel?

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And now, here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome, friends, to the Line of Fire as Israel is at war with Hamas as there is now great suffering on all sides in the region. It is so important as God's people, we understand the times, we understand the seasons, we understand how we should respond. Michael Brown, so glad to be here with you in these urgent times. Friends, by God's grace, we are standing as watchmen on the wall. After decades of being in the Lord over 50 years now, I can't remember a time in my life where I felt any more that we're here for such a time as this.

So, friends, we're here to help equip you and strengthen you and empower you so that you know how to engage. So, whatever you're doing, whether you're pastoring your congregation, whether you're a student on a campus in a hostile environment to your faith, whether you're in the business world, home right now, raising kids, whoever you are, we are here to help equip and strengthen you. I've got a lot of material to cover as we address the question, why should Christians even care about Israel? Why should Christians especially be praying for Israel? It does not mean that we don't care about the Muslim people in the Middle East. It does not mean that we don't care about the suffering of the civilians in Gaza right now. It does not mean that we don't pray for the salvation of people on all sides, terrorists and others. There is, there is, throughout much of the church in the world, especially the evangelical church, great prayer for Israel, great concern for Israel now. Is that misplaced? Is there a biblical reason for it?

Are there foundations, biblical foundations for being what some would call Christian Zionists or is that some other fringe mentality or mindset? We are going to address that today. But first, before we get into that, this week we're going to be covering lots of important subjects. We're going to be looking at the question of why God allows so much suffering in the world. It's always there, but at times like this it's brought right to our eyes in more intense fashion. We're going to address some difficult passages in the Old Testament this week, God willing. Did God command the Israelites to slaughter babies also?

If so, why are we so worked up when Hamas or ISIS do it or, conversely, why do we even worship that God in the Bible if that's the case? We're going to be talking about that. If all goes well, we're going to be getting an urgent update from an Orthodox rabbi in Israel.

So, a lot coming your way. Don't miss a single broadcast. And I've been putting out just about an article a day feeling compelled by the Lord to do it. If you're missing any of the articles, just download our app, Ask Dr. Brown Ministries, and then every day as soon as an article is posted, you'll see it there. If you miss any of the broadcast, you can catch up with them there. Or write on our website, AskDrBrownASKDRBrown.org.

And be sure you're getting our emails, AskDrBrown.org. This way every week you'll be getting updates, your latest articles, latest videos, latest things that we're putting out as we're here again, friends, for such a time as this. One of my dear friends, an intercessor leading a house of prayer, spoke to his people about Israel this Sunday. And then afterwards, people began to weep in prayer. So, you'll hear this 30-second clip from after the message, and he sent it to me just to know that hearts are breaking. You'll hear John 17 being read in the background. So, that's the text you hear being read, the prayer of Jesus, as people are weeping.

So, just 30 seconds so you can feel some of the pain, that you can envision the tears. Father, I also want those who have given to me to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory the more you gave me, for you loved me before the punishment of the world. Gracious Father, the world does not know you, but I do, and these who do, that you serve me.

I may remain home to them, and I will continue to make them known to them. All right, you say, well, there's a lot of suffering in the world, why focus on suffering in Israel? Or why pray for the Jewish people in any particular way? Or why look at Israel as different than any other nation or state or people? Certainly, God cares about the suffering of all people, 100%.

Absolutely. He cares about the suffering of a baby in Gaza, just like he cares about the suffering of a baby in Israel, or Africa, or America, or anywhere. He's a compassionate God. The Psalms tell us that his compassion is over all his works.

So, for sure, he cares about why this special focus on Israel. Mayor Eric Adams, not speaking in particular as a Christian, but as a former police officer that worked to keep Jews safe when he was in the police force in New York, now as the mayor of the city, and then as a brother, gave this moving speech recently. I just want you to hear this.

This is in front of a crowd in New York City. Listen to what Mayor Adams had to say. I am not going to be long. I'm going to give you four words. This morning on my briefing, my special counsel, Lisa Zomberg, said something that I want us all to acknowledge. We've been through some tough times, New Yorkers. We have tough people.

We saw the center of our trade collapse. We saw some of the horrific actions that played out on the stage of our city and our country. But she says something that hits me to my soul. She stated to our team, we are not all right. We are not all right when we see young girls pulled from their home and dragged through the streets. We are not all right when we see grandmothers being pulled away from their homes and children shot in front of their families.

We are not all right when right here in the city of New York, you have those who celebrate at the same time when the devastation is taking place in our city. We are not all right when Hamas believes that they are fighting on behalf of something in their destructive, despicable action that carried out. We are not all right when we still have hostages who have not come home to their families. We are not all right. We're not going to say we have a stiff upper lip and act like everything is fine.

Everything is not fine. Israel has a right to defend itself, and that's the right that we know. Your fight is our fight. Your fight is our fight.

Right here in New York, we have the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. This is the place that our voices must rage and castate throughout the entire country. We will not be all right until every person responsible for this act is held accountable.

We don't have to pretend. And I want to thank my religious leaders throughout this city of all religious group who reached out to us and clearly stated that they denounced the hatred and the anti-Semitism that was displayed on one of the holiest days of the year. This was intentional. This was bitter.

This was nasty. This was something that shows Hamas must be disbanded and destroyed immediately. So I say to you, I'm not here because of your mayor. I've been in Israel as a state senator. I protected the community of this city in general, but specifically the Jewish community as a police officer. I stood with you as borough president, and now I'm here today to say not only am I the chief executive of this city, but I'm your brother.

I'm your brother. Your fight is my fight. That swastika not only displays the pain of anti-Semitism, it displays the pain of racism among African Americans. You marched with us with Dr. King. You stood with us with all the fights we had. And I'm saying we're going to stand with you and stay united together. And we don't have to be all right.

We should be angry at what we saw. Thank you, Israel. You say, OK, all fine and good. That's great that he has those sentiments. In New York City, the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel itself.

And as far as the city, the largest population of Jewish people in any one city in the world, even within Israel. So that's great. That's wonderful. But you might say, what's that got to do with me as a follower of Jesus? I've got a particular burden for this country or that country. Or my focus is right in my home and my community. Or it's just you dispensationalists with your crazy end time prophecies and this new doctrine. That's why you so fix that Israel. So you understand I'm not a dispensationalist. So you understand I've put out numerous videos and articles and even a whole book dealing with why I'm not a dispensationalist, why I don't believe in a preacher rapture with all respect to my dispensationalist friends. And in point of fact, I can take you back to incredible sermons from Charles Spurgeon, where he says we don't think enough about the Jews. And if anything is plain in Scripture, it's that there's going to be a physical and spiritual restoration of the Jews. I could take you back to writings of the Puritans in the 1600s. You know, the great theologian John Owen and others making clear that God would work again with Israel as a nation. That the one who scattered the Jewish people would regather them. This is not just some new dispensationalist viewpoint. In my book, Our Hands Are Staying with Blood, I go through many of these quotes in the expanded edition in 2019.

I got into them in a lot more depth. Where were they getting this from? Where were they getting this perspective that Israel mattered? All the more back in the land, Bishop J.C. Ryle, famous Anglican bishop, roughly contemporary of Spurgeon in the 1800s in England, as he looked at the prophecies, he said, as far as he can see, there's first going to be a physical restoration back to the land in unbelief. Again, he's not a dispensationalist, he's not a Darbyite, he didn't have the Schofield Reference Bible, hadn't read Late Great Planet Earth, or the Left Behind series, or anything like that, okay? Just based on reading scripture, he said it looked to him that there would first be a physical restoration back to the land, and then the spiritual restoration to the Messiah, to Jesus, Yeshua. And of course, that is what has happened. So, what I want to do for the rest of this broadcast, and if we have some additional time, we'll get into some of the political things happening, but what I want to do is focus on this question, biblically, why every Christian, every follower of Jesus, regardless of where you live, regardless of your background, regardless of what nation you may be called to, why every Christian should be praying for the salvation of the Jewish people, and should be concerned about what is happening in Israel.

Pastors, leaders, I'm urging you to digest this prayer for me, to search the scriptures, to see if what I'm saying is so, and if it is, then bring this to your churches. Is brain health important to you or someone you love? Then please take a few moments and let me present a most amazing product formulated by leading physicians from Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Medical. This is Michael Ellison, founder of Trivita. I watched my mother, who was wonderfully gifted and such a hard worker for most of her life until her later years, and then it was so sad to see the effects of neurodegeneration.

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Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Hey, shout out to our co-sponsor, Trivita. Thank you for standing with us and helping us reach so many people and expand the Line of Fire broadcast. I think you can sense with me the urgency of the hour, the urgency of these broadcasts.

Thanks to all of you who have friends, colleagues, others, those who have emailed us, thanking us for the articles, the broadcasts. I take this with such utter seriousness before God, as I know so many of you do. If you'd like to help our ministry and help yourself, check out these amazing wellness products with Trivita. Call 800-771-5584. Hey, if you're going to buy wellness supplements, buy top wellness supplements from a great Christian company and then know that your funds, 100% of your first order and more than a tithe of all subsequent orders are going right into the Line of Fire to help us reach more people.

That's 800-771-5584 or you can go to Trivita.com, but be sure to use the code BROWN25. Okay, why should Christians care about Israel in any particular way? Well, number one, the Savior of the world is a Jew named Jesus. The Messiah himself is Yeshua.

He wasn't a reverend, he was a rabbi. He was called Christ because Christ is the Greek way of saying Messiah. His mother's name was Miriam. His earthly father was Yosef. And I'll just read the complete Jewish Bible rendering of Matthew 10 verses 2-4. These are the names of the 12 emissaries.

First, Shimon called Kepha and Andrew's brother, Yaakov ben Zavdai and Yohanan his brother, Philip and Bartolomai, Taoma and Matid-Yahu the tax collector, Yaakov bar Chalfai and Taddai, Shimon the zealot and Yehuda from Creole to betray them. So, that sounds different. Well, just reminding us of the Jewishness of your faith. You say, okay, fine, so it came from Israel. Hang on, there is a spiritual debt. If you are a gentile Christian, you are spiritually indebted to the Jewish people in history. Now, I don't mean you're indebted necessarily to a Jewish person today, but in history. It is the prophets of Israel, it is the scriptures of Israel, it is the apostles of Israel, it is the Messiah of Israel, and through him, ultimately Jesus, Yeshua, you have come to be saved. Now, when Paul writes in Romans 15 to gentile believers in Rome, he's encouraging them to help with an offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. And he's saying, look, if you benefited from them spiritually, well, not necessarily those believers specifically in Jerusalem, but who? From the Jewish people, from their spiritual heritage, then you should help in the natural, at the very least helping Jewish believers. You say, okay, but how does that extend more broadly to caring for Israel as a whole?

All right, simply this. Let's say the Messiah was from Italy. Let's say the Italians were the chosen people. Let's say that Rome was the holy city. So instead of Yeshua, his name would have been Jesu.

His mother was Maria, his father Giuseppe, his disciples Mateo and Marco and Luca, right? And he comes to his own, a remnant receive him, those who have been prepared by God for 2,000 years since the choosing of, say, Abraham, an Italian, going way back, right? And now these Italian emissaries, they bring the message to all the world, and the people of Israel receive the message about this wonderful gift of grace to the Savior, and the people in China receive it, and the people in America, all around the world, but the Italian people, because they rejected the Messiah, they're scattered, Rome is judged, and out of all people, they're the ones that say, we don't believe in him. It would just be a very natural thing for you to say, well, how much more do we want to see the Italian people come to faith?

That breaks our heart. The Messiah is from them. He's one of them. So salvation, John 4.22, is from the Jews, and, as we'll see in a little while, the Jewish people play a role in the end in welcoming the Messiah back, but that's one reason, because the Messiah is a Jew. He's born king of the Jews. He dies king of the Jews. He returns as the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root and offspring of Jesse. He's coming back to Jerusalem to establish his kingdom. Therefore, since it's all going to culminate in Israel, everything comes from Israel originally, and you were spiritually indebted to those that went before you and gave their lives for this message, the prophets and the apostles, all of them Jews, and the Messiah, the culmination, the one through whom we are saved, it's only natural that you would want to pray for them to come and know their Messiah.

You've benefited by knowing him. How much more should they know their own Messiah? Paul writes in Romans 11, if you as wild branches from a wild olive tree have been grafted in, how much more will the natural branches be able to come back into their own tree? So, that's one reason. A second reason is that God has promised explicitly that no matter what Israel does, no matter what happens in the future, he will never cast off the people as a people. Now, he's talking about those descended from Israel.

No, it's not always a 100% pure ethnic mix. There have always been those intermarried and the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt and things like that, and those that married in the Rahabs and the Ruths and the others. At the same time, there was a distinct people called Israel that was separate from the nations. And even with end-time prophecy, God will talk about Israel and the nations, like an end-time prophecy like Isaiah 19, that there'll be a highway and Egypt and Assyria will worship God and they'll be the people of God along with Israel. It's telling you that Israel is not the Gentile nations.

Israel is not the ekklesia, the church as a whole, right? So, Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 31 to 34, that's the prophecy of the new covenant there that God makes with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It's a new covenant, he's now going to write the Torah, his teaching on the hearts of his people, and they will no longer sin against him. It's not a new covenant with the Gentiles because there wasn't a Sinai covenant, an old covenant with them. This is a new covenant with the house of Israel and Judah through the Messiah and now comes to the whole world.

That's 31 to 34. Then verses 35 to 37, God says, as long as heaven and earth endure, as long as the sun is shining, as long as there's still the moon in the sky, stars in the sky, God says, I will never forsake Israel as a nation. And then you say, well, what about if Israel sins? He says, look, if you can measure, if you can measure the heavens above, if you can search out the earth beneath, then I will forsake Israel for all that she has done. Speaking about Israel as a people, Israel as a nation, there are other verses that God promises, even though he will scatter us in judgment, even though he will discipline us, he will never forsake us, and he will preserve us as a people. If you are the devil, you know these verses well. And therefore, whatever you can do to wipe out the Jewish people is what you want to do.

Why? Because you make God into a liar. So just as Satan hates the followers of Jesus because we have been marked and called by God and we have a role to play in the salvation of the world and getting the message out so we are persecuted, Satan also hates the Jewish people. Chosen by God is his firstborn? You don't think Satan is going to hate that?

Michael Brown here, friends, with a very, very sober announcement. We are living in different days. We are living in different times. The battle has come to us, and like it or not, every single one of us, we are in the line of fire today. And friends, there is an all-out war today against the Jewish people.

There is an all-out war like there was before the Holocaust to annihilate and destroy Jewish people. And God has positioned us, with the line of fire, on the front lines to do two things that are very, very critical. One, to speak the truth about Israel, to speak the truth about anti-Semitism, to push back against the destructive lies, to push back against false theologies, to stand strong and tall and say, this is what the Word says, and this is what reality is. And then, with that, friends, we also reach out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

It is a key role that we play. We are equipping Jewish evangelists around the world. We are equipping the church to share the good news.

We are directly involved in winning Jewish people to Jesus, Yeshua. So we are fighting on these two critically important fronts in unique ways, and I want to call on each of you to stand with me. Stand with our support team. Become a Torchbearer today. These are urgent days, and you can make a difference. Go to AskDrBrown.org.

AskDrBrown.org. Click on Donate Monthly Support. One dollar a day or more, you become a Torchbearer, a monthly supporter. Together we're making a difference. We will pour into you. Immediately get two free books that will bless you.

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This is how we rise up. It's the Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the Line of Fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us here on the Line of Fire. Friends, many people have commented to me over the years and said, Dr. Brown, you're a prophetic voice in these times.

What do they mean by it? No, I'm not getting dreams and visions every night. No, I can't call out your name and tell you what car you're driving right now. But I believe all of us as God's people should be prophetic in the sense of understanding the times in which we live. I believe that all of us as God's people should recognize the spiritual significance of an hour and know how should we live in the midst of it. So many of the things that are major before America right now, issues that we're dealing with day and night, well, these are issues that we were talking about almost 20 years ago and said, friends, this is going to be the big issue that the church is going to face. In the same way, for over 30 years now, I've talked about the rising tide of anti-Semitism and the irrational nature of anti-Semitism and how it's continuing to spread and is dangerous and the only real antidote to it is the loving prayers and tears of Christians. We'll get into that more, the irrational nature of anti-Semitism and how it continues to spread and grow.

But if you've been following me on social media, I've been posting about this a lot and in my Twitter feed over the weekend, just was posting various things about the nature of anti-Semitism and I'm talking about anti-Semites coming out of woodwork and every kind of vile and ugly attack and things that are all mutually contradictory about the Jews. There's a reason Satan hates the Jewish people. The Jews sin like everybody else. We have good qualities and bad qualities. I've always said, and I've said for years, that Jews are like everybody else except more so. Yeah, that our good qualities are often off the charts and our bad qualities off the charts. We're like everybody else, good and bad among us as a people and that's not the issue. And we have come under divine judgment because of sin.

Rejecting Moses, rejecting the prophets, rejecting the Messiah. That's one reason that we've suffered as we have over the years. But it's not the only reason. We've also suffered because of the hatred of people and because of the hatred of Satan as God would rebuke various nations like Assyria and Isaiah 10 and said, I only intended to do this but you went way too far in what you carried out. It's Satan who wants to wipe out the Jewish people. All right, so why should Christians care about Israel? Why should this be something of concern to every believer? I believe every Christian should have a heart for the Great Commission seeing people around the world saved.

Doesn't mean we all go around the world, doesn't mean we're all missionaries but we have a heart for that because Jesus died for the whole world. I believe as God's people we should have a heart for the unity of the whole body. I don't mean compromising doctrine, watering things down but true unity among true believers.

I believe that we should have that. Jesus prayed for it in John 17, therefore it should be important to us. So why should we care in particular about Israel? One reason is that the Messiah is a Jew and salvation came from Israel to the Gentile world. A second reason is Satan hates the Jewish people, wants to wipe them out therefore we stand with God against the devil and we recognize if Satan could wipe out Israel then his word would not be true therefore we understand there's a special assault against Israel and the Jewish people. Reason number three, according to Paul in Romans 11 verses 11 to 15 so Paul wrote this in Romans 11 verses 11 to 15 that Gentile believers should provoke Israel to envy. In other words Israel, the Jewish people, look at the lives of Gentile Christians and look at the blessing of God in the lives of Gentile Christians and look at what you're experiencing spiritually the forgiveness of sins and the reality of the Spirit in your midst and an aspect of God's presence, Shekhinah, His dwelling among you that they are not experiencing and they say, well that's our God that's our Messiah, those are our promises and you're enjoying what should be ours so the church should be provoking Israel to envy.

Is that what happened? No, quite the opposite. Quite the opposite. If you've never read my book, Our Hands Are Staying with Blood, I urge you to get a copy and read it, the 2019 edition updated, expanded it will break your heart but I believe it will open your eyes and change your perspective when you see how through much of church history that the church has driven Jewish people away that the church has sinned grievously against Jewish people that some of the greatest leaders in church history and people who had a tremendous influence in other ways spoke evil, ugly words against the Jewish people that are so evil and so ugly that the Nazis used them as part of their propaganda part of their fanatical Jew hatred. So the followers of Jesus today need to demonstrate God's unconditional love to the Jewish people. Followers of Jesus today need to say, we're not going to do what Martin Luther did. We're not going to do what John Chrysostom did. We're not going to do what others did. We're not going to do what the Crusaders did, turning on neighbors for decades and demanding be baptized or die.

Suddenly, turning against their neighbor. We're not going to do that. No, and we're not going to be complicit with a theology that says that God has finished with you and therefore whatever you suffer around the world is well deserved. No, we're not going to do that.

I want to tell you firsthand, friends, that when I was in grad school, late 1970s, early 1980s, I don't remember exactly when the discussion happened, but I remember our professor recently passed away, Baruch Levine, my main professor and mentor in grad school, and I remember he was saying, hey look, we're flattered by the love of these evangelical Christians. We appreciate it. But what if we don't perform as expected? What if we don't all believe the way you expect us to believe or play along with your prophetic scenario?

Then what? Are you going to turn on us like the others did in church history? Because this has been something that happens. Christians read church history, they're shocked by anti-Semitism in church history, they're shocked by some of the horrible things that have been said and done by Christian leaders, the Catholic, Protestant, you name it, across the board, and they say we've got to do better, we're going to reach out in love, and then when the Jewish people don't respond and don't hear the message the way they expected and so on and so forth, they turn against them. They turn against them.

And he said, with a smile, he said, we don't know what happens when we don't perform as you are expecting us to. Well, here's the good news. Here's the good news, friends. We are now looking at decades and decades since then of unconditional Christian love for Israel and the Jewish people, saying whether you believe our message or not, we're going to love you, we're going to stand with you, we're going to support you, we're going to help you, that has gone a long way to undoing some of the horrors of, quote, Christian anti-Semitism. I say, quote, Christian because it's so un-Christian and anti-Christian to be anti-Semitic, to have an irrational hatred of the Jewish people or to demonize Jewish people or to spread lies about the people as a people, to caricature them in ugly, evil ways, which is what anti-Semitism does. So rather than provoke Israel to envy, one of the greatest reasons Jews don't believe in Jesus is the church, church history.

It's reality, friends. But the good news is, I was in Korea praying with these precious Korean brothers and sisters and one Malaysian sister who had a tremendous heart for Israel and the Jewish people, and they were on their faces weeping and praying, just a small group, about 10 or 12 of us, and the Spirit of God spoke to me that day, it is only tears of love that will remove the stains of blood. So this is making a difference. Yes, the ultimate goal for every human being, Jew, Gentile, is to know the Lord, is to believe in Jesus, Yeshua, for the forgiveness of sins, is to have a new heart, new life, and following God. Yes, and it's the same need for every person on the planet. There's no other covenant that the Jewish people have. It all comes through the Messiah. But listen, when you go feed a hungry person, you don't say, we're going to feed you, only if you believe our message.

And if you don't believe, I won't feed you. You're going to feed them because you're a Christian and you love people and you care and you demonstrate God's love by doing that. So that is a third reason that the church's love for Israel and standing with Israel is also a testimony that helps undo some of the horrors of church history. A fourth reason why the church should pray for Israel should, in particular, have a heart for Israel. Yes, for all nations' salvation, but in particular for Israel, is because we are commanded, God's people are commanded, to pray for Jerusalem until God establishes it, the praise of all the earth. And that, of course, happens when the Messiah returns and Israel welcomes him back. Let me read to you from Isaiah chapter 62. Isaiah chapter 62, and let me grab that. For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent.

Some think it's the prophets speaking here, but you can make a good case, as many commentators do, that it's God speaking here. For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent. For the sake of Jerusalem, I will not be still. Till her victory emerge resplendent and her triumph like a flaming torch, nations shall see your victory and every king your majesty, and you shall be called by a new name which the Lord himself shall bestow. You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the palm of your God. Nevermore shall you be called forsaken, nor shall your land be called desolate, but you shall be called I delight in her and your land espoused, for the Lord takes delight in you and your land shall be espoused.

As a youth espouses a maiden, your son shall espouse you, and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you. Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen, who shall never be silent by day or by night. O you the Lord's remembrances, that's literally what it is in Hebrew, Moschiah Adonai, you who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest and give no rest to him until the established Jerusalem and make her renowned on earth. That's a command from God, and it's a calling for intercessors to pray. You say, well Jerusalem now stands for the church, that's replacement theology friends, that's rewriting the Bible. God knew what he was saying when he spoke it, Isaiah understood what he was saying when he spoke it, all the first readers understood it, readers for century after century after century have understood it, and Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem.

The word is explicit on it, it is a future act that has not yet happened. He is coming back to Jerusalem, and there is a command for intercessors to give God no rest until he establishes Jerusalem as the praise of all the earth. That should matter to the whole church. And friends, can I tell you that I have met Christians around the world, I'm talking about India, I'm talking about Kenya, I'm talking about Nigeria, I'm talking about all over other parts of Asia, I'm talking about Sweden and Finland and Mexico and believers all around the world who tell me when I got saved God put a great love in my heart for Israel. I didn't know anything about Israel, but God put this great love in my heart for Israel. This Malaysian girl that I prayed with with that group in Korea, she said, she told me she comes from a Malaysian village, revival broke out there, she got radically saved, her family got radically saved, otherwise it's a Muslim country, and she said, we don't know much about the Jews, we just know we love them. I have met former Islamic terrorists, yeah, their testimonies are well known, and they have this incredible love for Israel. I was in Germany and these Syrian Christians came up to me, people from Syria, and they said, we are former Muslims, we have such love for Israel. Just met with Iranian Christians, former Muslims, telling about the great love they have for Israel. I've seen God do this supernaturally around the world. It is a God thing, friends, it is a God thing. Forget about fighting about dispensationalism, I'm not a dispensationalist, forget about fighting about end time prophecy, and just hear what the word of God is saying. Give God no rest until he establishes Jerusalem, that city, the praise of all the earth.

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Why should Christians care about Israel? If you missed any of this broadcast, go back, watch it all on your app. You can listen, watch to the latest podcast that you missed. If you're listening on radio and you miss any segment, just go to AskDrBrown.org. You can get recent segments. Go to our YouTube channel, ASKDRBrown.

If you subscribe on iTunes or Spotify or wherever, the Charisma Podcast, make sure you listen to all of it. I'm not going to recap everything now, but the final reasons why the church should be praying for Israel and have a heart for the salvation of Israel, the final reasons. Number five, reason number five, Romans 11. Again, verses 11 through 15 say that if Israel's rejection, so Israel rejecting the Messiah and then being rejected on a national level in terms of being in divine favor and blessing, if that meant riches for the Gentiles, riches for the world, so the message of salvation has now gone to the entire world. The message of salvation has gone to the entire world and hundreds of millions have come to faith.

Hundreds of millions have been born again and transformed and set free. If that's happened by Israel getting things wrong, Paul writes how much greater riches will their fullness bring. Israel's salvation, and he's talking about the Jewish people, the people that are currently rejecting the Messiah, read right to the end of Romans 11. Earlier in Romans 9 through 11, he says there's a remnant within Israel and Israel within Israel, and then he speaks about the nation as a whole, the nation as a whole, the nation as a whole, the nation as a whole. This nation as a whole, which right now is away from Messiah, when they are brought back in, how much greater riches will their fullness bring?

It will be life from the dead. So, Israel's salvation is of momentous interest to the whole world. And it's a how much more. In Hebrew, kalva chomer is this how much more argument.

It's light and heavy. So, when Jesus says, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask? This is a how much more, even though not phrased in that exact same way. If these are the blessings that came to the world, salvation, redemption, forgiveness of sins, through Israel getting things wrong, what happens when Israel gets things right? It's life from the dead.

And that leads to point number six. A Jewish Jerusalem must welcome the Messiah back. A Jewish Jerusalem must welcome the Messiah back. And that, in fact, is ultimately how this brings life from the dead. Not just spiritual life from the dead, but with his return, the resurrection of the dead.

The resurrection of dead and Messiah. It's extraordinary how much hinges on this, which is why Satan has wanted to wipe out the Jewish people in history. Which is why Satan has tried to keep Jerusalem out of Jewish hands. Which is why Zechariah 12 and Zechariah 14 say in the end, all nations will come against Jerusalem. And which is why Satan is trying to keep Jewish people away from Jesus.

Because this is the final thing. The Gospel, Matthew 24, 14 and other passages, the Gospel must be preached in all nations. Revelation 7, there must be a multitude from every language and tongue and people and tribe that no one could number. And, in the fullness of the Gentiles, all Israel will be saved.

All these things must come to pass. A Jewish Jerusalem must welcome the Messiah back. Do you remember when David had to flee for his life in 2 Samuel because Absalom stole the throne? And then when Absalom is killed in battle, the people of Israel begin to think, David, he was really our king and he fought for us for years and we did wrong by following Absalom. So they begin to write letters to David who is still hiding in the wilderness, in the forest.

And David, will you come back? But his own tribe, the people of Judah had not welcomed him yet. So he wrote to his own people, he said, why should you be the last to welcome the king back?

You're in my own flesh and blood. That's what Messiah is saying to his Jewish people. Why should you be the last to welcome the king back? All around the world there are cries out to God. Maranatha, or Maranatha as we know it, our Lord come. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

And he's saying that's wonderful, that's beautiful. But to the people of Judah, to the Jewish people, to the people of Israel, why are you the last to welcome your king back? You know Matthew 23 where he pronounces, Yeshua pronounces seven woes against the religious hypocrites. And then he closes in verses 37 to 39 with a lament over Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent you. He says, how often I long to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.

But you were not willing. He said, look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say Baruch haba b'shem Adonai. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. When were those words previously spoken? Just a few days earlier when he made his triumphal procession into Jerusalem, what's called Palm Sunday. And the people were saying, Hoshiana, Hosanna, long live the king.

And what were they saying? Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. It's from Psalm 118, but it took on this meaning of we welcome you, King Messiah.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We welcome you, King Messiah. Jesus says to Jerusalem, you will not see me again. You will not see me again until you welcome me back as Messiah. Revelation 1 7, when he comes, every eye will see him. But Jerusalem will not see him until Jerusalem welcomes him back as the messianic king.

Wow. So no one will see him until Jerusalem welcomes him back. If God's finished with the people of Israel as a people, why has he preserved us through great suffering and pain? Why has he supernaturally preserved us through the ages? You read Jewish history and you say, God preserved us.

Second question. If God's finished with Israel, why did he bring the Jewish people back to the land? Oh, all the anti-Semites. Well, then I'm the real Jew. Of course the anti-Semites are going to crow with nonsense like that.

I pray for their eyes to be opened to the truth. It is God who scattered us. You can trace back who we were, where we're scattered, some of the tribes lost to history, but we can trace our history archaeologically, linguistically, place to place, settlements, literature, DNA. We know who we are.

We know our history. God scattered us. God regathered us. If you're a Christian who says God scattered you in judgment and said it's done with you in 70 AD, well, he didn't say it's done because he brought us back. And the only way we could be regathered, if we were scattered under divine wrath, we don't have the power to regather ourselves. He brought us back to the land. Why did he do that if he's finished with Israel? Why is there a modern state of Israel today? For my Calvinist, Reformed friends who don't believe that God specifically brought the Jewish people back, well, you do as a Calvinist, right?

You don't believe it happened, just happens to us. Why? Why renew that?

Why make it a nation again if there's no purpose to it? And, in Acts 1-6, when the disciples, who've been with Jesus now for 40 days after his resurrection, talking about the kingdom, when they say to him, Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? I've talked about this many times. He doesn't rebuke them. He doesn't say it's a stupid question. I've often mentioned John Calvin said there were more errors than words in their question. No, it was a great, legitimate question. He's been with them for 40 days talking about the kingdom.

This obviously matters. He's the Jewish Messiah. They're Jewish people. Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Not for you to know the times and seasons that the Father set by his own authority. It's going to happen. Matthew 19, 28, the regeneration of all things. The 12 apostles will sit judging the 12 tribes of Israel. That kingdom is going to come. It will happen. Yeah, it's a great question.

The Father's got it all set up. That's not for you to worry about. You're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

That's what you need to concentrate on. But yes, he's coming back to Jerusalem. As the angel said, the same Jesus you saw go up will come back. And the same way you saw him go up from the Mount of Olives, he's going to come back. In Zechariah 14, speaking of the Lord himself, his feet will touch the Mount of Olives.

It's going to happen. So a Jewish Jerusalem must welcome the Messiah back, which is why we pray for the salvation of Israel, which is why we recognize Satan wants to exterminate Israel, while we recognize that Satan wants to keep the Jewish people out of Jerusalem, while we recognize that what's happening in Israel today is not just more of the same in terms of world events and wars. Now having said that, should we as Christians care for the plight of the Palestinians? Absolutely. Having said that, should we as Christians want justice for all in the Middle East? Absolutely. Should we as Christians pray for the salvation of Muslims? Absolutely. But we must recognize spiritually what is going on.

And friends, there's a reason. Before Israel launched its first retaliatory strike against Hamas in Gaza, there were pro-Hamas rallies being announced, there were pro-Hamas posts being posted. Think of it for a minute. There's universal condemnation of ISIS for its barbarous acts, killing other Muslims, killing the Azidi people, raping, killing Christians, beheading. Universal outrage across the world. Muslims' outrage across the world.

This is not real Islam. People of conscience outraged across the world. Hamas commits even more horrific acts.

Babies, children videotapes everything for the world to see. And there are pro-Hamas rallies around the world. And there are governments standing with Hamas and saying, and the U.N. having a moment of silence for the suffering of the Palestinians. What about the massacre?

1,300 Israelis. You see, there's something else going on, friends. There's something else going on. Israel is not this monstrous evil in the Middle East.

Come on. Israel sending out warnings. Evacuate here.

The roots where you can evacuate. Places where you can go to safety. Get out of Gaza City.

We're coming in. Hamas even puts out a video saying, if you don't give advance warning on your bombings, then we'll kill hostages. Why are they saying that? Because Israel always gives advance warnings and drops leaflets and sends, go, we're not after you as civilians. We're after the combatants. We're after the terrorists.

That's who we're taking out. And yet Israel is vilified as the evil, evil ones. And remarkably, even demonically, people rising to defend Hamas and condemn Israel.

Why? Because this is a spiritual battle, friends. And it is imperative that we as God's people are on the right side of it. And I urge every single one of you listening, watching today, go to God and say, God, would you give me your heart for the Jewish people, for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, would you give me your heart according to your will and your word? Amen.