1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,440 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located 2 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,680 in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship 3 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:21,920 Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism, 4 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:27,300 discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church 5 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:31,760 and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your 6 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:36,420 host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing 7 00:00:36,420 --> 00:00:40,560 to you and bring you closer to God. 8 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:51,360 Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. My name is David Bickford, 9 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:56,680 I'm the pastor here and today's message that I've put together is called, Wars and 10 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:03,220 Rumors of Wars. This is about clarity in times of crisis. I originally preached this back 11 00:01:03,220 --> 00:01:10,440 in November and that will become evident as we go along with that message because it touches 12 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:14,800 on some current events that were from that period of time. But I still believe that this 13 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:20,960 message has something for us as that conflict continues on to today. I just want to make 14 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:26,120 sure that we go ahead and remember that we are called to be peacemakers but that does 15 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:32,080 not mean that we are called to stand idly by when the world is in calamity and yet we 16 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:40,460 need to be resolute in our service to Christ and helping those that we can help with the 17 00:01:40,460 --> 00:01:42,280 gospel message. 18 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,680 So with that our text that we are going to be using as a jumping off point is Zechariah 19 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:55,840 12.10. What I want to end up here with is the recognition that the whole of humanity 20 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,760 has been wrought with war. If you were to look at the entire course of human history 21 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:08,440 as a spectator you would only be able to come to one conclusion and that is that war is 22 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:14,600 going to happen and that there is something intrinsically wrong with mankind or humankind 23 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:21,640 that causes us always to strive towards war. In Jeremiah 17.9 it says, The heart is deceitful 24 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:27,560 above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? So ever since the fall 25 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:33,960 of mankind in the garden we have been tainted by sin which has corrupted everything on earth. 26 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,120 It was not just mankind that was affected by the first sin but all of creation, the 27 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:44,480 earth itself fights against us, thorns and thistles it says in Genesis 3.8. The judgment 28 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:49,840 that befell the world due to that first sin permeates everything that we deal with and 29 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:56,000 see today. The first murder that came about soon after the expulsion of Adam and Eve from 30 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:04,720 the garden, we see this story open up with a jealous rage as Cain slew his brother Abel. 31 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:10,420 And since this is at the root of humanity I find it surprising that so many people are 32 00:03:10,420 --> 00:03:16,360 constantly caught off guard by the wickedness of mankind. The ability of mankind to be so 33 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:21,240 barbaric to one another is something that I believe confirms the word of God and we 34 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:26,640 are shown throughout the Bible this predilection to violence and hostility to each other and 35 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:33,420 to our God. So why then does this always surprise people? I believe this surprise reaction is 36 00:03:33,420 --> 00:03:38,240 due to the blindness that many have to the word of God and to the revelation of Jesus 37 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:42,920 Christ of the Messiah. We are often told that we live in a more enlightened age, an age 38 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:48,280 of science. Many believe that through evolution we are becoming more civilized and more intelligent 39 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:53,600 than our forefathers. But you've got to really ask yourself is that true? Do you really think 40 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:58,320 that's what's happening with our with with society, with humanity? Are we getting more 41 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:04,960 intelligent? Are we getting wiser? Or are we simply putting up more distractions in our 42 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:09,960 will in the way of our view of God? Are we getting blinded to the truth of the gospel 43 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:16,720 and to the word of God? It seems the more enlightened using air quotes here, the world 44 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:22,360 gets the craziest, the crazier this world gets, the more vitriolic, the more hateful, 45 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:29,560 the more destructive and of course the more ungodly the world also becomes. Charles Spurgeon 46 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:35,520 said Austria and Prussia may go to war and Italy or France may join in the turmoil. Blood 47 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:41,840 may flow like water, but these things shake not the fact that Jesus loves you. Billy Graham 48 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:48,840 also said courage is contagious when brave man takes a stand, the spine of others often 49 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:54,920 stiffen. When we think of these these quotes in terms of what we're talking about today 50 00:04:54,920 --> 00:05:00,200 and the idea of war and rumors of wars and the idea of armed conflict happening throughout 51 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:06,520 the world today, we have to remember that none of this changes the fact that Jesus loves 52 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:12,760 you and none of this changes the fact that we need to take courage and we need to make 53 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:20,160 a godly stands because by us doing that, we help others to take similar godly stands. 54 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:28,240 So the current Israeli government is in the midst of war, right? And again, this this 55 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:33,320 sermon originally was was produced or created back in November. This stuff was all very 56 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:40,280 fresh, so I'll interject with updates and just current thoughts to this war. But we 57 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:45,040 want to make sure that we understand that this is nothing new. There are wars and rumors 58 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:52,480 of wars there is and then there is this altogether different attention getting reality of war 59 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:58,520 in and with the nation of Israel. So what is about this tiny nation of just over nine 60 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:04,720 million people that so captivates the rest of the world? Is this the beginning of the 61 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:11,120 end for them? For us? Is this the start of World War three or Armageddon? So I'm pulling 62 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:17,240 this from an excerpt from the remnant newsletter and you know, I just want you to think about 63 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,880 these words as I as we read through this as we kind of go through this and we'll jump 64 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:27,400 into our text here shortly. There's something more spiritual going on than simply a war 65 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:33,680 between two parties. So let's jump into this towards the end of his life. The spiritually 66 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:41,120 uncertain Frederick the Great King of Prussia. He reigned between 1740 and 1786 asked his 67 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:47,080 physician Johann George Zimmerman Zimmerman. Can you give me a single proof of the existence 68 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:54,640 of God? Zimmerman replied, your majesty, the continued existence of the Jews. Amazingly, 69 00:06:54,640 --> 00:07:01,000 this reply came almost 200 years before the Jews against all likelihood once again formed 70 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:07,720 a nation state in the land that we know as Israel. Had Dr. Zimmerman known the reformation 71 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:13,920 was coming in 1948, he would have been even more adamant in his response. Gone are the 72 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:18,800 Midianites, the Edomites, the Hittites, the Parasites, the Moabites and scores of other 73 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:25,780 people groups from ancient times. But today, despite seemingly endless persecutions, numerous 74 00:07:25,780 --> 00:07:31,620 attempted Holocausts like the one that we can read about an Esther 313, the efforts 75 00:07:31,620 --> 00:07:38,120 to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth have continually failed. Let's jump into our 76 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:43,800 text of Zechariah 12 10. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants 77 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:48,920 of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and please for mercy so that when they look on me on 78 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:54,600 him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and 79 00:07:54,600 --> 00:08:00,440 weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn. So this is what we're going to 80 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:07,640 use as our jumping off point is this text from Zechariah that gives us cues about how 81 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:13,080 the burden of Jerusalem and the fact that there's going to be mourning. You know, because 82 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:19,080 it's that they end it, you know, because they persecuted Christ and eventually Christ was 83 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:28,600 was crucified. So there's this mourning over the children of Israel in this period of time. 84 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:35,240 So let's look first at the conflict in Israel. On October 7th Hamas led Palestinians waged 85 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:44,760 a surprise attack on Israel. The attack from most accounts targeted the Jewish civilian 86 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:49,320 population. I'm going to exemplify this. I'm going to draw your attention to this. The 87 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:58,120 targeted attack was mostly on civilians. There was the goal of disrupting and terrorizing 88 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:03,880 the civilian population. Many have described the attack as akin to a Viking raid. The primary 89 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:10,040 focus seemed to be destruction, rape, plunder, and hostage taking. These techniques are nothing 90 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:14,840 new to the world. Describing them to be Viking like is a pretty accurate description when you 91 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:21,080 see any of the videos that have come out not from the Israelis, but from the Hamas militants that 92 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:27,080 were in the raiding parties. Al Jazeera describes the attacks in somewhat a clinical way. They say 93 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:32,760 Palestinian group Hamas launched Operation Alaska Flood inside Israel killing dozens and taking 94 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:39,960 hostages in a shocking assault. So they gloss over this fact, but this is what they kill on 95 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,760 and continue to say. A surprise attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israel combining 96 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:51,480 gunmen breaching security barriers and a barrage of rocket fired from Gaza was launched at a dawn 97 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:58,360 during the Jewish holiday of Sinchat Torah. Saturday's attack came 50 years and a day after 98 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:03,800 the Egyptian and Syrian forces launched an assault during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur in an 99 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:10,440 effort to retrieve territory Israel had taken during a brief conflict in 1967. Covering rocket 100 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:17,400 fire at 6.30am Hamas fired a huge barrage of rockets into southern Israel with sirens heard 101 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:23,400 as far away as Tel Aviv and Beersheba. Hamas said it had launched 5,000 rockets in an initial barrage. 102 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:29,880 Israel's military said 2,500 rockets were fired, smoke billowed over residential Israeli areas, 103 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:34,920 and people sheltered behind buildings as sirens sounded. At least one woman was reportedly killed 104 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:41,320 by the rockets. We announced the start of Operation Alaska Flood and we announced that first strike, 105 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:47,800 which targeted enemy positions, airports, and military fortifications, exceeded 5,000 missiles 106 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:53,880 and shells, Mohammed Deif, head of Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said. The dawn 107 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:59,560 infiltration started. The rocket's attack served as a cover for the unprecedented multi-pronged 108 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:05,720 infiltration of fighters with the Israeli military saying at 7.40am the Palestinian fighters had 109 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:10,840 crossed into Israel. Most fighters entered through the breaches in the security barriers, 110 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:15,880 separating Gaza and Israel, but at least one Hamas soldier was filmed flying over in a powered 111 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:21,640 parachute. A motorboat carrying fighters was seen heading to Zakim, an Israeli coastal town with a 112 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:27,720 military base. One video showed at least six motorcycles with fighters crossing through a 113 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:33,160 hole in the metal barrier. A photograph released by Hamas showed a bulldozer tearing down a section 114 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:38,840 of fence. So much of the reporting is used to justify the violence without any regard for the 115 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:44,200 brutal tactics used against the unarmed civilian Jewish populace. You have to go to other sources 116 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:49,960 to piece together a better understanding of these events and the cruelty that was perpetrated. Even 117 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:55,720 CNN has reported the horrifying details of the opening stages of this conflict. Their report 118 00:11:55,720 --> 00:12:03,240 says is titled Israel Festival Revelers Shot at Point Blank Range Videos Shows. Gaza militants who 119 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:08,280 attacked an all-night music festival in southern Israel shot and killed revelers at Point Blank 120 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:15,080 Range, then looted their belongings, a new Kardashian video verified by CNN reveals. The video 121 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:20,680 began circulating on social media on Sunday and alongside footage of harrowing kidnappings from 122 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:26,600 the same event has been scrutinized by her horrified families desperate for news of loved ones, 123 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:31,880 missing since a series of coordinated attacks triggered Israel's declaration of war on Sunday. 124 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:39,320 Israeli officials counted at least 260 bodies near the site of the Nova Festival outside Riem, 125 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:45,960 where earlier footage showed carefree partygoers from Israel and overseas dancing in the desert 126 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:52,680 soon after sunrise on Saturday. Some survivors are among more than the 100 hostages that the 127 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:57,720 militant group Hamas claims to be holding in Gaza, according to friends and family who have seen them 128 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:04,760 in videos shared on social platforms. The dashcam video gives a glimpse of the tear as militants 129 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:10,680 took over the festival, preventing some partygoers from leaving with deadly force. The first clip 130 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:16,200 begins at 929 according to its time code, just under three hours after the first explosions 131 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:23,080 were reported at the Nova Festival. The other part of this article that starts off 132 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:31,160 is more touching in some ways and horrifying than the rest of this article. But before we jump into 133 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:39,400 that, we have to interject here and say there is a very big difference with a militant group 134 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:46,200 targeting civilians who are unarmed and killing them in cold-blooded murder at point-blank range. 135 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:51,800 Point-blank means you could pretty much reach out and touch somebody. You can see that they're not 136 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:57,960 armed. You can see that they're not a threat. And you go ahead and you kill them in cold blood anyway. 137 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:04,040 There's a big difference between that and what a lot of the media wants us to believe with now 138 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:11,880 with the way the war is being waged currently. Strategic military attacks or targets with buildings 139 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:23,240 like hospitals and stuff of that nature under the rules of war become reputable targets 140 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:34,280 when being used as military bases during a war. As horrifying as that is, it is not the Israeli 141 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:42,920 military's fault that these buildings are being used as military strongholds. When I was served 142 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:50,040 in the United States Marines, part of our rules for engagement were that if a mosque or a hospital 143 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:57,400 were to become an actual active part of the war, then they become a valid military target. 144 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:04,520 If you think back into any of the major wars in the past, World War I, World War II, 145 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:10,760 you did not protect the populace when the populace was part of the war machine. 146 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:20,600 So when we were going to war against Nazi Germany, we would target factories and facilities that aided 147 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:27,960 and helped the German army, the Nazi army, to fulfill its goal of world domination. There was 148 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:35,560 the firebombing of Dresden. That was a horrendous event that occurred, but was at the time necessary 149 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:42,600 in order to push back the totalitarian threat that was coming from Nazi Germany. If you think of 150 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:50,440 the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and you use a per capita count on the death toll that was at 151 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:55,880 Pearl Harbor versus the US population and the death toll that was in the October 7th attack 152 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:05,960 in the Israeli population, the attacks on Israel were far worse by per capita counts. You can 153 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:13,320 blow that off if all you want, but we still went to war for years against Japan and we ended up 154 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:23,880 deciding to drop two atomic bombs on Japan. In order to bring that war to a conclusion, 155 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:30,440 we had to totally defeat the will of the people of Japan because they were worshiping 156 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:36,280 their emperor as a god-king and they would not have backed down. If we would have gone in to invade 157 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:44,680 mainland Japan for the purpose of being strategic and only attacking back to military, there would 158 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:51,800 have been a million plus more dead for us to try to overcome the Japanese military at that time. 159 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:58,600 War is not pretty. War is not something that's nice, but we have to distinguish between the 160 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:20,440 nice and the bad. We don't want to equate what Israel is doing now as being equal to what 161 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:28,840 the Hamas did on October 7th. Hamas targeted civilians on purpose. There is a very big difference 162 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:35,320 to what is going on. So let's dive back into this article. Killed on the phone with his parents, 163 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:41,400 the parents of Alexandria Look, a 33-year-old Canadian, told CNN News partner CBC that they 164 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:47,480 were on the phone with him as he tried to escape the gunfire. Look and the others sought shelter 165 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:52,600 in a bunker without a door during the militant attacks, his parents said. And then I heard him 166 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:58,440 tell his friends they're coming back. There are a lot of them. And then all I heard was a lot of 167 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:07,400 gunshots, lots of rounds, and we heard nothing. Look's mother, Raquel Ohonona, Look told CBC, 168 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:13,160 Look's parents said he died trying to shield others from gunfire. This is very different 169 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:18,200 than the active war that's happening right now. This was murder. Many in the Western world are 170 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:23,000 appalled by the blatant attack on unarmed civilians. The targeting of civilians directly, 171 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:29,000 as caught on video and proudly shown by the attackers, sends shivers down the spines of 172 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:35,400 many Canadians, Americans, and Europeans alike. It was not the reaction of many, though. A large 173 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:40,120 number of Arab people across the world were celebrating the atrocities, committed in some 174 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:45,000 sort of perverse to-wrongs-make-a-right argument. The history of the region is being used as an 175 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:51,800 excuse for the killing of hundreds of civilians indiscriminately. And to caveat that, now that 176 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:58,600 they're on their heels, they're using the strategic fighting of Israel to say that enough has been 177 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:05,720 done. They need to go back to the way it was before they attacked on October 7. So now they want the 178 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:12,840 rights and privileges that were bestowed upon them, and being free of Israelis being in Palestine 179 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:19,960 or Gaza. They want to be free from this occupation that's currently happening now. 180 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,360 They want it to all go back as if nothing happened on October 7. 181 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:30,120 This is a very interesting thing, and a lot of the world's clamoring for that to happen now. 182 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:35,800 There's a sickness in society, and it's not just these wars and rumors of wars. There's a sickness 183 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:42,040 of this moral equivalency that's being asked of Israel to believe in, and for us to believe in as 184 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:49,240 well. In Genesis 16, 8-12, it says, and he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, 185 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:54,280 and where are you going? She said, I am fleeing from my mistress, Sarai. The angel of the Lord 186 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:59,400 said to her, return to your mistress and submit to her. And she said, I am fleeing from my mistress, 187 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:04,600 and submit to her. The angel of the Lord said to her, I will surely multiply your offspring so that 188 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:10,120 they cannot be numbered for the multitude. And the angel of the Lord said to her, behold, you are 189 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:15,960 pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to 190 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:21,560 your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone, and everyone's 191 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:28,520 hand against him. And he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen. This conflict has been going on 192 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:34,280 for a very long time, and nothing highlights this more than this verse from Genesis. The descendants 193 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:38,920 of Ishmael have been at odds with the descendants of Isaac for thousands of years, and this inbuilt 194 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:44,520 animosity is at root a spiritual battle. As Christians, we must remember that we do not 195 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:50,120 battle against flesh and blood, but rather powers and principalities. We can read that in Ephesians 196 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:55,880 6 to verse 12. That is why we have to understand that the conflict has been going on since the 197 00:20:55,880 --> 00:21:00,680 beginning, and we have to apply the Word of God to these situations and pray for God's will to be 198 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,760 done. We of course want to have empathy for those caught in the middle of this conflict. 199 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:11,480 We want justice to be done, as Christians should want justice to be done, and we should be praying 200 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:17,560 for exactly that. Should we be praying for vengeance, for peace, or for judgment? This brings me 201 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:23,400 to my next point, which is compassion. Ultimately, our prayer should be one of reconciliation, not 202 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:29,240 just between Israel and the Arab people, but between man and God and Christ. I use the term 203 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:34,200 Arab people in place of the term Palestinian primarily for clarity. There is no Palestinian 204 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:40,120 ethnic group, ancestrally they are Arab people, most closely related to the Jordanian and other 205 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:45,960 Arab peoples. The reality is that the entire Arab community is at odds with the Israeli community 206 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:51,640 because of these ancient divisions that are rooted in spiritual warfare. Interestingly, both groups 207 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:57,720 are at odds with God the Creator, but in different ways. The God of the Arabs, Allah, is not the God 208 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:03,080 of the Bible. The rise of Islam happened hundreds of years after the death of Christ, and even while 209 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:09,720 they hold that Jesus is a prophet, they deny his deity. Allah is a preeminent power, according to 210 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:16,600 the adherence to Islam, but it is not the God of the Bible. He is the opposite of our God, a removed 211 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:21,560 God that does not allow man to have a direct relationship with him, but is more deistic and aloof 212 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:28,120 to man. The Jews, on the other hand, do worship the one God. After all, Jesus was a devoted Jew. 213 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:33,480 The issue for the Jews is that they missed their Messiah and have been lost ever since. 214 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:39,000 They are still wandering in a spiritual desert denying the divinity of Christ. In our text in 215 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:45,560 Zechariah, where we read earlier, it talks about the house of David, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 216 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:52,360 and the spirit of grace and the pleas for mercy, but yet it talks about how they pierced their 217 00:22:52,360 --> 00:23:00,680 Messiah and how they would be mourning because they're going to realize what they've done, 218 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:07,720 but it's too late. In Luke 23, 34-43, it says, and Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not 219 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:12,600 what they do. And they cast lots to divide his garment, and the people stood by watching, but the 220 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:19,320 ruler scoffed at him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself. If he is the Christ of God, his 221 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:24,600 chosen one, the soldiers also mocked him coming up, and offering him sour wine, saying, If you 222 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:30,920 are the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription over him, This is the king of 223 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:36,520 the Jews. One of the criminals who were hanged rallied against him, Are you not the Christ, 224 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:43,160 save yourself and us? But the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are under 225 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:48,760 the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our 226 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:54,680 deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong, and he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your 227 00:23:54,680 --> 00:24:00,360 kingdom. And he said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you will be with me in paradise. 228 00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:05,720 Both the Jew and the Arab need to be reconciled to the Creator, to our Savior, Jesus Christ. 229 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:11,080 Conflict in the world will never cease until man finds himself in right relationship with Jesus. 230 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:16,840 Both of these groups are at odds with God currently. Clearly Hamas and the Arab nations are more 231 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:24,600 visibly and violently at odds against us, because they are both current, but they are both currently 232 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:31,240 inactively kicking against our Lord and Savior. In Acts 9, 3-5, it says, As he journeyed, he came 233 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:36,040 near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and 234 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:41,640 he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, 235 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:46,600 Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against 236 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:55,160 the goats. Israel is not free from persecuting others, especially Christians. Christians, 237 00:24:55,160 --> 00:25:03,560 this comes from an article that I found back in April of 2023, so far way before this attack 238 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:08,760 that happened in Israel. The title of it is, Christians are in danger under Israeli government, 239 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:14,040 says Holy Land Patriarch Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing policies are emboldening attacks 240 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:19,800 on the 2000-year-old community, says a Catholic regional leader. So again, this comes from the 241 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:27,320 Thursday, 13th of April, 2023. The head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land has warned 242 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:31,800 in an interview that Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government has made life worse for 243 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:38,520 Christians in the birthplace of Christianity. The Vatican-appointed Latin Patriarch said that the 244 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:44,680 region's 2000-year-old Christian community has come under increasing attack, with the most right-wing 245 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:50,120 government in Israel's history emboldening extremists who have harassed clergy and vandalized 246 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:56,280 religious properties at a clicketing pace. The increase in anti-Christian incidents comes as 247 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:01,240 the Israeli settler movement, galvanized by its allies and the government, appear to have seized 248 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:07,480 the moment to expand its enterprise in the contested country. The government is now 249 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:13,800 the contested capital. This brings me to my final point, which is as Christians we need to remember 250 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:20,680 our calling. And the final point is salvation. We are called to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ 251 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:25,160 to the masses. That means even though we side largely with the nation of Israel because they 252 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:32,280 are God's chosen people, it does not mean we do so blindly. The Jewish state needs Jesus just as the 253 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:38,120 Arab nations do. We also need to hold to the truth that the gospel can reconcile even the most 254 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:44,200 unlikely people to a right relationship with God. Just like Saul was a persecutor of the early 255 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:49,720 believers, but when confronted with Christ was redeemed. He became one of the most important 256 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:55,800 believers in history. We can have faith that God can rise up believers from the midst of Israel, 257 00:26:55,800 --> 00:27:02,120 from the midst of Palestine, and even within the midst of Hamas. There's an article I found here 258 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:08,360 from the son of Hamas leader turns back on Islam and embraces Christianity. So this came from 259 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:15,880 Jonathan Hunt back in August 12th, way back in 2008. And there's a bit of an update in here from 2015. 260 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:24,040 Mossab Hassan Yosef is an extraordinary young man with an extraordinary story. He was born the son 261 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:29,320 of one of the most influential leaders of the militant Hamas organization in the West Bank and 262 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:36,200 grew up in a strict Islamic family. Now at 30 years old, he attends an evangelical Christian church 263 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:42,040 on Arabus Road in San Diego, California. He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family 264 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:49,160 behind in Ramallah, and is seeking asylum in the United States. The second son of Hamas leaves a 265 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:54,200 terror group exposing corruption and Turkish spying. So this is a different article, but it's 266 00:27:54,200 --> 00:28:00,760 the second son, Sheheb Yosef, son of Hamas co-founder and brother of the Green Prince, 267 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:08,600 who secretly worked for Shin Bet, opens up to Israeli TV after also fleeing group and urges his 268 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:14,680 father to resign. It isn't every day that a Hamas member turns his back on the terror organization, 269 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:20,680 flies to Southeast Asia, and decides to expose the corruption and inner workings of its operations 270 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:27,560 in Turkey in an interview with an Israeli TV journalist. It's even more incredible when he's 271 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:33,240 the son of one of Hamas' founding members, and it's almost unthinkable when he is the second of 272 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:39,960 that founder's sons to escape the clutches of the Islamist group and go public with his story. 273 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:47,400 These two examples show us the power of God and how it is bigger than the hate of the world. We 274 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:52,360 need to contend in faith that both sides of this conflict will be reconciled to Jesus. 275 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:58,440 So what can we do? We can stand united behind Israel in the sense that they are God's chosen 276 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:05,560 people, that they are the prodigal son that God so very much wants to come home. We can pray for the 277 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:11,160 Palestinians to come to Christ and see the power of the true God and the truth that they can know 278 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:17,640 him as a father. Even the war is a reality and will likely continue. We have to have faith that 279 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:24,520 God will use this work, that he will use this to work out his plan and purposes in the region and 280 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:31,000 in the world. Let us put our faith in God. He has the power to save the lost. Let us not fret over 281 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:38,600 the ups and downs of this time, but remember that it is all in God's hands. It is all in Jesus' hands. 282 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:42,200 So with that, I would like to have every head bowed, every eye closed, wherever you are listening at 283 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:49,160 today. Obviously, if you are driving, keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes open. 284 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,480 But if this message resonated with you, I want you to remember that this is not really about 285 00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:06,280 Israel versus Palestine or Israel versus the Arab states. This is about God in man. 286 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:16,360 And the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This is about turning away from God, making other things your 287 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:25,080 own gods. For right now, Israel as a country is very anti-God in a lot of ways. They persecute the 288 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:31,080 Christians that live within their own borders, some of which those Christians are Palestinians 289 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:36,680 who live in Israel. I will make a note that they typically even persecuted as Christians in Israel 290 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:46,680 live a better life than under the hard iron rule of Hamas in Palestine. But needless to say, 291 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:53,480 Israel has a lot of flaws and they need Jesus Christ. But that doesn't take away the egregious 292 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:58,520 reality of what happened on October 7th and the need for the Arab people to turn to God. 293 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:06,040 To turn to Jesus Christ. We need to be a people focused on salvation and reconciliation. 294 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:12,120 That is what we need to be as Christians. We need to pray that Israel returns 295 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:21,880 to God. We need to pray that the Arabs come to God and that we're all united in fellowship 296 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:30,200 with Jesus Christ. If that message resonates with you and you know that you're not right with God, 297 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,200 but you want to be, I want you to signify that with an uplifted hand wherever you are. 298 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:41,320 If you rose your hand and you meant it, I want you to repeat after me, dear Lord God, 299 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:46,520 I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you sent your son Jesus Christ. He died for my sins. 300 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:53,320 He rose from the grave. I want to accept him as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 301 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:59,000 That simple prayer of acknowledgement sets you into the Lamb's Book of Life. Now the next steps 302 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:06,760 is you got to get a Bible, start reading, start in John. Start praying, crying out to God your 303 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:12,360 Father because you can have that direct relationship with him. And come to a Bible 304 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:18,680 believing church like ours in Samonarm. If you're local, reach out the contact info is in the show 305 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:25,800 notes. If you're not, we have 3,500 churches worldwide. I can find a church for you where 306 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:33,080 you can lock in and serve with others as we strive to be sanctified by Jesus Christ 307 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:40,280 and to help others to see the light and to see the grace that comes from giving your life to Jesus 308 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:45,000 Christ. I want to thank you for listening to me in this message. I know this message might be a little 309 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:51,560 bit polarizing. And you know what, if you want to talk to me about it offline, by all means reach 310 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:59,720 out and I'd be happy to talk to you. Because I do believe that God wants us to refocus and put him 311 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:07,720 first. Everything evil that happens in this world is due to the fall of mankind. But we can be 312 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:13,320 reconciled back to our creator through Jesus Christ. So again, I want to thank you for listening. If 313 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:19,720 these messages mean something to you, I'd like you to like the podcast or the show. I'd like you to 314 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:25,240 subscribe and please share it with someone else that needs to hear these messages. I preached a 315 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:30,200 message today that you'll eventually hear here on the podcast about being the salt in the light of 316 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:37,960 the world. We need to be the salt. We need to add zest. We need to prevent corruption and we need to 317 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:46,280 preserve our Christlikeness in Jesus name. But we also need to do it with a kind, caring, and loving 318 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:52,120 way. We need to be the light to this world so that people can look to us and what they see is a 319 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:59,000 reflection of Christ. With that, I leave you. I just pray, dear Lord God, that you would bless 320 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:04,440 people as they go with the rest of their week. Help them Lord in Jesus name we pray. Amen. 321 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:06,920 Thank you for listening and I can't wait for you to come back next time. 322 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:17,960 Thank you for listening to the P.H.S.A. Potter's House Salmon Arm Podcast. Be sure to follow us 323 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:22,760 on Instagram at pottershouse underscore salmon arm to keep up to date on what we are doing. 324 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:37,160 Join the conversation and discover how Jesus Christ can revolutionize your life.