By Jeff Miller
Editor’s note: This is part of a sermon series called, “Esther, Easter and the Evening News” given on March 24, 2024 at First Baptist Church of Watkins Glen, NY
Intro: Good morning. Happy Palm Sunday. And I have a rather unusual sermon for Palm Sunday, though it does kind of fit in the end. This is the Sunday that we normally reflect on Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. And a number of years ago, I compared and contrasted Jesus’ first entry into Jerusalem with his return to Jerusalem on a white horse. We’re going to revisit that concept today but through a different lens.
Today, we’re continuing our three-week series titled, “Esther, Easter and the Evening News.” Last week, we talked about the courage of Esther to save the Jewish people from an onslaught by the enemy; next week, of course is Easter, so today, we’re going to talk about Israel once again being the topic of an onslaught by the enemy, and how that might be leading us into the realm of the Last Days.
I mean, we are seeing signs of the Last Days regarding apostasy; increased and encouraged lawlessness disguised as justice–just look at what’s going on with the southern border–and did you see a woman in New York City was arrested because she kicked out squatters from her own home? A man entered into a home that was up for sale, and when the owner tried to kick him out, she was arrested. And apparently, a Ticktocker is out there actually advising illegal immigrants on how to take over American homes via Progressive “squatters rights” laws. We are seeing more and more insane injustice done in the name of justice that it just boggles the mind.
We can’t even comprehend it. Truth is stranger than fiction.
It reminds me of a verse in 2 Timothy where Paul says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” It goes to show you how people who do not have Christ can literally not have a sound mind.
On a different note, there is a short sentence in the Book of Daniel that says that in the Last Days, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Some take that to mean an increase in travel and education; and others take that to mean specifically an increase in the knowledge of the Bible.
Either way, we are seeing what Jesus said in Matthew that the gospel will be spread to all nations before He comes again. I mean, I could be wrong, but I don’t think there is a nation left that hasn’t been introduced to the gospel–perhaps some remote villages–but not a whole nation. And even in the 55 countries where the Bible is illegal, it still gets around.
In fact, I remember watching an episode of “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” hosted by Jerry Seinfeld, and he was ‘getting coffee’ with Michael Richards who played Kramer on his show; and Michael Richards said that after the show ended, he kind of wanted to get away and be himself and go someplace where he wouldn’t be recognized, so he ended up in some remote place–it might have been in Africa during a safari, I tried to find the clip and I don’t have Netflix anymore and couldn’t find it on Youtube–and these guys came out of their huts, their traditional straw huts and went crazy because they recognized him. Somehow, in the remotest parts of the world, they had nothing, yet they had some sort of way they could watch Seinfeld.
And speaking of that, I volunteered for a program while I was at Elim, that taught pastors in remote places via video technology, who did not have access to a Bible college like Elim. So the gospel is being spread via technology, and pastors are being equipped via technology. You see how knowledge and travel is increasing.
I put a post up on Facebook just this past week about how we went from the Wright Brothers to landing a man on the moon in just 66 years. I kind of envy my great-grandparents’ generation who would have seen those things and everything else in between with their own eyes.
And again that’s what Jesus said in Matthew, and if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Matthew 24, and we’re going to look at a couple of chunks from there today. We’re going to start with verses 4-8; then jump down to 42-44.
So again, its from Matthew 24, and while you’re turning there, you all know that I use gotquestions.org quite a bit. Here’s what they had to say on Israel’s role in the end times. It’s quite lengthy, but worth reading in its entirety.
It says: Conflict in Israel has been a reality whenever Israel has existed as a nation. Whether it was the Egyptians, Amalekites, Midianites, Moabites, Ammonites, Amorites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, or Romans, the nation of Israel has always been persecuted by its neighbors.
Why is this?
According to the Bible, it is because God has a special plan for the nation of Israel, and Satan wants to defeat that plan. Satanically influenced hatred of Israel—and especially Israel’s God—is the reason Israel’s neighbors have always wanted to see Israel destroyed. Whether it is Sennacherib, king of Assyria; Haman, official of Persia; Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany; or Rouhani, President of Iran, attempts to completely destroy Israel will always fail. The persecutors of Israel will come and go, but the persecution will remain until the second coming of Christ. As a result, conflict in Israel is not a reliable indicator of the soon arrival of the end times.
However, the Bible does say there will be terrible conflict in Israel during the end times. That is why the time period is known as the Tribulation, the Great Tribulation, and the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7). Here is what the Bible says about Israel in the end times:
It says:
- There will be a mass return of Jews to the land of Israel (Deuteronomy 30:3; Isaiah 43:6; Ezekiel 34:11-13; 36:24; 37:1-14).
- The Antichrist will make a 7-year covenant of “peace” with Israel (Isaiah 28:18; Daniel 9:27).
- The temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 11:1).
- The Antichrist will break his covenant with Israel, and worldwide persecution of Israel will result (Daniel 9:27; 12:1, 11; Zechariah 11:16; Matthew 24:15, 21; Revelation 12:13). Israel will be invaded (Ezekiel chapters 38-39).
- Israel will finally recognize Jesus as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10). Israel will be regenerated, restored, and regathered (Jeremiah 33:8; Ezekiel 11:17; Romans 11:26).
There is much turmoil in Israel today. Israel is persecuted, surrounded by enemies—Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, etc. But this hatred and persecution of Israel is only a hint of what will happen in the end times (Matthew 24:15-21). The latest round of persecution began when Israel was reconstituted as a nation in 1948. Many Bible prophecy scholars believed the six-day Arab-Israeli war in 1967 was the “beginning of the end.”
Scripture: So let’s take a look at our scripture today, and see what Jesus said 2,000 years ago; what gotquestions.org said and what our evening news is saying.
Matthew 24:4-8 say this:
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Jumping down to verses 42-44:
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Central Truth: I’ve mentioned this before in other sermons, but I think it’s worth repeating. Each section of our verses today start with, “watch out, or keep watch.” Last week, I ended the sermon on Esther on the idea that we need to be as strong and courageous as Esther was. To not be afraid of what will happen in this world because we are on God’s side. We are God’s children, and no matter what happens, He is faithful to protect His children.
I have found a few things on Facebook that I’ve posted that align with this. Maybe God is speaking on this issue. Here’s a quote from Alisa Childers who said, “The more we understand what is going on in our culture from the viewpoint of scripture, the more likely our children–and we ourselves–will become beacons of hope in our very broken world.”
I found a scripture that I ended last week’s sermon with–it happened to be the verse of the day on bible.com.
It’s from 1 Peter 3:15: “In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have within you. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
Here’s a reel that I found on Instagram: “Never in the Bible does it say to worry about it, stress over it, or [even] figure it out. But over and over again it clearly says to completely trust in God.”
Do you get where I’m going with this sermon series? No matter what we see, we need to be aware of what is going on, and what is yet to come. God knows what He’s doing when it comes to the wars and rumors of wars going on in the world today. This is not taking Him by surprise. He’s not unaware of humanity’s penchant for insanity. The crazy, backwards, mixed-up demonic mess that’s going on in the world, is under God’s control. The Bible says that the restrainer will leave the earth when the Rapture happens. So as crazy as it is now, The Holy Spirit is keeping a lid on things. People wonder how a good God could allow so much evil in the world. Well, they forget that God has a lid on it. Imagine what will happen when He leaves for three and a half to seven years. He knew it and warned us of it for thousands of years throughout both the Old and New Testaments.
This is from Billy Graham. He said, “God is still on the throne…I don’t put my trust in Washington. I don’t put my trust in the United Nations…I don’t put trust in my money. I put my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
David, the warrior who saw and experienced all kinds of upheaval, said something similar in Psalm 20: “Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
Point 1: Pastor Jimmy Evans, creator and founder of Endtimes.com and Tipping Point Ministries was recently interviewed on CBN news, remember I recommended CBN news last week, and I’m going to go through some of what he said in that interview.
But when I quoted from gotquestions.org that some believe that the time clock started in 1967, Pastor Evans (and others) believe that the end-times clock began in 1948 when Israel was reborn as a nation. So, if that’s the case, then we’re 75, almost 76 years into that, and here’s what Jesus said, same chapter out of Matthew, but in verses 33 and 34 he says, “33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” What does he mean by ‘this generation?’ Well, it’s not the generation he’s talking to; it’s the generation he’s talking about.
The generation that sees these things will not pass away, in fact, going up a few verses to verse 22, Jesus said, “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect [meaning God’s people] those days will be shortened.”
So, some believe that the generation born during the time of Israel’s rebirth in 1948 is the generation Jesus is talking about–or it could be the generation when these birth pains begin. Either way, when we see certain things happening in the news, it might mean we may be having a few contractions, and as you know, as time goes on, those contractions get closer and more intense.
As you know, on October 7, Hamas terrorists waged the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust — slaughtering babies, raping women, burning whole families alive, and taking hundreds of innocent civilians hostage. Since October 7, more than 1,200 Israelis have been killed. Terrorists are still holding 134 men, women, and children in captivity.
As you also know, Hamas is a Palestinian nationalist group who wishes to eliminate the nation of Israel, replacing it with an Islamic state. Hamas is an acronym which in English translates to “Islamic Resistance Movement.” They also participate in anti-Semitic propaganda and media productions, which includes programs targeted at children that encourage martyrdom, hatred for Jews, and support for terrorist acts.
Now, according to Pastor Evans in the CBN interview, he cites antisemitism being spread all over the world now, even in the United States. There are pro-Palestinian rallies going on–I’m sure you’ve seen in the news–where the facts are flipped, saying that Israel is the bad-guys.
And as this narrative increases, it is reminiscent of Zechariah 12 and Revelation 19 where the world is gathered against Israel in the Last Days. I’m sure you’ve heard the great applause during President Biden’s State of the Union where he wants to see a two-state solution–reminds me of that quote in Star Wars– “So this is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause.”
But what’s the problem with a two-state solution? Wouldn’t that be a peaceful compromise?
Pastor Evans said, “you’re not in the end times because you have some signs, you’re
in the end times because you have every sign; and what we’re seeing now is a convergence of signs of the end times with intensity…Iran, Hezbollah, the United Nations have sided against Israel and for Hamas.”
He went on to say that only 5 percent of the Arab world condemns October 7th. The majority of Palestinians in Israel want Hamas to lead them. He says that Hamas is now rock stars in not only the Arab world, but much of the world, and so we’re just seeing this intensity of anti-Semitism to put pressure on Israel to literally make a deal with the devil and to have imposed on them a two-state solution that gives East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip to their enemies who want to destroy them. Does that make sense to you? Apparently to a lot of the world it does. They apparently believe this terrorist organization is going to keep their word. But I believe ignorance of Israel being God’s chosen people, which is a result of a falling away from the faith–as Jesus talked about in verse 10 of Matthew 24–is what leads the world, including what used to be Christian nations–to side against Israel.
Point 2: But, when it comes to a peace treaty with Israel, they will find hope. The whole world will. Unfortunately, that hope will be a deceptive hope. The devil is not called The Father of Lies for nothing. The snake in the garden was not called the most cunning or crafty of all of God’s creatures for nothing. God unfortunately made Satan is a genius. And unless you have the discernment of The Holy Spirit, you’re going to fall for what this hope has to offer. 1 John 4:1 says, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Now is the time, more than ever, to pray for discernment.
When Paul lists a number of Spiritual gifts in 1 Cor. 12, the ability to distinguish between spirits is one of them. Pray for that wisdom. James says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
Pastor Evans was saying in the CBN interview, that anti-Semitism is not an ideology because no one can articulate that particular ideology. “Stop and think about it,” he said. “It is a spirit; it is a demonic spirit; it’s just a spirit of hatred. They can’t tell you why they hate the Jews, they just hate the Jews.” He went on to say the reason why they hate the Jews is because the Jews are proof that God exists. Stop and think about that. If you trace the history of Israel, you have to come to that conclusion–even if you only trace it back 2,000 years–as we are studying in our Sunday School lesson on Easter. You can’t disprove the evidence of Easter. The resurrection of Christ is too evidential. And if you can prove the resurrection of Christ, then you have to prove that Jesus is God.
So this leads me back to this false hope. The real hope is in Christ, but what will the world turn to if the world is apostate? Lovers of themselves? Calling themselves religious but denying the truth? Putting our political leaders on an almost godlike pedestal? Well, they will turn their hope to THE false messiah who will rise when Israel is at its weakest. Are we getting close?
We can’t say who he is or how close he is. The Bible doesn’t give a whole lot of signs as to who he is. It is believed that he is a Gentile that will arise from ‘the sea’ meaning the plethora of world-wide government or even non-governmental agencies. He could come as a current or former world leader; he could be a member of the United Nations; he could be a member of the World Economic Forum, we don’t know for sure. But he will sort of rise up as a well-respected world leader of some kind, who by that time will have to have earned the trust of the whole world in order to initiate this peace treaty with Israel.
Maybe it’s the two-state solution that everyone talks about, and maybe he causes it to fall apart after the three-and-a-half years that the Bible describes. I don’t know.
I don’t want to make this sermon any longer than it already is, but here’s some homework for you. Go online and do a comparison study of the Muslim Messiah and the Christian Antichrist and see if you find any similarities. In addition, see if you can find the Islamic symbol that equates to 666. Take it with a grain of salt, because it’s only speculation, but when you see what’s going on in the world, and you put these pieces together, I for one, strongly believe that the Antichrist will be a Islamic, but who knows?
Point 3: I did post the question a moment ago if what we are seeing around us are signs of the Antichrist. Here’s one to consider. In 2 Thessalonians, Paul describes The Antichrist in this way: “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, [so not just God, but every god of every religion] so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4)
Now that’s bold, and I have no idea what that kind of audacity is going to look like. But you notice that he is going to set himself in The Temple. But Israel has no temple. Yet.
I’ve got just a few short minutes to share this with you, in regards to the temple and the evening news. This is from The Glenn Beck program:
“Hamas said 100 days into the war that it was the transfer of red heifers from Texas to Israel that played a role in October 7th.”
What? Why? Red heifers? Something so insignificant?
This is from templeinstitute.org
The Institute, founded in 1987, is dedicated to every aspect of the Biblical commandment to build the Holy Temple of G-d on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem [where the Dome of the Rock is, the great Muslim holy place. The muslims built that shrine where the Jewish Temple used to be; and the Jewish people want to rebuild their Temple nearby, on the same mount].
It goes on to say: Our short-term goal is to rekindle the flame of the Holy Temple in the hearts of mankind through education. Our long-term goal [get this] is to do all in our limited power to bring about the building of the Holy Temple in our time.
The major focus of the Institute is its efforts towards the beginning of the actual rebuilding of the Holy Temple. Towards this end, the Institute has begun to restore and construct the sacred vessels for the service of the Holy Temple.
And it goes on to give examples of what those sacred vessels are, but what does this have to do with red cows? Well, you can probably guess.
This is also from that same website [templeinstitute.org]: The Mishna (which is an ancient book of Jewish religious laws) teaches that up until the destruction of the Second Temple, ashes had been prepared from a total of only nine red heifers…This was enough to provide for the nation’s needs for purification throughout all those years.
In recounting this historical record in his commentary to the Mishnah, the great Maimonides ends with the enigmatic statement: “… and the tenth red heifer will be accomplished by the king, the Messiah; may he be revealed speedily, Amen, May it be G-d’s will.”
Even though they have no temple, it’s okay, because in the Old Testament, this sacrifice was outside the temple–in fact, it was a spot on the Mount of Olives, on a bridge directly facing the gate of the temple and aligned with the entrance to the Sanctuary. So they can still do this without a temple. And according to what Glenn Beck read–they planned on doing the first sacrifice this weekend. I don’t know if they have, but if so, they have nine more to go.
Folks, I think it’s getting close to the end. I don’t know how close. It could be ten months from now, ten years from now, a hundred years from now. But Jesus said to keep watch. Reading from Matthew Chapter 24 again starting with verse 36-44:
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Conclusion: As I mentioned last week, we have the Bible to not only warn us about what is to come, but to also comfort us, knowing that what is here and what we will see next on the news is part of, as Jesus said, what must happen before the end. It is going to get darker before dawn. But, there is a dawn. And it is up to us to not just keep it to ourselves. We must let others know. People are going to be afraid of what is on the news. Between Russia and Ukraine; China and Taiwan; I heard something about North and South Korea; and the rising tide against Israel, people are going to fear that we could be on the brink of World War III, plus a crushing world economy.
They are going to look at all the politics of it, and I saw a window decal the other day that said, “trust God, not government.” As I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon, people place their trust in the government almost religiously. Government is not anyone’s savior. But some will look to an Antichrist–a government official–as their savior.
We need to point people to the real Christ, the real savior, and the one who can save us here, now and forever. We have to tell them about the hope we have within us. Remember a few weeks ago when I preached out of 2 Samuel? Just in the first two verses, I mentioned that God is our:
o Strength
o Rock
o Fortress
o Deliverer
o Refuge
o Shield
o The horn of my salvation
o Stronghold
We can trust in him in such a way that when men’s hearts fail them, we’re calm, cool and collected because we have real hope in a real God in whom we have a real history of having been faithful in many personal ways in which we can’t count.
Amir Tsarfati, a Messianic Jew reminded us that Jeremiah 29:11 is a great verse for all of God’s people, but it was specifically promised for the future of Israel. And if you want to read more about it, go a couple of chapters later to Jeremiah 31 and read the whole chapter.
Remember, Jesus wins. Today is Palm Sunday, and when Jesus rode into Jerusalem the first time, he came riding on a donkey of peace; but at the end of Revelation, He will come back on a white horse of triumph to rule and reign in Jerusalem for a thousand years. Between now and then, it’s going to be a brutal fight, but I believe in the Rapture of the church before it gets worse. I don’t have time to get into why I believe that, but I’ll post my thoughts on our Facebook page later. As I said last week, Satan knows he can’t win, but this genius Father of Lies is going to succeed in taking many people down with him as his final fist in the air against God.
It’s war, folks. As I mentioned an old Petra song recently, I’m reminded of the album title that song came from. It’s called, “This Means War!” Our part to play in this war is love. Fighting with God’s love. Going back to 2 Timothy again, with “power and of love and of a sound mind.” And some translate that last part to mean, sound judgment.
So the objective in this war is to take as many people with us in the Rapture as we can. The strategy for how to win the war of souls is to counter Satan’s attacks of lies and fear with a sound mind that leads others to truth and love.
We may be gearing up for the end times, but that’s no excuse to cower in fear. God has not given us a spirit of fear. God has proved himself faithful in our own lives, and through that as well as in his living word and the power of the Holy Spirit that is within us, we have a calm assurance in God. Esther had that same calm assurance when she saw the impending annihilation of her entire people, which would have included herself. What did she do? She did her part. Remember how kind and respectful she was to her husband, and even to the man who betrayed her and her people.
Yet she was bold at the same time, risking her life to be so kind.
Ask the Lord, what is your part? What is this church’s part? Take a moment and reread Isaiah 61 and see how that may apply to God’s call on your life for such a time as this.
“Who knows but that you have been placed in [insert wherever you are] for such a time as this?”
A Closer Look 