Israel and the End Time Revival — Michael L. Brown

Lord, we love you, and we love your truth. Lord, our eyes are upon you. And we pray, living God, that your Word would be real and clear to us, Lord. That you give us insight, that you give us understanding.

That your Word would bring about change in our whole perspective. Father, it is written in your Word that the revelation and unfolding of your Word gives light, making the simple wise. Make us wise today, Lord, as we put our trust in you.

In the name of Jesus, amen. I want you to first turn to Psalm 121, and then we're going to go to Romans 11. I want to speak to you about Israel, an end-time revival, God's eternal purpose for Israel.

Israel, Romans 11, and God’s Purpose for Israel

I don't normally do this, but because of the subject we're speaking on, I want to read to you from Hebrew scriptures and translate into English. Whatever version you have, you'll be able to follow along.

Psalm 121. I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help is from the Lord. Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip. He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he will not slumber, he will not sleep. He who keeps Israel. Adonai shomrecha, the Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shadow on your right hand. By day, the sun will not smite you, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will preserve your life. The Lord will preserve and keep your going out. You're coming in from now on forever. We go to Romans, the 11th chapter. Romans chapter 11.

I want to underscore the fact that I'm not just speaking these things to you today, because I'm a Jewish believer in Jesus, and point to fact in the multiplied dozens, actually several hundred times that I've spoken in one context or another here in the revival.

Having been involved here now more than a year, this is the first message God has given me to bring on Israel specifically. And there was a time in my life as a believer where I questioned many of the things that I was raised in in the Lord concerning Israel.

In other words, just because I was taught in a certain way as a new believer, I wasn't necessarily convinced. And I went and studied certain issues out, and my views changed over a period of years. And God really had to bring me back to the word, not what this one said about it or that one said about it.

I don't pretend to have everything perfectly right in everything I believe, no more than you have everything perfectly right in what you believe. But there are certain fundamentals, certain things to me that are non-negotiable, certain things that are basic.

And even though I can differ with a brother or sister over these things, even though someone can love Jesus as much as I do and differ with me on this, to me, these are basics. To me, these are definite, clear, biblical truths.

So I want you to look carefully at the word with me, beginning in Romans 11. Romans 11 forms the end of three chapters in the book of Romans devoted to Israel. In fact, the subject of Israel is so important here to Paul that when he finishes the eighth chapter, one of the greatest chapters in all of scripture, he immediately begins to deal with the subject of Israel and doesn't just take one chapter.

Of course, he didn't write chapters, but he doesn't just take a few words, but three whole chapters. It's such a big subject that in passing, in dealing with Israel, he raises things like election and predestination and the truth on those subjects, just in passing in dealing with Israel.

Before we actually read from Romans 11, look in verse one of Romans 9. I speak the truth in the Messiah. I am not lying. My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I can wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.

Theirs is the adoption as sons. Their is the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised.

Amen. So he starts by saying, I have continual sorrow for my Jewish people. In fact, the words are so strong. When he said, I could wish I myself were cut off from the Messiah, he says, look, I'm not lying.

I'm telling you the absolute truth. My heart is continually breaking. For my people. Then in the beginning of the 10th chapter, he says, brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.

And then he says, beginning in the 11th chapter, I asked then, did God reject his people? God made promises to Israel. And these are national promises. Romans 9, 10, and 11. Paul doesn't mention the Jews, but Israel.

National promises that God has made. Did God reject his people? What about all the covenants? What about all the words of the prophets? What about all the words of the Hebrew scriptures? Did God reject his people?

Is it over for Israel? By no means. Now, first he says, God did not reject his people because I'm an Israelite and I believe, and there is a remnant of Israelites, of Jews who believe. He says, by no means, I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.

God did not reject his people whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah? How he appealed to God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars.

I'm the only one left and they are trying to kill me. And what was God's answer to him? I have reserved for myself 7 ,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal. So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace.

And if by grace, then it is no longer by works. If it were grace, if it were, excuse me, grace would no longer be grace. So first he says, no, God did not cast off his people and fully reject his people.

There are still Israelites who are in the Messiah, but he goes on more. Let's skip down to verse 11. In my book, Our Hands Are Stained With Blood, I go through each of these chapters carefully and see who is Paul talking about?

When he says Israel, the Jews, who does he mean? Is there any dispute through Romans, through these chapters, through the New Testament? Look at Romans 11, 11. Again, I ask, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?

Have the people of Israel fallen so as to be beyond hope? It's over for Israel, in other words. God has no more purposes for the Jewish people, no more promises. It's over. What's his answer? Not at all.

Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring?

We're going to come back to that in a little while. What I want you to understand today is why the subject of Israel's salvation is important for every believer in the world and why God wants every one of his people around the world to have a burden for the salvation of the Jewish people.

It's one thing if God calls you to a particular nation. The Lord has called me to the people of Indonesia. The Lord has called me to the people of Mexico. The Lord has called me to the Scandinavian peoples.

And that's my burden. It's one thing for each individual believer to have a specific burden. But every believer should have a burden for the lost in general, want to see the Great Commission fulfilled.

Every believer should have a burden for personal holiness and purity. Every believer should have a burden for the church as a whole to become one. In the same way, every believer should have a burden for the salvation of the Jewish people.

I'm going to open that up to you as we go on. First, let me say emphatically that the church has not replaced Israel. The church has not replaced Israel. There has been teaching for as many as 1800 years that has said that because the Jewish people rejected the Messiah, God ceased to deal with the people, destroyed the temple, scattered them from the land.

It's over with Israel. Now God just has the church and that's it. Now, if by the church you mean the Jewish people and Gentiles who believe in Jesus, Israel and the nations born again who believe in Jesus, that description of the church is true.

But the church has not replaced Israel. Now, it was easier to hold to that before the Jewish people were restored to the land. It was easier to hold to that before Jerusalem was back in Jewish hands because these Jews were just scattered all over the world, suffering the wrath of God, rejected, persecuted, no homeland.

Obviously, God was finished with them. Well, as he brought them back to the land, it was a little harder to hold to that view. But I want you to go with me to Jeremiah, the 31st chapter. Has God completely rejected Israel?

The Church Has Not Replaced Israel

Jeremiah chapter 31. Those of you familiar with the scriptures know immediately that Jeremiah 31 is the chapter dealing with the new covenant, that God will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

Deuteronomy 31, excuse me, Jeremiah 31 verses 31 through 34 deal with the new covenant. Then what does he say in verse 35? It's almost as if people will be thinking to themselves, well, God is making a new covenant, so therefore he's done away with the old covenant and the people of the old covenant.

It was taught in the early church that God had now ceased dealing with Israel and was dealing with the church and that was that. There was a new covenant and that was that. The first interesting thing is that the new covenant in verses 31 to 34 is made with the Jewish people.

It's made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. As one of my dear Israeli friends says to his Gentile believing friends, it's not a new covenant for you because you didn't have a covenant before.

It's a new covenant with us and you get grafted into it. But look at this, look at verse 35. It's like God is saying, now don't take this wrong. I'm making a new covenant, but I'm still dealing with the same people.

Don't get this wrong. Another Israeli friend of mine was asked, what does it feel like to be a converted Jew? He said, I don't know because it's not a sin to be a Jew. I'm a converted sinner. It'd be like someone coming up to you and saying to a man, how does it feel to be a converted man?

Converted man, what do you mean? How does it feel to be a converted woman? Do you mean a man or a woman who has been converted to Jesus? That's one thing. But when I got saved, I didn't convert from being a man.

Anymore than you convert it from being a man or from being a woman, you convert it from your sins and turn it to God. Verse 35, this is what the Lord says. He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar, the Lord Almighty is his name.

Only if these decrees vanish from my sight declares the Lord, will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me. Strong language, isn't it? As long as there's sun and moon and stars and day and night, God says Israel will be a nation before me, period.

But what about their sins? What about Israel's sins and disobedience? Verse 37, this is what the Lord says. Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out, will I reject all the descendants of Israel because all they have done declares the Lord.

God's saying no matter what, I will not utterly and completely reject them. Go back to the 30th chapter. Verse 11, I am with you and will save you declares the Lord, though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you.

I will discipline you, but only with justice. I will not let you go entirely unpunished. Go to 3110, hear the word of the Lord, all nations proclaim it in distant coastlands. He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.

Go down to verse 20 of chapter 31. Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore, my heart yearns for him. I have great compassion for him, declares the Lord.

God is saying here in no uncertain terms, I will discipline you, I will punish you for your sins, but I will not utterly reject you. The fact that the Jewish people were scattered around the world without a homeland for more than 19 centuries or for the better part of 19 centuries and then kept as a people.

And remember, not all Jews were religious Jews in this time, somehow still kept as a people by God. This has never happened before. No people have been scattered from their homeland. Listen, you have people that have been in America for a few generations and they're just Americans.

You know, they were Italian-Americans a few generations ago, they're just Americans. They're Irish-Americans and Russian-Americans, but they stay here, just become assimilated into the culture. Even if they maintain their religious beliefs, they're just Americans.

To be scattered around the world, to be a diverse people with diverse beliefs and yet scattered around the world and still be preserved as a people is the hand of God. Because God said, I will scatter you, but I will regather you.

Listen, friends, the integrity of God is on the line in terms of Israel. Israel is a physical, tangible entity. The Jewish people are a physical, tangible entity. And if the devil could successfully wipe out the Jewish people, then that would make God into a liar.

Aside from his covenant promises and his covenant love to his people, his reputation is at stake. And I don't know how he could say it any more clearly, no matter what you do, you will not cease to be a people before me.

As long as there's sun and moon and stars, until you can figure out the size of the heavens and the depth of the earth, and you can analyze all this and so on, until you can measure it all out, they're going to be there, period.

Now you say, it's true, but God has transferred his promises. Friends, then he's a liar. Then he's a forked tongue God. You know what that's like? You come and sign a contract with me. You buy a piece of real estate from me.

You pay the money for it. And I say, this is yours, period. And then you come a month later to claim it. And I said, oh, I just transferred it to someone else. That's acceptable. That's fine, right? Friends, when God speaks something this clearly, it's so that there'll be no doubt about it whatsoever.

And not only did he say it about the people, he said it about the land. Look in Psalm 105. And I wonder how God could have made it any more clear than he makes it. Psalm 105, let's start in verse eight.

He remembers his covenant forever. The word he commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant.

To you, I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit. Isn't this interesting? Look at all the terms used here. First, it's called his covenant. The word he commanded. The covenant he made.

The oath he swore. Confirmed as a decree. Everlasting covenant. Look at the length of it. He remembers it forever. It's for a thousand generations. It's everlasting. I'm going to give you the land as your inheritance.

You say, what if Israel sinned? Then God would scatter them from the land. And what if they repented? He would bring them back. And what if he didn't repent? According to Ezekiel 36, the time could come when even if the Jewish people would not repent, he would still bring them back because of his namesake.

Because people would be mocking him and the name of God would be blasphemed daily because of the Israelites being scattered from their land. And therefore, even in their unbelief, he would bring them back.

You can find that in Ezekiel 36. You say, but Israel has changed. When God spoke about Israel in the Old Testament, he was talking about one group. But now in the New Testament, he is talking about a different group.

Then I say again, then God is a four-tongued God. Then his promises have no relevance and no meaning. If I say to you, now listen, God has spoken to me to take care of your family and your children and your children's children down to the hundredth generation.

We're going to put money in accounts and designate things in contracts. No matter what you do and no matter what your descendants do, no matter what your offspring does, we are going to continue to have a fund for them so that they can live and be supported for the rest of their lives.

No matter what you do. And then your kid comes along and my son doesn't like your son. And he says, dad, we'll keep the promise. We'll keep the promise to the Kilpatrick family. I was going to say Smith or Jones or Brown, but that's too common.

We'll keep this promise to the Kilpatrick family. But why don't we just change who the Kilpatricks are? We'll say that what we'll do is we'll bring Lendl here and we'll change his kids' names to Kilpatrick and we'll just keep our promises.

We won't break our promise. We'll just change who the people are. You say that's ridiculous. That's absurd. That's crazy. Do you know people actually claim God has done that? He made promises to Israel and said, no matter what you do, I'm going to keep these promises, period.

I will punish you. I will discipline you, but I will not pull back my covenant. It's made and it's forever. And then when Israel sinned, God said, well, because you sinned, I'm going to keep my covenant, but with somebody else.

Friends, if that's the kind of God you serve, don't be too sure about the New Testament either because God may decide to change that. You know what Muslims believe? Muslims believe that the Quran is the final and the greatest testament.

And if a Muslim comes along and quotes Quran and quotes this and that and says it's the greatest final testament, you say, no, there's nothing beyond this. There's nothing beyond this word that's written here.

This is the final word from God, period. How could you say it? Because it's written. But what would a Jewish person do? The same thing. You come along and say, well, according to my understanding of the scriptures, according to the New Testament, the church has now replaced Israel and made null and void all these promises during the Hebrew Bible.

Israel, the Land, and Modern Political Questions

That Jew would have the right to react to you the same way as you'd react to a Muslim. If God said it, if God spoke it, if it's written, he doesn't go back on it. He doesn't change it, period. Now, it doesn't mean that there's a simple solution to all the current problems in the Middle East.

There's a whole lot more behind the scenes that goes on than you may be aware of. And if the only thing you know about the Middle East is what you hear through most of the secular media, friends, you're getting a distorted picture.

Have you ever followed major pro-life rallies in the secular media? You know, 200 ,000 people show up in Washington, DC to protest the Roe versus Wade decision. And it gets buried. The report of it gets buried on page 15 of the newspaper and comes at the end of the broadcast on television.

And then what they'll do is they'll interview one pro-lifer and four out of the 50 pro-abortion people that were there. They'll interview them and you'll get this idea that there was this big turnout of pro-abortion people as well as some pro-life people.

And then if you have, say, a homosexual march on DC, it's front page everywhere. It's the biggest event that ever happened. It's the exact same way with Israel. And I remember in a public dialogue I had, I was invited to the special dinner by a wealthy friend in New York.

It was $1 ,000 a plate dinner. McDonald's was better than the food they served there. But the main thing, there was going to be a public forum and dialogue. And Dan Rather was the moderator and Henry Kissinger was one of the speakers.

And the other speaker was Fuad Ajami, a Middle East specialist professor originally from Lebanon. And they had a wonderful dialogue discussion. It was really excellent. And then they had a time for questions.

So actually, I got to ask the very first questions. I had a question for Henry Kissinger. And a question for Fuad Ajami. And then I wanted to press the issue a little bit about why, if there's no such thing as a Palestinian people, which Fuad Ajami said, there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.

You go back several generations, no one knew there was such a thing as a Palestinian people. These were Arab peoples of different backgrounds. Some of them lived in what was called Palestine. And I said, if there's no such thing as a Palestinian people, why doesn't the media tell us?

I was pressing a point. And Dan Rather took exception and said, I'd like to answer that head on. And he gave one part of his answer. And then he gave the other part of his answer. He said, like it or not, Israel is held to a different standard.

Like it or not, Israel is held to a different standard. It's the only democracy in the Middle East. And it's held to a different standard. And the Lebanese professor said, listen, Iraq uses nerve gas on its own people.

And you hear about it years later. Israel uses tear gas. And the world's in an uproar. Listen, and not all Palestinians are bad. And not all Israelis are good. And there's a lot of injustice on both sides.

And there are difficult issues to work through, OK? I'm not insensitive to that. I have dear friends of mine who work among so-called Palestinian people. I have dear friends who work with Arab Christian leaders in Israel.

I have dear friends working for reconciliation within the land. I'm not just making this a simple black-white issue. I am saying that God promised the land to the Jewish people and that no one has the right to negotiate it away.

But there are lots of issues to be answered and dealt with in the midst of this. But I just want you to consider something. Recently, the Palestinian Authority decreed it as law that if any Arab landowner sells property to Jews, this is living in Israel, any Arab landowner sells property to Jews, he will be executed.

And several have been killed already, kidnapped, shot in the head, bludgeoned to death. And this is official policy. Do you understand that? Official policy. In fact, Israel recently rescued somebody that had been kidnapped and was going to be killed, a landowner.

Is there an international outcry over it? Does the UN Security Council call for a special session to condemn Israel? No. And I deal with a lot of examples of that, and our hands are stained with blood from recent history.

Think, though, if Israel announced it has now passed a law, any Jew in Israel selling land to a Palestinian or to an Arab will be executed. Can you picture the world outcry that would come as a result of that?

Now, again, listen, understand me. Israelis are lost sinners who need Jesus. You have a small minority that is militantly orthodox, and most of those people are militantly opposed to the gospel. Some of them are very sincere and gracious and studious people seeking to live a godly life, but not recognizing the true Messiah and the true way to God.

Others are corrupt and will do anything they can to stop Jewish believers in Jesus. And the bulk of the nation is just a secular, unsaved, materialistic nation. You know, you can go over and, oh, oh, Israel.

I have a burden for Israel. You know, the joke we have about that is, well, then go live with our Jewish people in Brooklyn for a year or in Tel Aviv for a year and see how deep your burden is. We continue, to this day, to be what scripture calls om k'she oref, a stiff-necked people.

So I am not glorifying the Jewish people or glorifying Israel or saying it's wonderful. What I am saying is God made promises to a people that was a stiff-necked people, to a people that failed, to a people that sinned, just like many of us can relate to having promises made to us in spite of being stiff-necked and sinful and often failing.

And God said, it's by my grace that I'm making this promise. It's not by your works. If you sin, you will be disciplined and punished. But my covenant with you is everlasting, period. And I will keep you, and I will preserve you, and I will bring you back to the land.

And I have not replaced you with somebody else. You get to heaven, and you stand before God. And he says, no, you don't make it in. But Lord, my name's written in the book of life. Yeah, but I replaced you with somebody else.

It doesn't work like that. I'm just trying to bring it to a level where you have to wrestle with verses like these in Jeremiah and Psalms that make it emphatic and clear. You say, but wait a second. Paul himself said the church replaced Israel.

No, he didn't, friend. Go to Romans, the ninth chapter. And I've got some encouraging news for you. In fact, if I have the time, I'm going to tell you what happened in Korea over a period of years that just blew me away.

Romans, the ninth chapter, verse six. It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. In other words, there is a natural Israel, but there is also a spiritual Israel.

Nor because they are his descendants, are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.

For this was how the promise was stated at the appointed time, I will return and Sarah will have a son. And he goes on and expands on that. What he's saying is this. Within the nation of Israel, there are only some who are children of the promise and receive the spiritual blessing.

Within the children of Israel. He is not saying Israel is no longer Israel and all Gentiles who believe in Jesus have become Israel. He's not saying that. Let me try and illustrate it like this for you.

And I don't want to get anyone upset who for their entire believing life has been happy to call themselves a spiritual Jew, but it's really not a scriptural term. Romans 2, when Paul's talking about who is a real Jew, who's a real spiritual Jew, he's talking about between two Jews, okay?

One of whom has been circumcised in the heart and the flesh and the other one who's only been circumcised in the flesh. Which one is the spiritual Jew? Let me illustrate it like this for you. Let's say you have two Africans and an American.

The American is a believer in Jesus. One of the Africans is an idol worshiper. The other African is a believer in Jesus. Which of those is the spiritual African? Is that a difficult question? Which of those is the true right with God African?

Not the American because he believes in Jesus, is he? Does he become an African by believing in Jesus? No. Does the African become an American by believing in Jesus? No. So here you have a Gentile believer in Jesus, a Gentile who does not believe in Jesus, and a Jew who believes in Jesus.

Which one is the spiritual Jew? Well, obviously the Jew who believes in Jesus. Exactly. What Paul is saying within the Jewish people, there are those who are Jewish in spirit also who are believers. Within Israel, there are those who are the children of the promise.

But you go through Romans 9, 10, 11. Nowhere does he address the Romans, the Gentile believers. And Gentile here is not a dirty word. It's the people of the nations. It can be a wonderful word. In fact, Abraham was told that his own offspring would be...

How many of you know the Hebrew Jewish word for Gentile? Any of you know it? Boy, we are in the South. Goy, thank you. And the Gentiles called Goyim. But it's not a dirty word. God said to Abraham, I'm going to make your offspring a great Goy.

Great nation. So the people of the nations, Gentiles. Sometimes the New Testament can refer to Gentiles in a disparaging way. Godless, sinful people. Don't live like the Gentiles live. But for the most part, it just means the people of the nations.

You read Romans 9, 10, 11, and Paul says to the Romans, he said, look, I'm speaking to you Gentiles about my people, Israel. He's not saying you have become my people, Israel. No. The saved people of Israel and the saved people among the nations together make up the church.

But when you get saved, a Jew doesn't become a Gentile any more than a Gentile becomes a Jew. He said, well, that frustrates me because I have my identity in being a spiritual Jew. Friend, have your identity in being a child of God.

With Jesus as your Lord. If there's different blood running in your veins, what does that matter, friend? I'll have people come and say, you know, I found back 11 generations that there may be Jewish blood in my aunt's cousins.

God bless you, man. But if there's Jewish blood in your mom and dad and your own veins, it's not going to change your standing with God. But there are purposes that God has for Israel and there are purposes that God has for the nations.

And together, the whole body is one. But God has not replaced his Jewish people. First thing, the church has not replaced Israel. Of course, there's much more to say on any of these things. I hate to just point you to a book, but I deal with these things in much greater depth and our hands are stained with blood.

But just understand that first foundation. Second simple point. It is right and fitting that every believer should have a burden for the salvation of the Jewish people. I'm going to give you the prophetic side to it in a moment.

But I just want you to take hold of this. I know that most of you that have come here to the revival already have a love for Israel and the Jewish people, have some sense either clearly through the scripture or through your own relationship with God that God has a purpose for the Jewish people.

You know that. And as much as most Jews, traditional Jews and rabbis think that Christians are anti-semitic because of what's happened in church history, the fact of the matter is around the world I've seen this where I meet Christians who say, before I was saved, I didn't like Jews.

Before I was saved, I couldn't care less about Israel. The moment I got saved, God gave me a love for the Jewish people. Or as I followed Jesus, I've gotten this deep love for the Jewish people. I see the opposite.

Church history has been filled with ugly anti-semitism with hatred of the Jews in Jesus name. I tell the rabbis and traditional Jewish friends, I wish you could come around the world with me and see the phenomenal love that the true church has for the Jewish people.

But let's change things a little bit. There are some people who the moment they hear a message on Israel, the moment they hear, you should pray for Israel. They're like, well, who are you to tell me to pray for Israel?

What makes Israel any different? I pray for this nation and this nation. I've got a heart for missions. I've got a heart for the whole church. You can't tell me to pray for Israel. And I remind you, this is not my standard message.

I've been here over a year speaking day in, day out. I haven't spoken on this yet. It's not like this is my little fixation. You can go get all my books. There's one on the church and the Jewish people.

But some people still react. You can't tell me I should have a burden for Israel. Let me just talk to you from the heart for a minute here. Let's change things. Let's change the picture. Let's say that Jesus was not a Jew, that Jerusalem was not the holy city, biblical times, that the people of Israel were not the chosen nation.

Let's make it all Italian. That's all right with you, brother? All right. We'll make it Italian. God chose the Italian people. And the holy city was Rome, of course. And the Savior's mom, Maria, and Giuseppe, father that raised him, Gesu, not Yeshua, Gesu, came into the world, came to his own Italian people, taught them, instructed them.

They followed him in mass, but then they turned on him. And he took his few chosen Italian disciples. Some of them went on later and wrote Gospels. Those that weren't some of the original 12, some of them went on and wrote Gospels, Luca, Marco.

Some of his other disciples, Matteo. Look, I've preached in Italy 11 times. You pick up little things here and there, you know. And he takes these men, he pours his heart out to them. And he says, look, our people are rejecting me.

Our Italian people, they're rejecting me. And I'm choosing you to take this message to the ends of the earth. And Rome, our city is going to be destroyed and the temple is going to be destroyed. And our people are going to be scattered all over the earth.

And everyone else is going to receive this message, but only a few of our people will. And I will return here one day, but not until my Italian people welcome me back to my home city and my home country.