Sermon "What will befall you in the latter days?" by Rick Shabi, August 21, 2021

you know anymore a lot happens it seems from day to day and it's been only two weeks since i've been here but a lot has happened in the world since i was here last you probably have been listening to the news much more than i have over the last couple weeks as as i haven't had access to news you know every every single evening but i hear enough to know what's going on and as usual some momentous things have happened we do live in a time where things rapidly change we do live in a time that's unique and different than all the times you know that we have lived before and while there's times where i think i would like to give a different sermon i feel like i would be remiss if i don't call our attention to what is going on in the world and what it portends for the world and for us and what we need to do about it so let me just talk about two of the notable things that have happened in the last two weeks i've been i've been gone one of them is is something that we've become very familiar with over the last year and a half and that's this coronavirus you know it has it has dominated our lives it has dominated our news sometimes dominates our conversations and and our behavior what is going on and we've seen it go from one thing last winter to bring us into lockdowns and face masks and all the controversies that can come that have have arisen from that we've gone from one to now a delta variant and we've seen very many changes in our in our society we have something that i'm not going to call the v word i'm going to call it an injection you know what i'm talking about um you know that has also befallen us and there's been a lot of controversy and discussion over that in the news media and among among people it has it has you know some say it's the absolute savior for mankind others are very leery and very much against it i won't comment either way there are studies that are out there as i mentioned in a in a sermon not too long ago we can find a study to support anything we want these days it is us that needs to be led by god and directed by him so that we're doing his will but we can see that what's going on you know with that we can see some of the government controls that have been put in place as a result of that and we you know here as as we look at statistics hear stories read the things that are going on around the world that now there may be a third shot that has to be done that begs a lot of questions and a lot of things that needs to happen on how effective how necessary you know as i've been listening the last couple weeks and even before i left i keep my ears open for the next variant because this coronavirus is something that may well be with us for the rest for us of time it just seems to have life of its own and it is ever it's ever changing and ever reinventing itself mutating as they would say before i left i heard about this one new variant called the lambda variant there's a couple others out there but this lambda variant is out there and as i checked into it yesterday and heard something about it out of a florida report on our way home i looked at it and see that you know in south america and latin america this lambda variant seems to be flourishing just two days ago it was posted that in miami florida the lamb the variant is now nine percent of the cases that have been reported in miami it's also in california and texas and other states and as just like the delta variant you know when we heard about it and how widespread would it be you know the slam the variant seems to be and the who and the cdc has caused cause uh called it a variant of concern you know the land of the variant is different there's a few doctors who have posted about it about the experience that they've had in peru where it seems to be very prevalent and in latin america and they say as opposed to the delta variant it's more contagious more deadly and the thing that they're finding is that the vaccine likely does not prevent the lambda variant so other vaccines are in the work works you know we hear all these things and we wonder all these things we hear about variant upon variant we hear about variants and rumors of variants and if you keep your ears open and watch what the news is and look at it you see a world that is in total chaos total confusion one thing happening or another and there is no answer they want to say there is an answer this is the answer if you don't take it you're the fault we need to be listening to what's going on and we need to be watching on what's going on you know as i just watch what's going on not making a judgment on one way or the other what's going on with these variants reminds me of something that god wrote back in deuteronomy 28 let's go back there in the book of deuteronomy sometimes we don't turn back to deuteronomy in the books of moses for prophecy but there is prophecy back here in in leviticus and deuteronomy in deuteronomy 28 god inspired moses to write a very lengthy prophecy about what would happen to the physical nation of israel if they would follow his commandments if they would yield to him if they would follow his principles and trust in him and completely yield to him that he would have them ride the high heels of the earth he would bless them they would always be prosperous he would protect them from all the things that could harm them but he tells them in verse 28 if we look at at um well let's see what verse we want to go to here verse 14 deuteronomy 28 says if you so you shall not turn aside from any of the words which i command you to the right or to the left to go after other gods to serve them but it shall come to pass if you don't obey the voice of the lord your god to observe carefully all his commandments and his statutes which i command you today all these curses will come upon you and overtake you if we drop down to verse 20 the lord when we depart from god when we do things our own way the lord will send on you cursing confusion and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken me the lord will make the plague clean to you until he has consumed you from the land you are going to possess he will strike you with consumption with fever with inflammation with severe burning fever with the sword with scorching and with mildew they shall pursue you until you perish all these things that god says will come upon his people if they turn from him if they forsake him if they leave him behind and turn after other gods and serve them rather than him now remember as we read in prophecy about physical israel we do know that physical israel went into captivity and we have records of how israel went into captivity and some of the things we've read about we don't see happening to israel at that time when they went into their first captivity we know where physical israel is today we know that god is still aware of physical israel and there are prophecies that says when jesus christ returns he will bring physical israel back from the places that they are scattered around the world he still loves the descendants of abraham even though they have departed from him so there's physical israel and you and i live in a part of physical israel we know that we know that we know where the descendants of abraham are today so as we live in a land that we see as departing more and more actually has departed more and more from god over the last several decades when moses recorded this prophecy about what will happen if you depart from god we can see those words coming to life around us exactly what god said we can begin seeing if we drop down even further in verse 28 it says the lord the eternal will strike you with madness you know that's mental instability he will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart and i heard some commentator as we were driving yesterday and he made the comment that the world is just a confused place anymore he wasn't a right wing or a left wing actually i don't know what wing he was but it's just the world that's just confused you don't know which way to turn you know god is not the author of confusion when we're following god we know exactly the way to do and when you see confusion you know it's not the way of god we know we've said this you know before in sermons this is a world that's not under the sway of god this is a world that is under the sway of satan and trusting in the world and its comments and in its ways and in its verdicts and edicts maybe something we want to think about and discern as we talked about a few weeks ago what is good what is right what is god's way and what is not god's way that's for all of us individually to work with him on but here he tells us you know there's going to be a time when you depart from god there's going to be confusion there's going to be strife there's going to be madness there's going to be mental instability all these things are going to come upon a nation all these diseases that are going to be there all these traumas that are going to be there all these things and we look around our world today and we know we know that we have all sorts of medicines for all sorts of these ailments that befall everyone mental physical emotional you name it confusion which way do i turn what do i do who do i believe it's all there exactly what god said would happen we don't have record of that happening in ancient israel they went into captivity as assyria captured them but as we'll see these prophecies that moses recorded are for the latter days are for the latter days as well as for israel um as they would go into captivity so we see these things around us you know and we we can look at we can look at deuteronomy and see some things in there that kind of point us to where we are today but let's go back to the book of amos as well amos is of course a prophecy that was fulfilled when ancient israel was taken into captivity but there are elements elements of it that show it is a prophecy for the end time as well it's crystal clear that it's a latter days prophecy when we look at amos 5 and verse 18 we see god turn to amos 5 amos 5 and verse 18 god gives israel kind of a puzzle if you will they are searching for something they're trying to grasp for something here's the answer i've been looking for now if the answer is from god it's a sure thing if the answer is not from god he kind of highlights it here in these verses amos 5 18 he says woe to you who desire the day of the lord that are looking for the return of jesus christ for what good is the day of the lord to you it'll be darkness and not light it will be as though a man fled from a lion and a bear met him he's going to think i got away from that one i clamped onto that but oh i turned the corner and there it is i was caught anyway i didn't have the answer i didn't have the answer i didn't flee from what i was running from but here's his bear that met me or zoe went into the house leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him no safety no surety no certainty in the world when we look to the world there is no certainty there is only confusion the only certainty in life is god and as we look at the coronavirus and the various rumors about the various variants that are out there what happens as soon as one may get under control another one is there and as we watch the world around us and hear the things around us because this is the first time in our lifetimes there's been a global occurrence of this this is not just an isolated thing this is something that's happening through the whole thing there is only one answer and you and i god's people need to know what that answer is we find it in second chronicles second chronicles seven second chronicles 7 and verse 14. now solomon has completed the house for god god is dwelling in that house god is moved by the prayer of sincerity that solomon has prayed to him god says this now remember god dwells with us today he's here he dwells in us we're his temple individually we're his temple collectively if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then i will hear from heaven then i will forgive their sin and heal their land only one way plagues can stop only one way pestilences can stop and that's by turning to god it's the one thing the world will not do it's the one thing you and i should do and keep in mind if my people you know there's a key in healing there as well not just from the variants that are out there but even our illnesses if my people who know my name will turn from their way if they will seek my face if they will do what i command them to do then i will forgive then i will heal sometimes we think i think we might think oh we'll just ask god to heal and he should just automatically heal us but there is something we learn as we ask for god's healing and something that he wants us to do he will be faithful to heal but just like we heard in the sermonette when we're doing god's will when we are committed his his will and doing his will fully he'll hear he'll answer prayers and he will he will heal us he will heal our land and he will give us the direction that we need well one of the things out of this pandemic that we've experienced has been you know the government control that's been imposed and we've talked about that you know we had a lockdown several months ago a year ago we have all these mandates from the government and i know as i as i was away you know there's certain cities that have begun to put some teeth behind the injection and the medicine that they they want you to take as they tout it as the savior the savior that'll save us from this this uh time that we're in and that if you don't do it if you don't take it you're not going to be able to go to restaurants you're not going to be able to go to the entertainment places you're not going to be able to do any of those things that that we've been accustomed to do again it's the first time in our lifetimes we've seen anything like that happen and as we're looking at what is going on and what is happening in our society we as god's people should have a foresight we should be able to see the end from the beginning because things happen just not overnight but little by little things enter into society little by little things come about that will change our thinking that will try to get us to yield to something other than god all these things we hear about going on you know airline trail all the things that we might not be able to do right now is talked about because there's pushback by it i personally don't think that talk will end i think that those things will continue to increase because the bible talks about a time when that type of governmental authority is extant upon the earth let's go to revelation 13 revelation 13 and you know exactly what goes on in revelation 13 is it talks about the beast's power and the little beast that rides the beast in verse 15 talks about the beast that will have people bow down to the beast verse 15 he was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed bow down to him if you don't bow down to him you could be killed he causes all verse 16 both small and great rich and poor free and slave to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name well that kind sounds familiar now right well you're not going to be able to buy you're not going to be able to go here you can't go to this restaurant you can't go to this museum you can't do this you can't do that unless unless you take a shot here's wisdom let him who is understanding calculate the number of the beast versus the number of a man his number is 666. so we know there's a time coming we've known it ever since we've been in the church that there will be a time of governmental authority where this will happen it has to start somewhere it has to start some way society has to become conditioned to it and society has to has to move in that direction as we look at the world around us and we discern the times as we see the buds as on the trees beginning to bloom what is the time that we're in where is it leading to where should the people of god be having their attention and paying attention to what's going on you know some people don't like to hear prophecy some people don't want to hear those things and they are can be difficult difficult to hear some of the things that the bible says that jesus christ himself says but that all the the prophets have spoken of but god didn't give prophecy to us just to scare us he gave us prophecy to motivate us he gave us prophecy so that we are aware of the times that's coming what we need to do that we need to become closer to him more zealous toward him putting our trust more in him putting our faith more in him not going the opposite way but going toward him as we see the day approaching not running from him not counting more on the world than god but putting our faith in him examining ourselves catching ourselves thinking about what we're doing and seeing where god's will is as he leads us through his holy spirit if we drop down to chapter 14 and verse 9 we see that this mark of the beast that will be there at the end time says the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice if anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand he himself will drink of the wine of the wrath of god which has poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb and the spoke of their torment ascends forever and ever and notice they have no rest they are night who worship the beast in his image and whoever receives the mark of his name god's warning this is a time that will come we are going to be faced with that we are going to have to say no to that no matter what the personal cost to us is that's what god says of his people remember whose world it is what does satan want he wants to destroy you he wants to destroy me he wants to destroy the plan of god he will do whatever he can and use whatever means he can to separate us from god your not your and my job is to stay close to god be led by his holy spirit that no matter what happens we would follow god we need to take the opportunities to be building that faith take the opportunities to be building that trust and looking at him squarely in the eye and asking him to give us the strength as that day comes revelation 15 verse 2. talking as we go through chapter 14 talking about the first fruits i saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire and those who have the victory over the beast over him his image and over his mark and over the number of his name the victory over his image over his mark over the number of his name standing on the sea of glass having harps of god those will be the ones who will be there the ones who resist the ones who resist the bark and are able to discern between what is of god and what is of man and learning to choose man's way looking to god as savior and not the world as savior because god and jesus christ are our saviors they are our deliverers they shield they protect they guide and as we follow them and their whole the holy spirit that god puts in us that's the way to the kingdom of god so we can look at all this that's going on around us and likely to heat up even more in the weeks and months ahead as a new variant occurs and new things happen in the world and we're told this and that and what we need to do and here's how you do that or whatever it is pay attention to it pay attention to it and remember what the bible says let god let god lead you you know i have a note here you know as um i have a note here that shadrach meshach and abidnago lived in times that we were that we are headed toward right they lived in similar times they didn't worry about their heads being cut off or thrown or daniel thrown into a lion's pit or the fire burning them they learn to trust god well that's one thing the other thing you know that that happened that was of note just this past week is what happened in afghanistan you know there are watershed moments in history and the united states and america and and really the world has had a number of watershed moments in the last couple years things that will change life forever for all of us and for everyone around the world we've talked about a couple of them i mean we had the pandemic happen in 2020 it's continuing into 2021 but afghanistan and what happened there is another watershed moment in history you've probably well you haven't you haven't been paying attention you haven't been awake if you haven't seen the pictures of what went on in afghanistan and and pictures that will be in our minds of of jets and these huge airbuses rolling as people are clinging to it and wanting to get out of a situation that has developed so tremendously quickly it was an embarrassment for the united states if there's been one thing in the last two or three or four or five years that the media seems to agree on is what happened in afghanistan was a debacle and it changes things forever it changes things forever a couple of things happened happened to that time one of them we can you know we can go back to leviticus 26 another prophecy for the end time that god talks about foreign nation on the people who depart from him another one given to moses that's recorded here and it has a fairly accurate i guess accurate we'll see as time goes on timeline but in leviticus 26 it's another blessings and cursings chapter god talks as he introduces the chapter if you obey me this is what's going to happen but if you turn from me this is what will happen israel this is this is the this is the price for turning from me let's pick it up in chapter where i mean verse 26 and verse 14. if you don't obey me if you don't observe these commandments if you despise my statutes or if your soul abhors my judgments so that you don't perform all my commandments but break my covenant i will do this to you i will even appoint terror over you now one of the spectacles of afghanistan is the taliban i mean it was kind of amazing the power that the taliban had as the united states was still there in afghanistan and they were able to march through that country and basically without any kind of resistance at all just take over that country you look at the taliban you look at them they just look like they're not the people you want having living next door to you right i mean as you see the people their reaction in afghanistan i think they know what the taliban is about this is not a you know remade kinder gentler taliban as i've heard some commentators say this is the same old taliban that russia fought against that the united states has spent 20 years trying to hold off and literally in a matter of a week and a week in a few days they've taken over a country and in a fashion that no one could have foreseen coming and there's already reports of what they're doing as they go as they go door to door terror has made a comeback in the world for the last few years there has not been much talk about outside international terror terror is back and it's back with the vengeance so you know god says when you depart from me israel i will appoint terror over you already there's talk about you know the people that have been set free the masterminds behind that takeover and what it means for the world even type generals this morning are making the comment that yes afghanistan could well be the new terror bed of the world and it happened on our watch the world is not a the world is a much more dangerous place today as a result of what we didn't do so in verse 16 god says if you do this i'll point terror over you and i'll point wasting disease and fever going on in verse 16 which will consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart you will sow your seed in vain for your enemies shall eat it i will set my face against you you'll be defeated by your enemies those who hate you shall reign over you and you shall flee when no one perceives you and after all this if you don't owe me i'll punish you seven times more for your sins verse 19 i will break the pride of your power america's power and the pride in it fell apart last week no longer will the world look at us in the same way that they did before as they washed and as we all washed what unfolded on tv and as we saw what happened the america that we have come to know and the mystique of america that has kept people at bay for decades since world war ii melted melted it disappeared in that last week god god said what would happen and we're beginning to see that just the beginning just the beginning of things that god said would come that he said through moses that he said through the other prophets as well that we'll talk about a little later if we go back to deuteronomy 28 or forward to deuteronomy 28 where we were before you know one of the things that struck me as you know as was pointed out on the news briefs that i saw was you know not only did we flee and leave all these people behind and just kind of abandon abandon uh everything we also left a good number of high-priced weaponry behind that was intended for the afghan army but not armory but now is in the hands of the enemy and so what our intentions were is that we would have all this armament there to safeguard that land didn't see this coming and now someone else has what we intended for us and there's really no way we're going to get it back deuteronomy 28 talks about this whole way of things that that happen when we might do one things and then someone else takes over and and what we what we might plan we never see the benefit of deuteronomy 28 first thought verse 30 talks about taking a wife okay now let's just read through verses 30 and 31 you shall betro the wife but another man shall lie with her you'll build a house but you won't dwell in it you'll plant a vineyard but shall not gather its grapes your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes you shall not eat of it your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you and shall not be restored to you your sheep shall be given to your enemies and you shall have no one to rescue them well that's wives and livestock and all our material things and those would be awful enough but it's the concept you will do these things but someone else will use them and that's what we see happening over there all this all these things all this weaponry that were designed for one use but now the enemy has his hands on it over and over again as you keep your eyes open to the world you see what god said would happen to a nation that departs from him what happened i make no mistake we can look at america's history and we can see that they have continually and constantly departed from god we all know unless we've had our eyes closed that america was founded on a belief in god and a belief in the bible as god allowed they them our founding fathers to understand the bible they paid attention to it they understood the moral laws as god opened them to do and they believed in god and the constitution that we have was built on that we have presidents who are making who made comments down through the through the ages that we repeat often as we come to thanksgiving and other times that shows a faith in god and they know this land was richly blessed in 1945 there's books written on it secular books not just by the church that talk about god's blessing that came and how the world the united states became the zenith of power as a result that went on in world war ii as god's hand was clearly involved in the events that led to the victory in that war and god blessed the nation tremendously continues to bless it that even today we are still the richest nation on earth there is no one that compares no nation ever that is compared to america god did all those blessings but slowly but surely america has turned away from god just as god warned them not to you know go back to 1962 what they what the supreme court did it says no longer is there school sanctioned prayer take god out of that it was followed up but we don't want any more displays of the ten commandments anywhere get god out of our lives in 1972 abortion was legalized legal killing was was was there a departure from god and all that he stands for you go through the 70s and 80s and you see just moral depravity and a sexual revolution that led the people to become a totally different people all restraints were taken off and society became totally different than it was in the 60s and 70s not that it was perfect back then and before the 60s but the revolution changed the way we think changed the way we look at things forever today we don't even blink an eye when we hear that a man and woman are living together before they're married in the 60s and 70s we would have shaken our head and thought whoa that's really bold that's a step against god today it's commonplace and other things that i won't even mention that today are commonplace as we have we have become accustomed to them you come down through 2015 and you see the supreme court legalizing same-sex marriage an abomination to god one of those abominations you know over in deuteronomy or deuteronomy 28 over in deuteronomy 32 and verse 16. know as israel as israel departs from god and god watches them and god is patient and god gives plenty of time to turn back to him both for physical israel and for you and me because his will is that no one would perish but that we would turn back to him and third deuteronomy 32 verse 16 it says they israel provoked god to jealousy with foreign gods with abominations they provoked him to anger abominations is a strong word we've talked about abominations before and it would bear a refresher study on your part if you think of abominations as being this horrific horrific thing that defies the imagination because the world around us is filled with the abominations that god himself calls abominations in leviticus 11 he gives he gives the instruction on clean and unclean meats he said that those who eat unclean meats are an abomination to him does that surprise you that's an abomination to god that we would defy his health laws and go against what he had to say as you look into leviticus 18 god talks about people who are worshiping other gods bowing down to them whatever they say to do we will do looking at the nations around them and doing and following that rather than looking to him for guidance rather than seeking his will following what he wants to do you can go to the book of proverbs 20 different verses in proverbs talk about abominations we'd bear be worth your study to go back and look at that in proverbs 6 16 alone seven abominations might surprise you what those abominations are included in them is is perversity perverted actions turning from god taking what he set for humanity and doing their own things again you'd have to have your head buried in the sand you'd have to be soundly asleep if you didn't know that the world today is so far away from god and so much farther away from god than it was even 10 or 15 years ago and even five and six years ago as god watches a nation that continually moves further and further in him legalizing and really even encouraging things that are the antithesis of what god has given us to do that's the land we live in 2015 was there we can go on and look at you know 2020 we talked about besides the pandemic in 2020 we had what do we have in the summer that year we had race riots we had a talk of lawlessness people saying we don't want anyone doing this or that we don't want anyone supervising us get away with all the laws and we have violence that we have not seen in this country before and it continues and it is continuing around the world with that society changed forever the thoughts the ideas that make no sense that have no logic that came out of that time changed this country forever it divided people it was a political divide that was never foreseen we've seen the government controls we see a disparate country that is confused and divided so hopelessly it cannot be put together again by man it would only take the return of jesus christ to ever bring people back to the unity that he wants us to have and then in 2021 we have afghanistan and the power the power of america broken when jesus christ said wars and rumors of wars and those would increase as time goes on what is in the future for america what are our enemies thinking today what when you look at daniel 11 what about those powers that the bible clearly talks about will be extant at the time of the end what are they thinking as they watch and have played out for them an america they never saw coming at least not this quickly at least not this quickly when god acts he acts he acts quickly well there are amazing prophecies about israel and as we live in a time where we see some of those things coming about it does us well to rehearse what is going on because if we're not asleep i remember christ warned us don't sleep stay awake how do you stay awake you look what's going on in the world you compare it to bible prophecy you don't lull yourself to sleep thinking things are going to go on as they always have it's going to go back to the way it was this can't be the end time this can't be the beginning of sorrows that jesus christ talked about that puts you totally asleep be aware of what's going on only god knows when the time comes but when we look at times when we see what the bible says it is time for us to wake up it is time for us to grow closer to god it is time to examine ourselves and to not run toward the world but to run toward him and more carefully diligently and earnestly obey him so you know we we read prophecies throughout the bible oftentimes we'll turn to isaiah isaiah says a lot about the end time jeremiah says a lot about the end time ezekiel and daniel say a lot about the end time jesus christ himself said a lot about the end time and certainly in revelation inspired by god and jesus christ tells us a lot about the end time as we go through the bible we see that god lets us know let's us know what is going to happen if we're awake if we're paying attention if we're using prophecy not to scare us and and to render us inactive but we're using prophecy as a stimulus to grow closer to god understanding that his will is that we live into his kingdom that his will is that we survive that his will is that we use the holy spirit follow the holy spirit to become who he wants to be he wants to be and have our vision on that time when christ returns and the time when the earth will again flourish will again be whole will again have the peace and safety it can never achieve apart from jesus christ one of those prophets one of those prophets is mos is um yeah moses let's turn to deuteronomy 34. deuteronomy 34. we know as as moses wrote and spoke what we know is the book of deuteronomy he recounted for physical israel what god had done for them he encouraged them follow god don't turn from him but god also told him what was going to happen to israel and he knew some of what that was in deuteronomy 34 and verse 10 as god is telling moses you know he's not going to live and he's going to be taken he's going to die in verse 10 god says this as part of moses's epitaph he's a friend as we heard in the sermonette but since then there has not arisen in israel a prophet like moses whom the lord knew face to face now a prophet is one who teaches god's way instructs in god's way but also god will show what the future will be jesus christ was the foremost prophet he taught god's way he told us you command all people to teach or teach all people to observe the things i commanded to you but he also gave us prophecy he told us in the olivet prophecy exactly the order of the things that would happen leading from leading to his return we we read that more in revelation we can go back to the old testament and see the prophets of old all were focused on the same thing the kingdom of god and how it would come about as you look at those prophecies they all match up moses was a prophet just like isaiah just like jeremiah just like ezekiel just like john the baptist not a prophet like him god said since this time and moses wrote some amazing things if we go back one chapter in chapter 33 we see some of the things that moses wrote and indeed as you look in the last five or six from chapter 28 through 34 of deuteronomy you see it is a prophecy that is god is giving for the physical nation of israel and a lot of what is happening today is there in those prophecies and later we're not going to have time to get to it today we will see the other prophets fill in the blanks if you will for what moses wrote in here and we'll see a clear picture of where life is going or a clearer picture as clear a picture as god wants us to have today in chapter 33 chapter 33 in verse 1 says this is the blessing with which moses the man of god blessed the children of israel before his death and he said the eternal came from sinai and dawned on them from seer he shone forth from mount peran and he came with ten thousands of saints but when does that happen that happens when jesus christ returns it hasn't happened already it's the same thing that jesus christ talked about it's the same thing that daniel talked about it's the same thing that we read in revelation so when we read through chapter 33 and we compare it to genesis 49 we see that this is a prophecy of what the nations of israel will be like in the end time yes let me see he's shown forth from mount and he came with ten thousands of his saints from his right hand came a fiery law for them yes he loves the people all his saints are in your hand they sit down at your feet everyone receives your words moses commanded a law for us a heritage of the congregation of jacob and he was king in jesherin when the leaders of the people were gathered all the tribes of israel together and so you can go down through the children of israel and see the prophecies for them if we drop down to joseph in verse 26 and you can see that god used the word gesherin which is kind of a name for israel he uses it again here in verse 26 it's the descendants of of joseph says there is no one like the god of jesherin who rides the heavens to help you and in his excellency on the clouds the eternal god is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms he will thrust out the enemy before you and will say destroy then israel will dwell in safety the fountain of jacob alone in a land of grain and new wine the heavens shall also drop through happy are you o israel who is like you a people saved by the lord the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty your enemies shall submit to you and you shall tread down their high places you can compare that to genesis 49 when jacob said this is a prophecy for you my children in the latter days joseph would be a fruitful vine joseph would ride the high hills of the earth jeshurin would be very well taken care of and blessed by god until and unless they departed from god and then god said this is what happens if you depart from me and as we are on the other side of history getting closer and closer to the return of jesus christ we can see some of those things those things happening now i mentioned that moses was a prophet you don't have to turn to deuteronomy 18 verses 15 and 18. god called moses a prophet back then he said you know there will be eyes another prophet like you moses speaking of jesus christ another one who will teach the law of god the one the one who will encourage obedience to god staying close to him clinging to him trusting in him and not turning from him and indeed god did raise up jesus christ who was a prophet in the order i guess your willer on as as moses was who who fiercely was loyal to god made a mistake at the end as he is human and we are human as well let's go back to deuteronomy 31 31 and reverse 24. i mentioned that chapters 28 through 34 are more prophetic in nature telling what would be what would be happening at the end of time 31 24 moses writes this so it was well an account so it was when moses did completing the writings and so it was when moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book when they were finished that moses commanded the levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the eternal saying take this book of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the eternal your god that it may be there as a witness against you for i know your rebellion and your stiff neck if today while i'm yet alive with you you have been rebellious against god then how much more after my death you know israel was rebellious in face of everything that god had done for them they always turned from god you know stubbornness god we'll talk about the stubbornness of the stiff neck of israel and we might not look at ourselves do we have a stiff neck when we hear things do we just think not me not me i'm okay i don't have to do anything i'm just going to continue doing things my way even though my way doesn't seem to pan out even though it keeps leading to the same problem or do we finally yield to god do we finally trust in him and do things the way he says moses said these you know i know you i know you israel if i'm alive what's going to happen if i've you've done this while i've been alive talking to you every day what are you going to do when i'm done gather to me verse 28 all the elders of your tribes and your officers that i may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them for i know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn aside from the way which i have commanded you and evil will befall you in the latter days wonder the latter days we know when the latter days are evil will befall you in the latter days because you will do evil in the sight of the eternal to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands that's the title of the sermon what will befall you in the latter days god tells us what will god can god will show us now we don't have time to go on today but there's much more in the last six chapters of deuteronomy that we can talk about and we'll continue that the next time i'm here but let me close with a couple verses one you don't need to turn to amos 3 7 says surely the lord god does nothing unless he reveals his secrets to his servants the prophets we all know that we may not know what it is ahead of time but god will show us what is happening we will see god's hand we will see that what he recorded is exactly what is going to happen moses says the same thing here in deuteronomy if we turn to deuteronomy 29 and verse 29 the secret things moses writes the secret things belong to the eternal our god but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law so next time we'll continue with this and through the book but until then think think about these things and let's begin committing in our hearts even more fully to do all the things that god has called us to do

Channel: United Church of God Orlando

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Id: DZEXR6EoO7s

Length: 51min 7sec (3067 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 21 2021