Sunday Outline – June 25, 2023
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Pastor Terri Copeland Pearsons shared our gratitude of being a part of what God is doing with the Jews in these last days. It is so greatly anointed; I included a large portion. |
In the first part of the early church, Christians and Jews worked together. If it wasn't for Jewish people, you wouldn't be here. The New Testament or second Covenant, makes it very clear where our root is – the Jewish nation.
God is extremely serious about honoring where you came from, and it starts with honoring Him. Then there is honor woven throughout the scripture for us to honor those whom God chose; He chose Jews. And who are you? Who am I? Who would we be to decide either that God no longer has chosen them, or for us to not choose them as well?
So, with that burning in our hearts, God has placed us, the body of EMIC with the richness of the relationship, and the connectivity that we have with Jews.
If you just think about a mountain there may be many ways to climb that mountain, i.e., from different sides. But generally speaking, if God sits at the top of that mountain, then there are only two ways to come to Him. One is through the covenant that God made with Abraham that the Jews honor.
For us, it's the covenant that was extended to us, founded on that covenant that allows us to also come to that mountain. There is no other way.
I spoke with one rabbi in Israel, and he said, would that all others besides Jews would become Christians? Because in Christianity, as we understand it, they would not hate us or try to destroy us. And together we would fulfill God's purpose. What a marvelous way. That's why we can embrace this path.
Before there was a church or a Christian, it was very plain that Israel, both the land and the people are the pupil of His eye, or they are the focus of His eye. And He said, He will never take His eye off them. Anybody that tries to tell you otherwise does not know the word of God, nor the nature of God, and is in error about that. So, we are thankful to God that He has opened our eyes to see that, so that we can be partners with Him.
Being a part of His purpose is so multifaceted. He has a specific design and purpose for each and every one of us in our lives. Every moment the Bible says He’s saturated with His plan for you. He has not neglected any moment of your life. Every moment should also be saturated with purpose; and we have purpose as a congregation.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says to everything there is a season now for us here, we know a lot about sowing, and planting, and reaping.
We understand that God is not mocked. What you sow is exactly what you're going to reap. And that applies in every area of life. There are many verses and chapters in the scripture that explained that to us and help us see that is the way that God caused the whole kingdom of God, both spiritually and naturally to function. You can't reap a harvest where there never was a seed planted. So, there are good seasons for sowing.
There are times when all the conditions come together, and sowing is part of it. The temperature, the soil, the water, the days of sun, everything just comes together — and it’s rich for harvest.
God promises for Isaac that there was a hundred-fold for him in a famine. So, even when conditions aren't perfect, the supernatural can move into our natural world to produce for us because He's faithful.
When conditions are ripe, and we sow in a season where all those things are coming together, the harvest then will be very rich. What kind of season are we in right now? We are in a prophetic season. What's a prophetic season? It's where the prophecies on multiple levels, prophecies for the land of Israel, prophecies for Jews, prophecies for the church, prophecies for the nations, specific personal words are all being fulfilled.
Genesis 12:3, God said to Abraham, I will bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you. And in you, all the nations or all the families, all the people groups of the world will be blessed. If you get in on blessing Abraham and his seed, then the blessing promise to Abraham comes on you. It's a great system. If you are a part of cursing Abraham and his seed, well that cursing is coming upon you.
Isaiah 49 is full of prophecy about the aliyah (going up, ascent) and about God's return. But aliyah doesn't just happen. Jews don't just get up and go home, but there are people that are trying to keep them from returning. The spiritual world is antagonistic to that prophecy coming to pass. That antagonism towards aliyah is seen in our natural world around us. Nations will respond and people are filled with hate and tyranny.
Isaiah 49:22
“The Lord God, behold I lift up my hand to the gentile nations.”
That's not just nations in their borders. That also includes people, groups, as well as nations of people. And I have set my standard and raised my signal banner to the people. In other words, it's like at the Indy 500, the flag is up and waving. And He said they will bring your sons in, in the bosom of their garments. Your daughters will be carried upon their shoulders. Kings shall be your foster fathers and guardians, their kings, their queens, and nursing mothers. They'll bow down to you with their faces to the earth, lick up the dust of your feet.
And you will know with acquaintance and understanding, based and grounded in experience, that I am the Lord. For they shall not be put to shame who wait and look for and hope and expect me.
What's He saying? The green flag is waving, and the race is on. And He said, these are the ones who are going to love you and carry you. They will carry you in their bosom with love. They will lift you up. They will be like fathers and mothers and help seek that you are fed, that you have housing, that you're clothed. They will be a part of this. And I'm the one who's sending them.
How many want to be sent of the Lord and used by His mighty hand?
Verse 24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful captives of the just be delivered?
The English standard version says, can the captives of a tyrant be rescued? And the answer to that is, if God's doing the rescue, you bet they can be!
Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away. The prey of the terrible will be delivered. Why? Because I will contend with him who contends with you. I will give safety to your children. I will ease them. I will make those who oppress you to consume themselves.
Ezekiel 36, in this chapter God said, look, it's not because you're so great, it's because I'm so good, and I love you that I am taking care of you and I will put you back in Israel. I am doing this for you, and it will be like this, and it will be like that.
God seems to have wrapped this up, and then He begins to tell them how to process (understand) what was just said. This direction starts in the next chapter, the dry bones chapter, Israel becomes a nation again.
In Ezekiel 38, God is saying this is part of this prophetic season.
Isaiah 36:23, I will vindicate the holiness of My Great Name. God's Name is on the line here. I'll separate it for a holy purpose from all that defiles My Name, which has been profaned among the nations. In fact, you, Israel have profaned it at times yourself. Who hasn’t, as we all have? And the nations will know and understand that I and the Lord, the sovereign ruler, I call forth with loyalty and obedience, I will set you apart. And I will be set apart by you.
My holiness will be vindicated in you before their eyes and yours. I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all the countries and bring you into your own land.
Verse 28. You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be my people. I will be your God. I'll save you from uncles. I'll call forth the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine on you. I'll multiply. Now look at this as the harvest. Recognize this is what the harvest looks like. When God's talking about this kind of harvest — harvest is harvest. This is a season of sowing, a season of reaping, a season of harvest. These are the words of the Lord. The Bible itself is causing itself to come to pass.
It says I will save you; I'll call forth the grain, I'll make it abundant. There'll be no famine on you. I'll multiply the fruit of the tree, the increase of the field that you may no more suffer reproach and disgrace of famine among the nations. You'll remember your own evil ways. You'll remember your doings that weren't good. You'll loathe yourself in your own sight for your iniquities and for the your abominable deeds. What is that? That's awakening. There are a lot of Jews that need to be awakened and God's bringing them home in order to do it. A lot of them coming out of these countries don't even acknowledge that there's a God. They just know they want to go be Jews in Israel. So there's an awakening. The church needs awakening. There are a few L G B T Q folks that need some awakening!
This nation needs awakening. The awakening is on God and not for your sake. This is an opportunity to repent, says the Lord. And the day I cleanse you from your iniquities, I will cause the Israel cities to be inhabited, waste places will be rebuilt. Desolate land will be tilled. That which laid desolate, the sight of all who passed by, they will say, this land that was desolate has become like the garden of the Eden and a waste and desolate ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited. Then the nations that are left roundabout, you will know that I, the Lord have rebuilt the ruined places. I the Lord have spoken it and I will do it, says the Lord.
Today I want you to know that this entire offering is going into aliyah to help to continue our work with them, our work with Israel, our work with God, our work with the prophet Isaiah and the prophet Ezekiel. Virtually every prophet spoke of the coming return of the people of Israel and all that will happen in the wake of that.
Pastor George ministered, “God’s Everlasting Covenant.”
1 Chronicles 16:14-18; (KJV)
“He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. Be ye mindful always of His covenant; the word which He commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the covenant which He made with Abraham, and of His oath unto Isaac; And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.”
Everlasting = Eternal, perpetual, without end, to the vanishing point.
There has been continual pressure and condemnation against Israel
- There has been constant pressure on Israel to give up the land.
- US administrations have tried to create a two-state solution. A two state position is NOT a solution.
- The United Nations continually approves resolutions against Israel.
The Israel Times, January 3, 2023
“The United Nations General Assembly passed more resolutions critical of Israel than against all other nations combined in 2022. The General Assembly approved 15 anti-Israel resolutions last year, versus 13 resolutions criticizing other countries.
One of the resolutions stated that Israeli settlement activities affect the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories. It required The Hague’s International Court of Justice to render an urgent advisory regarding Israel’s prolonged occupation, settlement, and annexation of Palestinian territory.”
The UN is fighting against Israel in vain! They have no revelation of God’s everlasting covenant. “The nations are as a drop in the bucket” (Isaiah 40:15).
A Covenant is to be treated seriously.
The Western World for the most part is unfamiliar with the serious nature of a covenant. The more “civilized” we have become, the more we have moved away from the concept of covenant. As a result, we live in a covenant breaking society.
The covenant of blood is the most powerful and serious form of agreement ever established.
Covenant = To cut flesh; implies an incision where blood flows.
A covenant is a solemn, binding, unbreakable agreement, and pledge of total devotion between two parties.
Imagine being in covenant with Almighty God! Each person (side) commits to support, defend, protect, and provide for each other.
Covenant Examples
1 Samuel 18:3-4
A complete exchange takes place at a covenant ceremony.
People enter a covenant for each other’s benefit. The moment the covenant is ratified, everything that person owns is at the disposal of the other.
The covenant is sworn (usually in their blood) to prove trustworthiness (loyalty) to each other.
Example: An agreement between a farmer and a warrior.
Their combined strengths cancel out all weaknesses.
The warrior needs food, and the farmer provides.
The farmer needs protection, and the warrior protects.
Example: Jonathan and David cut covenant with each other.
1 Samuel 18:3-4; (NIV)
“Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow, and his belt.”
2 Samuel 9:1; (NIV)
“David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show (everlasting covenant) kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
Example: A marriage between a husband and wife.
Pastor George shared that he entered a marriage covenant with Pastor Terri on August 27, 1977.
- They became one with each other.
- They committed themselves to support, defend, protect, and provide for each other.
- Almighty God was amid at their covenant wedding.
- You can define it simply by: “We are ONE.”
An Everlasting Covenant with God is unbreakable.
A covenant with God can never be dissolved, annulled, broken, altered, or forgotten — it is everlasting.
Psalm 89:34;
“My Covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”
Verse 34 (NIV) “I will not violate my covenant.”
Numbers 23:19; (NIV)
“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”
Isaiah 54:10; (NKJV)
“’For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace (shalom) be removed,’ Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.”
God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham regarding the land of Israel.
Genesis 15:18; (NLT)
“So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River.” (Boundaries were set – God gave them that land.)
Genesis 17:7-8; (NLT)
“I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you AND your descendants. IT WILL BE THEIR POSSESSION FOREVER, AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD.”
ALL ‘The Land’ of Israel
(From a David Jeremiah speech)
Some have suggested that the promise God made of land to Abraham and his descendants is not to be taken literally. They say it is merely a symbol that indicates a general blessing. Others say that God’s promise of land is simply the promise of heaven.
The Bible describes the land in definite terms and is talking about real estate in the Middle East. The land promised to Abraham takes in much more area than the present nation of Israel occupies.
The land promised to Abraham and his descendants was described with clear geographical boundaries. It takes in all the land from the Mediterranean Sea as the western boundary to the Euphrates River as the eastern boundary. The prophet Ezekiel fixed the northern boundary at Hamath, one hundred miles north of Damascus (Ezekiel 48:1), and the southern boundary at Kadesh, about one hundred miles south of Jerusalem (v. 28). If Israelis were currently occupying all the land that God gave to them, they would control all the holdings of present-day Israel, Lebanon, and the West Bank of Jordan, plus substantial portions of Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
What happens when you fight against God’s everlasting covenant? Simple – You lose.
Genesis 12:3; (NIV)
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Zechariah 2:8; (AMPC)
“For thus said the Lord of hosts, after [His] glory had sent me [His messenger] to the nations who plundered you— for he who touches you touches the apple or pupil of His eye.”
Exodus 23:22; (NIV)
“If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.”
(CEV) “I will be a fierce enemy to your enemies.”
Hebrew = I will afflict them that afflict you.
Deuteronomy 28:7; (NKJV)
“The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.”
The result of forcing Israel to give up land.
In 2005, the United States pressured Israel to give the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians. It was another “land-for-peace” deal that challenged God’s Covenant. On August 17, the Prime Minister authorized the mandatory evacuation of Israeli residents from the Gaza Strip. They were forced to leave their homes by soldiers. At the very same time, Americans were also forced to leave their homes by soldiers because of Hurricane Katrina. Nine thousand Israeli residents were evicted by their government. One million Americans were evicted by the hurricane. A coincidence? No. The United States poked its finger in God’s eye.
Lesson #1: Don’t mess with God’s everlasting land covenant.
Don’t mess with Texas, and don’t mess with Israel.
Invoke the Everlasting Israelis Land Covenant.
Isaiah 41:8-13; (NKJV)
“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ “Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing (a none existent thing), And those who strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them — Those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, a nonexistent thing. For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
Amos 9:14-15; (NKJV)
“’I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,’ Says the LORD your God.”
Ezekiel 11:17; (NKJV)
“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’”
Psalm 122:6-8; (NKJV)
“Pray for the peace (nothing missing, nothing broken, nothing divided) of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces.” For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, ‘Peace be within you.’”
Amen.
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