FaithWalk Radio

Ron Susek: Did you know that there was once a perfect government on Earth until the people tore it down? You'll be surprised. Stay with me. I'll be right back.

Guest (Male): Finding and knowing God is a faith walk. The Bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Our hope lies in the coming Messiah, who will establish God's peaceful kingdom on Earth.

This is FaithWalk with Ron Susek. Dr. Ron is an evangelist committed to encourage and equip your faith walk as we pass through these turbulent end-time days awaiting the soon-coming kingdom. Here again is Ron Susek.

Ron Susek: I'm calling today's program "The Day Israel Failed the World." Now, stay with me on this. I am not antisemitic. I am totally committed to Israel. I want you to be as well. They are God's people raised up for God's purposes.

But there's a very important event in history that you and I need to know about for us to understand why we have no example today of what a perfect government would look like. Different nations think they have the perfect government and the best of the best and all of that kind of talk, but my friend, Israel really had it together years ago under the prophet Samuel.

They really had it together. Samuel was their connection with God. When they had to face situations, Samuel went before God and came back with what God wanted them to do. They did it, and they did very well. That is called a theocracy.

Probably some of you watching me right now had a cold chill go up your back because you're terrified of the word "theocracy." Why? Well, the reason is because we've seen that word violated and abused in the most godless and wild ways you can imagine.

Anytime you say, "We are obeying God, and that means we're to whack your head off if you don't agree with us," my friend, that is not a theocracy. That's evil. That's out of hell. That's man playing God.

God is an everlasting, loving God. Faithfulness is in His character. He did not create the human race to murder the human race. Satan is the murderer and liar. So anytime you see severe, horrible disciplines that even lead to murder, you're not looking at God. You're not looking at a true theocracy. You're looking at a fake theocracy set up by the liar of the pit, the one who lied to Adam and Eve, the one who has been lying to the human race ever since.

Now, let me tell you. I want you to go back with me to this time in history when Israel had a theocracy. In fact, twice in the book of Isaiah, God said to Israel, "You are My witness." Witness of what and to whom? Witness of the glory of having God as the true head and leader of their nation and a witness to the pagan nations that rejected that and followed their own self-made, man-made gods.

So let's come back to Israel for just a moment. What happened? What went wrong? Samuel was aging. By the way, everything I'm going to share with you is found in 1 Samuel chapter 8. That's a chapter to study. It's going to give you insight not only into one of the reasons why we're in a mess without any compass of how to go as nations but also where we are heading when the Messiah comes.

When the Messiah comes, my friend, it will not be a republic. It will not be a democracy. It'll be a theocracy. And if that scares you, then that's because you are still delusioned by the false theocracies. It will be a reign of peace, of liberty and freedom and opportunity. It'll be a glorious time. I hope you are there. We've been sharing in these programs how you can be sure that you're there.

But what went wrong? Well, the thing that happened with Samuel as he was aging, his sons sinned against the Lord. When Israel saw that, they said to Samuel, "All right, we're done with this approach to governance. We want a king like all the other nations of the world." Would to God they had taken the time and had the sense to study what was happening to the other nations of the world under their types of governance.

However, they wanted to look like the nations. Perhaps they even got tired of being mocked by pagan nations that could show off their big statues and could define their king. Israel was to have no statues because their God is the invisible God of creation, and no one could see their King. So rather than praising God for this privilege and opportunity and moving it on with it down through the centuries, they said, "No, let's end it here. We want a king like the other nations."

Now let me pause here and make a point about the sons' rebellion. Every time there is sin in the camp, the good people suffer along with the bad who caused it. I could give you a lot of evidences of that in history, but let's stay with this one right here. The sons of Samuel go bad. Now the people turn on God. They may not have said we're turning on God, but that's exactly what they were doing.

And so I call this "The Day That Israel Failed the World." Let me walk you briefly through this very sad scenario. In fact, Jesus probably had this in His mind in Matthew chapter 13, verse 37, when He said these words: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often I would have gathered you, your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing."

Pause there. Think about this. It was in the mind of heart of Jesus before He even stepped on this planet to bring Israel unto Himself. And by the way, that is exactly what He has been striving to do now for millennia. That is exactly what's going to happen in the finality of the end time, and Israel is going to become once again the exhibit to the nations that she turned down when Samuel aged and his sons rebelled and sinned.

Here's the sad thing. Every time a nation chooses something other than God, it has physical problems with it. It has relational problems, reputational problems, national problems, all kinds of problems. In fact, I want to read for you Samuel's warning to the people. He said, "Look, you want a king, a human king. I'm going to show you exactly what that will look like."

Now, I hope you might have a Bible. If you do, you can join me in that chapter that I mentioned, and we're going to begin with verse 10. It begins this way: "So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, 'These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.'"

"'And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.'"

"'He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not hear you in that day.'"

Now pause there. Think about this. He just described the world we live in. Governments are always in competition with the people. Oh yes, they come into power saying, "We love you. We want to help you. We want to give you freedom. We want to support and strengthen you. We are here to protect you." Then before long, taxes are skyrocketing, inflation is skyrocketing, dangers are coming.

And guess what? While the United States of America, for example, fought a Revolutionary War to break out from under the tyranny of the king being superior to law, we are back to that tyranny in America as our governmental leaders, many of them, want to be above the law. And they want to rule you and me to fulfill their desires because they think that they are superior to us, that they somehow are the caretakers of everything.

My friend, that's exactly what Samuel was describing to the people when he said, "Now that you want a king, here is what you can anticipate." A heartbreaking scene is seen as Samuel gives his farewell address. In his farewell address, as he's retiring and now he's handing them over to the king that God would choose for them, God chose the tallest, most handsome, gifted, athletic man in all of Israel.

He was head and shoulders above all other kings and everyone in Israel. Very impressive. If you want a king, God chose the best of the best humanly speaking. Remember that the subsequent one of that was a little runt named David, and nobody ever thought he would go too far in life. But back it up now. God gave them Saul.

And Saul was so humble at first, he was hiding. They had to find him and say, "No, you're going to be our king." And when he became the king, he put a stranglehold on that nation. He used them, he abused them, and as a result, he died on a battlefield, a most pathetic death.

However, when they asked for a king, here's the scary part in verse 12. "Then Samuel said to all Israel, 'Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray. And behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until now.'" Then Samuel goes on to talk about his integrity.

If any of you have aught against me, if I have in any way been superior to you that I feel like I'm above the law or I have in any way shortchanged anyone, you tell me about it. No one raised a voice. Samuel carried out his role as a godly, humble servant, taking the needs of the nation before the living God, seeking the mind and face of God and the will of God. God blessed that, and Israel was led and no army was able to tackle them.

They did not know drought. They knew the blessing of God. And by the way, think about this. They were living up on the ridge where Jerusalem is. That place needs water constantly because it's not down in the valley like Jordan, where there's water flowing through it. They need rain. They were never lacking rain. They were lacking nothing they needed. God was blessing them just as God wants to bless your nation and my nation.

Guest (Male): Thank you for your gift to help Dr. Ron in building lives by advancing the teaching of God's word through the programs of FaithWalk. You may never know until heaven whose lives you've impacted somewhere around the world. So please accept and enjoy your copy of "God Will Answer" as our personal thank you for standing with us at FaithWalk.

You'll be encouraged and inspired as you open your gift book, "God Will Answer," by Dr. Ron Susek. Each week throughout the year, within the pages of this rich 52-chapter hardcover edition, you'll discover compelling spiritual truth and biblical insights, content that will enrich your life and challenge your heart to go deeper in your faith walk with God.

Ron Susek: Look at what we have done in the world and where we're heading. We're only going to be blessed when we finally see the Messiah come. Those evil people who want to be above the law, who want to rule to get their will accomplished, not seeking the will of God because they think that they know the political science which they really don't, well, they will be in the lake of fire. Period. End of report. It's that simple.

And a whole new kingdom is going to be established on Earth: the Kingdom of God. Theocracy. And it's going to be a loving kingdom, a safe kingdom, a desirable kingdom. Anyone in their right minds wants to be in that kingdom.

Now, Samuel recounted the rebellion and mercies that God had with the Jewish people prior to their demanding a king. This is something for us to look into because, listen, Israel was not unique in that she's the only nation that could have a theocracy. They were to be the exhibit of a theocracy. Hopefully, other nations would desire it and begin to seek God as Israel sought Him.

When I talk about Israel seeking Him, yes, when it began under the Assyrian named Abraham, he sought God and he walked with God and he followed God. His son did the same thing. His grandson did the same thing. Israel began as a nation of faith. And as a nation of faith, their faith was to spread throughout the world. Rather than that happening, now with Samuel, they are caving in, saying, "We don't want this. We want a human government."

When they did, they became nothing more than just another nation. Just another nation. What's the difference? No difference. They all had a king. They all fought within. They all fought each other. They all were serving the king, just as every nation has down to this day.

The United States of America started off in a bit of an experiment edging close to a theology, but we had enough evil strains in some of our people that they laced it. That's why today we're in almost a paralysis of a contemptible crisis between those who want to go back and recapture the good principles and those who want to go back and defy them. That's the conflict you're seeing in America right now.

But Samuel said this in verse 8: "When Jacob went to Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place." Look at now verse 9: "But they forgot the Lord their God." So they got into difficulty again.

Verse 10: "And they cried out to the Lord and said, 'We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and Ashtaroth.'" Verse 11: "And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived safely. And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the Lord your God was your king."

America, wake up. England, wake up. South America, wake up. Europe, wake up. China, Russia, wake up. Sadly, I know you're not going to wake up because the Bible tells us exactly what it's going to take for God to finally prove the point. It's going to take a tribulation beyond anything the world has ever known or seen before. And it's coming.

And in that tribulation, here's what's going to happen. It's going to bring down the nations of the world. It's going to collapse everything for a new start. In that new start, because millions down through the ages have come to follow God personally and privately and millions are going to come to salvation during that tribulation period, there will be multiplied millions of people in the coming new kingdom of God.

My friend, I really hope you're going to be there. I'll tell you in a moment how you can be sure that you're going to be there. But first, let me move on just a little more. Their final hope was this in verse 13: "And now behold the king whom you have chosen for whom you have asked. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you." Now watch this in verse 14. How gracious God is.

How gracious. "If you will fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king," pause there. If you and the United States government, if you and the English government, you and the French government, you and the Russian government, you and the Chinese government, if you and your leaders...

Look at this very carefully. "If both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord God, it will be well." That's grace. That's mercy. That's love on God's part. You've humiliated God. You've said we don't want You to be the king reigning over us, and so we put a king in Your place. If that king will obey Me and if you will obey Me, I'll overlook this horrible thing you have done, this insult against heaven, and you're going to be blessed.

Verse 15: "But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord and rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king." Pause there. You wonder why our nations can't get it together. You wonder why we're stumbling and bumbling and there are internal problems, there are external dangers. You wonder why the world is in an increasingly high-tense, scrambling mess.

You've just seen it. We threw God out. Here in America, we've tossed Him out of our schools. How dare the arrogance of sin to get rid of the Bibles and prayer in school. How dare the arrogance that because a coach knelt down in the middle of a football field to pray, he was fired.

My friend, I'm telling you right now what is the problem with our nations. It's right here in the book of Samuel. Hope you'll study this sometime. It's powerful. Theocracy and human government will get along because God is gracious and kind.

And in verse 20 we read: "And Samuel said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. You have done all this evil.'" We've all done it. "'Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for Himself.'"

My friend, the day Israel failed the world was the day Israel became like all the other nations. And that's all she was then, just another nation. But God has not given up on her. Be very careful. Don't you dare become antisemitic. That's dangerous because God made a covenant with Israel. It stands to this day. He has brought her through great suffering. He is going to bring her home in great deliverance. Israel, Assyria, and Egypt—these three will be worshipping together and blessing the entire world. That's going to be coming in the soon-coming Kingdom of God.

My friend, I hope you're getting a clear picture of what holds our nations in confusion and bondage. We're not going to get out of it. We're not going to get out of it. I don't care how many times we vote. As much as I want you to vote, that's not the cure because we have corrupt people coming and going. We do have some great people. Please hear me. I hope you're catching what I'm trying to say. Yes, we have some great people. But as a nation and as nations of the world, we have not turned and said, "God, we want You to be our supreme leader."

Well, that's coming in the coming kingdom. And it's going to be a time with a lion lying down by the lamb, turning swords into plowshares, a time of peace, joy, prosperity. Holiness will reign. Righteousness will reign. Courts will have justice. If you want to be in that kingdom and you're not sure that you're going to be in that kingdom, I'm going to give you a prayer and I want you to pray this after me. Think this through and make it your prayer. This is how you can be sure that you'll be in the kingdom. Let's pray this together.

Dear God, on the basis that Jesus died for me, I'm trusting Your forgiveness for all my sins. I'm asking You for the power to live committed to You from now until I meet You in heaven. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you, my friend. Always remember Emmanuel: God is with you.

Guest (Male): Now Dr. Ron has been talking to us about the end-time days and wants us to prepare for the coming kingdom. And he has written a book titled "The Assyrian Prophecy" that is a missing part of the end-times puzzle.

"And He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new. Write, for these words are true and faithful.'" The world is not ending. God is preparing a new world soon to begin. An ancient nation thought lost to extinction is soon to rise anew to prepare for that day. Isaiah identified this nation in a prophecy that has been hidden in plain sight for some 2,700 years. Its name is Assyria.

My new book, "The Assyrian Prophecy," reveals how Assyria will join with Israel and Egypt to bless the world under the soon-coming Messiah. Amid today's chaos, God is searching for righteous people through whom He will bring the prophecy to completion. When you reach the end of this book, one question will be in your mind: "Lord, what would You have me to do?" You can learn more at theassyrianproject.org.

This has been FaithWalk with bestselling author, pastor, and evangelist Ron Susek. If you would like to know more about Dr. Ron and our mission, visit our website at faithwalk.org. We're certain you appreciate Dr. Ron's straightforward teaching of God's word, along with his strong invitation to find salvation through Christ. But he needs your help in spreading the Gospel to the far reaches of the world. Join our team by going to faithwalk.org and clicking on "Partner With Us."

Please accept and enjoy your copy of "God Will Answer" as our personal thank you for standing with us at FaithWalk. Well, thanks for being with us today, and we hope you'll join us again next week as we find courage for the journey in our faith walk.