FaithWalk Radio

Ron Susek: Hello, my friend. Ron Susek here. So glad you're with me today as we continue on the subject of Assyria setting the stage for Jesus' ministry. It's an amazing thing. You are going to understand history far better than ever, and it's all in the Bible. None of this is from outside of the Bible or imagination. It's all found in the Bible, and you're going to see a structure running through the Bible that'll give you a string of history that's absolutely amazing and how Assyria was used of God to literally set the stage for Jesus to bring the gospel to the nations of the world. What an amazing and wonderful thing. 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 that soon-coming kingdom. Here again is Ron Susek.

Ron Susek: Now think about this. He's the king of Judea, reigning in Jerusalem, knows the temple of God, and he cannot believe the God he's serving. Can't believe him. And what's he say? Ask a sign of me, the Lord your God, but make it as high as heaven and as low as Sheol. Make it impossible. Ask me to do something totally impossible. And this man was so full of unbelief. He said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test."

You know what he was really saying? "I don't believe you. I'm not going to even try this test because I'll flunk." He already failed. And then God said, "Well, I'm going to give you a sign, and if you think you could have invented a sign that was impossible for me, I'm going to give you a tough one to believe. Now get ready for this. Now the Messiah comes into the picture. Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel."

And that's not going to happen for over 700 years. Okay, Ahaz. You didn't give me your sign. There's my sign. Can you hang on for 700-and-some years? It's out of reach. And then we come to the high cost of failure. And we're now crossing a span of hundreds of years. We're coming to the high cost of failure in Isaiah 7:17. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day of Ephraim—Ephraim is another name for Israel, the northern kingdom—departed from Judah: the king of Assyria.

Now God identifies what he's going to do and who he's going to do it through. "I am going to raise up the Assyrians." All these years we've been giving the Assyrians the bad rap, and it was God who raised them up and God who brought them into this purpose to attack the top ten tribes of Israel. It was God. I'm emphasizing that for this reason. If you study profane history, or if you study many of our Bible scholars, they all condemn Assyria for taking out the top ten tribes of Israel.

Remember, God said they're a smoldering ember. They're going to be gone. And he said, "I'm going to take them out of here by Assyria." I, God, am doing this, not the Assyrians. Now, I don't think the Assyrians had their problems. They were not sitting around saying, "Wow, God told us to do this." I don't know how God motivated them. I'm just pressing that God was the one who set the stage for this. Why? There's a high cost for failed faith.

Isaiah 7:17. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come in the day of Ephraim, and the Assyrians are coming. Now, what are they going to do? In 722 BC, the Assyrians conquered and exiled the ten tribes of Israel who became known as—get ready for this, now this is a shocker—the ten lost tribes of Israel.

And God told Ahaz way back there, just believe me. Your problems are going to pass. Don't worry about what they're saying and all their threats and all their military getting ready. They're not going to attack their smoldering embers. I'm seeing to that. I am the sovereign God orchestrating history, not those people. Are you with me? Now apply this because we're looking at Ukraine and Russia. Is God not in command of what's going on? You better believe he is.

And all the whys—none of my business. He's sovereign. I don't know. I don't understand all of his ways, but we must trust him. We have all kinds of complications taking place around the world. God is in command where this world is going, and I'm going to tell you the end of the story right now. This world is being orchestrated by God for the day when every single knee shall bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's where we're headed.

And I want to meet Elon Musk and tell him to stop wasting his money on Mars. I'm serious. The dear man, he's a great man, a brilliant man. I love the guy. But he's going to blow billions of dollars on something that ain't going to happen. This planet is what God created for his work with mankind. Well, let me move on. If you know Elon, call him up and tell him that. Now here's what happened. This is the point I'm building up to.

Remember, we started with Solomon, who sinned. He was imperfect, and he split the kingdom. And now we have two imperfect kingdoms, and we have the king of the lower kingdom who can't believe God. And now we come to an incredible picture. And that is this. God sent the Assyrians to take out the ten tribes of Israel, the northern kingdom, and disperse them across Assyria so they can't rise up against them. And the Bible actually tells us the locations where he put them.

And what did he do? He implanted Gentiles. You remember the Gentile woman who couldn't understand why Jesus would talk to her? Why? Because the Jews that remained still hated the Gentiles that were now living in their homes and working their land. Am I making this clear? Want me to say it again? I want to make sure you get this because this is a key hinge point. Assyria was sent by God, and by the way, God told Ahaz in a prophecy this is going to happen in 65 years.

And in 65 years, the Assyrians showed up and took out the top ten tribes of Israel, scattered them across Assyria, and implanted in their place Gentile nations to live in their homes and work their lands. That was not a barbarous Assyria; that was an act of God. That's why I call it Assyria's vindication. We blame the Assyrians and we said they're bad people, they're no good, and we wrote them off. And God said, "No, no, no. They're in my end-time prophecy." Are you with me?

Do you see the redemption of God? You see his mighty sovereign hand guiding the nations through history. And then it goes on. Isaiah's prophetic name changes. Watch this. It is a shocking thing to learn in Isaiah chapter nine, verse one. The land that was called Israel is now called something else. Watch this in chapter nine of verse one of Isaiah. "But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, she brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time, he has made glorious the way of the sea. The land beyond the border, the Galilee of the Gentiles."

Did you catch what I just read? Israel is no longer called Israel. It's now called the Galilee of the Gentiles. Did you ever see that? What a shift in history. We now shifted from Jews to Gentiles in the land, and a name change from Israel to Galilee of the Gentiles. Now why is that so important? This really, really gets thrilling. There is a passage of scripture in Isaiah chapter 49 and verse six, which, Pastor, you got to have me back someday, okay?

You heard him say it. He said, "Okay." Because I want to do this whole chapter for you sometime on Isaiah 49. It's phenomenal because it's one of the most rare passages of all history. Because I don't know how this occurred, but somehow God revealed or someone overheard, I don't know how it worked. It's a conversation between God the Father and God the Son over 700 years before Jesus stepped on earth. Can you imagine that? You're about to hear a conversation in heaven that took place between the Father and the Son. This is phenomenal.

And I'm going to give you the closing statement his Father made to him. This ties into everything I've said so far. Watch this. God said, "It is too light of thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel." That's too small of a thing. Look at this. "I will make you as a light for the nations." Every nation on earth because God is the king of the nations.

He's the king of Ukraine, whether they know it or not. He's the king of Russia, the king of America, the king of China, the king of Canada. Oh yeah, we don't let him act as king. We try to put him on a shelf and we'll bring him off once a year to have a prayer meeting, and then we put him back on a shelf and say you be a good boy and stay there. We'll run the affairs, and that's why we get into a mess. And in Psalm chapter two, God's laughing at us. Not because it's funny, but in derision of our foolishness that we just won't work with the God who created us and who is our king.

Now watch this. "I will make you as a light for the nations," and nations in the Bible is a parallel to Gentiles. "That my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Are you beginning to see the picture now? Get hold of this. I mean, this is absolutely overwhelming. The Assyrians that we have learned to despise were God's rod that he raised up to literally empty the land of Jews and fill the land with Gentiles and rename it the Galilee of the Gentiles.

And then gives his Son the Great Commission. This is God giving his Son the Great Commission. You're to go to the entire world, and—get ready for this. In your Bible, in Matthew chapter four, Jesus launches his whole ministry, not in Jerusalem, not in Bethlehem, in the Galilee of the nations. Are you getting the picture? For God so loves the world. For God so loves all of you in Fargo. For God so loves the world equally that he gave his only begotten Son.

God is committed to the world, not just a one small segment of people. He used those people to bring salvation into the world. They were to be a witness of God, which they failed again and again. And then God displayed, "My love is for the world." And on the cross, in Ephesians chapter two, when Jesus died, the wall of antagonism between Jew and Gentile was taken down and we became one in Jesus Christ. No superiority anywhere.

Now watch this. This is so beautiful. In Matthew chapter four, Jesus launches his ministry, beginning with verse 12. "Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to the Galilee." There we go. And leaving Nazareth, he went—by the way, Nazareth was in the Galilee now—and leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

Assyria, knowing it or not, was literally emptying the land of the Jews and bringing in the Gentiles to set the stage for Jesus' ministry. You got the picture? Is it clear? I'll go back and start all over again if you want. I want you to get this. This is phenomenal because this demonstrates the depth of God's love for the entire world, the nations of the world. That's what he's about. And then we read in verse 16 about the Gentile nations. "The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light."

They saw Jesus. They saw him cast demons into pigs. They saw him heal the lame. They heard his message, the gospel of the kingdom. And then part nine of this movement through history is in the post-resurrection when Jesus was raised from the dead. In Matthew chapter 18, verses one to seven—I won't read the whole text, but two Marys were at the tomb. And they were heartbroken. Jesus is gone. And an angel appears, and guess what the angel said to them? In verse seven, "Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him."

The Galilee of the nations. Bismarck, North Dakota. Fargo, North Dakota. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Los Angeles, California. China. He went to the Galilee of the nations to bring his salvation. That's one of the reasons why I'm tremendously excited about your pastor. He's always thinking beyond, how do we reach out into the world? Hang with this guy. Run with him. Go with him. And what's interesting, now we come. In Isaiah 49:6, you remember what God said to his Son? "It's not enough for you to bring back Judah and Israel. I am sending you as a light to the world to bring my salvation to the nations."

That's the Great Commission that God the Father gave to God the Son 700 years earlier. And now what does the Son say in Matthew chapter 28, in verses 16 to 17? Meeting his disciples in the Galilee of the nations, he says in verse 26, "Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee"—there you go again—"to the mountain to which Jesus directed them, and when they came to him, they worshiped him, but some doubted." Don't we wrestle with faith? Don't we really have a struggle with faith?

Some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. My Father has entrusted his authority to me. Watch this: go therefore." What's the word therefore there for? "I go in the authority that my Father has given to me. It's not your authority. It's not my authority. It's my Father's authority." Because Jesus told us in the book of John, "I can do nothing without my Father," and without me, you can do nothing. But if you'll be a clean branch—a clean branch. Not loaded with jealousy and anger and bitterness and fear and doubt and all the things that clog that branch. Keep your branch clean between you and me so that your prayers will flow freely up to the Father and his power will flow freely down through you.

"Go and make disciples of all nations." His Father told him that all the way back in the day of Isaiah. Now he's telling you that. Telling you that. You that. It burns in your pastor's heart. Brother Yonkee, the foundation he laid here in this church. It's not a matter of just reaching Bismarck. Begin to think of the nations. You don't know who you're touching and how you're touching different people in the world.

In the last couple and a half years, God has given us a television platform and a podcast platform that is now reaching worldwide. And I'm getting amazing notes from people that are hiding in underground churches. And let me just close with why I'm so impassioned about Assyria. When I think of this nation—I shared yesterday and we won't rehearse it today. I hope that you might go back and watch the tapes from yesterday. These dear people have suffered more than any other people group on earth percentage-wise.

After World War I, two-thirds of their nation was slaughtered. Stacks of bodies, slaughtered. Because they were Christians and Islam had made a mandate to wipe out Christianity by the year 2020. And they're so dangerously close now that when we took down Saddam Hussein, there were a million and a half Christian Assyrians living in northern Iraq. Today there's less than 200,000. Islam appears to be winning. But I am seeking God, have been seeking God in prayer day and night. Many nights through the night. So this is not lightweight for me. I'm not here as anything but a servant and a slave to Jesus Christ as you are.

And I just sense in my spirit and am looking at the movements of the time. I believe you and I are sitting on the front row watching God orchestrate history. If you've ever had a time to be thrilled, it's now. The church has been sitting and waiting on this for 2,000 years, and it's beginning, I think, to unfold in front of our eyes right now. I'm watching God even take my book into circles that I could never penetrate. Benjamin Netanyahu sent word back that he's read it—not to me, but to the person who gave him the book. President Trump has two copies of the book. Can't get him to read them, but he's got them.

Pete Hegseth has a copy of the book, handed to him by his wife. Tulsi Gabbard has a copy of the book, handed to her by her mother. I had nothing to do with this. It's happening. And slowly I'm watching God begin to stir hearts. Why? What's so important? Think about this. Think about this. We're always wondering how can we do evangelism. As an evangelist, I cannot imagine anything greater than the day that I'm praying that I'll still be alive to stand on the tarmac and welcome Assyria home.

It's their home. That's in the Iraqi constitution. They do know that Assyria, they are the indigenous people of the land for 6,000 years. They have every legal right to that land. They have no right to be overtaken and cast out. That's injustice. And my friend, to see the right people brought together by God that can reestablish them as a sovereign state, but one supremely advanced as a Christian nation, statedly Christian, right boldly in their constitution with all the framework needed to protect that as you have here in this church.

You're a Christian church. You have rules and guidelines for church. If you have a Christian home, you have the same thing in your home. There's nothing in the Bible that says you can't do that as a nation. It's just that we ignore it, and we're paying horrible prices for ignoring it. But can you imagine what's going to happen the day the land is made ready and Assyrians are flying home? And I've said to Assyrians from Australia to America, I want to be there to greet you.

And think about this. I'm telling them this too. I've told their patriarch this. Every TV camera on earth will be there staring in your face asking you how did you pull this off? What is this? And I said to them, preach the gospel. Preach the gospel. Because they were the great voice of the gospel in the launch of the church, and then they were driven into the pit of obscurity by sword-wielding Islam. And my friend, that's not going to conquer God, is it?

Our God is great and mighty, and in the last hour, when it's impossible, he stands from his throne, raises his right hand, and says to the angelic host, "Go now." And all heaven breaks loose, and it's going to happen. Be part of that. Engage in prayer. Learn about this. Engage in prayer. And when I think back when I was here with you under Pastor Yonkee, my goodness, just to think I've been privileged to cycle back and be with you and privileged to work with your former governor, privileged now to know Senator Cramer. I see a lot of indications God may be rising from his throne to speak the word of authority. Let's pray.

Father, I pray that you will capture our hearts and our attention, refocus our thinking and our lives. I pray that this church will become known as a powerhouse, a church that really were up on the times of where you are and what you're doing, and they are going with you. I pray in Jesus' mighty name, amen.

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. 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.

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.