Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and proctor of our faith.

Dave MacAllister: Humans and conflict, they're inseparable. Terrorists attack anywhere, everywhere as the clouds of war loom. Prophets tell of a great war coming to Israel. While not yet Armageddon, this war lays the groundwork for that greatest of battles. And it's sign number six that Jesus is coming soon. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Erwin Lutzer is in a series on seven signs of Christ's return. Today we turn to sign number six, war in Israel.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: As you know, this is a series of messages titled seven signs of Christ's return. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth. No question about it. Nothing could be more certain than that. As a matter of fact, he's going to come back to the Mount of Olives. He's going to come back to the city of Jerusalem, the scripture teaches. And when that happens, all people will see him. The scripture says every eye will see him. But also we believe that before that time, Christians are going to be snatched away in what is generally called the rapture.

And the rapture is an event that could happen at any time. And I do hope that you're ready if that event should happen. But also the scripture would tell us that during that period of time between the rapture and the glorious appearing of Jesus in Jerusalem, there is a time of great tribulation and difficulty, a time of war and distress. Now if you've been with us, you know that we've talked about various signs of Christ's return. Number one was that Israel was reborn. We spoke about the unification of Europe. That was number two, the rise of a world dictator, also the rise of one world religion, the temple being rebuilt in Jerusalem.

And today we come to a mysterious war that is really fought in Israel, and it's won by God. It is indeed an interesting passage of scripture that gives us this information, and it is this war that eventually leads to the biggie, which we're going to consider next week, namely the battle of Armageddon and the actual return of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem. But the passage I have in mind is found in the writings of an Old Testament prophet by the name of Ezekiel. Ezekiel, and if you have your Bibles, I encourage you to turn there. I shall remind you that in context, Ezekiel is talking about the return of the Jews to Jerusalem and to Israel.

And then he talks about what's going to happen once they are there. For example, in chapter 36, he says in verse 24, "For I will take you from the nations," God is speaking, "and gather you from the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you will be clean. You will be cleansed from all of your filthiness and from your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes." Now do you think that that has happened yet? No, it has not. Certainly not happened to the nation Israel because Israel is a nation has not accepted Jesus Christ as Messiah. And you cannot have a new heart unless you come to God through Jesus Christ, the only mediator. As a matter of fact, I think though that when Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus and Jesus made the statement that one must be born of water and spirit, he probably had this Old Testament text in mind, reminding us that way back in the Old Testament, God was in the business of changing people and changing their hearts.

But Israel as a nation has not yet experienced that. Now it's in that context that we turn to Ezekiel, the next chapter, chapter actually 38. That's where we're going to concentrate our study today. Ezekiel 38. Ezekiel speaks of a great invasion in the land of Israel. And what I'd like to do is to tell you who the allies are before we talk about who it is, who is spearheading this entry into the land. Ezekiel 38. You'll notice he lists five different nations beginning in verse five, all of whom participate in this great military campaign. Who are they?

Number one, Persia. Who is Persia? Persia in 1939, I believe it was, was renamed Iran. Iran is going to participate in coming up against Israel. Now you know that the people of Iran are of course not necessarily in line with what the government of Iran is going to do. I mention that because we must always separate the people from the official policy of their government. Here at the Moody Church, we have many people from Iran. We have an Iranian ministry. And among those folks who meet together are many fine Christians and many others who are thinking about Christianity.

But as far as the official policy of the country is concerned, the day will come when Iran will join in this great desire to exploit the land of Israel. Let's go on. Number two, it says Ethiopia. When we think of Ethiopia, we think of the Sudan. Again, another country where the Christians are being persecuted and where there is Islamic fundamentalism on the rise. We think then also of put. What in the world is put? Well, you know if we took out the time to look up all these names, we discover that most of them occur in the 10th chapter of the book of Genesis.

And we would learn that put is actually ancient Libya. Put was the third son of Ham. And if you trace the table of nations, you discover that it was Libya, and it may include other areas and other countries. And we all remember, do we not, Muammar Gaddafi. The next one is Gomer. This is more difficult to identify. Verse six, what is Gomer? Ancient maps of Germany, the southern part of Germany at least, was called Gomer. And it may be southern Germany. It also may be parts of Turkey. They are going to be involved in this campaign against Israel.

And then Togarmah or Togarmah, depending on where you put the emphasis. You'll see here it is in verse six. It will come from the remote parts of the north with all of its troops and many people with you. Togarmah, according to the ancients, is eastern Turkey. We don't know exactly where the border ends, but these are the nations that are going to come together, unite together, and they are going to march into the land of Israel. But the $64 question, and an even more important question is who's going to be the leader of this invasion?

And for that now, we go back to verse two. It says, son of man, God is speaking to Ezekiel, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog. What in the world is Gog and Magog? Once again, if we were to look at the table of nations in the book of Genesis, we discover that we are not totally without a clue as to who this is because in that listing we would discover that Magog and Gog are also now sons of Japheth. Now I need to pause here just for a moment. Do you remember Joseph, or rather I should say Noah, he had three sons?

Shem, which turned out to be the Jewish people. Ham, whose descendants went primarily into Africa. And by the way, the sons of Ham were not cursed. There was one son of Ham that was cursed whose name was Canaan, and that curse was fulfilled in the extermination of the Canaanites under Joshua. But African Americans are not under the curse as some people have misinterpreted the scriptures to say. And then you had Shem, Ham, Japheth, who are the Europeans. So we can see so far that the people who are going to be involved are the sons of Ham.

We've looked at some of those, but also the sons of Japheth. That's who Magog and Gog are. According to Josephus, these are the people that migrated and settled down near the Black Sea in the area of what we call Russia today. And then it goes on to identify these. It says Meshech. And that happens to be the fifth son and Tubal, who is the sixth son of Japheth. Now all that to simply say this, there is only really one country that can fulfill this requirement, and that is Russia. I mention that not only because of the identification that we've made, and some people interpret the word Rosh.

Now if you have an NIV, it will translate that word chief prince. But other scholars believe that it refers to a territory, and it is the word from which we get the word Russia. There are several reasons why Russia, I believe, is going to be the one who will lead this particular invasion. First of all, because three times in this passage it talks about a nation from the remotest part of the north. Notice in verse six, Gomer with all of its troops. And then it talks about Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all of its troops.

You'll notice again the same expression occurs in verse 15, "And you will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many people with you." And then we notice in chapter 39 verse two, speaking of the same event, giving more details, "And I shall turn you around," God says, "and drive you on and take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel." You say, well, how do we know that this hasn't already happened? Well, there are two reasons. First because it says that this is going to happen in the latter days.

That's what my translation says. I'm reading from the New American version, New American Standard, "In the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword." I notice that the NIV translates it future years. But either way, this is something that Ezekiel was prophesying that was in the distant future. But there's another reason, and that is that these events, as we shall see, simply have not yet happened, remarkable events.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, this is Pastor Lutzer. I want to ask you a question. Have you ever attended a prophecy conference? I remember when I was growing up, they were frequent in churches. We were encouraged to look into the future, but they are not as common as they used to be. Well, one way to make up for that is to get a copy of the book that I am holding in my hands titled When Jesus Returns. The subtitle is Living in Expectation of the End Times. Jan Markell is the general editor. She has written two chapters, but all the others are from various Bible teachers.

For example, I have a chapter in the book entitled One Minute After You Die. It will enable you to focus on the future without fear. On the one hand, we are predicting in the scriptures a very chaotic and fearful world. But for those who know Christ as Savior, this is a book of hope. For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you.

Dave MacAllister: Erwin Lutzer with part one of War in Israel, sign number six in his series Seven Signs of Christ's Return. Next time, more details on a great war that will lead to the greatest war of all. When Jesus returns, Living in Expectation of the End Times. That's a book compiled by Jan Markell. It contains the best teachings on Bible prophecy from a wide range of authors. This book is our gift to you for your gift of any amount to support Running to Win. For full information, call us at 1 800 215 5001. That's 1 800 215 5001.

Online, go to offer rtw.com. That's offer rtw.com. Or write to us at Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. This is Dave MacAllister. Running to Win comes to you as a ministry of the Moody Church.