The Cup of Israel Tribe 2024-10-07 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- Today. Come meet us in a unique way today. Yes, Lord. I tell you, we love you and you are welcoming. Come and have your way in this place. We're gonna leave here changed today because we welcome you. Yes. For how many of you, this is your first Sunday at the GMC? Okay. Wow. Wow. That's awesome. This is how we get a lot lot of of you. Money. Yeah. We, yeah, we spent a lot of Sundays here at the TMC. TMC stands for Tribe Ministry Center, and it was in 2020 when we felt like oh, there it is. Oh, the music sounds good. I'll give a little history. We were meeting at we were meeting at Snow King. Our church is about eight years old. We'll celebrate our eighth birthday at the end of the month. And we're meeting at Snow King. Then COVID happened, turned the world upside down, and we were meeting where all were we meeting? At homes? Parks. Parks outside. And one of our our esteemed board members said, hey. There is a there's an opportunity that maybe we could buy, like, a little live work unit in town. And we're like, it's COVID and we're homeless. What so we looked at it. We looked at it. And a long story short, we ended up here at the TMC. We used the TMC for offices, for meetings, for counseling, things like that. We continued to be outdoors. We met at Snow King Park. There was one famous Sunday where the sprinklers went off on us. We were on the high side. I don't know if you remember that. Maybe it happened twice or so. So it was turned into a baptism service. It's the old one. The old baptism. And so that was fun. But then as the temperature started to like get colder and colder, like, where are we gonna meet? And one of our members of pastor's council was like, guys, we have this space. What if we try to do church in this space? And we're like, that's that's crazy. Impossible. Impossible. And then we spent two two two wonderful years right here in the TMC. It was being here at the TMC. Can I get a little water? Maybe from our fridge. Oh, yeah. That'll work. Thank you. We spent almost two full years here at the TMC. Thank you so much. And it was also during this time that there began to be a shift in our format that first happened in my heart as the Lord was challenging my views on what I thought, like, success in ministry and what it was supposed to be. There were lots of great things that were happening in other people's hearts during that season as well. Spent two wonderful years here. And then we went from we went from here to the Virginia. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Doing Christmas and Easter and bigger. Mhmm. We are gonna do Christmas on the town square again. And for today's conversation, if you are taking notes, we're kind of on a theme of cups, but I've titled this morning's conversation the cup of Israel. So if you're taking notes, you can write the title of this morning's conversation, the cup of Israel. And if you are if you're brand new to tribe, admittedly, this is a a unique venue. And one of the things that we like to play into with the uniqueness of this venue is it's really easy for us to have a conversation. Whether you're sitting all the way in the back row, like, Hannah a lot. Hi. Good morning. Hi, Hannah. Yep. And I can hear you just fine. Or you're squeezed in here at the at the front row. This this venue lends itself to being more of a conversation. And we call that the VIP section where Carla is in the back. Hi, Carla. Good morning. So we invite you to just be a part of this conversation. It's kind of like we're in a living room, but there's a lot of us in this living room. And so let's lean into the conversational feel and the family vibe that we have together this morning. And what that means is I wanna hear from you. And you can be sitting all the way in the back row, and I'll still get to hear you just fine. If you have your bible with you this morning, let's turn to Zechariah chapter 12. And for some context, let's go ahead and we're going to we'll take turns. We'll read we don't have a mic to pass around this morning because we can all hear you just fine, and the livestream will pick it up. But let's turn to Zechariah chapter 12. And if you're like, I don't know where the book of Zechariah is, every bible that you have in your lap has a table of contents in it, and so you can just open up the table of contents, find the book of Zechariah, and then turn to that page. In my bible, that will help you, it's on page 771. Or four ten sixty. Yes. Or Zechariah chapter 12. And why don't we take turns to read all of Zechariah chapter 12. And as we get through a couple of different places in Zechariah, some of these verses, some of these little passages may stand out to you as being familiar. I think maybe we've talked about this before. But the goal is for us to get the big picture of all of Zechariah chapter 12. And so whoever would like to start reading, would you please go for it? Mine's titled future deliverance of Jerusalem. Great. This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord. This message is from the Lord who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves. Four. So on that day, says the lord, I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind the horses of her enemies. And the clans of Judah will say to themselves, the people of Jerusalem have found strength in the Lord Almighty, their God. On that day, I will make the clans of Judah From the VIP session. On that day, I will make the clans of Judah like a flame that sets a woodpile ablaze or like a burning torch among the shelves of grain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure. The Lord will give victory to the rest of Judah first before Jerusalem so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah. On that day, the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem. The weakest among them will be mighty as king David, and the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the Lord who goes before them. For on that day, I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Adad on the in the Valley Of Megiddo. All Israel will mourn each clan by itself and with the husband separate from their wives. The clan of David will mourn alone as will the clan of Nathan, the clan of Levi, and the clan Shea. Each of the surviving clans from Judah were born separately and with the husbands separate from their wives. Okay. To get the most out of any passage that we read, and we read this whole chapter, it's important to consider a couple of things. We talked about this before. Who's writing? Who is he writing to? And in what context is he writing? Like, what time period? And so I don't have I don't have an expectation of you to know this, but just general broad stroke terms. What do you know about the person of Zachariah? What do we know about him as an author? He's a prophet. He's a prophet. Yep. And there the prophets are broken into two categories of profits. What's one of the two categories? Minor. Minor profits and then the Major. Major profits. Great. So what category would Zachariah fit into? Major or minor? Minor. He's a minor prophet. Why is he a minor prophet? Well, history records that he was only about five foot three. I didn't think the orthopedic shoes I got would really help, but I stand corrected. That's all that tasted. Really a crinkled nose from Steve. King of the dad jokes. I don't get any love. Alright. Alright. Okay. So we know that Zechariah was a minor prophet. Great. Anything else we know about Zechariah. How about how about this? How about the genre of book that he wrote? Genre of of this particular book. Eschatological. Eschatological, which is a fancy term for? Times. N times. Yep. So that that could be one I would say that's a a subcategory of a bigger overarching category. You'll when somebody says you'd be like, oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Of course. But, yes, you are right, Amanda. Here in my in the introduction, it says, Zachariah predicted more about the Messiah than any prophet except Isaiah. Woah. Well, is a great little piece of information that helps us. And did you know that there's more information in the bible about Jesus's second coming than his first. Okay. I'm looking for the big literary genre. It is eschatological. It is about the messiah. Starts with a p. Is it poetic? Prophecy. Prophecy. Yes. You're exactly right. So the so this book would fit into the the literary genre that we know of as prophecy. So when we read Zechariah, the the way that we get the most out of this book is by digging through our our drawer of reader glasses, which our family is like it's like growing and growing. And you're like, okay. These okay. These are my prophecy glasses. So as you read the book of Zechariah, it's important to understand what genre. So we know that Zechariah was a minor prophet. We know that he wrote the he wasn't sitting down and be like, I'd like to write in the literary style and theme of prophecy. He's just writing what the Lord puts on his heart, what he sees in the spirit, if you will. And it happens to be prophecy. Now how about what time period or so and yes, you can look in your introduction. What time period was Zachariah writing in? Not necessarily a date, but like what was going on while Zachariah was writing these words? What do you know of? And, yes, Google can help you. This was this was after the Hebrew people came back from exile. Like, what was it? 50,000 people, Gretchen, came back from exile? Mhmm. Is that chapter two? Yeah. Correct. From VIP. So they have been, yeah, exiled for their naughtiness and and idol worship. And then the lord, as he does, kept his promise even though it was years later, and they got to return back to Jerusalem. I think it's around five twenty BC. No. 05/30. And they came back and they were, like, patching things up and rebuilding the temple. Now here's something that's interesting about Zechariah. It is a remnant that returns from exile in Babylon. They've been in Babylonian captivity for about seventy years. A remnant is coming back. A a second temple is being built. Its its latter physical glory was nothing compared to its former glory under king Solomon, the temple that was built. But the people are trying to regain traction in Israel and in Jerusalem. The time when they needed encouragement and exhortation and comfort and strength for that time period. But what does God decide he wants Zechariah to talk about instead? You said it earlier. A future time Yeah. Of a Messiah. This is a really important preliminary takeaway for us. How many of you have ever found yourself in the midst of a situation where you need comfort, strength, wisdom, direction, and you go to the Lord like, help me with this. And then God says, actually, let's talk about this. And it's seemingly completely unrelated to what it is that you're going through and what it is that you need. Has anybody ever experienced that? No. Haven't. Yes. We literally have a a historical example. Israel is just trying to, like, find their feet again. And God's like, I wanna talk to you about something way way way in the future. Now when we read biblical prophecy, here's something else that's important for us to know as we read biblical prophecy. Who it's written to and who is it for? It was written to Jews in that day. It was written to Jews for a coming generation in the future, unknown to them at this time. Mhmm. And it's written for us today to to get a lot of spiritual and practical nutritional value out of. And here's one of the things to consider with prophecy which makes it a challenging genre of literature to read is that there are multiple layers of truth and there are multiple layers of fulfillment. And when you hear somebody speak in such a way as that has already been fulfilled and is not relevant for us today, be careful. Mhmm. There is there is a a chance that it has literally been fulfilled and we're like, wow. Cool. Check that box. Great. But you have to remember that when looking at the genre of prophecy, and there are you can you can look through all of the 66 books in the bible and you probably if you were to guess which book is historical narrative? Which book is I heard Converse say earlier poetic? Which book is prophecy? You probably would do a pretty good job of like guessing, oh, this is this is a book of prophecy. Although books like the book of Jeremiah has some historical narrative because Jeremiah is like this happened and then this happened and this happened and then I went and cried and then I prayed and then I saw this and it's like prophecy and historical narrative. So like you have to have like one lens of of each. But when looking at the genre of prophecy, it's important to keep in mind that there could have been a fulfillment. There is a current unfolding and fulfillment, but then and also future fulfillment. Mhmm. And we've seen this in great, like, fictional works and in movies, foreshadowing and types and shadows. And so when we look at the book of Zechariah, we can see some partial fulfillment. We can see some types and shadows that are intended to prepare and design our hearts and calibrate our minds so that when we see a literal fulfillment, we will be able to stand like Peter in the second chapter of Acts on the day of Pentecost when people said, look at these guys, they're drunk. And Peter's able to stand up and say, they're not drunk. It's ten in the morning. This that you see is that that the prophet Joel spoke about. And then he quotes Joel chapter two. We want to be like Peter so that when we see events unfolding in the world around us, we will be able to say this that you're seeing out here in the world is that that the Lord has been preparing us for in his word. Are you with me so far? Okay. I knew that you would be. So with that in mind, now let's zoom down all the way into Zechariah chapter 12. And we just read all of Zechariah chapter 12. The next question is, to whom is this passage for? Meaning, for to which generation is this passage? Go ahead. Yeah. I feel strongly that it's for us. The time that we live in is, you know, with what's going on in the world in Israel, it's very encouraging. It it it helps us understand, oh, okay. We I can get it based on on what he's he says. So you read, specifically, Zechariah chapter 12 because that's what we're talking about. As you see it, you're able to overlay Zechariah chapter 12 carefully and consider overlaying it on today's events. And your takeaway is that it gives you peace and confidence? Yes. Yeah. I think it's both and. Okay. Now and the people that he was that were rebuilding the temple at the time We need encouragement as well. Okay. Alright. Which is which fits perfectly with what I said earlier about prophecy that it can have multiple layers with multiple fulfillments. Yep. And I know that you're not just saying that as a safe answer. It's both for it's for the the the past, well, and the present, and well, and the future. Just get all your bases covered. What else do you see about to whom this generation this passage is written for or to? And do you have any clues in the text about to whom Zechariah is writing? Perhaps check verse 10 written to the nonmessianic Jews at the time of the Lord's return. Mhmm. Okay. Yeah. That's great. I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer. So oh, this would be a really fun word study, and somebody might be able to, like, crank it out really quickly. But in chapter 12, how many times is the phrase used on that day? Now when you read on that day, that should cause a little alarm in your head to go off for what in that day? What? End times. I'm just like I know. End times and specifically, did you say second coming? The second coming of Jesus. That is exactly right. It's known by a lot of different phrases. On that day, in that day, the great day, the great and terrible day, it has it has a bunch of different flavors to it. But the basic recipe recipe is is whenever whenever you you see see in in that that day you can you can know that there is a strong likelihood that the author intends for us to cast our gaze to as maybe I heard Gretchen say, end times or the second coming or the second advent of Jesus. So this is written to the generation that's alive when that happens? Alright. That is a beautiful summary that you phrased as a question. Right. Right. Say it one more time because I think it's really valuable and it helps us to move forward in our conversation. So this he's speaking to the people, the generation that are alive when that happens is what I'm reading. On that day. Yes. He's speaking to people that will see that on that day. Mhmm. Yes. So, Joy, you are right. It is it was written for the exiles that had recently returned from captivity in Babylon to strengthen and encourage and comfort them. And a greater, more vivid fulfillment of Zechariah chapter 12 is to yet be unfolded for us. So bottom line, when we read Zechariah chapter 12, it's for a day in the future. Yes. I have a question. Yes. Just in this chapter 12 and from verse 12 down to the end, five times, just right there, it says, the wives will be by themselves. Why does that emphasize so many? Oh, that's that's great. Can does somebody have any thoughts or insight into that? I couldn't hear. Oh, okay. Towards the end of Zechariah chapter 12, it is mentioned several times that the women will be separate from the men. And this is where our Gentile brains get hung up. I don't understand. But a Jew would or if you've ever been to the Wailing Wall or the Western Wall in Jerusalem, you're like, yep. Makes sense. So what what am I getting at? Yeah. What are you getting at? Men and women have to mourn separately. Separately. Yes. Men and women, according to Jewish faith and traditions, they mourn separately. And if you were to go to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, there's half for the men and another section for the women. And so this is a an indication of formal, deep, sincere, contrite, heavy duty mourning. Good question. That's a fantastic question. It's interesting to note that directly before that, like, verse 11 is the, like, the great morning of the Haddad Ramon in the plane of Medigo where it's like that is a full cultural as a people group type of mourning. And then you look at also, it goes deeper and 12 through the end gets into that, like, personal mourning. That's why it talks about that separation. Corporate national mourning all the way down to tribes and families and individuals that when verse 10 unfolds, it will penetrate the hearts of the people nationally, religiously, all the way down to an individual. For example, recently, did The United States experience a devastating hurricane? Yes. Are we in The United States? Yes. Yes. Did we experience it? No. No. But I like what you're pointing out, Connor, is that from the biggest macro all the way down to individuals, They will look upon the one whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as for an only son. Okay. Let's look at verse two and three. This is what I'd like us to to focus on. And we've talked about this several times. I've tried here. Verse two. I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. And then verse three. On that day, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All of the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves. How about from this passage, and it's up here on the screen. I'm not necessarily looking for you to draw any kind of deep spiritual conclusions yet, but how about just some observations that you notice about the text? And we should turn it up. It is usually pretty solid. I'm happy to just sit here and trim it up. Brian, this is kind of obscure. But Great. When I think or when I see a movable rock, I just immediately think of in Jerusalem the Dome Of The Rock because that's such a special spot. Again, probably obscured. Not relevant, but I because that's where they believe that Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac. And then the Muslims believe that's where Muhammad Muhammad was rescinded. You know? So it's like a very spiritual special spot. So, yeah, that's what I think of. The words like, no. That's my rock. I'll do what I want to do. Okay. So let me help to explain and clarify what you just said. So you said the Dome Of The Rock. The Dome Of The The Rock is a structure on top of what would be considered by many people to be the the flat level courtyard area where the temple once stood. The Temple Mount of some people thinking consider it is. On the Temple Mount that is a holy Jewish site, there is a building with a dome on it that was constructed by Muslims that enshrines inside a big rock, like a big boulder. And so they call it the Dome Of The Rock. So what you're what you're not saying is the dome of the rock is the immovable rock, but what you're saying is the rock inside the dome of the rock, that's what it makes you think of. Right? Yes. Don't know. Yes? Okay. Alright. Alright. So not the building on top that memorializes the big boulder but the big boulder. And really Right. The big boulder, all you can see is just kind of the top of it. You you go inside and you're like There so much character to use something that other people are putting value on in an inappropriate way, and he's like, I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do with that. I'm gonna do what eventually shows shows you. You know? I love it. What else do you see? These two verses show the strength of Jerusalem. Okay. And how and what way? What do you see? Well, I mean, how he's gonna make them so strong that people are gonna hurt themselves when they try to come against him. And that the strength of Jerusalem, it's gonna be able to defend itself. Okay? What stands out to me is those words intoxicating drink. I think that in saying that, he's trying to say that they wouldn't be jealous. They're gonna watch Jerusalem so bad like an intoxicated. Mhmm. Mhmm. Because because I don't know what it is in in Hebrew, but it really stood out to me from the holders. Now would be a good time to consider, just like you said, Lee, overlaying what we read in the bible with events that we see unfolding in the world around us. So you gave me an opportunity. But I the the significance of the immovable rock is Jerusalem will not be destroyed, period. Mhmm. It will not be. So that's encouraging for me this season and time, but I'm sure it was encouraging to the Hebrews at that time when Zechariah spoke that. Jerusalem, it ain't going away no matter what. What about the Jews reading this in sixty nine AD, the year before Rome sacked Jerusalem and literally razed Razed. The Temple and Jerusalem. We have to we have to hold these things in a little bit of tension because it's it's it's prudent and wise, but tell me more about Jerusalem. Are you talking about the city? Are you talking about the idea? Are you talking about the people? Yes. To me, it's like, okay. The buildings are destroyed. So what? Okay. It's it's the spirit for lack of a better term. Sure. It's the spirit of Jerusalem. It's the power. It's something, I don't know, a portal from heaven. I don't know. But whatever it is, it isn't gonna go away. Yep. Yeah. Okay. I like it. What else? I see contrast well, similarities between the way Jerusalem is being described here and the way Jesus has been described like a rock of a fence, a rock of stumbling that, you know, that then has hurt himself bond. Well, I guess, no. Jesus hurt his foot. But, anyway, like, Jesus It's good. It's Let's let's let's let's look at that. Can repeat what she said? That she says, I see a similarity between Jerusalem and Jesus. That in the same way that that God made Jesus like an immovable rock that the dirty devil tried to kick out of the way but only ended up throwing his own back out. Do we have any bible verses that you can look up that supports that? Well, how about when Jesus said, you know, you can tear this place down, but in three days Oh. They're gonna restore it. There's gotta be some significance there or some relationship. I love it. I love it. Which which goes back to and is a hyperlink to what to your answer, the question that I asked about what and who is Jerusalem. Oh, yeah. That that it's bigger Jerusalem is bigger than the geographical boundaries of a city. Correct. There's to this idea or theme of Jerusalem than just a a place with a ZIP code. Building. Yeah. Yeah. And yet could there be a significance to that geo geographical location? It's like the Lord said God said, this is mine forever. Whether there's a building there or not, it's it's mine. This is mine. The geography. Mhmm. I heard somebody once say that God is a territorial being. That that there are defined boundaries of heaven. There are defined boundaries spoken of about the New Jerusalem. There are areas, terrestrial areas on planet Earth that he has put his finger on and says this is mine. Yeah. A mirror. I want to I want to I want to stay grounded in scripture because although that we historically at the foundation of our nation committed this nation as one nation under God, I I want to confine our conversation to biblical scriptural base because I don't see America in the bible at all. Yeah. I think that I think that we can, and sometimes perhaps, not stretched beyond the bounds of of scripture that that we can that, oh, I I I might see The United States in there. Specifically speaking, there is a time in Ezekiel, maybe '38 or '39 where this man of lawlessness sets his sights on Israel and the holy Land and the people of the covenant, but it says that ships from Tarshish, which is basically like like west west west, come against him and say, not so fast. Could that be a naval blockade from The United States that deterred him? I don't know. But I just want I want us to be careful. We as a nation, a founding of our nation, said, Lord, we give you this land in our hearts. God's like, that is so awesome. I love you. I'll bless you. And he has great amazing things for us as a nation still. But for the purpose of our conversation, I wanna try to stay confined to the text. Yeah? But he has clearly put his finger on Israel and Jerusalem. Yeah. My people, my holy mountain, my city, the city where my name dwells. Now let's overlay what we're reading in all of Zechariah 12 and specifically verse two and three over current events that we see unfolding today. What parallels or connections do you see or can you make? We already see how Jerusalem is like an intoxicating drink. Everybody it's a real contentious topic everywhere across the world for some reason. Like, why would that be? You know? And everybody wants that land for some reason as well. Mhmm. So, I mean, I think people just have this feeling of some sort that they want Israel. Yeah. Well, and even since the formation of it, like, officially being, like, the nation of Israel, Like, historically, there's just been so many people, like, he says, like, trying to go after him. Like, since it was, like I mean, the first week even. Like, that it was an actual, like, okay. This is your place. Like, we've seen it besieged and all sorts of armies all around coming after it. Perhaps the most highly contested piece of dirt Yeah. On this planet of ours. And Gretchen and Jacob having been there this time about this time last year Exactly this time last year. Could sense and feel the tension of being pulled by a lot of different nations and cultures and peoples and histories wanting to claim it. And I would say too, like, when I look at verse two and I see Jerusalem and Judah, in my brain, that just signals that it's talking about Jerusalem, but it's also talking about the people. Like, Judah to me represents the people. And and we see historically the people, the Jewish people consistently being targeted for no reason. Like, even before they had simply than that they are Right. Jews. Right. Even before they had land. So we're talking now about them as because it's the land, but it was before they even had the land. Mhmm. Yeah. So it's been throughout history. And as I read Zach all of Zechariah 12, the warning is to those people who are When did that kinda come back together? So Rome came in, conquered both northern and south. So is this Judah the land? Is this Israel and and Judah? Just rip it south. So so according to the allotment from Moses, from the covenant of Sinai, the different tribes got their allotment of land. So Judah, the tribe of Judah, had a section like you get Lincoln County. You know? So I think that's part of what you're referring to. But the Northern and Southern kingdoms were really never unified again as tribes until the the United Nations recognized and established the nation of Israel. And when you read Jerusalem and Judah, I think you might not have heard it too well, but I think Gretchen beautifully pointed out that there's a geographical spot, the land, Israel, and the people of Judah. I don't know if that helped to because it's actually Judah. Jerusalem's the capital of Judah. So they're the same land too. So that's why I was Geographically. Geographically. They're not north and south. Jerusalem was in the land of allotment given to the tribe of Judah? Yes. That's cool. I also I see a lot of peace for verse in verse three for right now. Like, we live in such a where we're seeing the nations coming against Israel and trying to move it and, you know, just being drawn like that intoxicating drink. But but they will only hurt themselves. And so in a time where we could get spiral into anxiety about what's going on over there and start to think, oh, the world is melting down. We have this promise that if we really believe the bible, then they're only gonna hurt themselves. And there are people that you hurt. It's not that nobody's gonna get hurt, but but just in, like, big picture zoomed out, we can be assured that God is still in control, that he will protect, you know, the people and the land, and that when we find ourselves spinning out in anxiety about how that's gonna affect everything, we can actually be at peace and go and know we already know the hint. Mhmm. Awesome. Just had a crazy thought. Well, welcome to try it. We shared it publicly. Maybe the Jews, all the persecution, everything is behind them if we're talking about today. That there's only a a a light crazy ahead. You know what I mean? No. Well, it I mean, because I'm looking at the end picture, not going through the end times, but the end picture. Because we're all gonna you know, it's not just Jew. It'll be Gentile that suffers through the end times. But I just kinda feel like all the things that have happened to the Jews from day one are sort of done and over with, and we're moving towards something much greater and much better. I kinda feel that in that verse on that day. Ask ask my friend Jacob or Sherry that live in Beth Sheehan or Yeah. Marco. Thank you. Right. I'm guessing Mark like like, right now, like, hey. Hostages and Yeah. Like, how are you doing right now? Like, it's getting brighter. They they certainly would. And we can see in Big picture. Big picture from the text, we can read in Jeremiah chapter 30 or 31 that there is a time coming known by the Jews as a time of Jacob's trouble. As Gentiles and Christians, we understand that from Luke 21, Matthew chapter 24 as a time of tribulation. Seven in book of Daniel talks about the man of lawlessness will make a covenant with the people. And then Daniel says, like, in his cryptic way, times and certain times and half of times, but then halfway through that, he'll break it. There will be a peace accord made with Israel that will last about that's inked out in paper for seven years. Through halfway through, as part of a provision, maybe a third temple will be rebuilt. I don't know. But halfway through, the temple sacrifices will be stopped, and there will be a more intense wave of persecution against Israel unlike has ever happened and unfolded in the history of persecution against Israel. To make the holocaust look like a walk in the park, that was only 6,000,000 Jews across Europe. And that's still yet to come. That is still yet to come. God will use that for the chastisement of Israel and the exposing of the hearts and attitudes of the nations of the world of their attitude towards Israel. Think of this intoxicating drink almost like a a truth serum. Everyone must drink from the cup of Israel. It is a stone in all of our paths. Will it provoke you to rage and animosity or trying to delete Israel while they had their chance? Or does it cause a change in your heart? And it says, I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes a nearby nation stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All of the nations will gather against to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves. When we overlay that today, who attacked Israel on October 7? Hamas. Hamas. Terrorist group based out of the Gaza Strip who also has a political faction to their terrorist organization. Because the Palestinians living in Gaza ever since 1946 when the nation of Israel was created. What about the Palestinians? What about the Palestinians? We want our own place. We want our own place. We want own place. There was given to them the West Bank and and the Gaza Strip under Israeli supervision and through suicide bombings, stabbings of civilians, bombings of Sbarro pizza places, continuous raids on Israeli citizens. We want our own state. We want our own state. We want our own state. Israel said, okay. Fine. Unilaterally pulled out of Gaza in 2005. Here you go. Hamas, a terrorist organization, seized control and rewarded Israel by pulling out in 2005 with more bombings, border attacks, terrorist activity. And we see the single biggest terrorist act in 2007, almost a year ago. October. November. 2020. Yes. What did I just say? 2007. Oh, yes. Sorry. Sorry. October seventh two thousand twenty twenty three. Thank you. Single biggest terrorist attack from Hamas coming to remove this the rock of Israel from the river to the sea. Palestine will be free. Push the nation of Israel into the ocean, and then we'll be free. And interestingly enough, the what they called the mission for October 7 was the name of the Dome Of The Rock. Al Aqsa, day of freedom. And Al Aqsa is the mosque, not the Dome Of The Rock, but a mosque situated right near there. You're exactly right. So what happened to Hamas as a result of their terrorist attack on citizens of Israel. What was the end result of Hamas? They got hurt. They were literally ground into the dust. And just to add to that too, even Hamas, Hezbollah, and and the Houthis, Israel is, like you said, grinding them in the dust, but, ultimately, it's destroying, it's hurting Iran. That because they're they're the source of all of this. And yeah. So so it is commonly known that Hamas fights Israel as a proxy Yes. For the country of the Iranian regime. Yep. Hamas has been reduced to dust at the unfortunate cost of some collateral damage of Palestinians. Regret. Regret. Regret. Heartbreakingly so. It is Hamas who chooses to set up their mortars and their rockets in schools, in the basements of hospitals, on the balconies of homes, in parks, where embedded within the citizens of the nation or of the people of of Gaza. Hamas tries to remove Jerusalem and they throw their back out. In the midst of okay. So let me ask you this. What happened October 8? October 7, Hamas attacked Israel. What happened October 8? Hezbollah. Mhmm. Johnson. Launched hundreds of rockets into Northern Israel as thinking that while they're being distracted and the nation of Israel is focused on on Gaza and in Southern Israel, Hezbollah thought this is our chance. And they just took a big old drink. Oh, yes. Causing them to become intoxicated thinking that that now is their chance with their enemy being distracted. They could attack and take out Israel. How successful has Hezbollah in from Lebanon been? Not. Not bad. You're not. I think the greatest illustration of verse three is last week, Iran launched hundreds of missiles into Israel, and who was hurt? One One. Palestinian. Palestinian man. Yeah. Israel is fighting a a seven front war right now. You don't see this necessarily on Bach, CNN, and the SMBC. They're fighting Hamas in the South, Hezbollah to the North. They're fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen. Do you know that the United States Navy just this week sent guided missiles to take out strategic targets in Yemen? United States Navy is landing missiles in Yemen to keep seaports open in the Gulf Of Aqaba. Yemen has launched missiles against Israel. They're fighting Syria, Iraq. We talked to Hezbollah from Lebanon, Iran, and then the the seventh front of this seven front war is the avalanche, the flood of antisemitic propaganda against Israel. Everyone must drink from the cup. The question is what effect and impact does it have on you? Does does drinking from the cup of Israel cause you to be more sober, or does it cause you to reel with drunkenness and to lose your footing? Remember when the soldiers came to to arrest Jesus in the Garden Of Gethsemane in the Gospel of John? And they and they said, where's this Jesus? Jesus stepped forward and said, I am he. And it says they just fell down. I can just picture, like, you know, like, movie special effect. Lost their footing. I would say too, like, being over there, and I would encourage anybody to go, like, sitting here thinking about a trail without ever going is a different feeling than being there. And when you're there, there's this heaviness of there's just a spiritual heaviness like I've never felt before in my life. When you're there, you have all these people crammed into this one place, Arabs, Jews, they they really only have three people. They have Arabs, Jews, and Christians is what they consider their group. K? So if you're not a Christian from America, you're an Arab or you're a Jew. You know? That's really their their sex. But for the most part, there's this heaviness that I've never felt before. And when you feel that heaviness, you do start to it's almost like a drunken feeling. It's almost like even for me as a Christian, having these same beliefs about Israel, it was still hard for me to process. I had a lot of emotions and feelings about Israel being there. And it like, some was anger. Some was disappointment. Some was regret. And so it's easy to sit here and think about it, but when you're there and realize what they're going through and being in that region, which has definitely has some spiritual significance. Just being in that land has spiritual significance. But feeling the emotions, and they weren't all good emotions. There were some negative emotions against Israel, being in Israel. I don't know why. That heaviness that came on through the spiritual forces and the battles that's going on there spiritually that we don't understand here in America. Mhmm. It's a different feeling. It's a different thing. So I guess it's one thing to look at it as from a grand point of view, like, see these different countries coming against Israel. But when you're there, you understand it's pressure from all sides. It's the whole world is, like, pushing against Israel, you know, and you feel it spiritually, and you feel it in the air when you're there. So I would encourage you to go there if you ever get a chance, and you can, and just feel it. We'll tribe will go in 2025. We'll go. We'll go. Okay. We'll go in 2025. We'll probably we'll roll out details in January, but we'll go in 2025. A couple of quick takeaways as we start to land the plane. There will be a real, more of the the most vibrant fulfillment of Zechariah chapter 12 on that day, which means when Jesus returns. When Jesus returns, the nation of Israel will will recognize him as their messiah, I believe, because he will descend back to planet Earth in a similar manner that God descended on Mount Sinai. Every Jew understands and remembers the story of God coming down to visit with Moses and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. I believe that Jesus will return to planet Earth within our generation in a similar manner that will be unmistakable. And he will then lead an army to liberate Israel to rescue refugees that have been out in the desert seeking asylum, Maybe in the wilderness of Jordan, Realpetra. They they call it the land of Edom back in the bible. And then he will lead those people to retake with I mean, it's kind of hard to imagine, but I'm just trying to paint some accurate f sixteens, f 35 Raptors, Abrams tanks. And men and women and millions of saints with resurrected bodies, I don't know what that's gonna be like to retake the city of Jerusalem where the antichrist has set up the abomination that causes desolation in the temple. It will defeat the antichrist and his armies. And on that day, verse six, I'll make the clans of Judah like a flame that sets a wood pile ablaze, like a burning torch among sheaves of rain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure. I will give victory to the rest of Judah before Jerusalem so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah. On that day, the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem. The weakest among them will be as mighty as King David, that there will be a retaking as Jesus leads recent captives in his train to retake the city of Jerusalem. And once the city of Jerusalem has been retaken and and everybody's and Israelis are done beating their chest, and we are like, we did it. We did it. They're gonna look back at the commander of the liberating forces of this man, Jesus, who has returned and be like, oh my gosh. You're more than just a brilliant ground force commander. You're more than a you are saving the world, and they will collectively have a remembering of the one who may have pierced. And be like, and they staggered and real and more. To land the plane, the goal of today's conversation is to fill our hearts with hope. I know that whatever it is that you may be going through right now today, it could seem as though this topic of conversation is really far distant and removed. Like, how does that help me find a job by the end of October? Right? How does this help me climb out of debt that I'm in? How does this help knowing this does this help to repair my marriage? Like, I understand that you're going through very real and practical things right now. But in the same way that Zechariah was speaking to the remnant that had returned from Israel and were looking for hope and comfort and God said, well, here's what I wanna talk about. In a similar way, bring whatever it is that you're going through to him and listen to his heart speak to you about what's on his mind to your heart, Israel, and a coming day of freedom, redemption, vindication, and and a season where we will, just as you said, Suzanne, celebrate and be at peace and be be at the light at the end of the tunnel. And in fact, God has a really quirky annual family tradition where he invites his people, his family to go camping for a week, where they can set aside all of the stuff and the things and the and the busyness and and go camping with him, like, literally camping with him where we can where we can rest and rejoice in his goodness and in his provision and in his promise that he's gonna make everything work out and that all we need is just him. When you're camping, Nancy, you don't have your bedroom, know, your your pediatric Sleep gel mask and, you know, and all the things. We just get to, like like, part of the beauty of camping is you just strip down to the simplicity. And so Jews know that god that family tradition of the lord as Sukkot, and last year, our tribe family celebrated Sukkot by going camping for a whole week. And the the that holiday fell from, like, a a Sunday to a Friday. This year, it falls on, a Wednesday through a next Wednesday. So do you have that that picture of that calendar? You can see here Wednesday, October 16 through Saturday the nineteenth. Birthday. No. That's October. October. So, like, coming up really soon. Yeah. Coming up really soon. We are going to as a tribe family, for anybody that that can, we're gonna go camping for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then Saturday night we break camp and and come home. And here's what a lot of people did last year. They if you have a camper, you can park it there. If you have a tent, can set it up. Or if you're camping in your van or whatever. People would just come come down to where we're camping after work, and then just we'd be together. Some people have to get up early to go to work. Some people could stay like that whole time. Like, Clay loved it. You know? He stayed out there the whole time with his little work. Think. Why don't you miss this one? Oh, he'll miss this one. He's got actually, he missed it. Yeah. Oh, well. So next week next week, we'll give you better instructions about where we're gonna be, but last year we were up Little Granite Creek. And this year we'll also be up Little Granite Creek. There's little to no cell service up there as you probably know. But if you can come each night, if you can come for, like like, all of those days, probably what we'll do is set up a camp down there. And then during the day, we have appointments and meetings and things so we go do our work day. But then we'll come back down in the evening. We'll have dinner together, whatever you're bringing down to cook. And and I'm not gonna feed all y'all every night. But I certainly might have some of your feeds. We'll try. And then, you know, breakfast and then come back up to your normal work day. We'll talk a little bit more about this next week. But when you read when you read Zechariah chapter 12 and especially verse two through three, We talk about sober October. This is a month to drink deeply of sobriety, to have a level head on your shoulders about what's unfolding in Israel, To not not be thrown off by a false narrative that will cause you to stagger and reel and fall down, but to be sober on God's truth. What does he say about Israel? What does he say about the land? What does he say about the people? That though the land perhaps could crumble and suffer, his finger is still on that, then there's something about the land and the people and his covenant that he will never forsake. And knowing that, we can anticipate and look forward to Sukkot, which is when we get to dwell with him in simplicity and in completeness. So no matter what you're going through, if it feels like you are under attack on multiple different fronts, hold your ground. Hold your ground. It's the enemy that will throw his back out. So, help us. Yes. Help us to think rightly about Israel. Help us to to think rightly about your truth. No matter what we're going through, help us to to have a supernatural understanding that your finger is on our lives and that any rocket lobbed against us will just fall into the sea or fall on unpopulated areas. We thank you that your spirit hovers over our lives like an iron dome protecting us. Comfort us and encourage us what we're going through. And, Lord, we pray specifically for Israel, that you would protect the people of Israel, that you give them wisdom and prudence, and ultimately that that they would have their eyes open to look upon one that they have pierced. Heal their blindness. Heal their brokenness. And, Lord, we pray for the remaining hostages that are still being held in captivity. They're being used as human shields to protect the leader of Hamas Sinmar somewhere in tunnels. Be with them. Protect them. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. I'll do offering announcements real quick since I'm here. Recently, there was a an Israeli woman that came through. Her name was Moran. She was a hostage. She was held captive for fifty five days before she was released. She spoke right here at the ward. I don't know how many of you went to this. I don't know how many more opportunities that tribe can provide for you that that like I can't force you to take advantage of these things. Like if you didn't go while I had word or I don't care whatever I gotta say this. Like like get your butt to these opportunities. Hear the words out of her mouth. And I thought, I didn't know. It's okay. Not fussy. She said that most nights when she would dream, she would dream of all of these faces of people that she had never met before just coming up to her, hugging her and hugging her and hugging her and hugging her. Are those the prayers of parents? Are those the prayers of the saints praying for Israel? And when she got to interact with other hostages, they all had similar dreams. Every night, people just coming up to and hugging her. So we pray for Lord, we pray for those the the hostages. By way of announcements, tomorrow, this is one of those opportunities. Tomorrow at 5PM, there will be a one year anniversary gathering by the Jews of this community on the town square, and tribe has been invited to help, attend, and support, and participate. The invitation has gone out to first b. I've talked to Ray at first b, Ben at PCHAH, Aaron at Gateway, Eric at Cornerstone, and I don't know what I don't know what their attendance will be, but once again, I'm inviting you as a tribe fam. Just set aside your schedule if you're not working. It's on the Town Square at 5PM. It's about one hour and this I don't know. I don't think I've loaded that graphic. The 11:00 will have the graphic, but it's tomorrow 5PM in Town Square and you're invited to attend barefoot. Come barefoot. Like, without my shoes on, like, that carpet is too prickly for me. But I'm going I'm going barefoot. As a way of showing solidarity and support for those that are still being held hostage in underground tunnels in Gaza. Talking to Moran, she said that the first thing they did was rip her shoes off. Every other hostage that she encountered during those fifty days being moved around and they all they all had their shoes removed. Just makes them more vulnerable. It's harder to run away if you're barefoot. And so in solidarity with Jews still being held hostage, take your shoes off there or just leave them in your car as you walk up to the town square. It's only about an hour. So so please make every effort to attend that. October 13, We're would you put that calendar back up just so we can see? October 13, which will be next Sunday, we're gonna do a baptism. We have two candidates for a baptism so far. And so if you have either never been baptized in water or maybe you got water baptized as like a child or a baby, but it like didn't mean anything to you. But now over these years, you've grown in your faith, you know what it means to die to your sin and to live for Jesus. You know, like, think that I should get water baptized. Great. Fantastic. Soon as we're done with service here, come see me. October 13, as soon as we're done with service, we will be meeting back at the Virginian on the thirteenth. We are going to hop in our vehicles and we're gonna drive down to the South Park Boat Ramp. Alright? So that is the South Side of the Snake River Park, not at the boat ramp where they're loading and unloading drift boats, but, like, right at the little parking area. And then we walk down a little travel path, and we're we're gonna do so far, we've got two people signed up for baptism. If you would like to get baptized or you're like, help me to figure out or talk through if maybe I should get baptized, I'm happy to do that as well. Just see me after service today. So tomorrow, wrap gathering gathering on the town square at 5PM, October 13, we have a baptism. October 16, we're going camping for Sukkot. Even if you just like come down for the evening and hang out, roast a couple of marshmallows and then bounce back over. That's great. But go back. The tenth, we're going to Wind River. No. The tenth. Ten through the twelfth. Drive so busy. Ten through the twelfth, we're going over to Riverton, Wyoming to help a church that's doing an outreach to the Wind River Reservation for their kids. They bus them in. We'll do, like, a little fall party with them, get them all jacked up on sugar. Load them up with Jesus. Okay. I think you said load them back up on the bus. Load them up on Jesus and then load them back up on the bus. He'd send them up with sugar. So there's there's a a a lot going on, and I get everything. Alright. Let's worship the Lord one other way. Let's do our tithes and offerings. And it's so fun we haven't got to say this in a while but here at Tribe we don't pass buckets but there is a little black box on the outside of the door that if you have cash or check you can drop your tithe or offering right there. You can also get through our website, drivejh.com. Most people are generous through their smartphones by opening up a new text at 84321, type any amount, and if it's the first time that you're giving, they'll give you some instructions. And then after that, it's as easy as texting a friend. Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being good to us. Lord, we pray for the nation of Israel that your hand of blessing and protection would be on them. Lord, we pray for the the the families that have been affected by the hurricane either directly, like, on the coast or inland with the flooding and the torrential rains. Lord, we ask that that we would begin to see testimonies of miracles and miracles of protection and and preserving of lives, Lord. And we ask that that your name would be made famous throughout that whole region. Thank you for blessing us here in Wyoming, in Jackson, where our biggest inconvenience is like having to wait forty five minutes in line for traffic while they're repaving our streets. Lord, we have it so good. Thank you. We just tell you thank you. We love you, and we trust you. By way of saying thank you, we offer to you a portion of our finances. God, I ask that you would receive these finances and use them to make your name famous here at Tribe, in Jackson Hole, the surrounding region, and to the uttermost grounds of the earth. We pray these things in Jesus' name. And everybody said Amen. Amen. I love you. Next week, we'll be back at the Virginia. Thanks for being a part of our time here. Stand up. I'll pray for you. Lord Jesus, I command a blessing over our tribe family. Give us a great week. Fill our freezers full of meat. Help us to enjoy this beautiful fall weather. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said, amen. Amen. Alright. Stay sober. I love you very much. Have a great weekend. Remember, you got this.