No matter what happens, no matter what man does, no matter what this world can throw at us; God is still sovereign over all people, events, and things. No matter what! SO – why should we engage in culture and pay attention to Bible prophecy and world events since we know God is in control and nothing can happen apart from his will? First, we are all called by God to share the gospel, make disciples, and speak the truth about Jesus Christ. Second, the hundreds of prophecies fulfilled by Jesus prove that Scripture is divinely inspired. God’s faithfulness encourages us because we can trust that He will make good on the remaining predictions regarding the return of Christ and the End Times. “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.” Daniel 2:20-22 So whether it’s Netanyahu, Obama, Putin, Iran’s Ahmadinejad, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, we can be assured that nothing takes place and no one comes to power apart from God allowing it to happen. The Lord seems to be setting the stage for His return like never before. A coalition of nations is rising up against Israel just as predicted, and the majority are Muslim nations. Similar to Old Testament times, the very existence of Israel and the Jews produces an almost irrational hatred. Why do Iran and Muslim nations want to wipe Israel off the map? Why all the fuss over borders? It all goes back to the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But Muslims – descendants of Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar - have lived in hostility toward their brothers from the beginning. “And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed; Gen. 12:2-3 The Jewish Torah promises the children of Israel a modest and reasonable allotment of land about 1/19th the size of California and yet, they are currently surrounded by 22 hostile Arab nations 640 times the size of Israel and 60 times her population. How can anyone believe Israel is responsible for all the problems in the Middle East? Since 1948, Israel has sought peaceful coexistence with neighboring dictatorships dedicated to her destruction. Just as predicted, the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed, trampled underfoot by the Gentiles (Luke 21:24) since AD 70. According to prophecies, Jerusalem would be – and was – rebuilt on its own ruins (Jeremiah 30:18; Zechariah 12:6) and reestablished in 1948. On May 14, 1948, a remarkable event took place when the nation Israel was born in one day, as prophesied in Isaiah 66:8. This is unprecedented in all of history: Over five million Jews returned to Israel, and as predicted, the remnant was restored (Isaiah 11:11-12; Ezekiel 37:21-22; 38:8). Never before in history has a people been dispersed and scattered among the nations of the earth and then return to their homeland from the north, south, east, and west (Isaiah 43:5-6). One major reason for the reliability of the Bible in addition to its accurate history, eyewitness accounts of the resurrection, and overwhelming archaeological evidence confirming Scriptures, is the accuracy of fulfilled prophecies. The Bible consists of specific predictions which cannot be logically explained apart from divine inspiration. It had to be God! And the best is yet to come. And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.” Zechariah 14:9 Other Scriptures: Isaiah 46:9-10 Genesis 13:15 Joshua 13:6 Psalm 105:5-11 Proverbs 21:1, 30 Isaiah 41:17-20 Psalms 75:1-3, 6-7 Zechariah 14:1-4, 9
