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[0:00] Hey guys, thanks for listening to our Calvary Chapel Charlotte podcast. I will walk by faith and not by sight.

[0:48] Well, good evening everybody. You can open your Bibles to Psalms 111. If you would. Well, on Wednesday nights we've done the Book of Mark, the Book of Acts, Revelation, studying the Holy Spirit.

[1:11] And usually the way it works is long before I need to know what I'm going to teach next, I'm like, Lord, what should I teach next? So I'll think and I'll think and I'll plan and I was thinking, well, maybe Esther, you know, maybe Daniel.

[1:24] And the idea is we've been in the New Testament a lot, which is great. We were going through the Old Testament, we did Genesis, Exodus, and taking a break before plowing into Leviticus is why we jumped to John.

[1:35] So I wanted to do something in the Old Testament, but not something that would lock us in for years. And then if we switch back after John to Leviticus, then we can do something in the New Testament on Wednesday nights.

[1:46] Anyway, that's just how my mind was thinking. And so Psalms was always an option not to do the whole thing, but just to go through, you know, a bunch of them and just see what the Lord wants to do. Maybe as we finish up John or maybe we'll do something else.

[1:58] And so that's what we're going to do. My hope is, as we look at each Psalm, to look at who potentially wrote it, the history surrounding the time period it was written and why it was written.

[2:11] And then diving into the Psalm and looking at it from the perspective of who was it written to. And then what do we take from that that we can apply to our lives?

[2:21] We will not actually get through a Psalm tonight. I thought Psalm 1, but no, we'll do that next time. The intro just went a direction I did not expect, which is usually how it goes as I prepare.

[2:34] I have an idea of what I think may be the direction. And then the Lord just begins to put scriptures and thoughts and you end up going a direction. And this was one of those weeks where I'm like, Lord, this is where we're going?

[2:44] Like, okay. So it's kind of cool because we're going to end up in Daniel. And I had studied a bunch of Daniel thinking, yeah, we're going to do Daniel next. And the Lord was like, no, we're going to do Psalms. So tonight we will look at seek, do, and teach in the book of Psalms.

[3:03] So I'm going to have a lot of scripture and a lot of texts and different quotes. I'm going to put them all on the screen. Maybe too much to read. I'll read them to you, but they'll be there so we can kind of be looking at them together. We'll turn to a few places.

[3:15] But Daniel 12 verse 4 says, the angel is speaking to Daniel and says, But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book. Even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased.

[3:30] And today we live in a day where knowledge has increased 100 fold. And it's increasing more and more and more. But wisdom has plummeted to an all time low, right?

[3:42] Knowledge has increased 100 fold. I can know things and find out things so quickly and so easily. I don't know if it's true all the time, but I can find it out.

[3:54] But wisdom, the application of knowledge, wisdom is at an all time or at a plummeted to all time lows. Psalm 111, if you want to turn there, if you're not already there, we'll start in verse 7 here.

[4:10] Look at a few scriptures here in Psalm 111. Psalm 111 verse 7 through 9. It says, Praise God. Praise God.

[4:38] And then our verse, kind of our theme verse of the night. Psalm 111 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments.

[4:50] His praise endures forever. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The reverence of the Lord. Understanding, yes, a good understanding have all they that do his commandments.

[5:01] But what comes first? What comes first is wisdom. Wisdom comes before the understanding. Yes, understanding comes, but understanding comes only after doing what?

[5:13] Keeping his commandments. See, when we approach the scriptures, if we approach it with the idea of, I have to understand everything about God or everything about this, we're never going to meet that.

[5:24] We're never going to meet that standard. As we go through Psalms, there are things you'll read and you'll be like, I don't understand that. Why did he say that? What does he mean by that? Lord, give me understanding.

[5:37] I want understanding, Lord. Lord says, okay. Do my commandments. Do my commandments. The understanding will come as we walk according to his will, according to his word.

[5:48] We want to put it the other way around, right? Lord, I will gladly do what you ask me to do when I can understand how that's going to work out. And I can testify that in my life and my wife and I, our life married, that most of the things the Lord has asked us to do, the understanding came after the fact.

[6:06] And he said, hey, I want you to do this. So wisdom is what? The fear of the Lord, putting him at that place of, Lord, it's not my understanding that's paramount of you. It's the fact that, yes, Lord, I trust you, I believe you, and I will honor what you are asking me to do.

[6:22] His praise endures forever. Isn't that the result of all that? You know, Psalms is just that. Praise unto the Lord. But it's the culmination of everything we just looked at right there.

[6:33] The fear of the Lord leading to wisdom, good understanding as you keep his commandments. It results in praise unto the Lord. It doesn't result in, man, I can't believe I have to keep his commandments. Oh, I can't believe I have to walk in the fear of the Lord.

[6:44] Oh. So Psalms, the word Psalm, and it's just the Greek word for poem or song to be sung to a stringed instrument. It's all the word Psalm means.

[6:55] That's in the Greek. The Hebrew for Psalm is tachilim, meaning the praises or songs of praise. That's all these are. Just a collection of those.

[7:07] This book, Psalms, it's the largest book of the Bible, technically in the English. In the original language, Jeremiah actually rivals it. But as far as chapters and the most words and how long it is, Psalms is the longest one.

[7:22] So the longest book of the Bible, the one that takes up the most space, is songs, poems to be sung on a stringed instrument. This book is a collection of 150 songs that were put in their present arrangement by Ezra.

[7:37] It's believed that Ezra did it during the post-exilic, the post-exile period of Israel's history. So they're coming back into the land after Babylon. Ezra's coming back after the temple's been rebuilt. He's coming back to teach the people, dedicate the temple, and he puts Psalms together.

[7:53] Psalms are divided into five sections, and they correspond to the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch. The earliest Psalm was penned by Moses, and the final ones were composed, as we just said, during when the Jews had returned, up until around 440 B.C.

[8:09] And that's about the time, probably, that Ezra wrote, we believe Ezra wrote Psalm 1. Nobody knows for sure who wrote Psalm 1. Could have been David, could have been someone else. Seems like it was Ezra, in putting this together, that was his kind of opening to the book.

[8:25] But that would be about 440 to 444, or it would be the other way around. 444 to 440 B.C. Psalms were composed over a period of 1,000 years. The bulk of them were written during the United Kingdom period, particularly under the reign of David and Solomon, when most of them were written.

[8:45] There's a book that C.S. Lewis wrote called The Reflections on Psalms. And I haven't read the whole thing. I've read some of it. And I like his perspective in it. He even says right from the beginning, he's like, this is not, I'm not trying to give doctrinal treaties on this.

[9:01] I'm just giving my thoughts on this. So it's Reflections on Psalms. But one of the things he talks about is that some of the things in the Psalms that we don't necessarily relate to very well.

[9:13] In the Psalms, judgment is apparently an occasion for rejoicing. We'll see that over and over. Oh, Lord, break their teeth, praise God. You know, right?

[9:23] That's one of those. Lord, cast down my enemies. Let me trample them under feet. Praise God. Right? That's a song we're supposed to sing? And people ask, they ask for judgment.

[9:35] They say, judge me, oh Lord, according to your righteousness. Does anybody want to be judged by God? Lord, judge me according to your righteousness and see if I measure up. Now, we can apply that in the sense of, yes, Lord.

[9:48] I want to be judged according to your righteousness in Christ because then I'm judged righteous. But the ancient Jews, they, like ourselves, think of God's judgment in terms of a justice system.

[10:02] Think of it in terms of like an earthly court of justice, right? The difference is that as Christians, we picture our case being tried as a criminal case when he's British, so he says, with ourselves in the dock.

[10:15] So we're on trial. That's how we picture it. And we, it is like a criminal court. And we say, okay, I'm the one on trial. The Jew, on the other hand, he pictured it as a civil case with himself as the plaintiff, hoping for acquittal.

[10:31] Or rather, for pardon. Oh, I'm sorry. The one hopes for acquittal, the Christian, or rather for pardon. The other hopes for a resounding triumph with heavy damages. The Jew is approaching this as, God, your promises to us are sure.

[10:45] God, fulfill your promises. Put down the one who is wrongly against us. We are in the right. We're standing in your word. And they're hoping for a resounding triumph with heavy damages.

[10:57] The one prays, judge my quarrel and avenge my cause. The Jew does. For the Christian, we look for justice in heaven.

[11:09] The ancient Jew, look for it on earth. And as you approach Psalms, you see that over and over. That their hope, essentially, was, God, fulfill your word. That's my hope, too. God, fulfill your word.

[11:20] But the word that was spoken to them was the covenant promises of God. They're coming against us. They're coming against your people. They're coming against your land. And so they're hoping, saying, God, judge me, O Lord.

[11:33] It makes sense, then, when you put it in that perspective. Judge me, O Lord, according to your righteousness. God, I'm standing in your promises. So the one looks for justice in heaven. The other look for it on earth.

[11:44] Psalms, the Psalms are like taking a walk through the hills and valleys of God's country, aren't they? There are mountaintop vistas. There are deep, cool valleys. There's calm streams.

[11:55] And there's raging torrents of emotion. Emotions of despair and peace. Anger and praise. Fear and calm. But through it all, what is the overall theme?

[12:08] It's all still God's country, right? That's what Psalms is. You walk through here and you're like, oh, he makes me lie down in green pastures. Lord, I'm in the valley of the shadow of death. But it's all still his country.

[12:20] We're never outside of his care. Psalms are poetry, as we said. But they're not poetry as we think of like in lyrical rhyme and verse. You know, roses are red, violets are blue.

[12:31] I read my Bible and so should you, right? That's not how it is. But it's parallelism in the scripture here. Parallelism, it says something similar in multiple ways.

[12:43] It's giving us different ways to grasp the poet's meaning. And the best part about parallelism is it's not dependent upon language. So like you want to rhyme in a specific language, you want to rhyme in English, it may not translate well to another language.

[13:00] There are songs that we might sing that translate well to us and don't to others. Like Calvary Chapel, the language, right? The name in some cultures translates to the house of the skull, the place of the skull.

[13:15] Because that's what Calvary is. Golgotha. It's like, where do you go? Oh, I go to the little house of the skull to church. It doesn't translate necessarily very well. But thankfully parallelism does because it's thought.

[13:29] God was planning ahead when he wrote the poetry of the Psalms. He was planning ahead for the languages. We're not going to dive into Psalm 1. We will next time. Psalm 1 gives almost every example of parallelism.

[13:41] This is why it seems like Ezra wrote it or compiled it or used it at least as the first Psalm to give that understanding. But we will briefly look at an example of parallelism in Psalm 1.1.

[13:55] So when you find parallelism, compare the parallel elements to see how they relate. In this case, they intensify. So Psalm 1 says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked.

[14:09] That thought then intensifies nor stands in the way of sinners and intensifies again nor sits in the seat of scoffers. Who is it referring to? Blessed is the man.

[14:20] And then it gives us this parallelism, this poetry that intensifies. At the time that Psalms were compiled, Israel is just returning from their exile in Babylon.

[14:34] Israel is in exile and they're sent back from Babylon. Not all of them leave. Some of them do. They go back to build the temple. What do they find every time they try to build it?

[14:45] They're getting attacked. They're getting attacked. And so they leave off building it. And so God sends his prophets, Haggai and others and Zechariah, and says, keep building. Keep building. And they do.

[14:57] And eventually Ezra goes back. We're going to get into Ezra 7 in a bit. If you want, you can turn there to Ezra 7. And he will go back to teach the people specifically. Why were they in exile, though?

[15:10] This is part of looking at Psalms, looking at the history. You know, we go to Psalms. And Psalms is one of those great, you just kind of go, open it. Man, that was ministering to. Oh, that's great.

[15:20] You know, it's just one of those that, I mean, you can pick almost every one. And there would be something in it that is just so instructive and such a blessing. But the history behind it.

[15:32] Why were they in exile? And why were they now returning? Question one. And then why did Ezra feel that poetry, of all things, was necessary for the Jews to have access to?

[15:43] The Jews are returning. And he thought, you know what would be really good? Some good poetry for them. Let's do 150 chapters on poetry. Question one, which we will deal with, is actually this second question first.

[16:00] Why did Ezra feel that poetry was necessary? Another quote by Lewis. He says, He's saying, which in the beginning for its own delight and for the delight of men and of angels, each in their proper mode, had invented and formed the whole world of nature.

[16:24] He then submitted to express itself in human speech, that that speech should sometimes be poetry. He's saying when God in his great imagination, he made this whole creation and every form of it, whether animal has some sort of speech or mankind and angels, he says it just seems to him appropriate then that speech should express itself in poetry, for poetry too is a little incarnation, giving body to what had been before invisible and inaudible.

[16:55] It brings something into being that wasn't before, says something in a way and expresses something in a way. So it seems very appropriate. So why did Ezra feel that poetry was necessary?

[17:07] Ezra 7, verse 1, says, Now after these things, and the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Saria, of Saria, and then he's going to go through all of his lineage and get to that he's the son of Aaron.

[17:26] He's a priest, a Levite. This Ezra, verse 6, if you want to jump down there, this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given.

[17:38] And the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. Jump down to verse 9 and 10. Ezra then goes back.

[17:50] For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month, four-month journey, came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

[18:02] For Ezra had prepared his heart. That word prepared means to make firm. He had made firm his heart to seek the law of the Lord, to do it and to teach it in Israel, its statutes and its judgments.

[18:15] That's what our theme was, to seek, to do, and to teach. As we saw that Psalm 1, we said, is traditionally thought to have been written by Ezra. He returned to Jerusalem during the seventh year of the reign of this Persian king, Artaxerxes, the year would have been 458 BC.

[18:34] And in compiling the book, you have in the first two Psalms, Psalms 1 and 2, they serve as an introduction to the entire book of Psalms. 1 and 2 provide the theological themes that are woven throughout the entire book of Psalms.

[18:46] Themes concerning faith in God's person, his works and his word. The theme that God will deliver the king and all blessed in him from their troubles and wicked enemies and bring them to Zion to the praise and glory of God.

[19:01] So all those themes are in Psalm 1 and 2, and we'll see that as we go through them. But Ezra, he came back and he had made firm his heart to do what? To seek the law of the Lord, to do it and to teach it.

[19:15] And one of the ways he did that was with Psalms. Psalms allow us to seek, to do, and to teach. What? To seek, to do, and to teach the things that are prescribed, the statutes by God, and the things that are proper, the judgments, the proper customs and manners and practices that bring God glory.

[19:37] That's what Psalms allows us to do. The things that are prescribed by God for our health, and the proper manner and customs and practices that bring God glory. They allow us to seek them, to do them, and to teach them.

[19:49] So why did Ezra think poetry was necessary? Because he knew that people needed to seek God, to do his will, and have the ability to teach those things.

[20:01] And Psalms gives us all of that in measure. Our second question. Why was Israel in exile in Babylon? And why were they returning from exile?

[20:14] Behind this book and behind Ezra is this whole backdrop of history. What is going on here? Turn to Daniel, if you would. Daniel chapter 9. So before Ezra is sent back to Babylon, before Israel under Cyrus is told to go back and build their temple, you had when Israel was taken into, first the northern tribes were taken into captivity by Assyria.

[20:44] Really bad. Then Babylon comes and defeats Egypt, who Judah was putting their trust in, takes Judah, the rest of Israel, and brings them into captivity.

[20:55] At that time, that's when Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as they would be renamed, go to Babylon. Probably 15 years old, right about there.

[21:09] And Daniel ends up living until his 80s. And he will see, he will be alive, to witness the decree given by Cyrus to send the Jews back into the land.

[21:22] Daniel 9, we'll read verses 1 through 2. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

[21:48] By books just means he had the writings and scrolls of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was, before they were taken into captivity by Babylon, Jeremiah is preaching to the people.

[22:00] I've been in Jeremiah recently on my own. That's where I'm going through my own studies and very encouraging and discouraging. Man, this guy, it's rough. God tells him, go and do this.

[22:10] There's things he does that nobody will ever know of until it's written down. Like God says, Jeremiah, take your girdle and go bury it by the river under a rock. And he does. He comes back.

[22:21] He says, okay, now go. And so much time later, get it. He comes back and it's all marred. It says, it's all a mess. And he says, such is my people. And then he goes through this whole thing. So it's Jeremiah then, when he takes the girdle and he shows all the people, does he tell them that story?

[22:36] Now this is what the Lord told me to do. And there's so much that at the time, nobody might've known about it, but it was written down. He wrote it down. And so Daniel would have been taken into captivity while Jeremiah is preaching to the people to repent.

[22:50] Daniel's taken and eventually the rest of the people are taken into captivity. Jeremiah will go with the remnant down to Egypt and essentially disappear. Somebody brought the writings of Jeremiah with them when they came to Babylon and Daniel's got his hands on them.

[23:10] Daniel read in the prophecies of Jeremiah that 70 years would be accomplished in Jerusalem. He didn't look at it and go, you know, I don't see how that's possible.

[23:21] I don't think God could bring his people back into the land. I'm sure that's just some type of metaphysical kind of spiritualized thing that will encourage us.

[23:33] No, he took it serious. He took it literal. Daniel understood by reading God's word and its literal, grammatical, historical context that the prophecies regarding Israel's captivity in Babylon were literal historical events.

[23:47] Prophecy, prophecy is literal and historical events that are just simply not taking place yet.

[23:59] You see, when God speaks it, it's history. It's history. It's done. It just hasn't taken place yet. There's a resurrection coming. Jesus, the first fruit was raised.

[24:12] And Paul says, if we be not raised, we are all men most miserable. That's a historical event. Just hasn't taken place yet that we will all be part of. If you want, you can turn to Jeremiah 25.

[24:24] I'm gonna put it on the screen, but it's a lot of text. So Daniel's reading. Well, what is he reading in Jeremiah 25, verses eight through nine? Jeremiah writes, therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, because you have not heard my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land and against the inhabitants thereof and against all these nations round about and will utterly destroy them and make them an astonishment and a hissing and perpetual desolations.

[24:59] And then if you jump down to verse 11 in Jeremiah, and this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment. And then these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years.

[25:11] It shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished, it'll punish the king of Babylon. And that nation saith the Lord for their iniquity in the land of the Chaldeans and will make it perpetual desolations.

[25:27] Daniel read this. He said, you know what? I believe this. I believe what the Bible says about this future event that has not yet taken place regarding rebellious Israel who's been taken out of the land that God will bring them back into the land, as he said.

[25:43] Ezra 1, 1 through 2, says, Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judea.

[26:14] At one point in history, it would have looked impossible. How's God going to fulfill this? It's been almost 70 years. I don't see anything happening. We're still in captivity. They all hate us. And what happens?

[26:25] God stirs the heart of Cyrus and he says, Oh, it's time. And I love this. It tells us in Daniel 1.21, it tells us of Daniel's life.

[26:37] And he continued even under the first year of King Cyrus. And Ezra 1 said, Now in the first year of King Cyrus, the word of the Lord came to pass by the mouth of Jeremiah. So Daniel, who was reading and saw by books that 70 years would be accomplished for Israel before they would go back into the land, he gets to see that because he lasted.

[26:56] He continued under the first year of King Cyrus. He got to see that come to pass. God's word to Jeremiah regarding Israel's return to the land in Ezra's day, it was an actual event, wasn't it?

[27:09] It was. God's word to Jeremiah was an actual event of Israel returning to the land. And so is his word to Israel regarding their return to the land in our day and in the days to come.

[27:21] Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel's prophesying and he sees this valley of dry bones. And again, it's a wall of text, I know.

[27:33] But so that we can all see it. Or you can turn to Ezekiel 37. The hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord. And he set me down in the midst of the valley, which was full of bones.

[27:44] And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, oh Lord, thou knowest. It's a good answer. When God asks you a question, you're like, I don't know.

[27:58] So I prophesied as I was commanded. And what did he just say before that? I don't know, but I'll do what you command me. There was a section in Jeremiah 11 where the Lord gives in this whole pronouncement to give against Judah.

[28:15] And like, you are cursed. This generation for what they have done. And Jeremiah responds and says, essentially, okay, Lord, I'll go tell them. So I prophesied as I was commanded.

[28:28] And as I prophesied, there was a noise and behold a shaking and the bones came together. Bone to his bone. Verses eight through nine. And when I beheld low, the sinews and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them.

[28:44] Then said he unto me, prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, thus saith the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live.

[28:57] And the bones represent the nation of Israel, seemingly dead and scattered, and God brings them back together in first and unbelief, and then he'll bring them back together in belief when he breathes his spirit up into them.

[29:10] But I have a quote here. I think someone says it better than I could say it. Regarding, this is a commentary on this text right here. The meaning of our text, as opened up by the context, is most evidently, if words mean anything, I love that, if words mean anything, that there shall be a political restoration of the Jews to their own land and to their own nationality.

[29:34] And then secondly, there is in the text and in the context, a most plain declaration that there shall be a spiritual restoration, a conversion, in fact, of the tribes of Israel.

[29:46] Israel is currently in the land in what? Unbelief. God in 1948 brought those dry bones back. And remarkably, unfortunately, a large part of the church looks at it and goes, oh God, look at that.

[29:58] They're not believers. They're rejecters of God. God can't be using them. He must be done with them. Well, if you read the Bible, you'd see that, yes, they have to come first in unbelief before God can bring them in belief.

[30:09] And oh, by the way, the person who said that, Spurgeon. That's who that quote was. I love that. If words mean anything. Daniel 9, verses 12 through 13.

[30:29] And he has confirmed his words. This is, we had just jumped out of Daniel, right? Into Jeremiah. In the first year of his reign, he understood by books that 70 years would be accomplished.

[30:41] Jump down to verse 9. And Daniel says, Daniel was taken out of land at 15.

[30:55] And he's like, yes, God, we did this. Me, I was part of that. For under the whole heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem.

[31:06] As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil came upon us. Yet we made not our prayer before the Lord, our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand your truth, which is why Jacob will go through Jacob's trouble.

[31:20] God will turn their hearts and they will cry, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Jesus will not return physically to the earth until Israel calls for their Messiah in belief.

[31:32] As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us. Yet we made not our prayer before the Lord, our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand the truth.

[31:44] Israel's sin in the present day is no different than in Daniel's day. They've transgressed their covenant of blessing. The result, cursing. You see, the Mosaic covenant is a covenant for the nation of Israel.

[32:00] It is not a covenant to determine the nation of Israel. I think that gets mistaken sometimes these days. Well, Israel has broken the Mosaic covenant, therefore they're no longer God's people.

[32:11] No, the Mosaic covenant is for a people who is Israel. It does not determine them as a nationality. I'm going to quote from Pastor Andy Woods.

[32:23] He is the pastor of Sugar Land. What a name. Sugar Land Bible Church. I think it's in Ohio. He's a lawyer and this is a man of deep study and deep thoughts.

[32:38] He says, however, before Israel can possess or enjoy what she owns, what does Israel own? They own the covenants, the unilateral covenants that were given them by God.

[32:49] In a sense, it's like this. If I left my kids in a will, something, and said, hey, this is yours. It's all yours. You own it. But to partake of the blessing, to enter into the possession of it, you have to do ABC.

[33:04] If they don't do ABC, is it theirs? It is. Do they get to enjoy it? No. I actually had a real world example of this. One of the construction projects I was on, there was this, you have the gate guard.

[33:17] He's just the guy who sits there, makes sure everybody has their hard hats on before they come in. And if someone's coming in, he radios and says, this is what they're coming to do, this is where this truck goes or whatever. Boring job.

[33:27] Just sat there all day, this guy. He was, he was related to, his family had a lot of money. You know, you would know the name, I'm not going to say it, in the South here.

[33:39] But his father left in the will that for him to have access to the money, he had to work 30 hours a week. He had to have 30 hours a week to have access to the money.

[33:51] If he didn't, was the money still his? It's all his. It's all yours, son. But to possess it, to take part of it, he had to do what? Fulfill the condition of blessing.

[34:03] Right? He did. He worked 30 hours a week, found the most boring, easy job he could do so that he could, he could get his, his, his money. So for Israel, before they can possess or enjoy what they own, she must obey the terms of the Mosaic covenant.

[34:21] Thus, any given generation within Israel must meet the conditions of the Mosaic covenant in order to experience the blessing promised in the, the blessings promised in the Abrahamic and Davidic covenant.

[34:33] Not that they're not Israel, but to understand, to enjoy the blessings, they have to meet the conditions of the Mosaic covenant. See, wait a minute, I thought the Mosaic covenant is, is done with, is set aside. The Mosaic covenant was fulfilled, but it's still in existence, just in fulfillment.

[34:47] You and I don't live under the Mosaic covenant because we're under the covenant, the new covenant that Jesus fulfilled it. But guess what happens? The law is lived out through us because the spirit now that's in us.

[34:58] It's not that God threw that out and says, oh, it doesn't matter anymore my laws. No, what I said to you on Sinai and all that, none of that matters anymore. And for Israel specifically, who are part of the Mosaic covenant, not God's, just God's moral laws, for them to take part of the blessings, they have to fulfill the conditions.

[35:17] An important provision of the Mosaic covenant is that Israel must enthrone the king of God's own choosing. Deuteronomy 17, 15, thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, who?

[35:29] Whom the Lord thy God shall choose. One from among your brethren shalt thou set king over you. Thou mayest not set a stranger over you, which is not your brethren. Such an enthronement will thereby satisfy the condition of obedience found in the Mosaic covenant.

[35:45] If Israel would enthrone the king of God's choosing, they would fulfill, wouldn't they? The Mosaic covenant because the law is fulfilled in Christ and they could then enter into that fulfillment.

[35:57] It would fulfill and satisfy the condition of obedience found in the Mosaic covenant, thus allowing Israel to possess rather than merely own the Abrahamic covenant's blessings.

[36:09] So Israel right now will not accept the king that God has set over them. So they what? They own the Abrahamic covenants. They're all theirs. All the blessings, I mean, in the Abrahamic covenants are theirs.

[36:22] But they cannot yet possess them because they will not satisfy the condition that God made for them to do that, which is what? Own Jesus as your king. Own the one that he chose.

[36:33] So the Mosaic covenant, then, it ultimately points towards Christ. John 5, 45 through 47, we've quoted this a bunch. Do not think that I'll accuse you before the father.

[36:44] There is one who accuses you, even Moses, in whom you've set your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But you do not believe his writings.

[36:55] And how will you believe my words? So here's what this whole picture looks like. Israel owns the covenantal blessings found in the unilateral Abrahamic covenant and related subcovenants.

[37:07] They're all theirs. They own them. She cannot possess or enter into the blessings of those covenants until she complies with the conditions found in the Mosaic covenant.

[37:18] This condition can be satisfied through the nation's enthronement of the king of God's own choosing, per Deuteronomy 17, 15, and then Jesus saying in John 5, 45 through 47.

[37:32] The Mosaic covenant disciplines or rewards Israel based upon their obedience. The unilateral Abrahamic covenant preserves their relationship despite their disobedience.

[37:45] So what is happening here as they're coming back into the land? As Ezra's returning to Israel who was in captivity? The Mosaic covenant, they were disciplined according to the fact that they did not keep the conditions of that.

[38:00] But their Abrahamic covenant, the unilateral covenant, they are God's people and he preserves their relationship with them. He said there will be a season, 70 years, to judge you for breaking that, for not keeping the Sabbath every seven years, that they did not let the land rest.

[38:17] So God said, I'm going to give the land rest for 70 years and then you'll go back. Deuteronomy 9, 5, not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart dost thou go to possess their land as he sends them into Canaan.

[38:30] But for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God does drive them out from before you and that he may perform the word which the Lord swear unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[38:44] Praise God. Praise God for his preserving his covenant. And so as Daniel reads this in Jeremiah, with all of this backdrop, he says, you know what, God?

[38:56] I believe your word is what it says. And that word hasn't changed today. It's the same word. The covenants are just as sure today and we're watching them in front of us. Israel is in the land in unbelief and they will be brought back into the land after the Antichrist drives them out and they flee down to Petra.

[39:13] They'll be brought back into the land in belief when Messiah comes for them. Let's keep going to Daniel. Daniel 9. We'll look at verses 17 and 19 to get the flavor here.

[39:25] Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant and his supplications. Cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake.

[39:37] Praise God. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, hearken and do. Defer not for your own sake, O my God, for your city and your people are called by your name.

[39:52] You know, there's never been a time that Israel has been completely out of the land. Never. Since they've been in it. There's always been a remnant there. Verse 20.

[40:04] And while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord, my God, for the holy mountain of my God, I love it. Daniel's like, listen, I wasn't doing anything special.

[40:16] It wasn't like I did some conjuring trick to get the angel to come. I was just praying and confessing and interceding. He was anchoring his prayers in the truth of God's word, wasn't he?

[40:30] Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation or evening sacrifice.

[40:42] And he informed me and talked with me and said, oh, Daniel, I am now come forth to give you skill and understanding. The word skill means insight and comprehension.

[40:56] Understanding means the faculty to discern. Daniel, I have come forth now to give you insight and comprehension. I've come to give you the faculty to discern.

[41:08] Psalm 119, 34 says, give me understanding. I shall keep your law. Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. God's messengers are equipped and ready for their task of proclaiming that which is able to be comprehended and understood.

[41:25] Gabriel wasn't unsure what he was about to tell Daniel. He was completely, he was equipped and ready for the task of proclaiming. He says, this is comprehensible and it's understandable.

[41:39] He was equipped and ready, but are the recipients as ready to receive? I was thinking of Daniel's, you know, he did Revelation and Daniel's like the Old Testament bookend to Revelation.

[41:55] Revelation 1, 1 through 2 says, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bear record of the word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

[42:14] God's messengers are equipped and ready for their task of proclaiming that which is able to be comprehended, understood, ready to be revealed, but are the recipients ready to receive?

[42:26] Verse 24 of Daniel 9. Gabriel now tells Daniel, he says, Daniel, I'm going to tell you the history that hasn't happened yet. 70 weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city to finish the transgression, one, two, to make an end of sins, three, to make reconciliation for iniquity, four, to bring in everlasting righteousness, and five, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and six, to anoint the most holy place.

[42:56] 70 weeks, 70 weeks of years. Each week is seven years. Verse 25, know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.

[43:07] So these 70 weeks that are to be determined upon the people, Israel, and upon their holy city have not happened yet because Daniel, as he's getting this vision, the commandment hasn't gone forth in the first year of Cyrus to build, or that would be the temple, to build Jerusalem.

[43:22] I'm sorry, is Nehemiah 2, 1 through 8, and that was March 5, 444 BC. So Daniel would not be around for that one. Not the commandment to go and rebuild the temple, but the commandment to build Jerusalem and the commandment to build the walls.

[43:38] Unto Messiah the Prince is Jesus' triumphal entry, Luke 19, 28 through 40. That's March 30th AD. There should be seven weeks, seven weeks of years and three score in two weeks.

[43:57] So if you add those together, that's 483 years. The street shall be built again and the wall, even in troublous times. So, know therefore from the going forth of the commandment to rebuild the temple unto Messiah the Prince, there will be 483 years.

[44:15] And there was to the day when Jesus entered into Jerusalem. 483 years. But there are 70 weeks determined. That's 490 years.

[44:26] 70 weeks of years, 490 years, are determined for the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, not the church. Church is not part of this. This is to who? In context, God's covenant people, Israel.

[44:39] These 70 weeks are all future from the time of this pronouncement by Gabriel. They haven't happened yet. From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. after, Daniel says in verse 26, after the threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off.

[45:00] So, there's seven weeks, as he just said in the previous verse. There should be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks. Why does he separate out the seven weeks in the 483 years?

[45:12] Because the seven weeks would be the seven years up until Jerusalem would have been completed. The commandment goes forth for Jerusalem to be rebuilt. There's 490 years, but there's seven years before Jerusalem is rebuilt.

[45:24] So, he calls that out in here. But after the threescore and two weeks, so after the seven weeks, and then after the threescore and two that come after that, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.

[45:36] And the people, Rome, of the prince, Antichrist, that shall come, not here yet, shall destroy the city. It doesn't say Antichrist shall, it doesn't say the prince shall.

[45:47] It says that the people, of the prince that shall come. Who are the people of the prince that shall come? The Romans. The prince that shall come, shall come out of Rome. Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

[45:58] And that happened in 30 AD. And the end thereof shall be with a flood. And unto the end of the war, desolations are determined. Verse 27, Antichrist shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.

[46:16] Meaning what? It's not yet confirmed, is it? Has there been a covenant confirmed for one week? A seven-year covenant that's been confirmed. Interesting. He doesn't say that he will enact one.

[46:26] It says he will confirm one at this time, seeming like there's one that will become in place and by the time the Antichrist comes down the scene, he will confirm it. And in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.

[46:40] We saw this in Revelation. And for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation. Consummation is of the Gentiles.

[46:51] Until the times of the Gentiles. And that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. There shall be judgment. There's a very simple way of looking at this.

[47:03] Verse 25, there's 69 weeks. Verse 27, there's the 70th week. In between there is verse 26. Messiah shall be cut off. The city shall be destroyed.

[47:16] And there's an interval. We're in that interval. The 70th week hasn't taken place yet. The covenant's not been enacted for seven years. You see, if Jeremiah's prophecy regarding rebellious Israel's return and restoration was literal, grammatical, and historical, and it was accurate, then why would not Gabriel's prophecy to Daniel also be literal, grammatical, historical, and accurate?

[47:40] The Psalms exist today because God's word to Israel was 100% faithfully, accurately fulfilled in the days of Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezra.

[47:50] If they weren't, the Psalms wouldn't be here. If God did not fulfill his word to bring Israel back into the land in Ezra's day, Psalms wouldn't be here. We have the Psalms because God is a covenant keeping God.

[48:04] As we study the Psalms, we're not just studying a collection of songs and poems. Psalms, we're receiving insight, comprehension, and the faculty to discern God's word.

[48:17] Why? So that we might seek, do, and teach the prophetic word of God. Psalms is not just flowery poems.

[48:28] Psalms is rich with prophecy, rich with history that has happened after Psalms was written, but before our day, and rich with history that's yet to come, yet to happen.

[48:41] However, you and I will only seek to do and teach the prophetic word of God if we first accept the prophetic word of God as that which is literally, grammatically, and historically accurate.

[48:54] If we don't, then we won't ever seek to do, to teach, because we won't take it for what it is. If God's word fails to Israel, then God's word will fail to the church.

[49:08] If Israel is not Israel, then the church is not the church. Paul tells us the church exists. He writes to the Corinthians and says, it is appropriate for you to support your believing brethren in Israel, the Jews, because without them, you would not have the spiritual blessings you have today.

[49:26] And you and I would not have the spiritual blessings we have today if not for believing Israel, God's remnant. I am God and there is none else.

[49:37] I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. The word pleasure means that which brings joy and delight.

[49:50] God's like, ooh, I love doing this. Why? Because he sees the whole thing. He's on top of the parade. Right? You and I are just standing there. It's like, well, I see that one go by and I know the next one is supposed to come but I haven't seen it come yet and it's late.

[50:07] God's probably done with that float. It's over. And God's up there over the whole thing. He's like, no, I got a reason for that. In fact, I'm going to rearrange that one and put that here and then I'm going to send someone, I'm going to send someone ahead to run up ahead a runner and tell you they changed the floats.

[50:20] They rearranged them. No, I don't believe that that can happen. No way would they do that. God oversees the whole thing. God is pleased when his prophetic word stands and when his people stand in the truth of his prophetic word.

[50:37] You can trust your Bible. You can trust the God who said, Israel will go back into the land after 70 years in Jeremiah's day, Daniel's day, and Ezra's day. You can trust that when God said, hey, Israel will be back in the land in unbelief and they'll be back in the land in belief.

[50:51] You can trust him. You can trust the Messiah of Israel when he said, I go to prepare a place for you and I'll come again and receive you unto myself. You can trust him also when he said, in this world you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer.

[51:06] I've overcome the world. Thank you, Lord, for Psalms. I've experienced a lot of tribulation. Our last Psalm for tonight, Psalm 119, verses 33, 89, and 160.

[51:18] Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes and I shall keep it unto the end. Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven. Your word is true from the beginning and every one of your righteous judgments, every one of your righteous judgments endures forever.

[51:38] Church, every one of his righteous judgments endures forever. For us, for Israel, everyone endures forever. God will fulfill his promises. You know, as we go through Psalms and not through all of them, I mean, the best, what's great is there's like 17 of them that can easily be done in one study.

[51:58] So that's like at least 17 we can do per night. His word is settled. It's settled in the heavens. All we have to do is just enter into the assurance of it.

[52:11] I think what Ezra said that he had set his heart to know the law. He had firmed up his heart in that and that's what we're doing every time we open the word. We're allowing God to firm up our heart around his word.

[52:22] And what I would encourage you, and you're here, so you already know this, you're doing this, be like Daniel. Take the books and accept what it says and go in prayer before the Lord and pray based off of what his word says.

[52:40] Based off the truth of that word. To you, yes. To the history he said's coming, yes. Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus. God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

[52:50] We pray you prepare your people for what's coming. And sadly, the church has done a pretty bad job of that. The gospel's for the Jew first and then the Gentile. Paul tells us that the church is to drive Israel to jealousy.

[53:08] They're not jealous of us. We've treated them so poorly over the years. And I wonder how different maybe it would be if we recognized the truth of God's word and acted upon it.

[53:20] So may we be those that do. Father, thank you so much that your word, as we read, it's settled, Lord. Forever, your word is settled in heaven. Lord, what we need is it to be settled in our hearts, Lord.

[53:32] Settled in our minds. Lord, we want to understand. We want to understand you and you want us to. You sent Gabriel. You had him fly to Daniel and what we didn't read was where Gabriel says, hey, I would have been here sooner, but like Satan totally sent an emissary to withstand me and I had to battle my way through.

[53:51] Michael had to come and help me because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, rules of darkness, wickedness in heavenly places.

[54:04] And the enemy, he didn't know where Gabriel or why Gabriel was going to do what he did, but he knew he didn't want him to get there. Lord, when we pray according to the truth of your word, when we allow your word to settle us in our hearts and minds, we move things that we don't even see in the spirit.

[54:24] Lord, we are part of making history. Lives are changed. Nations rise and fall. And through it all, Lord, your covenants and your word stands.

[54:37] Thank you, Lord, for bringing us into the blessing, Lord, coming under the blessing of the Abrahamic covenant, Lord. not the land, not the nation, the blessing of the spirit by faith.

[54:50] Thank you for that. That was for Israel alone. And you blew all their minds by opening the door for the Gentiles to take part in that part of the blessing. I thank you so much, Lord.

[55:02] We love you. We pray that you use us, Lord, to stand fast in your word, to stand with your people, and in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen.