Jesus talked about there being
signs in the heavens above and
the earth beneath, and the
waters under the earth.

Then He said, "And when these
things begin to come to pass,
then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption
draweth near," Luke 21:28

Jesus told us to watch Jeru-
salem if we would know world
history.

In Luke Chapter 21 He said:
". . . Jerusalem shall be
trodden down by the Gentiles,
until the times of the Gentiles
be fulfilled," Luke 21:24.

God gave the Jews an outline
of history that we can follow
today.

God spoke to the prophet
Daniel and said, "Seventy
weeks are determined upon
thy people and upon thy holy
city" Daniel 9:24

If we want to know how the
moral history of the world
will turn out, just watch
Jerusalem and the Jews.

They are a barometer, measur-
ing device, of how we can
know where we are in history.

This is a very interesting
passage. At that time, the
moral history of the world
will be matured.

A 24-year old man, Albert
Einstein, a Jew, produced the
nuclear understanding that has
helped the scientists of the
world ever since.

Hitler made his biggest mistake
in persecuting the Jews. It
caused many of them to seek
safety in other countries
including the United States.

Influence on the part of the
Jews has been an amazing thing.

Albert Einstein was a Jew. He
came from the oppression of
the Jews in Germany in about
1932 or 1933.

He was a nuclear physicist.
What happened was the atomic
bomb. It made the allies of
the World War II triumph and
has made the world safe from
then to now. No one has been
willing to risk nuclear war.

Each one of the centuries
from the Crusades until now,
the Jews have become a
mounting influence in the
world.

They became the bankers, the
craftsmen, and even political
rulers of one or another nations.

The oppression of the nation
of Israel started the Crusades.

The Crusades brought on the
Renaissance, particularly in
Italy.

The Renaissance brought on the
Reformation, particualarly in
northern Europe.

The European world was changed
forever after the Crusades.

The Moslem world began in the
6th century and took control
of the Middle East.

The Pope called, "Will you
take the cross?" Thousands
did, and that became the first
Crusade and it went from there.

The Crusades started around
1098 A.D.

They continued for about
200 years.

There were ten major military
invasions into the Middle East.

The Crusades partly came to
pass because of the oppression
of the Jews by the Moslem
world.

Now, even though, Israel has
gone through times of reject-
ing God, it still is being
fashioned by God into a great
nation.

When looking at Israel's his-
tory, we can't get away from
the contribution that the
Jews have made.

Israel was a testimony of the
fact that the blessing of God
comes when we obey Him. But
Israel was also a testimony
of the fact that the curse of
God, the enmity of God, comes
upon them that disobeys Him.

If that was all we knew of
Israel's past, it should still
drive us to spiritual obedience.

To follow the Lord is the only
key to blessing and prosperity.
To turn from Him and follow
idols or go our own way causes
desperate problems. It should
be a lesson to all of us.

By reading the prophetic books
of the Old Testament, almost
every writer spoke of the
spiritual rejection by the
nation of Israel - how Israel
should be true to God, but
wasn't.

Israel lost its testimony. It
didn't continue to be a mission
and a ministry to the world.

Instead, it got into bloody
fights and selfishness and the
getting of goods and riches
for the sake of their kings.

During those dark days, Israel
didn't amount to much in the
world.

God had turned Israel into a
great nation. But something
happened after Solomon died.

The kingdom was divided by
civil war. Israel was led by
Jeroboam and Judah by Rehoboam.

They were poor testimonies of
the reality of God. Again and
again the Bibles say, "They
did that which was evil in the
sight of the Lord."

God "committed the oracles of
God" to the Jews. They were to
also be the channel which God
would send the Messiah.

Jesus was born a Jew, but He
was the Son of God the Father.

Joseph was not His father but
Mary was His mother.

And Israel was the nation by
which the Messiah came to pass.
So Israel has already been a
great blessing to the world.

In those day, Israel fulfilled
its function; which was to show
the world how wonderful it can be
when you obey God and enjoy His
blessing.

The city of Jerusalem was to be
caretakers of the Word of God.

Romans 3:1-2 "What advantage,
then hath the Jew? Or what
profit is there of circumcision?
Much every way: chiefly, because
unto them were committed the
oracles of God."

David asked God if he would be
the one to build the promised
temple. God said, "You are a
man of blood, but your son will
be called upon to build the
temple." And Solomon did.

It was one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world. Solomon's
temple and the nation of Israel
was so magnificent that the
world began to envy what was
happening in Jerusalem.

The queen of Sheba came to see
for herself Solomon's leader-
ship and was impressed.

Saul became Israel's first king.
He did that which was evil in
God's sight. So Israel became
infected with evil.

David succeeded Saul. His king-
dom was the time of Israel's
greatest glory. It conquered
the nations around them and it
stood great in the Middle East.

Israel became a nation with
the 12 tribes , which were the
12 sons of Jacob, whose name was
changed to Israel by God. So
Israel became a nation with his
12 sons (tribes).

God ordained judges to govern
them. Israel was obedient to God
and it progressed as a nation.

But then they demanded to be
like other nations and have a
king. God didn't want it but
allowed it. He warned that their
king would take away many of the
things that they held dear.

The trouble that the nation
of Israel and Jerusalem has
had really began when
Ishmael was born.

Isaac, who was born to Sarah
was the child God promised.
Ishmael was the child of the
flesh.

And there has been wounding
between them from then until
now. Down through history it,
the nation (and city) has
been contantly troubled.

Abraham and Sarah didn't have
children when God told him that
He would make him a great nation.

Sarah suggested that Abraham and
her handmaiden Hagar have a child
for her, they named him Ishmael.

Ishmael was not well loved by the
family. After Isaac was born,
Ishmael and Hagar were cast out
of their home.

God took compassion on them, and
promised Hagar that Ishmael would
be a great nation also.

Abraham was made a promise by
God:
"And I will make of thee a
great nation, and I will
bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a
blessing," Genesis 12:2.

Israel is a great nation today.
The third military power in the
world. The most challenging
country in the world.

It has been a blessing to the
nations of the world.

It started when the call of
God came to Abraham.

It all began when Abraham heard
God tell him, ". .Get the out of
thy country, and from thy kindred,
and from thy father's house, unto
a land that I will show thee,"
Genesis 12:1

Abraham believed God. It is told
in the New Testament in Romans 4:3.

He did what God told him and went
to the place that is now Israel.
God said, "This land belongs to
you."

Jerusalem is the most famous
city in the world.

It is mentioned in the Bible
more than 600 times.

The next most famous city is
Babylon, mentioned about 240
times.

Jerusalem is prominent in all
stages of history from its
beginning. And will be in the
days to come.

It is 'a cup of trembling' that
has been dealt with by the
nations of the world for many
centuries.

Those billion of Islamic people
are lead by the ones sworn to do
away with Israel. They are prom-
ising that which the Bible speaks
about.

When we know what is happening in
Jerusalem and what the Bible says,
then we know we are moving into
the prophetic future.

Today, we are in the middle of
difficulties that have grown
from problems between Israel
and the Arab nations.

Much of it centers around
Jerusalem, and the claims of
the Palistinians.

Jerusalem is the center of the
nation of Israel that has only
about 4 million people.

That area, that land, that
nation, is completely surrounded
by Islams, with about 1 billion
people.

There are people who examine
land mass of the world, and where
the nations are. They have decided
that it is literally true, that
Jerusalem is the center of the
world.

People have believed that for a
long time. Many centuries ago a
map was made where the nations
of the world fanned out from
Jerusalem like a large flower.
The basic idea has been proven.

The focus has pretty much always
been on the city of Jerusalem in
the Middle East.

The Bible recognizes this in the
book of Zechariah. "The burden
of the word of the LORD for
Israel, saith the LORD, which
stretcheth forth the heavens,
and layeth the foundation of the
earth, and formeth the spirit of
man within him.
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a
cup of trembling unto all the
people round about, when they
shall be in the siege both
against Judah and against
Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make
Jerusalem a burdensome stone for
all people: all that burden them
selves with it shall be cut in
pieces, though all the people of
the earth be gathered together
against it." Zechariah 12:1-3

We have been told that Jerusalem
will finally find peace when the
rest of the world is at peace.

But it is the other way around.

As goes Jerusalem, so goes the
world.

The peace of the world depends
on the peace of Jerusalem.

That is why the Bible says,
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem;
they shall prosper who love thee,"
Psalm 122:6.

There is one place in the world
that seems to sit in the spotlight
more often than others.

It's a place that's really the
center of the earth.

This is the nation of Israel, and
the City of Jerusalem. It often
wants us to, "pay attention!"