As an American my heart is heavy as I watch my country leave our God and neglect God's chosen people. Evil spreads like a cancer on the once great Red, White, and Blue while greed's grip tightens around the necks of leaders all around our nation. What happens to God's people when their nation turns its back on the Lord?
Be a part of my team! With your prayer, passing along the message, and financial support you can help get these messages in the hands of all those who need them! And remember, you can text me questions and comments by clicking on "Send Us a Text Message". Until next time! God bless!
As an American my heart is heavy as I watch my country leave our God and neglect God's chosen people. Evil spreads like a cancer on the once great Red, White, and Blue while greed's grip tightens around the necks of leaders all around our nation. What happens to God's people when their nation turns its back on the Lord?
Be a part of my team! With your prayer, passing along the message, and financial support you can help get these messages in the hands of all those who need them! And remember, you can text me questions and comments by clicking on "Send Us a Text Message". Until next time! God bless!
(This is a computer generated transcript of this podcast. This is NOT a typed transcript and it has not been edited. Expect grammatical and syntactical errors.)
Hello, and good day. I am B. R. Maul, and you are listening to Living God's Way in an Ungodly World. Thanks for joining me. We are taking a break from the teaching of the Book of James so I can address the war that is going on against Israel and the response that we are seeing around the world today. Why is this important?
Because as Christians, we must know what God says about what we are to do with the Jewish people, the nation of Israel. And that is both as nations, what do we do, what is our nation supposed to do, the nation that you live in, and also individually. And I want to talk about that as well because I think sometimes there can be a fear that when one's country doesn't do what is right, that that somehow encompasses the individuals as well in that country.
So, there is no reading that we are going to break down today, although I will be referring to God's Word. Let's take a look at the situation at hand. Now, in this podcast, I often stay away from situations, events that go on that timestamp a certain podcast, and I do that because the teaching of God's Word is timeless. It doesn't matter how old a podcast is, how old I should say a teaching is, that doesn't matter. If one is teaching from God's Word, it's timeless. So whether you are listening to this the following day after I record it and publish it, or if you are listening to it a year later, five years later, 50 years later. This is to do with God's Word, and so it doesn't matter. Unless, of course, the teacher, in this case myself, is not teaching from God's Word or teaching incorrectly.
With that said, I am going to identify that it was just within the last 48 hours that I have received information from parties that I follow that are in Israel that are close to the action and that are outside of today's news organizations. These are eyewitnesses that are there, and so they are on top of things. Most recent event is the sadness. It burdens me that my country, the United States of America, has turned its back on Israel. That saddens me because America has always been Israel's biggest ally. Because America understood what it's like to break away from a nation that had a harsh ruler and was being told how to live their lives. The fact that the U. S. is still currently in the process, I should say, of leaving as an ally. I want to say the important thing about this. Is that this is not the majority of Americans wishes like myself, there are millions and millions of Americans who are very upset about what the Biden administration in the White House is doing completely wrong.
And doing it for the wrong reasons. This is an election year. And so they are doing whatever they can to try to get the votes of those younger individuals who are out there in the colleges protesting and saying that the Palestinians have a right to the land that Israel is on. How should we, as Christians, respond to this?
First of all, remember Jesus reminds us to love our enemies. Our first and foremost commandment, beloved, is to love. Being hostile, attacking people who are protesting, who disagree with us, who disagree with the Bible, because that's the only thing we should be backing up is God's Word, not our own opinion, not the opinion of our families or the school or business that you associate with, one of that matters. It is only what God says that matters to a born again Christian. I do apologize for saying born again Christian. The reason I say that, because right now, the term Christian has been watered down, especially in America, because, for some reason many still think that because they are a member of a church, or that they go to church often, that makes them a Christian.
And of course it doesn't. Being born again, as Jesus Christ says in John 3, talking to the very intelligent Nicodemus, that one must be born again. That is the only way. There is no other way into heaven. So, I don't like to use the word Christian alone, at least without following up that what makes a Christian is being born again. I just want to make that part clear as well. There is no such thing as a Christian who is not born again.
Back to the discussion about the war that is currently going on in the Middle East. Israel, after October 7th, and that was six months ago, in fact, I think six months ago today. That they were invaded by the terrorist group Hamas over 1,200 deaths. They were brutal horrific deaths. I won't get into the details of that I encourage you to go and seek that information for yourself But the people that Hamas targeted were just civilians who had no idea what was going on, and many of them were women and children and older people, especially older women. They raped, mutilated, they did everything that should not be done. The response from Israel then was to fight back, and rightfully so. As rules of warfare go, they have that right. They had and still have every single right. The Hamas are still holding hostages and continue to fight a rather dirty fight.
Their tactics…they use civilians to shield themselves in warfare. But as Christians, we look to God's word and the land of Israel was given to us. to the people by God. That's the promised land. It's not all of the promised land, they have yet to receive all of their promised land. I don't know if you're aware of that. It's something I learned not too long ago, that the land that God has promised them, they have yet to receive all of that. What does that mean? Well, that means God is still watching over them. Right now, the Christian churches around the world, for some reason, is splitting because there's this notion that God has forsaken the Jewish people, that he's done with them, that they are no longer the chosen people. Now, that's not in the Bible. And if I'm wrong, please get ahold of me and let me know, because I'm a student of the Bible, first, and then a teacher, second. I seek the truth. If I'm wrong, then please let me know that. I want to know where in God's Word he has made it clear that he has forsaken them and he's done.
But the reason none of that adds up, beloved, is because We still have the future events in Revelation that has not happened. There's still the Tribulation to come, and after the Tribulation, there is still the Millennial reign of Christ. For this stuff to happen, the Tribulation, the Tribulation is about the Jews.
The Tribulation is about God bringing them back to Him. It is during the Tribulation that their eyes will be open to the Messiah that they have rejected. And they will come to know Him. And there will be many, many who are saved and who are born again among the Jews, and not just the Jews, but that's why, that's why the tribulation is going to be very bloody. Because, look at how much the world hates the chosen people of God. I have taught on this before, the difference between the chosen people as a nation and those who are chosen because they are born again. Now, the difference is this. The Jewish people came from Abraham. And mind you, Abraham wasn't a Jew. Isn't that interesting? He was a pagan. In fact, the name Jew, if I recall correctly, didn't really start to come about until the nation of Israel split into two kingdoms, and the southern kingdom, called Judah, eventually, that's where the name Jew came from. So that's quite a ways after Abraham, because that was after Saul, David and Solomon, because it was Solomon's son who actually ended up splitting the nation, not by choice, but because he was trying to rule very harshly, that 10 of the 12 tribes said, see you later, bye bye. So this is well after the time of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Okay. So, God goes to Abraham, and he says, (this is Genesis 12:1-3).
Now the Lord had said to Abram, Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
All the families. So not just those who were chosen, but those that would have faith in God, have faith in His Son Jesus, depending if it's Old Testament or New Testament. But it's always faith. So, that's what distinguishes God's family. This program, Living God's Way In an Ungodly World, I teach from God's Word, and we look at what it's like living in modern times as a born again believer. Because things have gotten so mixed up, and so wicked, and if anything, myself, this is my opinion, we are so much like in the days of Noah. When the world was just caught up with doing its own thing. People just wanted to have fun. They just wanted to live their own lives. And there were pagans. There's all these different religions. Well, look where we're at again. How many religions do we have? I have no idea. There's a ton of religions out there. Even in Christianity, the denominations, there's over 40,000 denominations. I mean, that can't be right. We can't have 40,000 different interpretations of God's Word and that it's right.
Okay, so, we have this man, Abram, he becomes Abraham, and his grandson, Jacob, is eventually named Israel, and that's where the nation of Israel begins. We get the twelve tribes. So the difference there, the chosen people, this nation of Israel, now that is bloodline. We can't choose to be a Jew. We can't choose to be Jewish. It just doesn't work that way. But a person can choose whether or not to be in God's family among the chosen. Why the difference? Well, the difference is God chose the nation of Israel, the Jewish people, not because they were something special. But because God wanted a tool to be able to show, not just the Jewish people, but the whole world.
He wanted everybody to see who He is. And you read the Old Testament and that relationship that The Jewish nation has with God, the Father, ultimately, that relationship has the consequences, good or bad. When they're obeying God, right, when they are worshiping Him and they are following in His pathways, they continue to be blessed. Their enemies are fearful of them. Their food is bountiful. their health, they don't have plagues, they don't have the sickness, they continue to grow, and things move along quite smoothly. And then, they start to wanting to do their own thing. They start getting kind of tired of following the rules. And then, the Jewish nation eventually no longer follows Yahweh. They start liking doing the pagan thing, and kind of doing their own thing, and having some fun, and just partying, and all that. Well, suddenly, God the Father allows their enemies to come and invade them, and kill them almost completely off. Or, he sends a plague, or he sends poisonous snakes. The point being is, when we read the Old Testament, God has his way of showing the world. When you walk with me, when you follow my commandments, and you love me, that's why God wants to be worshipped, because he wants us to love him. And that's the one thing we can give him. It's not that he needs us to be worshiping him. It's good for us. It's good for the people, the souls of the people. I mean, beloved, ultimately, that is the horrendous thing that happened when Sin entered the world, is we were cut off from being able to be in His presence, our very Maker, to be with Him, and to walk with Him, and to talk to Him, and to love Him, and to have His love. That's the part that sin, coming into the world, that's the worst part about it. And so, he's doing everything from the beginning of time and will, until the end of time, remedy that. And so, for all who want to be with him, who want to love him, will indeed be able to do that. Because, once he has all of the sheep and goats that are separated, and he wipes out sin forever, and creates a new heaven and a new earth, as we read in Revelation, well then, his family His chosen, the Jewish nation at this point, now his family, all those who have come to him through faith and come to his son Jesus Christ in faith will live for eternity outside of time because time will have ended, being glorified and living without the presence of sin.
So back to the chosen people as a nation, God says, I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you. Yes, that certainly is individually, but read the Old Testament and see that that is also as a nation, as nations go. Now, the nations in the Bible that were just complete pagan, that lived life of wickedness, well, they're gone.
Every single one of them would come up and oppose Israel, and then God would basically eliminate them. And, yes, he allowed Israel to participate, but ultimately he doesn't need anybody's help, right? So, he wipes out all these nations. Okay, now that's the Old Testament. Let's take a look at modern times. The United States of America is the only country that was founded upon the principles of God's Word. It was established there was not one monarch. The Jewish nation had God as their king. A theocracy. He was their king. And through Moses led the people. He But eventually they got tired of it and said we want to have a king like everybody else. And of course, they were warned about that. Didn't matter, they wanted the king anyway. But now look it, the United States is established. The United States starts out, and if you think about it, now we're back to looking to God. The people are the nation, not under a king on earth, but one nation under God.
And by following God's rules, by following God's commandments, America starts up and is blessed. There's no denying that. Such a young nation, just a few hundred years ago, and became quickly a powerhouse. Not because of us as if there's something special about our ancestry. Not at all. In fact, that's one of the beautiful things about America. America, we don't have a bloodline. You can't trace Americans like you can British blood or German blood or Polish blood, Russian blood, you name it. Nations that have had the bloodlines they have. America, an American, doesn't have their own bloodline. That's one of the beautiful things about America that I love so much.
And I also love that we are under God. Now where we're at today, my heart is heavy, and I am saddened because now as a nation itself, we're not under God, and we can see firsthand what happens when a nation no longer wants to be ruled by God, just like the Israelites. America is suffering. America is being invaded.
We have those who have taken over the White House that are evil. They're greedy. They don't love God at all. Some of them throw themselves into a denomination and say, I'm a Christian too. But that's just for votes. Their lifestyles do not reflect it whatsoever. Their laws that they come up with, their rulings are horrendous.
Like countries that are ruled by wicked monarchs, the United States is seeing the same thing. Where evil is now good and good is evil. That's foretold in the Bible. It's not easy to see. It's not easy to watch. And believe me, I pray on it. And pray for those who are in the White House, who are government officials around the United States, each individual state, because it's all unraveling. And it's unraveling because of the greed, the struggle for power and for might, and that's where we're at. So when it comes to Israel, right now they're not so much on the defensive, they're on the offensive. As of right now, the Jewish nation, Israel, is an agnostic nation. Most of them still are not openly following Yahweh.
Many of them still don't even believe in God, but, make no mistake of it, they're heading down a path that they will have to choose. And because we know, according to God's Word, that in the Tribulation Period, their eyes will be opened, well, that means As usual, God has his hands on the nation of Israel.
There's things that I have been watching and hearing from reportings, and many of those who are there, the way God is indeed protecting Israel. Now, mind you, it's not because the Israelites are these righteous people and that they're doing everything right. No, that's not it. And that's not even why, as Christians, we need to support them. We need to back them up, not because they're doing right, in fact, really, they don't even believe in God. Most of them are agnostic, so they don't even recognize Yahweh, let alone Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but because they're the chosen people. We are not to go up against them. We certainly are not to judge them, because we, Christians, do not judge anybody when it comes to, well, they deserve to go to hell.
Nope. That's not the judgment that we do, not at all. We are told only to judge one another's fruit, and that is for fellow believers, so we can keep each other in check. But that's not to judge and say who's going to hell and who's not.
The Lord is certainly working. There is more earthquakes. There was one in New York, and apparently New York City felt that, and mind you, the east coast, United States east coast, is not part of what earth scientists call the ring of fire, where a lot of these volcanoes are, and the reason for the volcanoes is because of the tectonic plates that shift. The west coast of the United States, there's a lot of action there on a regular basis when it comes to earthquakes. But on the east side, it's quite rare because the tectonic plates are far out in the Atlantic Ocean. But they had a 4. 8 magnitude earthquake just days ago that even the skyscrapers, it was reported, were vibrating and could feel the impact of that.
If you're an unbeliever, you can easily say that's just a coincidence. So what? Earthquakes happen every single day. But, as a Christian, I don't believe in coincidences, because coincidences only would occur then if things were happenstance. Nothing planned, but it just so happens to occur at a certain time and place. But God is sovereign, so as a Christian, I can't believe in a coincidence, because my sovereign God allows for everything. And, because they haven't had almost a 5.0 earthquake in a long time. To me, that goes to show, and I see it as, the Lord easily saying, you know what, I'm going to continue to lift my hand of protection here if you keep it up.
And New York City right now is just a city of filth. Those who are trying to abide by the law, who are trying to enforce the law, are being condemned and illegal immigrants are attacking people. They are including officers, by the way. And the judicial system in New York is so corrupt that they're just releasing these gangsters and others right back into society after they are brought in under charges of assault.
So firsthand we're seeing, in America, what happens when a nation pulls away from God, but also from Israel? I believe it's been within the last 36 hours, I saw posted that Nancy Pelosi and 36 other Democrats in the United States House of Representatives sent a letter to Joe Biden and the Secretary of State, Blinken. And they're saying to stop the supply of arms to Israel. That's unheard of for America to do such a thing.
Beloved, I am still with my hope as a child of God. I know. So when I say hope, it's the biblical hope. It's the knowing hope that I have eternity and that my Savior, Jesus Christ, has promised. is watching over me and my family. My salvation cannot be taken away from me. That doesn't mean that the country that I live in, because the leaders are doing what they're doing, isn't going to get hammered. We already are, and if those who are out there thinking that you, the United States, that everything is hunky dory, because that's what the mainstream media is saying, which is a false narrative, and it's all lies, that everything is just fine, the economy is great, people are doing fantastic. Oh, yes, we're as strong as ever. No, we're not. And the only reason we're not is because we have, as a nation, kicked God out of our schools and out of our government, out of our public square, and even in many churches. That's how sad it is. And so what happens to America as a nation, we got it coming because God is righteous.
He is holy, holy, holy. And so whatever he allows, he is absolutely perfect. I'll definitely be praying for mercy, and I pray for protection around my family and my loved ones, but as people continue to go on in their lives in America and even around the world, just wanting to be left alone to live their own life, I just want do my thing.
I just want to be comfortable and I don't want to have to step out of my comfort zone to help others. And so for those, even if it means I'm going to keep my mouth shut and not support Israel because there are more and more illegal immigrants from other countries that hate Israel right here. And every single day there are horrible things happening. People are being attacked. People are being killed. All because people, those that hate Israel, and they, of course, they hate Israel because they hate God. I mean, look at the Bible. When you read it, nations have always hated Israel. But of all countries, and of all people that's out there, none compare to the state of Israel, the Jewish people, the chosen nation that God chose to show who He is. And that's the only reason the Israelites are hated. Not because of who they are, but because of Who chose them. Because the Maker chose them. And they don't want to either admit that God exists, or they have already made up their own God.
And so they're worshiping that god or gods, and so they take offense to the fact that Jesus comes and says that he is the way, the only way. And so, yes, God's Word is offensive to those who don't love him. So the main thing I want to get across in the message today is that if you are born again, beloved, No matter where you're at in this world, there's no need to fear God's wrath upon you because of the nation, the leadership.
So you don't have to fear that, because no matter how awful the nation is, no matter how evil things have become, we cannot lose our salvation. Now, with that said, there's no promise that bad things will happen. Won't happen to us. He doesn't promise that. Unfortunately, yes, righteous and good people, Christian people, are being hurt, killed, threatened. But I firmly believe that God still protects his children, because a lot worse can happen. And for that, that does happen, it is always to the glory of God. Our life here is but a vapor. And the things of this world, the pains of this world, the agony of this world, and the time that we have to suffer through it, pales in comparison to the reward of heaven, where for this short little period in time that there is suffering, that there's heartache, that there's disease, and that there's evil, and there's hate, all of this bad stuff The amount of time, so far we're, what, 6,000 plus years from the beginning of time to where we're at now.
I mean, there's no way of comparing that to eternity, right? There's no way of comparing that. So it'll be okay. You have your hope in God. Look to Jesus Christ, because the faith now that God wants is for us to have that faith in His Son, that His blood washed away our sins, and that His resurrection overcome death.
So even though things are looking horrific out there, continue to stay in God's Word. Read that beautiful Word. Every day, and pray to Him, pray to Yahweh, give Him thanks, and bring your prayers and supplications to Him, and He will guide you, beloved. He will guide you, and He loves you so much. And come together with other believers, brothers and sisters in the faith.
If you can do it weekly, that's the best. So whether you have a church that is God teaching and preaching, that is faithful to the Bible, well then, go to it. And if you don't, start a small group of your own. Invite other brothers and sisters to come in weekly. Pray for one another. Lift each other up in prayer. Sing songs and praise the Lord together. And be waiting on the Lord, because He's coming. He certainly is coming.
So until next time,
God bless.
Songs
“Heroes Inspire Hope” and “Mountainscape” by Humans Win
Sound Effects from Storyblocks.com