Watchmen on the Wall for Israel - Benjamin Deitrick

In this powerful episode, Guest Speaker Benjamin Deitrick dives into the urgent prophetic significance of Israel in today’s global landscape. Exploring Scripture through passages like Psalm 2, Matthew 24, and Isaiah 62, this message unpacks the spiritual realities behind the shaking of nations, the rise of conflict, and the Church’s responsibility in this hour.

You’ll gain insight into the biblical role of watchmen, the importance of standing for God’s covenant purposes, and how believers are called to respond, not with passivity, but with prayer, discernment, and bold conviction. This episode challenges listeners to understand the times, reject theological compromise, and take their place in God’s redemptive plan for the nations.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the Summit Church Podcast. Thank you for joining us as we share weekly sermons and teachings from Summit Church in Hidden Forge, Tennessee. Our prayer is that today's message encourages your faith and helps you grow in your relationship with Jesus. Check out our website at summitchurchtn.com. Thanks for listening, and we pray this message encourages you today.

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I'm here today with my daughter, Sophia. She's having a little bit of a hard time with uh sort of crowds and big spaces, and so one of Ryan's daughters was kind enough to take her. I think they're gonna hang out upstairs. Um but otherwise she'd be here to greet you. She's the cutest little girl you ever saw in your life, and yes, I am biased. Uh but she's my third daughter. I have uh four children. Faith, my oldest is almost fourteen. Uh Lily is twelve, Sophia, who you may have seen in the little pink shirt, is six, and then my youngest is Timothy. We've got our boy, Timothy, and he is eight months now. So uh the four others are home, and uh, I'm just so honored to be here with you. I've been looking forward to this for a really long time, and uh I love Ryan and Christy. I just got to meet Christy today, but as he said, Ryan and I have known each other, I think, for about three or four years now, and I love how he pieces together the word and truth and the spirit, and nothing is sacrificed. You know, a lot of times when you see somebody really strong in the word, they're not so strong in the spirit, or if they're really strong in the spirit, they're not so strong in the word. But Ryan is really both, and I really honor that about him. And I know that if this is his place and this is his church, this church must be incredible. And so, uh, what an honor to be here. Thank you so much for allowing me the privilege to be here and to speak, Pastors Sandra and Steve, and uh so I do want to talk with you about Israel this morning. Um We are in a very important time concerning Israel in the earth, and it's obvious everything that is going on. Basically, from October 7th all the way up until now, Israel has been at war. They've really been at war in phases and in waves since the inception of the modern nation of Israel in 1948. Um there's been the Yom Kippur War, the Six-Day War, there was uh the conflicts in the 90s with Ariel Sharon and the Sinai Peninsula, and all of that has led us up to now what is happening. And I actually believe that what is happening, and part of what I'm going to share with you today, is that God is wanting to open up a window of revival and a window of salvation for the Middle East. Because if Iran goes free, see, Iran has been the cloak and dagger behind all of the other terror that has been coming against Israel, whether it's the Houthis, whether it's Hamas, whether it's Hezbollah, whether it's ISIS, they have been the funder and they have been the face behind the mask of even those other organizations. And so what is happening in Iran and the potential that we see for a regime change, complete regime change, I just read this morning that the talks have broken down between the United States and Iran, and so more than likely we're going back to a little bit of military action, but I really believe the heart of God is for that nation to go free. And if that nation goes free, it will create a domino effect in many other nations in the Middle East. And I believe the Lord wants to. I don't believe it's necessarily one of those seasons where you can stand and say with certainty, the Lord says, but I believe it's the will of God, I believe it's the heart of God, and he wants to partner with the people in the earth to see this happen, that that would go free, and that many other nations would go free, and there would be a window of harvest for ten years until the 2030s to see over a hundred million Muslims come to the Lord Jesus Christ. I really believe that's the heart and will of God. And so we have a responsibility in all of that. Can you say amen? We are the people of God, and I believe that nations rise and fall on the prayers of the people of God. I believe that. The Bible says the heavens above belong to the Lord, but the earth he has entrusted to the sons of men. That obviously means men and women. But we have been called as dominion stewards to take dominion over this earth. Genesis 1, 26 to 28. It says that God blessed them. That word is barak, it means to kneel and to bless. Did God manifest himself that much bigger to Adam and Eve that when he blessed them, he actually knelt down and embraced them and blessed them in that way? I'm not sure, but it's a possibility. It says he blessed them and he said, Be fruitful, multiply, fill, have dominion over the earth, and subdue all things. And he gave them dominion over the entire globe. Now we are the seed, we are the uh progeny of Adam and Eve, and so that same dominion mandate comes to us. And what Adam and Eve failed to do in taking back the earth that God had created, what they failed to do in Genesis 1, 26 to 28, because of sin entering the world, Jesus reinstated in Matthew 28, and now you and I have been empowered afresh over 2,000 years ago with the dominion mandate again to go and make disciples of all the nations. And so we are those who have been entrusted with this earth. Can you say amen? We have been entrusted with this globe. And Jesus said, in, you know, speaking prophetically through the psalmist, the Lord said, Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession. And I want to start there this morning. Turn with me to Psalm chapter 2. Psalm chapter 2. And we're going to look at that amazing Psalm. This is really a messianic prophecy in many ways, foretelling the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. But let's just look at verse 1. Verse 1 says this Why do the nations rage? That's our first key word we've got to look at. Rage in the Hebrew is the word ragosh. Say that with me. You guys are Hebrew scholars. Amazing. Good job. Ragosh. Now, this word it means a violent, vehement sound in the earth. A violent, vehement sound in the earth, right? If you think of bombing, that's a violent, vehement sound. If you've ever lived anywhere where you've heard gunshots, like I grew up in Philadelphia, and I would often hear gunshots in the alley that connected our houses, the row houses that we lived in, you know, and it's a vehement sound, it's a loud sound, it's a violent sound, and that's the connotation that is here. This connects to Matthew 24. How many really appreciate the writings of Jesus, the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25? Matthew 24 and 25 is known as the Olivet prophecy or the Olivet Discourse. Jesus gives more information on the end times in Matthew 24 and 25 than anywhere else in all of Scripture. There are passages in Luke that mirror Matthew 24, but there's more information given in Matthew 24 and 25 than anywhere else in all of Scripture. It is Jesus' chief teaching on the end times. And Jesus says in Matthew 24 that in that day that there would be wars and there would be rumors of wars. How many are following what I'm saying this morning? That word rumor is the word a coup. Say that with me. Very good. Now you're Greek scholars. Very good this morning. A coup, it's the word we get our word acoustic from. So the gentleman this morning that led worship, he played an acoustic guitar. That guitar works by sound vibration. There's a striking of the strings, and then there's an acoustic within the hollow of that guitar that emits or creates a sound. An electric guitar doesn't have that hollow in it, it doesn't have a hollowed-out bass. So when you string an electric guitar, a strum, an electric guitar, you don't hear the same sound unless you, you know, uh hook it up to an amplifier. That's how that works. But because of the acoustics of that guitar, when that gentleman struck the strings, there was a sound that was emitted forth. Now that's the same meaning of what Jesus meant when he said that there would be wars. Wars is obvious, an obvious interpretation, but rumors of wars, a coup of wars, there would be vibrations in the earth, there would be sound waves in the earth, a threat of war, a violent, vehement sound, which is what is being described here in Psalm chapter 2. That's what we're living through. That's what you're feeling. Even though we live in the United States and we're very blessed to live in the United States, as Pastor Ryan said, I've been to over 40 nations around the world. I know that we live in the most safe and comfortable and blessed nation on the face of the earth. That's not just something that I'm saying arbitrarily because I've lived in America all my life. That's after being to 46 other nations and seeing how much of the rest of the world lives, the fear that they live in, some of them, the abject poverty that they live in, some of them. We are so blessed to live in this nation. But even in our nation, you are feeling, many of you, the acoup. You are feeling the vibration of conflict in the earth. I would suggest to you that that vibration, what you're feeling, is actually the labor pains of the earth that Jesus also described in Matthew 24. Now, when a woman goes into labor, I've seen my wife four times now go through this with all of our children. When a woman goes into labor, it starts with the Braxton Hicks. They call them Braxton Hicks contractions, right? Not too bad, but you know that something is going on. You know, you call the midwife or you go to the hospital, and the labor pains get worse and worse and worse, and they get closer and closer and closer together until the time when that baby comes forth and is born. Well, that is what is happening in our generation, and that is what is happening in the earth. The labor pains, where the Bible says in Romans that the earth itself is longing and groaning to be set free from its bondage to decay, and it's longing and groaning for the revelation of the sons of God. That's you and I, the sons of God. The word there is huios, and huios is different than the other words in the Greek language that are used for son. There's four of them in the Greek language. But a huios is one that is mature, one that is full grown, one that knows the will of their father, one that knows the desire of their father, one that can speak for the father. See, Jesus was anointed as a huios when he came up out of the waters of baptism. He walked this earth perfectly. But even in his life, there were set times when the father affirmed the son. And one of those times was when he came up out of the waters of baptism. And the voice comes from heaven. This is my son in whom I am well pleased, listen to him. This happened several other times. The transfiguration was another one, another time. There were many that heard the voice. Others said that it thundered, but there were several times this happened for Jesus. But this phrase, this is my son in whom I am well pleased, listen to him. This was a very specific phrase that was a legal phrase in the time of Christ, where a father had a son that was full grown and mature, that he trusted, he would take him to the gates of the city, and at the gates of the city, he would declare before all the people, and the gates of the city, by the way, was where all legal transactions happened. It's where property was bought and the sold, it's where all kinds of things happened in a legal sense. And he would take his son to the gates of the city, and he would say before everybody, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. From that day forward, the son became a huis, became one who could speak as the father in the gates of the city. He could buy, he could sell. His voice was the same as the father's voice, because he had come to the place of maturity. Now that is what the earth is longing and groaning to see. You and I come to a place of maturity. And we are called to that place of maturity, not in the absence of, but in the presence of great conflict in our generation. See? This is the time in the earth that we live in. We're to be like those sons of Issachar who understood the times and who knew what to do. See, that's the apostolic and the prophetic moving and working together. It's like the picture of Nehemiah. He has the sword in one hand, he has the trowel to build in the other hand. Some say the hammer to build in the other hand. But both the trowel and the hammer carry that same connotation of building. So there's the prophetic, the sword that pierces through, there's the apostolic, the hammer, the trowel that builds up, and that's who we are to be in the midst of this great turmoil that is happening in the earths. So why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. Now, this is the Antichrist federation that is formed in the earth. See, there is a unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, which is what the body of Christ is supposed to walk in. Many times, unfortunately, we don't walk in that. But that is holy heavenly unity. Holy heavenly unity that builds the kingdom of God. But then there is an antichrist unity. This is the unity of Babel. And that unity is still in the earth, and it's the Antichrist federation that comes against the Lord and against his anointed. And by the way, friends, everything that is named covenant in the earth, of which the church and Israel are the two primary witnesses of covenant in the earth. Tomorrow, when I talk more uh deeply about all of this, when I have a little bit more time, I'm gonna share the three main perspectives on Israel. There's supersessionism, or that would be more commonly referred to as replacement theology. That's one perspective the body of Christ has on Israel. Then there is dual covenant theology, which basically says the Jews are okay, the Christians are okay, the Jews are fine without Jesus. That's totally heretical and totally against the basic tenets of the gospel. So both of these first two are heresy that the church has replaced or been superseded over Israel. That's not what Romans 9, 10, and 11 says. That's not what the heart of God is. So that's a heresy. Dual covenant is a heresy, but then there's the third perspective, which is covenant theology, which says that all of the Bible and all of history is one story of the covenants of God in the earth. And that how we view Israel now and how we view the nations now is through the means of the covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we stand with Israel, we bless Israel according to the covenants of God. We are friends of Israel, we honor our elder brother Israel, as Paul exhorted us in Romans 9, 10, and 11, but through the lens, not leaving him at the door, but through the lens of the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what I believe would be the proper perspective for the body of Christ regarding Israel. So I'll delve into all of that tomorrow night. You want to make sure that you're here and hear that. I'll delve into all of that and really explain that, okay? But verse 3, it says, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. What the world calls bonds and cords, God calls the foundations of covenant. That's the time that we're living in. They want to destroy all the foundations. They want to destroy this antichrist force and spirit in the earth, wants to destroy the foundations of where we stand, which is the foundation of covenant. They call it cords, they call it bonds, they call it fetters, but God calls it the foundations of his covenant. Verse 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall hold them in derision, then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me, You are my son, today I've begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore be wise, O kings. Here comes the warning of heaven against the kings of the earth. Therefore be wise, O kings, be instructed, you judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in him. So, friends, this is to set the stage. The earth is shaking, the nations are shaking, the nations are trembling with wars and rumors of wars. The nations are raging against the Lord, against his covenant purposes, against his covenant people. But in the midst of all of that, God has installed his king in Zion, his holy hill, and he would not be moved. And there is a watchman warning that goes forth to the nations of the earth. So we are in this season in the earth. Can you say amen? We are living out Matthew 24. We are literally walking through Matthew 24 as a generation. No one knows the day, no one knows the hour, but we are told to have understanding of the signs of the times. And we are called as watchmen over the nations, and we are called as watchmen over Israel. We are called as watchmen to rise up in this hour and to take our place on the wall. No one can be passive in this hour. No one can be indecisive in this hour. You will serve something in this hour, whether you're aware of it or not. And it behooves us to be careful what we are serving and whom we are serving. But neutrality is such a lie. It's actually an impossibility. There is no neutrality in this time. You can't be like Switzerland in this time, even though Switzerland has absolutely not been neutral throughout the ages, right? But you cannot be neutral in this time. You have to choose who is on the Lord's side. And as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And as for me and my house, we will stand for, and we will speak up for, and we will be a watchman for Zion's sake and on the walls for Israel. So let's go ahead and we can show that first slide of the PowerPoint. You guys are already on it. You're amazing. Let's look at Isaiah 62, 1 through 7. I wanted to just set that as a stage very, very briefly. I could talk about that literally for hours. But just very briefly to set that as a stage for what we're going to talk about this morning. Why is it important to stand as a watchman for Israel? Why is it important what is happening in the nations? Why is it important what's happening in the Middle East? What does it have to do with your life here in uh Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, right? And by the way, this is a beautiful area, incredibly gorgeous area. I've never been here before. I've only been to Nashville and Tennessee. And let me say I like this area a lot better. I really like it a lot better. It's a lot more peaceful. I'll just leave it at that. So, Isaiah 62, 1 to 7, for Zion's sake, say for Zion's sake. You guys are awesome. I will not keep silent. For Jerusalem's sake, I will not remain quiet till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory. So this links to Psalm chapter 2. It links to Matthew 24, the nations, the kings so-called of the nations, the vindication of God for his people, asking the Lord for the nations. See, Israel is the firstborn of the nations of God. Israel was the nation that God called forth and said, I'm calling you forth as a holy people and as a holy nation. Can you imagine being Abraham? That God says to you, get up from where you are, Ur of the Chaldeans is where Abraham was from. It was a pagan society. They had all kinds of pagan things going on there, all kinds of terrible things going on there. God takes him out of that pagan context, calls him to a land that he would show him, and along the way to that land that God will show him, God visits Abraham over and over and over again. And God says to him, I will bless you. And I will make you a great nation. Now, this was a man that didn't even at the time have any natural children of his own. No children. He had a wife that was very old. He himself was very old. There was no natural children. So he says, God, how can this be? Right? And the Lord says, I'm gonna make your descendants like the stars in the heavens and like the sand of the seashore. And Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. See? This is what the Lord is doing in this time. All kings will see your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you deserted or name your land desolate, but you will be called Hepsibah and your land Beula, for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so your builder will marry you. Did you know God Himself is married to Israel? It says this specifically in the word of the Lord that we're reading right now and many other places. Do you know for something to be established doctrinally it has to be mentioned at least four times? Did you know that? We've got people in our generation mentioning dreams and using some scripture to prove their dream or prove their visitation, and it's only mentioned once in scripture, and there's a lot of false teaching that is in the body of Christ right now. For something to be established as doctrine, four times at least, well, there is at least nine times that it's mentioned in Scripture that God has literally married the land of Israel. Did you know that God even put his name, carved his name onto the land of Israel? There's the valley of Hinoam, there's the Jezreel Valley, and then there's another valley that escapes my mind right now at this moment, but they form like a shin over the literal land of Israel. The shin is the name of God. How many have ever seen Star Trek? Just wave at me if you've seen Star Trek. You know Spock in Star Trek? He goes like this. He says, Live long and prosper. Well, he's a Jew, and this is actually the sign of the Shin. Did you know that? This is the sign of the name of God, the three branches, and those three branches are literally carved onto Israel itself. God says, I will put my name there. The place that I have made covenant with, the place that I have married, the place that I have betrothed myself to, and he carved his name on it. It's incredible when you consider this. See, your land will be married, your builder will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem. They will never be silent, day or night. Who posted the watchman? I, the Lord, posted the watchman. This is not the invention of a man. This is not the invention of doctrine or crafty or clever teaching. This is not the invention of some denomination or some particular faith tradition. This is a mandate from Scripture, from the Lord Himself, that He posted watchmen on the wall. I, the Lord, posted watchmen on the wall. They will never be silent, day or night. You who call on the Lord, have you called on the Lord? Right? Have you called on the Lord for healing? Have you called on the Lord for salvation? Have you called on the Lord for deliverance? Have you called on the Lord for provision? I know I have. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. Now, Jerusalem is not the praise of the earth right now. How many know that? It is not. It might be to you, it might be to me, but we are the remnant. We are the minority in our generation. The majority in our generation are calling for the annihilation of Israel. Are calling for the annihilation of the Jews. In the same nation that we had the Bondi Beach massacre, this shooter just starts opening fire on Jewish people who were just chilling at the beach like you and I might be, right? He starts taking them out, he starts shooting them off. In this same place, months earlier, there were chants and there were cries in the streets in Australia, in Sydney, Australia, and they were saying, send them back to the ovens. Send them back to the ovens. There's been a 900% increase of violent anti-Semitic acts in America alone. The place that was once a haven for Jewish people after the Sho'a, after World War II, and Hitler's final solution didn't, you know, succeed in wiping out all the Jews, but he wiped out one third of them, about 18 million Jews before the uh the World War II, and six million of them, 33%, one third of the Jewish people were wiped out in the ovens of Hitler's Nazi Germany. And they're saying, less than a hundred years after that time, send them back to the ovens. 900% increase of violent ants of acts of anti-Semitism just in the United States. 1,300% increase of violent acts of antisemitism in Europe. In the Netherlands, they were going to a soccer game. They were attacked on the way to a soccer game. In France, they're kicking over and destroying, painting swastikas on the gravestones of Jewish people. They're throwing bricks through their windows, they're beating them in the streets. These aren't things that I'm making up. Google it. Look at the news for yourself. See that what I'm saying is correct. All around the world, Jews are hated. If you post anything on Facebook or online about Israel, which I often do, there is people who come out of the woodwork. People, I'm like, who are even you? I don't even know you. Where did you come from? Out from under your bridge, Mr. Little Troll, you know? Where did you even come from? But you literally can't say anything about Israel without people coming out of the woodwork to condemn you and to tell you how wrong you are and to tell you how Jews are behind everything wrong in the world. It's the same old story. It's nothing new, actually, but this generation just doesn't realize that it's nothing new. Because this generation hasn't had to deal with it in the way that we are now. See, even take back the clocks about 20 years ago. In your own state of Tennessee, there's a man, Don Finto. How many know who Don Finto is? An incredible theologian, an incredible man of God, writes a book, Your People Shall Be My People. There's a movement. There's Robert Stearns, there's Steve Fry, there's Jack Hayford, many, many great men and other women also of the previous 20 years, just 20 years ago, who literally were giving so much good information and good teaching to the body of Christ. There was a movement of Zionism in the body of Christ. There was a movement of support for Israel in the body of Christ. And because of this, Jews and Christians were coming together in friendship, were coming together in solidarity, and actually the gospel was going forth to Israel. There was a massive increase of salvations in the Lord Jesus Christ among our Jewish brothers and sisters. See, this is just 20 years ago. Now, there is a trend theologically, which is why I believe what we're talking about, there could not be a more important subject that we are talking about today and tomorrow. There is a trend theologically from people around my age who are, I'm 42, but people who are around my age, a little younger, a little older, who are saying replacement theology is true, dual covenant is true, all these other false ideologies and false theologies are true, and they are defending their position with such verocity that they are beginning to sway the masses. So we're beginning to see a move in the body of Christ away from God's covenant people and God's covenant promises. See? But God has called us to be watchmen, watchmen on the walls for Jerusalem, watchmen on the walls for Israel. Okay? I want to describe briefly what it means actually to be a watchman because this phrase sometimes we throw around these phrases in charismatic Christianity and we don't really necessarily even know what we're talking about. So, watchmen, I want to just describe this or define this. There's three primary words that are used in the Hebrew, not the only ones, but three primary words that are used in the Hebrew for watch. And then there's one that is used for watchmen. So let's go through these. The first one is the word shamar. And I believe they're gonna put it on there. Shamar. So you can write that down. You can see the Hebrew, you can see the spelling, you can see the shin even in this word. This is the shin, this letter right there with the three branches. The name of God is in this word. The first time this word is used, how many know the law of first mention? How many know what I'm talking about when I say the law of first mention? Just raise your hands. Okay, so not many. The law of first mention is a theological term that is applied in hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is how we study the Bible. And the law of first mention teaches that the first time that a concept is introduced, or the first time that a word is introduced in the Bible, is how it stands connected in the mind and in the heart of God. For instance, worship. The first time that worship is mentioned or used in the Bible is in reference not to music, not to lights, not to songs, not to dancing, not to any of that. The first time the word worship is used in the Bible is in reference to Abraham and Isaac, where it says, the lad and I will go yonder and worship. That's the first time that is used. So if we apply the law of first mention to that, then we see that worship really has nothing to do with music in its root. You understand what I'm saying? I'm not saying that music is wrong. I'm not saying that singing is wrong, I'm not saying that any of that is wrong. But the root of worship, if you never picked up another musical instrument in your entire life, you could still worship. If you had no tongue in your head, you could still worship. If you were not able to see, you could still worship. If you were not able to move, you could still worship. Because worship actually means sacrifice. It means obedience, it means yielding our will to God. The lad and I will go yonder and worship. Historians tell us Isaac was at least 33 or 35 years old. You're gonna tell me that a man that is over a hundred years old could take a 33 to 35-year-old man in his prime. Men, their prime is 28 to 42. I'm on the way down from my prime, right? But that's their prime. You wanna tell me an over 100-year-old man could take that young man and bind him on an altar to burn him alive? Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Isaac willingly got on that altar. See, and he worshipped, he was willing to yield his will to the Lord. So the law of first mention, the first time that this word is used, shamar, is in reference to the garden. Uh Genesis 2 and 15, it says this. Then God commanded Adam to be in the garden, and God commanded him to keep it and cultivate it. So this word keep is the word shamar. First time it's used. Keep and cultivate the garden. So basically, what this word means is it means to watch over, it means to protect, and it means to hedge about, to be a watchman, to hedge about. See? Another time that this word is used is in reference to Cain and Abel, where it says God calls to Cain and he says, Where is your brother Abel? And God Cain says to God, Am I my brother's shamar? Am I my brother's keeper? See, we are our brother's keeper. Israel is our elder brother, and we are their keeper. We are their watchman. Think of it like a plant. If you had a plant that was right here, and it was a blueberry plant, right? Like my parents have, and they don't want the bunnies coming and nibbling off all the blueberries. So what do they do? They put a hedge all around that, they put mesh, wire mesh all around that, so the bunnies can't come and eat their blueberries. Well, that's exactly the connotation of what this word actually means. See? Whatever God has put into your hand, you are called as a steward of that. Whatever charge that God has given you, you are a steward of that charge. And you have called you are called to protect that charge like anything else that God has put in your hand, whether it's your marriage, whether it's your children, whether it's your finances, whether it's your vehicle, your home, your property, whatever it might be, you're called to steward whatever it is that God has put in your hand. Well, God called forth watchmen on the walls for Jerusalem. God called forth watchmen on the walls for Israel. So our first mandate, according to Scripture, is to say, number one, I will do everything I can to build up a hedge of protection around Israel. What does that look like? It looks like prayer. It looks like prophetic decrees. It looks like declaring the promises of God over Israel, declaring the word of the Lord over Israel. It looks like trying to educate people, whatever you can, however you can, to be watchmen on the wall for Zion, just like you. It looks like speaking the truth when it's unpopular. See? I'm unpopular for two reasons. Number one, I believe in the fullness of the Spirit of God. So for the majority of the body of Christ, and many of them cessationists, they think I'm crazy, they call me all kinds of names. When I touch people and they fall down, when I prophesy, I'm the devil to them. So that's number one why I'm not liked. The second most reason why I'm not liked is because of Israel. The second most reason, see? But I still, because it's the mandate on my life, part of it, I do everything I can to educate people. This is the truth of the word of God. So you, likewise, as a watchman called to the walls, according to Isaiah chapter 62, are called to do everything you can to build up a wall of protection around Israel. And then, secondly, according to this word, and according to the mandate from Scripture, you are to say, I am my brother's keeper. I am my brother's keeper. The next word that is used for watch as we go on together this morning, the next word that is used for watch is this word. It is the word not sar. And it means this it means to observe and to preserve. It means to nurture, to observe and to preserve to nurture. So we've got this mesh, this wire mesh that is built around this plant, and I'm watching over it, I'm a watchman over it, I'm building up this hedge of protection. But now, if I simply watch that thing and I walk around it all day and I say, Yep, oh yeah, that's great. Nothing's getting to it, nothing's getting through that wire mesh. Oh, that's wonderful. But I don't water that plant, I don't fertilize that plant, I don't trim that plant and you know, prune that plant. It's gonna eventually die because it doesn't have the nurture and the preservation that it's supposed to have. Is this following what I'm saying? This is the second meaning of watch Shamar to build up a hedge of protection, and then Natsar to observe, to preserve, and to nurture. Well, how are we to observe to preserve what it is that God has called us to concerning his people? God called Israel his garden over and over in uh scripture. Jeremiah 31, verses 11 to 13. It says this for the Lord will deliver Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion. They will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord, the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness. I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. We are called to be those who water the garden of God, Israel. That looks like financial giving, that looks like going there yourself and being a blessing to Israel. How many have ever actually been to Israel? Okay, so just a few of you. I've been there 27 times. This will be my 28th time. I was supposed to go in March. We had a full group, over 50 people that was going with us. And a few weeks before we were supposed to go, the war in Iran broke out and they canceled everything and shut everything down. We moved it to November, November 9 to 18. You can actually go with us if you would like to. But we're called to go. We're called to stand on sight, with insight, in the place that God has called his garden. Psalm 122 says this. I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord. Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built as a city that is closely compacted together. This is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to praise the name of the Lord, according to the statute given to Israel. There stand the thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May those who love you be secure. May they be peace within your walls and security within your citadels. For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, Peace be within you. So the Bible defines Israel and the Jewish people as our family, our brothers and our friends. Do you see this from Scripture, just like I'm seeing this? See? What do we do when our family is hurting? What do we do when our family is wounded? What do we do when our family is spoken evil of? Do we run away because it's no longer popular to stand with them? No. Whoever wanted to persecute my family, I would stand with them to the very bitter end. See? For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, peace be within you. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity. See? God is the one who has called us to Shammar, to build a hedge of protection. God is the one who has called us to Natsar, and God is the one who has called us as a sentinel on duty, which is the word that is used in Habakkuk 2 in verse 1, which is our third word for watch, which is mishmereth. Now these other words, they're basically the verb of watch. The noun of watch or watchmen is actually another word, but this word, it's like the embodiment of what it means to be a sentinel on duty. This is what Habakkuk says. Habakkuk 2 and verse 1. I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts. I will look to see what he will say to me and what answer I am to give to this complaint. See, we have got to be in position. We have got to be on the wall. How many know what I'm saying? We have got to be praying and declaring and decreeing and standing and speaking like never before. Do you believe that history belongs to the intercessor? Do you believe that the way that the nations go rises and falls on the prayers of people? See, there was a man named Reese Howells who understood this concept of being one who watches. Reese Howells was one who rose up in World War II and prayed that God would bring an end to World War II and to the atrocities of the Nazis. He actually saw it coming before it came. He wrote a book about it, actually, about the rise of Nazism and what that would bring to the world. Not many people actually know that, but he saw it as a watchman before it came. He even wrote an entire book about it. But during World War II, this man would cry out and sansui of Wales. He would cry out, he would roll around on the ground, he would be doubled over in pain, almost like he was doing a thousand sit-ups or a thousand crunches, crying out, screaming in pain at times for the Lord to intervene. See, I believe that much of World War II, what happened in World War II and how it abated at the end, and how eventually the tide turned at the end was connected to the prayers of that man and thousands of others like him that are nameless and faceless, that history never will know, but heaven knows their names. See, what is happening in Israel right now, it is the birth pains as we approach the end of the end of the end. I believe that. See, how many believe Jesus is coming again? And if Jesus is coming again, everything that he said needs to happen will happen. So we are coming up to that point, and the birth pains of the earth are all around us. Who will rise up as a watchman in this hour? Who will rise up as one who stands at their post, who is in position, who cries out on behalf of God's people, Israel, who says, Spare your people, comfort Zion, have mercy upon Israel, O Lord. I believe I'm talking to some of them this morning. You wouldn't have asked me to come and speak on this if you didn't care deeply. I believe that I'm with fellow watchmen this morning. I believe that I'm with those who want to act as sentinels on duty, who want to get into their position in this time in history. You may not go to the nations. You may never know go to Israel, but you can touch Israel from your bedroom. You can touch Israel from these seats. It's right here. You can touch Israel on your knees as you cry out for the plans and purposes of God to be fulfilled in our generation. See, if you've never been to Israel, you've never been on those ancient walls, there's nothing like it. You look out over the old city, you see the spots in the walls where they used to shoot arrows. You see the places on the walls, the stones on the wall that are actually worn down and smooth because they ran across it and walked across it for millennia. See? And they would meet other watchmen on those walls and they would take messages and they would look out for warlike movements of the enemy. They were able to thwart things before they even happened. So many times in the body of Christ, we are reactionary. We are reactive to what is happening. Something happens on the world stage, a new trend, a new thing happens. You know, there's there's some new calamity that is trying to overtake the earth, and we react to it. Well, what about those that are proactive? See, to be a watchman actually means to peer into the distance. This is what God said to Ezekiel to be and to do. The word in Ezekiel, where it says in Ezekiel 3 and 17, Son of Man, I have made you a watchman. Say watchman for the whole house of Israel. We love to cherry-pick scripture and ignore its actual context. How many know what I'm saying? I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me. This word watchman is the word sapa. It means to watch, it means to observe, it means to give heed, but it also means this: it means to peer into the distance, to lean into the future, to see what is coming before it ever manifests. See, friends, I believe that God wants to raise up watchmen who are so tuned into Israel that they would have seen October 7th coming before it came. They would have seen this war with Iran coming before it came. They would have seen those things and they could have been in position. See, I believe God is raising up Holy Ghost red rooms. God is raising up Holy Ghost war rooms. God is raising up Holy Ghost revivalist watchmen who are going to peer into the distance to see what is coming before it can ever manifest and thwart the plans of the enemy before he can even do them, before he can even make them manifest upon the earth. See? The Greek counterpart of this is Gregor Eo. It means to watch, to be vigilant, to stay awake. So much of the body of Christ has fallen asleep on this issue. We've fallen asleep, we say, Well, that was Jack Hayford's thing, or that was Robert Stern's thing, or that was Don Finto's thing. No, it's all of our thing. We are all called as watchmen on the wall to stay awake, to stay vigilant. This is the word that's used in Mark 13 and verse 37, where Jesus admonishes his disciples, what I say to you, I say to everyone, watch. Watch. Same word is used in Matthew 24, 42, Matthew 26, 38, and many other places throughout Scripture. Watch. Say watch. We have a strict responsibility. See, this watchman anointing, this birthing of what God is doing in our time to raise up watchmen for Israel, to stand with Israel, to speak kindly to Zion, to speak comfort to Zion, has not always been the position of the church. The church has not always been a watchman on the wall. Let me just give you a brief history of the church. Can I do that this morning? I know I'm running out of time. I'm gonna wrap up very soon and pass it back to pastors. But the first century, the first century, friends, this is less than a hundred years after Jesus left the earth. There was a man, his name was Marcion of Sinope, M-A-R-C-I-O-N, not Martian like an like an alien, although he was alien in his beliefs. But Martian of Sinop, he said, the God of the Old Testament is a different God than the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many people consider him the first heretic. I actually consider uh Simon the sorcerer the first heretic myself, who predated this person, but that's okay. People smarter than me think that this guy is the first heretic. So he says this, and so what happened to the church less than a hundred years after Jesus left this earth and Holy Spirit came, the gospel starts going to the nations. He says, the God of the Old Testament is not the God of Jesus. They're two separate beings, they're two separate entities. The God of the Old Testament, He is vengeful, He is mean, He is unkind, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, He is more worthy, He is more better. What happened to the burgeoning church, the Greco-Romans that were coming into the kingdom through the ministry of the Apostle Paul, and what happened with Peter and the centurion, the Greco-Roman influence that was coming into the Hebraic or the Jewish context of what Jesus set up in the early church. All the early apostles were Jews except for possibly Luke. Okay. So what it did was they stopped reading the Old Testament, they stopped understanding those scriptures, they stopped even thinking about Israel and God's covenants and plans for Israel. First century. Then we come to the second century, Tertullian. How many have heard of Tertullian? A few of you have heard of Tertullian. We love Tertullian's phrase, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. You ever heard that phrase? That's Tertullian. That's this guy. I love that phrase. It's an incredible phrase. But Tertullian, he says, that the Gentiles have been chosen by God to replace the Jews because they were more worthier and more honorable. My Germanic Italian ancestors were more worthy and honorable than the Jews. Yeah, right. My pagan blood-drinking Germanic ancestors. That's the reality of what is in my blood, right? In Germania, I am 90 something percent German. I am 100% European when I did that 23 in me thing, right? I'm third generation from the boat. My ancestors were more worthy and honorable than the Jews. Yeah, right. Can't convince me of that, but that's what he said. Second to third century, Hippolytus of Rome. He wrote that the Jews had been darkened in the eyes of your soul with a darkness utter and everlasting. Fourth century, Augustine of Hippo called for the enslavement of Jews to Catholics. Not by bodily death shall the ungodly race of carnal Jews perish. Scatter them abroad, take away their strength, bring them down, O Lord. He often likened the Jews to Judas Iscariot. John Chrysostom went so far as to say that because Jews rejected the Christian God in human flesh, Jesus, they therefore deserved to be killed, and they grew fit for slaughter. Fit for slaughter. See, friends, I could go on and on and on off the top of my head of what we call church fathers and the things that they said about God's chosen people, Israel and the Jews. A lot of these ideologies actually led to a Lutheran Sunday school teacher named Adolf Hitler and his dangerous ideologies. They were from, in part, the church father. I believe he was possessed demonically, not oppressed demonically, possessed demonically. But these ideologies that were in the inception of the fathers of the church led to some of what he believed and some of what he taught. Martin Luther was another one, our hero of the Reformation, the Protestant Reformation, wrote a book called Concerning the Jews and Their Lies. He was trying to evangelize Jews, they rejected him, and because they rejected him, he grew bitter and angry and vengeful, right? And he wrote a book concerning the Jews and their lies. Part of it is in Mein Kampf, the writing of Hitler. Okay? This rhetoric and ideology continues until the time of Hitler and what they call the Final Reich. Charlemagne would be the first Reich, and then it goes throughout history. This group was referred to as the German Christian Movement. The German Christian Movement. A Protestant group that emerged in the 1920s, embraced Nazi ideology, including anti-Semitism and racism, sought to create a Reich church that would be aligned with Nazi principles, revised Christian hymns and liturgies, suppressed the Old Testament, and promoted Jesus as an Aryan hero. That's when you see these pictures of Christ with blonde hair and blue eyes. Jesus didn't look like me. Jesus looked like a Middle Eastern man. He had brown skin, not quite as brown as an African American or an African person, but he had brown skin. He was Northern Saharan, right? Not sub-Saharan. He had brown eyes. He did not look like German or Lutheran or Italian or what 99% of us in here look like. He didn't look like that. He was a Jewish man. Okay? But they said this is what he looks like. Thank God for a watchman like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who helped to turn the tide. He gave his life to turn the tide. See? We're in a very similar environment like that. It might not feel like that, but I'm telling you, underneath the surface, we are in a very similar environment like that, like those days. The world is at a tipping point. And we could see many of these dangerous ideologies come to fruition once again, and we could see something like another atrocity, like the final solution come against God's people. What will the church do in this time? Will we stand by as much of the church did in the 1930s and 40s as the atrocities rolled over God's people? Will we be quiet? Or will we be like Dietrich Bonhoeffer? Will we be watchmen on the wall for Israel? Will we be those who believe in the writings of Scripture? Romans 11, 1 to 2. I asked then, did God reject his people? By no means. I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people whom he foreknew. And it goes on. I'll read more of it in depth tomorrow night. I know I'm out of time today. But God is calling forth watchmen on the wall. God is calling forth those who not just observe, but preserve. Not just those who observe and pour water, preserve, but those who stand as sentinels on duty. He is calling forth those who will be like a safah to peer into the distance, to look into the distance, to see those things that are happening, to thwart them before they can come to full fruition and manifestation. God is calling up those on the walls of Israel to stand in this hour, to blow the trumpet in Zion, to sound the alarm, to say all is not well in our generation, when people are calling for the Jews to go back to the ovens, all is not well in our generation, when Jewish graveyards are desecrated in France and in the Netherlands and in Germany, all is not well in our generation, when half of the church is now turning against God's people and saying we've replaced them and they have no place, they have no role in the end times, in the covenant discourse of God. All is not well in our generation, and we will sound the alarm. We will blow the trumpet in Zion and we will stand and we will declare and we will decree and we will not be silent until her righteousness goes forth like brightness and her salvation, Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Messiah, like a blazing torch.