"THE GOD OF HIS WORD"
I. I THE LORD HAVE SPOKEN IT.
A. What did He speak?
1. The mountains would become fruitful and yield fruit for the people.
a. The Golan heights which belonged to Syria until 1967 were up till that time still barren.
b. About the only thing the Syrians planted on the Golan were mines and gun emplacements.
c. To drive up through the Golan now you will see thousands of acres of apple orchards.
d. Driving through other parts of Israel you will discover mountains covered with almond trees, avocado, banana, kiwi, apricot, and of course the citrus trees.
e. Not only do the mountains yield sufficient fruit for the nation of Israel, but they export fruit around the world, and are the third largest exporting nation in the world for fruit, flowers, and produce.
2. The mountains would be tilled and sown.
a. The rolling hills of the south from the area of Beersheba to the coast, as far as the eye can see, you see the beautiful fields of grain. This is also true in the area of Mt. Gilboa, and in the plains of Megiddo.
b. On the hillsides of the Jordan valley you will see in the winter the harvesting of the tomatoes and the egg plant, and the cucumbers. These in turn are shipped to the markets in Europe.
3. I will multiply men upon you.
a. The Israeli government has created settlement after settlement in these places. There are hundreds of villages and cities in this once desolate wilderness area.
b. At the turn of the century there were fewer than a hundred thousand Jews in all the land, now they number in the millions, I would say that that qualifies for multiply.
c. I will settle you after your old estates. Many of the new cities and settlements are built adjacent to the cites of the ancient cities of Israel.
4. And they shall say, "This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden."
a. Do you know what the guide said to us as we were driving through the apple orchards on the Golan heights? "This area that the Syrians had turned into a hell with all of the mines planted in the fields, has been turned into the garden of Eden."
b. It should also be noted that the once rocky barren mountains of Israel that were to rugged or steep to plant fruit trees upon have been planted with pine, cypress, and other trees. Some 200,000,000 trees have been planted since the thirties, and there are now beautiful forests covering the mountains.
B. I have spoken it, and I will do it.
1. Having visited the land many times in the past 20 years, what can I say? "He has done it."
II. WE SPEAK OF THE SURE WORD OF GOD.
A. Joshua at the end of his life in talking to the people of Israel said, "You know in your hearts and in your souls, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you; everything has come to pass unto you and not one thing has failed."
B. Peter speaks of being an eyewitness of the glory that God bestowed upon Jesus, but he then declared, "We have the more sure word of prophecy."
C. Why is it that we have such a hard time putting our trust in the Word of God?
1. The psalmist said, "It is better to put your trust in the Lord than your confidence in man."
2. Yet how many times we put our trust in man, and doubt the promises of God.
3. Years ago there was a man by the name of Charles Antel who made a fortune doing a series of radio broadcasts selling his products that he was assuring would grow hair on your head. At that time on all of the treatments for baldness was massaging your head with warm olive oil. His products were made from a lanolin oil base that came from sheep. He used to say, how many of you have seen hair growing on olives, but look at how hairy the sheep are. Millions of people bought his products but see, they didn't work.
D. The Bible speaks of Abraham not staggering at the promises of God.
1. Yet how many times do we find ourselves staggering at the promises of God?
2. You may respond that you have asked God for things that He did not give to you.
3. John said, that if we ask according to His will He hears us, and if He hears us, we have the petition we have desired of Him.
a. What kind of a loving Father would give to his child everything he asked?
b. You give those things that you know would benefit your child, but you withhold those things that you know would be dangerous.
4. God knows that some of the things we desire and pray for could destroy us.
5. The main thing is that we be openly submissive to the perfect plan of God. We may express our desires, but the bottom line is that we desire His will.
E. The interesting thing about our text, is that in the previous chapter God directed the prophecy to Mt. Seir, and He promised continued desolations. Mount Seir is south of the Dead Sea, on the East side of the valley stretching to the gulf of Akaba. That area is about as desolate a place you can find on the earth today. There was once a great civilization inhabiting that area, but today only three miserable villages.
1. One wonders how undeveloped the land of Israel would be today but for the promises of God.
2. But God said He would do it, and He did it.
III. "COME NOW, LET US REASON TOGETHER."
A. If God has kept His word with such accuracy in the past, does it not stand to reason that He will keep the rest of His word?
1. There are portions of this chapter that are as yet not fulfilled.
a. He speaks of a spiritual revival that will take place among the people.
b. This as yet is not fulfilled, the nation of Israel is for the most part a secular nation.
c. It is only a small percentage of Jews that are religious.
d. They are mostly in Jerusalem, and stand out because of their clothing.
e. I am convinced however that this revival is coming.
f. All over Israel today are signs and banners, declaring Messiah is coming.
2. In the 39th chapter of Ezekiel we are told the events that will lead to the Spirit of God being poured upon Israel, the events that will perpetrate this revival.
3. The fact that it hasn't happened yet does not mean that it will not happen.
B. God has spoken of the future of the world.
1. He has spoken of a great tribulation that is coming upon the world for it's rebellion against His righteous rules.
2. He speaks of the conditions and events that will proceed this coming judgment. You can read of them in the Bible or in your morning newspaper.
a. I believe that the world is ripening for judgment.
b. I believe that the United States is soon to be judged by God.
3. God's word speaks of a glorious new day that is going to dawn for this world.
a. Though the darkness may proceed the dawn, the story never ends with darkness, but the glorious light of His coming day.
b. You may be going through some dark days, but we always look forward to the dawning of His new day of glory and opportunity.
C. This you can know for sure, God has kept His word up to this minute. You can be confident that He will continue to keep His word out to the end of His story. Up till now His story has been fully accurate and we call it history. The future chapters that have been written but yet not fulfilled shall surely become history, as time catches up with His word.
1. Each day that passes becomes history, but the amazing thing is with each new day comes a further fulfillment of His story of the world, written in the remarkable book we call the Bible.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Abbreviate Books
Use SBL Abbrev.
