Feb 21, 2024
Web Description: The book of Revelation describes a testing that will come upon the whole world. What is that testing? Very simply it is a test of what we believe. Will we believe God’s truth or will we believe satan’s lie? In response to Israel’s war against Hamas, many people today are failing this test by embracing the lies against Israel. As believers in Christ, we need to be passing the test. We need to be firmly rooted in the Word of God about Israel and be proclaimers of that Word.
Show Notes: What are the signs of the end-time? We could look at earthquakes and other natural disasters as possible signs. But an earthquake that happens in one part of the world and has no effect on the rest of the world is not necessarily an end-time event. The end-time is distinguished by events on a global scale. As we read in Revelation chapter 3, an hour of testing will come upon the whole world. It will have a global impact, and I believe that we are seeing the beginnings of this global testing.
Israel has experienced many regional conflicts, but the current war against Hamas is having a global impact that is drawing in all the nations of the world. All the nations are not engaging in physical conflict, but they are being tested. They are being tested by God to see if they will believe His truth or believe satan’s lie. And we see many who are exchanging the truth of God for a lie. They exchange the truth of God about Israel for lies that invoke calls for the destruction of Israel and genocide against Jews.
As Christians we must have the truth in ourselves and be proclaimers of the truth. By walking in a relationship with Yeshua (Jesus) and with the Father, we are a threat to the lie of satan. And we need to be. We need to be a source of the truth. We need to be a force that is speaking the truth in love to everyone we relate to. We cannot allow it that only the lie is out there. The truth must be out there, and it must win the war against the lie in an overwhelming way.
Key Verses:
• Revelation 3:10–12. “I also will keep you from the hour of testing … to come upon the whole world.”
• Hebrews 4:12. “For the word of God is … piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit.”
• Romans 1:16–20. “The wrath of God is … against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
• Genesis 6:5. “The wickedness of man was great … every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
• Genesis 15:13–16. “The iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
• Romans 1:21–28. “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie.”
• John 8:44. “You are of your father the devil. … he is a liar and the father of lies.”
• John 14:30. “The ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:17. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature.”
• Romans 12:2. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Quotes:
• “What is the test on the whole world? It is will you believe the truth, or will you believe the lie? It’s that simple.”
• “What’s being forced upon people to believe is foolishness. And yet society has made us so cower under all this stuff you can’t speak up against it.”
• “At some point this reality kicks in where there’s a depravity of mind that comes about so that they’re no longer able to perceive the truth because they’ve exchanged it for the lie.”
• “We’re not going to stand up for the truth outside of us if we cannot stand up for the truth within us. And the truth within us is who He’s created us and called us to be.”
Takeaways:
1. Israel’s war against Hamas may be a regional conflict, but at the same time we are seeing globally the nations and the peoples of the nations being brought to a testing. What is that test? It is a test of what we are going to believe. Will we believe the truth, or will we believe the lie?
2. In the media and in every level of society we are beginning to see a global expression of anti-Semitism that morphs into genocide against Israel. We are seeing people suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They deliberately exchange the truth of God for a lie. And we know that this kind of wickedness and darkness overtaking mankind is what triggers God’s judgment as it did in the days of Noah.
3. Yeshua confronted those who had believed in Him because their hearts had been transformed to the place where they could not hear Him or hear the truth. As believers today we cannot let this happen to us. We cannot go along with the woke mentality of this age. We cannot go along with the lies being perpetrated as truth. We have to stand up for what God has said. We have to first cling to that in our own hearts, and then we must speak the truth boldly and clearly.