Jentezen Franklin - How To Be Blessed (From Israel)
Hello and welcome to a very special edition of "Kingdom Connection". As you can see, I'm not in a studio and what is behind is real. It's the beautiful, beautiful city of Jerusalem. And while I'm standing here, our friends over at TBN were so kind to allow us to use their studio but literally behind me is the western wall. Over to my left, you can see the temple mound. You can see the dome of the rock where the holy temple used to be. Where the arch of the covenant would have been. It's just amazing. I never get used to coming here and ministering here.
And today, I wanted to talk to you about the uniqueness, the uniqueness of the nation of Israel. You hear me a lot, if you listen to me preach, you hear me a lot talking about why we support Israel, and I wanna just kind of take a few moments... And I don't want you to let your mind stray because what I'm gonna share with you today, the secret to being blessed, the secret to seeing the favor and the hand of God on your life is when you begin to connect what you do with what God is doing. And when you begin to favor what God favors, and when you begin to bless what God has blessed, then the blessings will find you. The favor of God will come back on you in a magnificent way.
I know that our Ministry started giving to the nation of Israel and the people, the Jewish people, and when we did, we went to another level. Something happened to our Ministry that I cannot even put into words and it's still, it seems to be no limit on what God will do for people who will connect themselves, their businesses, their homes, their families, the work of their hands to the nation of Israel, and to the beautiful city of Jerusalem where so much happened, and has happened, and will happen. In 2 Kings 21:4, it says, "In Jerusalem I will put My name". That's where I'm standing right now. It's so important that you not take nonchalantly the nation of Israel. That you not take commonly and consider it to be something that really you're not concerned about because you love the Lord, and this doesn't really matter.
But the apostle Paul said, "Can the branch say to the roots," And the branch meaning the church, the New Testament church. "Can the branch say to the roots of the tree, 'I don't need you.'" The apostle Paul taught that lesson. And he said, "Certainly not". and he said, "Has God cast away the Jews? And does God no longer... Has He replaced Israel with the church"? And the apostle Paul said, "You know, has God cast away the Jews"? In the scripture, he answers his own questions by saying "Certainly not". Psalms 137:5 and 6 said, "If I forget the old Jerusalem," This really touches me saying it where I am standing right now. "If I forget the old Jerusalem, let My right hand wither". And then, we're commanded in Psalms 122:6 to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
This beautiful city behind me, God commands the church, the Christian community, to pray for this place and He said, "If I forget you," I mean, it ought to be on our heart. It ought to be a part of our faith. It ought to be part of who we are as a people, as a church, as a Ministry, as families, as leaders. "If I forget the old Jerusalem, let My right hand wither". It's really a remarkable thing. I wanna take a few moments and I wanna just tell you some of why this place is so powerful and so unusual. And I particularly want you to notice what the scripture says about this nation. He says in 1 Chronicles 17:21, "Who is like You, who is like Your people Israel," listen to the wording. "The one nation on Earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people to make for Himself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed out of Egypt"? He said, "This is the one nation".
I love that wording. He says, "Who is like unto Israel, the one nation in the Earth who God Himself went to redeem". When you understand that concept, God said that, "There is one nation out of all the nations that I chose". Then, He went even deeper, and He said, "There's one city out of all of the cities that I choose, and it is the city of Jerusalem". And then, it was in Jerusalem that Jesus died. It was in Jerusalem that Jesus healed. It was in Jerusalem that Jesus taught many powerful sermons. It was in Jerusalem that He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane until His sweat became drops of blood. He was arrested. He was beaten in the city of Jerusalem, and lead to Golgotha, and there He was crucified.
And so, He chose this city and chose this land, the holy land, and He begins to list in Exodus 19:6, God said to Moses, "You shall be to Me," speaking of the nation of Israel, "a holy nation and a kingdom of priests". God is saying, "I choose this land and I bless this land". In Genesis 12, God told Abraham, "I will bless those that bless Israel. I will supernaturally bless and favor those who bless and favor what My hand, and My word, and My purpose is connected to". The apostle Paul said in Romans 9, He gives some distinct features of Israel and the Jewish people, and he says, "To whom God has adopted, to whom He has showed His glory, to whom He has given the covenant," all of this in one chapter. "To whom He is given the law, to whom He has given the priestly services, the priesthood. To whom the promises of God have been given. All of the patriarchs he concludes come from your stock, the Jewish people".
Through the Jewish people, you and I are so incredibly blessed. As a matter of fact, in Revelation 5:5, there's a scene in Heaven, and John is in Heaven and he sees the book that is sealed up with seven seals, and there's weeping in Heaven because no one can break the seal. And the Bible said, that suddenly comes a voice that says, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed". You see, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the word "Judah" is the word from which the word "Jew" comes. And what is so important about this is not only was Jesus a Jew, but He still is a Jew in Heaven. He's the Lion of the tribe of Jew-dah. And when you understand that our Messiah, our Savior, our redeemer is Jewish and... what does that mean to you and I?
John 4 put it this way. Jesus is talking to the woman at the Samaritan well and He is preaching to her, and He said, "You worship in this mountain just like your fathers, but you don't know why you worship, but I know who I worship". And then, He made this amazing, astonishing, breathtaking statement. He said, "For salvation is of the Jews". I mean, that's New Testament. Five breathtaking words. "Salvation is of the Jews". What in the world? That means no Jews, no salvation. What He's really saying is it is the Jews who gave us the physical body or skin that God wore when He came in the flesh, in Jesus Christ. And no Jews, no salvation.
My whole spiritual inheritance is linked back to one place, this nation called Israel. All of the blessings in my life, everything that I have spiritually as an inheritance for me and my family comes back to this city, Jerusalem, and to the Jewish people. For salvation is of the Jews. It means without them, there would be no prophets which means there would be no books of the Bible. Without the Jewish people, there would be no patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, on, and on, and on. Without the Jewish people, there would be no Bible. Without Jewish people, there would be no prophets. There would be no apostles, New Testament. There were all Jewish, every one of them. No Savior. No Jews. No salvation. Because there would be no Jesus who came and dwelled among us and took our sins to the cross.
So, when you understand all of the spiritual blessings were wrapped up in one nation, the nation of Israel, and in the people, you must understand that God is still connected. Jesus is still Jewish in Heaven. He's the Lion of the tribe of Judah. There's a lion in Heaven and that lion is Jewish, and the Savior and Messiah that we worship. So, when you understand, there comes this connection. We owe our salvation. Of course all glory and honor goes to Jesus Christ but how did He get here? He chosen the land of Israel and out of all of the people, He said, "I choose", and I just wanna read this verse of Deuteronomy 7 because this is what I want you to hear, "For you are a holy people," speaking to Israel and the Jewish people.
"For you are a holy people unto the Lord your God, You are holy unto your God," and listen to what He says here, He says, "For I have chosen you to be a people for Myself, a special treasure above all the people on the face of the Earth. The Lord did not set His love on you or choose you," speaking to Israel. Speaking to the Jewish people. "I did not choose you because you were more in number than any other people, you were least of the people, but I chose you from the sake of the glory of My name," He goes on to say. That I could take this nation that so many times could have been written off and this people, the Jewish people who could have been annihilated and wiped off of the face of the Earth because they're surrounded by tens of millions, hundreds of millions enemies. They've had the Holocaust. They've had hatred. They've had attack after attack.
And somehow it's like God says, it's a sign and a wonder to the world that everything they been through has not diminished them. They keep becoming stronger and stronger because God said, "Israel is My land. Israel is My country and I gave to the Jewish people and Jerusalem is My city". And then, He didn't just say, "It's My city" but He chose a hill in that city, and that hill is Mount Mariah where Abraham would raise the knife on Isaac, and built the temple, and the arch of the covenant was placed there. And I'm standing here preaching to you right now with that in the backdrop, and then He chose that hill called Golgotha, and He carried the cross and He died and conquered death, hell, the grave, and all that life can bring us is not powerful enough to defeat the blood of Jesus Christ.
I want you to know today that this nation of Israel is unique because the whole history of this nation is foretold in prophecy. There's no other nation that is in the Bible about, you know, their whole history is found in prophecy through prophets. This is the only nation that's ever existed that its whole history is wrapped up in prophecy in the Bible. As a matter of fact, there were 16 major prophecies about the formation of the nation of Israel, predictions about Israel. For example, they were prophesied that they would come out of Egypt. It was prophesied that when they came out that they would come out with deliverance and have the wealth of Egypt. All of that was prophesied before it ever happened. And then, the possession of their own land. And I can go on, and on, and on, the destruction of the first temple. The destruction of the second temple.
When you understand that, when you look at those 16 prophecies, out of the 16, 13 have been fulfilled. That's 81% of the prophecies about the nation of Israel have been fulfilled with the exception of three. Only three have not been fulfilled. Here's what they are. Number one, the gathering of nations for war against Israel. That has no happened yet. All nations, the Bible said, will come to war against Israel. And then, there is going to come the revelation of Messiah to the whole nation of Israel. That prophecy has not taken place. And the only other prophecy that hasn't taken place is the return of Jesus Christ to that area right over my shoulder, the Mount of Olives.
I want you to think about if somebody predicted over hundreds and hundreds of years before it ever happened and they had 13 prophecies that were on and only three have not been fulfilled, that's 81% accuracy. Do you think those last three that haven't been fulfilled are not gonna be fulfilled? That's why this nation is unlike any other nation in the world. And when you stand and you pray for Israel, and you call on God, and link yourself, and you begin to bless the nation of Israel, speak up for Israel, pray of Israel, support Israel. When you do that God's hand of blessing and favor comes upon any church, any business, any home, any family, that will love and support Israel.
We must teach our children. We must teach our young people. We must teach our churches that God loves this nation of Israel, and He loves the Jewish people. And that when you are fulfilling and doing what you can do to stand with Israel... And God help America to never turn its back on this nation. God help our leaders in our nation and God help our citizens to not elect people who are friends of Israel. Lot of people talk today like they're a friend of Israel but they write policies that are dangerous to the safety, and to the nation, and the people of Israel. But this Ministry has been called of God to be a friend to Israel, to stand with Israel, to support Israel.
And I want us today to remember that the Bible said that our God is a God who through Abraham has established a covenant and when we support and bless Israel, Genesis 12, "I will bless those who Israel". Right now, I wanna pray for you. What Jesus did on that cross in that city of Jerusalem has secured the victory, eternal life, forgiveness of sin, healing, health, strength, comfort, peace. It's there for you and it's all in one name, the name above every name, the name of Jesus. He loves you. He loves you today. He had such a magnificent purpose and plan.
All of it was so that you could be forgiven, you could be healed, you could be helped, you could be lifted, you could know you have eternal life. You can know that you don't have to dread the grave. He came out of the tomb in this city and He said, "Because I live, you shall live also". Do you have that peace? Do you know Him as your Savior? Pray this prayer with me. Say:
Lord Jesus, I believe in You and I stand today in all of Your love for me. You didn't love me because I was awesome, I was good, I was worthy. I am a sinner. I have failed. But You love me and I praise You because You love me and You make me valuable because You love me. I praise You for the blood You shed on the cross and I receive forgiveness. I receive healing. I receive blessing from the hand of the Lord through that shed blood. In Jesus' mighty name.
Hallelujah. I wanna encourage you, support Israel, pray for Israel. Make up your mind you're going to stand with the word of God, and watch what God'll do. A blessing is gonna come on your life when you begin to honor the scriptures. Our announcer's gonna tell you what we're doing and what I believe will be powerful when you become involved. Check it out.