John Hagee - Jerusalem: A Cup Of Trembling
Can you imagine a world where there are no armies and no one is studying how to destroy someone else? Jerusalem is the future of the world. Jerusalem is the epicenter of Bible prophecy. Jerusalem is the cup of trembling. This is the description the prophet Zechariah gives and is recorded in the King James version, verses 2 and 3. Read with me, "Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they will shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day, I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered against it". God is saying, any nation, any group of armies that comes against Israel, I am going to cut them in pieces. And that's going to happen in the near future.
Father God, I thank you for your word. Now bless it to those who are here and the millions who are watching across America and around the world. In the authority of your name, we pray. And all of God's children said, amen.
You may be seated. What is a cup of trembling? A cup of trembling is held in the hand of a man, who is terrified to the core that he is about to be totally destroyed. A cup of trembling is when you know that you're violating the law of God and judgment is coming your way. He has decided to attack Jerusalem. And the defender of Israel, who is the Lord of hosts, has promised to cut that man, that general, that army, that group of armies, into pieces. That's the yea and the amen of the Word of God. Jerusalem is the present and the future. Soon and very soon, king Jesus will return to planet earth.
John the Revelator says he will be coming in the clouds of heaven followed by the armies, which are in heaven, meaning the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints. Ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands mounted on white horses, thundering through the clouds of heaven. He will put his foot on the Mount of Olives. It will split in half. He will walk across the Kidron Valley inside the Messiah's gate, up through the hill of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount. And he will sit on the throne of his father, David. He will be revered by kings, and queens, and presidents, and prime ministers, who will line up to bow before the carpenter's son. For every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father! Give him praise in the house of God!
The prophets of Israel say the lion shall lay down with the lamb. Men will study war no more, a thousand years of perfect peace, the golden age of peace, and of his kingdom there shall no end. Consider the list of nations in world history that have captured Jerusalem and tried to rule the Jewish people with an iron hand, and Jerusalem became a burdensome stone. Without going 3.000 years back into history and going over all of them, let me choose one out of ancient history and one out of modern history. I choose Sennacherib. He was the king of the Assyrians. He had the most powerful army in the world. And he brought that mighty army of 180.000 combat soldiers and surround the City of Jerusalem. And he said to Hezekiah, if you can just give me 2.000 men, I'll give you 2.000 horses, so that we can have sport while we kill you.
The Assyrians were celebrated in the fact that they enslaved people: that they threw babies into the air and caught them on their spears. They were cold-blooded murderers. When Hezekiah showed the letter to God about Sennacherib's intention of the holy city, the defender of Israel showed up. That night the death angel swept across the Assyrian army and he smote the guards as they paraded in front of the tents. He smote the men in the tents. He smote the command staff, as they were writing their plans to destroy Israel tomorrow. The next morning when Hezekiah looked over the wall, there were 180.000 dead people. And he looked over to the people of Israel and said, o magnify the Lord with me and let us bless his name together: for the deliverer of Israel has shown up and we have been saved! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God!
Now let's go back just 100 years. It's 1917. Great Britain is called great Britain because there was not a place on the face of the earth where it did not have a nation to rule. When general Allenby captured Jerusalem and delivered it from the turks, it is said of great Britain that the sun never sets on the British empire. The British took over Jerusalem and ruled the Jewish people with a rod of iron. Menachem begin, whom I had the opportunity to meet three times when he was prime minister, and his paramilitary group, Irgun, blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem killing much of the British high command, the British left Israel.
In history, the British expelled the Jews from England twice. They, under king Edward, they refused to vote for Israel in statehood in 1948. They abstained. Today great Britain is no longer great Britain. Parts of London are under sharia law. Terrorists are constantly and viciously attacking the people of London. Peace and safety is a forgotten dream. Think about this. They drove out a people that loved life, the Jewish people, and they have embraced a people that love death. And God has given them the just fruit of their reward. God's promise: you come against Israel or the Jewish people, and it will be a burdensome stone. You will be cut to pieces, political humiliation beyond description.
Jerusalem is a burdensome stone. God is saying through Zechariah and to the world, and to America, keep your hands off Jerusalem. Keep your hands off the Jewish people. I am the defender of Israel and the holy city. If you dare attack Jerusalem, it will become a cup of trembling to you and a burdensome stone. Hello, Russia. Hello, Iran. Hello, Turkey. Hello, Libya. You're now all working together against Israel. You are surrounding them in a mighty cloud. But there is a God who sits on his throne, who has all power. And he's looking at you. You will be buried in Israel. That's where your gravestone will be, because the God of Israel is a great defender. Give the Lord praise in the house.
Here is Jerusalem from God's point of view. Ten features: Jerusalem is the most important city in the world in the mind of God. Secondly, Jerusalem is the city of God. 2 Chronicles, "I (God) have chosen Jerusalem. That my name might be there forever. Thirdly, all believers are commanded by king David to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. "They shall prosper that love you", Psalm 122:6. Why? Because when Jerusalem is at peace, the world is at peace. When Jerusalem is at war, the world is at war.
When Messiah comes, he's not coming to Washington. He's coming to Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city of God. Jerusalem is not mentioned one time in the Koran, not once. This is a glaring omission if it's truly as sacred to Islam as they claim it to be. Jerusalem is mentioned in the Word of God 700 times, because it is the city of God. It is the capital city of the people of Jerusalem. God intended for the Jewish people to have it. He says that in the book of Genesis and continues that theme throughout the entirety of the Word of God. The Jewish people do not occupy the land of Israel: they own the land of Israel given to them by covenant that comes from God!
Sixth, Jerusalem was captured by king David 3.000 years ago from the Jebusites. And it has been the capital of Israel ever since. The Bible states over and over again God made the covenant for the land of Israel, Jerusalem included, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jerusalem is a city where Abraham laid Isaac on the altar and lifted the knife to snuff the life out of that man. Remember that Isaac is the son of covenant. Had that happened, all of the rest of Bible history would have gone away. Abraham was so confident: he believed that God would raise his son from the dead if he did take his life. How do you know that? Because the Bible says when Abraham was going up to make the sacrifice, Abraham turned and said to those that held the mules, "You stay here because the boy and I will go and sacrifice there, and we will return".
We are coming back. Abraham had total faith in God. Do you? Jerusalem is where Jesus Christ rode into the city on the foal of a donkey and presented himself to Israel as the Messiah. It is the greatest prophecy in the Old Testament that you can Mark to the day from the time the prophecy was made until Jesus rode into the City of Jerusalem. He is coming again. The next time, he will not be riding a mule. The next time, he'll be on a white horse. The first time he came, he was in a cave. The next time he comes, he's going to be staying in the king's palace. He came the first time as a teacher. The next time, he's coming as King of kings and Lord of lords. The first time he came, men spit upon him. The next time he comes, the leaders of nations will kneel before him because he is the Almighty, eternal, sovereign, son of the living God. Give him praise in this house.
Jerusalem is a city that heard the sobs of Jesus of Nazareth from the crest of Calvary that shook the gates of heaven and closed the gates of hell. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me"? God could not look on his sin. His precious blood dripped into the sands of Calvary for my redemption and for yours. Jerusalem is the epicenter of Bible prophecy. Now we're going to go very quickly, so get engaged. Luke 21:24, "Jerusalem will be trodden down of the gentiles until the times of the gentiles be fulfilled". In 1967, the IDF captured the City of Jerusalem completely. And the Jewish people prayed at the Western Wall for the first time in 2000 years. I believe the '67 war happened in a year of jubilee, Marking the end of gentile domination of the City of Jerusalem. The Bible says these are the signs to look for: one was the rebirth of Israel in 1948. Believe me: that's the greatest Bible prophecy since Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem's manger.
Secondly, the prophetic sign was that Jerusalem was reunited with Israel, Luke 21:24. According to Ezekiel 38-39, the gog-Magog wars will be led by Russia and the Iran, turkey, Islamic nations coming against Israel and Jerusalem in the future. What will happen? God Almighty is going to cut them into pieces. Ezekiel 38-39 says, "I will leave but a sixth part of you". That means 84% of that invading army that comes into Israel, God is going to cut them to pieces in Israel because they have defied the covenant that he blessed the Jewish people with. He is going to prove to the world what a mighty God he is. You think knocking off Pharaoh and turning him to fish food was a big deal? You wait till Ezekiel 38-39 happens. Pharaoh and the fish food is ned in the first reader. What's coming down the road is a major supernatural, Almighty demonstration of how powerful God can be when he defends the people of Israel. Give him praise in the house.
A third prophetic sign are the four blood moons. Now I wrote a whole book about this. And I won't go down the rabbit trails. I'll stay right on course. Joel 2:30, "And I will show you wonders in the heavens. The sun shall be turned to darkness", that's a solar eclipse, "And the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord". When? Before the great and awesome day of the Lord. We have seen those four blood moons. The Bible says that you, we will have bizarre weather. The ten monster hurricanes in one year causing trillions of dollars in damage, it will take years for us to recover from that.
Hurricane Harvey, category 4:
Hurricane Irma, category 5:
Jose, category 4:
Hurricane Maria, category 5:
Ophelia, 3:
Franklin, 1:
Girt, 2:
Lee, 3:
Nate, 1:
Ten massive hurricanes. Bang! Bang! Just wiping out the wealth of nations and disturbing the wealth of America. One man said, "It's global warming". I said, "Al gore was not here then". Because the last time that happened was in 1893. The prophet Joel said, "And I will show wonders in the heavens". Hurricanes form in the heavens and the wind forces that became powerful enough to throw cars and trucks around like feathers, dozens of people wrote, called, and said, "What is God saying"? I said, "Here's what he's saying, 'wake up and look up: your redemption draweth nigh'". "Your redemption draweth nigh". Jesus said, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars".
Headline Fox News, "Angry Kim threatens U.S. with a volley of nuclear fire". You can believe that Russia and Iran are helping this lunatic. Why? Because it's to Russia and Iran's benefit for America to focus on North Korea and keep our eyes off Russia and Iran, who are building this massive land mass for which they can surround Israel. That's the big story. Intelligence reports confirm that Hezbollah is looking for a base of operation in America. From here they can launch an electromagnetic pulse. They can launch it from the sea. The electromagnetic pulse shoots a rocket into the air with a plutonium warhead that shuts electricity off. The lights won't work. Your car won't start. Your computer won't start. Everything shuts down. And that's very doable right now!
Why? Why is this happening? I will assure you that how we, as a nation, treat Israel, is going to determine how God in heaven treats us as a nation. Israel is the key to our national survival. You may not believe that, but I can prove that in this verse of scripture. Jerusalem will either become a thing of joy or it will be a burdensome stone. Jesus said, and you will hear of famines. Right now, according to every chart you look at, two-thirds of the earth is in some state of famine. America is covered with restaurants and supermarkets, and two-thirds of the world would love to have the scraps that you throw away for supper.
Jesus talks about earthquakes. The daily star in California reports this, "California drilled, preparing 9.3 million people for an inevitable magnitude 7 or greater earthquake". These are scientists preparing 9.3 million people for a massive earthquake. So here's the close. Anyone of modest intellect can plainly see that planet earth is on a collision course. How far is this going to go? The prophet Zechariah declares in that day, in the end of time, "I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem", Zechariah 12:9. State department, are you listening: "All the nations that come against Israel"? I believe that the 150 billion dollars that the Barak Obama administration gave to Iran is enough to make the judgment of God come to this nation. And I applaud the president of the United States for trying to stop that treaty right now.
Remain standing. Remain standing. If there was ever a time to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, it's right now. If there was ever a time to stand up for the Jewish people, it's right now. Let us do what the Lord has said to do. When you see these signs, don't go home and swallow a half a dozen nerve pills. Lift up your heads and rejoice: your redemption draweth nigh. Look up, because the answer's coming from heaven! It's not coming from Washington! It's not coming from Rome! It's coming from the throne of God! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God! Give him praise in this house! Bless his holy name. The king is coming! The king is coming! Bless his holy name! Bless his holy name! Sing with me. Pray this prayer with me.
Heavenly Father, in the name of your son, the Lord Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of all of my sin. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness, and prepare me for the coming of the king. I know my redemption draweth nigh. Let our hearts be filled with joy. Let us be filled with hope. Let us be defenders of Zion until the king himself shall scatter the enemies of Zion. Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered. In your name, we pray and ask it. Amen.