Before Jesus the Messiah can return, there must be:
- A nation called Israel
- It’s capital must be Jerusalem
- His people must have returned to the Land
- Built cities on the mountains of Israel (Judea and Samaria) and inhabited them.
- Tilled the ground on the mountains, planted crops and be growing fruit.
- Jerusalem must be an unwalled city
- Old men and women must sit in the streets of Jerusalem and children playing in the streets.
Ezekiel 36:8-12 But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come.
9 For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.
10 I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
11 I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
12 Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, My people Israel; they shall take possession of you, and you shall be their inheritance; no more shall you bereave them of children.”
Zechariah 8:3-5 Thus says the Lord: ‘I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.’
4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age.
5 The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.’
Zechariah 2:3-5 …. and another angel was coming out to meet him,
4 who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.
5 For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”
Let’s look to see if the Lord is fulfilling His covenant promises regarding the Land and His people.
1987 Zionist Congress
In 1897 Theodore Herzl met in Basel, Switzerland at the first meeting of the Zionist Congress with the intent of having a Jewish homeland.
1917 – Beersheba, Balfour Declaration and Jerusalem
Toward the end of World War 2, the Australian, New Zealand and British troops had a break through in the village of Beersheba – 31 October 1917. The beginning of the demise of the Ottoman Empire. The very same day in the war cabinet of Great Britain, Prime Minister Lloyd George and Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour and the British Cabinet made a decision to declare the intention to support the initiative of a homeland for the Jewish people. It was called the Balfour declaration.
In 1917, General Allenby entered Jerusalem and liberated it from the Turks for the first time in 400 years.
1920 Mandate for Palestine
(Get the wording right for this – In1920? in San Remo Italy, the League of Nations (forerunner to the UN) put the Balfour declaration into international law and then gave Britain the Mandate to reestablish a sovereign state of Israel -a homeland for the Jewish people.
1922 – Britain carves up the land
Britain immediately carved up the land, creating the state of Jordan and the state of Israel and then reneged on its sacred trust, and limited the numbers of Jewish people who could return and enforced that rule.
1939-1945 World War 2 and the Holocaust
When Hitler came to power and the persecution of the Jewish people became what we know as the holocaust, with millions of Jewish people being slaughtered in death camps, the British would not allow more than the bare minimum of Jewish people back into the land. 6 million Jews died.
1947 – UN Resolution 181
In 1947, the United Nations made a resolution (181) to reestablish ( get wording right)
The British, who had failed in their sacred trust, moved out.
1948 – The Restored Nation of Israel and War of Independence
In 1948 Israel became a state. This land included everything west of the Jordan river. This was considered a totally impossible event – but God brought it to pass to fulfil His covenant to Abram, Isaac and Jacob.
A nation born in a day.
Isaiah 66:8-10 The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, Who fully repays His enemies!
7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child.
8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.
9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up
the womb?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her…
(Say “God is fulfilling His covenant regarding the LAND and His PEOPLE.”)
The next day -war of independence.
The day after Israel celebrated becoming a nation, 6 Arab Islamic nations attacked the baby nation of Israel. By the power of God, Israel defended itself, but the mountains of Israel were overrun and armistice lines were drawn in the West bank and in Jerusalem.
The little amount of land that Israel was given by the League of Nations, was carved up by Britain. The little they had left was then carved even smaller illegally by this war.
1967 – The Six Day War
In 1967, with Arab troops amassing on its borders, Israel preemptively struck Egypt, Jordan and Syria in a dawn attack destroying aircraft and runways In those nations. Within 6 days, the amassed Arab troops surrendered in what was called a miracle battle – God fought for Israel for 6 days and on the seventh day He rested. All the land that had been taken by the Arabs in 1948 was restored to Israel.
The Return of the Jewish People from the Nations
Since then millions of Jewish people from all over the world have returned.
From Russia, Ethiopia, Morocco, Tunisia, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, America, China,
Zechariah 8:7-8 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west;
8 I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness.’
Jeremiah 23:7,8 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
8 but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”
Jeremiah 31:8-9 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and the one who labours with child, together; a great throng shall return there.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them.
(Say “God is fulfilling His covenant regarding the LAND and His PEOPLE.”)
Coming back on the shoulders of the Gentiles.
Isaiah 49:5-8, 12-13, 19,22 “And now the Lord says, Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him, (for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength),
6 Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
8 Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
12 Surely these shall come from afar; look! Those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim.”
13 Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted.
19 “For your waste and desolate places, and the land of your destruction, will even now be too small for the inhabitants; and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
22 Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, and set up My standard for the peoples; they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
Isaiah 43:5-6 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west;
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth.
Jeremiah 23:3-6 “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.
5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
God Himself will be bringing them back – therefore to be involved in this work, is in the heart of the Lord and of the Kingdom of God – a direct ministry of the Lord.
(Say “God is fulfilling His covenant regarding the LAND and His PEOPLE.”)
Shoot forth branches and yield fruit
Ezekiel 36:8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come
Hundreds of millions of trees have been planted. The deserts are being greened. Water desalination has been enabled and pumped into the deserts.
Orange and grapefruit trees, banana plants, date palm farms, hydroponic tomatoes,
(Say “God is fulfilling His covenant regarding the LAND and His PEOPLE.”)
You will be tilled and sown
Ezekiel 36:9 For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.
Swamps were drained, and the land turned into fertile plains. Grain, cotton, flowers and vegetables, corn and wheat fields, cover the Jezreel valley and the desert is gradually succumbing to crops.
Isaiah 35:1,6-7 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
7 The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
Using swales, filling them with water, soaking the soil, lowering the salinity, planting eucalypts which survive harsh desert conditions, Their shade allows other trees to grow, their overall evaporation affecting the climate and increase the amount of rainfall in the area. Gradually the desert is being reclaimed.
Drip irrigation was invented in Israel carrying water to each plant.
People from around the world are blessed by this technology.
Now Israel exports fruit to the world, it exports water to the world.
(Say “God is fulfilling His covenant regarding the LAND and His PEOPLE.”)
Vineyards planted and grown
Jeremiah 31:5 You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria;
The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food.
Great businesses apes and wineries have sprung up upon the mountains of Israel.
(Say “God is fulfilling His covenant regarding the LAND and His PEOPLE.”)
The Nations are benefitting from Israel’s technology, medicine, security, produce etc
Genesis 26:4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
The entire world is being blessed through Isaacs seed. Firstly and foremost – Jesus the Messiah is from the seed of Isaac. Every nation of the earth is blessed because of Him. Israel was the womb of the Messiah. Salvation is through the Jewish people.
Secondly, the physical seed of Isaac and Jacob – the children of Israel.
Science and technology, agriculture, medicine, space, bio technology, water.
Your mobile phone, your computer intel chip, usbs, google maps (Wayz),
(Say “God is fulfilling His covenant regarding the LAND and His PEOPLE.”)
Israel will possess the Mountains of Israel
Ezekiel 36:12 Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, My people Israel; they shall take possession of you, and you shall be their inheritance; no more shall you bereave them of children.
1967 six day war. The land lost in the war of independence in 1948 was regained in 1967 including the city of Jerusalem.
On the land, cities will be rebuilt
Ezekiel 36:10 I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
Cities are being rebuilt there. Don’t be confused by what media says.
Jerusalem now sits not just on one mountain but many mountains, a city without walls.
Zechariah 2:4 who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.
The Enemies of Israel try to prevent the covenant to come to pass.
Who is Mt Seir. And who are the Edomites. Who is Esau?
Genesis 36:8 So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.
Mount Seir is Edom. Edom is Esau.
Esau is the brother of Jacob.
They were the twin sons of Isaac. Esau was the oldest son and therefore had the birthright to be the recipient of the covenant of Abraham and Isaac.
But Esau despised his birthright and sold this incredible inheritance for a bowl of stew.
Genesis 25:33,34 So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.
34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Esau then married Ishmael’s granddaughter and their descendants are descendants of Isaac and Ishmael
Genesis 28: 9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
Esau hated Jacob and planned to kill him.
Genesis 27:41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
Deuteronomy 2:4-8, 19 And command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully.
5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
7 “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”’
8 “And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from Elath and Ezion Geber, we turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab.
19 And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’”
Numbers 20:14,18-21 Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us,
18 Then Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.”
19 So the children of Israel said to him, “We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.”
20 Then he said, “You shall not pass through.” So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand.
21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.
2 Chronicles 20:10-11 And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them— here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.
King Herod was an Edomite – Idumean. He was called the King of the Jews. He built lots of great buildings, palaces, stadiums – he rebuilt the temple, but when Jesus (the real King of the Jews) came, Herod tried to kill the Messiah.
Today Ammon, Moab and Jordan is modern day Jordan.
God’s reaction to Israel’s ancient enemies Mt Seir – Edom
Ezekiel 35:2-4 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,
3 and say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you; I will stretch out My hand against you, and make you most desolate;
4 I shall lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
Obadiah 1:10-12 For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.
11 In the day that you stood on the other side— in the day that strangers carried captive his forces, when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem— even you were as one of them.
12 “But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother in the day of his captivity; nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress.
The ‘rest of the nations’ all around the mountains of Israel will try and possess them.
The rest of the nations ( their intent, which is taught in schools).
Ezekiel 36:3-5 therefore prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because they made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you are taken up by the lips of talkers and slandered by the people”—
4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around—
5 therefore thus says the Lord God: “Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave My land to themselves as a possession, with wholehearted joy and spiteful minds, in order to plunder its open country.”’
A confederacy of nations want to eliminate Israel
Psalm 83:3-5 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
5 For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them; they have helped the children of Lot. Selah
Egypt – “I announce from here, on behalf of the United Arab Republic people, that this time we will exterminate Israel”. “Arabs do not cease to act for the extermination of Israel.”
Iraq – “Our goal is clear – to wipe Israel off the map.”
Libya – “The battle with Israel must be such that after it, Israel will cease to exist.”
PLO – “The struggle …is not about Israel’s borders, but about Israel’s existence.”
Shedding their blood at the time of their calamity – trying to destroy Israel as it was born.
Ezekiel 35:4-5 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,
3 and say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you; I will stretch out My hand against you, and make you most desolate;
4 I shall lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
5 “Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end,
6 therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.
7 Thus I will make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it the one who leaves and the one who returns.
8 And I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those who are slain by the sword shall fall.
9 I will make you perpetually desolate, and your cities shall be uninhabited; then you shall know that I am the Lord.
Two nations – Jordan and Israel
When Israel became a nation, the Arab Islamic nations around Israel tried to destroy it at birth. They thought they were only fighting against a small number of defenceless Jewish people. But they were fighting against God.
Ezekiel 35:10-12 “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the Lord was there,
11 therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will do according to your anger and according to the envy which you showed in your hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.
12 Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to consume.’
13 Thus with your mouth you have boasted against Me and multiplied your words against Me; I have heard them.”
Isaiah 66:9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.
The Lord will bring the Jewish people back while they are sinful and then cleanse them.
Ezekiel 36:22-27 So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.
20 When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land.’
21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
23 And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them
Jeremiah 33:7-8 And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first.
8 I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.
Ezekiel 11:4-20 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
15 “Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’
16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”’
17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’
18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.
19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,
20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God
There shall be two nations (Jewish and Arab) and two countries (Israel and Jordan) – and one group will want possession of both.
Ezekiel 35:10 Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the Lord was there.
Israel will possess the land but aliens are allowed to live there, under Israeli rule.
Ezekiel 47:22 It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
Isaiah 61:5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
Why did the Lord do all this?
Leviticus 26:44-45 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God.
45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.’”
God is a covenant keeping God.
Ezekiel 36:38
…THEN THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.
How do we know that God is real?
How do we know that He is the only God?
How do we know that the Bible is true?
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has proven His power through the survival of the Jewish people and the keeping of His promises.
And this means that ALL His promises are true
What about we Gentiles?
Ephesians 2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Messiah (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Messiah Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Messiah Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Messiah Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—
12 that at that time you were without Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Messiah Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Messiah Himself being the chief cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Romans 11:17, 24-25 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Messiah Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptised into Messiah have put on Messiah.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Jesus.
29 And if you are Messiah’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The Dominion
Luke 17:20-21 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;
21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
While there is a physical land and a physical people of the Kingdom of God, because God is Spirit, the Kingdom of God is wherever there is a heart that is submitted to Him as King (ie they obey Him and do what He says). In the midst of sin, paganism, witchcraft and idol worship – a man or woman who loves Jesus, and has submitted to Him as King, can live in covenant power – right in the middle of the Kingdom of God, for the reign of God is within them.
If you believe that God, by His mercy and grace, sent Jesus (the Son of the living God) and that Jesus IS the the promised Messiah – to restore the Kingdom of God, and to bring all men back into relationship with God, which includes you personally, then by that belief, and your submission to Him as your King – then you shall be saved, and immediately become a child of God, a son or daughter of Abraham, and become connected to the Covenant of God.