That is our message to you today, in the wake of this event in Jerusalem: “Except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish.”
Below is a transcript of WBC’s latest video production, which can be viewed here: http://signmovies.com/?tab=news&vid=20141119Jerusalem
On Tuesday, November 17, 2014, two Palestinian men armed with a gun, knives and meat cleavers entered a Jewish synagogue in an Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem. They killed 5 people, 4 of whom were Orthodox Jews who were engaging in their morning prayers. The Palestinians were themselves shot and killed by police. I’m sure you have seen the gruesome pictures of trails and pools of blood on the synagogue floors, and blood-soaked prayer shawls and books. It was a bloody scene!
Israel is vowing revenge, and the whole world is in an uproar about this because, they say, the men were involved in a holy act of prayer, and therefore this attack is worse than other attacks.
A very similar thing happened in the days of Jesus. A group of Galilaeans were engaged in one of their so-called holy acts of offering sacrifices to God. Pilate ordered them to be killed, and their blood was mingled with their sacrifices. Jesus Christ didn’t say “how dare Pilate do this…he has reached a new low…those men were engaged in a holy act.” But he did use their deaths to preach. Luke 13:1-3:
“There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
That is our message to you today, in the wake of this event in Jerusalem: Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Those men were not sinners above all men. They were, however, typical of the rest of you who have not repented. They were works righteous rabbis. One of them, Kalman Levine, comes from Kansas City, right down the street from Westboro Baptist Church. His son said of him: “My father would study all day long and would return home at night only to learn some more until he would fall asleep in his chair.” This is the very embodiment of 2 Timothy 3:7 – “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And Ecclesiastes 12:12-14 says: “…of making many books here is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole du y of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether I be good, or whether I be evil.”
These guys did not fear God and keep His commandments, and neither do most of you listening to this.
They have denied the Messiah. Their very prayers are an act of open rebellion against God, and are an abomination to God:
Proverbs 15:8 – “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the L RD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.”
Proverbs 28:9 – “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”
1 Samuel 15:22-23 – “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
And don’t forget, it was while Jesus Christ was engaged in a truly holy prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane that the wicked Jews, led by Judas, took Him, and crucified Him. His blood is on their hands: They said “His blood be on us, and on our children.” If you’re going to be outraged by something holy getting interrupted by violence, you ought to be outraged at that. The time will come, though, “that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:11.
I’ll leave you with a few verses about Israel from Romans 10:
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
Until you repent and believe that, then ye shall all likewise perish.