Numbers chapter 10 we're gonna
look at a passage of scripture here. How many enjoy being in
a traffic jam? How many enjoy traveling in Portland
when the traffic is very heavy Brother Mike shared with me two
things if you're going to go to Portland to get caught in
traffic make sure you have plenty of gas And also you've been to
the bathroom But the Lord has shown us here
in the book of Numbers how to avoid a big traffic jam. Now we're not going to spend
a lot of time on this passage of scripture because it's something
for you to read. A lot of repetition here and
you know much of the scripture is repetition. It repeats itself
over and over because God wants us to know as much as we are
capable of knowing about Him. now anything that we know in
the heart has been revealed to us we can read in the scripture
now there's much repetition here beginning with verse fourteen
verse fourteen of the tenth chapter of the book of numbers in the
first place went the standard of the camp of the children of
judah according to their armies and over his host was nashon
the son of abimadad and if you'll drop down to verse four uh... twenty eight verse twenty eight
And thus were the journeyings. Now, the 11 other tribes are
mentioned there. And I was just thinking, can
you imagine 3 to 6 million people camped around the tabernacle,
and God said it's time to move? What would have happened if everybody
got up at the same time, headed in the same direction for the
same place? What a traffic jam we would have
had. Now, it's just an estimate how many people were traveling.
But between three and six million is probably a good estimate.
Now that would be more than all the city of Portland and all
the state of Oregon traveling together to get to someplace
together at the same time. So the Lord was very careful
to lay out a manner in which they would travel. This tribe
led, here's the next tribe, here's the next tribe, here's the next
tribe, and we're not going to have the big traffic jam. When
we get down to verse 33 of this chapter we find that they departed
from the mount of the Lord three days journey. And the ark of
the covenant of the Lord went before them in three days journey
to search out a resting place for them. Now we skipped three
verses of scripture and that's our text for today. That is in
the book of Numbers chapter 10 and beginning with verse 29.
Moses has a conversation with his father-in-law. Now, another
place in the book of Exodus, we're introduced to Moses' father-in-law. And there, there's a little bit
different change of name. And you know, there's a lot of
bickering in commentaries over the different name. And I really
appreciated what Dr. Hawker said, it's foolishness.
Let's go on to the serious part. to bicker over whether his name
was this or that. And we find that oftentimes in
the scripture, we find people who had several names. And that's
probably what happened. But here, if you'll turn with
me to the book of Numbers chapter 10, verse 29, Moses has a conversation
with his father-in-law. And it's a very serious conversation. Moses was led to encourage his
father-in-law to go with them. Notice with me Numbers chapter
10 verse 29 and Moses said unto Hobad the son of Rugel the Midianite
Moses's father-in-law now this last Wednesday I was on a zoom
meeting and there was a lots of names in that list in the
book of Romans chapter 16 and Brother Bill says when you read
those read it with authority and that means that people think
you know what it's how to pronounce it. Well We are journeying. This is what Moses said to his
father-in-law. We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord
said Has Moses been there? Nope. Moses has not been to this place,
but the earlier people in these tribes, Jacob had been there,
Abraham had been there, Isaac had been there, Moses hadn't
been there, but notice his words to his father-in-law. we are
journeying unto the place of which the lord said i will give
it you come thou with us and we will do thee good for the
lord has spoken good concerning israel now it's sad to say at
this point the next verse and he said unto him I will not go,
but I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.' And he said,
leave us not, I pray thee, for as much as thou knowest how we
are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be unto us instead
of eyes." Well, all of the encouragement that Moses could give this person,
his father-in-law, didn't seem to work at this time, but we
do find him mentioned in the book of Judges later. So we pray
that the Lord might have worked a work of grace. But let's look
here at this passage of scripture here in the book of Numbers Chapter
10 verses 29-32, and in particular verse 29. Is this not the same
language made by folks who know Christ
as today we talk to those around us, our father-in-law, our mother-in-law,
our friends, our neighbors. Come with us, we will do thee
good. Now Moses never looked at this
whole journey that was going to take place as an imposition. Moses never looked at it as a
problem. He never shared that kind of situation with his father-in-law. He only could see the positive
things about the Lord has said. He could only see the positive
things the Lord has promised. He could only see the positive
things that God is in this and we're going to go with him. What
did it say there in verse 29? We are journeying unto the place
of which the Lord said, I will give it you, come thou with us
and we will do the good for the Lord has spoken good concerning
Israel. You know, as we follow the life
of Moses, he is brought out over in the book of Hebrews chapter
11. And I wish for us to turn over there. If we could, we find
why Moses' confidence was in God as it's expressed in this
passage of scripture. The Lord has said he's given
us this land. The Lord has promised it to us. And over here in the book of
Hebrews chapter 11, Moses is brought up. We are journeying
into a place of which the Lord said, I will give it you for
the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel. How did he know that?
How did he know? that the Lord had spoken, and
how did he know that the Lord had spoken good? And how did
he know that the Lord had promised them the land? Well, we find
out he knew something about God. It had been revealed unto him.
Here in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, much is said about Moses
that we may not be able to find so much in the Old Testament,
but we find it here. Now, the people who knew Moses
as Moses' father-in-law, as those around him, had heard this account. Moses was great to repeat what
had happened. You know, I've been visiting
with a young man for some time, and he always begins his testimony
with, I had faith. You know, and God's people say,
the Lord gave me faith. There's a big difference. All
right, here in the book of Hebrews, the faith chapter, beginning
with verse 24, it talks to us, it shares with us much that Moses
had, that he shared, that he held out before people. He was
a little rapscallion early in his life. He had been raised,
he had been spoiled by Pharaoh. He was in a position of great
power, and yet we read here, by faith, verse 24 of Hebrews
chapter 11, by faith Moses, when he was come of years, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Refused to be called,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." Now notice verse 26. Esteeming the reproach of Christ. Christ is in the Old Testament.
Christ may, to Moses, he may have been mentioned to him as
the Messiah. He may have been mentioning in those terms, which
is the word Christ in the New Testament. But Moses understood
some things about Christ, because the scriptures share with us
that Moses was esteeming, what's it say? Esteeming the reproach
of Christ greater riches. Now, esteeming the reproach of
Christ. We don't have to be reproachful, but the preaching of Christ is
a reproach. It separates. It causes division. It brings to a head. And as Moses
was bringing out to his father-in-law this day, I encourage you to
go with us. Moses only intended the very
best for his father-in-law. And whenever we speak to someone
about the gospel, about Christ, we are only expressing the very
best possible for this person. We're not preaching anything
else that would bring harm. We're preaching Christ in him
crucified who took away the sins of his people. We're not expressing
something harmful or hazardous. We're preaching something positive
and good. The goodness of God that leads
us to repentance. The grace of God that we're saved
by. These are all positive things.
God's people don't preach the negative things about life. We preach the positive things
about Christ. And so here it is. His father-in-law
is brought into Moses' very presence and said, I have the very best
positive thing I could give you. And that is the Lord, his word,
and his promises. And that man said, not for me,
at least at that time. Well, here we read, choosing
rather to suffer the affliction of Moses, verse 26, esteeming
the reproach of Christ's greater riches and the treasures in Egypt,
for he had respect upon the recompense of reward. And by faith he forsook
Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as
seeing him who is invisible. If we back up to the first verse
of this chapter, verse 11, we have a statement about faith
that is so important. Where does faith come from? Where
did Moses' faith come from? It wasn't because he had studied
hard. It was not because he was a good man. It wasn't because
he was a Jew. It wasn't because he was a Levite. It wasn't because
he was the leader of Israel. His faith was given to him by
Almighty God and Almighty God alone. Now, faith is the substance
of things hoped for. Faith is the substance. The Holy
Spirit calls faith the substance, and that meaning is the object
the soul rests, is the object that all the covenant of grace
rests on, and that is Christ. We rest on the word, we rest
on the promise, and we rest on the Christ that the scriptures
declare, and that's what Moses did, and that's what he's sharing
with his father-in-law. Come with us and we'll do thee
good. We don't have a trap out there for you. We're not going
to have a secret message to give you. We don't have secret handshakes.
We don't have some secrets we're going to keep until you get in
the fold with us, and then we're going to reveal them unto you.
We only have Christ and him crucified, and that's what we're sharing
with you. What does that mean to a person? Absolute forgiveness
for all sin, eternity with God, every spiritual blessing. Yet
the natural man does exactly what Moses' father-in-law said,
I'm going back home with my gods and my people. You know, unless
the Lord intervened in our life, that's where we will camp the
rest of our life. Even though someone comes up
to us and shares with us the good news that I have a place,
God has promised a place, God has promised a person, God has
promised forgiveness, God has promised everything that is positive,
good, and the world cannot give any of it, yet we by nature would
say, not for me. The Holy Spirit calls faith the
substance, the substance of things hoped for. And over there in
the book of Hebrews chapter 11, when we got down to the end of
that section about Moses, it says there in verse 27, by faith
he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he
endured as seen Him who is invisible. What's he talking about? He got
to see God by faith. He got to see Christ by faith.
He got to see him who is able, who gave him the word that we
read about there in the book of Numbers chapter 10. I heard
it's his word that has promised this place. And it is his word
that has promised us safe conduct. There is word that has taken
hold of us. Moses completely rested on Christ
for everything. Spiritually particular. Now there's
times that Moses does what we do. Gets bad. Moses said, what
in the world are these people for? But when it came to his
position with the Lord, it was never on a teeter-totter. It was always straightforward. God had forever taken care of
his sin. He had always placed it behind
his back. He had taken care of him as promised
by Christ on the cross and Moses was a child of God who knew God
and who was able to communicate to others the blessing of this
great God even though it went unheeded even by those close
to him. His father-in-law He married
this man's daughter. It was this daughter that gave
him children. And yet this man, as close as
he was, had no interest in what Moses had to do. And we find,
as this story goes on, that this happened according to purpose.
Moses, in this book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 26, gives us
the reason he was able to do what happened in verses 24 and
25 of this same chapter. Verse 26, esteeming the reproach
of Christ. Christ made all the difference
for him. Now when we go to the Old Testament, there's some things
about Moses we say, man, look at that guy. He's not a very
positive guy. In the eyes of God, he was his
child. He was a child of Abraham, spiritually
speaking, as well as physical. And all of that is passed over
under the blood of Christ. As we look at him under the New
Testament, under the blood of the everlasting covenant, all
of that is passed over. We read none of it. And how great
that is for every one of God's children that are able to look
at Christ under the blood of the everlasting covenant. All
the things that we are by nature and all the things we did by
nature and all the things we prepared and thought about by
nature are passed under the blood and put away as far as the east
is from the west. Esteeming the reproach of Christ.
He is all my faith and alone God gave me the faith to believe
God and it's all I have it was not something that I Contributed
to this and then God gave me a blessing. It is what God gave
to me as part of the blessing He is all my grace alone. He
is all my Savior alone Christ is everything Christ is greater
riches And yet his father-in-law said
no. Now because of this glorious
work of grace, Moses was able to call out great peace to his
father-in-law. Come with us. Come with us. We will do thee good. The one
who is spoken of as the Lord has infinite power, authority,
and purpose. The one is in charge of all is
great. The work of deliverance. Death
has left us a great distress. You know, Moses would confess
just as any believer will confess, totally dead in trespasses and
sin. I was born that way, even though
he was protected. You know, his mother, by faith,
she saved him. But it wasn't Moses' faith. And
it wasn't her faith. It was God's faith given to her.
Take care of this boy. I have plans for him. And God
moved in that way. But death has left us in a great
distress. Not one finger can rise to vote
for our success. We can't pray on our behalf. We can't cry out on our behalf. We can't plead on our behalf.
We can't move on our behalf. Almighty God must do that all
for us. He must take care of that now
if you'll turn with me to the book of Isaiah Isaiah chapter
63 we read this Wednesday night, but I was blessed by it. I want
to read it again We probably will read it more in the future.
We've read it quite a bit in the past That's in the book of
Isaiah chapter 63 and there in verse 5 Moses simply said come
with us and we'll do the good because the Lord has spoken he
has promised He is going to take care of it by faith. He believed
that by faith that was given to him. He understood that and
Why is it that believers take the word of God and say, this
is my guide. This is my bread. This is my
drink. This is my food. Well, here in
the book of Jeremiah, excuse me, Isaiah chapter 63 and verse
five, God said, I looked and there was none to help. God looked
down from heaven to see if there were any that did seek after
him. And his commentary on all of that is I found none. I looked,
and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none
to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought
salvation unto me. What was it that Moses mentioned
to his father-in-law? God's arm brought salvation.
God's arm brought deliverance. God's arm made this promise about
a property, about a land. God's arm, all of that. My own
arm brought salvation unto me. My fury, it upheld me. My power
kept it there. God is able to say and to do. The Lord said, and we see Moses. By faith God had given him, trusted
the very word of God. Turn back there with me if you
would to the book of Numbers again as we notice that in Numbers
chapter 10 and verse 29. In the book of Numbers chapter
10 and verse 29 Moses brings this out and for our edification
and for our love of God and for the love of scripture. It tells
us here Moses knew about a God that had spoken and a God that
would keep his promise. Moses' father-in-law. We are
journeying unto the place. He's speaking to Moses, his father-in-law,
who's a Midianite. We are journeying unto the place
of which the Lord said. We can't underline that phrase
enough. The Lord said. The Lord has given
this word. The Lord said, as he mentions
here. The Lord said, I will give it
unto you. Come thou with us, and we will
do thee good, for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel. The Lord said, and we see Moses
by faith. God had given him and trusted
the word of God. We are going to a place given
by the Lord alone, for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel. Turn with me, if you would, to
the Psalms, Psalm 34. Psalm 34, as this message goes
out, we find Moses' message to his father-in-law. Simple statement. You know, we don't need to make
it confusing. Statements are always found very
straightforward. Come with us, we'll do thee good.
The Lord has spoken, and he has promised. It's so simple, the
message. But we, by nature, want to make
it so difficult. Well, I have to contribute something. Well, no. Moses is bringing it
up. There's no contribution. It's
not potluck. The Lord has spoken. Here in
the Psalms, Psalm 34 and verse 8. Psalm 34 and verse 8. It speaks
to this same thought. Psalm 34 and verse 8. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in Him. As we look at Moses, by faith
he was able to do what he was able to do. He trusted in Him. God had given him faith to trust
the Word of God. He had given him faith. to believe
the Word of God. He'd give him faith to trust
Christ. He'd give him faith to believe
Christ, to hold and esteem Him highly, that He was the Savior. He is the salvation. And here
we find that throughout the Scriptures it's full with verses of Scripture
that after the Lord saves us by His grace, after He brings
us to Christ, reveals Christ, gives us the new birth, we taste
and see that the Lord is good and there's never been a bad
pit in Him. The other day, Nancy picked some Marion berries. Now, I like good Marion berries,
but my granddaughter showed me by the expression on her face
that they were sour. They look good, but they were
extremely sour. Puckered her face up. You know
what? I left them alone. I'm not into
puckering. I'm not into sour. And so we
find that the Lord is good. That's what He reveals Himself.
The Lord doesn't have a stick to beat us, and He doesn't have
a reward to give us if we do right. You know, if He ever did,
the church would just cast Him down at His feet anyway. It's
not for rewards, and it's not over a beating. It's because
Christ gave us faith to trust him, and we hold him at his word,
if you please. Blessed is the man that trusts
in him. Just a little further there in
the Old Testament towards the New Testament, in the book of
Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 2. Would you turn with me to the
book of Isaiah chapter 2? I'd like to read the first three
verses there. It's talking about the gospel
time. No, the gospel time was for Abel
in his day. He didn't have to look down the
future to see a gospel day. The gospel day came to him in
his day. The gospel came to Noah in his
day. It was a gospel day for Noah.
All those in between that knew the grace of God, the gospel
came to them in the right day. It's the gospel day. Well, that
gospel day is still today. For everyone that God has intended
to bring the gospel to, it's the gospel day for them. Well,
here in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah speaks about that. It happened
in his day. God came to Isaiah in the right
day, at the right time, and brought the gospel to him. Who it was
that brought it to him, it doesn't say. But I know this, in the
day that Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. That's
the Lord that Moses was declaring to his father-in-law, Jehovah
God. The Lord hath spoken and the
Lord hath given. I trust him. Come along. Join us. We will do thee good.
In the book of Isaiah chapter 2, the word that Isaiah the son
of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come
to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be
exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow into it. Come
with me and we will do thee good. The gospel goes out. The message
goes out. And thank God, by his grace,
he has those that he has intended to save. That gospel comes to
them in the preaching of the gospel by somebody, and they
hear it as God quickens them, and they are able to say, this
is a good thing. The very thing that I thought
was the worst thing possible, becoming a Christian, or falling
into that trap, or going along with that religion, becomes the
most valuable thing in my life. It is I trust Christ because
he gave me faith to believe him. And so it is that the mountain
of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the
mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations
shall flow into it. There's only one place to come. There's not numbers of places. Every nation, kindred, and people,
and tongue that God ever intended to save are going to come to
this mountain and this place, and that is Christ. And many
people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord. As the call goes out, that's
what we say. Come, go up to the mountain of the Lord with me.
Come. We will do thee good. Come. There's
only positive things. There's only good things. You
know what? You won't be held to a day. You
know what? You won't be held to a prayer.
You know what? You won't be held to your knees.
You know what? You won't have to do all this
stuff over. God has taken care of it. Oh,
but I like my stuff. Just like Moses' father-in-law
said, I'll go back home, and I'll go back to my people, and
I'll go back to my property. Well, thanks be unto God that
those that God touches in this life through the preaching of
the gospel, and they hear it, they come. It's a glad thing
to come. It's a good thing to come. never
been any bad. And many people shall go and
say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways,
and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. What's the law
that comes out of this mountain? Trust Christ and don't move a
muscle. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Jeremiah, as we see the same thought brought out
by Jeremiah, the prophet. Jeremiah lived in some very tough
times when it comes to a position as a prophet of the Lord. He endured a lot. A lot of prophets
have endured a lot to just simply say, come with us and we'll do
thee good. And the people said, I don't
like it. So you're going to go to jail and you're going to live
on bread and water. He just simply said, come with us and we'll
do thee good. And they arrested him and carried him off. Many
have given their lives when they simply said, come with us and
we'll do thee good. There's no ill in this. God is good, and God has grace,
and God has mercy, and God has forgiveness. I have all this
message for you. I don't ask you to join a church.
I don't ask you to become something. Just come with us. And here in
the book of Jeremiah chapter 50, if you turn there with me,
chapter 50 and verse 4 and 5, In those days, and in that time,
saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and
the children of Judah together, going and weeping they shall
go and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion
with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join
ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. What a wonderful thing that the
children of God have as they are brought to this place, brought
to Christ. There's a covenant agreement
on my behalf. I cannot lose what you have given
to me. I cannot have it put aside. It
can't be taken from me. I cannot send it away. Now, God
never asks us in any fashion to go sin just to test the grace
of God. But he said, when we sin, my
little children, I would that you'd sin not, but when we sin,
you have an advocate with the Father. And in those days, whatever
time it is, now, many preachers will say, this is for the end
times, this is for the end times. For Abel, the day before he died,
it was the end times. In Noah's day, it was the end
times. In our day, it's the end times.
If we should last another hundred years or a thousand years, it's
still the end times, and God is at his business, saving his
people. There's only one thing that prevents
this whole mess from being wrapped up, and that is the last sheep
has not been saved. In those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and
the children of Judah, the church shall be brought out of all places,
Together, going and weeping, they shall go and seek the Lord,"
notice that, their God. Why didn't this father-in-law
want to go? Because his God was not here. His God was over there, back
in the land where he was, probably some idol, probably some stone,
some gold, some log, something over there. That's what he headed
back for. Turn with me if you would. We
read this some time ago in the book of Zechariah. The book of
Zechariah there in chapter eight of the book of Zechariah. We
have this mention and it's much like what we've read previously
here in the Old Testament about people being brought. People
will come. In the day of his power, they'll
be made willing. They'll come. They'll realize
that the message is so good. It's gospel. It's good news.
Sins being taken care of, sins being paid for, being forgiven,
never having to stand before God when he has his judgment
out, good news is all the church has for everybody for the lost. And yet, by nature, we'll be
like Moses' father-in-law. Not for me. We're thankful for
the ones that God brings out of darkness to his marvelous
light. Here in the book of Zechariah chapter 8, and there in verse
21, and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another saying,
let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord
of hosts. I will go also. Yea, many people
And strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in
Jerusalem, to pray before the Lord. That's not some future
event. That's the day that the Lord
saved you, brought you out of darkness. Yea, many people, strong
nations shall come. What's that mean? I had my faith
in something else. I was strong, but I argued over
it. You know what? I even argued some of those who
knew grace. But in the day of His power,
He brought me, took me out of one of the best passages of scripture
about this whole process is there in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Gospel came and this is what
happened. Came in power, in the Spirit, and you left all that
garbage and you were brought to Christ. Well, let's read verse
23 right here. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, in those days
it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all
the languages of the nations, even shall they take hold of
the skirt of him that is a Jew. Who do we lay hold of? The Jew. The Christ. I'm not going to
go lay a hold of some rabbi. I'm going to grab a hold of the
Christ of God. They shall take hold of the skirt
of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have
heard that God is with you." What a statement. Now, let's
go back over here to the book of Numbers for just a moment.
The book of Numbers, chapter 10, and look at the statement
that Moses made to his father-in-law. You know, he made that statement
out of concern, out of care, out of love. He made this statement
to his father-in-law out of, we have something I want you
to have. We can't convince anybody of
anything, but we certainly can make the statement. Come with
us and we'll do thee good. Here in the book of Numbers chapter
10, there in verse 30, notice the result of this. Numbers chapter
10, verse 30. Now don't get discouraged, we're
gonna hear this a lot. We're going to hear this a lot. And he said unto him, I will
not go. Isaiah said, how long shall we say this message? How
long? Well, till all the cities are
gone. And they still won't hear you. Now why? Because God alone
can give us hearing ears. And God alone can give us open
hearts. And God alone can give us eyes
to see. And he said unto him, I will
not go. My daughter, my granddaughter,
my mother, my father, my aunt, my uncle, my friends next door,
the invitation. Come with us and we'll do thee
good. That does not necessarily mean that we don't invite them
to church, but that's not what is going to save them. The grace
of God. I will not go, but I will depart
to mine own land and to my own kindred. You remember about the
man who had two sons? And he said to one of them, go
out and work for me. And he said, I'll go and didn't
go. And he had another son. And he said, go out and work
for me. He said, I will not go. And then God changed his mind
and he went. That's what God's people are.
They're, as we heard this morning, unprofitable servants. That's
all we know about ourselves, unprofitable. One for the grace
of God would just be a pile of dirt. And here Moses said, come
with us and we'll do thee good. God has spoken. As he says there
in verse 29, we are journeying unto the place of which the Lord
said, I will give it you. I'm headed for glory, headed
for heaven. God has given it to me. Presence
of the Lord. Come thou with us and we will
do thee good for the Lord has spoken good concerning the church. It is the only place where God
has spoken good about. The church. That's where he has
planted himself, where two or three are gathered together in
my name. There will I be in the midst of them, to have God in
the very midst of the church, in the very midst of Israel.
As he says, spoken good concerning Israel. This is where I'll put
my seal.