The Jewish People & End Time Prophecy

“The Spirit of the LORD is Upon Me…”

Bible Prophets Were & Are Correct!

This post is a reprint of an article by David R. Reagan which was printed in the April 2013 issue of The Herald of His Coming.  Please prayerfully consider subscribing to this free international Gospel/Newspaper which is so anointed that each monthly issue is a treasure trove of encouragement, comfort, challenge, edification, and warning.  The Preparation of the Bride is the number one priority of YHVH. Actively participate in that mandate according to Matthew 28:18-20, and thereby your Eternal rewards will be multiplied, to The Father’s Glory, by the Power of His Holy Spirit- in Jesus’ Holy  Name… AMEN!

The Jewish People And End Time Prophecy
  By David R. Reagan

The most important signs of the end times are the ones that relate to Israel because God uses the Jews throughout the Scriptures as His prophetic time clock. By this I mean that very often when the Lord is revealing an important event that will take place in the future, He will point to the Jewish people and state that when a certain thing happens to them, the important event will also occur. The Jews, therefore, are one of the key focal points of Bible prophecy.

The Scriptures reveal the Jews as “the apple of God’s eye” (Zech. 2:8). Their land is described as “holy” (Zech. 2:12). Their city of Jerusalem is termed the “center of the nations” (Ezek. 5:5). They are pictured as the wayward wife of God (see Ezekiel 16 and the book of Hosea). And the Bible makes it clear that they will be the object of both God’s wrath (Jer. 36:7) and His grace (Zech. 13:1) in the end times.

The panorama of prophecy that relates to the Jews is breathtaking. It applies to the past, the present, and the future. It demonstrates God’s love and grace as nothing else does except the Cross itself. Paul was so overwhelmed by God’s patient determination to bring a remnant of the Jews to salvation that he cried out in ecstasy: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Rom. 11:33).

Let us take a look at the incredible prophecies that pertain to the Jewish people, and let’s begin with the prophecies that have already been fulfilled.

The Abrahamic Covenant is Irrevocable! Study Genesis Chapter 12

Fulfilled Prophecies

    1) Dispersion – The Jews were warned repeatedly that they would be dispersed worldwide if they were not faithful to their covenant with God. Consider the words of Moses: “The Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other…” (Deut. 28:64; see also Leviticus 26:33).

    2) Persecution – The Lord also warned the Jews that they would be persecuted wherever they went. Again, the words of Moses are graphic in this regard: “Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul” (Deut. 28:65).

    3) Desolation – God promised that after their dispersion, their land would become “desolate” and their cities would become“waste” (Lev. 26:33). Moses put it more graphically when he said, “the foreigner who comes from a distant land… will say, ‘All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it’” (Deut. 29:22-23).

    4) Preservation – But God in His marvelous grace promised He would preserve the Jews as a separate people during their worldwide wanderings (see Isaiah 66:22; Jeremiah 30:11; 31:35-37). Isaiah puts it in a colorful way. He says the Lord could no more forget Israel than a mother could forget her nursing child (Isa. 49:15). He then adds that God cannot forget Israel because He has them engraved on the palms of His hands! (Isa. 49:16).

God has fulfilled all four of these prophecies during the past 2,000 years. In 70 A.D. the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and took the Jewish nation into captivity, desolating the land and scattering the Jewish people across the face of the earth. As prophesied, everywhere they went they were persecuted, with their persecution culminating in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II.

But God also preserved the Jews, and the fulfillment of this prophecy has been one of the most remarkable miracles of history. No other people have ever been so dispersed and yet been able to retain their identity as a nation.

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Current Prophecies

We are privileged to live in an age when God is fulfilling many promises to the Jews. What a testimony this is to the fact that God is alive and well, that God is on His throne and in control, and that God is faithful to His promises.

    1) Regathering – The Old Testament prophets promise repeatedly that the day will come when God will regather the Jews to Palestine (see Isaiah 11:10-12 and Ezekiel 36:22-28). This remarkable regathering of the Jews from the four corners of the earth has occurred in our lifetime. World War I prepared the land for the people as the control of Palestine was transferred from a nation that hated the Jews (the Turks) to a nation that was sympathetic to their return (Britain). The Holocaust of World War II prepared the people for the land by motivating them to return. In 1900 there were only 40,000 Jews in Israel. By the end of World War II this number had risen to 800,000. Today, it stands at nearly 6 million. The Jews continue to come, but there is no doubt this is a prophecy that is being fulfilled before our very eyes.

A Nation Born in a Day!

    2) Nationhood – The prophets stated that when the people were regathered, the nation of Israel would be re-established (see Isaiah 66:7-8). This occurred on May 14, 1948. This is the cornerstone prophetic event of our age. It is an event that prophetic scholars have pointed to for 400 years amid much scoffing and ridicule by those who did not believe that Israel would ever exist again as a nation.

Jesus singled out this event as the one that would signal His soon return. His prophecy is contained in the fig tree parable (Matt. 24:32-35) which He presented in His Olivet Discourse. The day before He delivered this speech, He had put a curse on a barren fig tree, causing it to wither (Matt. 21:18-19). This was a symbolic prophecy that God would soon pour out His wrath upon the Jewish people because of their spiritual barrenness in rejecting His Son.

The next day Jesus reminded His disciples of the fig tree. He said to watch for it to bloom again. In other words, He said watch for the rebirth of Israel. He indicated that when the fig tree blooms again, He would be at the gates of heaven, ready to return (Matt. 24:32-33).

Equally significant, He added an interesting observation: “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matt. 24:34). What generation? The generation that sees the fig tree blossom.

We are that generation. The fig tree has blossomed. Jesus is at the gates. 

Blossoming in a Once Desolate Land of Waste!

   

3) Reclamation – God promised that with the re-establishment of the nation, the land would bloom again (Isa. 35:1-7; Joel 2:21-26). As Ezekiel put it, people would one day exclaim: “This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden!” (Ezek. 36:35). And that is exactly what people exclaim today when they visit Israel, for it is once again a land of milk and honey. When the Jews started returning to their homeland in the late 19th century, it was a total wasteland. Nearly all the trees had been cut down and the soil was badly eroded. The land resembled a desert. Most of the valleys had become malaria-infested swamp lands. The Jewish pioneers began planting trees, reclaiming the soil, and draining the swamps. Over 300 million trees have been planted. Rainfall has increased. The former malaria-infested swamps have been converted into cultivated land. Water from the Sea of Galilee has been channeled to the deserts, causing them to bloom.

    4) Language – When the Jews were scattered worldwide in the first century, they ceased speaking the Hebrew language. The Jews who settled in Europe developed a language called Yiddish (a combination of Hebrew and German). The Jews in the Mediterranean basin mixed Hebrew with Spanish to produce a language called Ladino. The prophet Zephaniah implied a time would come when the Hebrew language would be revived (Zeph. 3:9). It has been. Today the Israelis speak Biblical Hebrew. It is the only example in history of the resurrection of a dead language. The man God used to revive the language was Eliezer Ben Yehuda (1858 – 1922).

Where HIS Name (YHVH) WILL Forever Remain!

    5) Jerusalem – Jesus said that one of the surest signs of His imminent return would be the re-occupation of Jerusalem by the Jews:“[The Jews] will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).

The first half of this prophecy was fulfilled in 70 A.D., forty years after Jesus spoke the words. In that year the Romans under Titus conquered Jerusalem and dispersed the Jews among the nations. Jerusalem remained under Gentile occupation for 1,897 years until June 7, 1967, when Israel won the city back during the Six Day War. And today, the nations of the world are coming against Israel over the issue of who will control Jerusalem in the future.

The Jewish re-occupation of the city of Jerusalem is proof positive that we are living in the season of the Lord’s return. Jesus said it would mark the end of the Gentile Age.

Preparing for “Psalm 83” War!

    6) Military Strength – Zechariah prophesied that when the Jews were re-established in the land, their military strength would be overwhelming – like “a flaming torch among sheaves” – and that they would “consume” all the peoples around them (Zech. 12:6). Need anything be said about the fulfillment of this prophecy?

    7) Focal Point – Israel is always pictured as the focal point of world politics in the end times (Zech. 12:3; 14:1-9). It is certainly true that Israel is playing a prominent role in world politics today!

God’s Infinite Love

Although God set the Jews aside and put them under discipline because of their disobedience, He did not cut them off from His grace. A remnant of the Jews will “look upon Him whom they have pierced” and will accept Him as Lord and Savior (Zech. 12:10; Rom. 11:1-6, 25-29).

He intends to bring His wayward wife home: “For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince… Afterward, the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God… and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days” (Hos. 3:4-5).

The lovingkindness and faithfulness of God in keeping His promises to the Jewish people should be a source of encouragement to all Christians. As we watch God fulfill promises which He made to the Jewish people thousands of years ago, we can be absolutely certain that He will be faithful to fulfill all the promises He has made to the church.

With unfathomable wealth discovered in Fulfillment of End Time Prophecy!

Current Fulfillment of Non-Jewish Prophecies

But end time prophecies regarding Israel are not the only ones we see being fulfilled in whole or in part before our very eyes. Daniel prophesied that in the end times the old Roman Empire would be revived (Dan. 2:31-45), and we can see that being accomplished today in the creation and expansion of the European Union.

The Bible prophesies repeatedly that in the end times there will be a great apostasy in the church (1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1, 5; 4:3-4). We are up to our ears in that apostasy today as major Christian denominations ordain homosexuals, approve same-sex marriage, deny the deity of Jesus, and mock the inerrancy of the Scriptures.

In like manner, the Bible prophesies that “in the last days” society will disintegrate into a cesspool of immorality and violence (2 Tim. 3:1-5). Can there be any doubt that those days have arrived?

Daniel was told that the end time prophecies would not be completely understood until the end time – that is, until the time comes for their fulfillment (Dan. 12:8-9). That time must be upon us for we are living in the time when ancient prophecies are being understood for the first time ever, due to historical developments and technological advances.

Taking the Signs of the Times Seriously

I could go on and on, but I think I have made my point. The future has arrived! End time prophecies are being fulfilled today. God is clearly fulfilling promises He made thousands of years ago to the Jewish people. And God is orchestrating the fulfillment of end time prophecies that are not related to the Jewish people as well.

Jesus is coming soon. The signs of the times attest to the fact. God expects us to take those signs seriously because He is about to pour out His wrath upon this world in the Great Tribulation, and He does not desire that any should perish. The fulfillment of prophecy all around us today is God’s way of waking us up to the fact that we are living on borrowed time, and we need to use the remaining time to commit ourselves to holiness and evangelism.

Used by permission. David R. Reagan serves as the Senior Evangelist for Lamb & Lion Ministries in McKinney, Texas. You can find out more about this ministry at www.lamblion.com.

A Rich History that Blesses Our Biblical Christianity!

Additional posts of related and urgent information:

• Israel: YHVH GOD’s Covenant Land & People
• The Imminent “Psalm 83” War
• “America on a Collision Course with GOD (YHVH)”
• The Handshake That Never Brought Peace
• The Divine Purpose For The Temple
• An Incentive To Pray Fervently For Israel

May all who love the LORD Jesus Christ take very soberly the implications of all these posts to heart, since it all clearly demonstrates that our “Redemption draweth neigh!”

He WILL Come For Us, at the moment of most dire circumstances!

“Our GOD Is Greater”- Chris Tomlin