| Bible Bite: What Does Israel's Return Mean to You? |
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While much of Bible prophecy is viewed through various lenses of interpretation, there is one prophecy concerning the last days that should need no alternative interpretation. There can only be one literal interpretation.
Ezekiel 37:21
“Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land.’”
Amos 9:14-15
“I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
Israel becoming a nation was the first major prophetic fulfillment since the time of Jesus. The rebirth of the nation of Israel in their national homeland, granted by covenant to them by God, ended nearly two millennia of waiting for the verses above to be fulfilled.
The last time there was a flurry of prophetic fulfillment was after 400 years of prophetic silence when John the Baptist burst on the scene, saying things like:
Mark 1:7-8
“There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The one John spoke of was Jesus, who was indeed mightier than John, and Jesus did baptize His church in the Holy Spirit. In between John’s announcement and the baptizing of the church in the Holy Spirit were countless miracles and proofs of the Deity of Christ.
Luke 7:18-23
Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ ” And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Jesus’ reply to John’s disciples was, in essence, go tell John that prophecies about the Messiah are being fulfilled. Jesus continued to fulfill things written about the Messiah up through His ascension and Him now being seated at the right hand of His Father.
Prophecy began being fulfilled again on May 14, 1948 when Israel became a nation. They became fruitful, as prophesied. Though attacked constantly, they have not been uprooted, as prophesied. The world is increasingly against them, as prophesied. The nations who will invade Israel from the north are now in coalition, as prophesied. The nations that will protest the invasion are befriending Israel, as prophesied.
When Jesus came the first time there was a flurry of prophetic pronouncements being fulfilled announcing that the Messiah was here. This time prophecy is announcing His soon return.
Last time He came, His own people rejected Him. This time they will look upon the one whom they pierced and realize that Jesus of Nazareth, the One whom they despised and rejected, is the Holy One of Israel, their Savior.
When asked by Peter, Andrew, James, and John about the signs of His return, Jesus said:
Matthew 24:4-8
“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
Jesus said when it is near the time for Him to return many will say, “I am anointed by Jesus”, yet be deceivers. Wars and rumors of war will abound, international tensions will be high along with ethnic tensions. There will be famine, plagues, and seismos, translated as “earthquakes”. That word actually includes weather related events, too, not just geological. These are the birth pains that lead up to the tribulation, which is concluded at the Second Coming of Jesus.
After nearly 2 millennia of nothing happening related to biblical end times prophecy, it all changed in one day. Since that day in May, 73 years ago, things have been happening in an escalating manner, just as birth pains do when the time comes near. That is nowhere more true than with Peter’s words:
2 Peter 3:3-4
Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
We have to remember that the Great Tribulation and the 70th Week of Daniel are the same thing. In order for there to be a 70th Week of Daniel there has to be a national Israel for the world to gather against and for Jesus to come back to. There is today a prosperous nation of Israel, yet people scoff and say that modern Israel is not Biblical Israel. People mock the idea of rapture and even the Second Coming.
The prophetic clock has been ticking for 73 years now and one day the clock is going to land on the day and hour where the following will happen:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
It’s been a long time since there was a flurry of prophetic fulfillments – not since the time of Jesus’ first coming. The fact that we’re seeing it again tells us that He’s coming again. First He’s coming for the church before the Tribulation, and then with the church at His return. At that appointed time, the Lord will save His chosen people, Israel.
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus |
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