| Subject: Also re-posting Connie's "Jews in Prophecy" ... |
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dori
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Date Posted: 16:36:09 02/21/15 Sat
THE JEWS IN PROPHECY
Few Biblical studies are as exciting as an examination of the Jews in prophecy for the Jews are one of the key focal points of Bible prophecy.
The Scriptures reveal the Jews as "the apple of God's eye" (Zechariah 2:8). Their land is described as "holy" (Zechariah 2:12). Their city of Jerusalem is termed the "center of the nations (Ezekiel 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 (Jeremiah 30:7) and His grace (Zechariah 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!" (Romans 11:33).
Let's 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.
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...." (Deuteronomy 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: "And 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" (Deuteronomy 28:65).
3) Desolation -- God promised that after their dispersion, their land would become "desolate" and their cities would become "waste" (Leviticus 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' (Deuteronomy 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 (Isaiah 49:15). He then adds that God cannot forget Israel because He has them tattooed on the palms of His hands ((Isaiah 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.
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) Re-gathering -- The Old Testament prophets promise repeatedly that the day will come when God will re-gather the Jews to Palestine (see Isaiah 11:10-12 and Ezekiel 36: 22-28). This remarkable re-gathering 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.
2) Nationhood -- The prophets stated that when the people were re-gathered, the nation of Israel would be re-established. This occurred on May 14, 1948 (see Isaiah 66: 7-8; Zechariah 12: 3-6). 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.
3) Reclamation -- God promised that with the re-establishment of the nation, the land would bloom again (Isaiah 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!" (Ezekiel 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.
Over 300 million trees have been planted in this century. Rainfall has increased 450 percent. 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 (Zephaniah 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).
5) Jerusalem -- Jesus said that one of the surest signs of His imminent return would be the re-occupation of Jerusalem by the Jews (Luke 21: 24). This occurred during the Six Day War in June 1967.
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 people around them (Zechariah 12: 6). Need anything be said about the fulfillment of this prophecy?
The Jews in Prophecy.rtf7The Jews in prophecyhttp://www.voy.com/84031/) Focal Point -- Israel is always pictured as the focal point of world politics in the end times (Zechariah 12: 3; 14: 1-9). This has been true since the Arab oil boycott in 1973. The West suddenly realized its dependence on Arab oil and began to line up behind the Arab obsession to annihilate Israel.
FUTURE PROPHECIES
1) Tribulation -- God will put the Jewish people through an unparalleled period of tribulation (Deuteronomy 4: 30) during which two-thirds of the Jews will perish (Zechariah 13: 8-9). The purpose will be to soften the hearts of the remnant so that they will accept Jesus as their Messiah.
2) Salvation -- A remnant of the Jews will "look upon Him whom they have pierced" and will accept Him as Lord and Savior (Zechariah 12: 10; Romans 11: 1-6; 25-29).
3) Primacy -- God will then regather all the believing Jews to Israel where they will be established as the prime nation in the world during millennial reign of Jesus. (See Deuteronomy 28: 1, 13; 2 Samuel 7: 9; Isaiah 60-62; Micah 4: 1-7).
GOD'S INFINITE LOVE
God set the Jews aside and put them under discipline because of their disobedience, but He did not cut them off from His Grace.
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." (Hosea 3: 4-5).
The loving-kindness 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.
GOD'S AMAZING GRACE
The first time Dr. David Reagan's wife heard him preach about the Jews in prophecy, she came to him and said, " When you talk about how much God loves the Jews, you make me want to be one."
He responded by saying, "No, Honey, you don't want to be a Jew because if you were, you would most likely have a veil over your heart and would refuse to believe in Jesus as your Messiah" (2 Corinthians 3: 12-18).
He then stressed something to her what I hope you will never forget. He pointed out that everything God is doing for the Jews He is willing to do for you and me. They are witnesses of His amazing grace. And that same grace is available to all of us, whether we are Gentiles or Jews.
RECOGNIZING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
What is a prophetic sign?
It is basically a prophecy concerning an historical event or technological development that will characterize a future time.
The First Advent of the Messiah is an example. The prophet Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in the town of Bethlehem (Micah 5: 2).
Daniel said the Messiah would be "cut off" 483 years after an edict was issued to rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9: 25).
He also stated that this would take place before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. And David stated in Psalm 22:16 that the Messiah's hands and feet would be pierced.
One of these signs is geographical --
The birth site of the Messiah.
The second is historical. The edict it refers to was issued in 457 BC. Counting 483 years from that date brings us to 27 AD. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD. So, the Messiah had to be "cut off" (that is, killed) sometime between 27 AD and 70 AD.
The third sign is technological in nature. The method of execution at the time David wrote Psalm 22 was stoning. Crucifixion was not even invented by the Romans until 700 years later.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was executed in 31 AD during the "historical window" between 27 AD and 70 AD. And he was executed by crucifixion. The fulfillment of these signs in the life of Jesus serves to validate that He was the prophesied Messiah.
There are over 300 prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures about the First Coming of the Messiah. But many are repetitious. For example, it is said more than once that the Messiah will be of the House of David.
When you cull out all the repetitious prophecies, you are left with a total of 109 which were fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
MESSIANIC PROPHECIES
On one occasion when Jesus was teaching, the Pharisees and Sadducees came and asked him to give them a "sign" to prove that He was the Messiah (Matthew 16-1-4). What they wanted was a miracle.
But Jesus responded by playing with the word, "sign." He asked them why they could read the weather but could not "discern the signs of the times." Jesus used the word" sign" to refer to fulfilled prophecies in His life.
The same principle applies to the Second Coming of Jesus.
There are more than 500 prophecies in the Old Testament about the Second Coming, and one out of every twenty-five verses in the New Testament also speak of this great event.
These prophecies contain many signs that we are to watch for, signs that will indicate that the time of the Lord's return is drawing near.
OLIVET DISCOURSE
Jesus Himself emphasized this point in His Olivet discourse. He presented a long list of signs that would characterize the end times, and then He said, “…when you see all these things, recognize that I will be near, right at the door.” (Matthew 24:33).
Paul also made the point that we can recognize the season of the Lord’s return.
In 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6 he stated that even though the Lord will return like “a thief in the night” He is not coming for believers in that manner because we are “sons of light.” He is referring here to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who can open our eyes to the signs of the times so that we are not caught by surprise by the Lord’s return.
In like manner, the author of Hebrews states that we are to “encourage one another” as we see the day of judgment drawing near (Hebrews 10: 25).
SIGNS OF THE END TIMES
The re-establishment of the nation of Israel is a classic example of an end time historical sign. Over and over again the Hebrew Scriptures prophesy that in the end times, right before the return of the Messiah, the nation of Israel will be re-established (Isaiah 11: 10-12; Ezekiel 37: 1-12; Amos 9: 13-15; and Zechariah 12: 1-3).
Jesus emphasized this sign in Matthew 24 when He told us to watch for the rebudding of the fig tree (a symbol of Israel).
When that happens, He said, the generation that sees it “will not pass away until all these things (the return of the Lord) take place.” (Matthew 24: 34).
The Book of Revelation is full of technological signs concerning the end times.
Take, for example, the prophecy that one-half the population of the world will die in the first three and a half years of the Tribulation –
(1/4 in the Seal Judgments and 1/3 of those remaining in the Trumpet Judgments – Revelation 6-9).
How could such unparalleled carnage occur apart from the development of nuclear weapons and their missile delivery systems?
Or consider the prophecy that when the two great witnesses of God are killed by the Antichrist in the middle of the Tribulation, the whole world “will look upon their dead bodies for three and a half days” (Revelation 11: 9).
How could this be possible before the development of television and satellite transmission?
..Note: what happens next is one of my favorite parts.
“For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.”
“The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.”
“But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.”
“Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.”
“At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
Another prophecy in Revelation that has been waiting for historical developments is the one that states there will be an army of 200 million soldiers that will march across Asia toward Israel during the period of the Tribulation.
At the time that prophecy was written (95 AD), there were only 200 million people on planet earth.
It took 1,600 years for the population of the earth to double to 400 million. In fact, the earth’s population did not reach one billion until 1850.
This century has experienced a population explosion due to the advent of modern medicine (keep in mind that the first antibiotic, penicillin, was not discovered until 1928).
Today, the earth’s population has just passed the six billion mark, and one Asian nation alone – namely China – could easily send an army of 200 million, as prophesied in Revelation.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE SIGNS
Here is an outline overview of the signs of the times.
1 Signs of Nature – (Matthew 24: 7; Mark 13: 8, and Luke 2:11)
I) Famine
2) Earthquakes
3) Plagues
4) Signs in the Heavens
(Unusual weather, new discoveries in space, UFO’s etc.)
11. Signs of Society – (Matthew 24: 12, 37-39 & Timothy 3: 1-4)
1) Lawlessness
2) Violence
3) Immorality
4) Greed
5) Selfishness
6) Hedonism
7) Rebellion
8) Despair
111. Spiritual Signs
Negative
a) False Christ’s & prophets and their cultic groups (Matthew 24: 5, 11: 2-4; Mark 13: 6, 21-22; and Luke 21: 8)
b) Apostasy in the professing church (2 Thessalonians 2: 3 and 2 Timothy 3: 5; 4: 3-4)
c) Widespread heresy in the church (2 Timothy 4: 1-4)
d) Movement toward a one world religion (Revelation 17)
e) Persecution of true believers Matthew 24: 9-10; Mark 13: 9, 11-13; and Luke 21: 12-19)
f) Outbreak of demonic and occult activity (1 Timothy 4: 1)
1V. World Political Signs
1) Re-establishment of Israel (Ezekiel 36: 22-37: 1-2; Zechariah 12: 1-6; Matthew 24: 32-34;
Mark 13: 28-30; and Luke 21: 29-31)
2) Arab hostility toward Israel (Ezekiel 35: 1 – 36: 7)
3) Russia as a menacing power to Israel (Ezekiel 38: 1-39: 16)
4) Asian nations capable of fielding an army of 200 million (Revelation 9: 15-16 and 16¨12)
5) Wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24: 6-7; Mark 13: 7-8; and Luke 21: 10)
6) Kingdom against kingdom – that is, civil wars and ethic wars (Matthew 24: 7;
Mark 13: 8; and Luke 21:10)
7) Reunification of Europe (Daniel 2: 41-44; 7: 8, 24-25, and 9: 26)
8) Movement toward a one world economy (Revelation 18).
V. Technological Signs
1) Nuclear weapons (Matthew 24: 22; Luke 21: 25-26; and Revelation 6:8, 8:7 and 16:2)
2) Television and satellite transmission (Revelation 11: 3-12)
3) Robotics (Revelation 13: 14-15)
4) Computer and laser technology (Revelation 13: 16-18)
5) High speed transportation (Daniel 12: 4)
VI. The Accelerator Sign
1) Population explosion (Revelation 9: 15-16 and 16-12)
2) Increase in knowledge (Daniel 12:4)
3) Increase in violence (Matthew 24:12)
4) Increase in transportation (Daniel 12:4)
5) Rapid disintegration of society (1 Timothy 3: 1-4)
6) Signs in general to be like birth pangs , that is, increasing in frequency and intensity
(Matthew 24: 8)
VII. Signs of Israel
1) Regathering of the people (Isaiah 11: 10-12 and Ezekiel 37: 1-12)
2) Re-establishment of the state (Isaiah 66: 7-8; Zechariah 12: 1-6; and Matthew 24: 32-35)
3) Reclamation of the land (Isaiah 35: 1-2, 7 and Ezekiel 36: 34-35)
4) Revival of the language (Zephaniah 3:9)
5) Resurgence of the military (Zechariah 12: 6)
6) Refocusing of world politics (Zechariah 12: 2-3)
7) Reoccupation of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12: 2-6)
God never pours out His wrath without warning because “He does not wish that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Jesus said that when we see all these signs come together, He will be “right at the door” ready to return (Matthew 24¨33).
God is warning, and Jesus is at the gates of Heaven waiting for His Father’s command.
Are you ready?
May these posts have served to edify those with ears. Shalom and Maranatha Dear Ones!
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