SOME "LAST DAYS" TRUTHS
There are two significant prophetic events "that confirm with certainty that we are in the "Last Days".
Israel is Born again in 1948
1. The Physical Restoration of the Nation of Israel. This event was prophesied over and over both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. This was to happen in the "Last Days" and indeed this was fulfilled in 1948 after almost 2000 years of exile, with the re-establishment of the State of Israel. Significantly, this is the only time in history that a nation was disbursed from its original homeland and later restored to the same homeland as a people. This was indeed a miraculous prophetic fulfillment.
BEGAN AND LATTER FULFILLED IN ENTIRETY
2. The Spiritual Restoration of Israel: The Jewish prophets foretell a massive spiritual awakening will sweep the nation of Israel in the "Last Days" and move the people to a place of right relationship with God. I believe that Messianic Judaism also known as the Messianic Jewish Movement is the first stage of that revival. I and other Jews are the evidence.
Messianic Judaism is the term given to Jewish people who believe and have accepted Yeshua (one of the Hebrew names used for Jesus) of Nazareth as the promised Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Is the current state of Israel a work of God predicted in Bible prophecy or is it merely an accident of history? I believe that modern Israel is a Divine work and is in the process of fulfilling Bible prophecy. I believe that Israel, as she is constituted today, is a work of God in progress preparing the nation for the tribulation (The time of Jacob's Trouble Jer.30) , which will lead to her national conversion, the second coming of Christ and His millennial reign.
The phrase "the time of Jacob's trouble" is a quote from Jeremiah 30:7 which says, "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it" .
In Jeremiah 30, we find that the Lord is speaking to Jeremiah the prophet about Judah and Israel (30:3-4). In verse 3, the Lord promises that one day in the future, He will bring both Judah and Israel back to the land that He had promised their forefathers. Verse 5 describes a time of great fear and trembling. Verse 6 describes this time in a way that pictures men going through the pains of childbirth, again indicating a time of agony. But there is hope for Judah and Israel, for though this is called "the time of Jacob's Trouble", the Lord promises He will save Jacob (referring to Judah and Israel) out of this time of great trouble (verse 7).
In Jeremiah 30:10-11 the Lord says, “‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD.”
Also, the Lord says He will destroy the nations who held Judah and Israel in captivity, and He will never allow Jacob to be completely destroyed. However, it should be noted that the Lord describes this as a time of discipline for His people. He says of Jacob, “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”
Jeremiah 30:7 says, "That day is great, so that none is like it.” The only time period that fits this description is the period of the Tribulation. This time is unparalleled in history.
Jesus described the Tribulation using some of the same imagery as Jeremiah. In Matthew 24:6-8, He stated that the appearance of false christs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes are "the beginning of birth pains."
Paul, too, described the Tribulation as birth pains.
1 Thess. 5: 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
These events follow the Rapture and the removal of the Church.
THE BRIDE AWAITS THE GROOM TO COME FOR HER BEFORE TRIBULATION (THE GREAT) OF 7 YEARS
1 Thess.4:
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
In 1 Thess. 5:9, Paul reemphasizes the absence of the Church from this time period by saying, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." The wrath spoken of here is God's judgment on the unbelieving world AND His discipline of Israel during the Tribulation ("Jacobs Trouble" ).
These “birth pains” are described in detail in Chapters of Revelation 6-12. Part of the purpose of the Tribulation is to bring Israel back to the Lord.
GOD KEEPS HIS WORD
For those who have received Christ as Savior from sin, the time of Jacob's trouble is something for which we should praise the Lord, for it demonstrates that God keeps His promises. He has promised us eternal life through Christ our Lord, and He has promised land, seed, and blessing to Abraham and his physical descendants. However, before He fulfills those promises, He will lovingly but firmly discipline the nation of Israel so that they return to Him. The Bible says many times that Israel is not done in history, but many Christians act as if that were not true. Paul said in Romans, " I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!" (Rom. 11:1).
GREAT MOVEMENT OF JEWS IN CHRIST ARE A SIGN THE END IS NEAR
In 1967 there were fewer than 2000 Messianic Jews in the US. Today that number, according to Jewish population studies in the US, estimates the number at between 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 in the US alone. In 1967 there were zero Messianic synagogues and today there are over 700 worldwide and those numbers are increasing faster than anyone can keep track.
Consequently since 1967 Messianic Judaism is the fastest growing stream of Jewish religious life on the planet today. This movement is not the product of any person or organization but simply the work of God's Spirit in fulfillment of prophecy according to God's purposes and plans.
CURRENT EVENTS IS PROPHESY UNFOLDING
Having said all of the above you can see why the events and continuing conflict surrounding Israel are so important. The spiritual and physical restoration of Israel is central in God's prophetic plan for planet earth and the Messiah's second coming is inextricably and prophetically connected to Israel's restoration. Indeed Jesus himself said that He will not return to Israel until the Jewish nation as one people say "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." This occurs at the end of the Great Tribulation
Second World-Wide Gathering of Israel in Belief (who enter into the Millennial kingdom for a thousand years)
AFTER THE DUST SETTLES AT ARMAGEDDON
Many passages in the Bible speak of Israel' s regathering, in belief, at the end of the Tribulation, in conjunction with Christ' s second coming, in preparation for commencement of the millennium. These references are not being fulfilled by the modern state of Israel.
Amos 9.
14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel,
and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them;
and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof;
they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land,
and they shall no more be pulled up
out of their land which I have given them,
saith the Lord thy God.
Deut. 4:
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swore unto them.
Isaiah 27:
12 And it shall come to pass in that day,
that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt,
and ye shall be gathered one by one,
O ye children of Israel.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day,
that the great trumpet shall be blown,
and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria,
and the outcasts in the land of Egypt,
and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
Isaiah 43:
5 Fear not: for I am with thee:
I will bring thy seed from the east,
and gather thee from the west;
6 I will say to the north, Give up;
and to the south, Keep not back:
bring my sons from far,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
7 even every one that is called by my name:
for I have created him for my glory,
I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Jer.16:
14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 15 but, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
AFTER MESSIAH CONQUERS ALL ISRAEL'S ENEMIES
Matthew 24:31, records a future regathering of Israel, this time in belief. " And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other" (Matt. 24:31). This is said to take place after the tribulation which would be the second coming of Jesus Christ to earth as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
Matt. 24:
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Micah 4:
But in the last days it shall come to pass,
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established in the top of the mountains,
and it shall be exalted above the hills;
and people shall flow unto it.
May God richly bless you, beloveds.
And we say: Maranatha: "COME LORD JESUS" to take us Home...
Chaim, least
