Israel and the End Times

Israel is the apple of God’s eye. That is why Israel is such an integral part of Bible prophecy. God dictated to us His plan and her destiny with that particular lens and focus to His servants the prophets. The Bible is of Jewish origin. Those of Gentile lineage are wild branches grafted onto Christ, the root of Jesse. Israel is the natural branches. Romans 11 If we do not imitate God with our lens matching His, then prophecy will be blurry and indistinct. However, it becomes laser-focused when taking into account God’s promises and Israel’s place while trusting the precision of God’s Word. We look at Bible prophecy then in full focus and the more we read, the clearer it becomes... God is not done with Israel, that’s what the study HIStory, Our Future is all about.

Is God done with the nation of Israel?

In other words, when there is no more sun, moon, stars, and sea cease to exist, then Israel will forever cease to exist. In addition, if we can somehow measure the vastness of space and beneath the earth, then what Israel has done will cause the Lord to cast off all their seed. If you believe in the Bible, then you must recognize that God is not done with the nation of Israel because we have a sun, moon, stars and there is no way to measure the fullness of space or beneath the earth’s surface. This is fully supported and further validated in the details of Bible prophecy. Indeed, if national Israel and her seed are not viewed centrally in Bible prophecy, all conclusions will be skewed from reality because Bible prophecy revolves around God’s plans for Israel, to bring the remnant who are His to the understanding of Yeshua being their Meshiach Nagid.

Israel’s Prophesied Reappearance A sign of the end times

I believe the holocaust and the time since Israel became a nation speaks to the latter days of tribulation for Israel. Regarding this time here is a great interview from Zola Levitt Ministries:

These are all currently fulfilled prophecies which glorify God and testify to the accuracy of the Bible. Israel is back in the land given to her by God, but not of her own doing. There are so many times in history that Israel should have been wiped out, but she remains a burdensome stone which cuts those that try to move her to pieces.

Israel’s Blindness: What is it and why?

What is this blindness, this spirit of slumber, that God has given Israel? Would God really blind an entire people from coming to the Truth and therefore condemning them to hell without any choice of their own? That doesn’t sound like a God honoring free-will as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob does.

I have to reconcile that God is just and also causes blindness with the Bible that says, “God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear...” But how is this blindness accomplished?

According to scripture it is God that does this. I believe this blindness is caused by the snares that come from not building doctrine from the Bible, but rather trusting doctrines of men. This is seen in the following passage from the chapter before.

God wrote the Bible with stumblingblocks for those who do not build their doctrine from only the Word of God. And when false doctrines of men are added in, the clarity of scripture becomes obscure and those without a love for Truth are blinded by the false doctrines created by not taking the Word of God seriously. In this way, the blindness is sent from God by the way the scriptures were written to snare those without a love for His Word as written. In that desire to re-write doctrine, they are blinded to the Truth. In this way God blinds them with their own doctrines created from outside of the council of God.

Israel rejected the Messiah written of in the Word of God. If they had stuck to God’s Word, they wouldn’t have been blinded by their own additions causing stumblingblocks to keep them from the Truth. Jews especially are subject to this today because of the generations of denial of who Christ is. They’re still waiting for His coming now that He has already left almost 2,000 years ago. By writing the Bible as He did, God blinded those who don’t stick to the Bible and Orthadox Judaism is built more on traditions of men than the Bible. If it was built on the Bible, they would recognize Christ. Isaiah 53 should clear that up.

So their blindness is self-induced in that they don’t trust the Word of God alone, but rather the doctrines of men. They are looking to men from their past instead of God here and now. That is where the blindness comes from. However that blindness would not be the case if God’s Word was written in a very clear manner. But He made it so that to really understand, one must build precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little. Those unwilling to do so are blinded from the Truth because God wrote it that way to keep understanding to those that love His Word.

This extends to us as Christians

The only difference between Israel and Christians is the acceptance of Yeshua as the Meshiach Nagid. We have the added definition and interpretation of scripture through Christ’s words and the rest of the New Testament, but both religions have the same source of information from the same Old Testament speaking about the same Christ. So when we read the same God’s Word who blinded Israel in their reliance on doctrines of men over His Word, let us remember to take our God and the Creator of the universe at His Word and obey.

We are not blinded because the veil is done away with in Christ, but we can still shut our eyes and not see. Mark 13:34-37 So let us read God’s Word that is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path in this dark world. In this way, we will not be in blindness as the world is and we will be able to bring others to a place of understanding better having made that journey through God’s Word to redemption ourselves to see God’s design and plans for Israel.

I feel the following from a posts by Watcher on FulfilledProphecy.com touches on Israel becoming a nation as a sign very well.

“Today in my Bible study, the Holy Spirit showed me something that I never really paid attention to before. And surprisingly, you stated in your commentary today, EXACTLY what the Holy Spirit showed me. Here’s what you said that caught my eye:

’What convinced me was the part in Hal’s book about the rebirth of Israel and the revival of the old Roman Empire -- two things that I could see for myself.’

I hope this is an encouragement to you. Here’s what the Holy Spirit showed me today, from Luke 21:29-31.

Luke 21:29-31
And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

Do you see it there in verse 30? When trees begin to put forth leaves, you can see for yourself that summer is near, and that it will soon come to pass. You don’t need anyone to tell you this, because you can see it for yourself. In the same way, when you see “these things” that Jesus spoke of (the signs), begin to come to pass, you can see for yourself that the kingdom of God is near and will soon come to pass. You don‘t need anyone to tell you this, because you can see it for yourself.

Here’s something else I thought was interesting, and that I’ve noticed in a new way. Luke 21:29 says:

Luke 21:29
And he spake to them a parable; BEHOLD the fig tree, and all the trees;

Jesus says, BEHOLD, or “look and pay attention to” the “fig tree”, first of all.........and then “all the trees”. He refers to the “fig tree” as being a specific kind of tree in nature, and biblically, it is the specific nation of Israel. “All the trees” that Jesus spoke of next, then, are general trees in nature and biblically, all the general nations. He’s saying to look and pay attention to the specific nation of Israel and all the other, general nations, in the context of signs of the end times.

Now, from the “Jewish dispersion” until 1948, Israel did not even exist as a nation. So, until then, there was nothing to “look and pay attention to”. Also, before the advent of technology, it would have been nearly impossible to “look and pay attention to ” all the other nations, let alone non-existent Israel. With no radio, TV, Internet, worldwide newspapers, magazines, worldwide transportation systems, etc., it would be awfully difficult to access information even about our own nation, let alone other ancient nations.

But now, Daniel’s prophecy makes perfect sense…..regarding the end times, when KNOWLEDGE would be increased and people would travel TO and FRO.

Daniel 12:4
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

The words of Daniel’s prophecy have been “shut up” and “sealed” to the “time of the end.” I believe Daniel 12:4 parallels what Jesus was talking about in the passage of Luke. It would not be until the time of the end, that it would even be POSSIBLE to BEHOLD the “fig tree” and “all the trees”.

When Jesus said to “Behold the fig tree” (the Nation of Israel), He would not have been speaking to any generation before 1948, because there was no national Israel (fig tree) to BEHOLD before that time. We ARE the generation for whom it is possible to behold the fig tree. We are the generation that can see it.

This simply confirms in my mind, that we are in the END TIMES, specifically recognizable because,

Israel is in fact EXISTING as a nation after being NON-EXISTENT for almost 2000 years.
Our world has been changed with lightning speed, in just the last century, by a flood of technology, which has ENABLED God’s people to do just what Jesus said to do.............WATCH!

This was not possible before, because there was no “fig tree” to look at and pay attention to, and so it proves to me that Jesus was speaking to our generation when He said to Behold the fig tree and all the trees. We are the ones who can literally SEE THESE THINGS COMING TO PASS.... other generations could not. Praise God.” Read The Importance of Watching

The Apple of God’s Eye

The “apple’ is the lens of the eye. It is what gives our vision focus. Israel is the focus of God’s eye.

Israel In The Land

More scriptures about Israel’s right to exist in the land and God’s placement of her there with the promise to never more be removed. Miracles in Israel

The Nations Come to Learn How the Desert Bloomed (January 27, 2007) - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev hosted a major international conference last November on combating desertification, with experts coming to study Israel’s successes in “making the desert bloom.” The conference was sponsored by the Blaustein Institute of Desert Research (BIDR), Ben-Gurion University, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The conference was part of international activities marking 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, as declared by the United Nations in recognition of the acute problem of desertification or land degradation worldwide. Around 300 attendees from 20 countries and 5 continents took several field tours into Israel’s reclaimed and existing desert areas to glean from her experience with the problem. According to BIDR, desertification is responsible for the loss of agricultural productivity, famine, and population displacement, as well as the escalation of poverty; it affects about 400 million people in developing regions, especially Africa. Israel was selected as a uniquely appropriate venue for the desertification conference, due to its rich history of rolling back the desert through innovation and tenacity. When the state was established in 1948, much of its semiarid regions were degraded and the Negev Desert had expanded northward all the way to the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem corridor. Since then, a combination of intensive dryland agriculture, afforestation, and economic initiatives has reclaimed tens of thousands of acres for farming, residential construction, and industrial parks.

How many people do you think recognized the Lord for the 100% fulfillment of this prophecy written by Ezekiel thousands of years before 1948? Yeah, not many. Even now people mock believers when they will be confronted with the clear truth in front of them and know their guilt for eternity. Read the rest of Ezekiel 36:16-38 for an even clearer statement of the above.

Where did the name Palestine come from? - The name Palestine refers to a region of the eastern Mediterranean coast from the sea to the Jordan valley and from the southern Negev desert to the Galilee lake region in the north. The word itself derives from “Plesheth”, a name that appears frequently in the Bible and has come into English as “Philistine”. Plesheth, (root palash) was a general term meaning rolling or migratory. This referred to the Philistine’s invasion and conquest of the coast from the sea. The Philistines were not Arabs nor even Semites, they were most closely related to the Greeks originating from Asia Minor and Greek localities. They did not speak Arabic. They had no connection, ethnic, linguistic or historical with Arabia or Arabs. The Philistines reached the southern coast of Israel in several waves. One group arrived in the pre-patriarchal period and settled south of Beersheba in Gerar where they came into conflict with Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. Another group, coming from Crete after being repulsed from an attempted invasion of Egypt by Rameses III in 1194 BCE, seized the southern coastal area, where they founded five settlements (Gaza, Ascalon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gat). In the Persian and Greek periods, foreign settlers - chiefly from the Mediterranean islands - overran the Philistine districts. more...

An interesting list of statistics on Israel at this juncture in history:

“Israel’s population has reached 7,026,000. This figure is 8.7 times larger than it was when the state was established. Israel had 806,000 citizens in 1948, and half of them still live here. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 80 percent of Israelis - 5,639,000 - are Jewish and 20 percent - 1,387,000 - are Arab. Over the past year Israel’s population grew by 118,000, pushing it past the 7-million mark. Most of the increase - 104,000 individuals - was from natural growth (births minus deaths). Over the past year, some 138,000 babies were born and 21,000 immigrants arrived. Over the past 58 years, a total of seven children were named Atzmaut (independence), mainly in the early 1950s. Children born on Independence Day in the early years of the state, were also named Medina (state), Tikva (hope), Nitzhona (her victory), Dror and Drora (freedom).”

Is it true that the only people that should be called “Jews” are those from the tribe of Judah? Zola Levitt

The term Jew and Israel are synonymous terms that refer to one and the same people. The terms Jew and Israelite became synonymous terms from about the time of the Captivity in Babylon (586 BC). It is one of the historical fallacies of Replacement Theology and its variant Anglo-Israelism to presuppose that the term “Jew” stands for the bodily descendant of “Judah.” In the Bible it stands for all those from among the sons of Jacob who acknowledged them, or were considered, subjects of the theocratic kingdom of Judah, which they expected to be established by the promised “Son of David.”

The claim “Jews are not Israelites” is false. In the New Testament the same people who are called “Jews” 174 times are also called “Israel” no fewer than 75 times (see such statements as given in Acts 21:39; 22:3; Romans 11:1-3 where Paul calls himself a Jew though he was from the Northern tribe of Benjamin, Romans 9:4-5; 2 Corinthians 11:22; Philippians 3:5).

From the time of the return of the first remnant after the Babylonian exile, sacred historians, prophets, apostles, and the Lord Himself, regarded the “Jews” whether in the land or in “Dispersion” as representatives of “all Israel,” and the only people in line of the covenants and the promises which God made with the fathers (see the following passages where the use of Judah and Israel are found interchangeably: Zechariah 1:19; 8:13 10:6 Ezra 6:17; 8:35, etc.).

Israeli Innovations

Some of my favorites:

Anti-Semitism: A Sign of the Times

It rears its ugly head more and more now-a-days, and throughout history God’s proclamation that Israel would be hated by the nations has come to pass over and over again. He set them apart as a peculiar people that the nations look upon with distain and as the world pulls more and more away from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob so too will we see a growing hatred of His chosen people.

The World

As Jim Gerrish lays out in his article from 2003 Why Do The Nations Hate Israel?, the answer is that the nations hate God. If one hates God, they will hate His Word and also those God has chosen. And even with the fulfilled prophecies of a restored nation of Israel, this doesn’t strengthen the faith in those of the world, but rather is a reminder of the God that they reject and the Messiah sent through the Jews for the redemption of all mankind.

There are many in the world who would rather not look upon themselves as needing salvation. For many, the idea of the god within, or being your own god, plays upon their pride lifting themselves up and the idea of needing salvation tears down the fabric of their delusions and destroys the false peace they were deceived into accepting. The fact that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has written in His Word the very message that they don’t want to accept wrapped around a Jewish Messiah born from the lineage of a chosen people tends to foment this rejection.

Unfortunately many spurred to hatred of this message look to what they know, the physical, and miss the spiritual message of love. They project that hatred to the Bible and the people that hold that Word as Truth. This has manifested itself in both the hatred of Christians and of Jews. However even among those that call themselves Christians, the principles of love espoused in God’s Word have been rejected in favor of a hatred of God’s Chosen People.

I believe there is something spiritual behind the hatred of Israel, both by the world and some that claim to be the church. There is an ancient hatred that began after the fall of man when the serpent's head was prophesied to be crushed by the heal of the Messiah. His lineage as traced back through Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-28 pointed to a Messiah born of the root of Jesse out of the nation of Israel. And throughout Biblical history and beyond we have seen this spiritual hatred manifest in the world toward Israel.

Prophetically what we will see in the coming times, is an increase in hatred of the nation of Israel by the world. Several times various groups allied against Israel will come against her, from Psalm 83 to the Magog Invasion, the time of great tribulation and after the millennial reign of Christ. Revelation 20:7-9

The Church

Anti-Semitism is the hatred of the Jews. It is a satanic hatred who’s core is dedicated to the wiping out of Israel. They will be the ones who kill 2/3 of Israel in the great tribulation. We’ve seen the anti-Semitism expressed through Islam, but it also has a history in the deceived church. British journalist (and communist) William Norman Ewer, in the early part of the last century demonstrated this with a little poem.

How odd
Of God
To choose
The Jews.

The reply came from Cecil Browne:

But not so odd
As those who choose
A Jewish God
But spurn the Jews.

Browne’s riposte may have won the poetic exchange. But Ewer’s anti-Judaism prevailed in the next decades in Europe. Buried there after World War II, hatred of the Jews flourished for the rest of the 20th century in the Middle East. Is anti-Semitism now enjoying a broader revival? It would seem so watching the whole world coming down on Israel irrationally as they do.

The Truth of the matter is that every religion and nation has those who choose selfishness and hatred over God’s ways of love. We should not have any hatred or malice against anyone because we are to forgive as we have been forgiven. If we don’t, neither will the Father forgive our sins and we will be separated from Him eternally as well. We must OBEY God’s Word to show the fruits of truly being a child of God.

God is not done with the nation of Israel, whom He chose from the beginning through which to carry out His plan of salvation for all mankind.

Jeremiah 30:20-24
Their children [Israel] also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD. And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he hath done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.