The Place Of Israel In The End Times, Part One

THE PLACE OF ISRAEL IN THE END TIMES, PART ONE

MATTHEW 24:32-35

A CRUCIAL ELEMENT IN STUDYING ABOUT THE LAST DAYS BEFORE THE ETERNAL KINGDOM IS ESTABLISHED IS THAT OF THE ROLE OF ISRAEL. THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THE NATION OF ISRAEL HAS ALWAYS HAD A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE PLAN OF GOD AS HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE. WHILE THE NATION OF ISRAEL HAS ONLY BEEN RE-ESTABLISHED SINCE 1948, GOD HAS HAD COVENANT RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE JEWISH PEOPLE AS FAR BACK AS THE BOOK OF GENESIS. THESE COVENANT RELATIONSHIPS ARE PERMANENT IN NATURE AND BASED ON CONDITIONS OF FAITHFULNESS.

THE RISE OF THE ISRAEL AS A NATION CAN HELP US TO ESTABLISH A TIMELINE FOR THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF THE LORD, BUT CAUTION MUST BE STRESSED HERE. TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS WILL HAVE TO BE ADDRESSED WITH REGARD TO ISRAEL:

1. WHAT BOUNDARIES ARE TO BE USED TO FULFILL THIS PROPHECY?

2. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF “GENERATION”?

THE ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS WILL HELP US TO UNDERSTAND WHEN THE CLOCK OF PROPHECY EITHER BEGINS OR HAS BEGUN TO RUN IN EARNEST. RIGHT NOW OUR PROPHETIC CLOCK OF THE END TIMES RESTS AT 11:10. THIS IS ABOUT TO TAKE A DRAMATIC TURN AS WE STUDY THE ROLE OF ISRAEL.

THE STUDY OF ISRAEL’S ROLE IS VERY COMPLEX, AND I’M GOING TO DO MY BEST TO KEEP THIS SIMPLE. THERE ARE MANY THEORIES THAND VIEWS CONCERNING THE LAST DAYS, BUT WE ARE GOING TO HOLD TO THE PRE-MILLENNIAL VIEW ON THIS ISSUE. I BELIEVE IT TO BE THE MOST BIBLICALLY ACCURATE OF THE THEORIES I’VE STUDIED. THERE ARE SOME DIVISIONS CONCERNING THE TIMING OF THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, BUT THERE IS TOTAL AGREEMENT ON ALL KEY ISSUES.

THE PRE-MILLENNIAL VIEW TEACHES A LITERAL FULFILLMENT OF SCRIPTURE AND PROPHECY. IT TEACHES THAT THE RAPTURE, TRIBULATION, GLORIOUS APPEARING OF THE LORD, AND THE PROPHECIES AND CHARACTERS INVOLVED WITH THEM ARE LITERAL. IT ADVOCATES A LITERAL MEANING OF SCRIPTURE WHICH MEANS UNDERSTANDING IT IN IT’S HISTORICAL AND GRAMMATICAL CONTEXT UNLESS A SYMBOLIC MEANING IS SUGGESTED BY THE AUTHOR. THIS MEANS FOR US THAT WHEN THE BIBLE REFERS TO ISRAEL, IT IS SPEAKING OF THE PHYSICAL NATION AND THE BLESSINGS ACCORDED TO THEM ARE LITERAL.

POINT ONE: THE RISE OF ISRAEL AS A NATION

IT IS AMAZING THAT THIS SMALL NATION WITH A POPULATION OF BTWEEN 7 AND 10 MILLION PEOPLE, AND A LAND MASS THAT IS LESS THAN THE MARITIME PROVINCES, COULD OCCUPY SUCH AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN OUR WORLD TODAY. RARELY A NIGHT PASSES THAT ISRAEL ESCAPES THE DAILY NEWSCASTS. WHILE OTHER NATIONS AND CULTURES HAVE COME AND GONE THE JEWISH HERITAGE HAS ALWAYS REMAINED AND IS ACTIVE. THERE HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN AN ISRAEL NATION, BUT THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A JEWISH PEOPLE.

THE RE-BIRTH OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL BEGAN IN 1917. WORLD WAR I WAS NOT GOING WELL FOR ENGLAND AND THEY NEEDED A WAY TO MASS PRODUCE T.N.T AND SMOKELESS GUNPOWDER AND DO SO QUICKLY.

A JEWISH SCIENTIST NAMED CHAIM WEISMANN INVENTED SUCH A FORMULA FOR THE ALLIES. BRITAIN ASKED HIM TO NAME HIS REWARD AND HE REQUESTED THAT PALESTINE BE DECLARED THE INTERNATIONAL HOMELAND FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE. THE BALFOUR DECLARATION SIGND ON NOV.02 1917, ESTABLISHED THIS.

WHILE GOD BLESSED ISRAEL WITH GROWTH DURING THESE YEARS, BRITAIN WOULD EVENTUALLY RENEGE ON THIS DECLARATION, ISSUING A WHITE PAPER STATING THEY FAVORED ARAB INDEPENDENCE AND CONTROL OF THE AREA. BRITAIN FELT IT WAS THE BEST WAY TO RESOLVE THE GROWING CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE JEWS AND THE ARABS, BUT WOULD BE TO NO AVAIL.

AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, BRITAIN WITHDREW FROM PALESTINE AS THEY COULD NOT KEEP THE PEACE BETWEEN THE ARABS AND THE JEWS.

ON MAY 14, 1948, THE NATIONAL COUNCIL AND THE GENERAL ZIONIST COUNCIL PROCLAIMED FROM TEL AVIV THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SOVEREIGN STATE OF ISRAEL. DAVID BEN GURION WAS APPOINTED PRIME MINISTER AND DR. CHAIM WEISMANN WAS ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.

BOTH THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA ANNOUNCED RECOGNITION OF THE NEW NATION, AND AFTER MUCH DEBATE ISRAEL WAS ACCEPTED AS A MEMBER NATION BY A VOTE OF 37 TO 12. AND THE NATION OF ISRAEL WAS FORMALLY RECOGNIZED BY THE WORLD.

THIS FULFILLS THE PROPHECY OF EZEKIEL WHICH STATES:

EZEKIEL 37:7-12; 21-23:

SO I PROPHESIED AS I WAS COMMANDED. AND AS I WAS PROPHESYING, THERE WAS A NOISE, A RATTLING SOUND, AND THE BONES CAME TOGETHER, BONE TO BONE. 8 I LOOKED, AND TENDONS AND FLESH APPEARED ON THEM AND SKIN COVERED THEM, BUT THERE WAS NO BREATH IN THEM. 9 THEN HE SAID TO ME, “PROPHESY TO THE BREATH; PROPHESY, SON OF MAN, AND SAY TO IT, ‘THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: COME, BREATH, FROM THE FOUR WINDS AND BREATHE INTO THESE SLAIN, THAT THEY MAY LIVE.’ ” 10 SO I PROPHESIED AS HE COMMANDED ME, AND BREATH ENTERED THEM; THEY CAME TO LIFE AND STOOD UP ON THEIR FEET—A VAST ARMY. 11 THEN HE SAID TO ME: “SON OF MAN, THESE BONES ARE THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. THEY SAY, ‘OUR BONES ARE DRIED UP AND OUR HOPE IS GONE; WE ARE CUT OFF.’ 12 THEREFORE PROPHESY AND SAY TO THEM: ‘THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: MY PEOPLE, I AM GOING TO OPEN YOUR GRAVES AND BRING YOU UP FROM THEM; I WILL BRING YOU BACK TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL.