End Times Part 2

Biblical Signs of the Times Related to Israel

I.              The end-time Scriptures are Jerusalem-Centric

A.           In Scripture, Israel and Jerusalem are the reference point in discerning God’s timetable for His end-time plans. His end-time purpose is Jerusalem-centric—His “prophetic calendar” or end-time plans advance particularly related to Israel being in the promised land, living in Jerusalem (under Israel’s jurisdiction) with a functioning temple. The most striking events in prophecy are the return of the Jews to their homeland to reestablish the state of Israel and to gain control of Jerusalem.

B.            Many end-time prophecies related to Israel are closely linked to each other and overlap. They include Israel in the land, the re-establishing of Sabbath laws, speaking the Hebrew language, etc.

II.           The rebirth of the State of Israel and the return of Jewish people

A.           In one day, Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948, and later they gained control of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War (June 1967). No prophetic sign is more dramatic or convincing. The Jews were scattered to the nations in AD 70. Now, 2,000 years later, they are back home.

⁸Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Shall a nation be born at once?...Zion…gave birth to her children. (Isa. 66:8)

⁸In the latter years you [Gog=the Antichrist] will come into the land of those [Israel] brought back … and gathered from many people [nations] on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.(Ezek. 38:8)

⁶“In that day…Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.” (Zech. 12:6)

B.            Returning to the land: The Lord said that His people would return to the land. Over one million Russian Jews have moved to Israel since the 1990s. This is unprecedented in the history of Israel.

¹⁴“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ ¹⁵but, “The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers. 
(Jer. 16:14-15)

III.        The temple, Sabbath laws, Hebrew language, and the military

A.           Temple: The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem with animal sacrifices (according to the law of Moses) is at the heart of the prophetic promises and signs regarding Israel in the end times (Mt. 24:15; Mk. 13:14; 2 Thes. 2:4; Rev. 11:1-2; 13:12-18; cf. Dan. 9:26-27; 11:31; 12:11).

1.              The temple in Jerusalem has not existed since it was destroyed in AD 70.

2.              Today, there is a strong new movement in Israel to rebuild the temple.

B.            Sabbath: The re-establishment of the Sabbath in the social and civil law is a sign of the times (Mt. 24:15-20). The abomination of desolation (related to the Antichrist’s worldwide worship system) occurs in context to a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and the re-establishing of Sabbath laws. The two main components of “the abomination” are the image and the mark of the Beast (Rev. 13:15-18).

¹⁵When you see the abomination of desolation…¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee…²⁰ Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. (Mt. 24:15-20)

C.            Today, the Sabbath on Saturday has been established in the national law as an official day of rest. 

D.           Hebrew: The re-establishment of the Hebrew language as Israel’s official language occurred on May 19, 1948. No nation has ever maintained its national language without a homeland for more than one generation. For Israel to establish their ancient language after 2,000 years is unprecedented in history. Many see the establishing of Hebrew in Israel as part of fulfilling Zephaniah’s prophecy.

⁹Then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord. (Zeph. 3:9)

E.            Military: The restoration of a military in Israel in the end-time (Zech. 9:13; 10:3-7; 12:6-9). Zechariah developed the theme of the Lord being with the military force as He was with David and empowering the Israeli army to resist the Antichrist even before Jesus returns (12:6-9).

⁵“They shall be like mighty men, who tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle. They shall fight because the Lord is with them… (Zech. 10:5)

⁶In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile…they shall devour all the surrounding peoples…⁸In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David… (Zech. 12:6-8)

IV.        The salvation of Israel

A.           Jesus will not forcibly take the kingship over Israel, but will wait until it is given to Him by those in positions of authority over the land. He prophesied that He would not come back to Jerusalem until the leaders of Israel ask Him to reign over them. He “bound” Himself by this prophecy.

³⁷“O Jerusalem…how often I wanted to gather your children…but you were not willing!
³⁸See! Your house is left to you desolate; ³⁹for I say to you, you [leaders of Israel] shall see Me no more till you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mt. 23:37-39)

B.            Israel’s leaders are the official representatives of that national covenant with God. Jesus will rule from Jerusalem only after Israel repents and asks Him to be their king (Acts 3:19-21).

¹⁹“Repent therefore and be converted [Israel] that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰and that He may send Jesus…²¹whom heaven must receive [retain] until the times of restoration of all things.” (Acts 3:19-21)

⁶This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him… ⁷Lift up your heads, O you gates…be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. (Ps 24:6–7)

C.            Today there are over 120 Messianic congregations in Israel, totaling more than 15,000 believers.
In a survey of Messianic believers in Israel (taken in 1999) the number of congregations had increased from 2 (1970) to over 80 (1999); the number of Jewish believers had, from 1970-1999, increased from under 200 believers to over 2000 believers. Messianic congregations are seeing more Jewish people in Israel come to Jesus than at any time since the first century.

D.           We are watching the amazing fulfillment of the prophetic promise of the Lord to establish night and day prayer for Jerusalem until it experiences full revival and transformation, proclaimed by Isaiah:

⁶I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night… ⁷And give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. (Isa. 62:6-7)

V.           world controversy, persecution, and anti-Semitism From the nations

A.           Jerusalem as a center of world controversy: The Hebrew prophets foretold that Jerusalem would be persecuted by all the nations (Zech. 12:3, 9; 14:1-3; cf. Joel 3:2, 12; Zeph. 3:8; Lk. 21:20-24). They prophesied a significant increase of Arab hostility against Israel (Ezek. 35:1-15; Joel 3:1-7).

²I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken…Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant…shall not be cut off from the city. (Zech. 14:2)

³…Jerusalem…though all nations of the earth are gathered against it [Jerusalem]. (Zech. 12:3)

²⁴“They [Israel] will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Lk. 21:24)

B.            Today’s terrorism was prophesied by Jesus (Jn. 16:2). The initial fulfillment of this prophecy occurred in the first century at the hands of fellow Jews like Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9), then again by the Gentile crusaders and the Spanish Inquisition through the Middle Ages. The most dramatic fulfillment of this prophecy will be in the end times by Islamic terrorists, which will greatly increase (Ezek. 35:1-36:7).

²The time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. (Jn. 16:2)

C.            The Lord said that He would first “send” fishermen (those who allure with grace) and then hunters (those who drive with fear) to hunt or trouble the Jewish people who lived in the nations. The context is the restoration of Israel as a nation. Biblical scholars believe this was hunting was partially fulfilled by persecution that led many to return to the land over the last 100 years. The biblical nuances between God “sending” and God “allowing” evil men to harm His people is not easy to understand. The Antichrist’s soldiers are the ultimate fulfillment of hunters in this passage.

 ¹⁴“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ ¹⁵but, “The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land… ¹⁶“ I will send for many fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.  (Jer. 16:14-16)

VI.        the Battle for Jerusalem

A.           The battle for Jerusalem will be the decisive battle to end the Armageddon campaign.

²I will gather all…nations to battle against Jerusalem…³Then the Lord will go forth [second coming] and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. (Zech. 14:2-3)

B.            The battle for Jerusalem is a spiritual, political, and military battle for the control of Jerusalem. It is one of the most significant battlefronts in the spirit today. It will only end at Jesus’ second coming, when He comes to reign over the whole earth and cast Satan into prison (Rev. 20:1-3).

¹¹Behold, a white horse. He [Jesus] who sat on him…makes war…¹⁶He has on His robe…a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords …¹⁹I saw the beast [Antichrist], the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him…²⁰The beast was captured and the false prophet…these two were cast alive into the lake of fire …²¹The rest were killed with the sword…^20:1I saw an angel…²He laid hold of…Satan, and bound him for a thousand years… (Rev. 19:11-20:2)

C.            Satan’s strategy is to seek to exploit Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 23:39 as a “loophole” in God’s end-time plan by seeking to keep the leaders of Israel from receiving Jesus as their king. Satan knows that Jesus cannot violate His own prophetic word. Therefore, Jesus cannot return to earth to rule from Jerusalem until Israel’s governmental leaders beckon Him to be their king.

D.           Satan’s end-time strategy includes seeking to permanently control Jerusalem by:
1.  Deceiving Israel into taking the mark of the Beast (making an alliance with the Antichrist).
2.  Killing the remnant of the Jewish race so there are none to invite Him to rule Jerusalem.
3.  Trying to make Israel so offended at Jesus that they will not receive Him as their king.

E.            Satan wants to exterminate the Jewish people so that a believing remnant cannot invite Jesus to rule Israel as her Messiah. John uses a prophetic picture of Israel as a woman being attacked by Satan as a dragon; God will protect her from total annihilation (Rev. 12:13-17; cf. Zech. 13:8-9).

 ¹³When the dragon [Satan] saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman [remnant of Israel]… ¹⁵The serpent spewed water…like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood [persecution]...¹⁷The dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring [the Church], who…have the testimony of Jesus. (Rev. 12:13-17)

F.             The city of Jerusalem shall be taken and half its population shall go into captivity (Zech. 14:2).

²“For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken…half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off.” (Zech. 14:2)

1.              Jerusalem shall temporarily be taken by the Antichrist, creating the context in which Jesus delivers Israel parallel to Israel being delivered from captivity in Egypt in the days of Moses.

2.              About 600,000 Jews currently live in Jerusalem; thus, it is possible that as many as 300,000 Jewish people will be taken as captives in final years of the Great Tribulation.

G.           Two conflicting trends: anti-Semitism in the nations and love for Israel in the Body of Christ. Many Jews and Gentiles will go into prison camps under the Antichrist’s reign of terror. Jesus will deliver Israel and require the Church to stand with her like Corrie ten Boom’s family did in World War II.

⁶“I will…give You [Jesus] as a covenant to the people [Israel]…⁷to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house…²²But this [Israel] is a people robbed and plundered; all of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses.”
(Isa. 42:6-7, 22)

H.           Scripture describes an aspect of Israel’s persecution just before Jesus returns as their being in prison leading to the time when Jesus returns and delivers their captives from prison (Isa. 11:11-16; 27:12-13; 42:6-7, 22-24; 49:5-25; 61:1-2; Jer. 30:3-24; 31:1-23; Ezek. 20:33-44; 39:25-29; Hos. 11:10-11; Amos 9:8-15; Joel 3:1-2; Zeph. 3:19-20; Zech. 9:10-14).

I.              The Antichrist’s attack on Jewish people will result in 2/3 being killed and the remaining 1/3 receiving salvation. Since there has never been a time when 1/3 of the Jews in Israel testified that they received Jesus as their Messiah, we know that this prophecy has a future fulfillment.

⁸“It shall come to pass in all the land…that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: ⁹I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name…” (Zech. 13:8-9)

J.              The Antichrist’s attack on Gentiles and the resulting death toll and imprisonment of Gentiles will far exceed the number related to Israel. However the Lord gives special emphasis to the body of Christ to love, stand with, care for, and even suffer with the Jewish people.

K.           Contradiction: Some theologians apply the biblical promises of the Israel to the church but not the biblical descriptions of their suffering. Some who love Israel do something similar by applying Israel’s end times promises to Israel, but dismiss their suffering as having been fulfilled in AD 70. Both groups separate Israel’s promises from their sufferings while the Bible places them together.

VII.     the true church will stand with Israel

A.           The battle for Jerusalem will be one issue used to perfect the Church in her obedience to Jesus.

²⁷...that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish [compromise]. (Eph. 5:27)

B.            Scripture calls the Church to stand with God’s purposes for Israel (Isa. 40:1-2; 62:11; Jer. 31:7-10; Joel 3:14; Zech. 12:3; 14:2; Mt. 25:31-46; Rom. 11:11, 20-22; Rev. 12:13-17). I believe it will be a litmus test of obedience. The highest issue in serving God’s purpose for Israel is obeying Jesus’ sovereign leadership. We love Him; thus, we want to do what He does and love what He loves.

C.            Gentile believers will eventually provoke Israel to godly jealousy to know Jesus (Rom. 10:19; 11:11). In other words, Israel will desire to have what Gentile believers possess spiritually. This will happen as Gentile believers show love for Israel including risking their lives to provide refuge for Jewish people in flight, perform miracles like Elijah, and be fearless in the face of death.

¹¹…to provoke them [Israel] to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. (Rom. 11:11)

D.           In the 1930s, if even 100 pastors across Europe would have spoken clearly about the coming persecution of the Jewish people and the biblical mandate to stand with Israel, then many believers in Europe would have had time to process this biblical mandate before facing the challenges to their faith under Hitler’s holocaust in the 1940s. Gentile believers would have had opportunity to prepare places of hiding with provision for the Jews in flight during the 1940s.

E.            The Lord called the Church to stand with Israel (Isa. 40:1-2; 62:6-7, 11; Jer. 31:7-10; Joel 3:14; Zech. 12:3; 14:2; Mt. 25:31-46; Rom. 11:11, 20-22; Rev. 12:13-17) in their persecution now and especially under the reign of terror of the Antichrist.

¹“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” says your God. ²“Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned...” (Isa. 40:1-2)

¹¹The Lord has proclaimed [mandated] to the end of the world [Gentiles in the nations]: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Surely your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him…’”   (Isa. 62:11)

F.             The Church must take a stand to boldly pray, declare, and sing the message of God’s purposes for Israel so that all the nations hear it clearly (Jer. 31:7-10).

⁷Thus says the Lord: “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord save Your people, the remnant of Israel!’…¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’” (Jer. 31:7-10)

VIII.       different responses of the Jewish people in the land of Israel

A.                Some will be supernaturally protected: Some will remain in the land of Israel with God’s supernatural protection (Joel 2:32; 3:16; Zech. 12:10; cf. Isa. 4:3; Obad. 1:17). God will call some believers to remain in the land of Israel during the persecution of the Antichrist.

B.                 Fleeing from the land: Some will leave the land under the Lord’s direction (Mt. 24:15, 16).

C.                 Apostate: Some will stay in the land and worship the Antichrist, joining his regime.

D.                Killed: Some will die in the land of Israel at the hands of the Antichrist’s regime (Zech. 13:8).

E.                 Imprisoned: Some will be taken as captives (Zech. 14:2; cf. Isa. 42:7, 22; 49:9, 24-25; Ps. 102:20), and some of these will be liberated by Jesus in a way that is parallel to the Jews in Egypt being liberated from captivity in the days of Moses.

F.                  Summary: Some Jews will be supernaturally protected by God in the land, others will flee in obedience to the Lord, some will join the evil regime of the Antichrist, some will be killed, and some will be taken as captives (some of whom will be set free at the return of Jesus).