Israel, The Last Days, And The Nations
We are at a turning point in history unlike any in our past. The plumb line of the nations, including America, will be our handling of the nation of Israel. Israel is God's chosen and those who bless her will be blessed, those who curse her, cursed. The nations are but "drops in a bucket" to God and He will be glorified in the sight of all men before the end of time. Neighbor, it's getting late and time to be ready for the days ahead. Many will miss the revival because they are blind to God's purpose and plan for Israel.
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: Isaiah 40:15-17
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing. [16] And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, or the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. [17] All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Isaiah 40:21-24
Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? [22] It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: [23] That bringeth the princes to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as vanity. [24] Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
Some 88 major civilizations of man, according to J.D. Unwin, have come and gone since the beginning of time. Each has begun with a strict code of sexual and moral conduct and moral passion. Each society that extended sexual permissiveness and materialistic hedonism always perished quickly. The Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Greeks and British are but a few examples.
The nations have been warned and judged to varying degrees, but all ceased to the leading civilizations of their time. The downfall of civilizations often precipitated a new era in history in the timetable of God. For example, exactly 40 years (one generation), from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry to A.D. 70, Jerusalem was destroyed and God began working in an increasingly revelatory way toward the Gentiles.
Today, we are staring at I believe another turning point in history, one cannot help but wonder how much longer the Jewish people have to return to their homeland before judgment falls on Planet Earth and the time known as the Great Tribulation period will begin.
When one looks at the number 40 as it relates to judgment throughout history, it seems as though the Diaspora Jews may currently be living on borrowed time. God told Jonah that Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days. The flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights and destroyed the whole earth. During the first Exodus, the unbelieving Israelites who despised the Promised Land missed their destiny and wandered in the desert for 40 years. The law was given to Moses in 40 days but at the end of that 40 days judgment fell on Israel’s camp for their blatant rebellion and idolatry.
Before both temples were destroyed, God gave the Jewish people 40 years of grace to rethink their ways. Ezekiel lay on his side for 40 days, one day for each year, bearing the sin of Judah. Then 40 years after the Kingdom of Israel went into exile in Assyria, Jerusalem was destroyed. Forty years after the Sanhedrin moved from the temple to the marketplace, and 40 years after Jesus warned of coming destruction, the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed. If in the first and second Jewish states God granted 40 years of grace, is it possible the same could be true of the third?
Since 1987, some 700,000 Jewish people have returned from Russia and the North as well as the South and the East. We are approaching the end neighbor! The times of the Gentiles is waning into the sunset of prophetic utterances while the sun and glory of God is rising over Jerusalem. We are coming full circle to where all roads lead back home to – JERUSALEM, the city of the Great King for the final civilization of man.
After 1900 years of being under Gentile oppression, Jerusalem and Israel have both been brought back under Jewish rule:
Isaiah 11:11-12
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. [12] And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
As the Jewish people return home, it is fitting to end this study course with a warning on judgment. Many times when God passed judgments on civilizations only 10% of the Jewish people have escaped. Many believe America’s days as the world’s superpower are up and her decline imminent. While no one, especially the author of this course, wants to put timetables on that, I do believe events playing out before our eyes at the present time are rumblings of God’s prophetic drama that will soon begin on Planet Earth.
That is why America’s handling of Israel is so vitally important. That is why we did this study course – to show those who read this the Biblical view that the land in question right now does not belong to the United States (or to Israel for that matter) to divide up to whomever it seems fit. The land belongs to GOD. God is the owner and He has chosen this land to be Israel’s. It’s not about Israel; it’s about God’s covenant with Abraham and His promise to establish His name in the city of the Great King. One day, Yeshua will return to earth and set His feet upon the Mount of Olives, and from Jerusalem reign for 1,000 years. He will be KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS and there shall be no war any more.
The following are some biblical and historical warnings of judgment and the types of deliverance and responses that followed:
1.The Flood – (Noah gave warning) Only Noah and seven others were saved out of the entire world population. The flood destroyed the whole world after Noah warned them for 120 years and built an ark for their deliverance.
2. Sodom and Gomorrah (Angels gave warning) Four were saved out of the entire population of Sodom and Gomorrah and one of them was destroyed by becoming a pillar of salt. Angels warned Lot to take his family and anyone else in the city who belonged to him and flea immediately, and then God destroyed these wicked cities and people by fire and brimstone from heaven. More than 25 years ago, before abortion was legalized, AIDS became rampant in our country, Billy Graham once said that if God did not judge America for her sins, He would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. God is not someone who has to repent or apologize.
3. 1200-1500 B.C. (Moses gave warning) Moses warned the Egyptian Pharaoh to let God’s people go, but Pharaoh pursued the Israelites and was destroyed. This precipitated the downfall of the Egyptian empire from which it has never recovered.
4. 862 B.C. (Jonah gave warning). Jonah told the people of Nineveh that they would be destroyed in 40 days. All the people fasted and prayed delaying God’s judgment for 100 years.
5. 721 B.C. (Hosea and Isaiah gave warning) The Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians and the Israelites were scattered throughout Assyria. Hosea and Isaiah, among others, rebuked Israel’s idolatrous and corrupt ways and warned of their destruction through God’s judgment.
6. 586 B.C. (Jeremiah and Isaiah gave warning) Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, surrendered to Babylonian control after the warnings of Jeremiah and Isaiah fell on deaf ears. The Jews were taken into exile to Babylon.
7. 539 B.C. (Daniel gave warning) Babylon was captured in one night when the Persian leader Cyprus stepped into power without a fight. Daniel warned of the end of Babylonian rule when he literally saw the writing on the wall. Only a small percentage were able to flee.
8. 331 B.C. (Daniel gave warning) The Persian Empire, the largest ever seen in the ancient East, fell to Alexander the Great in one decisive battle. Daniel warned of the end of the Persian Empire.
9. 133 B.C. (Daniel gave warning) The Greek Empire fell to Rome, and the Roman Empire united the then known world under their rule. Daniel also warned of the division and end of the Roman Empire.
10. 70 A.D. (Jesus gave warning) Jesus warned the Jewish people in 33 A.D. of the soon coming destruction in Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37 and 24:2). Titus, the Roman Commander, destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Some 1.5 million Jewish people were killed according to Josephus.
11. 70 A.D. (God supernaturally gave warning) According to Josephus, God then warned the Jewish people immediately preceding the attack in 70 A.D. by having a sword appear over the city of Jerusalem for 10 days. The first night of the 10 days, the Eastern Gate opened supernaturally and 100,000 fled. Only 8% of the population left before its destruction.
12. 1300 A.D. (Rabbi Nachmanides gave warning) One hundred years prior to the Inquisition, Rabbi Nachmanides gave warning that destruction was coming to the Jewish people in Spain. He not only encouraged Jewish people throughout Spain to make Aliyah, but led his followers in making Aliyah to Palestine himself!
13. 1920-1944 A.D. (Jewish and Christian Leaders gave warning of the Holocaust) Rabbis in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s preceding the Holocaust were discouraging Jewish people from making Aliyah and moving back to their land. However Vladimir Jabotinsky was going throughout Europe saying, “Liquidate the Diaspora or the Diaspora will liquidate you.” Dr. Max Nordau was saying that only 1/3 of the Jews would return to the land and the rest would eventually be assimilated or would die in the Diaspora. These and other Zionists were traveling throughout Europe warning the Jews to leave before and during Adolph Hitler’s reign of terror because they sensed impending doom. No one listened. Six million Jewish people perished in the Holocaust in Germany and Europe. This happened within FORTY years after the time Herzl founded the World Zionist Congress and when the Christians such as Rev. William Hechler began to teach from the Bible that God would soon restore the nation of Israel. Hechler also warned that an anti-Semitic movement could come and create a longing for the Jews to return to their homeland. While nominal and counterfeit Christians were involved in betraying and destroying the Jewish people in Europe, many stood by them without flinching. Corrie Ten Boom is one such lady. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a famous theologian, was imprisoned and later killed in a plot to try and stop Hitler. Only voices warned of coming tragedy – only 600,000 Jewish people left.
14. 1970s (More warnings) Many leaders encouraged Jewish people to leave IRAN and make Aliyah. Few listened and many perished under the Ayatollahs.
15. 1977-1983 (Jacob Timmerman gave warning) A newspaper editor warned Jewish people of coming Nazi anti-Semitism in Argentina (a western country in South America). Timmerman encouraged Jewish people to return to Israel but few left. He was put under house arrest and greatly tortured. Virtually no other leaders stood with him. The American Press stated that 30,000 to 40,000 Jews went missing or were tortured. Thousands to this day have never been found. Timmerman is another example of God’s faithfulness to warn people before calamity. Bruce Singer, who is an Israeli citizen and an American pastor, had also gone throughout Argentina warning Jewish people to leave Argentina and return home.
16. The Present (WHO WILL GIVE THE WARNING OF GOD’S JUDGMENT ON AMERICA) As we observe the moral, military, political and economical meltdown of the once most powerful nation on the planet just ahead, we can again see the handwriting on the wall. America’s days are numbered as the leading world power. Servants of God have been warning of the coming judgments on America for centuries. Many rebuke those who warn this nation to turn around and that in itself is a sign we are in the last days. Peter said “SCOFFERS” would come laughing and mocking the warnings.
The Bible to be frank is about 2/3 correction – especially in the writings of the New Covenant. Paul spent a great deal of time correcting false doctrine in churches such as Galatia and Corinth while calming fears about the second coming in Thessalonica. His writings to Timothy, especially in the second epistle to the young man, was EXHORTATION for Timothy to stand firm in the faith in the face of an onslaught of unprecedented persecution that hit the first church after Yeshua ascended into heaven. Those patterns are about to be repeated again very shortly. HEAR WHAT I SAY TO YOU.
The Third Peril
The following is an account of a vision given to George Washington about America’s future before the Republic was even born. This vision is found in his writings in the Library of Congress as well as other biographical accounts of his life. He wrote of one such vision he named ‘The Third Peril’:
“Again I heard a mysterious voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic look and learn.’ At this the dark, shadowy angel placed a trumpet to his mouth, and blew three distinct blasts; and taking water from the ocean, he sprinkled it upon Europe, Asia and Africa. Then my eyes beheld a fearful scene. From each of these continents arose thick black clouds that were soon joined into one. And throughout this mass there gleamed a dark red light by which I saw hordes of armed men. These men, moving with the cloud, marched by land and sailed by sea to America, which was enveloped in the volume of the cloud. And I dimly saw these vast armies devastate the whole country and burn the villages, towns and cities, which I had seen springing up. As my ears listened to the thundering of the cannon, the clashing of the swords, and the shouts and cries of swords, and the the shouts and cries of millions in mortal combat, I again heard the mysterious voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn.’ When this voice had ceased, the dark shadowy angel placed his trumpet once more to his mouth, and blew a long and fearful blast.”
Charles Parham, the father of the American Pentecostal movement, warned at the turn of this century that America was headed for judgment. Referring to James 5 and Washington’s vision, Parham wrote, “Prophecy states that near the time of the end the church and the nation shall be lifted up (in pride and arrogance) and forget God and spread itself abroad in power and self-glory. For these things God will devastate the nation and the whole body of the eagle will be burned, as Washington in his vision saw events toward the end of this nation’s history such as cities laid waste from coast to coast.”
David Wilkerson, whom I believe to be a modern prophet, had a vision not too terribly long ago of nuclear devastation coming to America. He has warned America going back to the 1970s of the results of our blasphemy, homosexuality, and blatant rebellion against God. Most, including many in the church, have turned a deaf ear and labeled Mr. Wilkerson a relic and fanatic. Others such as Hal Lindsey have sounded the same call.
The events of September 11, 2001 have showed us that we are not invincible as we once thought. With the rise and spread of Islamic terrorism these things are more and more increasing in their probabilities of taking place on American soil.
These warnings have been given to this nation as a whole. I’m afraid, that for the most part, America has rejected these calls. Even some in the church seek to take a more “positive” approach to the end time message rebuking those who warn the nation of coming judgments. One dear brother told me recently that I needed to start preaching the God of the New Testament instead of the God of the Old. Neighbor, there are not TWO GODS! He is the same. The same God that judged nations for idolatry and sin is the same God who has give us grace in the New. If anything our judgment will be more severe because of the grace He has given. To whom MUCH is given, MUCH will be required. We are a nation found in the balance and found WANTING.
Most spiritual leaders are responding to these calls just like Jewish people did before the Holocaust – they are ignoring them! Many are discouraging Jewish people from returning to Israel claming the warnings for a rapid rise of Anti-Semitism are hype and melodrama. One Christian leader recently sent out emails rebuking those who had tied God’s judgments on America with the issues surrounding Israel’s land. There are no clearer parallels yet we still refuse to admit the obvious that God is judging America because of her treatment and pressure on Israel.
There is a biblical mandate that says the land belongs to Israel. There are absolutely NO mandates in scripture ANYWHERE regarding the seed of Ishmael. If anything the 35th chapter of Ezekiel makes it abundantly clear that God is against those who harbor hostilities against His chosen people. Like it or don’t like it – He’s speaking to the Arab world! That certainly does not mean Arabs cannot come to a saving knowledge of grace and salvation through Jesus – it does mean that most will not because they are deluded and deceived by Islam – the world’s most rapidly rising religion and threat of the modern 21rst Century.
There are some voices speaking out right now. They are probably names you will not recognize – Lance Lambert, Jan Willem van der Hoever from the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, Jay Rawlings, Steve Lightle, Ulf Eckman, Gustave Shecller and many other Christian leaders are warning Jewish people and non- Jewish people alike that events playing out in America right now are leading us into a repeat of the 1930-1940s. Anti-Semitism is on the rise. The only friends the Jewish people are about to have are those who are truly born again and know Yeshua as their Saviour and Lord.
Ezekiel 38 and 39
There are disagreements on the timing of Ezekiel 38 and 39. It’s called by many Bible scholars the “Gog and Magog” War. Others believe it is a direct reference to Armageddon. It appears from this passage that a coalition of nations including Russia, Ethiopia, Libya, Germany, Turkey, Iran and now the former Soviet states (which are now 99% Islamic) will spear head an Islamic Revolution and ignite the world’s anti-Semitic passion. It may be this war that brings on the judgments seen by George Washington on America.
According to Ezekiel 39 when these nations come against Israel – God himself with intervene. Israel’s future is BIBLICALLY certain. America’s is NOT. We are not mentioned specifically in prophecy ANYWHERE in the pages of the Bible. I know some have tried to stretch scriptures and conjecture all over the place but neighbor let that sink in – AMERICA HAS NO PLACE ON THE BIBLE STAGE OF PROPHECY. Israel however is EVERYWHERE on the Bible pages of prophecy.
Many Jewish people have deluded into thinking their security is in the military and economic support coming from America. The Jewish people need to be warned that while America has been probably one of Israel’s most staunch friends in the past – times are changing rapidly. Arab pressure on the United States to bully Israel into land concessions is working. We have sold Israel out and betrayed her many times in the past 15 years on the table of the world’s oil markets. Neighbor, the God of Israel is not a man He should LIE or repent. He does not slumber nor sleep. America either has revival or we perish.
I want to address that issue before we close this study guide out. I believe revival is coming to America. Too many voices and prophetic people have seen a move of God in this nation for it not to. But I want to caution each of you reading this the revival that is coming may not take the form that we are expecting it to. Many see large stadiums filled with capacity of people coming to God right prior to judgment being poured out. That could possibly happen without a doubt and I pray that it does. God knows America needs that type of move.
But what is more needed in this hour than huge stadiums filled with people coming to Christ is a coming back to the faith of the church. The great apostasy spoken of in scripture is here. Many are departing from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Christian television has become the vehicle for most of the apostasy. I hate saying this but say it I must – God has not called TBN or CBN to make “movie stars” out of our preachers and ministers. But that is exactly what has happened. I’m not saying that as a blanket indictment against all preachers who appear on these networks but the ministry has been made into entertainment and prosperity so we can keep the ratings up on our Christian television networks. Much of the doctrine preached on TBN is FALSE and laced with New Age humanism and demonic overtones. Sadly, since we no longer rebuke pride and arrogance in the church most sit and watch those programs and gleefully cheer everything that is said and done. NOT THIS WHITE MAN.
The cross of Christ is the dividing line between the true church and the apostate church. Those who have placed their faith (and kept it there) in the finished work of Christ are those truly filled with the TRUE HOLY SPIRIT. All this fluff and chicanery in the name of God is just that – FLUFF and FALSE. It may sound good, it may look good but it is death. It may seem to many that righteous things are being done but in the end the result is man exalting in man and God getting none of the glory.
Having said that let me say this as we close. The revival that is coming will be more inward I believe than outward. And to be frank I don’t look for massive numbers to receive what the Lord is about to do.
In the last message of Jesus to the churches we see Jesus in the midst of six of seven of those churches. But in the last message to Laodicea Jesus stands OUTSIDE the fellowship of that church knocking waiting to get in. His call no longer becomes CORPORATE but INDIVIDUAL. He says “if any MAN will hear my voice, I will come in unto Him and my Father and I will sup with him and him with us in fellowship.”
That tells me two things. One, most of the move of God will not so much be a corporate call any longer but an individual one to those who will HEED what the SPIRIT is saying to the church. Many will be too busy doing other things and not hear the still audible voice of the Holy Ghost.
Secondly, most of the move of God will not be heralded across Planet Earth as many predict, especially on Christian television. God does not need ANY of our modern trinkets to get the job done. He got it done in the early church by habitating with those in the early beginnings who believed Him to be GOD and did not waver in their faith. They didn’t chase after fads – they chased after GOD. They didn’t look for that latest healing service. They themselves went about healing the sick. My Lord I think I’m going to preach.
Jesus never predicted many would find the way of life. He actually said FEW there be who would enter actual eternal life. That tells me that the hype we hear of great numbers of people being saved – while we hope it’s true – in reality is probably not. Many think they are saved because they are joining churches or aligning themselves with ministries or going down in a crusade and having someone lay hands on them or blow on them. I’m not opposed to the laying on of hands and I’m not opposed to the blowing, but neighbor that is not why you and I are saved today.
The Bible actually tells us that things will get WORSE before they get better. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Joel is actually speaking of the great influx of Jewish people into the Kingdom of God as Israel recognizes more and more that Yeshua is her Messiah. That is not to say many Gentiles will not be saved as well - on the contrary. I believe millions of people – both Jew and Gentile - will come to know the Lord in TRUE Bible salvation before this is all over. But neighbor, the time of the Gentiles is coming to a close. God’s attention has been on us for 2000 years and we as a whole have rejected the message of truth just as Israel did in her day. We have no fingers to point at the Jewish people because of their unbelief – we stand in worse judgment than they do because we have the NEW COVENANT guiding us – they did not.
Furthermore, God is just not looking for converts – He’s looking for lovers. Paul warned us many times that men would be LOVERS of pleasure MORE than lovers of God. He mourned over Corinth’s blatant lack of spiritual passion having been drawn away from Christ by the duplicity, deception and delusion of the serpent. They knew all the right things, said all the right things, preached the right things - but they did not love GOD with all their heart, soul and mind.
At Ephesus, they suffered from the same thing. It was what Jesus referred to when He rebuked them and said “You have left your first Love.”
That same duplicity, deception and delusion reigns as much today as then if not worse. And friend if you and I are not grounded in the cross of Christ and our eyes on HIM, we will be led astray by the false doctrines of the hour. Any doctrine that places the emphasis on man’s ability to save himself is a false doctrine. Any doctrine that places emphasis on man’s “reforming” of himself through psychology, self-help step programs and all the like is FALSE DOCTRINE. It’s New Age humanism at its worst. Any doctrine that places emphasis on the GIFTS of the Spirit instead of placing its emphasis on the power of God unto salvation through the CROSS is a false teaching and will lead into error. I believe in the gifts of the Spirit and all that come with those gifts. I believe in speaking in tongues and the Spirit of God gives the utterance. I probably speak in tongues MORE THAN YE ALL who are reading this journal to this point. I’m not ashamed of that.
But ANYTHING we have received from the Holy Spirit is a direct result of the finished work of Christ. The Holy Spirit is here to point us and keep us rooted in that finished work – not in the Spirit Himself. He will not GLORIFY HIMSELF said John the Beloved.
Any doctrine that demeans and denigrates the cross of Christ is FALSE. The cross of Christ is NOT the greatest defeat as many in the Word of Faith movement teach. And contrary to what others teach in various denominations – this IS a bloody religion!! Christianity was birthed in the fire of the Holy Ghost and in the BLOOD of the Cross of Christ. Those two things brought us in and those two things will take us out. Our salvation is based upon a covenant God made with Israel long ago. His Old Covenant with Israel was based upon blood. The New Covenant is based upon blood as well. The difference is that the blood of the Old Covenant was the blood of bulls and goats. The blood of the New Covenant is the blood of Christ. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR FAITH IN THAT BLOOD TO BE SAVED and to STAY SAVED!!!!!! It’s he who ENDURES to the end – the same shall be saved.
Any doctrine that elevates a movement or even doctrine above faith in the finished work of Christ is a false doctrine. Neighbor false doctrine will send your soul to hell. Millions have their faith anchored in their church, their denomination and in their doctrines instead of having an intimate one on one relationship with Yeshua. God does not want a visitation with us from time to time – He wants a habitation!
The issue of Israel’s land sits at the heart of the end times. This issue will be solved momentarily by the Antichrist. But as scripture tells us – the Antichrist is a deceiver and murderer. He will turn his wrath and rage upon Israel in the end and seek her destruction. He will not succeed in that goal even though millions of people, perhaps billions will die during his reign. We know that at least 1/3 of the earth perishes in the Great Tribulation. That figure alone right now would be about 2 billion people. Let that sink in.
It’s getting late neighbor. I pray everyone reading this study guide is saved. I pray your name is written in the Lamb’s book of Life. I’m looking forward to going to land that is fairer than day. The only way any of us will make that Land our home is through the shed blood and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Shalom.