The Mystery Of Israel

Part Two - The Irrefutable sign Of prophecy

The central focus and key of all end-time Bible prophecy is ISRAEL. Sounds simple don’t it? It should be but for sadly the theology of so many in these last days has taken Israel out of the equation for God’s appointment and calendar for Planet Earth, including the church. If one has a wrong outlook on Israel and her destiny with God, then understanding end time events becomes at the very least frustrating; at the worst many get into error and come up with a myriad of doctrines which are not scriptural. The task of the watchman was to remind God through intercession of His calendar that have not been fully met and fulfilled. It’s not that God has a memory problem but He enjoys hearing His people agree with His own principles and up purposes through the words of their mouths and the cries of their heart. It’s really the summation of the end-time scenario. All the judgments listed in Revelation are released as the result of intercession – either by saints, angels or Christ Himself.

By Chris McDonald

TEXT: Zech. 12:2,3  - Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.  And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Zech. 14:2,3 - For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.  Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

        The fulfillment of hundreds of specific prophecies in the ancient and modern history of the Jewish people is God's great sign to mankind - a sign that no one can mistake or deny. God's unique dealings with Israel before a watching world constitute an irrefutable truth and proof that God exists and that He is guiding history. He is not the god of the deists, but is intimately involved with earth's inhabitants, for whom He has great love and definite plans which He will carry through to their conclusion. Both Israel and her Messiah are VITAL to God's end time purposes for mankind!

        That God gave Israel her land, took her out of it and scattered throughout the world, then brought her back to it centuries later is a saga unique in the annals of history. It is beyond the possibility of chance and without ordinary explanation. Her future in the promised land with the Messiah eventually ruling the world from Jerusalem on David's throne has been assured by God. Woe to those who try to revise His plan! Even before He brought the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (whom God later named Israel) into the land of Canaan as He had promised. God warned them through Moses:

Deut. 28:15
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

Deut. 28:63
And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Deut. 28:63
And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Deut. 28:37
And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.

        Other prophets continued to plead and warn. Typical are the following:

Amos 9:9
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

Jeremiah 34:17
Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Jeremiah 34:22
Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.
 

        In spite of God's guidance, blessing, protection, and patient warnings. Israel repeatedly rebelled against Him. She worshipped the false gods of the nations around her, even as God had foretold she would. Warnings such as those just quoted were repeated so many times by the Hebrew prophets as God, reluctant to punish His people, pleading with them to repent, yet never compromising His standard of justice and mercy. The day came, however, when He could withhold His judgment no longer. The people of Israel persisted in their rebellion for nearly 500 years. At last God reluctantly fulfilled His word. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, then restored and rebuilt, then later destroyed once again. Exactly as the prophets warned, God scattered His people, Israel, throughout the entire world. Today, the Jewish people still wander looking for the time when they rest once and for all in their promised land.

Leviticus 26:33
And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

Deut. 4:27
And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.

Deut. 32:26
I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:

1 Kings 14:15
For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger.

Neh. 1:8
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

Jeremiah 9:16
I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.

Jeremiah 49:32
And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the Lord.
 

        Though God used the nations into which she was disbursed to discipline Israel, all the world will be held accountable for their mistreatment of His people! The Lamb of God, who came in meekness to die for our sins, will return as the Lion of the tribe of Judah to execute judgment.

        That Israel was cast out of her land and scattered worldwide exactly as God said represents a fulfillment of prophecy involving so may people, so many nations and such a lengthy span of time that no one can honestly remain a skeptic, much less an atheist. Jewish history stands as a universality visible monument to God's existence, to the fact that the Bible is His infallible Word, and the Jewish people are His chosen, the APPLE of His eye!

Zech. 2:8
For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that touches you touches the apple of his eye.
 

        About 2500 years have passed since the Babylonian captivity and more than 1900 years since the latest Diaspora when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. During the ensuing centuries the wandering Jews had no homeland. Yet they were never absorbed into the nations among which they had been scattered. These hated, despised, and persecuted people, who had every reason to intermarry and lose their identity, remained an identifiable ethnic unit. That in itself is a miracle! God fulfilled His promise through the prophets to preserve His people in order to bring them back to their land as He had sword He would.

        Some believe God has finished with Israel. These folks are deceived and don't know the truth; or they know the truth and just have closed their hearts and eyes to the Holy Spirit and the word of God:

Jeremiah 30:10
Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.  For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

        Israel will ALWAYS be part of God's plan of redemption and the end times under Messiah's Second Coming:

Jeremiah 31:35-36
Thus saith the Lord, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: [36] If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

The Past Persecutions Of Israel: A Preview Of Coming World Events

        The persistent and infamous persecution of Jews down through the centuries is undeniable. It also defies any ordinary explanation as to how this group of people have survived in spite of those persecutions. Such continual abuse at the hands of their fellow man was a perpetual reminder that, though chose of God and greatly beloved, they had sinned and were under His judgment. It also signified one other most important fact - that Satan was out to destroy them. God had promised that His Messiah, the Saviour of Israel and of the world, would come through the Jewish race. God's battle with Satan could only be won by Messiah. Consequently, if Satan could destroy Israel then there would be no Messiah and he would have won the battle for the universe. Messiah and Messiah alone can wrest mankind from the grips of Lucifer's evil grasp.

        That there has been not only a supernatural aspect to Jewish persecution but a certain diabolical element, as well, is a matter of history. Sadly, even those who have called themselves "Christians" have been a tool of Satan to inflict pain on God's chosen people through the ages. For centuries the Roman Catholic Church, claiming to have taken Israel's place in God's love and favor, consigned the Jews to ghettos and forced them to wear identifying insignia (something Hitler adopted in World War II and the Holocaust). Luther persisted in this persecution and even with his break with Rome, gave Jews the option of converting to Christianity or having their tongues torn out. (How about that for a missions outreach program?) The forced "conversion" of Jews in the Roman Catholic Inquisition and at other times in history is well know. To this day the Vatican has never acknowledged Israel's right to exist.

        Hitler justified his tactics against the Jews on the basis of what the officially recognized Christian church, both Catholic and Protestant, had done for centuries. That highly educated, scientifically advanced and "civilized" nations would single out a group of fellow human beings for extermination is not only incredible but  betrays a Satanic element. That these people, in spite of such a programmed destruction, would be preserved, retain their ethnic identity and even multiply in numbers around the world is almost beyond belief.

        Surely, God has kept the Jewish people from genocide and from losing their identity as a national people exactly as He promised. The theory of "ten lost tribes," or "replacement theology," which negates God's promises to Israel and gives them to the church stands in the fullest contradiction to a major theme and repeated testimony of the Mystery of Israel throughout the Word of God!

Jeremiah 31:31-35 -  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: [32] Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: [33] But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. [34] And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.  [35] Thus saith the Lord, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: [36] If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. [37] Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.
 

Restoration To The Land

        Even more indicative of God's hands behind the scenes is the fact that, just as the Bible declared, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have been restored to their ancient land and reborn as a nation in today's modern world.

Jeremiah 30:3
For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

Jeremiah 30:10
Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

Jeremiah 30:11
For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

Jeremiah 31:8-10
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. [9] They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. [10] Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.

Ezekiel 11:17
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

Ezekiel 28:25
Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

        Nearly 1900 years after the last destruction of the nation of Israel and the scattering of her people all over the earth, the nation of Israel is in a place once again in the land that God gave to her nearly 4,000 years ago. It is a restoration unique in human history, in fulfillment of numerous and specific prophecies, and it bears the unmistakable imprint of the hand of God. Yet there is an even more astonishing aspect of this story.

       Zechariah's prophecy, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, nearly 2,500 years ago. To appreciate his prophecy fully, one must remember that at the time the words were uttered Jerusalem was in ruins and the land around it, mostly desert or swamp, was a largely uninhabited wilderness - and it remained that way for centuries. Any chance that Jerusalem could recover its ancient glory, much less that it would be of international important in today's modern world, was nil!

        Under these hopeless conditions, God through His prophet, made three unbelievable declarations:

• The day would come when Jerusalem would be the focus of attention for all mankind

• The entire would would at that time tremble in its concern over Jerusalem

• That one day the armies of all nations would gather against Jerusalem to destroy it.

        For centuries this prophecy seemed to be a grand mistake that had no rightful place in the Bible. The land of Israel remained largely a wasteland with a few nomads feeding their flocks on its sparse growth and scratching out a bare existence from its arid soil. Yet today, as foretold, Jerusalem, though still of negligible size and in location of no significance, is the center of international attention. The impossible has happened and for reasons that are still not understood by the world!

The Cup Of Trembling

Zech. 12:2,3  - Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.  And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Zech. 14:2,3 - For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.  Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

        Not only is Jerusalem the center of world attention, but just as Zechariah foretold, it has become the cup of trembling for a modern world. Whether atheist or believer, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or Jew, ALL mankind knows the next world war, when it occurs, will break out over Jerusalem!

        Israel occupies only one-sixth of 1 percent of the land possessed by the Arabs surrounding her. The latter have the oil and the wealth and influence that goes with it. Israel has nothing. No oil or gas, no precious metals, no great rivers, no high mountains nor the vast fertile valleys they create. Then why the international concern over this postage stamp piece of arid real estate and the four million refugees who have fled there to escape persecution? It makes no sense. Yet the prophets foretell that this situation that exists today is the precursor to coming world events that will usher in Antichrist, the Great Tribulation and ultimately the Second Coming of Jesus.

        The major nations of the world have their diplomats working day and night to effect a peace treaty between Israel and her neighbors. Why? Because all mankind knows that the peace of Jerusalem is the key to peace in the entire world exactly as God said through the Psalms and the Prophets.

        That peace will be guaranteed by the Antichrist and will lead to the most destructive war in earth's history at the end of the Great Tribulation. Sadly, one day soon all the nations of the world (will the USA be there? We don't know yet but it's safe to say that it's a good possibility) will bring their armies against Israel to destroy her people. This place is known in scripture as Armageddon:

Rev. 19:13-21 -  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. [14] And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. [15] And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. [16] And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.  [17] And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; [18] That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. [19] And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
 

Rev. 16:13-16 - And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. [14] For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. [15] Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. [16] And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.


        The term "Armageddon," means "mount of Megiddo": from a root gaadad (OT:1413), "to cut off," i.e. slaughter (Rev 16:16). The plain of Esdraelon, the great Old Testament battlefield between Israel and the various enemies of Jehovah's people: the scene of Barak's victory over Canaan, and Gideon's over Midian (Judg 4; 5; 7), the scene also of Saul's death and Israel's defeat before the Philistines (1 Sam), and of Josiah's death in battle with Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23:29-30).

        Both this and "the valley of Jehoshaphat" (the scene of his great victory, 2 Chron 20:26, compare Zech 14:2-4) are phrases for the same scene of the final conflict of Christ and Antichrist. The mourning at Josiah's death in the valley of Megiddo became proverbial for the most poignant grief. As he and his army represent the professing church, so Pharaoh Necho and the Egyptians the God-opposed world. The triumph of Pharaoh then shall be utterly reversed in the last conflict of the ten confederate kings under Antichrist against the Lamb and His hosts (not merely professors, but "called, chosen, and faithful") (Rev 17:12-14; 19:11-21). The last Antichrist is developed after executing judgment on the whore, the apostate church; he then, with his ten confederate kings and the false prophet, opposes Christ Himself, and perishes.

Rev. 17:12-14
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. [14] These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Rev. 19:11-21
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. [12] His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. [13] And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. [14] And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. [15] And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. [16] And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.  [17] And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; [18] That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. [19] And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
 

Israel, God's Prophetic Time Clock

        The key to all of this? Israel! Israel is the irrefutable key to Bible prophecy. If we don't understand Israel's role in the end times we will not understand Bible prophecy! God is the author of the Bible, the Jews are His chosen people, and Israel is the land God gave them! Woe to those who seek to frustrate the promises which God has given to Israel his chosen and deny the MYSTERY of the greatest theme of Bible prophecy in the word of God.

        Toward the close of the Tribulation there will a coalition of hostile powers against the Jews, as the psalmist declares:

Psalm 83:4
They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
 

        The chief actors in the confederacy would seem to be the Assyrian Isaiah often mentions:

Isaiah 10:24
Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

Isaiah 14:25
That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
 

        This is the same "king of the north," and the "little horn" Daniel describes. This dread figure is the first beast, or head of some form of the ancient Roman Empire (Rev. 13:19). Behind all of this is SATAN, Israel's great archenemy inspiring one last time to destroy Israel. As to the outcome there is no doubt!

Rev. 19:19
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

2 Thes. 2:8
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

        Jerusalem is again, and finally, delivered, as Zechariah prophesied with the Messiah making it His seat of government, with ISRAEL as His glory!

Isaiah 46:13
I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Zech. 14:1-4
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. [3] Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.  [4] And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

        Old Testament prophecy is coming together in the regathering and permanent establishment of Israel in the land which has ever been theirs by divine right and gift.

Deut. 30:3
That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.

Jeremiah 12:15
And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

        ISRAEL is to be exalted above the Gentile nations from whom it had received so much desolation and death and become a continual witness to the Gentiles. Israel is God's prophetic time clock! By His temporary presence in the land of promise, as a nation, we know that time is running out. Jerusalem, again, surrounded by armies, reminds that that END OF THE GOSPEL AGE IS NEAR and it's getting LATE!

Zech. 8:23
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

Isaiah 14:1, 2 -  For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.  And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

Isaiah 61:6, 7 But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.  For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
 

        The Jewish people are is always God's index finger as far as PROPHECY is concerned! This tiny nation will ALWAYS remain as an amazing evidence of the sovereignty and mercy of God. Performance of this prediction will soon be a reality.

Exodus 19:6
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

        The time is drawing near friend. We will pick this theme up in the next message in this series. The days of fierce tribulation are ahead of us. The Lord will overshadow His ancient people the Jews as well as all those who are saved and refuse to take the mark of the beast.

Isaiah 66:15
For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

Isaiah 2:10-22
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. [11] The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. [12] For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: [13] And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, [14] And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, [15] And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, [16] And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. [17] And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. [18] And the idols he shall utterly abolish. [19] And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. [20] In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; [21] To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. [22] Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
 

        As the Psalmist declares, it's time for the saints to be "gathered together," very soon. We call it the rapture. We'll deal with the blessed hope of the church in coming journals. Our message today is simple. It's getting late neighbor and we pray you know this Messiah that is coming to rule and reign in Jerusalem very soon. World events are being orchestrated for the rise of Antichrist which will usher in the times of vengeance as we have laid it out in brief form here. It's getting late neighbor. There is a hostility growing to those who believe in the rapture - even among evangelical Christians. I'm guilty as charged, bring it in. Jesus is coming soon and it's time to get ready for the coming of the Lord! Praise God.