The ways, or streets of Zion, are in a season of deep mourning as one of the worst Middle East conflicts in several decades rage before us. This is but a dress rehearsal for a greater conflict that will engulf this same region soon and pave the way for the rise of the Antichrist, whom Israel will receive as her Messiah for a short season. God will bring Israel back to Himself and He can bring the backslider who may be reading this back today as well. This journal is a summary of what Israel will face in her near future and a warning to all who read to be preparing and preparing QUICKLY for the rapture of the church. I don’t expect to be here for all that you will soon read in this journal! I’m not looking for a hole in the ground; I’m looking for a hole in the sky! I’m not looking to run and hide, I’m looking to be caught up and fly! I’m not looking for the Antichrist; I’m looking for THE Christ. I’m not looking for a cave to hide in; I’m looking for the trump of God to sound and CLOUD to ride in! The days we live in are late and the time is short. Israel needs our intercession, love and prayers like never before in these days of harvest before Messiah returns.
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: Lamentations 1:1-5 - How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people how is she become as a widow she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary [2] She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. [3] Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits. [4] The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. [5] Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
As I write this journal in the late summer 2006, I, like many of you, have watched with great prophetic interest the current conflict raging in the Middle East as Israel is engaged in one of her most difficult military conflicts in years. The war is actually taking place on two fronts – the Gaza Strip, were the terrorist group Hamas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in late June that led to an Israeli offensive against terrorist targets there – and southern Lebanon, where days after the Hamas kidnappings, the terrorist group Hezbollah did basically the same thing and began launching hundreds of Ketusha rockets into Northern Israel. The conflict has escalated as the war now rages for more than a month and threatens to engulf the entire Middle East region in bloodshed.
Hezbollah has rained an average of 100 to 200 rockets a day down on Northern Israel, many of these being acquired from Syria and Iran. Iran admitted August 5, 2006 of supplying Hezbollah the longer range rockets that have hit Haifa, Haderra and threaten Tel Aviv. It’s also interesting to note that as I write this we are but days removed from Israel’s most solemn day on its calendar which is ironically as “fast” day - the Ninth of Av, known as Tisha B’AV.
As one of her most sorrowful days in her entire history, it’s hard to comprehend how many bad things took place on the ninth of Av over a span of nearly 4500 years! Going ALL the way back to the time of Moses and the 10 spies, this date stands out as one that has produced many tears and mourning in the annals of Israel’s history and destiny. It was on this date (9th of Av) when the 10 spies negatively influenced all of Israel in bringing back an evil report to Moses concerning the Promised Land and as a result, the nation was made to wander in the wilderness for FORTY years by God whom the writer of Hebrews says was “grieved,” with their unbelief.
There were 12 spies total, but two of the spies - Joshua and Caleb - came back in faith and said "WE ARE ABLE TO GO IN AND POSSESS THE LAND." The faith of two could not change the unbelief of 10 and as a result the Lord cursed the entire nation. From that day to now, the ninth of AV has been considered by Jews worldwide a day of ominous events thought to be cursed by God. This failure of faith recorded in Numbers 13 and 14 was no small event in Israel's history setting the stage for a perpetual cycle of backsliding the nation would endure for centuries even to the advent of the modern nation of Israel we know today. According to Jewish Talmudic commentaries:
“Upon hearing the negative report about Israel, the people sat down to cry. The land had been promised, but their fears prevented them from going forward. At which point God responds: "Today you cried for nothing; in the future I'll give you a real reason to cry." (Talmud - Ta'anit 29a)
Israel has been crying ever since the years of wilderness wandering to be sure; she has shed tears of sadness, mourning and pain as dicator after dictator, kingdom after kingdom, empire after empire has sought her destruction. As I heard a well known evangelist say recently, "when Israel rejected God by rejecting Christ, God gave her up to be rejected by the entire world and hunted down as animals."
It was also on this exact date (the 9th of Av) the destruction of both the First and Second Temples took place nearly 650 years apart. In 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar set fire to the Temple and razed it to the ground and then centuries later on 9 Av, 70 A.D., the Roman Emperor Titus destroyed the Second Temple with fire also. When Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem prior to 589 B.C. and laid the foundation for what we know today as the “Western Wall,” even Solomon could not have imagined the tears that would be shed by Jews in centuries to come at this same wall. In some circles in the Middle East the wall is known as the “wailing wall,” the term used by Arab Islamic nations to mock Israel over the bloodshed she has encountered at their hands for centuries. More tears will be shed in the future before Jesus comes friend, hear what I say. The WAYS OF ZION DO MOURN and will Zion will mourn even MORE in these last days until she turns fully again back to the Lord Jesus Christ.
During her 1900-year exile prior to 1948 when Israel was restored as a nation, Jews traveled to Jerusalem from miles away at great expense and danger, just to have the chance to pray at the Wall. There, they would pour their hearts out to God, beseeching him for Jewish redemption, watering the Wall with their tears and as one Jewish poet put it, "melting the stones with their kisses." The story is told of Napoleon walking through the streets of Paris and as he passed by a synagogue, he heard the sound of people weeping inside, turned to his assistant and asked, "What's going on inside there?" "Today is Tisha B'AV," came the reply, "and the Jews are mourning the loss of their Temple." Napoleon looked toward the synagogue and said, "If the Jews are still crying after so many hundreds of years, then I am certain the Temple will one day be rebuilt!" The loss of the Temple runs deep in the hearts of all true Israelis today that brings tears to the hearts of those who long for the day it is rebuilt. The loss of both Temples were horrible and sad in Israel's history, but the loss of her Temples paled in comparison to what Israel lost when she lost her way by rejecting Christ!
Years after Titus destroyed the Second Temple in A.D. 70 (9th of Av) in 135 A.D. the Bar Kochba Revolt took place setting the stage for the final dispersion of the Jewish people all over the world as God warned would happen through the prophets. According to the Mishnah (Ta'an 4:6) in 136 A.D. the Roman emperor Hadrian established the Temple of Jupiter on the Temple Mount and erected an image of Jupiter on the site where the formal Temple sat in A.D. 70. He also rebuilt the city of Jerusalem and called it Aelia Capitolina, in honor of his name (Aeilus Hadrinaus) and the god Jupiter (Jupiter Capitolinus). The time of this "revolt?" You got it - the Ninth of Av.
Closer to our time, the Ninth of Av of the year 1492 was the date designated for all Jews of Spain to leave the country towards the end of the Spanish Inquisition. This mass expulsion was a disaster of a magnitude that we can barely imagine as the ungodly empire of Spain at the time unleashed unspeakable horrors and persecutions upon the Jewish race that have not diminished by centuries passed.
If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem
Psalm 137:5-6 - If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. [6] If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy
Many in Jerusalem today still strive to understand what the loss of the Temple means - and how it connects their destinies, struggles, mission and identities as a people. When the Jewish People were slaves in Egypt, redemption did not come about until they cried out to God (see Exodus 3:7). So too, their future redemption will come when the Jewish people cry out to God in unprecedented fashion at the end of the Great Tribulation period. Isaiah records Israel's prayers during this time of travail that will seem at be hopeless for the Jewish state, but God never ceased to hear Israel's cries throughout the years. His entire purpose is to ultimately bring Israel back to Himself! He will hear their cry and redeem them once more as the tears of Tisha B’AV will be turned to tears of joy as their hearts will open and understand after millennia of spiritual blindness that has hid from them the truth that Jesus Christ is their Messiah, the Son of God!
The Talmud (Brachot 32b) teaches that when the Temple was destroyed, all the Gates of Heaven were closed - except for one - the Gate of Tears, causing some Rabbis in Israel to believe that the tears shed over the destruction of past years are precisely the tears which will bring about ultimate redemption. In a way the Jewish rabbis are right, but tears in themselves will never redeem Israel!! Israel’s redemption is found in the blood stained hands flowing with life-giving blood from the world’s Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who 2,000 years ago hung on a cross and destroyed the powers of darkness and broke the shackles and chains of sin for both Jew and Gentile. One day Israel will finally repent and realize the One she crucified 2,000 years ago was the One prophesied by the prophets who would Come and wash away her sins and stain!
Isaiah 4:4 - When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
Zech. 13:1-3 - In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
It was deeply moving to this writer when I heard the news Thursday (8-3-2006 – the day on our calendar of Tisha B’AV) that Israel had suffered the most number of causalities of this current conflict this same day again adding yet another sad footnote of loss and tears to an already dreadful day.
Lamentations 1:4 - The ways (Heb. Roads) of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
It is of deep prophetic significance that on Tisha B’AV the book read in Jewish synagogues is the book of Lamentations, written by Jeremiah, who is known as the WEEPING PROPHET. Our text is also a prophetic utterance on Jeremiah’s part of Israel’s coming days of greater travail and mourning and the season when the ways (streets) of Zion shall mourn!
The World’s Current Hatred of Israel: Laying The Groundwork For Antichrist
Lamentations 1:1-2: How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people how is she become as a widow she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary [2] She weeps sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
What makes the nation of Israel so different than any other in the world? Have you ever stopped and thought of that? To be frank, most of the world, if they care at all, believes the problems in the Middle East are because Israel won’t just give the Palestinians “land,” for a Palestinian state, i.e. "land for peace." Many believe that Israel wrongfully took what belonged to Arabs during separate wars in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982 as many tag the land of Israel “occupied territories,” when in fact the land Israel conquered through conquest was land taken in acts of self-defense IN EVERY SINGLE WAR! More importantly, the land in question was land already promised to Israel by GOD through His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In hopes of peace however, Israel has given the Palestinians all but ONE thing – Jerusalem – which they declare belongs to the Jews - and NEIGHBOR THEY ARE RIGHT! Jerusalem is NOT a MUSLIM city but it belongs to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Jeremiah asks the same question, “HOW,” can it be Israel has suffered so much Lord? That term, “how,” or “alas!” was an exclamation of pain and grief; a wailing cry like the howl of a jackal or a wolf and was used by only three prophets in Scripture:
· Moses because of the heavy burden placed upon him—having to bear the complaints of so many people (Deut. 1:12)
· Isaiah because of the dissipation and depravity of Judah and Jerusalem (Isaiah 1:21)
· Jeremiah because of the total desolation and destruction of Judah and Jerusalem (Lament. 1:1)
The poem of Lamentations 1 is divided into two main parts:
· Lament. 1:1-11 describe the misery which had befallen the Jews;
· Lament. 1:12-22 show Jerusalem lamenting over her sufferings.
Jeremiah gave a 31-fold lament over Jerusalem’s condition in his day but that is also very relevant to the spiritual condition today and coming travail of Israel in the last days:
1. The city that used to be full of people sits solitary (Lament. 1:1).
2. She has become a widow.
3. She used to be great among the nations.
4. She used to be a princess among the provinces.
5. She has now become a tributary.
6. She weeps profusely in the night (Lament. 1:2).
7. Her tears are on her cheeks.
8. There are no lovers to comfort her.
9. She has no friends, for all of them have dealt treacherously with her.
10. They have become her enemies.
11. She has gone into captivity (Lament. 1:3).
12. She is greatly afflicted.
13. She has great servitude to others.
14. She dwells among the heathen.
15. She has no rest in her captivity.
16. She has many persecutors.
17. Her solemn feasts are forsaken (Lament. 1:4).
18. Her gates are desolate.
19. Her priests sigh.
20. Her virgins are afflicted.
21. She sits in bitterness.
22. Her adversaries rule (Lament. 1:5).
23. Her enemies prosper.
24. She is afflicted by God.
25. Her children are taken into captivity.
26. Her beauty has departed (Lament. 1:6).
27. Her princes are like harts without pasture.
28. Their strength has gone and they cannot escape the huntsmen.
29. She remembered her pleasant things while in her miseries (Lament. 1:7).
30. She remembered her fall into the hands of the enemy.
31. She had no one to help her.
32. The adversaries saw her and mocked at her Sabbaths.
In Lamentations 1:1-2 we actually see a prophetic picture of the world's mockery of Israel; the language of this passage parallels the historical image of a woman sits weeping beneath a palm tree and below it is the legend, Judea capital that appeared on a well-known medal given to the Roman Emperor Titus, who used the metal to celebrate his triumph over Jerusalem in A.D. 70. That same mockery exists to this day about Jerusalem and Israel fulfilling Jeremiah's words that among Israel’s “lovers,” there were none to comfort her. This spoke in part of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God shown in her trust of other “allies,” whom she preferred to Jehovah. Egypt cannot save you friend in the time of trouble! Assyria shall not deliver you when the enemies of your soul encamp sore around you! Our faith must be rooted in Christ and Him Crucified! Israel sadly found this out the hard way.
Jeremiah 2:17 - Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way?
Jeremiah 2:27 - Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
Jeremiah 2:36-37 - Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou was ashamed of Assyria. [37] Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.
Jeremiah 4:30 - And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with crimson, though you deck thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rent thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
Jeremiah 22:22 - The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
Ezekiel 23:1-3 - The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: [3] And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
Ezekiel 29:6-7 - And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. [7] When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakes, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
Ezekiel 29:16 -And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.
The enemies spoken of here included the Egyptians, the Assyrians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, and Philistines - who are the ancestors of most of the modern day Arab nations and peoples i.e. the Palestinians. Israel’s “lovers,” in these modern times are very few! Most of the world’s leaders, especially those in Europe, along with of course the modern Arab world, wish Israel would just “go away.” Jeremiah proclaimed, “Among all her lovers, she has NONE to comfort her,” and there is no truer statement than that today.
The only friend Israel has at this very moment is the United States of America. Sadly, I am not sure if our political leaders in Washington grasp the magnitude of that statement and the fact the REASON America was granted the position of superpower status we enjoy today is that we were called by God to ALWAYS protect the state of Israel!!!! America is in trouble friend. We’re paying out a $1 Billion every three days for the war in Iraq; gasoline costs the American citizen on average almost $3 a gallon with fears that if Iran follows through with a threat to raise oil to $200B a barrel it could go higher; rampant homosexuality and abortion groups rally in liberal courts to grant legality to some of the worst perversion and iniquity known to man; our enemies abroad and from within threaten us on a daily basis with the prospects of nuclear weapons programs and oil embargos; the political landscape in Washington has never been more divisive with dangerous men seeking power so they can remove all vestiges of Christianity from across the land. Friend, AMERICA is in trouble and in desperate need of a true Holy-Ghost filled revival!
YET, if America will not yield to Moslem threats and stand tall in support of Israel no matter what, GOD WILL SEE THIS NATION THROUGH THESE TOUGH TIMES AND SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY, bless us to the point we will overcome these potential national calamities and HE WILL HEAL OUR LAND! He WILL send a revival that will shake the foundations of this once proud nation again for HIS righteousness sake and we will experience a healing unprecedented in our nation’s history.
2 Chron. 7:14 - If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
In contrast, if America succumbs to Arab pressure, as some past administrations have done in pressuring Israel to carve out covenant land in hopes of peace, America will be cursed and our superpower status will be taken away! It’s an eternal covenant and principle given to Abraham by God over 5000 years ago!
Genesis 12:1-3 - Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: [2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: [3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Who IS Israel and why is she so important as it relates to Bible prophecy? Why is Zion mourning and travailing in these last days a sign we’re living in the last of last days? To understand this (and I don’t think any of us can grasp it totally) one must understand that Israel was raised up by God for three reasons:
· To bring the Word of God to the world through the Torah, Prophets and Gospels
· The be the cradle and womb of the World’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ
· To take the gospel to the four corners of the world from Jerusalem.
Israel was born from the seed of Abraham in the womb of Sarah, which is an oddity in itself being Abraham was called by God out of the region of the UR of the Chaldees making Abraham an Iraqi, who would be the seed of a people unlike any other in history! Abraham’s importance however would not mean anything unless one understood the importance of another “SEED” that was prophesied in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve fell.
The Lord told the first parents, who ironically were not the world’s first dysfunctional family but the world’s first sinners, that the seed who would come from their lineage would bruise the head of the serpent even though the serpent would bruise His heel; God illustrated to them how this seed would come in the likeness of Adam to redeem fallen man back to God through the Sacrifice of Himself on the Cross by slaying an animal and clothing them with its skin. Adam’s fig leaves were no covering for the eyes of a Holy God; payment had to be made for sin and it had to be made by BLOOD, but not just any blood.
Let the reader not take that last statement lightly or gloss over it. Angels could not affect our redemption; Gabriel could only announce to Mary that the Holy Thing inside here was going to be the Son of God, Gabriel could not SAVE Mary! (Luke 1, Matthew 1:21)
Luke 1:35- And the angel (Gabriel) answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Michael, Israel’s prince, who stands with Israel, (Daniel 12:1) could not redeem anyone either; He may “stand” with Israel, but he cannot alone save Israel!
Daniel 12:1-2 - And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Man’s salvation could come ONLY through Christ Jesus, the MAN. Listen to this writer and hear this because this is where many stumble over Christ and reject His offer of grace to the fallen sons of Adam.
As absolutely necessary that He as Christ be God and He was God, Jesus Christ could not redeem us AS God! I want to state that again so you will get it. As absolutely necessary that He be God and He was God, Jesus Christ could not redeem us AS God!! He had to become a MAN, in the likeness of Adam to redeem all who would come from Adam’s loins! He has to be both for us to be saved today!
Some moronic movie that’s out in theaters promotes some fallacy that the Bible contains hidden codes that supposedly reveal Christ had carnal relations with Mary Magdalene as well as having earthly descendants who are alive today. This movie’s premise is a blatant attack on the DEITY and LORDSHIP of the Lord Jesus Christ seeking to remove His redemptive importance by likening Him to any other mortal man. Yet, Christ is not just any other mortal man, or just another prophet or just another philosopher as I heard one of Fox News’ bright lights claim the other night. I appreciate Fox’s fairness of news but just because one is conservative don’t mean one is born again! Christ was not just the miracle worker who did “good,” He was the SON OF GOD, come to redeem Adam’s fallen race through the shed blood of Calvary’s cross. We preach Christ and Him Crucified – to the JEW first and to the Greek second!
In our original parent, “ADAM,” when he ‘died,’ we died; when he ‘fell’ we fell. The fallen sons of Adam’s lost race are ALL “born in iniquity,” But those who come to CHRIST in faith – when He DIED, - our sinful nature died with Him!!!; when He was buried, our sinful nature was buried; when He came forth from the grave in newness of life – we came forth with Him in newness of LIFE! In ADAM ALL DIE, in CHRIST ALL who believe are made alive! That's the gospel friend! That will set the captive free from sin, self, the world and the devil!
Romans 5:17 - For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
1 Cor. 15:22 -For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
And this understanding of man's fallen condition my friend sums up the entirety of the problem of the MIDDLE EAST! I know that sounds strange to some and others may even mock saying, “well it just can’t be that simple.” You mean to tell me that something that happened nearly 6,000 years ago is the root cause of the problems we see today with the killings and slaughter of human beings? YES I do! Neighbor, the problems in Damascus, Beirut, Tehran, Baghdad and Cairo are the same problems in New Orleans, Atlanta, Boston, Houston and Miami! The reason for the hate, the malice, the envy, greed, the anger, the killings and the bombings, is not culture, education, geography, economics or social status it’s SIN! SIN, SIN, SIN is the reason we are ALL born as FALLEN sons of Adam and thus as fallen sons of Adam’s lineage we must redeemed by one in the same likeness!
The Womb of the Messiah
Genesis 12:3 - And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (THROUGH YOUR SEED).
Num 24:17 - I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
God told Abraham that the seed promised to Adam and Eve was coming through his lineage which would run through JACOB, whose surname became Israel. The Lord promised Abraham that his seed would inherit the land of the inhabitants who are ancestors of Israel’s modern enemies:
Genesis 15:18-21 - In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: [19] The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, [20] And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, [21] And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusite
Jacob on his dying bed – held the staff on his hand and leaned upon that staff and said, “The scepter shall not depart from JUDAH, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, UNTIL SHILOH comes, and the gathering of the people unto Him will be;” He prophesied the redeemer would come through the line of JUDAH:
Gen 49:10- The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be
Years later, David knelt and cried to God who replied and told David, “This SHILOH,” this Messiah, this redeemer will come through YOUR family, David, the tribe of Judah, the family of David, the descendant of Abraham.
1 Kings 2:45 - And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever.
2 Samuel 7:12 - And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
Whenever Joseph on bended knee took the hand of the teenage girl by the name of “Mary” and said, “will you be my wife;’ they were poor, the poorest of the poor, but Mary’s lineage went all the way back to Nathan, through Solomon, while Joseph’s went all the way back through to David, through Solomon. When the angel Gabriel said, “That holy thing born of you,” decreed of the Holy Spirit and they shall call His name “JESUS,’ for He shall save His people from their sins,” he blessed the Jewish people with the greatest blessing known to any race of people. Thank God for the Jewish people for it was through them the One would come that would save us all from hell itself! When Jesus met the Samaritan woman, He boldly proclaimed, “Salvation is of the JEWS!”
John 4:21-24 - Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. [22] Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
He wasn’t meaning ‘if you are a Jew, you’re automatically saved, as some erroneously teach today through what is known as dual covenant theology; He meant that THROUGH these people, Israel, the patriarchs, the prophets, the lineage of David, ABRAHAM, And Solomon, these people, the MESSIAH would through whom the only way of salvation was possible for both Jew AND Gentile would come.
Romans 9:4 - Who are Israelites; to whom pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
It’s interesting to note that to Nicodemus, a teacher of the law and highly respected member of the Jewish Sanhedrin He did not reveal His deity to, but to a Samaritan woman married five times and living with number six (she probably would not have gotten ordained or licensed to preach in 99% of most denominations in America) He declared “I AM HE!”
John 4:26 - Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
That should give us all pause to shout! He came not for the righteous, but to seek and to save that which was LOST! He didn’t come for the whole, but He came for the sick! He didn’t come to call those who didn’t needing calling to repentance, but He came for ME who was the chief of SINNERS like this Samaritan woman and for that this writer praises His Holy Name today. For that this writer bows in humble adoration and declares, “WHAT A WONDERFUL WONDERFUL SAVIOR, WHO WOULD DIE ON A CROSS FOR ME, FREELY SHEDDING ALL HIS PRECIOUS LIFE’S BLOOD, THAT THIS SINNER MAY BE SET FREE! We’re saved today because the Messiah came through the people of Israel; we have the precious word of God today because it came through Israel. Israel’s Messiah is OUR Savior – the Lord Jesus Christ, who IS JEWISH from the tribe of Judah; He’s NOT a Muslim, but a JEW! Your born again experience is because of ONE who came through the seed of those named Israelites.
Israel Lost Her Way
Romans 11:1-3 - I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. [2] God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he makes intercession to God against Israel, saying, [3] Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
Romans 11:25-28 - For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. [26] And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: [27] For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. [28] As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
Despite all that the Lord did and provided for Israel to seek after Him with all their heart, soul and mind, Israel lost their way and fell. When Christ stood before the Roman governor Pilate and he asked them “what would you have me do with this man who calls Himself the King of the Jews,” they screamed with venom: “We have no king but Caesar,” who proved to be a terrible task master. I can almost hear the screaming voices in anger and self-righteous mockery, “Let his blood be upon us and upon our children.” Those words proved sadly to be more prophetic than any human being in Jerusalem living during the days of the Crucifixion of ever dreamed of understanding. From that time on till this very moment in history as well as what is prophesied for Israel’s future the ways of Zion have and SHALL mourn!
The Jewish race has experienced persecution after persecution, pogrom after pogrom and faced total annihilation at times through men such as Josef Stalin and a demon possessed Adolph Hitler who drew up plans for “the final solution,” that he implemented through Germany’s holocaust of nearly 6 million Jews.
A liberal lawyer from the Anti-Jewish Defamation league very recently asked in a smug way the question to a well-known evangelist over a nationally syndicated radio program, “you are equating with the problems in Israel today with what happened 2,000 years ago? Is that the kind of God you talk about?” The host evangelist was not being unkind but pointed out that the religious of Israel acting in proxy for the nation in Jesus’ day said “We want Caesar,” and “let His blood be on us,” basically in effect telling God Almighty, “we don’t want you.” This same Jewish lawyer retorted back “We had nothing to do with that ‘thing’ 2,000 years ago.”
Let the reader be clear that it’s not that God willfully pours judgment out on Jews, but when they took their hands outside of the hands of God, they have left themselves to the hands of Satan and the world.” Israel’s problem is over Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit through Paul the Apostle said Christ is a “STUMBLINGBLOCK” to the Jews!
1 Cor. 1:21-25 - For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. [22] For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: [23] But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; [24] But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. [25] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
To the Jews, the message of the Cross is a stumbling block, to the Gentile world, the message of the Cross is “foolishness.”
Benjamin Netanyahu, former Prime Minister of Israel, was asked years back why the Moslem world hated Christians along with their hatred of Jews. His reply may shock you being Mr. Netanyahu, as fine a leader and man Israel has ever had in the natural, is not a professed Christian, stated, “The Moslems hate you (CHRISTIANS) because of Jesus Christ and they hate us (JEWS) because we are the seed of Abraham.”
Israel’s Fall Is A Warning To The Church
Romans 11:25 - For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
Paul equated the attitude of Israel toward Christ as “blindness,” of the heart and mind, warning the CHURCH that Israel fell because they experienced this blindness because they sought to establish their own righteousness.
Romans 11:22 - Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Talking to the church Paul made it clear that if God did not spare His own people, why do we think in the modern church world He’ll spare us as Gentiles if we go about establishing our own righteousness as Israel tried to do?
Romans 10:1-3 - Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. [2] For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. [3] For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Israel in willful ignorance rejected the path to God’s righteousness through repentance and the blood of Jesus through the Cross and tried to establish their own righteousness; the CHURCH IS DOING THE SAME THING TODAY! Any other way to God except through the Cross will cause men to be LOST because instead of producing God’s righteousness it will produce SELF righteousness. Israel fell because they refused God’s righteousness and sought their “own” righteousness instead of believing in CHRIST, who gives spotless, pure, white righteousness to ALL who believe in what He did at the Cross! Israel’s problem is blindness today and it’s the problem of modern day church. Paul said in Romans 11:25 that this blindness has happened in “part,” until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in!
America is a Gentile nation trying to help Israel at the present time finds its way out this conflict that by all indications has put her in a place where she does not know what to do! Israel will find herself squeezed more and more as the days and weeks and months progress until she first turns to Antichrist, but eventually she will TURN to God. She will become more pressed in the manner she is pressed today with no solution; whatever accord they sign with this current conflict will not be worth the paper it’s written on. You can’t eradicate hatred in the hearts of the Arabs with ink. It takes blood. Unfortunately, the Arab world thinks it takes Jewish blood to secure peace as many Arab leaders want Israel eradicated and pushed into the Mediterranean Sea. It’s amazing how through war Israel does not target civilians and when one incident takes place the world erupts in violence and threats of death. When a Hezbollah rocket hits a Jewish city and Jewish women and children there is absolute SILENCE on the same streets where rioting and protests took place the day before.
In a way the Arab world is half right! The price for peace in the Middle East IS Jewish blood – the BLOOD of the JEWISH MESSIAH, JESUS CHRIST! And His blood can cure the hatred in the hearts of men.
The Ways of Zion Are About To Mourn
Lament. 1:4-5 - The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. [5] Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
Israel is about to mourn again in these last days. It’s already in the works; the preparation is being made for the rise of a man called the Antichrist who will make His world debut with a cataclysmic settlement to cause the world to breathe a sigh of relief between Israel and the Moslems.
He will “confirm,” Daniel says, a covenant, for seven-years, which will stick for 3 ½ years into the Tribulation. Israel will build her Temple she weeps for today, and declare the Antichrist as her messiah and decry this Jesus Christ as an impostor.
Daniel 9:27 -And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate
This man of sin will be hailed as one who’s brought an elusive peace between Jews and Moslems and the powder keg of the Middle East will be extinguished for a short time; When the signatures are laid out on the table and the man of sin signs his name many, even in the apostate church that will on earth at the time, will proclaim Him as Israel’s Messiah and the World will “wonder” after the beast; Ezekiel calls him spiritually “Gog,” John calls him spiritually “the beast.”
Rev. 13:4 - And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Ezekiel 38:1-3 - And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, [3] And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
Then when the world breathes its sigh of relief destruction will hit this world as travail upon a pregnant woman, according to the Holy Spirit through Paul:
1 Thes. 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
The Antichrist will break the covenant he’s confirmed with Israel, invade Jerusalem and Israel will be defeated militarily for the first time in her history. Jesus said at that point in time when the abomination of desolation stands in the Temple and declares himself to be God, GREAT tribulation will envelope the world which will see the birth pangs become all out travail of earth’s darkest hour. Jesus said no other time in history past, present or future will compare to it:
Matthew 24:21 - For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Jeremiah, the writer of our text in Lamentations, declares it to be the time of Jacob’s trouble.
Jeremiah 30:7 - Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
Jeremiah prophetically declares this time through these lamentations cited on Israel’s Tisha B’AV celebrations each year that will become reality during this time of Tribulation:
Lament. 1:4-5 -The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. [5] Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
Israel’s gates will become desolate; her priests are going to sigh; the virgins will be afflicted and she will BE in bitterness. Her adversary the Antichrist will be the chief and for a season her enemies shall prosper. The Lord will press her even more than she is being pressed today for the multitude of her transgressions. Daniel said the tribulation’s purpose is to “finish the transgression,” which in type was the same thing Jeremiah prophesied through his lamentation of mourning for Zion:
Dan 9:24- Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
As Antichrist enters with his troops into the valley of Megiddo, Israel will be pushed back; half of Jerusalem will fall as hand to hand combat, street to street, house to house will break out. Israel will frantically call for help, yet no one will answer; ‘her children going into captivity before the enemy.’ (1:5)
Zechariah saw a similar future for Zion:
Zech. 14:1-3 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.
None To Comfort, Tears On Israel’s Cheeks:
Lamentations 1:2 - She weeps sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
Jeremiah says Israel will weep “sore in the night,” as the tears of her travail will run down her cheeks. NONE will be there to comfort her and her “friends,” will deal treacherously with her; they are become her enemies. As I read those words I cannot help but wander if America is still in existence will she still be Israel’s “friend.” The prophetic words of Jeremiah indicate that her friends will become her enemies!
As the Antichrist seeks to destroy her once and for all and do what all the Hitlers, Hamans and despots of the ages have tried but never succeeded at, it saddens me to think that America may stand on the sideline and not come to her help. This may very well be why we as a nation are not mentioned in the pages of Bible prophecy! Our downfall may be this very fact that at some point in our future we betray Israel.
Israel will weep and mourn like she has never wept and mourned. Isaiah prophetically recorded her prayers of repentance as she finally recognizes the one she placed her trust in is the real impostor and the One she crucified so long ago was the REAL Messiah. She will declare that her righteousness can no longer save her since it is “filthy rags.”
Isaiah 64:1-8 - Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, [2] As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causes the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! [3] When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. [4] For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. [5] Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away
Her prayer of repentance through Isaiah continues:
62:7-12 - And there is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. [8] But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. [9] Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. [10] Thy holy cities are a wilderness; Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem desolation. [11] Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. [12] Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? Wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
They ask “Lord, will you afflict us very sore,” (v. 12) using the exact same terminology of Jeremiah’s Lamentation of the last days when Zion will mourn. I can almost hear Israel’s cry right now as she cries to heaven: “Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation,” our beautiful house, “is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.” The ways or streets of Zion will mourn at the same Western Wall we spoke of in the first part of this journal that means so much to the modern Jew today. That wall will become Israel’s wall of mourning as she asks God one last time, “Will you refrain thyself fro these things, O Lord, will you hold your peace, and afflict us very sore.”
Ezekiel says the cries of Israel will come up into the nostrils of God and He will in FURY move to deliver her from the hands of those seeking to destroy her!
Ezekiel 38:18-23 - And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. [19] For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; [20] So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. [21] And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother. [22] And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. [23] Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Isaiah declares the Lord will “bring them back,” to himself; Paul says, “All Israel shall be saved.”
Isaiah 11:11
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.
Romans 11:25-27 - For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is
happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. [26] And so
all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the
Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: [27] For this is my
covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
All of Israel shall be saved, because the deliverer shall COME out of Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob! When it looks like all hope is lost, Israel will be saved by her Redeemer who will destroy the Antichrist with the brightness of His coming.
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:
God will bring Israel back to Himself and He can bring you back today as well. This journal has gotten lengthy and I’m going to close it here. I will pick up this theme in future messages but for now I ask you today, “are you ready for the rapture of the church?” I don’t expect to be here for all that I just spoke to you about! I’m not looking for a hole in the ground; I’m looking for a hole in the sky! I’m not looking to run and hide, I’m looking to be caught up and fly! I’m not looking for the Antichrist; I’m looking for THE Christ. I’m not looking for a cave to hide in; I’m looking for the trump of God to sound and CLOUD to ride in! GLORY TO GOD;
1 Thes- 4:16-18- For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: [17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. [18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
The trump of God is about to sound child of God. These events are warnings to us all to get ready for the rapture! Jesus is coming! His promise is “SURELY I COME QUICKLY!” SURELY, I come QUICKLY! That word “quickly,” in the GREEK means “QUICKLY!” It means “SOON,” “rapidly,”
Rev. 22:1-21 He which testifies these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
From Our 2002 Messianic Screensaver Collection - Like A Copy of This To Help You Pray For Israel? Email Us
Taken just days ago near Tel Aviv; Soldiers Mourn Loss Of Comrades In Fierce Fighting Taking Place 8-8-06
Pray for the entire Middle East! It's getting late friend and it's harvest time