GOD’S FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY TO ISRAEL SINCE THE TIME OF CHRIST

By

Thomas S. McCall Th.D.

We often hear of Bible prophecy as it relates to the First and Second Coming of Christ, which is very important, but there is much more Bible prophecy concerning what the Lord is doing between the two Advents of Jesus during the Church Age. These prophecies specifically pertain to God’s ancient covenant people, Israel, and His new covenant people, the Church. This article explains God’s preservation of, and promises to the Jewish people throughout the Church Age, in preparation for the ultimate restoration of Israel to its own Kinsman Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. The prophecies will be grouped under two headings; first, those that have already been fulfilled during the Church Age, and second, the end time prophecies yet to be fulfilled during the Church Age.

Bible Prophecies About Israel Fulfilled During The Church Age

The Nation of Israel will be preserved intact until the Second Coming of Christ and through the Millennial Kingdom.

Jeremiah 31:35-37

³⁵ Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: ³⁶ “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.”³⁷Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off al the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the Lord (NSAB).

The Lord said to Jeremiah that He would always view the Nation of Israel as His, no matter what the circumstances on this earth are, or what they have done.

Jerusalem would be the Cradle of Christianity

Acts 1:8

⁸ but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth (NASB).

Christ Himself prophesied all of this, and Israel played a large role in the creation of the Church. The Church began in Jerusalem, with thousands of believers on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost, and spread from there to the ends of the earth. The invitation to become believers in Christ joins each believer to the Church, and is still developing today. Humanly speaking, if the Jewish believers had not started the Church, there would never have been a worldwide church.

The Jewish Apostles Built The Church on The Foundation of Christ

Ephesians 2:19 – 22

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit (NASB).

Paul explains in the book of Ephesians that the church is a bifurcated organism, composed of two parts: Jewish believers and Gentile believers. In effect, a church without Gentile believers is incomplete, and a church without Jewish believers is incomplete. They are like a bird with two wings, both wings necessary to enable the bird to fly.

The New Testament Was Written by Jews

Romans 3:1

¹ Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all , that they were entrusted with the oracles of God (NASB).

Furthermore, God’s plan is that when He has a message for the human race, He has always had it written down by Jewish hands, both for the Old and New Testaments. Some say that Dr. Luke was a Gentile, but I am convinced that there are many cogent arguments to support the fact that Luke was a Jew. (A more detailed discussion regarding Luke’s Jewishness can be found on the blog article I wrote on this subject.[1]). Throughout its 4,000-year history, Israel has frequently been a “lost” nation, just like the rest of the nations who turned away from God. However, there has always been a minority, a remnant, in Israel that has looked forward in faith to the coming Redeemer Christ, or who have looked back in faith to the first coming of their Redeemer Christ.

A Remnant in Elijah’s Time

Romans 11:2-4

² God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ³ “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” ⁴ But what is God’s response to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt to Baal.” (NASB)

A Remnant in The Church Age

Romans 11:5-7

⁵ In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.⁶But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.⁷ What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened (NASB).

The Bible declared that the Lord wanted the Gospel to be given to the Jews first throughout the Church Age. This was the priority of all evangelism during the Church Age, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile:

Romans 1:16

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (NASB).

The Lord’s desire prophesied in both Testaments was for the Gospel of Christ, in every generation, to be delivered to the Jews first, and then it would proceed out to the greater Gentile population. Regrettably, after the first century, this was rarely the case. The Church did not carry this out as the Lord desired.

The Synagogue Was the Natural Place For The Gospel to Be Taught

Acts 17:1-4

¹ Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonian, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ² And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³ explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” ⁴ And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a great multitude of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women (NASB).

The Lord Jesus taught in the synagogues (Luke 4:15, 13:10; Matthew 4:23,13:10). The synagogue was an institution that developed during the Babylonian exile, and was a place where Jews gathered for worship, study, and prayer. For the exiles in Babylon it served as a replacement for the Temple. It grew in importance over the years, and by the time of Paul’s missionary journeys they populated the entire Roman Empire.

Judgment on Israel, Jerusalem and The Temple in 70 A.D.

Matthew 23:33-39

³³ “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell ? ³⁴ “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, ³⁵ that upon you may fall the guilt of al the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ “Truly I say to you, al these things shall come upon this generation. ³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. ³⁸ “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! ³⁹ “For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (NASB)

There is no question that a terrible judgment fell upon Israel for not recognizing and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Messiah and Redeemer. The Temple was destroyed and as a result the Jewish people have been scattered over the entire earth for hundreds and hundreds of years. Nevertheless, as the Bible tells us this judgment will not last forever. The end to the judgment will come when all Israel as a nation recognizes that the Jesus they despised has always been their true Messiah. They are not corporately ready to do that today. One must ask the question, what will cause them to do this? Sadly, it appears that the only thing that will accomplish this will be the awful experience with the future Antichrist and the Old Testament designation of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, known in the New Testament as the Great Tribulation. Then, and only then, will Israel be eager, willing, and able to receive Jesus, and welcome Him as the one whom the Bible says will come in the Name of the Lord.

Persecution of Israel Throughout The World

Jesus further prophesied the following:

The results of what would happen to Jerusalem and Israel as a consequence of their rejecting His Messiahship as well as His redemptive kingdom.

Within 40 years the Romans would surround the capital, destroy the Temple.

The Jewish people would be scattered in captivity throughout the Gentile world.

Luke 21:20-24

²⁰ “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. ²¹ “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; ²² because these are days of vengeance, in order that al things which are written may be fulfilled. ²³ “Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people,²⁴and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (NASB).

The Church Turns Against Israel With Replacement Theology

After the First Century, John Chrysostom, one of the early anti-Semitic Church fathers (349 – 407 A.D.), developed the theology that the Church has replaced Israel, and there is no future for Israel in God’s plan and purpose, resulting in the church turning against the Jewish people and becoming anti-Semitic.[2] This is in direct opposition to Paul’s prophetic warned using imagery of the Olive Tree as God’s blessing, and telling the Gentile believers not to become conceited and boast against the “natural branches”, since the natural branches are Israel who were chosen first to receive God’ divine blessing. Paul warned what would happen if they pursued such an erroneous doctrine:

Romans 11:17-21

¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”²⁰ Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; ²¹ for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you (NASB).

Abandonment of Jewish Evangelism by the Church

Romans 11:11

¹¹ I say then, they [the Jews] did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous (NASB, clarification added).

The purpose of salvation coming to the Gentiles during the Church Age was not to obliterate Israel. Rather, it was meant to cause the Jewish people to be amazed that Gentiles were coming to faith in the God of Abraham, that they believed the Jewish Bible, and were drawn to knowing the Jewish Messiah in order to receive eternal life through Him. This was to cause the Jews to want all these things themselves. But the Church turned its back on the Jew, and was even instrumental in the persecution of the Jews through much of Church history.

The Church rejected the Biblical teaching of the future of Israel by 500 A.D.

The Carthaginian theologian Augustine at first was a Chiliast (premillennialist), but was converted to amillennialism, and by the time he visited Rome no longer believed in the future of Israel. He then popularized Replacement Theology, which replaces the Jews with the Church as God’s chosen people, and made it the dominant doctrine of Christianity to this day. This was in direct contradiction to the admonition to the Church about Israel by the Apostle Paul:

Romans 11:25-26

²⁵ For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; ²⁶ and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” ²⁷ “And this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins” (NASB).

CONTINUED IN PART II

[1] http://doctorwoodhead.com/was-luke-a-jew-or-a-gentile/

[2] Allen, Pauline, Wendy Mayer. John Chrysostom. London: Routledge, 2000.

 

FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY TO ISRAEL Part II

GOD’S FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY TO ISRAEL SINCE THE TIME OF CHRIST Part II

By

Thomas S. McCall Th.D.

 

End Time Prophecies About Israel Fulfilled During The Church Age

God Preserves The Jews, Their Identity And Culture in Spite of Persecution

Psalm 121:4

⁴ Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep (NASB).

There were prophecies in the Old and New Testament discussing the future restoration of Israel, with a descendant of David sitting on his throne. The disciples also are assured they will rule over the tribes of Israel when the Son of Man sits on His throne:

Jeremiah 33:17

¹⁷ “For thus says the LORD, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.’” (NASB)

Luke 1:31-33

³¹ “And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end” (NASB).

Ezekiel 37:12-14

¹² Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, ¹⁴ And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD (NASB).

Matthew 19:28

²⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (NASB).

Jewish and Christian Zionism

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares that a State of Israel would not be possible without Christian Zionists. Throughout the centuries there have always been Jewish people who believed in the restoration of Israel, with the hope of meeting together “next year in Jerusalem.” However, it was not until the 1890s that Theodore Hertzl organized the First Zionist Congress in Switzerland, and the vague hope of restoration became a practical reality. How did this happen? The answer to this development lies in the little known relationship between certain key individuals, now known as Christian Zionists, and their counterparts in the Jewish Zionists movement.

Around 1700 A.D. Among the earliest Christian Zionists (who were sometimes called Restorationists) was the American Puritan pastor Increase Mather who wrote The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation. By reading the prophecies of the future of Israel, he rediscovered the Biblical teachings of Christian Zionism. He described the mystery as follows: “The scope of this Treatise is to hold forth the calling of the Jews, their reduction into their own Land, and the glorious estate of the Church which shall then be.” [1]

Later, in the mid 1800s, J. N. Darby and others studied the same prophecies and developed the Powers Court Prophecy Conferences. A rediscovery and reaffirmation of the future of Israel, the Rapture of the Church, Dispensationalism, and Christian Zionism were the products of these intensive Bible studies.

One of the main passages reaffirming Israel’s return to the land is the “Vision of the Dry Bones” found in Ezekiel 37. This describes the process of a vast amount of dry human bones coming together, forming skeletons, and then flesh coming over the skeletons making dead bodies. Finally, the Sprit of God blows over the bodies, and brings them to life. The Lord explains this vision of the Dry Bones as being the Nation of Israel being restored and replaced in its own Land in the end times:

 

Ezekiel 37:1-10

¹ The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. ² And He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. ³ And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, Thou knowest.” ⁴ Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’ ⁵ “Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. ⁶ ‘And I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.’” ⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”‘” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life, and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army (NASB).

Theodore Herzl And William Hechler

Many people are aware that Theodore Herzl was the founder of Zionism in the 1890s, but few know about his critical relationship with William Hechler. Hechler was the son of a German father and a British mother who became an Anglican minister and was assigned as a chaplain to the British Embassy in Vienna, Austria. He was an avid student of Bible prophecy, deeply involved in the Dispensational movement in Britain, and a close friend of Sir Robert Anderson. By reading Anderson’s book, The Coming Prince, Hechler was aware of Christ’s prophesied triumphal entry on Palm Sunday into Jerusalem, which conclusively demonstrated the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Sir Anderson was a serious Bible student, as well as being the head of the famed Scotland Yard, the premier British detective bureau in London.

While serving in the British Embassy in Vienna, Hechler soon learned of Theodore Herzl, who was trying to organize a movement so that Jews could return to Israel. He was having little success because he had no significant connections. When Herzl first met Hechler, he thought he was somewhat of a religious eccentric, but gradually realized that this Christian chaplain was just as serious about Jewish restoration as he was.

Furthermore, Hechler had connections. He knew a German Duke who knew the German monarch, Kaiser Wilhelm. Hechler was able to get the Kaiser and Herzl together and they agreed to pursue the Zionist cause. Next the Kaiser met with the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and later a subsequent meeting between the Kaiser and Herzl took place in Jerusalem. There was considerable confusion surrounding these meetings, but the London press reported that the events provided a strong advance for the cause and organization of the Zionist movement. By 1900 many of the Jews of Europe had adopted the Zionist Movement.

The strange irony in all of this was that the German monarch was the first European head of state to give formal recognition to Zionism, in part through the efforts of the little known Christian Zionist, William Hechler. Yet this was the same country that turned so violently against the Jewish people a few decades later under Hitler and the Holocaust.

CHAIM WEITZMAN AND SIR ARTHUR BALFOUR

 

 

The next major advance in Zionism came at the end of World War I. Weitzman was a German Jewish chemist who moved to Britain, and discovered a high powered explosive that was able to end the trench warfare stalemate, and allow the Allies to defeat the German army. Weitzman was also a committed Zionist, and was a good friend of Foreign Minister Lord Arthur Balfour. Balfour was a Scottish Presbyterian, who had learned the Old Testament as his mother’s knee, and was a Christian Zionist at heart.

The British government wanted to show its appreciation to Weitzman for his vital assistance during the War, so Weitzman and Balfour composed what has come to be known as the Balfour Declaration in 1917. [2]

In 1917 Britain issued the Balfour Declaration encouraging Jews to return to the Land.

Foreign Office

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations, which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur James Balfour

This document allowed Jews to return to the Land with the blessing of the British government, which was now in control of the British Mandate of Palestine. What had been a trickle of Jewish immigrants now became a veritable stream of Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe and Russia fleeing the turmoil of the Communist revolution. Once again, it was the collaboration between a Jewish Zionist and a Christian Zionist in the right place, at the right time that brought about this advance.

In 1925 the League of Nations ratified the San Remo Treaty recognizing Palestine as the Jewish home. The British were granted authority, called The Mandate, over Palestine. The actual administration of the Mandate was called the Mandatory.

The Mandatory was to be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 8, 1917, by the British Government, and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine as the national home for the Jewish people. It was clearly understood that nothing should be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

Specific Biblical Prophecies Regarding Israel’s Return

The prophet Ezekiel received prophecies regarding the future for Israel in “the last days”. Some of these focused on the period after the Great Tribulation such as the thirty-seventh chapter when they would be restored to the Land because then they will have believed in the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. This is commonly referred to as the “valley of dry bones” prophecy described earlier. Other prophecies Ezekiel received from God made it quite clear that the Jews would be in the Land as a nation before they experienced a national repentance and restoration:

Ezekiel 20: 33-38

³³“As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. ³⁴            “I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; ³⁵ and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. ³⁶“As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord God. ³⁷ “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; ³⁸ and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the Lord (NASB).

The Lord is giving this prophecy to Israel used the Exodus as an illustration of what He is going to do in the future. Much in the same way God led them out of the persecutions by the Egyptians, and moved them into the Promised Land, He declares He would do it again. Looking back in time and remembering that this prophecy was given in the sixth century before Christ, it is clear that He has already done that prior to this day (2015).

This time, though, God interestingly says that He will bring them out from “the peoples” and gather them from the countries (plural) where they have been. Since 586 B.C. they have been scattered throughout the countries of the world. Almighty God began regathering them out of all the countries in the world in the late 1800’s, which is known as the Zionist movement. They were persecuted in many of the nations in which they lived and wanted a safe homeland. The judgment described must be significant in order to make it into the biblical text. The most serious judgment He brought on them was the Nazi holocaust when six million Jews were destroyed in the Nazi’s genocide of the Jews. This set the stage for world sympathy, which led to them becoming a nation. The regathering, though, was in unbelief. We can see in the passage cited above that this regathering, “is with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.” This is God saying to the Nation Israel, and repeating it twice, that He gathers them out of wrath and for wrath. The term “outstretched arm” means that God is exercising His wrath. This is coming from wrath, and then going into wrath. The wrath that He leads them from is the Nazi persecution. He brought them into the Land as a sovereign nation while still in unbelief. They will live as a nation for a while in unbelief until the Great Tribulation when the Antichrist will declare himself god and initiate the worst persecution the Jews will have ever seen. After that final wrath they will turn to Him and accept Christ as their Messiah. But from the Nazi Holocaust to the Great Tribulation there will be a period where they will have residence in the Land, but not be spiritually regenerated as a nation. In other words, God will not be their God; and Christ will not be their Messiah. Nevertheless, God loves them. Because He loves them, and made promises to their patriarchal ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He will give them the Land they have been guaranteed. God’s promises are always kept, and there are no exceptions.

 

The second passage is found in Ezekiel chapter twenty-two and further describes the issue of being in the Land, but in unbelief:

Ezekiel 22: 17-22

¹⁷ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver. ¹⁹ “Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰‘As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you there and melt you. ²¹‘I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. ²²‘As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out My wrath on you.’ (NASB).

In this passage the prophet Ezekiel is given God’s Word describing a regathering of the Jews to Jerusalem. Here God describes the fact that they are far from Him as He characterizes their spiritual condition like the impurities in metallurgical processing. Dross is the burn-off of the undesirables, while the metal is purified through the consistent application of a high temperature fire. Fire is used in the Bible to refer to the refinement process God uses to bring those that He has chosen into submission to His will. This is exactly how He describes what He will do to them in the future for the purpose of purifying them. But for the purposes of identification and setting the chronology of this verse, it is when they have gathered in the Land and before the judgment. So today they in the Land regathered from the various nations throughout the world and Jerusalem is their capital. This is where this judgment will take place. So they are back in the Land in unbelief not realizing that their judgment is coming. Although there are several more passages that could be cited to confirm that God has brought them back into the Land in unbelief, the last passage that will be referenced is located in Zephaniah chapter two.

Zephaniah 2: 1-2

¹ Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame, ² Before the decree takes effect—The day passes like the chaff—Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you (NASB).

Again the text says that they are gathering together as a nation but they have no shame. This means that they are not recognizing their sinful ways. Therefore, they are gathered together in unbelief. They will receive the judgment meted out by the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation referred to here as the “day of the Lord’s anger”. This is the most common form of reference to the Great Tribulation in the Old Testament. The Tribulation will begin with the signing of a seven-year covenant between the Antichrist and the Nation Israel. So since begins before the Tribulation, we can assume that there are Jewish political leaders in a Jewish State. The Jewish State does exist, they are back in the Land in unbelief, and they don’t realize it now, but their judgment and refinement is nearing its time.

 

After the Nazi persecution Jewish refugees fled to the Land and established the revived sovereign State of Israel in May of 1948. Since then Israel has been attacked numerous times and miraculously survived. Ezekiel chapters 20 and 22 prophesied that Israel would return from their dispersion throughout the earth’s the nations. In Ezekiel chapter 37 the regathering was a process described beginning with Dry Bones. At present there are seven million Jews in Israel. This represents approximately half of the Jews in the world. At present there are reported to be 15,000 Israeli believers in Christ, continuing “the remnant”. Some Israelis know the Bible teaches that a future Temple will be built, and are making preparations for it to include re-establishing the priesthood and a governing body known as the Sanhedrin.

End Time Prophecies About Israel After The Rapture of The Church

After the Rapture of the Church, 144,000 Jews will be saved and sealed as God’s evangelists during the Tribulation:

 

Revelation 7:3-4

³ saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴ And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel (NASB).

A Seven Year Treaty is Ratified Between Unbelieving Israel and The Antichrist

Daniel 9:27

²⁷ “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate” (NASB).

At The End of The Tribulation The Surviving Jews Will Receive Christ and be Saved

Zechariah 12:10

¹⁰ “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born” (NASB).

Romans 11:25-27

²⁵ For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; ²⁶ and thus al Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” ²⁷ “And this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins” (NASB).

Israel will have a prominent role in the Millennial Kingdom

Isaiah 14:1-2

¹ When the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and again choose Israel, and settle them in their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. ² And the peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the LORD as male servants and female servants; and they will take their captors captive, and will rule over their oppressors (NASB).

Revelation 20:6

⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years (NASB).

 Conclusion

Some have erroneously thought that Israel has dropped off the divine radar since the First Coming of Christ, and that there is no present or future for the Jewish people. This article has presented the evidence that there are many prophecies in the Old and New Testaments that describe the tragic dispersion of the Jewish people, their miraculous preservation throughout the Church Age, and their equally miraculous restoration of Israel as a nation among the family of nations. Jewish Zionists and Christian Zionists have played a significant role over the past few centuries in these remarkable developments.

[1] Mather, Increase, The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation Explained and Applied, Publisher John Allen, London, 1669.

[2] Sachar, Howard M. A History of Israel From The Rise of Zionism to Our Time, 2^nd Ed. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf New NY 2006 pg.109.