THE PLACE OF ISRAEL IN THE END TIMES, PART ONE
MATTHEW 24:32-35
A CRUCIAL ELEMENT IN STUDYING ABOUT THE LAST DAYS BEFORE THE ETERNAL KINGDOM IS ESTABLISHED IS THAT OF THE ROLE OF ISRAEL. THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THE NATION OF ISRAEL HAS ALWAYS HAD A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE PLAN OF GOD AS HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE. WHILE THE NATION OF ISRAEL HAS ONLY BEEN RE-ESTABLISHED SINCE 1948, GOD HAS HAD COVENANT RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE JEWISH PEOPLE AS FAR BACK AS THE BOOK OF GENESIS. THESE COVENANT RELATIONSHIPS ARE PERMANENT IN NATURE AND BASED ON CONDITIONS OF FAITHFULNESS.
THE RISE OF THE ISRAEL AS A NATION CAN HELP US TO ESTABLISH A TIMELINE FOR THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF THE LORD, BUT CAUTION MUST BE STRESSED HERE. TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS WILL HAVE TO BE ADDRESSED WITH REGARD TO ISRAEL:
1. WHAT BOUNDARIES ARE TO BE USED TO FULFILL THIS PROPHECY?
2. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF “GENERATION”?
THE ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS WILL HELP US TO UNDERSTAND WHEN THE CLOCK OF PROPHECY EITHER BEGINS OR HAS BEGUN TO RUN IN EARNEST. RIGHT NOW OUR PROPHETIC CLOCK OF THE END TIMES RESTS AT 11:10. THIS IS ABOUT TO TAKE A DRAMATIC TURN AS WE STUDY THE ROLE OF ISRAEL.
THE STUDY OF ISRAEL’S ROLE IS VERY COMPLEX, AND I’M GOING TO DO MY BEST TO KEEP THIS SIMPLE. THERE ARE MANY THEORIES THAND VIEWS CONCERNING THE LAST DAYS, BUT WE ARE GOING TO HOLD TO THE PRE-MILLENNIAL VIEW ON THIS ISSUE. I BELIEVE IT TO BE THE MOST BIBLICALLY ACCURATE OF THE THEORIES I’VE STUDIED. THERE ARE SOME DIVISIONS CONCERNING THE TIMING OF THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, BUT THERE IS TOTAL AGREEMENT ON ALL KEY ISSUES.
THE PRE-MILLENNIAL VIEW TEACHES A LITERAL FULFILLMENT OF SCRIPTURE AND PROPHECY. IT TEACHES THAT THE RAPTURE, TRIBULATION, GLORIOUS APPEARING OF THE LORD, AND THE PROPHECIES AND CHARACTERS INVOLVED WITH THEM ARE LITERAL. IT ADVOCATES A LITERAL MEANING OF SCRIPTURE WHICH MEANS UNDERSTANDING IT IN IT’S HISTORICAL AND GRAMMATICAL CONTEXT UNLESS A SYMBOLIC MEANING IS SUGGESTED BY THE AUTHOR. THIS MEANS FOR US THAT WHEN THE BIBLE REFERS TO ISRAEL, IT IS SPEAKING OF THE PHYSICAL NATION AND THE BLESSINGS ACCORDED TO THEM ARE LITERAL.
POINT ONE: THE RISE OF ISRAEL AS A NATION
IT IS AMAZING THAT THIS SMALL NATION WITH A POPULATION OF BTWEEN 7 AND 10 MILLION PEOPLE, AND A LAND MASS THAT IS LESS THAN THE MARITIME PROVINCES, COULD OCCUPY SUCH AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN OUR WORLD TODAY. RARELY A NIGHT PASSES THAT ISRAEL ESCAPES THE DAILY NEWSCASTS. WHILE OTHER NATIONS AND CULTURES HAVE COME AND GONE THE JEWISH HERITAGE HAS ALWAYS REMAINED AND IS ACTIVE. THERE HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN AN ISRAEL NATION, BUT THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A JEWISH PEOPLE.
THE RE-BIRTH OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL BEGAN IN 1917. WORLD WAR I WAS NOT GOING WELL FOR ENGLAND AND THEY NEEDED A WAY TO MASS PRODUCE T.N.T AND SMOKELESS GUNPOWDER AND DO SO QUICKLY.
A JEWISH SCIENTIST NAMED CHAIM WEISMANN INVENTED SUCH A FORMULA FOR THE ALLIES. BRITAIN ASKED HIM TO NAME HIS REWARD AND HE REQUESTED THAT PALESTINE BE DECLARED THE INTERNATIONAL HOMELAND FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE. THE BALFOUR DECLARATION SIGND ON NOV.02 1917, ESTABLISHED THIS.
WHILE GOD BLESSED ISRAEL WITH GROWTH DURING THESE YEARS, BRITAIN WOULD EVENTUALLY RENEGE ON THIS DECLARATION, ISSUING A WHITE PAPER STATING THEY FAVORED ARAB INDEPENDENCE AND CONTROL OF THE AREA. BRITAIN FELT IT WAS THE BEST WAY TO RESOLVE THE GROWING CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE JEWS AND THE ARABS, BUT WOULD BE TO NO AVAIL.
AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, BRITAIN WITHDREW FROM PALESTINE AS THEY COULD NOT KEEP THE PEACE BETWEEN THE ARABS AND THE JEWS.
ON MAY 14, 1948, THE NATIONAL COUNCIL AND THE GENERAL ZIONIST COUNCIL PROCLAIMED FROM TEL AVIV THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SOVEREIGN STATE OF ISRAEL. DAVID BEN GURION WAS APPOINTED PRIME MINISTER AND DR. CHAIM WEISMANN WAS ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.
BOTH THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA ANNOUNCED RECOGNITION OF THE NEW NATION, AND AFTER MUCH DEBATE ISRAEL WAS ACCEPTED AS A MEMBER NATION BY A VOTE OF 37 TO 12. AND THE NATION OF ISRAEL WAS FORMALLY RECOGNIZED BY THE WORLD.
THIS FULFILLS THE PROPHECY OF EZEKIEL WHICH STATES:
EZEKIEL 37:7-12; 21-23:
SO I PROPHESIED AS I WAS COMMANDED. AND AS I WAS PROPHESYING, THERE WAS A NOISE, A RATTLING SOUND, AND THE BONES CAME TOGETHER, BONE TO BONE. 8 I LOOKED, AND TENDONS AND FLESH APPEARED ON THEM 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 IT, ‘THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: COME, BREATH, FROM THE FOUR WINDS AND BREATHE INTO THESE SLAIN, THAT THEY MAY LIVE.’ ” 10 SO I PROPHESIED AS HE COMMANDED ME, AND BREATH ENTERED THEM; THEY CAME TO LIFE AND STOOD UP ON THEIR FEET—A VAST ARMY. 11 THEN HE SAID TO ME: “SON OF MAN, THESE BONES ARE THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. THEY SAY, ‘OUR BONES ARE DRIED UP AND OUR HOPE IS GONE; WE ARE CUT OFF.’ 12 THEREFORE PROPHESY AND SAY TO THEM: ‘THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: MY PEOPLE, I AM GOING TO OPEN YOUR GRAVES AND BRING YOU UP FROM THEM; I WILL BRING YOU BACK TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL.
21 THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: I WILL TAKE THE ISRAELITES OUT OF THE NATIONS WHERE THEY HAVE GONE. I WILL GATHER THEM FROM ALL AROUND AND BRING THEM BACK INTO THEIR OWN LAND. 22 I WILL MAKE THEM ONE NATION IN THE LAND, ON THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL. THERE WILL BE ONE KING OVER ALL OF THEM AND THEY WILL NEVER AGAIN BE TWO NATIONS OR BE DIVIDED INTO TWO KINGDOMS. 23 THEY WILL NO LONGER DEFILE THEMSELVES WITH THEIR IDOLS AND VILE IMAGES OR WITH ANY OF THEIR OFFENSES, FOR I WILL SAVE THEM FROM ALL THEIR SINFUL BACKSLIDING, Z AND I WILL CLEANSE THEM. THEY WILL BE MY PEOPLE, AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD.
POINT TWO: THE COVENANT RELATIONSHIP
WHILE ISRAEL ONLY RECENTLY BECAME A NATION, IT’S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AS HIS “CHOSEN PEOPLE” BEGINS IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS AND HAS NEVER ENDED. THE BIBLE RECORDS THREE SPECIAL COVENANTS THAT GOD ENTERS INTO WITH HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE:
A) THE ABRAMHAMIC COVENANT
B) THE DAVIDIC COVENANT
C) THE NEW COVENANT A) PRESENT
B) FUTURE
THE COMMON ELEMENTS OF ALL THESE COVENANTS IS THAT THEY ARE UNCONDITIONAL ON OUR PART AND EVERLASTING AND PERMANENT ON GOD’S. THIS MEANS THAT WHILE ISRAEL AS A PEOPLE DID NOT RECOGNIZE JESUS AS THE MESSIAH, GOD DID NOT ABANDON HIS COVENANT AGREEMENT WITH THEM.
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT:
GENESIS 12:1-3:
THE LORD HAD SAID TO ABRAM, “GO FROM YOUR COUNTRY, YOUR PEOPLE AND YOUR FATHER’S HOUSEHOLD TO THE LAND I WILL SHOW YOU. 2 “I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION, AND I WILL BLESS YOU; I WILL MAKE YOUR NAME GREAT, AND YOU WILL BE A BLESSING. 3 I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU, AND WHOEVER CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE; AND ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH WILL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOU.”
I AM SURE THAT THIS PASSAGE IS FAMILIAR TO MANY OF YOU, AS WE HEAR IT OFTEN IN REFERENCE TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL, PARTICULARLY V.3.
IT IS HERE THAT GOD PROMISES TO MAKE A GREAT NATION FROM ABRAHAM’S LINE. HE WILL LATER CONFIRM THIS IN GENESIS 13.
GENESIS 13:4-7:
THE LORD SAID TO ABRAM AFTER LOT HAD PARTED FROM HIM, “LOOK AROUND FROM WHERE YOU ARE, TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH, TO THE EAST AND WEST. 15 ALL THE LAND THAT YOU SEE I WILL GIVE TO YOU AND YOUR OFFSPRING FOREVER. 16 I WILL MAKE YOUR OFFSPRING LIKE THE DUST OF THE EARTH, SO THAT IF ANYONE COULD COUNT THE DUST, THEN YOUR OFFSPRING COULD BE COUNTED. 17 GO, WALK THROUGH THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF THE LAND, FOR I AM GIVING IT TO YOU.”
ABRAHAM IS PROMISED TO BE THE FATHER OF A GREAT NATION, A POPULATION THAT IS COMPARED TO THE DUST OF THE EARTH, AND THE STARS OF HEAVEN. GOD PROMISES HIS PERSONAL BLESSINGS ON ABRAHAM. MOST JEWISH PEOPLE WHEN TRACING THEIR LINEAGE, LIKE TO GET IT AS FAR BACK AS THEY CAN, HOPEFULLY ALL THE WAY BACK TO ABRAHAM. WHEN MATTHEW STARTS HIS GENEOLOGY IN CHAPTER ONE, HE STARTS IT WITH ABRAHAM. ALL OF THIS HAS COME TO PASS AND CONTINUES TO BE FULFILLED.
THIS PROMISE IS ALSO MADE TO ABRAHAMS SEED. THE NATION IS PROMISED IT’S LAND WITH BOUNDARIES GIVEN IN DETAIL.
GENESIS 15:18-21:
18 ON THAT DAY THE LORD MADE A COVENANT WITH ABRAM AND SAID, “TO YOUR DESCENDANTS I GIVE THIS LAND, FROM THE WADI OF EGYPT TO THE GREAT RIVER, THE EUPHRATES—19 THE LAND OF THE KENITES, KENIZZITES, KADMONITES, 20 HITTITES, PERIZZITES, REPHAITES, 21 AMORITES, CANAANITES, GIRGASHITES AND JEBUSITES.”
THESE BOUNDARIES ARE EVERLASTING IN NATURE.
GENESIS 17:7-8:
I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT AS AN EVERLASTING COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS AFTER YOU FOR THE GENERATIONS TO COME, TO BE YOUR GOD AND THE GOD OF YOUR DESCENDANTS AFTER YOU. 8 THE WHOLE LAND OF CANAAN, WHERE YOU NOW RESIDE AS A FOREIGNER, I WILL GIVE AS AN EVERLASTING POSSESSION TO YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS AFTER YOU; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD.”
SO THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT GUARANTEES THE EVERLASTING CONTINUANCE OF THE SEED OF ISRAEL AND IT’S EVERLASTING POSSESSION OF THE LAND.
THE PREMILLENNIAL VIEW RECOGNIZES A SPIRITUAL AS WELL AS A NATURAL SEED OF ABRAHAM. GALATAINS 3:7 AND 29 AS WELL AS ROMANS 9:8, ALL SPEAK OF A SPIRITUAL SEED OF ABRAHAM TO WHICH WE AS GENTILES MAY BELONG. THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT SENSES IN WHICH ONE CAN BE A CHILD OF ABRAHAM:
1. THERE IS NATURAL LINEAGE, OR NATURAL SEED. THIS IS LIMITED TO JACOB’S DESCENDANTS.
2. THERE IS A SPIRITUAL LINEAGE WITHIN THE NATURAL. THESE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVED IN GOD, KEPT THE LAW, AND MET THE CONDITIONS FOR THE PRESENT ENJOYMENT OF THE BLESSINGS OF COVENANT.
3. THERE IS THE SPIRITUAL SEED OF ABRAHAM, THOSE WHO ARE NOT NATURAL ISRAELITES. HEREIN IS THE PROMISE TO ALL FAMILIES OF THE EARTH.
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT THEN IS A COVENANT WHOSE ONLY CONDITION WAS MET WHEN ABRAHAM ACTED ON FAITH AND WENT AS GOD DIRECTED. IT IS A COVENANT FOR ALL PEOPLE TO BECOME EITHER A SPIRITUAL OR NATURAL PART OF THE SEED OF ABRAHAM, AND IT IS A COVENANT THAT SETS OUT ISRAEL AS GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE, PROMISING A PERMANENT AND EVERLASTING RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM, PART OF WHICH IS THEIR OWN HOMELAND.
GENESIS 12:3: I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU, AND WHOEVER CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE; AND ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH WILL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOU.
THE UNITED STATES UNDER DONALD TRUMP HAS BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL. THE MOVING OF THE AMERICAN EMBASSY FROM TEL AVIV TO JERUSALEM IS A STRONG SHOWING OF SUPPORT BY THE AMERICANS.
WHILE THE UNITED STATES IS MAKING THE RIGHT MOVES IN SUPPORTING ISRAEL, ONE SHOULD NOT THINK THE NATION WILL BE BLESSED AS A RESULT. THE UNITED STATES AND REALLY ALL OF NORTH AMERICA IN GENERAL HAVE TAKEN GREAT STRIDES AWAY FROM GOD, AND WHILE THIS IS ENCOURAGING, THERE NEEDS TO BE MANY MORE POSITIVE STEPS BEFORE BLESSING WILL OCCUR.
THIS IS A LESSON FOR OUR SPIRITUAL WALK ALSO. WE CAN BE STRONG IN ONE AREA OF OUR FAITH BUT NOT IN OTHERS. THE LORD WILL ONLY BLESS THOSE WHOSE WALK CONSISTANTLY WITH HIM.
IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT WHILE THE UNITED STATES IS SUPPORTING ISRAEL NOW, THIS WILL NOT CONTINUE. THE SCRIPTURES POINT OUT THAT IN THE LAST DAYS ISRAEL WILL STAND ALONE AGAINST THE FORCES OF THE WORLD, WITH ONLY DIRECT INTERVENTION FROM GOD THE ONLY WAY THEY WILL BE SAVED.
NEXT WEEK WE WILL CONTINUE WITH THIS MESSAGE AS WE LOOK AT THE DAVIDIC AND THE NEW COVENANT, AS WELL AS EXAMINE THE ISSUES OF WHAT A GENERATION IS, AND THE ROLE OF JERUSALEM IN THE LAST DAYS CLOCK.
POINT THREE: THE DAVIDIC COVENANT:
NEXT IMPORTANT TO THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT ARE THE COVENANT PROMISES TO DAVID. THIS COVENANT CONTAINS PROMISES OF GOD TO DAVID THAT HIS SEED, THRONE, AND KINGDOM WOULD REMAIN FOREVER.
THIS COVENANT PROVIDES:
1. DAVID IS TO HAVE A CHILD, WHO SHALL SUCCEED HIM AND ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM.
2. THIS SON SHALL BUILD THE TEMPLE INSTEAD OF DAVID. (SOLOMON)
3. THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER.
4. THE THRONE WILL NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM (SOLOMON) EVEN THOUGH HIS SINS JUSTIFY CHASTISEMENT.
5. DAVID’S HOUSE, THRONE, AND KINGDOM SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER.
THIS COVENANT THEN PROMISES THAT, DAVID’S PHYSICAL DESCENDANTS WILL NEVER BE SLAIN IN TOTAL, NOR DISPLACED BY ANOTHER FAMILY ENTIRELY. THE ROYAL LINE AND THE RIGHT TO RULE WILL ALWAYS BE IN THE LINE OF DAVID. WHATEVER IT’S CHANGING FORM, TEMPORARY INTERRUPTIONS, OR CHASTISEMENTS, THE LINE OF DAVID WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT TO RULE OVER ISRAEL AND WILL IN TIME EXERCISE THIS PRIVILEGE.
PSALM 89:3-4;28-30; 32-37:
YOU SAID, “I HAVE MADE A COVENANT WITH MY CHOSEN ONE, I HAVE SWORN TO DAVID MY SERVANT, 4 ‘I WILL ESTABLISH YOUR LINE FOREVER AND MAKE YOUR THRONE FIRM THROUGH ALL GENERATIONS.’ ”
I WILL MAINTAIN MY LOVE TO HIM FOREVER, AND MY COVENANT WITH HIM WILL NEVER FAIL.29 I WILL ESTABLISH HIS LINE FOREVER,
HIS THRONE AS LONG AS THE HEAVENS ENDURE. 30 “IF HIS SONS FORSAKE MY LAW AND DO NOT FOLLOW MY STATUTES,
I WILL PUNISH THEIR SIN WITH THE ROD, THEIR INIQUITY WITH FLOGGING; 33 BUT I WILL NOT TAKE MY LOVE FROM HIM, NOR WILL I EVER BETRAY MY FAITHFULNESS. 34 I WILL NOT VIOLATE MY COVENANT OR ALTER WHAT MY LIPS HAVE UTTERED. 35 ONCE FOR ALL, I HAVE SWORN BY MY HOLINESS— AND I WILL NOT LIE TO DAVID— 36 THAT HIS LINE WILL CONTINUE FOREVER AND HIS THRONE ENDURE BEFORE ME LIKE THE SUN; 37 IT WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER LIKE THE MOON, THE FAITHFUL WITNESS IN THE SKY.
