This week I want to do a biblical teaching on the importance of Israel and Jerusalem in the Bible regarding the end times. The Bible is a Jewish book that sets the stage for God’s redemptive plan. The plan of God is worked out through covenants that were made with the nation of Israel. These covenants are very clear and are full of minute details that God thought were very important. These thoughts are precious concerning history and the end of the story because God intends to bring His kingdom to the earth. God took the time to reveal to us many wonderful things regarding the end and they are in the context of His work with the nation of Israel. It would be a strange thing indeed if the prophets believed that God was kidding and was never going to set Jerusalem as the capital of the world or have only one king over the whole world who ruled from Jerusalem. Prophecy is much neglected because too many use a mistaken system of spiritualizing and allegorizing clear and plain prophecies.
I believe that the Jews shall continue to be gathered together in the land of Israel. This process started in the 1800’s, led to the establishment of the nation of Israel on May 14th, 1948, and will continue until the Messiah Jesus returns in glory. The four covenants that are central to this teaching are the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the New covenant. I am committed to the literal sense of Old Testament teaching regarding prophecies of future events and the historical context in which they were given. The nations of the world should not only heed these prophecies but should cooperate with God in the completion of these prophecies.
For instance, Jeremiah 31:10 says, Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, And declare in the coastlands afar off, And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.” This text is a great summary of what God is doing in history. Notice that God has scattered Israel in history. This scattering started with the Assyrian empire going to war with Israel. The prophet Hosea specifically warned the nation that the Assyrian nation was coming and that God would use her to destroy and scatter His people. Hosea 11:5-7, “They will not return to the land of Egypt; But Assyria—he will be their king Because they refused to return to Me. The sword will whirl against their cities, And will demolish their gate bars And consume them because of their counsels So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call them to the One on high,
None at all exalts Him.” Notice that God sent prophets to Israel to warn them and then His promise came true.
Isaiah was very specific in his prophecies regarding the war Assyria would bring. Isaiah 7 and 8 tell very clearly that Assyria is coming and will not only destroy Israel but also Syria (Damascus). 7:17-18 says, “The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria. In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.” Notice that God brought Assyria to Israel and destroyed her. It was a terrible thing and was described as God whistling for him to come. God is in charge! In 8:4 God is very specific and ties the prophecy to the birth and growth of Isaiah’s son. “For before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” This specific prophecy is typical of prophecies regarding the end times, they are full of minute details that God wants us to consider and meditate on.
Also, God scattered Judah by bringing the nation of Babylon. Prophets gave specific prophecies regarding this and they came true literally. Consider Jeremiah and his word to his nation in Jer.20:4, “For thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as exiles to Babylon and will slay them with the sword.” In Jer.25:11 God says, ‘This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” Notice how specific God is on the years that Israel would be in captivity? It happened as God said, Daniel was in Babylon and started praying as God would start to move a remnant back to the land as He promised.
God took a remnant back to the land and this also was prophesied. Ezra and Nehemiah are specific books regarding God fulfilling this promise. The book of Esther shows us that God is still work on behalf of His people Israel as Esther is still in Persia. God used this time to prepare Israel for the Messiah to come.
God promised that Rome would come and destroy the nation and Jerusalem. This happened in 70 AD. Jesus talked about it in Luke 21:24, “and 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 are fulfilled.” This prophecy is consistent with what the Lord taught us in Daniel 2 and 7 regarding this kingdom Rome.
So we can see that the scattering phase of the prophecies have all been fulfilled in real time and real history. If the scattering phase has been fulfilled this way, the gathering phase will also be in real time and real history. Notice again that Jer.31:10 says to the nations, He who scattered Israel would gather him! God promises to gather Israel in very specific ways that are startling. Please meditate on this great truth, if God is going to gather them, they had to stay a people unique even as they were scattered to many nations. Is it not wonderful that God kept the Jews as a distinct and separate people all of these years in spite of the attempt to wipe them off the map.
Isaiah 11: 11-12, “Then it will happen on that day that the Lord Will again recover the second time with His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea. And He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
Ezekiel 37:21-22, “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.”
Amos 9:14-15, “Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. “I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them,” Says the LORD your God.”
Micah 4:6-7, In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will assemble the lame And gather the outcasts, Even those whom I have afflicted. “I will make the lame a remnant
And the outcasts a strong nation, And the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever.”
Zephaniah 3:20, “At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” Says the LORD.
Zechariah 10:6, “I will strengthen the house of Judah, And I will save the house of Joseph, And I will bring them back, Because I have had compassion on them;
And they will be as though I had not rejected them, For I am the LORD their God and I will answer them.
As the Jews have been gathered from all of the nations they have come back to the land in an unconverted state. The scriptures are clear that when they are there they will suffer conflict with the nations and eventually the Anti-Christ. The future glory of Jerusalem is tied to the return of Jesus the Messiah. It is the duty of the Gentile nations to assist Israel in her return to the land. There is neither Queen, King, President, Pope, nor Emperors who can stop this process. I hope that we can find ways that will support the return with a blessing and not a curse. JC Ryle said in his excellent book, “Coming Events and Present Duties” ‘Remember that every chapter and verse you read in your Bible you owe under God to Israel.’
The churches and the nations have put up many stumbling blocks in the way of Israel coming back to their land. In the churches there exists the heresy of replacement theology, rationalistic and liberal approaches to the Bible, outright hostility towards Jews and Israel that makes it hard for the evangelical church to convince Jews that we love them. The UN and her many subsidiaries curse Israel almost every day. In Joel 3:1-2 God makes it clear that His desire is to gather nations and judge them for what they have done to Israel. This day is coming very quickly, are you ready?
