Israel in Bible Prophecy - NetBibleStudy.com

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Down through the centuries the Jewish people in general have ignored some of their ownScripture. Speaking of the messiah, Psalm 22 declared, “they have pierced my hands and myfeet” (Psalm 22:16)Concerning the coming Christ, Isaiah wrote, “He was pierced for our transgression, hewas crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by hiswounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).Zechariah 12:10 tells us that someday the remnant of Israel, that has survived theTribulation, will see the Savior, recognize Him, and weep tears of repentance and gratitude.Here are the prophet’s own words,“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitantsof Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and theyshall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mournfor him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitternessfor him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”At first sight, Old Testament passages such as this would seem to indicate that the returnof the Messiah causes Israel to repent. Other verses, however, make it clear that it is through thefires of affliction that the remnant turns to God. Peter plainly told the Jews that the promisedtimes of refreshing, the Millennial Age, will not come unto they turn to Christ. We hear Peterpreaching in Acts 3, verses 19-20,“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may beblotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from thepresence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which beforewas preached unto you.”The New Scofield Reference Bible in the margin gives us the proper translation of theseworlds. It renders these verses in this say, “Repent…so that the times of refreshing shall comefrom the presence of the Lord, and He shall send…Jesus Christ.” This is unquestionable theproper translation of the Greek text. We must therefore interpret the statements of the OldTestament in the light of this clear declaration. Israel’s conversion will precede the return ofChrist when He returns WITH His saints to rule and reign in His glorious kingdom.The Great Tribulation, that will follow the Rapture of the Church, will be the means ofIsrael’s conversion and this will precede the glorious second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ tothis earth. During the Tribulation, the world will experience its most grievous time in history.The opening of the fourth seal (Revelation 6:7-8), bring about the death of one-fourth ofmankind. On the basis of our present population this means in the neighborhood of one billionpeople will die through various judgments. The judgments of the sixth trumpet, (Revelation9:13-21), destroys another one-third of those who survive the earlier plagues. Zechariah 13:9tells us that only one-third of the Jews will survive this period of Great Tribulation.The brighter side of the picture can be seen in chapter 7 of Revelation. God seals 144,000Jews who apparently turn to Him in genuine faith early in the Tribulation, and they become His“witnesses” – or “preachers” during the Tribulation. God supernaturally protects them, and theyboldly proclaim His message. As a result of their ministry, “a great multitude from every nation,kindred and tongue are saved” (Revelation 7:9), many of whom will die in that day of trouble
(Revelation 7:14). God, however, will preserve a remnant of saved Jews who will enter themillennium. The 144,000, who are sealed in Revelation 7, are still intact when we see them inRevelation 14. These, together with those who have responded to their message, are the nucleusof a godly remnant who will welcome our Lord when He returns to reign.The Israelites who survive the Great Tribulation without turning to Christ, who haveworshiped the Antichrist and his image (Revelation 13:8), will be purged out and will not enterthe kingdom age. Ezekiel 20:34 and 38 declares,“And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you outof the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, andwith a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out…And I willpurge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgressagainst me: I will bring them forth out of the country where theysojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and yeshall know that I am the LORD.”Thus only a relatively small percentage of the Israelites who go into the Tribulation willlive through it to enter the Millennium. Only those who have been truly born again through faithin Christ will enter that glorious kingdom age.The government that the Lord Jesus will establish upon the earth will have its center inJerusalem. Isaiah 2:3-4 prophesied of that day with thee words,“And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up tothe mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; andhe will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for outof Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD fromJerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebukemany people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up swordagainst nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”Moreover, restored Israel will inherit the land God gave to Abraham and his seed for aneverlasting possession. Ezekiel declared, in chapter 36, verses 33 and 36,“Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansedyou from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in thecities, and the wastes shall be builded…Then the heathen that areleft round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruinedplaces, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spokenit, and I will do it.”In Zechariah 14 we have a very graphic description of the tremendous topographicalchanges that will take place in the land of Israel when the Lord descends to the Mount of Olives.The prophet pictures the armies of the nations converging upon Jerusalem for battle. Just whenall appears very dark for the city of Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus returns, His feet standing upon theMount of Olives. The armies of the enemy nations are destroyed as described in verses 12through 15. A great earthquake brings about a radical transformation of the entire land. Themountains that now surround Jerusalem will be flattened into a plain, and the Jerusalem will beelevated above the rest of the terrain. The city that is now nestled between the mountains will be
Page 1 and 2: Israel and Bible ProphecyIndex for
Page 3 and 4: No fact in Scripture is more establ
Page 5 and 6: The restoration of Israel is, certa
Page 7 and 8: and the souls that they had gotten
Page 9 and 10: (Ezekiel 36:24-28).Moreover, in Eze
Page 11 and 12: Not all of Abraham’s offspring ha
Page 13 and 14: neither true Judaism, nor Christian
Page 15 and 16: the transgression - (2) to put an e
Page 17 and 18: Living Bible - “and a king will a
Page 19 and 20: Other Scripture passages, including
Page 21: Lesson FiveIsrael and Moses’ Prop
Page 25 and 26: the earth: He shall judge the world
Page 27 and 28: overflowing rain, and great hailsto
Page 29 and 30: Assemble yourselves, and come, all
Page 31 and 32: necessary to stop the sun, moon, an
Page 33: In 1939, Britain issued the “infa

Israel in Bible Prophecy - NetBibleStudy.com

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