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ISRAEL IN PROPHECY
THOUGHTS ON ISRAEL'S PAST AND FUTURE
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
At the beginning of each page of the Prophecy Section of this journal I ask this question, and explain God's timetable for the second coming of Jesus Christ. That timetable is Daniel's '70th Week'.
The first four pages of my Prophecy Section correspond to four links in a divine 'prophetic chain':
And while I encourage my visitor to examine those pages individually, I also offer a condensed combination of these four links in the following document:
SECOND COMING TIMETABLE (PDF)
Here my two main points are that...
If John's 'Little Book' did not exist, I myself would feel compelled to embrace one of today's three major views on Daniel's 70th Week; Post-Millennialism, A-Millennialism or Dispensationalism. But John's Little Book does exist. Its first three visions depict what God accomplished through the family of Abraham
And the fourth and final vision of John's Little Book depicts a singular characteristic of world history
1) THE TEMPLE AND THE COURTYARD (Revelation 11:1-2)
2) THE TWO WITNESSES (Revelation 11:3-12)
3) THE WOMAN, THE CHILD AND THE DRAGON (Revelation 12)
4) THE BEAST FROM THE SEA (Revelation 13)
ISRAEL, THE PRINCE
We first encounter the name 'Israel' in the Old Testament book of Genesis. It means 'prince with God'. It was given to Abraham's grandson, Jacob; after Jacob had wrestled with God, seeking God's blessing (Genesis 32:22-32). And Jacob had 12 sons, who would become 'the 12 Tribes of Israel'.
Jacob's significance is that, as the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, it would be through him that the promised 'Seed of Abraham', Jesus Christ, would someday be born into the world. God had promised Abraham that his 'Seed' would accomplish two things:
These two promises are referred to in the Bible as 'The Abrahamic Covenant'.
PHASE 1: ISRAEL BEFORE 70 AD
There are many prophecies about the nation of Israel and its people throughout the Bible. But there are few as full, and yet simple, as the third vision of 'John's Little Book'; the prophecy of the Woman, the Child and the Dragon. The woman is Israel. The Child is Jesus Christ; the Son of God and 'Seed of Abraham'. And the Dragon is Satan.
This is because this prophecy explains Israel's history in very straightforward terms. It divides that history into two phases:
THE WOMAN, THE CHILD AND THE DRAGON
(Revelation 12 )
Now a great sign appeared in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with Child, she cried in labor and in pain to give birth.
And another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who has ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there for one thousand two hundred and sixty days .
Revelation 12:1-6
THE DOWNFALL OF SATAN
After the Child was taken to heaven, we are shown what He accomplished there:
And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. But they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 'NOW salvation, and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.
Revelation 12:7-12
The casting of Satan out of heaven is one of the greatest themes of the Bible:
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
Isaiah 14:12
Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I (Jesus), if I am lifted up from the earth (upon a cross), will draw all people to Myself.
John 12:31-32
And when the Holy Spirit has come, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Of sin, because they do not believe in Me. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see Me no more. Of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
John 16:8-11
SATAN, THE LAWYER
In order to understand the casting of Satan out of heaven, we must first understand God the Father's first purpose before creation began. His intention was that His universe would be a great 'legal courtroom' where righteousness, truth and justice must be served. But while all things have come from God the Father, and exist for Him, He appointed His eternal and only-begotten Son to be the One through Whom all the Father's will would be done; in righteousness (1 Corinthians 8:6).
Where the universe is concerned, God the Father is the 'Chairman of the Board'. But the Son of God is His 'Chief Executive Officer'; the One to Whom all of the inhabitants of the universe must report in their dealings with God. The Son is the Father's 'point man'. This is the meaning behind the New Testament's constant distinction between GOD the Father, and the LORD Jesus Christ. Jesus truly is the eternal God. But the New Testament authors consistently declare the Father's divine preeminence as the 'First among three co-eternal Equals'.
Knowing this, Satan long ago embraced a plan to challenge God's governance of the universe. That plan would require using a knowledge of right and wrong to morally challenge and test the Son of God as the Administrator of the universe. The name 'Satan' means 'adversary'. And this is exactly what Satan has long been; God's legal adversary.
And Satan has recruited many of God's angels to join him in his rebellion, as well as the entire human race. This is what God's first commandment to mankind in Eden was all about. We could believe and obey our Creator, refusing a knowledge of right and wrong. And thus experience God's own righteousness through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Or we could learn the difference between right and wrong, and join Satan's legalistic bid to challenge God for rulership of the world.
And the Son of God has honored Satan's 'legal standing' in the 'courtroom of the universe'. We see Satan's legal agency in the Garden of Eden. God's commandment to Adam, not to learn right from wrong (Genesis 2:15-17), would have had little meaning if Satan had not been allowed to tempt Adam and Eve.
We also see Satan's legal role in the book of Job. Satan challenged God for the right to test Job's obedience; through poverty, and then suffering. And God allowed this to happen (Job 1:6-2:10) so that Job's righteousness and faithfulness might be tested, and ultimately rewarded. And the same kinds of trials are still a necessary part of the Christian life today. This is why Jesus promised eternal life to Christians who 'overcome' (in His messages to the seven churches, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3).
In addition we see Satan's legal position as the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness after being baptized; to be tested by Satan before entering into His public ministry (Matthew 4:1-11). And later we see Satan's 'legal rights' in the life of the apostle Peter:
And Jesus said 'Simon, Simon! Indeed Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail. And when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren'.
Luke 22-31-32
This is why Satan has now been cast out of heaven and down to earth in a defeated rage. It is because he made a 'bet' that he could find a weakness in the Son of God's moral character, and thus compel God to compromise with him in the governance of the universe.
In response to Satan's evil tactics, the Son of God came down to earth as a Man; the 'Seed of Abraham'. And He allowed Himself to be legally tested in every way that a person can be; so that He might become a morally spotless sacrificial 'Lamb of God' for repentant sinners:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Who being in the form of God, did not consider it a thing to be clung to, to be equal with God. But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death; even the death of the cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow; of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11
Satan, a mere created being, wanted to be glorified like the Creator. Jesus on the other hand, although He is the Creator, laid aside His glory in order to save and bless the lowest and most unworthy of persons.
The fact that the Son of God has been thoroughly tested by Satan, and has prevailed because of His steadfast righteousness, is the song of men and angels around the throne of God at this very moment:
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
Psalm 45:6-7
Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation. A tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not be ashamed. Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place (of wickedness).
Isaiah 28:16-17
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many. For He shall bear all their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. And He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:11-12
At the cross both the Father and the Son cooperated in making forgiveness possible for sinful people. And while They were doing this, Satan was constantly talking into Their ears; pointing out the wickedness of mankind and asking the Father how He could let His Son die for those who were nailing Him to a cross. But finally Jesus' death upon the cross ended that conversation. And so 'mercy triumphed over judgment' (James 2:13), and Satan no longer had a 'legal leg' to stand on in heaven.
Since then the Father has been in the process of making Satan His Son's 'footstool' (Psalm 110:1). He has cast Satan out of heaven. And He will soon chain him in a pit for 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). And finally God will cast this 'Adversary' into 'the Lake of Fire and Brimstone' forever (Revelation 20:10). This judgment will not be a simple exercise of raw power, but of power enabled by the infinite grace, goodness and holiness of Jesus Christ.
PHASE 2: SATAN PERSECUTES ISRAEL
This third part of the vision presents 'the Great Tribulation'; the coming of Satan down to the earth, and Israel being the first object of his rage:
Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the Woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the Woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time , from the presence of the serpent.
So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the Woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the Woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the Woman. And he went to make war with the rest of her offspring (Christians), who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 12:13-17
This explains the persecution that both the Jewish people and Christians have experienced since 70 AD; during the entire second half of Daniel's 70th Week. It is the result of a defeated, enraged archangel who has been cast down to earth; knowing that his eternal doom in the Lake of Fire is certain. He has been stirring up hatred for the Jewish people and Christians ever since.
Here it should be added that the Pharaoh of Egypt, whom Moses confronted in the book of Exodus, is a prophetic picture of Satan. He too would not let his captives go. Even after he had been defeated, and his kingdom ruined, he chose to plunge his armies into the 'Red Sea' of God's judgment along with himself.
Those who see you (Satan) will gaze at you and consider you, saying 'Is this the one who made the earth tremble? Who shook kingdoms? Who made the world like a wilderness, and destroyed its cities? Who did not open the house of his prisoners?'
Isaiah 14:16-17
JESUS IS ISRAEL'S 'JOSEPH'
With this vision (of the Woman, the Child and the Dragon) God also points us back to the second dream of Joseph in Genesis 37:9. The sun, moon and garland of stars in Joseph's dream correspond to these same things upon the Woman of Revelation 12. This is not a coincidence. God is pointing to the many amazing parallels between Joseph's relationship with his brothers, and Jesus' relationship with Israel.
In a similar manner Jesus also declared a 'special Sonship' to His fellow Jews, and foretold that He would rule over them some day:
The high priest said to Him 'I put you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ; the Son of God'. Jesus said to him 'It is as you said. Nevertheless I say to you: Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, coming on the clouds of heaven'. Then the High Priest tore his clothes, saying 'He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! What do you think?' They answered and said 'He is deserving of death'.
Matthew 26:62-66)
JOSEPH CAST INTO A PIT BY HIS BROTHERS (Genesis 37:24)
And today, unknown to Israel, Jesus has placed His 'cup' in their 'sack' as well (Genesis 44). Today the people of Israel, already having come through over 1900+ years of Satanic persecution, are surrounded by enemies on every side. Now Jew-hatred is running rampant in the United States; the 'Christian nation' that Israel once trusted for protection. And now Satan is stirring up the nations of the world to have one final 'go' at the Jewish people and Israel.
The Jewish people do not realize that their 'dead Brother' is allowing these things to happen, in order to bring them to honesty with themselves. Zechariah provides a picture of the circumstances that will eventually bring greater repentance in Israel:
Behold the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee, as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You."
Zechariah 14:1-5
When Israel finally recognizes their Brother, it will be a time of both salvation and sorrow:
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son; and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:9-10
THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES
The two halves of Daniel's 70th Week can be divided into 'the times of the Jews', and 'the times of the Gentiles':
"TO THE JEW FIRST"
Romans 1:16
Beginning with Abraham himself, the Jewish people were the first to be told about a promised 'Seed' who would bring salvation to all the nations of mankind, and secure the land of Canaan for Abraham forever. And going on from there, they received God's word and experienced God's grace through Moses, Joshua, David and the prophets. The apostle Paul wrote about Israel's advantages:
What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the words of God.
Romans 3:1-2
For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my Jewish brethren; my countrymen according to the flesh who are Israelites. To whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the service of God, and the promises. Of whom are the fathers. And from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came; who is over all, the eternally blessed God.
Romans 9:3-5
God's blessing and favor toward Israel and the Jewish people would peak during the final 50 years prior to Jerusalem's destruction in 70 AD. Beginning with the ministry of John the Baptist, followed by the Lord Jesus, and then by Jesus' apostles, the message of God's salvation through the promised 'Seed of Abraham' could not have been more thoroughly and powerfully presented to a people, than it was to Israel during those times.
But since those days of the Holy Spirit's striving in Israel, an era of history has arrived which Jesus called 'the times of the Gentiles':
And they (the Jewish people) will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Luke 21:24
The apostle Paul foresaw this switching of God's attention from the Jews to the greater Gentile world. And he told the Christians in Rome how to think about it:
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh (fellow Jews) and save some of them.
Romans 11:11-14
This was a tactic that the apostle Paul would use over and over again to provoke Jewish interest in the Gospel of Christ. After first evangelizing the Jewish citizens in a city, he would challenge unbelieving Jews with the fact that God was now sending him to the Gentiles; many of whom would be eager to embrace God's salvation.
But then the apostle Paul went on to write about a time when 'all Israel shall be saved':
For I wish not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins."
Romans 11:25-27 (Isaiah 59:20-21)
I don't think that Paul was foretelling a time when every Jew in Israel will be saved simply because they are biologically Jewish. Rather, I believe that Paul was foretelling a time when every surviving citizen of Israel will have repented; and will be both biologically and spiritually Jewish.
Many Christians honor Israel and the Jews indiscriminately, when some of the most evil people in the world are Jews living both inside and outside of Israel. And in some churches Jewish Christians are seen as more 'precious' than Gentile Christians. But God has made His opinion about glorifying Israel and the Jewish people clear. In fact He is going to compel the Jewish people themselves to admit that they are no better than anyone else. And this is because we are all, first and foremost, sons of Adam; and equally in need of God's grace.
For then I will take away out of the midst of you those who rejoice in your pride. And you shall no more be haughty because of My holy mountain (Zion). I will also leave in the midst of you an afflicted and poor people. And they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies. Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth.
Zephaniah 3:11-13
Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been made like Gomorrah (completely destroyed).
Isaiah 1:9, Romans 9:29
Therefore say to the house of Israel "Thus says the Lord God: I do not do this (save you) for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy Name's sake; which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name which has been profaned among the nations; which you have profaned in their midst. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord" says the Lord God, "when I am honored through you before their eyes (through My just dealings with you)."
Ezekiel 36:22-23
In the meantime, the Gentile world needs to take warning from the two open judgments that God has brought upon the Jewish people; in 586 BC and again in 70 AD: