HEAR ,OH ISRAEL

Israel, the nation, in unbelief, is in a portion of the land promised it's forefather's. It rejects the gospel. It is not the land God promised. Nor according to His plan

A NATION BORN IN A DAY (Isaiah 66:8, 15-16) One day a remnant of believing Jews from the world over will occupy all the land promised in the Palestinian Covenant. After the terrible time of Jacobs Trouble. After the great tribulation. After The Lord delivers them from all their enemies...when they believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. When King David is raised from the dead. After the latter rains. Then Israel will be the worlds capital and Jesus will rule the kings of the earth and David will assist Him.(Jer.31:27-37; 32:37-40; 50:4; Joel 2:28-32; 3:1; Isa.11:10-12; Ezek.37:21-28; Acts 15:18).

"I will ransom you from the power of the grave; I will redeem you from death..."(Hosea 13:14).

Matthew 24:7-22--Jesus said concerning the tribulation and the activities of the Antichrist (against other nations in wars and Israel in great persecutions destroying 2/3rds of its population! See Zech.13:8), "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. . . . When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, (Antichrist seeking worship as God in the rebuilt Jewish Temple in Jerusalem) spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whosoever readeth, let him understand) , then let them who are in Judea flee into the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house; neither let him who is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto those who are with child, and to those who nurse children in those days! But pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day; for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. " Jesus warning reiterated the revelation Daniel heard: there would be a future time at the conclusion of man's day of rule of unprecedented trouble for God's people Israel (Dan.11:35).

Revelation 6-18--The book of Revelation describes the incredible final events of human history. Chapters 6-18 present the details of Daniel's seventieth week (Dan. 9:24-27) --the Tribulation. The apostle John saw in a vision several terrifying elements belonging to that period: war (6:3-4) , famine (6:5-6) , the death of 25 percent of the world's population (6:7-8) , the collapse of the heavenly bodies (6:12-14) , the destruction of one-third of land and sea--together with what they contained--(8:7-9) , the pollution of one-third of earth's fresh water and the death of those who drink from it (8:10-11) , the destruction of one-third of the sun, moon, and stars (8:12) , the release of hell's demons to overrun the earth (9:1-11) , the slaughter initiated by the beast and his false prophet during their vile administration (13:7, 15) , the affliction of painful body sores (16:2) , the death of all remaining creatures in the sea (16:3) , further pollution of fresh water (16:4) , scorching sunlight (16:9) , and darkness (16:10). More demons and judgments of wrath will afflict the living until Christ's return as described in Revelation 19. In addition God will allow the Antichrist to oppress Israel in a final act of purging. The tribulation will be an incredible time of suffering when God's judgments occur simultaneously with Satan's persecutions in historical apex of misery. It will be especially difficult for the people of Israel.

Jeremiah 30:4-7--"These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the Lord, We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble. " During the tribulation mankind will experience agony like the excruciating pain of childbirth.

Zechariah 13:8-9--"It shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts in it shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them as gold is tested; they shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God. " During the tribulation two-thirds of the Jewish people will die, but the other third will be redeemed. Israel's rebelliousness will be purged away and they will believe in Christ.

Israel's future contains a time of distress without a historical equal. It's known as the time of Jacob's trouble, the seventieth week of Daniel, or the Great Tribulation. Yet during that time Israel will receive unique assistance.

"There appeared a great wonder in heaven--a woman [Israel] clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (Rev. 12:1). That pictures the twelve tribes of Israel in prophetic imagery. "She, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. . . . And she brought forth a male child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne" (vv. 2-5). That describes the birth of Christ (the Messiah) and His ascension into heaven. Then "the woman fled into the wilderness" (v. 6). Israel fled because "there appeared another wonder in heaven; and, behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born" (vv. 3-4). Satan is described as a dragon that embodies all Gentile governments in the final form of the Roman Empire. When he rebelled against God he apparently took one-third of the angels with him--they became demons. Although his force is not as large as God's, it's not numbers that count, but power.

Righteous power always overcomes evil power. Satan unsuccessfully tried to prevent the birth of the Messiah. After the child was born he worked through Herod in an attempt to "devour" that child. Throughout Jesus' life Satan tried to kill Him. When Christ ascended to God's throne Satan attacked Christ's followers. During the tribulation Satan, the demons, and the beast (the Antichrist) will attack Israel again. But Israel will flee "into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days" (v. 6).

During the tribulation's second three-and-a-half years God will protect Israel by the power of MichaelThe Archangel who has the special assignment from God to protect Israel from total destruction. The demons will desire to overrun the earth and destroy Israel, but Michael and the holy angels will war against them in heaven: "There was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (vv. 7-9). I believe the demons will lose some of their supernatural power at that point: "I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" (vv. 10-12).

Satan's plan to ruin Israel will be thwarted. In the short time that he has left he will apparently overrun the earth with evil. But he will be unsuccessful in his attempt to destroy Israel because he will have already lost the battle: "When the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman [Israel] who brought forth the male child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [three-and-a-half years], from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth" (vv. 13-16). The opening of the earth may be a repeat of what happened to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in the Old Testament (Num. 16:31-33). In this case it will be the beast and all his army who will be swallowed up.

Satan will then intensify his efforts to destroy the Jewish remnant: "The dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (v. 17). Though persecution will continue after Satan's defeat by Michael, the turning point toward victory for Israel will be Michael's victory over the devil. That's because Satan will then no longer be "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2) after he is cast to the earth. Though the major battle will be won, he will continue to seek Israel's destruction for a short time. But Michael, their special defender, will protect them for the second half of the tribulation. It is significant that the angelic messenger in Daniel 10 revealed Michael's power over Satan and his responsibility to protect Israel. That gave Daniel confidence--he knew Michael would be present at the time of Israel's greatest need.

Jer.33:8 "And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me."

Jer.33:9 "And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it."

"At that time thy people shall be delivered. " Romans 11:26 declares, "All Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer" (cf. Isa. 59:20). "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it, it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. . . . For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee. . . . For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds" (Jer. 30:7-17). At the time Israel is delivered they will also be redeemed.

What part of Israel will be saved? In the end times apostates and rebels will be purged out of Israel. Only those remaining will be protected. Zechariah 13:8 says two-thirds of Israel will die. The one-third left constitutes the godly remnant to whom the promise of redemption belongs. The end of Daniel 12:1 verifies that fact: the delivered are "every one that shall be found written in the book. " The promise of deliverance and salvation is for those who believe.

The book of Revelation explains how the remnant of Israel will come to believe in Jesus Christ--the one Judaism has so long rejected.

According to Revelation 11 God will set apart two witnesses with miraculous powers. They are described as two olive branches in verse 4. After the Antichrist kills them their bodies will be viewed worldwide--perhaps by use of satellite television (v. 9). They will be murdered because of the prophetic message they will preach. The world will rejoice at their death. But after three-and-a-half days they will rise from the dead. I imagine their message will become more convincing at that point!

Revelation 7 and 14 reveal that 144 thousand Jewish people will be sealed and protected by God to serve as evangelists during the tribulation: twelve thousand from each of Israel's tribes. Their ministry will be essentially the same as that of the two witnesses: leading Jewish people to faith in their Messiah. Those who believe will in turn reach others--even in the midst of that holocaust! In that way a living remnant will be preserved as a redeemed nation. God assured Israel through Jeremiah, "I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee" (46:28).

Though deliverance of Israel will involve the personal salvation of individuals, it will occur on a scale large enough to be termed a national deliverance. The remnant of believing Jews during the tribulation constitute the "all Israel" of Romans 11:26. Thus Israel's hope is that someday its purging will end, the nation will be saved, and the long-awaited messianic Kingdom will be established from those alive of the 144,000 Jewish saints and those old testament saints raised from the dead according to God's promises.

The resurrection has been the hope of God's people from the beginning. The angel's message to Daniel was that there is good reason for hope: Israel will be saved and the resurrection will indeed occur.
Daniel 12 and Revelation 20 speak of two aspects to the resurrection: one is to "everlasting life" while the other is to "shame and everlasting contempt. " Both the positive and negative parts to the resurrection involve the resurrection of the body.

The resurrection to everlasting life is a resurrection of the just (Acts 24:15). John 5:29 calls it "the resurrection of life," while Hebrews 11:35 terms it "a better resurrection. " It's the resurrection of all glorified saints: all believers from the Old and New Testament eras, as well as from the tribulation period, will enjoy everlasting life.

The Tribulation will occur after the church is removed from the earth--the church wasn't in Israel's first sixty-nine weeks, and it isn't going to be in its seventieth week (cf. Dan. 9:24-27). During that period of seven years God will deal exclusively with Israel. At the end of that time of purging the third and final part of the first resurrection will take place: the raising of the Old Testament and tribulation saints (cf. Dan. 12:13; Rev. 6:9-11). It will include Gentiles who were saved and martyred during the tribulation (Rev. 7:9-10).

In Revelation 20:4 the apostle John gives a description of the first resurrection: "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. " That verse implies a resurrection. In his vision John saw the thousand-year millennium kingdom, where the saints of all the ages will be alive and reigning with Christ. Verses 5-6 say, "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection [prior to the thousand years]. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. "

The second resurrection has just one part. It will happen at the end of the millennium when God raises the bodies of the unjust from the dead. Revelation 20:7 provides the time frame: "When the thousand years are ended. " Verses 11-15 provide some of its details: "I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it. . . . And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hades delivered up the dead that were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. " Special Thanks to John MacArthur for his wonderful bible study and teachings.