The God of Israel controls the future. Here’s what the God of Israel says:
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do. (Isaiah 46: 10-11)
One of the most fascinating aspects about the people of Israel is their sacred book (which we call the Bible) and its mind-boggling prophecies. These are God-inspired predictions of events declared long before they happened, written by people who lived ages before the concerned generation even came into being. What people and what God does this? In a world of many religions, one cannot help but be amazed by the God of Israel’s bold declarations of the future. Today we see predicted events unfolding before our eyes, and especially those concerning Israel’s future.
Predictions Concerning Israel and the Gentile Nations
When we trace a timeline of recent world events we find that many are closely linked to Israel. We see that Israel is increasingly the vortex of the world. For example, the following events are prophesied:
The return of the Jewish people to their homeland [commenced late 1800’s, ‘Aliyah’ continues today]
The liberation of Jerusalem from Gentile domination [commenced 1917, completed 1967]
Establishment of a Jewish homeland [commenced late 1800’s, legalized 1922]
Continuing persecution of Jews outside Israel [encourages ‘Aliyah’ today]
Attempted division of the Jewish homeland and Jerusalem [sought by the UN, the EU and the PA]
Establishment of the State of Israel [the Jewish nation was ‘born’ May 1948]
Why look at Israel, or even think about this tiny little country? After all, Israel has only some 8 million people and is only the size of Wales. And isn’t stubborn little Israel a thorn in the flesh for the Palestinian people and a hard nut to crack for the UN politicians?
Yes – all that is true. But there is more to Israel than meets the eye – and the vast majority of the population fails to see it. A look at the facts, and a little reading of the Bible shows that Israel’s history and future are extremely important for the nations; she cannot be ignored. Like it or not, the milestones in Israel’s history and the prophesied milestones for the future are crucially important for the world. They affect all nations and all individuals.
The aim of this site is to be an eye-opener to the mystery of Israel. We want to spread the truth about the amazing role of Israel and how it can give us hope in an increasingly violent and chaotic world. Don’t walk away – this divine timepiece is running fast and events surrounding Israel will soon embrace the whole world. Whether you believe in the Bible or not, this site offers food for thought that you might find interesting and worth studying.
The timeline below is best viewed on desktops, laptops and tablets
If you’re viewing this on a mobile phone, click HERE for a PDF version
The Jewish State of Israel occupies the land the Jews call Israel (and Christians refer to as the Holy Land). The Gentile world and the Arab nations also refer to this land as Palestine. The (so-called) Palestinians want to establish a Palestinian state on some (and preferably all) of the land called Israel. Hence the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Let’s summarize the facts.
Historical Facts
No Palestinian People: There is no historical Palestinian people. Despite the strong Muslim presence over the centuries, by the early 20th century Palestine was simply a mix of many peoples representing some 50 languages [1911 Encyclopedia Britannica]. ‘Palestine was ethnologically a chaos of all the possible human combinations’ [Richard Hartmann, historian], and so it did not share a common Arab identity. A ‘Palestinian people’ only came to prominence from the indigenous Arab population in response to increasing Jewish immigration after WWI.
It was not as if there was a Palestinian people in Palestine and we came and threw them out and took their country away from them … they did not exist [Golda Meir, Prime Minister, 1969]
No Palestinian Land or Country: Although referred to a ‘Palestine’ from Roman times, the biblical land of Canaan (today’s Holy Land) was not a ‘country’ and had no frontiers, only administrative boundaries [Prof. Bernard Lewis]. The term ‘Palestine’ was used as a general term to describe the land south of Syria, and it was applied to the territory placed under the 1922 British Mandate. Historically, there was no such country as Palestine:
There is no such thing as Palestine in history, absolutely not
[Arab Prof Philip Hitti (Princeton University), 1946]
Palestine does not exist at all
[Ahmed Shkari (PLO founder), 1956]
Birth of a ‘Palestinian People: Palestinian nationalism and an identifiable ‘Palestinian People’ emerged after WWI, probably in response to the threat posed by Zionism when waves of Jewish immigrants arrived in Palestine between 1919 and 1939. Prior to this time, these Arabs were citizens of the Ottoman Empire. A Palestinian identity was given further impetus with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. This was a political maneuver:
The Palestinian people does not exist … there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people [Zahir Muhsein, PLO, March, 1977]
The ‘Promised Land’: The Bible says that the Jews have been promised a land of their own. God made an unconditional promise to Abraham:
I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you … I will give to you and your descendants … all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God
(Gen 17.7,8)
Land Partitioning – a Two-State Solution: Under the 1917 Balfour Declaration Britain supported the creation of a Jewish home in Palestine, with the proviso that the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities were preserved. This Declaration was based upon the biblical promise to Abraham and was formalized by the 1922 British Mandate for Palestine, where Palestine was defined as the land west of the river Jordan, including Judea and Samaria (now called the West Bank). In 1947 nearly half of Palestine was owned by Arabs, nearly half was “Crown Lands” under the 1922 British Mandate, and about 8% was Jewish. In the same year UN Resolution 181 recommended that this area be divided equally into an Arab state and a Jewish state, and Jerusalem was to be ‘internationalized’. The Jews accepted the resolution but the Arabs rejected it. When the British left Palestine, the Palestine Mandate was absorbed into Article 80 of the UN Charter, and still stands today.
Palestinian and Jewish Refugees: Since the two-state solution was rejected, immediately after the Declaration of the State in 1948 the Arab nations (notably the Egyptian and Syrian armies) invaded Israel. So Arab nations started the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which led to the refugee problem. In this so-called ‘War of Independence’, many Palestinians evacuated their homes under direction from Arab armies, hoping to return soon after the inevitable Arab victory, link. Instead, over 700,000 Palestinians became refugees that year in what is known as the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe). A further 250,000 Palestinians fled to the West Bank or Gaza Strip during the 1967 war, link.
What is not so widely known is that this war also displaced Jewish inhabitants of East Jerusalem link, and between 1948 and 1951, over 800,000 Jews were effectively forced out of Arab countries by oppression and persecution. These also became refugees, link.
Israel’s Temporary Borders: After the 1948-49 war, the Arab countries refused to sign a permanent peace treaty with Israel and so the 1947 UN Commission proposals never received legal international recognition. Instead, Israel’s temporary borders were established along the so-called ‘Green Line’ of the 1949 UN armistice agreements. This line excludes Israel from the West Bank and Gaza. Its originators never intended it to be Israel’s permanent borders.
The Concept of ‘Land Occupation’: Since the 1967 Six-Day War, the international community (notably the media) has claimed that Israel is “occupying Palestinian land”. But in international law, a territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state is declared terra nullius, and sovereignty over such territory can be legally acquired through occupation. This is the case of the West Bank and Gaza; neither have been legally recognized states and so legally cannot be occupied territories. So in the 1967 war, Israel simply took back Palestine Mandate land that was taken from her by war in 1948-49.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Today
Today, Israel’s legal borders are still defined by Article 80 of the UN Charter and span from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. According to Article 80, “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”. The land of Israel was meant to be home for the non-Jewish peoples as well as home for the nation, Israel. Sadly this has not happened because the Arab leadership refused, and still refuses to accept the State of Israel and so peace cannot be achieved.
The revised Hamas Charter re-affirms the Palestinian long-standing hatred of Israel:
Hamas will not give up on any part of the land of Palestine no matter the reasons, circumstances or pressures, and no matter how long the occupation remains. Hamas rejects any alternative to completely liberating Palestine from the river to the sea.
The Hidden Spiritual War
In all the conflicts with Israel it is important to recognize that they are driven by unseen spiritual forces. The root cause of such conflicts is the relationship of Israel to Jesus (Yeshua):
the dragon (Satan) … persecuted the woman (Israel) who gave birth to the male child (Jesus) (Rev 12.13)
Put simply, the salvation of mankind comes through the Jewish Messiah, Jesus, link. This fundamental truth is why the enemy of mankind persecutes Israel. There is a spiritual war against God’s chosen people, Israel, and aggressive nations and leaders (including the UN and the Palestinian leadership) are simply Satan’s pawns. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is just one example of this hidden but very real spiritual war.
The Bible liken’s the nation Israel to a fig tree. A fig tree produces both good and bad (inedible) fruit. So it was with the nation of Israel. Jews who were whole-hearted followers of God were likened to ‘good figs’, and rebellious Jews were likened to ‘bad figs’. The Bible also says that at the end of this age Israel will ‘blossom and bud’ and ‘put forth new leaves’ like a fig tree, and that this will be a sign of the imminent return of Israel’s true Messiah – Yeshua (Jesus Christ). Put simply, the Bible says that end-time events in the world will be closely linked to modern Israel.
Go directly to an interactive timeline for Israel-related events HERE
Signs of the End of the Age and of Christ’s Return
When Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Mathew 24.3), He identified four types of end-time sign (see also Mark 13 and Luke 21):
Signs in the world – wars, earthquakes, famines, lawlessness, wild weather …
Signs in the church – worldwide gospel preaching, persecution, apostasy, false prophets …
Signs in Israel – invasion, severe persecution of Jews …
Signs in the heavens – fearful solar and cosmic disturbances, asteroids …
Jesus said that when we see these signs then “know that the kingdom of God is near” (Luke 21.31). He said these signs point to His imminent return and the establishment of His kingdom on earth. So Jesus stressed that it was important to watch for these signs:
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming (Mat 25.13)
After describing the above signs, Jesus gave a mysterious parable. He associated the observation of these signs with the Parable of the Fig Tree. Why? It turns out that understanding this parable is the key to unlocking the mystery of what is now happening in the world. The parable leads to a very important sign, and one promised by the prophet Isaiah:
He will set up a sign for the nations (Isa 11.12)
What is it?
An Important Sign: The Parable of Israel the Fig Tree
After describing some end-time signs to watch for, Jesus ends with the parable of the fig tree. He told His disciples:
Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near – at the doors!
(Mat 24.32,33)
Why did Jesus associate a fig tree with the end time signs? Some argue that Jesus was just using a simple horticultural observation. Quite simply – the fig tree is one of the last trees to bud in the spring and so when it’s leaves are budding we know that summer is just around the corner! So, they argue, Jesus was simply saying; “when the fig tree buds you know that summer is near – likewise, when you see all these things happening, know that the end is near”. They deny that there is any positive association of Israel with a budding fig tree, link. On the other hand, Jesus used the concept of a parable, implying that underneath He was teaching a deep truth. Was He referring to Israel in the last days? Should we view the Parable of the Fig Tree as The Parable of Israel the Fig Tree?
Consider A Little Horticulture
The common or edible fig (Ficus carica L.) is native to the Mediterranean/Israel region, where it can produce three crops per year, link, link. Breba figs develop in the Spring (May) on the previous year’s shoot growth. They are generally inferior to the main crop and are often discarded to encourage growth of the main crop, link. Two main crops follow in July-November, with pollinated (caprified) figs in August-September. Pollination (caprification) of the common fig can markedly increase fig size, link and is done by fig wasps transporting pollen from Capri fig flowers. In contrast to most fruit trees, the Autumn figs (the main crop) develop on the new wood that grows in Spring.
Ficus carica was cultivated for its fruit thousands of years ago and figs are often referred to in the Old Testament. It is interesting to note that the Bible also refers to three crops of figs:
‘early, first ripe, first fruit before the summer, very good figs’ (Isa 28.4; Jer 24.2,3; Hos 9.10) – a relatively small crop with the best flavour, June-July
‘sweetness and good fruit, the season for figs’ (Judg 9.11, Mk 11.13) – main crop, August-September. Made into cakes for winter use (1 Sam 25.18)
‘green, bad, inedible figs’ (Song 2.13; Jer 24.2,3; Jer 29.17) – green or winter figs, small, unripened, unsweetened, inedible fruit, link, link
Spiritual Implication: the End-Time Budding of Israel
Fig horticulture identifies good sweet figs, the first of the summer figs, and poor, unripe and often inedible figs. The significant point here is that the Bible associates these qualities with the people of Israel. For instance, the ‘fathers of Israel’ or Patriarchs are seen as the best figs – the first-fruits of the summer crop:
I found Israel .. your fathers as the first fruits on the fig tree (Hos 9.10)
God sees this minority of Israel as the first and best of the nation. These figs contrast with the green, inedible figs. Both types of fig symbolize the people of Judah before their deportation to Babylon; they are seen as good and bad figs:
The LORD said to me ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ And I said, ‘Figs, the good figs, very good, and the bad, very bad (Jer 24.3)
Large ripe figs
Jeremiah 24.5-8 shows that God is referring to those Jews who are whole-hearted followers of God (the good figs), and to those rebellious Jews who had rejected God (the bad figs). Likewise, in the time of Christ, most Jews rejected Him and remained dead in their works and legalism. They were like green, unripened, unsweetened figs. Today, most Jews can be seen as green figs, whilst a few (the messianic Jews) are like sweetened ripe figs.
The consequences of rebellion against God is well illustrated in the incidence of the ‘Withered fig tree’ (Mat 21.18,19). Jesus found no fruit (apparently, not even the unripe breba crop), and so He cursed it and it died. This was prophetic, looking to the destiny of the Jews when they were to be scattered by the Romans in 70 AD. Like the cursed fig tree, the nation of Israel seemingly died. In contrast, Jesus gave an extremely important prophecy that applies to our time. To repeat:
Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near – at the doors! (Mat 24.32,33)
Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom is near (Lk 21.29-31)
Note that Jesus refers to the tender branch, implying new wood and the coming good summer fruit on the new wood. Since the fruit of the fig tree is established in the Old Testament as symbolizing the spiritual state of the people of Israel, many see this coming ‘summer crop’ as the restoration of the people of Israel (generically referred to as ‘Jews’) to their own land. The fruitless dead wood of scattered Israel is replaced by fruit on new wood. It is likened to a people drawn back into their own land and a nation that becomes a sign to the Gentiles. A remnant of this people become ‘the good, sweet crop’. This process has been underway now for over 100 years, link.
So when we refer to ‘Israel the fig tree’ we see both Old Testament Israel, and modern re-gathered or ‘budding’ Israel. The ‘good crop’ could include the 144,000 Messianic Jews drawn from the twelve tribes of Israel who will evangelize the gentile nations at the very end of this age (Rev 7.4-8). The result is the salvation of a countless number of Gentiles during the Great Tribulation:
I looked and saw a great multitude … of all the nations … clothed with white robes … these are the one’s who come out of the great tribulation (Rev 7.9,14).
The Message behind the Parable: Regathered Israel is a Sign to the Nations
It seems that when Jesus spoke of the appearance of new shoots on the fig tree as signalling that summer is near, He was actually alluding to the restoration of Israel and His imminent return. He was saying that when we see Israel regathered in her own land and ‘budding like a fig tree’ then His return is near – even ‘at the doors’. This will be the time of the coming of the fullness of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Israel and the Timeline for the Last Days
In Luke 21 Jesus said ‘look at the fig tree (Israel) and ‘all the trees’ (the Gentile nations) and so observe the signs of the times. He implied that Israel will be the vortex of the nations. So let’s now apply the parable of Israel the fig tree to the observed world scenario and ask the question, ‘When did the fig tree (Israel) start to bud?’ ‘When did Israel emerge onto the world scene?’ When we trace a timeline of world events from this time we find that many issues of today are closely linked to Israel! We see that Israel is increasingly the vortex of the world.
The timeline below is best viewed on desktops, laptops and tablets. If you’re viewing this on a mobile phone, click HERE for a PDF version
Historic Babylon and historic Rome were seats of power and authority over the world in their day. And today we see the ‘big five’ governments (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) in similar but larger seats of power. What do all these governments have in common? They were and are secular and Godless. Despite strong Vatican influence over Europe the EU has a ‘Godless Constitution’, and even ‘Christian America’ has a ‘Godless Constitution’, link.
What about a Future World Government?
There is much talk today about the coming (Godless) World Government. But in contrast to secular world governments, the final world government on earth will honour the God of the Bible. In fact, we know from prophecy who will lead this government. In the book of Isaiah (chapter 9) we read:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders … There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace
This prophecy clearly states that the leader of this government will be Jesus Christ. Now let’s ask some pertinent questions:
Is this a ‘World Government’ in the modern-day sense? Yes. When Christ returns to earth (and that is soon) He will be “King over all the earth” (Zech 14.9)
Is this a strong government? Yes. Christ will rule the nations “with a rod of iron” (Ps 2 8,9)
What about the secular Godless government on earth when He comes? It will be dashed to pieces and no trace will be left (Dan 2.35)
How long will this government last? Christ will reign on this earth for 1,000 years (the Millennium) (Rev 20.4)
Lastly, where is this seat of His government? The prophets tell us that too:
Thus says the LORD, I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth … for the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem (Zech 8.3, Isa 2.3)
Yes – it is certain that Jerusalem will soon be the seat of the future and final World Government. The eyes of the nations will be focused on tiny Israel and her King.
“Predicting the future is important for two reasons; first we need to start to think about what kind of future we would like for ourselves and to pass on to the next generation, and then we need to know what decisions we need to make today that will give the best result in the future“.
Noble thoughts – but who can control the future? Well … the UN thinks it can with its 17 Global Goals by 2030 e.g. end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice, link.
Others put their trust in man’s ingenuity to improve his lot and technology is seen as the way forward. It is true that we have seen great leaps in digital technology as in smartphones, cloud computing, multi-touch tablets, biometric passport recognition, 3D printing, electric cars and, or course, solar power. These are all innovations that have revolutionized the way we live and work. And some believe we are just getting started and claim that in the future we could live like how people in science fiction movies did, link. For example:
By 2050 there will be digital implants, age reversal pills, hyper-intelligence brain implants and bionic muscle upgrades, link. Artificial intelligence will eventually solve some of the world’s biggest problems, link
But is technology really the answer to solving the world’s problems? Are there deeper issues at stake here? Lets be pragmatic. After 6,000 years of steady human progression the global scenario suddenly seems far less certain. From many aspects, life as we have known it suddenly looks threatened. We see demographic, climatic, environmental, financial, social and political instability. The population of Mexico City was 21 million in 2016. That’s large! End time demographic and financial instability was seen by the prophet Isaiah: “The city of chaos is broken down; Every house is shut up so that none may enter“.
Over the last 50 years we have seen rapid world population growth (3 billion to 7.5 billion), the emergence of a New World Order, an undemocratic EU, electronic (cashless) trading, international terrorism, cyber warfare, nuclear proliferation, an apostate (liberal) church, the rejection of biblical morality, severe weather events, and increasing national debt. We even foresee possible asteroid impact, link! What is the UN going to do about asteroid impact?
So whether we like it or not, there are the big issues that will affect all our lives. World events are moving rapidly to a climax and the end of this age. But there is hope. The prophet Isaiah saw an end time spiritual darkness which is enlightened by God’s intervention:
Nations will be covered by (spiritual) darkness, But on you (Israel) the light of the Lord will shine. The brightness of his presence will be with you. (Isa 60.2)
The Relevance of the Jewish Menorah
The seven-candle Menorah was used in the ancient Jewish Temple, link, and a type of Menorah is lit in Jewish homes today. The Menorah’s God-given design symbolizes God’s light spreading throughout the world. The center candle symbolizes light given to mankind (the other six candles) through progressive revelation. This is seen through the history of Old Testament Israel e.g. through the Mosaic Law. Non-Messianic Jews see the center candle as a longing for God’s light to come and dwell (or tabernacle) among them.
In reality, this is exactly what happened 2,000 years ago! A descendant of the tribe of Judah – the Jew, Jesus Christ – came into the world and claimed: “I am the light of the world” (Jn 8.12). But He also said to His followers, “You are the light of the world” (Mat 5.14). And prior to this, God had also said to His servant, Israel through the prophet Isaiah:
You are My witnesses … I will give you as a light to the Gentiles … and set up My banner for the peoples
So today, both the Christian church and God’s servant Israel should be the source of the light needed in today’s dark, unbelieving world. They should reflect the light (truth, hope and reconciliation to God) given to mankind through Jesus, or Yeshua.
Israel Shines the Light on the Future – Watch what is Happening!
We see this light through the emergence of Israel onto the world scene. Over the past 100 years the Jewish population of Israel saw an amazing 7400% increase, link. Why? It seems Israel is once more becoming God’s witness to the Gentile nations. In fact, the Bible says that at the end of the age Israel will become the vortex of the world in the sense that major world events will be centered around Israel. Nations will be trapped in “darkness” (Isa 60.2) and will be forced to look towards the light – to Israel. At the end of the age the Bible says:
He will set up a ensign for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel (Isa 11.12)
An ensign means a national flag signaling the authority of the rightful owner! God owns the land and people of Israel (although many secular Jews still don’t recognize this). Israel is center to God’s plan for the future. So watch Israel and read about prophesied events, and the future is revealed. Ignore the UN’s goals and advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Ignore age reversal pills and hyper-intelligence brain implants. Even ignore climate change. The real issues are revealed in prophecies concerning Israel.
Here are some key events at the end of this age (all from Bible prophecy). Some are in fulfillment now:
The people of Israel will come out of the nations and live in the land promised to Abraham’s true descendants
The land itself will “blossom” and be restored, and Israel will find abundant natural resources
A chosen remnant of Israel (Jews) will preach a warning of God’s judgments to the world
There will be cataclysmic judgements on the earth
The last political leader of a corrupt world governmental system will invade Israel and “sit in the Temple”
Nations will war against Israel – Armageddon is the last war of this age
Israel will always be defended by the God of Israel
At the very end of the age Jesus (Yeshua) will return to rule the earth from Jerusalem
The location of Christ’s rule (a new temple) will be glorious
Spiritual forces of darkness that currently deceive the world and cause wars will be bound and ineffective
Nations will learn war no more and the lion will lie down with the lamb
The earth will experience an age of peace as Christ rules with justice and righteousness from Jerusalem
Gentile nations will make annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel
Now what about that! There are many other prophecies pertaining to the future, but they all relate back to Israel.
Most Important of All
The well-known writer Stan Hayward has pointed out the real issue in life, despite man’s technological advances:
In the future the world will be in your pocket – yet still you will ask ‘Who am I?’ and spend a lifetime looking for an answer. And so it will be fifty years from now, five hundred years from now, five thousand years from now, and on the dying breath of the last person to leave this earth
His point is this: despite any future technological, political or social progression, one question will remain; “Who am I?” The answer is found only in believing in Jesus Christ – the true Jewish Messiah.
The Connection between Jesus and Israel is Fundamental
What is written in the Christian Bible about Jesus and Israel is deep and mysterious. Yet this mystery will soon be revealed to the world through end-time world events. It will affect everyone. So with national Israel in world focus today, it is natural to ask:
Is there any connection with the risen Jesus Christ and the Israel we observe today (the people and the land)?
In particular, some ask
What do Jews and Gentiles think of Jesus?
Will today’s Jews every recognize Jesus as their ‘Messiah’. If so, when?
Are there two biblical Covenants, one for Jews and one for Gentiles? Or does the covenant promise to Israel merge into the New Covenant given to the church?
What is Christ’s relationship to the nation, Israel?
Did Jesus’ teaching replace the laws of the Hebrew scriptures?
Does Jesus fulfill the promises of blessing given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Put another way, does Jesus and His church fulfill the role originally assigned to the nation of Israel – to be a light to the nations?
If Jesus and His church have taken the place of Old Testament Israel, what is the status and role of the nation of Israel today?
Is the modern State of Israel a product of man’s will, or a fulfillment of God’s prophetic word?
Does God recognize as ‘spiritual’ Israel all who respond in faith to follow Jesus?
Is the church related to the so-called ‘Ten Lost Tribes’? Are their descendants scattered amongst the Gentile church, link?
Did Jesus’ primary ministry (reconciliation of man to God) fulfill all that the Old Testament temple symbolized? Is a new temple in Jerusalem needed (as some maintain)?
Does the modern State of Israel have any claim to the land (Canaan) promised to Abraham and his descendants, noting that Israel failed to keep God’s covenant? Put another way, are modern Jews still the true heirs of the land promised regardless of their continued unbelief in Jesus?
Bible Prophecy Holds the Answer to many of these Questions
In his book Jesus and Israel: One Covenant or Two?, David Holwerda (professor of New Testament Studies, Calvin Theological Seminary) argues for a spiritual fulfillment of Bible prophecies, link. He rightly concludes that there is only one covenant and that “The way of salvation for both Jew and Gentile is the same because both must call on the name of Jesus to be saved“. But does a spiritual view of prophecy fit with the facts, with observed reality, with what we see happening in Israel today? Why can’t we take a pragmatic view of prophecies where the text is quite clear?
Jesus’ First Mission: He came primarily to His own people, the Jews (at that time, essentially from the tribe of Judah), but they rejected Him as their expected Messiah (the Moshiach):
He came to that which was His own [that which belonged to Him—His world, His creation, His possession], and those who were His own [people—the Jewish nation] did not receive and welcome Him (Jn 1.11, Amplified)
And He came not to abolish the Jewish Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Mat 5.17).
Jesus’ Second Mission: Why does Jesus return to the Jews in Jerusalem and not to the politically important people in the UN or the EU, for instance? The answer is that prophecy explicitly states that Jesus returns to rule the Gentile nations with justice as King from Jerusalem (Zech 14.9,16,17). He returns to sit on the ancient throne of king David, who reigned 33 years in Jerusalem (Isa 9.7).
He returns to usher in the fullness of the Kingdom of God – a Millennial age of peace when the nations go up to Jerusalem to worship Him (Isa 66.23)! He returns to dwell with His chosen nation, the people of Israel (Ezek.37.26-27). Perhaps most important of all, Jesus returns so that His people recognize Him as their true Messiah, their looked-for Moshiach:
They (the Jews) will look on Me whom they pierced … they will mourn for Him … in that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem (Zech 12.10,11)
Again, these promises are difficult to spiritualize.
Jesus returns to Jerusalem: Bible prophecy says that Jesus will return at the end of this age. And the place of his return? Jerusalem! So at the outset, Jesus and modern Israel are inextricably connected via modern-day Jerusalem. Geologists have even discovered a fault line running through the Mount of Olives, as required for the mountain to split in two at Christ’s Second Coming (Zech 14.4). That is difficult to spiritualize.
Jesus’ return is Unexpected: It will be preceded by deception (false Christs), but his actual return will be sudden, unexpected, and globally observed. In the gospel of Mathew, chapter 24, we read:
Many false prophets will appear and fool many people … if people tell you, ‘Look, he is out in the desert!’ — don’t go there; or if they say, ‘Look, he is hiding here!’ — don’t believe it. For the Son of Man will come like the lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west
Who Takes Jesus Seriously?
Most Jews are confused over Jesus
As the video implies, most Jews in Israel today reject Yeshua (Jesus) as their looked-for ‘Messiah’ or ‘Moshiach’. Apart from a minority, those who claim to be religious follow Judaism, not Yeshua. This is alarming – but a fulfillment of prophecy. According to prophecy, God’s people (generically, the Jews) will return in unbelief to the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. The New Testament says that these Jews are suffering a temporary spiritual blindness and a temporary hardening of the heart towards God and especially towards Yeshua (Rom 11.25). Only at the very end of this age, under tribulation, does the vast majority of Jews recognize Yeshua as their Messiah (Zech 12.10-14).
In an ever-darkening western world, skeptics claim that nobody of our era has seen Jesus of Nazareth as the person who lived some 2,000 years ago. Where is he? He died didn’t he? For example, a vast majority of young people in Europe now reject Christianity, link. Some 70% of young people in the UK identify with no religion.
Yet billions of people worldwide who call themselves Christians believe he is a living person, trust him, and hang on to every word he said, as written in the New Testament writings of the Bible. And it is these same scriptures that give shocking warnings to those who don’t believe and consciously reject him. The warnings are so radical that they are brushed off as delusional ideas of the disciples of this controversial personality. The warnings are seen as fundamentalist dogma.
Here’s a series of four thought-provoking exposés about Jesus of Nazareth, born in the land of Israel as a Jew and predicted to return to Jerusalem to become King of a world-ruling government.
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Jesus the man Jesus the Jew Jesus the Creator Jesus the coming King
After all’s been said and done, the Bible’s bold declarations culminate in its last book, Revelation. Here we read the final verses of the Bible, and the promise and warning of Jesus. Since Jesus is soon to return (He will be seen “with the clouds” Revelation 1.7), this last book is essentially an end time message. First, an amazing promise to those who trust in the risen Jesus:
Revelation 22: 12-14
Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.
The city here is the New Jerusalem described symbolically in Revelation 21. Here we find the blessings (fruit) of the symbolic “tree of life” first mentioned in Genesis 2.9 in the Garden of Eden. It seems that, for believers, time has gone full circle to what God planned in the beginning. Sadly, not all partake of this eternal blessing and fellowship with God. Jesus gives a warning:
Revelation 22.15
Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
So there we have it. Man has a choice and Jesus gives a plea to mankind:
Revelation 22.16,17
I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
Today, man is expert at twisting God’s word. We see this in his attempts to redefine marriage for example, and in his attempts to replace national Israel with the church (Replacement Theology). So Jesus gives a final warning:
Revelation 22.18,19
I testify and warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book [its predictions, consolations, and admonitions]: if anyone adds [anything] to them, God will add to him the plagues (afflictions, calamities) which are written in this book;
and if anyone takes away from or distorts the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away [from that one] his share from the tree of life and from the holy city (new Jerusalem), which are written in this book.
The important biblical concepts discussed in these seven short articles are summarized below in a timeline:
According to the Pew Research Center, an astounding 2.2 billion people in the world base their religious beliefs and worldview on text written by Hebraic men who wrote bold declarations about the world’s origins, future, and man’s ultimate destiny. Interpretations of the Bible abound, but what is actually written?
In Romans the 3rd chapter, the apostle Paul wrote:
Do the Jews have any advantage over the Gentiles? Or is there any value in being circumcised? Much, indeed, in every way! In the first place, God trusted his message to the Jews.
Put another way, here Paul is saying that the inspired Hebrew scriptures of the Jews are the very words of God!
Let’s put aside religious biases, mystical interpretations, or even our secular worldview. Let’s read with an open mind what the Bible tells us about our origins and our future. Right at the beginning we read a mystery, namely, that the God of the Bible reproduces “His kind”. In the Genesis account of man’s creation the Bible speaks of “mankind made in God’s image”:
In Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
But what does it mean “to be made in God’s image”?
The Bible says “God is Spirit” but clearly we are “flesh and blood”. So isn’t something wrong here? No. We need to look to man’s future. In chapter 8 of Paul’s letter to the Romans he spoke a mystery. He said creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. He spoke of a hope of man’s “spirit form” in the future, as distinct from flesh and blood. Instead of “mankind” or “fleshkind” he was really speaking of man as a “spiritkind” or “Godkind”.
In Romans 8:18-23
I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his children … For we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth. But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God’s gifts also groan within ourselves as we wait for God to make us his children and set our whole being free.
These are powerful and inspired words. Paul is saying that both creation and man himself groan due to imperfection and mortality. But it is possible for mankind to be translated to an immortal “spiritkind” like his Creator. He sums it up like this:
1 Corinthians 15.53
For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality
This will happen at some point in the future. As we read on in the Bible we discover that man in immortal (spirit) form will one day live with his Creator God on a new and perfect earth! Now that blows your mind!
In Genesis chapter 1 we read that God made mankind male and female and blessed them to be “fruitful and multiply”. Why did the Creator of the universe give man the mandate to procreate and proliferate? Think about the billions of humans born since the world began. What were they born for? Where have they all gone? What did they live for? Did their lives have any real meaning? The answer to these questions is found in a mystery: we must be changed or “born again” as the Bible puts it.
Israel’s King David asked a similar question. He wrote in the 8th Psalm:
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
Here’s the Answer – Spiritual Rebirth
The apostle John boldly tells us that all we observe was made through Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew). From human cells to the earth and the starry heavens – all were made through Jesus (John chapter 1). The atomic constants and the molecular structure of matter were made through Jesus. And the Bible tells us that this same Jesus came into the world to show man how to live. John goes on to say that all who believe in Jesus are given the right to become children of God. These are children not born through a woman’s pregnancy, but born of God. This is a mystery accepted by faith. In John 1:9-14, we read:
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
This speaks of two births of man: a physical birth through woman and a spiritual birth through God’s Spirit. In John 3 Jesus said:
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
Note that Jesus leaves the ball in our court! It’s up to an individual to choose to believe in Jesus and be born a second time! It’s up to us to find the meaning of life through Jesus.
The Hebrew word ‘Yehudi’ (Jew) originated from the name Judah (2 Kings 16.6). But when Israel became divided into northern and southern kingdoms (the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah) the term ‘Jew’ came to apply to all those in the Kingdom of Yehudah (Judah). This kingdom embraced the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, so Paul called himself a Jew since he was from the tribe of Benjamin (Acts 22:3), and Jesus was a Jew since His lineage is traced to Judah (Lk 3.23-33, Heb 7.14).
Today it is common to refer to Abraham’s descendants, or anyone who practices Judaism as ‘Jews’. More …
Man’s Destiny – As God Intended
The apostle Paul described man’s destiny as a mystery. He said that mortal man was meant to become immortal (that is the plan of his Maker) and then live with His Maker eternally. This is a truly mind-blowing concept, but that is what the Bible says.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15 verses 50-54, Paul wrote:
What I mean, friends, is that what is made of flesh and blood cannot share in God’s Kingdom, and what is mortal cannot possess immortality.
Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed. For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die. So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!”
There is a caveat here: this amazing transition to immortality is conditional, as explained below.
Man’s Eternal Home – the New Earth
A popular view is that when we die we go to live in heaven. But the Bible doesn’t say that. It doesn’t say that man’s reward is to go permanently to heaven. Heaven is God’s throne and earth is meant for man. But man will not spend eternity on this earth! The truth is that a New Heaven and a New Earth is prophesied. And it is in the new and perfect earth where God comes and walks with man, as He did in the Garden of Eden. A perfect God-man relationship will be restored. Such prophecies are brief and full of symbolism – little detail is revealed. But the concept and promise is there (and the caveat is there too)! Here’s what the Bible says about this amazing promise:
In Revelation 21: 1-7, we read about John’s vision:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Did you see it? Did you see God’s caveat? God says He will fulfill this amazing promise “to the thirsty”. What about those who do not believe and are not thirsty for a relationship with their Creator? Revelation 21.8 says:
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.
The amazing promise of eternal life with our Creator is conditional. We must first reach out to God through the living Jesus Christ. In doing so our lives will be totally changed. Jesus said this eternal and perfect destiny can be ours by simply believing and trusting in Him. We can of course choose not to believe, and many do so. One more thing. Before the passing away of the present earth, prophecy strongly suggests that there will be a glorious time of peace on this earth when Jesus returns. And believers will play a major role as immortal beings!
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A Contract – God’s Covenant with Israel
A “contract” can be defined as an agreement between two parties which obliges each party to do or not to do a certain thing. It is an agreement with promises of delivery, but also with stipulations and penalty clauses. In the time of Moses God made such a contract with the people (nation) of Israel, although the Bible refers to it as as “God’s covenant”.
God made a contract with Israel at Mount Sinai via His servant Moses. They were to follow the statutes of holy living, various laws and observe mandated Holy Feasts at their appointed time. Their mission was to teach the world by their example and be God’s witness to the nations. Moses was instructed to spell out God’s contract to the Israelites:
In Exodus 19: 5-8 we read:
Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord. This is confirmed in Deuteronomy 7:12:
If you listen to these commands and obey them faithfully, then the Lord your God will continue to keep his covenant with you and will show you his constant love, as he promised your ancestors.
In biblical terminology this contract between God and Israel is often referred to as the Mosaic Covenant. The “if-then” statement in these verses reveals that it was conditional. Israel had to be obedient to God’s requirements in order to receive His blessings.
Israel Broke God’s Covenant – So the Penalties ‘Kicked-In’
As history shows, the people of Israel strayed from their promise on Mount Sinai. They failed to keep to the ways God had stipulated in the contract. As punishment, her people were sent into captivity by the ferocious Babylonians. And when Jesus came He wept for His people for He knew they were going to suffer and be dispersed amongst the nations. Let’s read some of the fine print in the contract. In Deuteronomy 28:1-16, we read:
Blessings for Obedience
1If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:
3You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
8The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.11The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
12The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
Curses for Disobedience
15However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:
16You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
The Contract Renewed
As discussed, Israel failed and broke the contract, and so in the New Testament era the contract was offered to Gentiles – namely the church. Today the church has the opportunity to receive the blessings of the contract (God’s blessings). All she has to do is keep her side of the contract by being God’s witness to the nations. She has to preach the good news (the Gospel). That said, in these end times, a remnant of Israel is once more fulfilling her mission, together with the contracted Gentiles.
Today we see the return of the Jews back to their God-given homeland (Canaan). We see the establishment of the State of Israel. We see a nation turning to the statutes God laid down under Moses. We see the majority of the nation now following God’s Holy Feasts and keeping the Jewish Sabbath. As a result, the nation of Israel is once more being blessed in the country (abundant agriculture), blessed in the city (technological innovation) and blessed in the sea (discovery of large natural resources). We also see God’s amazing protection (as in the 6-day war), and God building a numerous people as in the birth of numerous sons and daughters.
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The Abrahamic Covenant: All Nations will be Blessed
The book of Genesis says that God made a great promise to Abraham (the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant): “through you I will bless all the nations”. That is why his descendants, the Israelites, are blessed. Today, Israel has been restored as a nation and is blessed with progress, protection, resources and intelligence. And despite many attempts over nearly 3,000 years to exterminate the Jews, a remnant has always survived. In fact, the number of Jews in Israel today has increased by over 7,000 percent in just 100 years!
Testing Abraham’s Faith
In Genesis 22:1-18 we read how God tested Abraham. Let’s read the incredible test that earned Abraham an incredible reward for his descendants. God said to him:
“Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord Will Provide’. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Abraham’s Reward
As the scriptures say, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith”. So God could use Abraham for the future and He rewarded him through several unconditional promises. First, through Abraham’s descendants came the offer to all men of reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ. That stands today. Secondly, God said that He would make the descendants of Abraham into a great nation which would be God’s servant and witness in the world. Today we see God fulfilling this promise as God’s people return to their promised land. The people of Israel are once more becoming God’s witness to the nations.
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The Fall of Man – Paradise was Lost
PARADISE (EDEN) WAS LOST, BUT THE APOSTLE JOHN WROTE THAT IT WILL BE RESTORED IN THE FUTURE.
In the Creation account of Genesis, we read about a paradise-like garden called Eden, where two important trees were planted by God: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. These trees seem to have been deliberately planted to test how humans would use their free will. As the story recounts, the first humans failed the test and were driven away from Paradise.
Let’s read about the creation of mankind:
Genesis 2.8-15
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
The Redemption of Man – Paradise Restored
Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which was supposed to make them die. They didn’t die immediately, but they did die of old age, like all mortals. It seems that mortality was the consequence of eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Mortality was the consequence of the wrong free will choice. What if they hadn’t eaten the forbidden fruit and simply obeyed the rules God imposed in Eden? Would they have been given the gift of immortality as a reward? Would they have continued to live and not die? It seems that, given free choice (free will), mankind made the wrong choice.
We can dismiss the Genesis account as myth, and many do. At the outset it seems unfair on the rest of mankind. But it does explain everyday experience. It explains how man’s free will (choice) can be destructive, or constructive. It explains the chosen paths of Hitler and Wilberforce for example; one man destroyed humanity whilst the other helped humanity. In a fallen world who can deny that man can do either?
The Genesis account also gives hope for mortal man. The Bible says the whole of creation, including mankind, will return to a state of paradise in the future. The Apostle John wrote in the book of Revelation that Eden will be restored and populated by all who believe in Jesus.
Revelation 22:1-5
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
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The Gentile nations will honour Israel
The millennial age is one of firm government from Christ, but also one of universal peace. Corrupt world governments will have been crushed and Christ’s Kingdom will embrace the whole earth (Dan 2.35). The Gentile nations at last acknowledge Jerusalem (Zion) as “the Holy City” (Isa 52.1):
“The Gentiles will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn … the sons of foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you … the sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (Isa 60.3,10,14)
Millennial Jerusalem will also be called “the LORD is there” (Ezek 48.35) and nations will go up from year to year to worship the LORD (Zech 14.16). In fact, they will especially honor the Jew:
“In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you'” (Zech 8.23)
Future Geological Changes around Jerusalem
The Mount of Olives will split into two
When Christ returns the geology of the area will be totally changed and the Mount of Olives just east of Jerusalem splits into two (enlarge image). It splits east-west with half the mountain moving north and half moving south, generating “a very large valley … reaching to Azal” (Zech 14.4,5). Azal may be several km south of the present-day Mount of Olives, link. It is well known that there is a geological fault line running east-west through the Mount of Olives and just south of Jerusalem, link. Could it be that present-day Jerusalem is moved north to sit high above this valley? Ezekiel 40.2 and Zech 14.10 suggest that the millennial Jerusalem is elevated above a plain.
Ezekiel 45 and 48 provide amazing detail of a (probably new) temple – the LORDS’s sanctuary – located just north of the city area (see map). Note that healing waters flow east from the temple down into the valley to enter the northern end of the Dead sea, resulting in the restoration of fishing (Ezek 47.1-10).
When is “the end of the World”?
Jesus talked about world events at the “end of the age” in Mat 24.3. Here ‘age’ is translated from the Greek ‘aión’, meaning ‘an age’ or ‘a cycle of time’ (not ‘world’ as sometimes translated). So here Jesus was referring to a time dispensation rather than to the literal end of the world. Study of prophecy strongly implies that the ‘end of the age’ and ‘the end of the world’ are separated by 1,000 years.
It appears that we currently nearing the end of approximately 6,000 years of human government and the start of 1,000 years of peace on the earth – the Millennial Age when Christ rules the earth (Zech 14.9). After this comes the literal ‘end of the world’ – the physical destruction of the present earth through intense heat (2 Pet 3.7,10). It is interesting that NASA scientists predict that, eventually, the sun will expand to become a red giant and burn up the solar system, including earth, link.
Despite the intervention of the God of Israel to protect her, two end-time wars against Israel must surely take their toll? And (perhaps between these wars) Israel also goes through a time of distress or ‘tribulation’ referred to in Dan 12.1 and Mat 24.15-25. This is the severe persecution of Israel under the final world government and world ruler, link – the time of ‘Jacob’s trouble’ (Jer 30.7). But throughout Israel’s history, despite 3,000 years of persecution, God always leaves a remnant of Israel as His witness. So during the last days a remnant is preserved, albeit through a time of refining and affliction:
“See, I have refined you … I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isa 48.10) “I will not destroy you completely. But I will chasten you justly and will by no means leave you unpunished” (Jer 30.11)
So how many survive these onslaughts on Israel?
“One third shall be left … I will bring the one-third through the fire … (and) they will call upon My name … (and) I will say, ‘This is My people'” (Zech 13.8,9)
So it is this one-third remnant of Israel that survives these times and comes through, refined as silver and tested as gold, to be God’s worthy servant in the millennial reign of Christ, link.
Why Boycott Israel?
Boycotts are social protests with the aim of changing Israeli government policy through economic damage. For instance, the global BDS campaign (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) aims to create economic and political pressure on Israel concerning (so-called) land occupation and Palestinian rights. Divestment is where investors refrain from investing in Israeli companies or in companies that trade with Israel, and consumers boycott Israeli products, especially products from Israeli settlements in so-called “Occupied Palestinian Territory”. But International law firmly states that Israel is not in ‘occupation’, link.
Are boycotts effective anyway? Maybe not. Israel is still prospering, with the highest average living standards in the Middle East, the highest density of high-tech start-up companies in the world (high-tech exports c$19bn a year) and a lower Government debt to GDP than the USA or the UK.
So is there a deeper reason for the boycotts? Probably. It is claimed that the BDS campaign has a much wider objective; namely, the elimination of the Jewish State and should be stopped, link. But those who boycott Israel should heed the biblical warning:
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen 12.3)
Israel’s Blessing
Before Moses died he blessed the tribes of Israel and some of these blessings involved blessing of the sea and the land. Joseph was to be blessed with ‘precious things from the deep (Heb ‘tehom’: sea, abyss) lying beneath’ (Deut 33.13), Asher was to ‘dip his foot in oil’ (Deut 34.24) and Zebulun and Issachar were to find ‘treasures hidden in the sand’ (Deut 33.19).
Israel may be seeing these blessings today (enlarge map). In 2014, Israel’s proved reserves of natural gas were 10.1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), and it is estimated that Israel may discover up to 200 Tcf. Also, Israel has one of the world’s largest deposits of shale oil, with a potential of some 250 billion barrels in the Shfela basin. Recent drilling has found thick oil strata in the Southern Golan Heights north-east of the Sea of Galilee. The Dead Sea contains some 45,000 million tons of salts rich in minerals which are exploited by Israel’s mining sector. And the Negev desert has an almost unlimited underground supply of brackish water, which is being exploited for agricultural irrigation. More …
Image: Known oil and gas fields in the Levant Basin. Oil and gas fields in grey. [US Energy Information Administration, Wikimedia Commons]
Israel’s current borders are hotly contested as governments insist on ignoring the true legal position. Israel’s eastern border is of particular concern since it involves the West Bank. Thankfully, according to Bible prophecy, such disputes will be short-lived as this age rapidly comes to a close. In the succeeding Millennial Age on earth, Israel’s borders will be firmly established by the God of Israel. In fact, these future borders are almost identical to the borders of ancient Israel given to Moses in Num 34.1-12 as he was about to divide up Canaan for the twelve tribes (enlarge map). Ancient Israel’s eastern border ‘went down along the Jordan, ending at the Salt Sea’ (Num 34.12).
Israel’s future borders are clearly defined in Ezek 47.13-20, and again the eastern boundary runs along the Jordan (v18). The borders also include Gaza, significant parts of present-day Syria and probably all of Lebanon. Are the politicians listening?
The Land of Israel is Promised to God’s People
The 1922 League of Nations sub-division. Image: Eli E. Hertz
Some 80% of today’s Jews in Israel follow the Jewish scriptures in the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) in some way, ranging from fundamentalism to loose Jewish practice. In Genesis they read God’s promise to Jacob, grandson of Abraham:
“The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you” (Gen 35.12)
Note that God’s unconditional land covenant with Abraham passed to Isaac (and then to Jacob) rather than to Ishmael and the Arab nations (Gen 17.19). This is the fundamental reason why religious Jews claim that the Land of Canaan (modern Israel) is their land, covenanted to them by God.
Israel’s Divine Protection
It is quite remarkable how Israel has survived attacks from overwhelming invading armies. Certainly, the evidence to date is that each time Arab nations attack Israel, they are defeated and their end-state seems worse than their first. By the end of the 1949 War of Independence the fledgling Israeli forces had defeated five invading Arab armies. In 1967 the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon (and later Iraq) attacked Israel, but were defeated in just six days despite the huge Arab superiority in armour, aircraft and troops. In October 1973 Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel (the Yom Kippur War) but were eventually defeated. As to the future, at the end of the age all nations will gather against Israel in an attempt to destroy her – but again God intervenes. Israel’s enemies should take note of God’s promises to Israel:
“Whoever assails you will fall because of you … no weapon that is formed against you will prosper” (Isa 54.15,17)
“I will be a wall of fire around her … he who touches you, touches the apple of (the Lord’s) eye” (Zech 2.5,8).
The Hebrew term ‘Aliyah’ describes the relatively recent massive influx of Jews to their ancestral land, Israel. They are coming from all over the world, from wherever they have been scattered amongst the nations. In 1915 there were just 83,000 Jews in Palestine (modern Israel) but this increased to over 6 million Jews by 2015, corresponding to an amazing 7400% increase! The picture shows the arrival of Jewish immigrants to Israel in 2007.
This mass migration is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy – that towards the end of this age and just before Christ returns, God will call the children of Israel out of the nations and once more put them in their own land:
Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone … and bring them into their own land (Ezek 37.21)
Life in the Millennial Age
Prophecy paints a picture of a world at peace (no war) with Jerusalem (Zion) as the focal point since Christ dwells there. Of His sanctuary near Jerusalem the LORD says:
“This is the place of My feet, where I shall dwell in the midst of the children of Israel” (Ezek 43.7)
Millennial life around Jerusalem is described in some detail. Nations will willingly go up to Jerusalem to worship the LORD and listen to His teaching (Mic 4.2 Isa 66.23). It also appears that some of the Hebrew festivals are reinstated, as in the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech 14.16). Man will still have his daily work but there is some indication that the bias of work will be towards husbandry (farming) and hunting (fishing) rather than industrial manufacturing (Ezek 47.10 Isa 60.5, 65.21 Amos 9.13,14). People will be born and will die in the Millennial earth, just as in the present age. Man’s life span may well extend to at least 100 years (Isa 65.20,22) but physical death inevitably follows. Death is the last enemy and is not destroyed until the close of the Millennium. More …
Israel in the Millennial Age
The Millennial Age on earth provides a forum for the completion of God’s unconditional covenants with Israel – the Abrahamic, Davidic, Palestinian and New Covenants. Specifically, during the millennium, Israel will come a great nation, Christ will establish His kingdom and sit on David’s throne, the tribes of Israel will have been fully restored to the land promised to Abraham, and God will write His Law on the hearts of both Jew and Gentile. After some 2,500 years of dispersion amongst the nations, Israel will again take on her intended role in the world:
“You are My witnesses” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen” (Isa 43.10)
So the restoration of Israel will be a sign or witness to the nations that the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, the only true God, loves mankind. In fact, during the Millennial Age God actually comes to dwell with Israel and the nations through Jesus the Messiah at Jerusalem:
“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst … Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people” (Zech 2.10-11)
The seven-branched lampstand (Israel’s Menorah) well-summarizes the purpose of Israel both now and in the Millennium. The center branch represents Divine light (understanding) from God and the six branches represent human efforts to spread this light to the Gentiles (Isa 42.6).
God Intervenes in World Affairs
Future wars against Israel will be different from previous wars. Whilst some claim that the 6-Day war in June 1967 was miraculous in that Israel overcame huge superiority in armour, aircraft and troops, future wars will certainly be unique. These wars will directly glorify the God of Israel as He openly defeats the attacking forces. After the (largely Islamic) Gog-Magog war we read:
“I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgement which I have executed” (Ezek 39.21)
And during the final war against Israel prophecy says that God will again clearly intervene to protect His people:
“Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle” (Zech 14.3)
This battle concludes with the Second Coming of Christ to reign as King over all the earth (Zech 14.9), the last form of human government (probably centered on the EU) having been taken away like ‘chaff in the wind’ (Dan 2.34,35). God indeed intervenes in world affairs!
Israel – God’s Witness in this Age and in the Next
A primary reason for the existence of Israel is that she is God’s “witness and servant” in the world (Isa 43.10). This has been true in history and is true for the future. At the very end of this age 144,000 are drawn from twelve tribes of Israel and sealed for their protection (Rev 7.3,4). As God’s witnesses and servants they are to ‘turn many to righteousness’ (Dan 12.3) in very troubled times as nations crumble (Lk 21.25, Dan 2.34,35) and God’s judgments on the earth begin. The result of their witness is a great turning to God from all the nations (Rev 7.9,10)
The remnant of Israel who enter the millennial age with Christ continue this witness and servant hood, and some are sent to the nations to declare God’s glory (Isa 66.19). At last, the Gentile nations acknowledge and value the unique role of the Jew:
“In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you'” (Zech 8.23)
Still others become priests and keep charge of the (new) Jewish temple in Jerusalem (Isa 66.21, Exod 44.15).
The Fate of the Attacking Nations
Prophecy indicates that there will be several major wars against Israel in the near future, just before Christ returns to rule the earth as King (Zech 14.9). The so-called Gog-Magog war in Ezek 38-39 results in the attackers being defeated by the intervention of the God of Israel, rather than by the armies of Israel (Ezek 39.3). This is in the form of extreme weather – extreme rain, hail and snow – and also by fire and brimstone similar to that which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Ezek 38.22)(Job 38.22,23). They fall on the open fields and mountains (Heb ‘har’ – hill country) of Israel and fail to reach Jerusalem (Ezek 38.19). The Golan Heights must be involved.
There will be an ‘all-nation’ invasion of Israel at the very end of the age, with Jerusalem the objective (Zech 14.2). This man-God war could involve neutron bombs since these vaporize flesh at close range. Such a fate of the invaders is suggested in Zech 14.12. The attackers may also be destroyed by nuclear devices since Malachi 4 refers to a time of fierce heat when invaders are burnt to ashes.
Major war against Israel is Imminent
Bible prophecy describes how the increasing political bias of western nations, and the increasing aggression of Arab-Muslim nations finally leads to another major war against Israel. In fact, since prophecy is not precise, some see several major Middle East wars just before the close of this age and the Second Coming of Christ.
A future invasion of northern Israel is strongly indicated in Ezek 38 and Ezek 39. The countries involved appear to be mainly the Islamic nations surrounding Israel, possibly led by Iran and Russia. The invasion could be imminent given the present Russian-Iranian alliance and Iran’s declared hatred of Israel. At the very end of this age prophecy indicates that all nations (Gentile and Islamic) will attempt a final invasion of Israel:
“I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle” (Zech 14.2)
“I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone … though all nations of the earth are gathered against it” (Zech 12.3)
This latter war appears to be unique in that it is not primarily man against man, but man against God; it is commonly known as Armageddon (Rev 16.16, 19.19). Both invasions are defeated by the God of Israel. More …
The real reason for the aggression against Israel
The real reason for the aggression is spiritual, not political or even humanitarian. You may reject the concept of a spiritual world co-existing with the physical world, but it is a fact; Jesus Christ proved beyond doubt that the spiritual world exists. Israel is the central player in that spiritual world. She is God’s chosen witness in the world and it is through Israel that Christ came (He was of the tribe of Judah) to provide redemption for the world. He proved that too, by His resurrection from the dead. But the truth about this powerful spiritual world is blurred, corrupted and buried by spiritual forces of darkness:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6.12)
These forces blind the nations – the politicians, the media, the institutionalized church, the man in the street and the adherents of political Islam such that they “believe a lie” (2 Thes 2.10,11). In fact, the spiritual aggression shown to Israel (and to the true followers of Christ) will intensify towards the end of this age (Rev 12.13-17).
Israel’s Islamic Enemies
The problem is that Israel is now occupying land previously conquered by Islam. Muslims conquered The Levant (which embraces all of Israel and much more, link) in the 7th century and the land of Israel remained in Muslim hands (apart from the brief Crusader period) until liberated from the Muslim Turks by the British in 1917. According to Islamic ideology, once Islam conquers a territory it is to remain under Islamic dominion forever, and Islam is humiliated when such territories are lost to ‘infidels’, link. So Islam wants the Levant back!
As the 1988 Hamas Charter states, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it”. Today this extreme ideology is underscored by ISIL. The term means ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’, so the destruction of Israel and the re-establishment of an Islamic caliphate in the land of Israel is the declared objective of militant Islam, link. The Levant objective falls under the general Islamic ideology of a world-wide caliphate, link.
Map copyright: By No machine-readable author provided. MapMaster assumed (based on copyright claims). [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], Wikimedia Commons
Israel and the Church
Fundamentalist Christians believe that modern Israel, and not the church, will be central in world affairs at the close of this age. They believe that prophecy shows that Israel will become (if not already) God’s main witness in the world. Sadly this is not generally true of the western institutionalized church, which usually holds to ‘replacement theology’ i.e. the church and not Israel is God’s main witness today, link. They believe that since God rejected Israel then the Christian church is now God’s chosen people, not the Jewish people. Put simply, today’s church is often blind to her Jewish roots. This view is of course incompatible with Christ’s teaching, namely, that the gospel (as spread by the church) should be first conveyed to God’s people, the house of Israel (Mat 10.6). God wants the church to call His people, wherever they are, back to Himself.
The result of such unbiblical teaching is that the institutionalized church takes the world’s view and essentially rejects modern-day Israel, and so pays little attention to end-time prophecy about Israel. This is spearheaded by the World Council of Churches (WCC) which has called on member churches (Anglican, Methodist …) to support an international boycott of Israeli settlement produce and services, link.
Israel and the UN
Without doubt there is an overall bias in the UN against Israel. Between 1955 and 2013 there were 77 UN resolutions against Israel, and just one against the Palestinians, link. In 2015 the UN General Assembly adopted 20 resolutions against Israel, but only 3 against the rest of the world [UN Watch]. How can Israel be so wrong?
Israel is often accused of being the aggressor in conflicts, whereas Israel claims she wages defensive war after provocation, link. Resolutions accuse Israel of settling in “Occupied Palestinian Territory”, and ignore Article 80 of the UN Charter which upholds the right of Jews to settle anywhere west of the Jordan! Other resolutions refer to the on-going Palestinian refugee problem, but many see this now as a political tool by Arab nations, link, link. But the UN is not all bad: in 2015 the UN began to address issues of concern to the Jewish community, particularly anti-Semitism.
Bias Against Israel
From the rise of Zionism to the present day, Israel has not been welcomed on the world scene. There is a majority bias against Israel from the UN, the media, NGOs, and the man in the street. Why? After all, Israel is just some 8 million people living on land the size of Wales! Here’s the real reason (although you probably won’t agree):
Politicians, the media, and many NGO’s are really just pawns in a spiritual battle between truth and error, between light and darkness, between Christ and His adversary Satan. Israel is a special nation chosen by God to be His witness in the world and to bring redemption to the world through Christ, link. Israel is ‘a light to the nations’ (Isa 49.6). Satan knows all this and end-time prophecy underscores the attempts by Satan to eliminate Israel:
“the dragon (Satan) … persecuted the woman (Israel) who gave birth to the male child (Christ)” (Rev 12.13)
This hatred was evident in the holocaust and subsequent wars against Israel, and culminates in all nations turning against Israel at Armageddon (Zech 14.2, Rev 16.16). But there is hope. More …
King David conquered Jerusalem in 1052 BC and today, in the Old City of Jerusalem (enlarge image), lies the rock (Mount Moriah) where Abraham offered up Isaac for sacrifice to God around 1800 BC (Gen 22.2). The deep significance of this to Jewish, Christian and Muslim beliefs makes Jerusalem one of the most contested pieces of real estate in the world. This is particularly true for orthodox Jews who believe that Jerusalem is center-stage of the land of Canaan promised to Abraham’s descendants, and for Christians who believe that Jesus was crucified and resurrected in the city, and will soon return to the Mount of Olives just east of the Old City.
Given these historic and certain future events, we can see that the various claims on Jerusalem are actually the outworking of a spiritual battle over Jerusalem, a battle between truth and error, between the God of Israel and spiritual forces of darkness. So, on the one hand we see the Vatican demanding control over Jerusalem’s religious sites, link, the UN stating that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and Palestine, and Palestinians claiming Jerusalem as their capital. On the other hand, orthodox Jews claim their historic and covenant right to the city. No wonder Jerusalem will be the location of the most epic battle of history! More …
Israel’s Leaders Speak Truth to the World
“Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us” [Golda Meir, 1957]
“From my childhood, I have believed Jews and Arabs can live together, and I believe now they should live together. All the rights to this country, to the land of Israel – especially Judea and Samaria – are Jewish … but everyone who lives in the country should have all the rights of the country” [Ariel Sharon, April 1989]
“The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war” [Benjamin Netanyahu, 2006]
“We must constantly repeat that the root of the conflict is the very existence of the State of Israel” [Benjamin Netanyahu, 2012]
“The nuclear deal with Iran does not block Iran’s path to the bomb, it paves Iran’s path to the bomb” [Benjamin Netanyahu, August 2015]
The Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Problem
The is a solution, but prophecy indicates that it will not occur in this present age. The Bible instructs the people of Israel how they should treat foreigners (non-Jews). Old Testament Israel was commanded to love foreigners (Deut 10.19) and to let them live normal lives amongst them:
“When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall do him no wrong … (he) … shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself” (Lev 19.33,34)
This instruction is timeless and applies to Palestinian Arabs today. Unfortunately, as long as Arab countries refuse to recognize Israel and continue to attack her, such cohabitation would seem to be impossible. But Israel will be at peace with her neighbours in the Millennium!
There’s no Two-state Solution
Most of the western world aims for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. The UN has even resolved to raise the Palestinian flag at the UN headquarters after upgrading the Palestinians’ status to a “non-member observer State” – even though no such state exists! In reality there can be no lasting, workable two-state solution. Here’s why.
According to a recent Stanley Greenberg poll, only 34% of Palestinians accept two states for two peoples as the solution. Sixty-six percent said the Palestinians’ real goal should be to start with a two-state solution but then move to it all being one Palestinian state, link. This reflects the PA leadership position:
“We will never accept a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital” [Mahmoud Abbas, May, 2011]
The problem here is that Israel has already declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel, and this is compounded by the Palestinian leadership which does not even recognize the Jewish State:
“Palestine will not recognize Israel as Jewish state” [Abbas, 2014]
Add to this the Hamas objective of replacing the Jewish State with an Islamic caliphate, link, then the ‘two-state solution’ is clearly impossible!
The West Bank
The West Bank refers to an area bounded by the so-called ‘Green Line’ and the west bank of the River Jordan (SEE MAP). The Green line was an armistice line drawn up after the 1948-49 war under the auspices of the UN and it was intended to be temporary. So, through Arab aggression, Israel temporarily lost land mandated to her through the 1922 Mandate for Palestine, and this was only regained in the 1967 6-day war. The Green Line is not therefore Israel’s legal border, link, and all of western Palestine, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean remains legally open to Jewish settlement under the original 1922 Mandate. That includes the West Bank.
Under the 1995 Oslo Accords II, the West Bank was divided into three areas (A, B, and C) and within these areas the Palestinian and Israeli authorities have different levels of control. Area A is under full control of the Palestinian Authority, Area B is under Palestinian civil control and shared Palestinian and Israeli security control, and Area C (62% of the West Bank) is under full Israeli control. Some 350,000 Jewish settlers live in the relatively lightly populated Area C, link.
Who Backs Israel Today?
Israel’s strongest ally, the US, provides a diplomatic shield for her at the United Nations. This protects Israel’s desire to maintain the status quo and refrain from reaching an accommodation with the Palestinians. So the US can veto any UN resolution calling for the creation of a Palestinian state. Traditionally, the UK government has had good relations with Israel, including good intelligence cooperation, and has been viewed as one of the world’s friendliest countries to Israel, link. In recent years, India has expressed the desire to “deepen and develop” ties with Israel, and some see India as “Israel’s best friend in South Asia”. There is also muted and occasional support from the UN and the EU, but this is usually outweighed by condemnation in other areas.
Currently, Israel has strong support from some western NGO’s like Freedom House. There are 21 governmental and intergovernmental entities (including the EU) that financially support Israeli NGOs, link, although some of these are politically biased and represent the interests of foreign governments, link.
Israel: A Middle East Democracy
In contrast to other Middle Eastern countries, Israel has a western-style democracy. Whilst not perfect, this means that Israelis of all ethnic groups and religious beliefs, including Arab-Israelis, can actively participate in the election process, and all votes cast are equal in weight. Also, Israel is one of the few places in the Middle East where Arab women may vote. The principle of the generality of the elections ensures the active right of every Israeli citizen, who is at least 18 years old, to vote and the right of every Israeli citizen, who is at least 21 years old, to be elected. No voter ever votes for an actual person. Instead, every voter votes for a single party.
Israel is considered by third parties to be the only ‘free’ country in the region in that there is a climate of respect for civil liberties, freedom of expression, significant independent civic life, an independent media, and a military under civilian rule, link. More …
Israel’s Government
The Knesset, Jerusalem. Image: James Emery, Douglasville, USA [CC BY 2.0], Wikimedia
The Israeli government resides in Jerusalem. This is where Israel’s Parliament (the Knesset) stands and legislates and where the Prime Minister, the President and the Cabinet have their offices (enlarge image). The location is politically sensitive in that the international community regard Jerusalem as part of both Israel and Palestine, and even that Jerusalem is ‘not part of Israel’ [US Supreme Court, 2015].
Israel is governed by a western-style multiparty parliamentary system. The government is headed by the Prime Minister, who is elected in nationwide elections for a period of four years, and an elected President who has a largely apolitical ceremonial role.
The Knesset has legislative power and comprises 120 members who are also elected for a term of four years in nationwide elections. The electoral (voting) system is based on nation-wide proportional representation. This differs from the ‘first past the post’ system in the US and UK, and permits small parties to be elected.
Israel’s Climate Change
Rain in the Judean desert. Photo: Dror Feitelson Pikiwiki Israel [CC BY 2.5], Wikimedia.
Bible prophecy over end-time Israel speaks of great blessings on the land. This will be in terms of abundant agricultural produce – grains, fruit and wine (Ezek 36.29,30) and nations will remark that desolate land has become “like the garden of Eden” (Ezek 36.35). All this of course requires water. Over the past 100 years Israel has engineered a national water carrier system and desalination plants, and she drains water from large aquifers under the desert. But what of the climate? Has there been a change in rainfall?
The Jewish National Fund has planted over 250 million trees, which are known to be beneficial to the climate. But to date rainfall statistics show no long-term rainfall improvement since the 1970’s, link. For this reason, in 2014 the Chief Rabbinate of Israel urged the public to begin saying a special prayer daily to ask God to bless Israel with abundant rain (enlarge image). All over Israel, people now recite this prayer. Israel’s climate change is certain since her God is faithful to His promises. In the last days God promises Israel:
“I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing” (Ezek 34.26)
“He will cause the rain to come down for you … the former and the latter rain” (Joel 2.23)
Some 80% of Israel’s natural water is in the north and the National Water Carrier (NWC) system conveys water from Lake Galilee southwards. The NWC was started in 1959 and now comprises a system of giant pipes, open canals, tunnels, reservoirs and large scale pumping stations (enlarge image).
But with a rapidly growing population, Israel’s total annual renewable natural sources of fresh water are well below the UN definition of water poverty. So today Israel is meeting much of its water needs by purifying seawater from the Mediterranean and some 80% of domestic water in Israeli cities comes from desalinated water (the desalination facilities are connected to the NWC). Israel also reuses treated sewage, and computerized drip irrigation and micro-sprinklers for agriculture. Under the 1995 Oslo II Accord, Israel continues to supply agreed water amounts to Palestinian areas. In 2012, per capita water use was 150 MCM (million cubic meters) for Israelis and 140 MCM for Palestinians.
Israel’s Land Improvements
Arava agriculture. Image: Central and Northern Arava R&D
As Jews started returning to their homeland around the start of the 20th century, the need to combat desertification became one of national importance. New immigrants embarked upon an extensive program of afforestation, and since 1900 almost 250 million sub-tropical trees have been planted in all regions of Israel. Over half of Israel’s saline soil is arid or semi-arid and only 20% is arable. Even so, Israeli farmers have come a long way since the Zionist pioneers began clearing rock-strewn fields and draining the swampland. Since Israel’s establishment in 1948, the country has almost tripled the territory used for farming and production has multiplied 16 times.
Israel is officially in ‘water poverty’, and so agriculture makes extensive use of treated sewage, computerized early-warning systems for leaks, and computerized drip irrigation and micro-sprinklers. The Negev desert has large underground supplies of brackish water, which can be exploited using these advanced technologies, and it now produces more than 40% of the country’s vegetables and field crops. More …
Israel’s Legal Borders
According to the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, the Jews could settle anywhere between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, see map. The Mandate did not grant any national political rights to Arabs, but Article 2 did safeguard the civil and religious rights of all inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race or religion. In 1946 the Mandate was transferred over to the UN, and Article 80 of the UN Charter implicitly recognizes the ‘Mandate for Palestine’ of the League of Nations. Moreover, as a direct result of Article 80, the UN cannot transfer these rights over any part of Palestine (vested as they are in the Jewish People) to any non-Jewish entity, such as the Palestinian Authority.
The Mandate is therefore the last legally binding document regarding the West Bank and Gaza, and so Jewish settlements in these areas are fully protected by Article 80. Sadly, this legal fact is often ignored by the UN. More …
Land Boundaries of Ancient Israel
The descendants of Jacob (Israel) were the twelve tribes of Israel and they settled in the Promised Land of Canaan (enlarge map). In today’s terms, they settled mainly in the area currently claimed by Israel, including the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights, although the tribes of Benjamin, Gad, Reuben and part of Manasseh settled east of the Jordan. This settlement aligned with the boundaries God gave Israel at the time:
“I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates (Exod 23.31)
Few would doubt that Jews have for centuries been substantially over-represented in many fields of learning and accomplishment, notably of course is Albert Einstein. The proportion of Jews with IQ’s of 140 or more is estimated to be about six times the proportion of any other ethnic group. Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world, and she has the highest density of start-up companies in the world. Nobel Prizes have been awarded to over 850 individuals worldwide, of whom some 23% were Jews or people of strong Jewish ancestry. This is an amazing achievement bearing in mind that Jews comprise less than 0.2% of the world’s population! Jews have won a total of 41% of all the Nobel Prizes in economics, 28% of medicine, 26% of physics and 19% of chemistry.
Why such Jewish genius? It is probably a blessing from God since they are His chosen people. Recall that when Israel obeys her God then she is specially blessed:
“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country” (Deut 28.3)
Future of the Israeli People
This is both dramatic and traumatic, but ends in glory and victory. Prophecy states that regathered Israel will go through a time of ‘great tribulation’ and distress as the world system persecutes Israel. Jesus said that ‘unless those days are shortened, no flesh would be saved’ (Mat 24.22). Whilst involving the whole world, it is essentially a time of suffering for those Jews who have returned to the Promised Land. The OT refers to this time as ‘Jacob’s distress’:
“Alas, for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved from it” (Jer 30.7)
Many Israeli’s suffer, but a remnant (one-third) survives (Zech 13.9). These are the one’s who are refined through suffering and go on into the Millennial world with Christ at His Second Coming. These are the Jews who are at last honoured by the nations and who glorify God and serve Him on the Millennial earth. More …
Demographics of Israel
In the early 20th century the land of Israel was a mix of many peoples representing some 50 languages and there was no common Arab identity. In 1915 there were just 83,000 Jews but this increased to over 6.2 million Jews in 2015. Today, out of thew 8.3 million people in Israel (2015) the demographic mix is: Jewish (75%), Arab (21%), Others, including Christian (4%). Out of the 6.2 million Jews in Israel (2015), the demographic is: Orthodox (20%), traditional (38%), secular (42%).
The Tribes of Israel
God made this unconditional promise to Abram (Abraham):
“I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you … I will give to you and your descendants … all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Gen 17.7,8)
So who are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? They are of course the twelve tribes descended from Jacob (whose name was changed by God to Israel). These tribes (enlarge image) are listed in Gen 49. They were Hebrew Israelites. Since these tribes will once more take up their role as a witness to the nations during the Millennium (Ezek 37, Ezek 40-48), it follows that they must be amongst those who are returning to the State of Israel today. Note that, whilst it is common to refer to Abraham’s descendants as ‘Jews’, this is not strictly accurate. Strictly speaking, today’s Jews (Hebrew, ‘Yehudim’) are those who follow Judaism and who are descendants from the kingdom of Judah.
When Jesus spoke of the appearance of new shoots on the fig tree signalling that summer is near, He was really saying that His return and the coming of the fullness of the Kingdom of God is near – even ‘at the doors’. In Luke 21 He said ‘look at the fig tree (Israel) and ‘all the trees’ (the Gentile nations) and so observe the signs of the times. He implied that Israel will be the vortex of the nations at the end of this age and the sign of His soon return.
Over the past 100 years the nation and people of Israel have come to prominence on the world scene. This simple fact points to the imminent return of Christ.
The Re-emergence of Israel
Around 922 BC the twelve tribes of Israel split into a southern kingdom (called ‘The House of Judah’, embracing Judea and Jerusalem) and a northern kingdom comprising ten tribes and called ‘The House of Israel’, or simply ‘Israel’. History shows that both houses rebelled against God, and despite warnings from the prophets, both houses were eventually removed from their Promised Land. The house of Israel and the house of Judah had broken God’s covenant (Jer 11.10), and by the first century all twelve tribes were scattered amongst the nations (Ja 1.1).
But God has compassion on His people (Deut 30.3-5) and promised that He would bring them back from the nations and place them back in their own land:
And (the Lord) 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 (Isa 11.12)
I will take the children of Israel from among the nations … and bring them into their own land (Ezek 37.21)
Importantly, it is this return of God’s people that will eventually bring the nations to know God (Ezek 36.23). When was this to happen? Israel was to return and seek God after the gospel had been spread to the Gentile nations (Rom 11.25). The twentieth century saw both the evangelization of the nations and God’s chosen people returning to Israel.
The Purpose of Israel
This question is only meaningful in a spiritual (rather than secular) context. According to the Bible, Israel is indeed a special nation, chosen by God to bless mankind and to make a name for Himself. To Abram (Abraham) God promised:
“I will make you a great nation … and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12.2,3)
And King David exclaimed:
“And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went … to make a name for Himself” (2 Sam 7.23)
History confirms the reality of such statements. Israel led to the Messiah, Jesus, and prophecy indicates that the land and people of Israel will be used to glorify God in the sight of the nations at the end of the age and in the age to come.
The Origin of Israel
Under God’s call, Abram (later called Abraham) migrated from the city of Ur sometime between 1900 and 1750 BC to God’s appointed land, Canaan (today’s Israel). Abraham’s wife Sarah bore him a son, Isaac, and Isaac’s wife Rebecca bore Jacob. History shows that God had a special task for Jacob and his descendants and He later changed Jacob’s name to ‘Israel’ (Gen 32.28). The etymology of the name Israel is not clear, although Gen 32.28 implies that Jacob and his descendants would struggle but prevail. The history of Israel confirms this thought; Jacob’s descendants, the twelve tribes of Israel (the Hebrew Israelites) have suffered but prevailed for 3,000 years.
The descendants of Abraham formed a nation (Israel) around 1300 BC after their Exodus from Egypt to Canaan under the leadership of Moses, and in 1004 BC King David established Jerusalem as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel.
NO! In the light of Israeli anti-discrimination law and Israel’s right to self-determination as a Jewish State, the accusation of ‘racist’ against Israel is unjustified. All Israeli citizens are granted full civil and voting rights. And just as a Palestinian state would maintain a demographic balance in favour of Palestinians, so the Jewish state of Israel maintains a demographic balance in favour of Jews by controlling immigration.
There is a legal distinction between defensive wars and wars of aggression. The facts show that Israel’s role in Arab-Israeli conflicts has always been defensive in response to Arab aggression. In response to major Arab attacks (1948-49, 1967, 1973), or incessant rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel has exercised her right of self-defense under UN Charter Article 51.
NO! Whilst western nations led by the US and the UN favour the two-state approach, it is NOT the solution favored by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas or the Palestinian people! They aim for a single state – a Palestinian state.
NO: The terms ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Zion’ do not even appear in the Qur’an, and Mohammad never visited Jerusalem in person. Muslims see Mecca as the holiest place in the Islamic world, and so turn their back on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem when praying
NO! All of Jerusalem was mandated to be part of the Jewish homeland under the 1922 League of Nations ‘Mandate for Palestine’ and so Israel’s sovereignty over all of Jerusalem is well-founded. Jerusalem was first divided through the 1948-49 Arab invasion of Israel, but at no time was East Jerusalem under legal ownership by an Arab entity. In any event, the division (the ‘green line’) was intended to be temporary.
Evidence from the Tanach (the Hebrew Bible), the New Testament, historians like Josephus, and archaeology all testify to the existence of a huge, impressive Temple in Jerusalem
YES: THE CLAIM IS LEGAL ON TWO ACCOUNTS
According to international law, Israel has a well-founded claim to sovereignty over Jerusalem, including its Old City. Also in international law, it is a sovereign state’s right to determine its own capital, and Israel proclaimed Jerusalem to be her capital shortly after the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948.
NO: The Palestinian refugee problem was created by a sudden invasion of five Arab armies in response to the declaration of the State of Israel in May 1948. Arab governments rejected Israel’s offer to repatriate 100,000 Arab refugees, and the offer of UN money for the refugees.
Israel is abiding by the 1995 Oslo II Accord and supplying agreed water quantities. It is up to the Palestinians to maintain water networks, utilize wastewater, improve existing supplies and drill new wells. Instead, water is often used as a political weapon, and so authorized wells are not dug and leaks are not repaired.
THEY ASSUME THERE IS A ‘PALESTINIAN LAND’
According to international law, Israel is NOT occupying Palestinian land since the West Bank and Gaza Strip were not under any sovereignty prior to the Six Day War. All of western Palestine, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean remains legally open to Jewish settlement under the 1922 British Mandate for Palestine and Article 80 of the UN Charter.
THE FALLACY
There never was “a Palestinian people” or “a Palestinian Arab nation”. League of Nations documents of the 1920’s refer to the local Arab population as ‘existing non-Jewish communities’. Palestinian nationalism only emerged in the mid-twentieth century, partly in response to the emergence of Zionism.
YES! Archaeology and historical documents show that Jews have lived in Israel for over 3000 years! For example, they verify God’s plan for the Jewish Temple, the existence of King David, and the existence of Jewish synagogues in the Holy Land up to the Muslim conquest in 638 AD.
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