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America and
Israel in Bible Prophecy |
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Will Israel be saved before or after Jesus comes
back? A question that brings a certain amount of controversy is the time of Israel's salvation and in what order it will happen. Some believe that Israel will get saved after Jesus walks through the Eastern Gate at the time of Armageddon. They believe that Israel will see the nail scars and realize at that moment that he is the Messiah. There is a scripture that seems to say this. However there are other scriptures that place a little more light on this subject. Jesus made a statement in Matthew 23:37-39 that cannot be ignored and
must become the center of the discussion. In this address to Jerusalem Jesus is speaking to the whole nation of Israel. He addresses Jerusalem because it is the center of worship, government and is symbolic of the whole nation. In this statement Jesus says that he often had thought about the time that he would re-gather Israel. Israel was still a scattered nation to some degree because of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. Although these things had happened hundreds of years before, there were still many children of Israel that were living in most of the nations around the Mediterranean Sea. The territory north of Jerusalem, which included the Sea of Galilee and at one time was called Israel, was now known as Samaria. There were some of the Israelites whose ancestors were from the northern ten tribes that still lived there. Israel was still divided and those from the northern region who were Israelites were treated with contempt by many from the Judea. Jesus was saying that he had often wanted to bring all of Israel both the northern ten tribes called Ephraim or Israel and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin back together. A promise from the Old Testament that some day God would make them one upon the mountains of Israel. In gathering thy children together Jesus was speaking of all of these people, those who lived outside of Judea and Samaria and those who lived there as well. Jesus told them that he would have gathered them under his wing like little chickens. This was to reveal that as Christ the King he would watch over them and protect them like a mother hen. But then he said that because they would not listen to him they would become barren. This "being barren" is often translated as being like a desert but it has a more devastating meaning than to become as a wilderness. He is speaking of becoming barren like a woman who cannot give birth to children. Jesus is likening Israel to a woman that would remain without children to God, or children born of God, until they do something to change his mind. In verse 39 he explains that until they recognize that he is the one that God sent to them, the Messiah, that they would remain desolate and would not see him again until they accept him as their King. This is what he meant by "blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Once they receive Christ they will not be like a barren woman any longer because they will have millions who are born again and have now become sons and daughters of God. This clearly tells us that the children of Israel will have to be saved before Jesus comes back. This is also confirmed in Deuteronomy the 30th chapter. 1: And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon
thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou
shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD
thy God hath driven thee,
God knew that Israel would forsake him and that one day he would drive them into the nations because of it. This he expresses in verse 1. This happened to Israel first by the Northern Kingdom when driven out and taken captive by the Assyrians. Later it happened again to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Many returned to the land but many did not. After the rejection of Jesus Christ when he came to Israel to bring salvation they were once again driven into the nations in 70AD and no major return occurred until the 20th century. In 1947 Israel became a nation once more. Less than half of the Jewish people have returned to the land of Israel. Over six million Jews still live in the United States, which is more than the amount living in Israel. In verses 2 and 3 he said that he would not bring them back to the land until they had returned to God with their whole hearts. If they would do this then he would return and gather them from the nations and then he would bring them back to their land. The question is have they done this? It is apparent if we know anything about the present state of Israel that only a portion of Israel has made an attempt to serve God through the Law. There are a number of them who do not believe in God at all. Remember God said that he would return and bring them back to their land after they remembered and turned to God to serve him with their whole heart. So what is going on? Jesus came and told them that the only way they could come to God now is through believing in him. This they have not done. God has allowed the friends of Israel to help them regain their nation but Israel is still under constant torment from their enemies who are relentless in destroying the peace of Israel. And there is a great number of Jews in the world including over six million in the U.S.A. who are not interested in returning to Israel. So the above scriptures have not been fulfilled as some claim. We have not seen God's restoration or re-gathering of all of Israel. We have only seen a partial re-gathering. The sad thing is that at the middle of Daniel's seventieth week they will be driven out of Israel once more. I believe that this will be the blow that will cause Israel to do some soul searching and cause them to return to God through Jesus Christ. According to what Jesus and Moses both say Israel must return to God before he brings them back to their land. Secondly Jesus said that they would not see them until they accept him as their savior. So it appears that they must be saved before he returns. He said that if they would serve him with all of their hearts that he
would do the following. 5: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. I believe that the gathering he is speaking of in these scriptures is the Rapture of the Israel at the time of the Rapture of the Church because they will be part of it. He will then bring them back to the Land of Israel afterwards when he sets up his Throne in Jerusalem. Compare these scriptures with Matthew 24: 31: And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Notice the four winds, this is speaking of the earth. Now notice from one end of heaven to the other. This is speaking of heaven. Notice that in verse 3 of Deuteronomy 30 that he would gather them from the nations. In verse 4 he said the outmost parts of heaven. This sounds like the same thing to me. Zech:12:10: And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and
they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for
him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him,
as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. I have heard a number of prophecy teachers that use these scriptures to say that Israel will look upon him with their eyes. That they will all see him in the flesh as he comes in the Eastern Gate. After seeing him they will belief that he is the Messiah after all and accept him with grief and remorse. But, Jesus said that they would not see him again until they say blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. I believe these scriptures to be a metaphor of the regret that a born again Jew will have when he thinks about how Israel and themselves have rejected Jesus in the past. No one can be saved without being born again, this means Jew or Gentile. If a person waits until Jesus comes back then it will be too late for salvation. Some mistakenly believe that Israel doesn’t have to be born again, but it is impossible to come to God without accepting his Son. Your brother in Christ, |
