Prophecy Concerning The Nation Of Israel

Prediction 1

The nation of Israel will be exiled. They will be dispersed and driven throughout the entire world.

I know this seems like a strange place to start. There is some debate as to when the New Testament was completed. Some people don’t consider the dispersion of the Jews a modern biblical prophecy event. The truth is the Old Testament provides enough scripture to verify this prophetically even without the use of the New Testament. Jesus also told us about the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

Luke 21:20 “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. (NIV)

The Jews rebelled against Rome time and time again. In 70 A.D. Jerusalem was attacked and destroyed by Rome. The Jews were dispersed. The campaign ended when the remnants were wiped out in Masada in 73 A.D. About sixty Years later there was another revolt against Rome. This revolt destroyed Rome’s twelfth legend and Rome never recovered from that. In 132 A.D. Rome became determined to put an end to any more Jewish revolts. This last revolt sealed their fate. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were sold into slavery greatly increasing the already substantial Jewish populations throughout many provinces in the Roman Empire.

The Israelites have become wandering Jews. They were to be found in practically every country. This is part of a much broader event known today as the Diaspora. Let us look at some more scripture to provide a better background. God warns Israel of a coming exile if they do not obey his commandments

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Diaspora.html

Deuteronomy 28:64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. 65Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. -NIV

Deuteronomy 4:27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. -NIV

Because Israel did not regard the warning from the Lord, God sent prophets to confirm the coming judgment.

Ezekiel 12:15 “They will know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. -NIV

1Kings 14:15 And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused the Lord’s anger by making Asherah poles. -NIV

I have only quoted a small portion of scripture from the Old Testament about the scattering of Israel. There is much more available.

Prediction 2

During this time of exile the Jews will be hated and despised. This hatred is unfounded and it is not even logical. The Jews will suffer persecution.

Leviticus 26:32 I myself will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. 33I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. 34Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it. 36“ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. 37They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies. 38You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. 39Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’ sins they will waste away. (NIV)

Jeremiah 9:16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.” (NIV)

Over the Centuries since the time Jewish people were dispersed they suffered a great deal of persecution. Hatred toward the Jewish people has been illogical and unfounded. Anti-Semitism has been around since the exile of Israel. Instead of going into detail I will provide links with timelines and backgrounds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Jews

http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/HistoryJewishPersecution/

http://www.ushmm.org/research/the-center-for-advanced-holocaust-studies/programs-ethics-religion-the-holocaust/articles-and-resources/christian-persecution-of-jews-over-the-centuries

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/chron.html

http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/middleages/persecution/persecution.html

Prediction 3

The Jewish people will be gathered together. They will be brought back to the land of Israel once again. They will become a nation in one day.

Ezekiel 36:24 ‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. -NIV

Isaiah 66:7 Before she goes into labor,
she gives birth;
before the pains come upon her,
she delivers a son.
8Who has ever heard of such things?
Who has ever seen things like this?
Can a country be born in a day
or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor
than she gives birth to her children. -NIV

When Mark twain visited Israel in 1867 he described a desolate country. Nobody wanted the land. After World War I the Ottoman Empire was divided up. The Jews were allowed to return to Israel under the Balfour declaration in 1917. The Arabs wanted the land located in Iraq going as far south as Yemen.

May 14th 1948 Israel became a nation once again. 1876 years after the 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple, Israel is born as a nation in one day!

http://zionismandisrael.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/mark-twain-in-the-holy-land/

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/balfour.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Declaration_of_Independence

http://formerthings.com/rebirth.htm

Prediction 4

Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel once again. It will be a source of Trouble.

Zechariah 12:1 A prophecy: The word of the Lord concerning Israel. The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares: 2“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. –NIV

In 1967 Israel engaged its enemies in a war that lasted only 6 days. During this time Israel regained the ancient city of Jerusalem. They made Jerusalem their capital. No country in the history of the entire world except for Israel has recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In 1995 Congress passed a law recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Congress stated that “the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999.” This law was known as The Jerusalem Embassy Act.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that “Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people and will remain under Israeli sovereignty for eternity.’

Many of the United Nations member states formally adhere to a proposal that Jerusalem should have an international status.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positions_on_Jerusalem

http://unitedwithisrael.org/jerusalem-or-tel-aviv/

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/370258/media-pretending-tel-aviv-capital-israel-daniel-pipes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Embassy_Act

Jerusalem plays a major role in biblical prophecy. There are several future prophetic events in store regarding the city of Jerusalem.

Conclusion

In part 2 we will talk about other biblical prophecies that were fulfilled since Israel became a nation. We will also briefly cover some future prophecies that will take place in Israel. These future events will give us an outline for the rest of this Series.

There are Christians who do not except the fact that the nation of Israel has a role in bible prophecy even though the amount of scripture in the Old and New Testaments is too overwhelming to believe otherwise. Part of the reason for this is because their view of prophecy is taken more from an allegoric sense. In many cases the church replaces Israel. This means that any scripture directed toward Israel is really symbolic of the church. This view cannot be more twisted or sustained using proper hermeneutics.

Did God drive the church into exile? Did he gather them together again? This is obviously talking about Israel and as we continue you will see why. If you want to take biblical prophecy in a literal sense then you got to acknowledge Israel’s role as well as Jerusalem’s role in the events that happen in the last days. There is no way that you can view the end time prophetic events in a literal way and at the same time deny that Israel being restored as a nation is not prophetic. The volume of scripture and the evidence is just too overwhelming. I only used a small portion of scripture in this page, but there is so much more.

There is also the notion that all bible prophecy has already happened. There are some groups of Christians that seem to believe this. Some think the gathering of Israel happened when Persia conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to go back and rebuild the temple. Therefore it is their belief that this has already been fulfilled over 2500 years ago.

The problem I have with that interpretation is there are specific prophecies that deal with the anti-Christ and a sacrificial system which is in place in Israel. Jesus ties this to his second coming in Mathew chapter 24. He says when you shall see the abomination of desolation. This is something that involves the temple in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 11:11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. 12He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. –NIV

Hosea 3:4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. 5Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days. -NIV

We see in Isaiah that the lord will reach out his hand a second time to gather the children of Israel. We see in Hosea that it will take place in the last days