(The following is by no means an exhaustion of all the passages, Scripture, and truths that could be expounded from my title. I’ve written only what I felt on my heart to share.)
Tim Dilena said, “Jerusalem is the most important city on the face of the earth and Israel the most important nation-the spiritual center of the world.”
Deuteronomy 7 reflects this. ““For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8)
“And who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people—to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt?” (I Chronicles 17:21)
The one nation God chose was not the United States of America or any other nation in the history of the world. He chose Abraham and his descendants, more specifically the descendants of his grandson Jacob. He chose Israel out of all the nations on Earth to be His people and to demonstrate His grace and power through them.
In Genesis 17, God spoke to Abraham:“And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.” (Genesis 17:7)
God’s covenant with Israel is everlasting.
“Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the Lord: “If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:35-37)
God’s covenant with Israel is as sure as the sun coming up every morning.
“Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” (Genesis 12:1-3)
“Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”” (Genesis 17:8)
God has given Israel that piece of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. He promised it to Abraham and the descendants of Israel forever. No nation, democracy, treaty, or constitution gave them that. No one needs to recognize it for it to be legitimate. The God who created Heaven and Earth gave that land to Israel. It is the only land-promise God has ever made to a people.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.” (Psalms 122:6)
We are to bless Israel and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Firstly, I do this because I have been commanded to by God. Secondly, as Tim Dilena wrote: God loves Israel, and I want to love what He loves.
How did Christians for nearly two thousand years bless Israel if they weren’t technically a nation again until 1948?
Firstly, Jeremiah 31 tells us that Israel is a nation before God forever. I pray for national Israel and for Israel’s government.
But like Christians who have blessed Israel for centuries as they were scattered through the Earth, I pray for the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob wherever they are around the globe.
Secondly, I believe another misunderstanding is that many, in an effort to obey Scripture, blindly support the government of Israel. To those, I would ask, “Would you have supported Saul’s government, or Mannasseh’s, or Jeroboam’s?”
The governments of Israel have been predominantly wicked throughout their history. Supporting them and blessing them doesn’t mean we support every policy decision they make or every action of their government. For the most part, Israel has still rejected Christ; we can’t support that decision.
But, as Christians, we must unreservedly support and pray for their defense, existence, their right to the land that God has given to them, and of course their salvation and redemption.
We must pray for the people and nation of Israel daily. If there are other ways that we can bless them, such as giving financially or sharing the Gospel with them, we should do that as well.
Genesis 12 and Psalm 122 promises us a blessing for blessing His people and loving what God loves. If you want the blessing of God, bless and support His people Israel. Pray for them daily.
I believe that the antisemitism and hatred toward the Jews that we see becoming more prevalent today is nothing new. And I don’t believe it is merely about politics or land. I believe it is spiritual. We see Satan coming against God’s chosen people throughout history. Really, Israel shouldn’t even be here today. Think of all the nations and people groups in the Bible that you read about which have become extinct. I’ve never met a Hittite or a Jebusite or a Hivite. But I have met Jews. There’s no logical explanation as to how they have survived and remained a people on the Earth, except for the divine providence and sovereignty of God.
In Numbers, we see that Balak King of Moab hired Balaam to curse the people of God. Satan has been doing this throughout history.
One of the clearest examples of this antisemitic spirit is in Haman in the book of Esther. Haman coerced the king of Persia to send letters “into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.” Esther 3:13 Haman did not concoct this plan to annihilate the Jews; it came straight from Hell.
As recently as World War II, this same spirit of Hell worked in Adolf Hitler when he rose to power in Germany. He killed six million Jews. His plan was to eliminate them off the face of the Earth. Hitler’s plan was to carry out Satan’s agenda against God’s chosen people.
Today, we have seen terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and nations surrounding Israel on every side come against them and attack them with utter brutality. Satan wants to wipe them from off the face of the Earth, because he knows that God has chosen them and set His love upon these people.
In Revelation 12, John kind of zooms out and gives the whole picture of how Satan has come against God and His people throughout history and will continue to through the last days. These verses are very figurative. The dragon is Satan, the woman is Israel, and the Child with a capital C is Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The dragon is at war with the woman who gave birth to the Child.
“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” (Revelation 12:1-6)
Then, verses 7-12 show the ongoing battle between Satan’s and Heaven’s forces from the beginning of time. Since he has been cast down, Satan has tried to defeat God and His people through deception and accusations. But we have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb!
“Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 12:13-17)
The dragon hates the woman—He has throughout history. And he will continue to attempt to defeat God’s people and ultimately God Himself. Satan has read the Bible and the Revelation, but he still believes he can pull it off.
I want to share a couple things that Tim Dilena wrote in his book What Does God Have to Say?: A Biblical Worldview from A to Z.
First, Tim Dilena said, “To be pro-Israel is not to be anti-Arab.” We must remember that we are not only commanded to pray for Israel, but to also pray for our enemies. Blessing Israel doesn’t mean we must accompany those blessings with curses upon other peoples. Yes, pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for justice, but we are to pray for their enemies and their ultimate salvation as well.
Secondly, Tim Dilena shared, “The church is not Israel.” This is important. Many try to spiritualize Scriptures about Israel and say that everything has been now transferred over to the Church. I believe this replacement theology is false and has no foundation in Scripture. I believe Scripture is abundantly clear that God has a distinct plan for national Israel. And I believe that His promises toward them have yet to all be fulfilled.
Romans 9-11 is an interlude in Paul’s letter. After chapter 8, he pauses and then continues in chapter 12.
Chapters 9-11 is often used as a defense for not only replacement theology but for a distorted view of biblical election and predestination. Paul defines election and predestination not as a prerequisite for personal salvation but as God’s sovereignty to choose whom He will for service to accomplish His purposes, display His power, and bring Him glory. God’s sovereignty and foreknowledge does not negate man’s free agency.
And in these chapters, Paul shows us that God, in His sovereignty, has chosen Israel as His people. When you see how Paul addresses Israel’s national election and predestination in these passages, the message of the passages becomes much clearer.
“For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens….
What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.” And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”” (Romans 9:15-18, 22-29)
In Romans 10, Paul shows us that we should pray for Israel’s redemption, as they have consistently rejected God.
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God….
But to Israel he says: “All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people.””
(Romans 10:1-3, 21)
Then, in Romans 11:
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not!….
God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew….
“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved….
“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
(Romans 11:1-2, 25-26, 29)
Now, there is much that I do not understand about end times prophecy and the last days. I do not claim to. But I do want to end with this. I want to summarize God’s plan for humanity as it relates to Israel and the Church. I want you to see how human history centers on Christ, revolves around God’s plan for His people Israel, and includes the Church reaching the world.
Human history began with Creation. And then we see the fall of man and the fall of creation in Genesis. From then until the flood, humanity became increasingly wicked and sinful.
The next period is from the flood to Jesus’ first coming. During this time, we see the history of Israel, beginning with Abraham, and their relationship with God. This period makes up most of the Old Testament, showing us God’s power displayed through His people. It also shows us His marriage covenant with Israel, His unfailing love for them, and their continual rebellion and rejection.
This period culminates in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is the center of human history. Everything prior leads up to it, and everything afterward flows from it. We see here how God has ultimately blessed all the nations of the Earth through the seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of humanity.
The next period of human history is the one we are currently in. This period is really an interlude in history. This is the Church Age. The purpose of this period is the salvation of the world.
Daniel prophesied of a total of 70 weeks beginning with Cyrus’ decree to rebuild the temple to the Messiah’s return to defeat the man of lawlessness, judge the world, and set up His everlasting Kingdom on Earth. The first 69 week period spans from the decree to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem until “Messiah is cut off.” Each week translates to a period of seven prophetic years in history. Sixty-nine weeks translates to 483 years.
From Cyrus’ decree in 444 BC to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection in AD 33 is 483 years. Scripture tells us, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5) In other words, Jesus did not come at just any time in history; He came at the perfect time.
Then, the man of lawlessness, or the beast, will make a covenant with Israel for a week, the last week, or the last seven years before Christ’s final return. But then he will break the covenant halfway through. Daniel and Revelation correspond alongside each other. This is the tribulation period that immediately precedes Christ returning with the saints to defeat the beast and his armies at the Battle of Armageddon.
There are varying interpretations of these passages. However, it is my understanding that the rapture of the Church will immediately precede this seven-year period.
We are in the in-between period right now, the interlude between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy. I think this is the clearest way to see where we are in the timeline of history.
No man knows the hour that Jesus will return. Paul and other New Testament writers seemed to expect Christ’s return in their day. I expect Him soon, but we do not know when He will come. We are in the Church Age now, in between Christ’s first and second comings. Again, the purpose of this period is the salvation of the world, and Christ’s Church is the vehicle by which the lost hear the Gospel and become born again.
Another thing I want to mention about this period is something very interesting. This goes back to Jesus coming at the perfect time in human history. The Population Census Bureau has estimated how many people have ever lived in the history of humanity. Of course, this is difficult to pinpoint, but we do have many records and ways to approximate. Their estimation is that approximately 107 billion people have lived on the Earth, including those living now. If these numbers are anything close to being true, this is absolutely astounding.
There are more people alive on Earth today than there have ever been at one time. For instance, in the time of Christ, there were approximately less people worldwide than there are in the United States alone today. We’re only talking about 200 million. Today, there are about 330 million in the U.S. alone, with the world population at nearly 8 billion.
When Jesus came, the Romans were ruling the world, there was relative peace, and agricultural innovations and technologies were increasing. The Roman Road made it easy for countries and cultures to connect. During this time, there was a birth boom. Despite a recession and decline during the black plague, every century after that shows the world population doubling and tripling and ever increasing.
Based on the Population Census Bureau’s report, because of the dramatic population increase after the first coming of Christ, only 2% of humans who ever lived lived before Christ. If this is true, that means that 98% of all humans who have ever lived have lived during this period that we are now in, where the Gospel is being preached to the lost world. This is astounding!
This would also mean that about 7% of all human history are living right now! 7% relative to human history is huge! And with recent technologies such as television and now social media and live streaming, the Gospel has never before been as available and accessible as it is right now at this moment that we are living. God is amazing!
Then, of course, as we have already said, the last period before Christ comes again is the last seven years where the beast will rule over the Earth and then ultimately be defeated by Christ. During this last “week,” God will judge the world and Israel will be saved. God will keep His promises.
And then that’s not the end!
The last 1,000 years of history will culminate in Christ ruling over the entire Earth from Jerusalem. It will be glorious. I believe that Scripture presents to us a literal one thousand year reign of Christ during this period.
After the one thousand years, Satan will try to come against God again. And he will then be utterly defeated.
Then, the heavens and Earth will pass away, and God will make a new Heaven and new Earth, where we will live with Him for eternity!
Hallelujah!
(If you are interested in end times prophecy and God’s plans for us as laid out in Scripture, I strongly recommend Thy Kingdom Come by Tony Evans.)
What does all of this mean for us right now? How can we live in response to biblical prophecy and God’s plans for human history?
Firstly, believe what God has said and live in relationship with Him. God’s plans will move forward. He will not alter. The world will continue to hear the Gospel, Christ will come, the world will be judged, Israel will be saved, and He will reign. But where will you fit in His plan? Put your faith in Him and live forever!
And spread the Gospel! Since we know these things, we must tell others so that they can be ready, too. That is our purpose as the Church of God, to proclaim the Good News of salvation, of eternal life, and of Christ’s soon return!
God is truly reaching the world in these last days!
The Azusa Weekly 