Israel is the key to all end-time prophecy.

Keep your eye on Jerusalem  


 

Dec 10

Dateline Jerusalem - Jim Fletcher

Zechariah Prophecy

The latter chapters of Zechariah are like something out of a movie. In fact, they remind me of the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. When the Nazis take the recently discovered Ark of the Covenant away from adventurer Indiana Jones, they decide to open it.

With much fanfare, an archaeologist and several Nazi officers take off the lid and peer inside. Their initial excitement turns to terror, as they realize they’ve unleashed the power of God. Those closest to the ark begin to scream, then literally melt. Eyes melt out of sockets. They resemble wax figures.

Pretty gruesome imagery, but it does remind me of the promise by God that a similar scene will unfold one day. The thought that people will die on their feet and eyes will melt out of sockets is hard to believe. It makes no sense in the context of an ancient prophet. Yet, it’s there.

Interesting how many people — particularly certain liberal Christian scholars — dismiss this passage as symbolism, or a description of some ancient battle. They don’t consider that it could be yet future and an example of predictive prophecy.

This prophecy from Zechariah 14:12 became very real to me a few years ago, as I sat and had coffee with an Israeli security expert in Jerusalem. We talked about a lot of things, specifically the Israeli-Palestinian war. This man had seen a lot and was sober in his views of the situation.

Eventually, I brought up the Bible. He hadn’t indicated whether he was religious or not, but as with many Israelis, he was open to discussing the Bible. So, in the context of the information he revealed to me — for example, most of the neighboring countries’ ballistic missiles are aimed at Israel’s heartland along the coastal plain — I asked his opinion of Zechariah 14.

“It seems to me that it’s describing a nuclear confrontation; do you think that’s true?” I said somewhat hesitatingly.

He looked away for a minute and set his coffee cup down.

“It is if one believes the Bible is true.”

Wow. That really is a profound statement.

In other words, yes, the Great Day of the Lord must be a future reality…if one believes the Bible. Amazing. It follows of course that many people do not believe it.

It shows clearly that our worldview depends on what we think about the Bible.

I would assume that someone like Jim Carrey, the actor, wouldn’t exactly believe the Bible. So he’s left with a great uncertainty about the future. And let’s not pick on him. Think of the myriad entertainers, politicians, even religious leaders today who do not believe the Bible. They will be wholly unprepared for the end. How ironic that Bible prophecy adherents are considered to be the crazies, the fringe.

I always have loved the story David Reagan tells about a pastor he once knew. He asked this pastor about the passage in Zechariah which describes the Messiah as returning to the Mount of Olives one day. The pastor explained carefully that it didn’t mean that, but rather was symbolic of how Jesus comes into someone’s heart.

That was a catalyst for Dave becoming one of the world’s leading Bible prophecy experts. He knew the pastor’s explanation of the passage was bogus. What it really means is exactly what it says. One day, the Messiah will come to Earth and set foot on the Mount of Olives. Then he will proceed to the Temple Mount. This will happen in real time, in real history. It won’t be a vision or symbolic of something else.

I am constantly amazed at how real history confirms the Bible. Think of the hundreds of prophecies already fulfilled to the letter.

Why do we think those remaining will be anything less?

Jim Fletcher is a member of the executive committee of the National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel (NCLCI). He can be reached at jim1fletcher@yahoo.com