It should only take one verse in the Bible to prove that God is not done with His covenant people, Israel. Romans 11:1-2 states, “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.”
Of course, God has not cast away His people. “People” means nation in the above verses. God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, 15, 17:7. There is a curse on those who will try to thwart the plan of God as it relates to Israel. There is a curse on those who preach and teach a false Gospel (Galatians 1:8-9). Brother’s and sister’s, we are talking about God’s Word. This is not just another book. It is THE BOOK.
Before I provide additional proof that God is not done with Israel, I need to make a disclaimer. If you are from one of the twelve tribes of Israel, you are not saved by being born a Jew. You MUST believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (John 3:16, 14:6, Acts 4:12, Romans 10:9-10). God has concluded that all are sinners (Romans 3:9-10) and all have fallen short of His glory. Jesus is the ONLY Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
If you are Jewish and not saved or born-again, please read Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. These chapters prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that your Messiah had to die for the sins of mankind. It even says clearly in Daniel 9:26 that your Messiah would be “cut off” or killed. From the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (7 weeks of years or 49 years) to the crucifixion of Jesus (62 weeks of years or 434 years) was exactly 483 years (69 x 7). Now, let’s move on to more scriptures.
Acts 1:6-7 states, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he (Jesus) said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
As you can read for yourself, Jesus did NOT say His Father would not restore the Kingdom of Israel. Jesus said it would not happen at the time He ascended back to His Father. There had to be a period of time when the Church would preach the Gospel to the whole world. God TEMPORARILY set aside the nation of Israel UNTIL a predetermined time. That time is now through the millennial reign of King Jesus (Zechariah 14:16-17, Revelation 19:11-16).
Hosea 5:15 and Hosea 6:1-3 tell us when to start counting until the season (not exact day or hour) of the Lord’s return to earth to set up His kingdom in Israel. Hosea 5:15 states, “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.”
Who is the “I” in the passage? King Jesus. Where did He return? Heaven. Who is “they”? Israel. Specifically, the 12 tribes. What was their offence? Rejecting their Messiah. Not all of them rejected their Messiah (John 1:11-12). When will Israel seek the Lord? In the 2nd half of the tribulation. What will be their affliction? The anti-christ will make war on the born-again Jews and 2/3 will die in the “great tribulation” (Zechariah 13:8, Matthew 24:15-28). Zechariah states that 1/3 will be brought through the fire (Zechariah 13:8-9). The remnant will be protected in a predetermined place (Revelation 12:13-17).
Hosea 6:1-3 states, “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”
This is an urgent plea to return to the Lord. Israel will be healed or saved after going through great affliction and finally realizing Jesus is their only hope. Jeremiah 30:7 states, “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.”
From the time of Jesus’ ascension to the affliction and salvation of Israel will be two days or 2,000 years. We are in the year 2019. Expect great signs, wonders, and many false prophets to arise over the next 7-10 years. We are in the window of the Lord’s return.
Romans 11:25-27 states, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”
When the full number of Gentiles are saved, God returns His focus back to Israel. As Israel had to be temporarily set aside for the Church to preach the Gospel, the Church will be temporarily removed so God can fulfill all prophecies pertaining to Israel (I Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 3:10, 4:1). These verses clearly distinguish between Israel and the Church. Who is the “Deliverer”? Jesus. When will Israel’s sin be taken away?
Zechariah 12:10 states, “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.”
Who are the “they” in verse 10? Israel. Who did they pierce? Jesus, their Messiah. When will they mourn for Him? The great tribulation.
Here are more verses to show Jesus will restore the kingdom of Israel:
II Samuel 7:11-13, “And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.”
The partial fulfillment of this prophecy was the building of Solomon’s temple. Solomon was allowed to build the 1st temple. Now, God said He will establish the throne of His kingdom, forever. That is the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy. God always has a type of Christ in the Old Testament. King Jesus will sit on the throne of David [not Solomon] in a temple in Jerusalem during the millennial reign (Revelation 20).
Luke 1:30-33 states, “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
When did Jesus sit on throne of His father David? When did Jesus reign over the house of Jacob? The answer to this question is this prophecy has not been fulfilled.
Isaiah 9:6-7 states, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
You have to “rightly divide the word of truth” or you will not understand end-time prophecy or the Word of God as a whole. Isaiah 9:6-7 reveals three time periods. First, the virgin birth of Jesus. Second, the crucifixion of Jesus, which was 33 years after the birth of Jesus. Third, the millennial reign of Jesus, which is still future. You who espouse that there will be no millennium, may God have mercy on your soul. There is a curse on those who take away from the prophecy of the Book of Revelation (Revelation 22:19). Please show me ONE prophecy pertaining to Jesus’ first coming that did not happen literally? They ALL happened exactly the way it was written. God does not change (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8).
How do I know the time is now? First, Israel was recognized as a nation in one day by the United Nations on November 29, 1947, when the “partition plan” passed. On May 14, 1948, the government in Israel declared a new state. On May 15, 1948, Israel was attacked by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. Look at the following verses in Isaiah:
Isaiah 66:7-8 states, “Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.”
The answer to verse 8 is no one has ever heard or seen anything like what happened on November 29, 1947, and May 14, 1948. No nation was ever scattered for 1,878 years (70 AD-1948 AD) and then entered back into their land. The Hebrew language was preserved during that time. This was a miracle.
How can a new nation survive an attack from five nations and survive? The answer is God made a covenant with Abraham. The covenant was also passed down to Isaac and Jacob. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. There is a blessing on those nations that bless Israel and a curse on those nations that fight against Israel. Israel won their war of independence. After losing over 6,000,000 Jews in the holocaust, Israel lost another 6,000 of its citizens.
God disagreed with the so-called “partition plan.” Jerusalem was set up as an international city. After the war of independence, Israel controlled a portion of Jerusalem. Israel also regained other parts of Israel that were given to the Arabs under the plan. Israel also took control of the Sinai Peninsula.
If you fast forward approx. 20 years, Israel was attacked by several Arab nations once again. The Six-Day war lasted from June 5, 1967, to June 10, 1967. Israel captured the remainder of Jerusalem. Israel regained access to the western wall and the temple mount.
Psalm 102:16 states, “When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory.” Zion is Jerusalem. In the last days, Jerusalem will be a “burdensome stone” to all nations (Zechariah 12:3).
The so-called United Nations is currently trying to divide Jerusalem. There will be a so-called peace plan that will be accepted by Israel and many for 7 years (one week of years), but in the Lord’s time (Daniel 9:27, Revelation 6:2).
The bottom line is God made many promises to Israel, and their calling is irrevocable (Romans 11:29). The prophecies concerning Israel will be fulfilled exactly as written. Please accept Jesus as Lord and Savior right now or you will be cast into hell if you die before the tribulation, or you will face the anti-christ in the tribulation. If you reject Christ during the tribulation, God will send you a strong delusion that you will believe the lie (II Thessalonians 2:11-12). The lie is that the anti-christ will sit in the temple of God and declare himself to be God (II Thessalonians 2:1-4). If you believe this lie, you will accept a mark in your right hand or in your forehead (Revelation 13:16-18). Your soul will be damned even while alive (Revelation 14:9-11).
We are in the dispensation of grace, where God has given us all many, many chances to accept His Son, Jesus Christ. During the tribulation, it will be a different story. All I ask is for you is to seek the Lord and discover the truth yourself. He will be found. Once you know the truth, please pray this simple prayer by faith. If you are not saved or born-again, please repeat this prayer and mean it will all your heart:
Dear God in heaven. I agree with your Word that I am a sinner and have fallen short of Your glory. Please forgive me of my many sins. I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ, died for me on the cross, and He is the only way to heaven (John 14:6). I believe He was buried and rose on the third day, ascended back to heaven, and now sits on Your right hand. I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior now and forever. Amen.
Once you are saved, please find a Church that preaches and teaches the Bible. Then, ask the Pastor or elder or another believer to baptize you. Water Baptism does not save you, but it is commanded by God. It is an outward sign and witness of an inward change. You have been saved by grace through faith and not of works. It is a great gift (Ephesians 2:8-10). It’s all about Jesus and what He did on the cross for you. During your sanctification process, make sure Jesus has the preeminence in your daily life. That is accomplished through fellowship with the Lord (prayer, praise, and worship), studying your Bible, forgiving, giving, and witnessing. Amen.
God Bless
John M