As we bring our study toward completion, we must look at the plain fact of of Israel in Biblical prophecy.
While the futurist generally sees this as one of their strong points, and the typical preterist has little or no discussion regarding this, it is clear from the Scripture that God’s plan for Israel is not done.
And, while, we, through the church, have inherited the promises of Abraham, this in no wise removes the promises for national Israel.
Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
Thus saith 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, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 31:35-37
God’s Plan for Israel
Paul stated it as clear as any.
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.
Romans 11:25-27, emphasis added
While many of the prophecies of Abraham can be assumed by the church today, prophecies such as the one from Jeremiah above clearly cannot. Likewise, Paul, writing from the position of the church, could have meant only Israel’s national salvation in Romans 11:26, when he wrote that all Israel would be saved.
We cannot dismiss these thoughts as wishful thinking or some other thing, yet, as studying the Word, we cannot, as some dispensationalists do, separate Israel from the church and say that God therefore has some other plan for her. As Paul wrote concerning the Jews and the Gentiles,
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Ephesians 2:14-17, emphasis added
No, the only plan God has is the church, for that is Christ’s body. Christ is not looking to get another body, for God has already destroyed the wall of hostility between the Jew and Gentile believers. The focus Paul is making is on their unity, and not their division. What God hath joined together, let no man separate!
Yet, the clear-cut promise of scripture is that God will heal Israel.
Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.
Ezekiel 39:25-29
We know for certain that this prophecy remains unfulfilled. The outpouring of the Spirit in v29 corresponds to the baptism of the Spirit in the church today, and certainly did not happen before the cross. Further, it is also apparent, especially in the light of history, that this has also not occurred in the near 2,000 years since then. Considering, up to 70 AD, the Jews certainly didn’t repent and turn to the Lord. Further, after 70 AD, they were scattered to all the face of the Earth. And, again, by way of the obvious, since their re-gathering in 1948 to their home-land, they have not had the Spirit poured out upon themselves.
Further, it is seen that this promise in Ezekiel is indeed what the disciples were asking about in Acts 1:6. They would receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and hence, the Kingdom, but they were asking when the nation as a whole would.
What we see today, of course, by all sorts, appears to be the beginnings of the fulfillment of the passage from Ezekiel above. God is gathering them from all the nations where He has scattered them, and, as Paul wrote of God’s intention, He is preparing to baptize them with His Spirit.
The Former House
He said to them: It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:7-8
Historically, to give the Kingdom back to the nation of Israel was not God’s plan at that time. The Father had spoken, and the Jews had missed their visitation. Their city would be destroyed in approximately 40 years, and they would be scattered. The spiritual laws set into motion long ago would not, it seems, be changed at that time.
The disciples thought that Messiah’s coming would mean the restoration of Israel. Many thought this. But, it was not the time set by the Father.
Remember the beginning of our study. Daniel’s people had spent 70 years in captivity, only to then spend 70 weeks of years in another kind of captivity, because they had not hearkened in their punishment. Lord, help us all to hear the first time.
So, now, the Father had set a time by His own authority of when the Kingdom would be returned to the nation. This Kingdom had been wonderful, but through increasing perversion and wickedness, ultimately with the actual marriage with the Queen of Heaven by the one who sat on the throne of the Lord, and continued willful sin, the people were utterly reproved.
And, ultimately, they then missed their visitation. Even if the judgment against the city had to be carried out, who knows that perhaps there could not have been mercy for the people, or at least more people, if they had recognized God in their midst, the very King of Glory. Instead, as in the days of Noah, people were marrying and given in marriage up until the day the door of the ark was shut, and, at that point, it started to rain.
A Prophetic Perspective on Current Events
But, where are we now? Currently, we see that Israel has been re-gathered into their homeland, against incredible odds. Those before the 1948 restitution on the close of World War II could hardly have imagined such an occurrence, but, truly, a nation was born in a day, with the stroke of a pen. In May of that year, Harry S Truman made the decision that Israel should be recognized as a state, and Israel was reborn.
And, what is Israel today? The dry bones, scattered across the world, very dry bones, have been brought together, assembled into a people again, speaking Hebrew, and living in their cities with their original Hebrew names. Jerusalem is Jerusalem, Bethlehem is Bethlehem. Nazareth is Nazareth.
But, this is not the fulfillment of either Acts 1:6 nor Ezekiel 39:29.
But, let us look at another prophetic parable. Consider the prophecy of Ezekiel 37.
Ezekiel stood before a valley of dry bones, and prophesied as he was commanded, and saw bone join to bone, sinnew to sinnew, and flesh and skin come upon the bones, until a body was formed. But, there was no breath within that body. Since the restoration of the state of Israel, the concept of “Aliyah” or “return” has been a major part of the Jewish homeland. Many have returned back to the nation, and the population today is near eight million. As in the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, there was a great rattling as all the bones came together.
This is the picture of the Jewish nation today. As Paul said, those who are not saved are dead in their transgressions and sins. Though the body has come together, and the sinews, muscles, and skin has reformed it into a fully assembled body, it is dead. They have been brought together, but they are dead. They are all still condemned and going to hell, unless they repent (John 3:16-18; Mark 16:16). Neither is there salvation in any other, as Peter proclaimed under the leading of the Holy Ghost.
And, so God spoke to Ezekiel, and told Ezekiel to prophesy again, that breath would come into that body, and that it would live. And, we know that the same Hebrew word for breath is also the one for spirit. And, when he prophesied that the breath would come from the four winds into the slain, it did, and they stood on their feet, a mighty and great army.
A Prediction
Consider then, the various portions of what we see today, and determine in your own heart whether this is what the Lord is saying.
Leading up to 1948, we saw the horrors inflicted upon the Jewish people, with some six million Jews killed, and the holocaust and concentration camps that are well known. At the close of the war, the nation was born, and the Jews since that time have been gathered together, forming a nation, but they are still lost, not born again, and still enemies for our sake according to the Gospel. There is no fellowship between the spirit of Christ and the spirit of Belial.
Yet, it was at the close of World War II, that the nations of the Earth saw the greatest modern demonstrations of Gospel power this planet has seen in centuries, if not for all time except for the time of the first apostles. Healing revival tents went up all across the nation of America, and the voice of healing went around the world. A prophetic move swept the world, sparking first in America, that has swept the entire planet, and continues to do so.
Just as the first prophesying of Ezekiel brought about the regathering of the bones of Ezekiel 37, this was the prophetic movement of the 1940s that brought about the regathering of Israel as a nation into being a body. Assembled, but not alive.
So too, we see from Scripture, that there will be a second great prophetic movement that will come upon the Earth, centered in America, most likely the Dallas area, that will result in the entire nation of Israel being born again, and receiving the Baptism of the Spirit. This will correspond to Ezekiel’s second prophesy, the prophesy to the breath, and, when all of Israel is saved, it will be as “life from the dead”.
So, in the first move, men such as William Branham went forth with a message of faith and healing that literally changed the world, and brought men from obscurity to world-wide fame in under a year because of the way God was working through them. So too, in this move, even more powerful demonstrations of the Spirit will be made known. Whether they will be of the same nature or class, it has yet to be seen. The first prophesy was toward the body, and caused the physical regathering. The second prophecy will be to the breath, so we will see what that brings.
Gog Magog
What we see is a war coming.
As we came to in our study on Revelation, we stand at the precipice of what the enemy has been scheming for this short time since the release from the pit, and his aims are on Jerusalem, and the people of God.
Just as we saw that after the great holocaust of WWII came one of the greatest prophetic movies of history, and it was what brought about the reassmebling of the dry, dead bones of Israel, so another great war is coming, the Gog Magog conflict of Revelation 20 and Ezekiel 38-39.
And, out of that fire, out of a World War III type scenario, with fire from heaven, another great wave of prophetic and healing power and anointing will arrive, Ezekiel’s second prophecy. And, out of this this devastation, and out of this revival, will come one of the greatest fulfillments of Scripture ever.
The Gospel will go back to Israel, and they will receive it. God will no longer hide His face from His people. Jerusalem will be restored, and no longer trodden down by the Gentiles, but the time of the Gentiles will be fulfilled. The whole nation will be born again, and God will no longer hide His face from them. They will receive their long-awaited promise, the out pouring of the Holy Spirit.
As Paul put it, if their cutting off was life for the Gentiles, their restoration will be life from the dead.
After the War
This period, after the Gog Magog conflict, and before the Second Coming of Christ, we understand to be at a minimum to be seven years, according to Ezekiel 39:9, the length of time of burning the weapons of war for fuel. But, really, it could be another thousand years or more before Christ returns.
At this time, satan himself will be cast into the lake of fire forever, never to be released.
This does not mean it will be perfect, any more than the Middle Ages were perfect, but the great deceiver will be removed, and the Law will go forth from Zion, and Israel will be healed of her backsliding.
Note, again, that the rest of the prophecy of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 40-48, is about a temple not yet built. This, then, will be the restoration of all things, as Israel prophetically builds the temple, not in human hands, as we see it, but in the restoration of what was supposed to be.
There is no need for a temple built with hands, nor of sacrifices ever again, for the blood of the Lamb has sufficed. As it is written in Isaiah, he who sacrifices an ox will be like he who kills a man (Isaiah 66:3).
Israel, the nation, will possess the Kingdom of God, once again. God will rule from Jerusalem, not by physically sitting on a wooden chair there, but through the church. The mountain of the Lord will be exalted as chief among the nations, and all who worship God must worship Him through the His church.
This time will look forward, also, to the time when all must celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. Whether this signifies the literal celebration is not clear, as those were only a shadow of the true thing to come, but, what is clear, is that those who do not celebrate what God intends by that feast will not receive blessing (rain, in Zechariah 14).
The Fulfillment of the “Millennial” Promises
Here, with satan not just bound, but cast forever into the lake of fire, is where we see the fulfillment of the many typically “Millennial” prophecies.
It will be at this time that we see:
- God Ruling from Zion through the church at Jerusalem
- Mount Zion will be chief among the nations
- Christ, through the church, will rule over the entire world through the dominion of His Body
- Many aspects of the Curse will be reversed, including the lion lying down with the lamb and extended periods of life
- A non-backsliding Israel, for now they are Christ’s and have the Holy Spirit
- Israel will never be dispossessed from the Promised Land again, nor will God be angry with her anymore
- The Earth will be productive
- Possibly, there will be an increased victory over the demonic realm, as more and more agents of satan are defeated
- People will not train for war anymore, because there will be no great, demonic beasts over the affairs of men
- It may appear more like the Dark Ages than a Kingdom to some, but it was God’s intention all along that He would be their king, and that He would rule over their hearts. Spiritual is not ethereal, or heaven is a fantasy.
These are some of the promises typically associated with Revelation 20:1-6, which we believe better fit in between Revelation 20:10-11.
For however long that period of time lasts, Israel will be God’s nation once again, and all the world will stream to it. It will endure, and, at the end, when God’s set time appears, at the last trumpet, Christ will appear in His return, in the Father’s glory.
The world will be burned, the dead will be judged, and those destined for life will inherit the Kingdom.
Summary
- The promises to Israel will stand be accomplished by National Israel.
- The church does enter into the promises of Abraham, but some of the promises are still specific to the people God originally chose.
- Paul said it best, All Israel shall be saved. Romans 11:26.
- God has hidden His face from His people. He will not restore it until the end of Ezekiel 39.
- Ezekiel 38 & 39 describe the Gog Magog war, apparently of Revelation 20:7-10.
- The Ezekiel 39 prophecy has not been fulfilled.
- Jesus didn’t tell the apostles when the Kingdom would be restored to the nation as a whole, but the passage does indicate it would be.
- Ezekiel 37 is a picture into the future.
- As there were two prophecies of Ezekiel, it seems there will be two prophetic moves in the regathering and rebirth of Israel.
- The first has already happened in 1948, with healing revival that came through the world.
- A second wave will correspond to the prophesy to the breath, and will result in resurrection from the dead for the nation as a whole.
- Just as WWII resulted in Israel being reborn and regathered, there is likely a Gog Magog war, a WWIII, that will entail a second prophetic movement coming forth, which will bring about Israel bowing its knee to Jesus, becoming born again, and receiving God’s Spirit.
- It is here, after this war, after satan has been cast into the lake of fire, that most of the Millennial promises will likely be fulfilled.