A believer in Jesus Christ blogging from a Christian worldview should recognize that truth is possible only when the Holy Spirit and His ministry of truth telling is involved. Jesus spoke these words concerning the Spirit’s ministry. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you [believer] into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn. 16:13-14). It is the role of the third person of the Trinity to shed light on Jesus Christ by taking what belongs to Him (Christ) and sharing it with us. I have made the point often that one of the major coming events is a worldwide dictatorship – a tyranny – headed by the devilish duo that the Bible calls the beast and the false prophet (Rev. 13). The beast is called by many names: the little horn, the man of sin, the son of perdition, the Assyrian, just to mention some.
There is much argument today on whether the tiny nation of Israel established in 1948 is legitimate or not. I recognize that the establishment of the nation of Israel is called “Zionism” by many who hate the Jews. I agree that – humanly speaking – this tiny nation is the product of world politics and a lot of money. The nation came into existence by a response to a real Holocaust – the murder of 6 million Jews – and a feeling among many wealthy Jews that a worldwide moral response was needed, the Jews must have a homeland. This ultimately led to what is called “the Balfour Declaration” signed on November 2, 1917, by an American president resulting in the establishing of the tiny legal nation of Israel in 1948.
Those of us who believe that every word of the Bible is true must also believe that God does all things according to the purpose of His will. Why do we believe this? Because the Bible says it. “He does according to His will in the army of heaven. And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” (Dan. 4:35).
Paul affirms this truth in his letter to the Ephesians. “In Him [Christ] also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11). It is according to God’s will that the nation of Israel exists.
Jesus told the Pharisees and Sadducees that they had little trouble discerning weather signs, but they were woefully ignorant of the signs of the times (Matt. 16:1-3). The apostle Paul said the Jews request a sign (1 Cor. 1:22). With this in mind, it is very interesting that when His disciples asked for the sign of His second coming, Jesus gave them “the sign.”He said, “When you see…” A sign is something that can be seen. The “you” is speaking of the generation of Jews alive when this sign happens. “Therefore when you [Jews] see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matt. 24:15-16).
In order for this sign to occur, the Jewish nation of Israel must be recognized as such, and more importantly the Temple and the Holy Place must be in existence. If there was no legitimate Holy Place, then where could this abomination of desolation stand in order to fulfill this prophecy? Hence, it is the domino effect. If there is no Jewish state, there can be no Jewish temple, and if there is no Jewish temple, then there can be no holy place, and if there is no holy place then this specific prophecy cannot come true.
God gives further prophetic information saying that this abomination of desolation will make remarkable peace agreement with the nation of Israel for seven years and in the middle of that time, he will break his peace covenant, then turn on the Jews with a vengeance that is unparalleled in human history (Dan. 9:27). This vengeance is referred to by Christ as the “great tribulation” (Matt. 24:21).
As I mentioned in my book, A Glimpse of the New Genesis, the Covid pandemic proved that there are myriads of people worldwide who will be more than willing to give up their freedoms if they think that their lives are in jeopardy. It is my view that in the near future these two tyrants mentioned above will provide a political anomaly that will produce that motivation. I have often referred to the false prophet as the beast’s press agent. It will be his role to build up the beast’s image in front of the entire world. This will culminate in his giving people the impression that the beast has been raised from the dead saying that his deadly wound was healed. The beast was killed and possibly raised from the dead (Rev. 13:3). This may be a miraculous illusion produced by AI. But many will believe and become Satan worshippers. It is Satan who gives the beast his power. The beast will attain world dominance, becoming king of the world – a totalitarian leader (Rev. 13:7-8).
If this world is headed for a worldwide tyranny, then tyranny has to consume every nation, including our beloved America. I for one would rather die in freedom that live in tyranny. But I want God’s perfect will for my life, which I will have. It is here that I will turn for a short walk through the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah was murdered between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35). He was killed for saying that the Lord had forsaken Israel for their sin which they had done, and they refused to repent (2 Chronicles 24:20-21). They are still living in the fifth cycle of discipline (Lev. 26).
It is my view that the present nation of Israel is the product of the perfect will of God, and yet God plainly says in Zechariah that there will come a day when God will “whistle” for the lost sheep of the Jewish people, and they will hear His whistle and return to the land of Palestine in belief (Zech. 10:8). They will no longer remain under God’s discipline. There is no reason to believe that the return to Israel in 1948 is not a part of God’s working all things to according to His will. There have been many lost sheep from the tribes of Israel who have believed in Christ as their Messiah and moved to the land in belief. God can call individual Jews to repentance and faith in Christ throughout the world, or He can call the entire nation of Israel to faith. What difference should that make? Zechariah says that there is coming a day when all Jews shall return in belief (Zech. 10:9).
One of my very favorite Old Testament passages is Zechariah 12. It says there that in the last days, the Jews will look on Jesus and recognize Him as their Great I Am. They will immediately know that they had a part in piercing their Messiah which God had sent to them. God had taken on flesh in order to die for sin. As God, He could not have died because God is eternal life (Psa. 90:2). But God took on flesh in the safe womb of the virgin Mary. He lived a perfect life and, having no sin, He died on the cross satisfying the divine justice of God.
He rose again which declared that every word He had said and every miracle He had performed proved Him to be the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the God/Man even today. He sits in heaven at the right hand of the Father in His glorified, crucified body. The nail prints are still in the hands and feet and the scar is still in His side. The national cleansing of the Jewish people is when they look upon Him at His coming and realize that they (along with the Romans) were involved in killing the Lamb of God that had been sent to them. At His Second Coming, all Israel who are truly of Israel will be saved. A nation will be born in a day (Rom. 11:26-27). It is truly an anomaly. The coming Tribulation – the tyranny of the antichrist – will eventually be used by God to turn every true Jews’ eyes and heart toward home.