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THE END TIMES INVASION OF ISRAEL By Wesley Smith SUMMARY: Israel will be invaded by a group of countries whose leader will be from the north. At this present moment the small country of Israel, (6 million population), is surrounded by six countries who have more than one million military personnel—Israel has only 175 thousand military personnel. More than 200 million Arab neighbors are hostile to Israel's existence; and many of the Arab leaders have publicly stated that they want to “drive Israel into the sea”. The Bible clearly states that a growing animosity by Israel's enemies will result in a massive military invasion. It is at this time that God will demonstrate who He is and the nations of the world will recognize His existence. No one knows the date of this confrontation, but it is clear that we are very close to a climactic encounter between good and evil. EZEKIEL 38 & 39 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:” 38:2 This is a message to Ezekiel from God pertaining to Gog, Magog, Meshech, and Tubal. Bible scholars generally agree that this is a direct reference to the country of Russia. They have come to this conclusion because these are the names of Noah's grandsons ( see Ge. 10:2) It is historically accurate that Noah's grandsons settled in the area we now know as Russia.Full Life Crusade, P.O. Box 398, Winona Lake, Indiana 46590 email: wes@kconline.com Gog & Magog may also symbolize all evil in the world that stands in opposition of the purposes of Almighty God. Some scholars think that Ezekiel was making a vague reference to Gyges, who was the king of Lydia in 660 b.c. As we go through this passage it will be helpful to know what each name represents in modern times: Magog—Russia Prince of Rosh--Russia Mesheck--Moscow Tubal--Tubolsk Persia--Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan Ethiopia--Ethiopia and Sudan Libya--Libya Ashkenaz--Austria & Germany Gomer--Eastern Europe Togarmah--Turkey Tarshish--Spain & Britain Young Lions--Britain, the United States, Canada & other colonies “I will turn you back, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:” 38:4 It would seem from the context of this text that Gog was involved in some military effort, or at least something that occupied his attention, when the Lord intervened and “put hooks” into his jaw. This will cause Gog to abandon his efforts and turn his attention toward Israel. It is very interesting to note here that some Jewish sages prophesied “when Russian ships enter the Bosporus and Dardanelles then the invasion of Israel will be imminent”. We have lived to see the fulfillment of these prophecies. Russia has negotiated with Turkey, so that this strait is available to Russian ships. Turkey controls the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles strait (from north to south) which gives access from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea and then to the Mediterranean Sea. From there Russia would have easy access to Israel. In spite of Russia's size, she does not own or control any warm-water seaport. Being able to use the Bosporus and Dardanelles solves a major military problem that Russia has had for many decades. Also, this gives her strategic access to Israel. Once Russian ships enter the Mediterranean Sea it is a very short journey to the Holy Land. (map of Turkey and the Black Sea) Russia has already airlifted and brought in military armaments by ship to Libya, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan. All of these countries are Israel's enemies, by their own admission and behavior. Military weapons weigh approximately 20 times as much as soldiers. The movement of mega-tons of weapons, i.e. tanks, trucks, bombs, warheads, and ammunition, in preparation for war is very time consuming and costly. Placing this equipment strategically ahead of time in the various countries is prepatory to war. Then when a war begins, all Russia will have to do is bring in the military personnel. The weapons of warfare will already be in place. Pretty brilliant. However, Russia's military strategy has not gone undetected by the rest of the world—especially Israel and the U. S. The United States has known for years that Russia has systematically brought weapons into these Arab states. U.S. owned satellites have recorded their movements as clearly as they spied a Russian oil tanker which recently loaded its cargo illegally in Iran, and was then confiscated, along with its cargo, by the UN. So God predicted that He will bring Gog (Russia?) down from the north and place in his mind the thought to invade Israel. It is important to consider that the Lord does this. He is in control of the nations of the earth and plays them like a chess game in order to ultimately check-mate the devil. He has His time schedule and nothing can hinder His intentions, especially ungodly countries and leaders—like Gog and Magog. He leads them to their own destruction, as casually as you would take your dog for a walk. His power is greater than man can ever conceive, and He sees the future as clearly as we read the headlines in the morning newspaper. When He says that this is something He will do, then we can count on it as a sure thing to take place. Although Magog will think that this is his plan, it will really be the Master-Plan of the Lord. When Ezekiel speaks of “bucklers, shields, and swords”, he is using the language of his day. Obviously he is alluding to modern military armaments in his prophecy, but he could only describe them from the framework of the era in which he was living. In no way does this mean that weapons of modern armies will be “swords”. The armies coming down against Israel will be using the latest military equipment. “After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.” 38:8 There will be a visitation. What exactly is a Biblical visitation? Without belaboring the issue we will just say that a Biblical visitation is a very clear point in time when God comes to a person, group, or nation—bringing with Him the purpose of carrying out His will. A young girl named Mary received a very remarkable visitation (see Luke 1:26-38). There have been many visitations in the past, i.e., Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon, Paul, etc. Even today there are honest testimonies that God has in some way reached down and made His Person known. In this passage God is speaking to Gog and telling him that his visitation will cause him to come to the land of Israel with an evil intent. “The land that is brought back from the sword” is a very apt description of Israel's history. This last “bringing back” was the most remarkable comeback of a nation ever recorded. After nearly 2,000 years of being scattered all over the world, May 14, 1948 the Jews returned to the same patch of real estate, retained their original language and religion and created the State of Israel. If nothing else happened in this generation, this alone should get our attention—especially since a thing like this has never happened in the history of the world! God said repeatedly in Scripture that His people (the Jews) would lose their country to the Gentiles (non-Jews) and that they would be scattered around the globe. In 70 a.d. this exact thing happened; and it happened 37 years after Jesus predicted it would happen. The Roman legions let by Titus attacked and destroyed Jerusalem. It would be 1,878 years (1948) before the Jews would get their beloved land back again. But in the “last days” He declared that they would once again return to the Holy Land, establish themselves there, and become a nation once again. He said that He would “hiss” for them (see Zechariah 10:8) and that they would return. This was predicted many times in the Bible and it is now a well known and established event. What's next? The next major event on God's calendar is for a coalition of armies to invade Israel. This is what the “visitation” will entail. Somehow God will hover over the leaders of these nations and cause them to come up with this plan to attack and destroy the Jewish people. “The mountains of Israel, which have been always waste” is exactly what the land has been like in Palestine for centuries. Only since the Jews returned there and began irrigating the soil has it begun to bloom like a rose. Israel now ships tons of fruits and vegetables abroad. As one looks at the land where it has not been irrigated, you would think that nothing could ever grow there. Amazing what a little water does to make the land arable! Ever since the Six-Day War, when Israel miraculously defeated six countries, her enemies have been in awe of her military genius and power. The very first day of the war Israel promptly destroyed virtually the entire Jordanian and two-thirds of the Syrian air force, and hit an Iraqi air force base. By the end of the second day, June 6, 1967, Israeli officials believed the war had already been won. 416 Arab aircraft had been destroyed, 393 of which had been destroyed on the ground. Israel lost 26 airplanes in action. In 500 sorties Israel destroyed 309 of Egypt's 340 aircraft. No wonder the Arab world hesitates to take on the Jews again in a real war! And no wonder that the Arabs would quickly embrace a Russian plan to destroy Israel. Many people are not aware of this fact: more than 55 million Arabs live in Russia! But the time will come when a direct confrontation will take place again. This is the main part of the “visitation” mentioned in this verse. “You shall ascend and come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your troops, and many people with you.” 38:9 This is an interesting description of Gog's invasion! For Ezekiel to use the word “ascend” is remarkable, in light of the fact that the Wright brothers didn't make their first flight until December 17, 1903. And in light of the fact that Ezekiel lived and prophesied 2,400 years before that historic event in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. An interesting side note is that bachelors, Wilbur and Orville, lived in Dayton, Ohio with their father, who was a United Brethren minister. Every storm I have ever seen comes in the sky. Ezekiel states that Gog will “come like a storm”. This is another very interesting description. One gets the idea that as you look toward the horizon you can see the invasion coming from the sky as well as on the land. The two phrases used together in the same sentence, “you shall ascend” and “come like a storm”, gives a very strong visual impression. This will not be an invasion by one country. “Many people” indicates that an extremely huge invading army will invade the land. The Bible, like all great literature, is filled with understatement. When the Bible uses the word “many”, one must always take special notice. And we must keep in mind that this is all part of God's “visitation” upon Gog and his allies. God will put His “hooks” in their jaws in order to lure them into this battle. “Thus says the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into your mind, and you will think an evil thought:” 38:10 The evil thought that Gog thinks is clearly stated in the next two verses: “And you shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn your hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.” 38: 11-12 This is the first time that Israel has existed with “unwalled villages”. In Ezekiel's day this would have been unheard of. One of the main defensive strategies in ancient times was to surround the cities with huge walls. At the time Ezekiel wrote this his contemporaries must have ridiculed him. But these words are no long ridiculed. There is not one village or city in Israel today that has a wall around it, except for the Old City and Acco! Once again God is accurate down to the last detail! “Desolate places that are now inhabited”. For nearly 2,000 years the Holy Land was desolate—i.e., uninhabited by Jewish people. But in this century there has been a steady stream of Jewish immigrants into the land of Israel. Where the land was once empty of people there are now approximately 6 million of God's people. Gog (Russia) and his allies are coming to take something that Israel has. At this point in time we don't know what the attraction will be. Perhaps it will be the trillions of dollars in value of salts in the Dead Sea (potash is used for fertilizer and EXPLOSIVES!). Maybe it will be its amazing scientific discoveries—especially its military inventions. Israel now possesses a military weapon referred to as the “Samson Option”. Supposedly this is the latest in weaponry in Israel's arsenal, and with it the Jewish military has the potential to vaporize entire cities. If you want to learn more about this read the book entitled, The Samson Option. Whatever the reasons connected with the invasion—Gog will come down against Israel “like a storm, covering the land”. “Sheba (Yemen), and Dedan (Saudi Arabia), and the merchants of Tarshish (Spain), with all the young lions shall say unto you, Have you come to take a spoil? Have you gathered your company to take a prey? Have you come to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?” 38:13 A diplomatic delegation representing several nations will be sent to Gog asking some relevant questions: “What is the purpose of your intended invasion of Israel? Does Israel have something that you want? Are you planning to take over the country? In our generation this certainly has a familiar ring to it. Diplomatic delegations from the United Nations (presently controlled by a communist and non-Christian Afro-Asian majority) are flying back and forth across the world all the time attempting to keep the peace in various places. This scenario would be so common place today that we wouldn't give it a second thought. The implication here is that the “merchants of Tarshish” would send the delegation, and they would ask the questions, but then they would back off. Unless it is some small country like Haiti, Somalia, or Serbia, the UN pretty much looks the other way as far as human rights are concerned. We remember so well how the media splashed the pictures and articles before us when the Serbs and Croats were fighting. And the UN had to respond under this pressure by sending troops to Yugoslavia. However, when Russia performed its military operation to “liberate” the Chechnyn capital of Grozny and tens of thousands of civilians were tortured, starved, raped, and brutalized, it barely made the news. One of the citizens of Grozny was interviewed by the international watchdog Human Rights Watch. This is what she told them: “There were so many bodies, and among them there wasn't one rebel fighter. Not one terrorist. Just innocent civilians who lived there and were waiting for the return of normal life.” Grozny had been so ravaged by the bombardment there was not even a building available in which the Russian officers could set up headquarters. The city was for all practical purposes totally destroyed. It was the very cold, dead of winter and the innocent civilians did not even have homes to live in, food to eat, or any medical help. The rest of the world pretty much stayed out of it and closed its eyes to atrocities so horrible we cannot even imagine it. So it is not difficult to imagine that if Russia attempted to invade Israel, the UN would merely send a delegation asking some weak, redundant questions. If the “young lions” represent Britain, Canada, the United States, and some of the younger nations of the world, we can expect that these would be the countries asking the questions, but then making sure that they stayed out of the conflict. “And you shall come from your place out of the north parts, you, and many people with you, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: and you will come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring you against my land, that the heathen may know Me, when I shall be honored in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” 38:15-16 You can say what you will about the theory that Gog and Magog represent modern Russia; but if you look at a globe you will see that Moscow (Meshech) is exactly straight north of Israel's capital, Jerusalem. “You will come out of the north parts” is a fairly clear indication that the invading army will come from either Turkey or Russia. The phrase “as a cloud to cover the land” is repeated, implanting the idea of a very large invading army, and the suggestion for modern minds of an air attack. A recent news article described Russian forces attacking Chechnya: “Waves of Russian warplanes and helicopter gunships roared over the gorges of Chechnya on Friday, attacking thousand of rebels based in the snowy mountains.” “In the latter days” is the time frame in which this attack will take place. The latter days is mentioned many times in the Bible (latter times references). Nobody knows for sure when this will be, but we are fairly accurate when we say that we are much closer to the latter days than the time in which Ezekiel lived. We are much closer to the latter days (end times) than the time in which Jesus and the disciples lived. Many Bible scholars believe very strongly that we are living in the latter (last) days right now. If they are right, then we can expect Russia and the Arab nations to attack Israel in this generation. That is a pretty sobering thought! “That the heathen may know me” is the main theme of both of these chapters (38:16,23; 39:6,7,13,21,22,27,28,29). Ezekiel repeats this no less than ten times, just to make sure that we get it! God will not bring Russia down against Israel just for a fluke or for something to do. He will do this for a purpose: that men everywhere will know Him. This will be the most powerful evangelistic tool that anyone has ever imagined. There have been citywide crusades, but nothing holds a candle to this attention-getter that will take place in the near future. Men everywhere will come to a clear knowledge that the God of Israel is indeed the Living and true and only God! This is the main purpose of the greatest end-time event of the latter days. Another obvious purpose is to defend Israel from the armies intent on her destruction. God has been silent for a long, long, time. But when He finally demonstrates that He does exist, no one will doubt it; no one will wonder about it. It will be an established fact—worldwide. “Before their eyes” is also an interesting phrase. Never in the history of the world has it been possible for the entire world to view and hear an event as it is happening. Today, with satellite transmission through television and the internet, it is possible to see wars in the making. Again, God makes no mistakes! When I was in Israel recently we went to the Wailing Wall and waved at our friends and relatives in several parts of the world. And in the time it took to walk back to our apartment the pictures of us waving were waiting for us on the computer. How was this possible? .. A camcorder is focused on the Wall from an office facing it. So my friends simply logged in and then downloaded the pictures and emailed them to us. These are modern times when it seems that almost all things are possible. If you are interested in seeing live footage of the Wailing Wall, go to . The camcorder is on 24 hours a day. It's free! We learned several things from verses 15 & 16:
“And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; so that the fishes of the sea and the fowls of heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.” 38:18-20 The prophet Isaiah looked forward to the time when God would reveal who He really is, and many men and women since then have dreamed about the God of the Bible moving from His place in the heavens to intervene in the affairs of the human race. “Oh that You would rend the heavens, that You would come down, that the mountains might flow down at Your presence, as when the melting fire burns, the fire causes the waters to boil, to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!” Isaiah 64:1-2 The moment that Russia (Gog) makes his move to enter Israel will be the exact moment when the Lord God will reveal to the inhabitants of the earth the side of His nature that is The Mighty Warrior of Heaven. “At the same time that Russia comes against the land of Israel” the Lord will contain His anger no longer. “My fury shall come up in my face”! We want to be on God's side when he unleashes His anger against the evil forces in this world. We must understand something very clearly about the Creator of the universe. He has unlimited power. He can do anything that He wants to do and nothing can stand in His way or resist Him. Only His daily mercies protect us from His fury. He is not willing that any should perish and He is very long suffering. But the moment Russia (Gog) attempts to annihilate tiny Israel the Lord will let out all of the stops. I suppose that it would be very similar to a huge bully just getting ready to beat up a helpless little boy. Anyone would want to protect the child. Even so, God will want to protect Israel—and He will. The greatest display of power that the world has ever seen will take place on that day. The first thing the Scripture mentions is “a great shaking”. In modern terminology this is called an earthquake. But this will be no ordinary earthquake. The entire planet earth will reel and rock. Every person alive will know that something extraordinary is going on. Of course, the epicenter of the earthquake will be in the Valley of Armageddon (Megiddo, Esdraelon, Jezreel) where the invading armies will be gathered. When Napoleon conquered the area in 1799 he made the statement that this valley was the greatest arena for a battle to be found anywhere in the world. The valley is surrounded by mountains and has four natural entrances, north, south, east, and west. On that day God and what He is doing will take center stage. The invading army literally will not know what hits them. Mountains will fall. Huge cracks will open up in the earth. The earth itself will roll like huge waves of the sea during a hurricane or typhoon. Men will completely lose direction and the confusion will be beyond imagination. The earthquake will hit without warning and it will come suddenly! “And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. That is how I will magnify myself, and honor Myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.” 38:22-23 Then it will begin to rain. But even this will be no ordinary rain. Mixed in with the rain will be huge hailstones which will weigh over 100 pounds (see Revelation 16:21) . Try to imagine what 100 pounds of ice crashing down from high in the sky would be like. Nothing will be able to withstand it. There will be no place to hide. And there will be thousands of such hailstones. As if the earthquake, rain, and the hailstones aren't enough—mixed in with the water and ice will be fireballs descending out of the sky. Some people have surmised that these might be flaming meteorites. Whatever they are it is for sure that they will wreak havoc on the invading army. “Every man's sword shall be against his brother.” 38:21 And we can easily understand why. In every war friendly fire kills quite a few soldiers. In a confused battle such as this the men will go absolutely berserk. Those that the earthquake, ice balls, and flaming tons of fire don't kill—the armed soldiers will finish off by killing each other. As one reads these passages you get the idea that the battle will be over in just a few minutes—or hours at the most. There really won't be much of a battle at all. It will all be one-sided. God will be the victor and everyone watching this event will realize that the Lord has finally emerged from His silence and shown Himself. And there won't be any guesswork as to which side He is on. He will show Himself strong on the side of His beloved people, the Jews. There won't be many atheists left who witness this event. The people of the earth will know that God intervened on behalf of the small nation of Israel. And they will know that there is a God! “And I will turn you back, and leave but the sixth part of you, and will cause you to come up from the north parts, and will bring you upon the mountains of Israel: . . . you will fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and the people that are with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.” 39:2-4 Almost 85% of the invading force will be totally annihilated within a few minutes or hours! Those of us who have seen the dying and dead upon battlefields have some idea what this massacre will look like. For sure the army will be “turned back”. No human on earth would remain in the Valley of Megiddo during this blood bath—if he could possibly escape. From the text it would appear that one in six escape. “And I will send fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.” 39:6 We do not know how many soldiers will be in this army. But we do know that the Israeli soldiers are presently outnumbered about 7:1 by the Arab nations surrounding them. If the Russian forces are added to this number it will be even greater. An invading force of well over one million humans could possibly be in this hoard. That would mean that 850,000 of them would die in one fell swoop! The numbers could well be much larger than this. “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.” Revelation 19:17-18 The very forces of nature will respond as the blood flows as high as horses' bridles (see Rev. 14:20). The birds of the air will come by invitation to what the Bible calls “the supper of the great God” (compare Rev. 19:17). The scene is almost unimaginable! All of us have seen vultures circling overhead when a dead animal is lying in a field. This is nature's way of cleaning up. God will use the birds of the air and the beasts of the field to cleanse the land after this mighty and terrible battle. Otherwise a pestilence would probably destroy most of the people in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. God never overlooks one thing, especially something so important as this. “And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:” 39:9 It is not hard to conceive that it will take thousands of laborers to finish cleaning up the remains of the corpses after the birds and beasts do their job. We were studying this passage one time and my wife expressed something that I had never thought of before. She compared this burial to the pictures most of us have seen of the holocaust when literally millions of Jews were bulldozed into pits for burial. God always has the last word! Now we come to a portion of Scripture that has been very difficult for some minds to accept in modern times. In the olden days when armies literally used bows, arrows, and spears to fight with, it would be conceivable that after a battle the weapons could be burned. But what about now? What about in modern times? How could it be possible that the Israelis would be able to “burn” tanks, rifles, trucks and jeeps? God is always ahead of the “scholars”! “Seven months will the house of Israel be burying of the dead, that they may cleanse the land. And they shall choose out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the travelers (tourists?) those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.” 39:12 After the birds and beasts get done eating to their full, there will still be many skeletons lying about on the surface of the ground. So for seven months a large group of people will be running the bulldozers and backhoes to dispose of the bones. The Scripture makes it clear that they will be employed full time doing this. “And the passengers that pass through the land, when any sees a man's bone, then shall he set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.” 39:15 Israel has a steady stream of tourists coming to its country now. After the battle of Armageddon people will continue to flock to this small country, recognizing that to identify with the Jewish people is to identify with what God is doing in the earth. The “passengers” will probably be tourists who will voluntarily look for bones. When they find one they will place a marker—maybe a small flag. Then the employed Israelis will see the markers and bury the bones. “And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.” 39:21-23 What did the “house of Israel” do that was wicked enough for them to face the furnaces of Hitler's death camps? This is a question that is often pondered by both Jew and Gentile. Why did the Jewish race have to face such agony? And why have Jewish people been the brunt of racisim in many places of the world? I think the answer is very clear and simple. The living God saw that the animal sacrifices were not accomplishing changed hearts among His people. And He decided to send His own Son into the world. He loved the world so much that He sent His only beloved Son. And this son was born of a virgin in the exact way that the prophet Isaiah had predicted it. “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). The Bible even predicted the town of Bethlehem as His birthplace! (see Micah 5:2) And yet in spite of these crystal clear predictions the scholars of Jesus' day completely missed it. They completely missed it! And so they did what they had always done to the men that God sent to them with His messages—they killed Him. (see Acts 7:52) Not only did they kill Jesus by crucifying Him. They had the audacity to stand at the foot of the cross and declare: “His blood be on us, and on our children.” Matthew 27:25 The people standing at the foot of the cross certainly received an answer to this prayer! It was only 37 years later (70 a.d.) when Rome invaded Jerusalem and leveled it to the ground, dispersing the Jews, eventually, to countries around the globe. Even Herod's temple was completely destroyed. And after all of these centuries the Temple has still not been rebuilt. Judas, the one who betrayed Him to the Jewish leaders, declared: “ . . . I have betrayed the innocent blood.” The chief priests and elders answered, “What is that to us?” (see Matthew 27:4) The chief priests and elders have discovered the answer to their question. From the human perspective we might think that the holocaust was too terrible to be allowed by God. What kind of a God would allow something like the holocaust? And there are those who seem to hate God for what happened to the Jewish people at the hands of Adolph Hitler. Some refuse to believe in a God who would allow such torture and murder. It is always good to ask legitimate questions. The Lord wants us to ask questions. Never be afraid to ask. But at the same time we need to be open to His answers. And He does have answers for us if we pray, study His Word, and are willing to be corrected. But from God's perspective it might look like the holocaust wasn't retribution enough! He and His Son had been together forever and ever. They had never been separated. They had never known sin. Jesus played in His presence at the creation of the worlds. And when He came to planet earth He spent about 33 years doing nothing but good for people. In spite of all the miraculous signs and wonders that the Lord worked through His life, Jesus was rejected by the leaders of the Jewish religion. He was not only rejected; He was tortured and murdered on the cross. If this had happened to your son would you be angry? Would you respond in some way? And if you had unlimited power, as God does, how would you react? No wonder it pleases God so much when we place our faith in His Son! No wonder that we are instantly forgiven when we repent of our sins and invite Jesus to take over our lives! This is exactly what God originally intended for the human race to do. Our acceptance of Him is what He wants, not that we embrace some “religion”. Today the Jewish people are still awaiting their messiah! What a tragedy. What blindness. But the time is soon coming when the nation of Israel will realize that Jesus was the Messiah and that they rejected Him and killed Him. There will be a national mourning and repentance when that time arrives. Even now many Jewish people are beginning to accept Jesus as their Messiah and personal savior. The Bible puts it this way: “ . . .blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel will be saved:” (Romans 11:25-26)! As these end time events play out on God's chess table, we have opportunities like never before to witness His unfolding prophetic timetable. Of all days, this is the most exciting time to be living. We are seeing the prophecies unfolding before our very eyes! We are the generation that has seen the Jewish people return to their land after nearly 2,000 years. And we have seen God working miracle after miracle on their behalf. The return of Jesus to the earth is imminent. Let us use our time wisely and attempt to do His will during the short time we have left! “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 mourns for His only Son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.” Zechariah 12:10-14 The end of the article “Invasion of Israel”, by Wesley Smith <-- Back to TEACHING Main Page Contact Us! Full Life Crusade 1-574-267-7546 |