“Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.” (Jeremiah 30:7).
With each and every passing day a new “crisis” or new “tensions” seem to explode upon the scene in regard to the nation of Israel. It seems no matter what they do, they find themselves in the middle of condemnation and outrage from the world community. However, as I have often said, and I believe wholeheartedly, is this simple truth: The political machinations of men and nations, are nothing less than the purposeful maneuverings of God's sovereign plan!
Biblical prophecies thousands of years old are being fulfilled before our very eyes! It’s amazing to watch these things, inasmuch as the prophetic blueprint was given thousands of years ago, and yet an unbelieving and blinded world is missing it, and in fact, actually bringing it to pass as a result of their blind unbelief!
The Prophet Daniel was given multiple and numerous prophetic visions regarding world powers, dominions and kingdoms that would rise up and fall through the ages. He was also given specific prophecies in regard to;
“…your people and for your holy city…” (Dan.9:24) i.e. the Jewish nation.
I've heard some say that "certain eschatology's" are of a more "recent" historical origin. I don't really agree with that assessment - but even if that were true, SO WHAT!? The Bible states that the last day people WILL HAVE or (ought to have) a greater understanding of prophetic times then our predecessor’s did! It was said to Daniel; “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase… But Daniel replied, "…Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.”
We live in PROPHETIC TIMES and we need to be a people PREPARED! We need to be a people of understanding!
At the close of the book of Daniel after numerous visions have been given to him and last days prophecies are revealed to him he laments that, "he did not understand the vision...". However, the Angel assures him that, "in the time of the end...", there would be a people WHO WOULD UNDERSTAND!
Therefore, we need to do the same thing that Daniel did when he wanted to understand Jeremiah's prophecy for his day - we need to READ THE SCRIPTURE and PRAY for understanding for OUR DAY! Read the scriptures! And let the scripture speak for itself without preconceived ideas and theories, in order that we would be the people spoken of in Daniel 11:32–33; “…but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. And those of the people who understand shall instruct many…”
Having said that, I want to share with you what seems evident and obvious to me regarding the state of Israel from the scripture. These are things that I have diligently sought the Lord about as I have read the Word and have asked the Lord for understanding and clarity in. I want to set before you three items of importance and significance that will speak into the things we are witnessing in the Geo-political realm in regard to the nation of Israel. For I believe the time is near…
I. The Time: “…of Jacob’s trouble...”
“Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.” (Jer.30:7)
The clock is ticking. The time is almost here. The Lord’s prophetic time clock is about to strike the hour and the time is near! What time is that? It is “…the time of Jacob’s trouble…”. Jeremiah prophesied of a time of unprecedented horror that would come upon the people of Israel. The book of Daniel reaffirms that prophesy saying it would be a “…time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation…” (Dan.12:1)
Yes! The time of Jacob’s trouble will be a horrific and terrible time. I wish I did not have to say that, nor do I wish for it to happen at all! But God’s word is sure, and all things must be fulfilled that have been written. And, the honest truth is this: “The time of Jacob’s trouble” will make Hitler’s Genocidal insanity look tame!
Satan has always sought to destroy the Jews. He knew that though them the Messiah would come the first time, and through them, the time of the end will come that brings Christ back again! (Rom.11:11-15)
Seven
Many world powers have tried to exterminate Israel in its history, and one more demonically inspired attempt is yet to be made! Pharaoh’s tried it in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries B.C.. The Assyrians attempted it in 775 B.C... The Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar made a notable attempt in 588 B.C. and Haman followed with the plan of 510 B.C. The next demonically inspired persecutor was Antiochus Epiphanes who sought to blot out the Jews in 170 B.C... The next great attempt to accomplish “the final solution” was that of Titus the Great, who in 70 A.D. destroyed the Temple and then Hadrian in 135 A.D came closer to succeeding than any of his predecessors had when he utterly leveled and razed the entire city of Jerusalem and brought about the 2000 yr. diaspora! Though the Jews were persecuted and ravished time and again throughout their history it is without controversy that the Holocaust wrought upon the Jews by Nazi Germany was the greatest time of tribulation and sadness in the modern era (as of yet) brought upon the Jewish people – and most importantly the only time in history that the prophecies of a return to their land begin to find their fulfillment.
For example, if you read the 30th chapter of Jeremiah, you will see that Israel’s return to their homeland is to be accomplished only after a time of tribulation and suffering. In this section of Jeremiah, God states that He will return Israel to their land. But first there shall be a trembling voice of fear and pain, and the nation shall cry and groan in travail. Before the Jews experience the return to their land, they must pass through the fires of pain. What is going to happen next? Well, before we move forward, let’s back up a bit.
ISRAEL EXISTS!
One of the most glaringly obvious proofs that God has been and is now moving to fulfill bible prophecy in our day is this: ISRAEL EXISTS!
After over 2,000 years of dispersion – God has in fact brought the Jews back into their land just as He promised He would! If you believe that God is the One who establishes the nation’s, (as the Bible in fact declares) and He set’s up one kingdom and pull’s down another; then the existence of the state of Israel is an undeniable fact of the faithfulness of the Promise’s of God!
The sure promise of God as it relates to both the Jews (Judah) and Israel (The 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom) was that He would someday gather the great mass of the sons of Jacob from the ends of the earth and establish them again in the land of their forefathers.
There are literally hundreds of passages filled with the prophetic promises of God to restore the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, I cannot list them all, but here are a few: Isaiah Prophesied…
(Isa 14:1-2 NIV) – “The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob. Nations will take them and bring them to their own place…”
If you were to read Bible Commentaries that predate 1948, when the nation of Israel did not exist, you would see how they never imagined that it could exist again. Most of the “older” commentaries overly “allegorize” the restoration scriptures and transfer them over to the church which makes no exegetical or hermeneutical sense what-so-ever! However, Isaiah 14:1 was literally fulfilled in 1948! Jewish people from all over the world came and settled in the reestablished nation of Israel! Nations from around the world, including America and Britain as well as many other nations, literally helped the Jewish people to reestablish the nation of Israel fulfilling what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah “…Nations will take them and bring them to their own place…”
Jeremiah prophesied…
"Therefore, behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, but, 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.' And they shall dwell in their own land." (Jer 23:7-8 NKJV)
'For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 'Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart. (Jer 24:6-7 NKJV) (More on this verse later…)
There had never been even a remote approximation to a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy in the past history of Israel until after WWII. It is true that after Jeremiah wrote, a remnant of the Jews returned to Palestine, but this was only a partial return. Further, we are forced to note from the historical record, that they did not return from all the countries where they had been driven, but came back only from Babylon and its provinces. (The Assyrian's had conquered and dispersed the Northern Kingdom of Israel two hundred years before the Babylonians destroyed and took captive Judah and Jerusalem. The Assyrian diaspora consisted of the so called "lost" ten tribes of Israel who were dispersed among the nations.) Also, when the Jews did return after the Babylonian captivity they returned only to be enslaved again by a conquering Gentile power (Rome); and no king of their own lineage reigned over them.
However, The prophet Amos had prophesied,
“I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them," Says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:14-15 NKJV)
Here’s the Amos prophesy in the New Living Translation which I like;
“I will firmly plant them there in the land I have given them," says the LORD your God. "Then they will never be uprooted again." (Amos 9:15 NLT)
This passage from Amos is particularly important because those who view the post-Babylonian restoration of Israel, as the “fulfillment” of Israeli restoration prophecies must then explain why Israel was in fact “Uprooted” again in 70 A.D. Insisting that they were uprooted in 70 AD because of their rejection of Christ does not answer the question! Did God break his promise? Or rather were the prophecies not pertaining to the post Babylonian exile but they were in fact given for a later time and a greater ingathering which would include the "dispersed from among the nations" and the ushering in of the Millennial Kingdom? This prophecy will not find it's full and final fulfillment until after the tribulation when Jesus restores the Davidic Kingdom and reigns during the millennium from Jerusalem. It will be only then that,"... they will never be uprooted again." Therefore, it was not fulfilled in the post Babylonian return.
Again, it is not my intention to list every “restoration” prophecy because there are far too many, however let it be said that the prophetic promises of God that relate to Israel’s return to their land can be summed up with one fact, and two words! ISRAEL EXISTS!
But lest we make any mistake and think that God did this because Israel deserved it, think again! But rather as He Himself declares; "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went "And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. (Ezek 36:22-23 NKJV)
Which leads me to my second point…
II. The Purpose of : “ …the time of Jacob’s trouble…”
Who is Jacob? Jacob the man wrestled with God at Jabok and became Israel. Today unconverted Israel, “Jacob” the nation, is still wrestling with God!
Who is Jacob? Jacob is UNCONVERTED ISRAEL! Jacob is National Israel. Jacob is Israel according to the flesh. ‘Jacob’ is those who have a ”hardened heart” to the Gospel, as Paul informs us in Romans 11:25, “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in…”
Now here is my main point of all that I have been building upon;
The “…time of Jacobs’ trouble” is for the express purpose of softening up their hearts, opening up their eyes and bringing Israel to the recognition of Jesus as their Messiah.
Both Jeremiah and Daniel and then Jesus affirming the prophets call the time of Jacobs trouble a time like no other in history! It will be war, and suffering, and anguish upon the nation of Israel! But it is for the redemptive purpose of God for the Jewish nation, as well as a time of judgement upon the nations that attack and seek to destroy Israel! Perhaps one of the most pertinent of all the scriptures in regard to this time is found in Zeckariah chap. 12;
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. In that day,” says the Lord...The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo...'
The scriptures abound in verses that declare that Israel would be brought into a time of purging in order to prepare them as a nation to receive their messiah. (Read Jeremiah 30 & Ezekial 36 & 37)
The Prophet Daniel was given multiple and extensive visions of the end times and in particular how they related to the Jews. In Daniel 12:1, he is told; “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble; Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time.”
Jesus himself alludes to Daniel’s prophecy in His discourse in Matthew; “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Cf./Dan.9:27), standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains… For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21).
We need to always bare in mind that the Daniel Prophecies are expressly given to Daniel specifically in regard to the Jewish People. (cf./Dan.9:24)
As I noted above, the Lord through Jeremiah said; 'For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 'Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart. (Jer 24:6-7 NKJV)
It is impossible that this prophecy was fulfilled as some contend by the post-Babylonian restoration for two reasons:
They were “plucked up” again in 70 A.D. when Titus destroyed Jerusalem, and
Paul emphatically states that God hardened their heart – not softened it to “…give them a heart to know me. (Rom. 11:8;23)
Therefore, the time of Jacob’s trouble will be for the purging of the nation of Israel. The time when God will prepare them for salvation and deliverance when He, “…will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezek.36:24-27)
Notice again the gathering from the nations into their own land and THEN the conversion into the new heart and Spirit!
Ezekiel Chapter 37 shows us this very clearly – The coming together of the dry bones, then the flesh, then the Spirit of life after the nation is restored! I believe that right now since 1948 that the State of Israel is in the position of Ezekial 37:7&8: “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.”
But the days of Spiritual Regeneration are coming for Israel my friends!
“Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’” (Ez.37:11-14)
The Septuagint version of Isaiah 59:20 reads this way “And The Deliverer shall come for Zion’s sake, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob…”
(Please take note that all of the O.T. quotations in our New Testament come from the Septuagint version of the O.T. The Septuagint version was the common scripture in the time of the early church.)
III. The Outcome: “.. it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, …”
“…But he shall be saved out of it.”
In Rom.11:26 Paul quotes from Isaiah 59:20. The Septuagint version of that verse says… “and the deliver shall come for Zion’s sake, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” (A note of interest here: Paul would have been quoting the Septuagint’s version because it was the most common and known version of his day. The O.T references in our modern N.T. are based on the Masoretic texts which did not exist in Paul’s’ day.)
Some final thoughts…
When Paul finally states that “…all Israel will be saved…” he does not mean, nor should we take him to mean that every single Jew will be saved. But rather that the promised remnant of natural Israel, along with the fullness of the gentiles will be completed and the bride of Christ will be fully matured.
“I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”
Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
What is the Outcome in the end? “.. it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, …But he shall be saved out of it.”
In closing:
"Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross…"
And thus all Israel will be saved!
One last thing. The time of Jacob's trouble isn't solely for Israel alone as some contend but God has a purpose for the church during this time as well. Please see my article "The Purpose Driven Eskatos! for more on that!
Even so come quickly Lord Jesus!
Andy White
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