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There have been perhaps thousands of books and articles written about the end of the world over the past two thousand years and more so during the last century. To this present day generation, it appears more than ever to be last generation. Why? Because many key Biblical passages of prophecy are being fulfilled more than ever before. To truly understand the future, you must understand the past and the present.
Prophecy is simply pre-recorded history. Whose history? The history of the One who inspired the prophecies; and the Focus of the prophecies themselves. That One is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). That Focus is the Family of God, both the blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) and those (Gentiles or Nations) that have been grafted into or adopted by this Family (Nation of Israel), because of their faith in this Family’s Messiah (the Anointed One), none other than Yeshua (Jesus).
Yeshua (He who saves) is not only the historical figure that lived more than 2000 years ago, but He is the God of Creation, the Word that became flesh, the Man that was and is God. He was the Messiah that was promised to not only bring salvation to Nation of Israel (and to restore mankind back to eternal life and to proper worship of Him), but He has also been promised to rule and reign not only the Nation of Israel, but the entire world of nations for a thousand years.
Out of the nations of the world, that were the descendants of Noah, God called one man, Abram, to establish a Family that would be His People in the earth. Through that Family (Nation of Israel), God promised to bless all other families (nations) and He did so. The Nation of Israel, saved the known world from famine during the time of Joseph who ruled in Egypt next to Pharaoh. Then during the Exodus, the wealth of the world was given to the Nation of Israel and forty years later, they brought it into the Land of Canaan, wherein God gave them that land that He had promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants forever.
There, in the land of Israel, God established an earthly kingdom (a House of Worship, a Temple) through David and Solomon, that has blessed the entire world through it’s laws, history, literature, wisdom and prophecies, contained in what we know today as the Bible. Solomon’s wealth, wisdom and worship was like no other in the history of the world, and yet because he was just a man, he lost it all. Because the Nation of Israel, were just men and women, who rarely walked in faith and obedience to God’s Torah (Law), they could not fulfill nor where they supposed to fulfill God’s ultimate purpose in restoring eternal life (and worship) to all mankind, to releasing the fullness of the knowledge of God throughout the entire earth. God had always planned to cause the Nation of Israel to bring forth an anointed one (the Messiah, His very own Son) that would be and do everything that needed to be done to bless all the nations of the world through the Nation of Israel, the Family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Because of the Nation of Israel’s lack of faith and obedience to their coming Messiah, as promised, God scattered the Nation of Israel (the 10 Northern Tribes to Assyria, Judah, Benjamin & Levi to Babylon), destroyed the physical House of Worship (1st Temple) and established a time (490 years) of the nations (Gentiles). This time of the Gentiles, started with the Babylon empire, followed by the Medo/Persia empire, then the Greek empire and then finally the Roman empire. As promised, during the Medo/Persia empire, God rebuilt a physical House of Worship (the 2nd Temple), brought back to the land of Israel a remnant of every tribe of the Nation of Israel and during the Roman Empire produced the Messiah, who established a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of Jews (Israel & Judah) and Gentiles (other nations). He injected into the world, through His first four Festivals of Passover, Unleaven Breads, First Fruits and Pentecost, a spiritual House of Worship (Family, Kingdom, Nation) that has continued to grow and change millions of lives for the past two thousand years, wherein as promised, He has been bringing the nations of the world to experience His Glory and thus prepare for Himself a Bride for all eternity.
Because of the Nation of Israel's lack of faith and obedience to their reigning Messiah, the Roman empire was used by God to destroy the physical House of Worship (2nd Temple) and to scatter the Nation of Israel at that time throughout the entire world. Three hundred years later, the Roman empire transformed itself into the Holy Roman empire and contrary to God’s Word, began to see itself as the new Nation of Israel, thus replacing the blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In pride and ignorance, they began to persecute Jews (those who did or did not have faith in Yeshua as their Messiah and yet who still followed the Torah trusting in a Messiah) and to remove everything Jewish (pertaining to the Torah and the Festivals) from the Body of Messiah (the Church) that Yeshua came the first time to establish in the earth. The Body of Messiah (the Church) was castrated with little Intimacy, Authority, or Resources with the God of the Universe to fulfill its destiny in the earth. During Martin Luther’s day, God re-established the understanding of grace and faith in Messiah for salvation, but Luther failed to bring the Body of Messiah (the Church) back to its Hebrew Roots and an understanding of marketplace ministry. Throughout this period of time, there has always been a remnant of true believers that have kept the Body of Messiah alive in the earth.
In spite of all of this, as promised, God has moved Jewish and Christian men and women to fulfill Biblical prophecies in regards to re-establishing the Nation of Israel in the Land of Israel. Jews (the blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and Christians (Jews and Gentiles, the spiritual descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who believe in Yeshua as their Messiah) have worked alone and together in their spheres of influence over the last 1900 years to bring the entire Nation of Israel from the North, South, East and West back to their ancient homeland, the Land of Israel and to one day soon rebuild a physical House of Worship (the 3rd Temple). Much to the surprise of the modern world of nations and the established fractured Christian Church, in 1948, the Nation of Israel was reborn in a day, wherein millions of Jews are now returning to their ancient homeland ruled by a secular State of Israel. At the same time, the Arabs (the descendants of Abraham, Ishmael and Esau, who still worship a pagan god) have violently reacted to the Jews returning.
In light of our past history and the very complex present day that we live in with more than 6 billion people on this planet called earth, divided into hundreds of geographic nation states and thousands of ethnic nation groups, what does the future hold for our world? More importantly, what does the Bible state will take place next?
First of all, as promised, God is focusing more and more on the Family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (the Nation of Israel), wherein He would bring them from the four corners of the earth and reveal Himself to them in their Land. Secondly, as promised, Jews and Christians are beginning to work more together than apart in defending the Nation of Israel against the 52 Islamic states and the rest of the modern world that are opposed to what God has planned for the Jewish people. Thirdly, as promised, the only other physical House of Worship (the 3rd Temple) mentioned in the Bible is the Messianic Temple of Ezekiel 40-47, wherein the plans are so explicit and detailed that it is implied that those who believe in the Messiah should build it for Him to come to rule and reign in Jerusalem as not only the King of Israel, but the entire world and universe. (This House of Worship is different in that there is no dividing wall "partition" between male and female, Jew and Gentile or God and Man, and instead of an ark of the covenant, there is a throne for the Messiah.) Fourthly, as promised, the rest of the world of nations is moving faster and faster to form a world government (a revised Roman empire) that will ultimately fulfill the Time of the Gentiles, wherein there are only 7 years left to be completed, out of the 490 years given, and then the end shall come. Fifthly, the greatest harvest of souls is being brought into the spiritual Kingdom of the Messiah, wherein He is going to return to earth and with His Body (His Bride) fulfill the last three Festivals of Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles.
To this generation, it is becoming clearer and clearer, what the prophecies in the Bible are speaking about and how the events of the future are going to unfold over the next 10 to 20 years. Yeshua said in Matthew 24:32-35, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” All "these things" were the things that he spoke about in Matthew 24:15-31, outlining the events of the last 3 ½ years of the last 7 years of the 490 years that were given to the Nations (Gentiles) as detailed in Daniel 9:24-27, the entire book of Revelations and various other passages in various books throughout the Bible. The key to understanding all of these passages is to keep them in the context of the entire Bible and what God has done, is doing and will do with the Family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Nation of Israel, which according to the entire Bible is composed of all believers (Jews, Arabs & Gentiles) who have a personal relationship with their Messiah, He Who Saves!
Received November 6, 2003
