miracle of Israel

Need to See a Miracle?

Anyone listening to the news lately, has realized that the potential for another world war is escalating everyday. It can be frightening to realize that nations who are bent on the destruction of other nations, have nuclear weapons already, or are close to developing them! Yet, in the midst of this world chaos, God’s prophecies are being fulfilled before our very eyes. Miracles are happening daily, but we won’t recognize them as such, unless we understand what our Heavenly Father has told us to look for. It’s all in the Bible!

How to Accurately Interpret Prophecy

There are a host of Prophecy-related YouTube videos and messages about Bible Prophecy, online. Some are helpful and some are very far-fetched. Here are a few helpful tips in determining how to interpret Bible Prophecy.

The Bible Unlocks Itself

‘Interpretations belong to God,’ said Joseph in Genesis 40:8, in other words, the Bible unlocks itself. To understand prophecies for today, we must decipher the symbols based on prophecies that have been fulfilled in the past. For instance, the book of Daniel is a good place to begin. Daniel 2 records a prophecy of 4 great empires that have come and gone – Babylon, Medes & Persians, Greece, and Rome. This prophecy is easy, as the interpretation follows in chapter 2, and then in chapter 7 & 8 the same prophecy is given about the same 4 empires using beasts to represent them. So we learn from chapters 7 & 8 that ‘beasts’ can represent nations; horns represent powers or kings; ‘Casting down stars’ represents casting down governments, and so on. Understanding the way in which these symbols are used in Daniel 7 & 8 is essential in order to accurately interpret prophetic books like Revelation.

Prophecy is Tightly Bound to the Gospel Message

Bible prophecies are very much related to the hope of the Gospel message. Understanding the true Gospel message – ‘the good news about the kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ’ (Acts 8:12), helps us to understand the purpose of prophecy, the focus of prophecy, and see the ‘bigger picture’ – what God plans to do with this earth. Without the understanding that all nations will be blessed through Abraham and his most important descendant Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:8,16,27-29; Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:18-21; 17:7-8; 22:15-18; Acts 1:6; 28:20), many creative but false interpretations of prophecy can occur.

Bible Prophecy – Given to Strengthen Our Faith

Bible prophecy gives indisputable evidence that the Bible has been Divinely inspired. What other book has accurately predicted the future, thousands of years in advance? Numerous prophecies have been fulfilled in accurate detail, time and again. For example: the nation of Babylon, Egypt, Tyre, Assyria, and in our day Britain and Brexit, and the re-establishment of the nation of Israel. The Prophecy Handout covers some of these accurate fulfillments.

Bible Prophecy – Warning of God’s Intervention

God has also provided Bible prophecy to give ample warning of His interventions in world affairs. There are several examples in the Old Testament where God warned various nations of his coming judgements, giving them ample time to change their ways and seek His plan. 

The ‘last days’ – our time – is the focus of some key prophecies which involve the nations of the world – Europe, Britain and the Commonwealth, Russia and the Northern forces, and Israel.

The Nation of Israel

One very exciting prophecy for our day can be found in Ezekiel 36-39. The first two chapters speak of the incredible regathering of the Jewish people from all nations to which they had been scattered. God promises to return the Jews to their land, make them a nation again, and specifically speaks of giving them the ‘mountains of Israel’ – the disputed ‘West Bank’. In the last century we have been watching this occur!! It is miraculous that a prophecy given over 2500 years ago can accurately be fulfilled in our day against much opposition and impossible circumstances every step of the way. 

A Northern Invasion

However, in Ezekiel 38, God warns that when the newly formed nation of Israel is ‘at rest,’ and the people ‘dwell safely’, a Northern alliance of nations (Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, Turkey and Europe) will sweep down to invade Israel and Egypt, against the ineffective opposition of Britain, America, Commonwealth countries and their Arab allies. Only God’s intervention will stop this destructive onslaught.

Comparing Ezekiel’s prophecy with Daniel 11:40-45, Zechariah 14, and Joel 3, we see that God’s intervention to save Israel is tied in to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to reign on this earth! However, not everyone will recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah, some will even view him as Antichrist, and this is detailed in the Prophecy Handout below.

Bible Presentation, Handout and Other Links

Recently, we have put together an audio presentation and Prophecy Handout on this subject, where we consider the various ‘code names’ that are used in Ezekiel 38 and what nations they relate to today. We discuss what is left to occur in the prophecy, how this impacts our world, and how it will bring about God’s plan and promise of His Son reigning as King on this earth.

The attached AUDIO presentation and an 11- page Prophecy Handout have been put together with help from Jonathan Bowen, THE BIBLE IN THE NEWS, and Peter Owen.  

We have also included a handout – “Israel – A Miracle Before our Eyes” which lists 12 events that were prophesied in the Bible concerning the Jewish people and have been fulfilled in the last 2000 years. This handout also includes 9 prophecies left to be fulfilled! Stay alert – these will be future headlines in the News!

Prophecy Handout – “Russia’s Grand Move South”Download
Audio Presentation “Russia in Bible Prophecy”
RUSSIA’S GRAND MOVE SOUTH – PDF of Powerpoint presentation
Handout – “Israel – A Miracle Before Our Eyes”Download

Israel – A Powerful Witness to the Divine Inspiration of the Bible

Of all the nations that God has prophesied about in the Bible, Israel is mentioned the most often with a vast amount of detail. It’s very exciting to consider the prophecies and the way in which God has brought all of this to pass. This is a modern-day miracle which we are privileged to witness!

Warnings to Israel
As far back as the time of Moses, the nation was warned that if they failed to keep God’s commands, they would receive many curses and be scattered to all ends of the earth (Deuteronomy 28:15, 63-68). Dismayed at the lack of faith he found in Israel, Jesus pronounced, “Behold, your house is forsaken.” (Luke 13:35) After Israel crucified their Messiah, the Gospel began to be preached to the Gentiles and by 70 AD the nation of Israel ceased to exist; they were scattered to the ends of the earth just as Jesus and the prophecies foretold. Jerusalem was taken by the Romans and given the name Aelia Capitolina. Thus began the ‘times of the Gentiles”, as it says in Luke 21:24, “Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

Bible Students were convinced of the Restoration Centuries Ago
However, in the last century, we have witnessed the prophecies of restoration taking place! The prophecies are so clear and detailed that hundreds of years before Israel became a nation, Bible students were able to ascertain the Jews would be restored. I have attached a few examples from the writings of various Bible students in the 1700 and 1800’s who fervently believed that this restoration of the Jews had to occur before Jesus Christ returned to earth! One such Bible student was the famous scientist Isaac Newton, whose religious writings have only been recently released to the public (note that ‘ye’ is ‘the’):

“For they understand not that ye final return of ye Jews captivity & their conquering the nations & setting up a peaceable righteous & flourishing Kingdom at ye day of judgment is this mystery. Did they understand this they would find it in all ye old Prophets who write of ye last times as in ye last chapters of Isaiah where the Prophet conjoyns the new heaven & new earth wth ye ruin of ye wicked nations, the end of weeping & of all troubles, the return of ye Jews captivity & their setting up a flourishing & everlasting Kingdom.”
ISAAC NEWTON on The Mystery of this Restitution of all Things, by Stephen Snobelen.

Another Bible student, John Thomas, wrote in the 1800’s:

“There is, then, a partial and primary restoration of Jews before the manifestation, which is to serve as the…basis, of future operations in the restoration of the rest of the tribes after he has appeared in the kingdom. The pre-adventual colonization of Palestine will be on purely political principles; and the Jewish colonists will return in unbelief of the Messiahship of Jesus, and of the truth as it is in him. They will emigrate thither as agriculturists and traders, in the hope of ultimately establishing their commonwealth, but more immediately of getting rich in silver and gold by commerce with India, and in cattle and goods by their industry at home under the efficient protection of the British power. And this their expectation will not be deceived; for, before Gog invades their country, it is described by the prophet, as “a land of unwalled villages, whose inhabitants are at rest, and dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars not gates: and possessed of silver and gold, cattle and goods, dwelling in the midst of the land.” (Ezek. 38:11,12,13). Now any person acquainted with the present insecure condition of Palestine under the Ottoman dominion must be satisfied from the testimony, that some other power friendly to Israel must then have become paramount over the land, which is able to guarantee protection to the, and to put the surrounding tribes in fear. This is all that is needed, namely, security for life and property, and Palestine would be as eligible for Jewish emigration as the United States have proved for the Gentiles.”
John Thomas in Elpis Israel, page 395.

Where Are These Bible Prophecies?
So where are these amazing Bible prophecies found that led Bible students to fervently believe the Jews would return? Most are scattered throughout the Old Testament books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. Ezekiel 36 to 39 are the most detailed. For example, this is what God says in Ezekiel 36:

“I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came… I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land...You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God… On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’”

Not everything in these prophecies has yet been fulfilled. God also speaks of how He will change the Jewish people to believe in Him, trust Him and obey Him. He speaks in Ezekiel 37 of setting a king over them. We are in the middle of the fulfillment of these prophecies and there are lots of exciting things still to happen!

If you want to consider more of the restoration prophecies, have a look at Isaiah 60; Jeremiah 3:17-18; 23:5; 31:8-10; Ezekiel chapters 35-39; Daniel 8:9-15; 12:3,11; Joel 3; Zechariah 12-14.

If you are at all in doubt that God still has a purpose with the Jewish people, then read through Romans 11, especially verses 25 to 28:

“Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.”

What we have seen happen with the nation of Israel in 1948 and 1967, and even the pending battle for Jerusalem today (Zechariah 14) is all a modern-day miracle God has given to demonstrate His Word is living and powerful, even in 2018!

Also check out THOMAS NEWTON in 1754 in Dissertations on the Prophecies Which Have Remarkably Been Fulfillled, Volume 2, page 77. Google Books.

For more on this topic, see these excellent You Tube videos:

The MOST important video about Israel you’ll ever see.
By thelandofisrael.

Six Days of Miracles by World Mizrachi