Did you really believe it would happen?

If just one current event had dominated world headlines, you would probably know to what this question refers. However, considering the recent flurry of global incidents, the normal response would be: What happening … which one?

To the ominous increase of missile strikes between Iran and Israel? To President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the infamous Iran Nuclear Deal? To the scheduled summit between the United States and North Korea? To U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s skillfully orchestrating the release of three Americans unjustly imprisoned by North Korea? To the extraordinary espionage pulled off by Israel’s foreign intelligence agency Mossad—removal of a huge volume of incriminating Iranian (nuclear) documents from Tehran, right under Iran’s nose?

Notable as these events are, I’m referring to a milestone achievement that will take place this coming Monday. One that was set in motion when U.S. President Trump announced this past December 6, 2017: the U.S. Embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Thereby, affirming Jerusalem as Israel’s (eternal) capital. Even with Trump’s disclaimer that Jerusalem’s geographical borders are still a matter of negotiation, it was still a courageous decision, considering global resistance to such a move.

Not only did our President make good on his campaign promise, he accelerated the Embassy transfer by several months, if not years. Instead of waiting for the cumbersome process of selecting a suitable site in Jerusalem, then the zoning and building process, our Executive staff decided to utilize the existing U.S. Counsel facility in Jerusalem as the temporary headquarters for the Embassy.

There was only one reason for this lightning-quick (as these things go) opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. The reason is the date itself: May 14^th.

Do you recognize the monumental significance of that date? May 14^th is the 70^th anniversary of Israel’s remarkable rebirth as a sovereign nation in 1948.

Technically, Israel has already celebrated her 70^th birthday that falls on the Jewish calendar 5^th of Iyar, which occurred a few weeks ago on the Gregorian calendar of April 19^th, a Friday. If, however, the 5^th of Iyar falls on a Friday—beginning of Jewish Sabbath at sundown—then Israel’s anniversary as a nation is celebrated on Thursday (this year beginning at sundown on the 4^th of Iyar).

Most of the Gentile world uses the Gregorian calendar, thus we identify May 14^th as the historical event when Israel was reborn from the floods of dispersion and the fires of Nazi death camps.

Neither U.S. President Trump nor Vice President Pence will be able to attend; however, there will be dozens of dignitaries representing the United States such as Senator Ted Cruz and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. As well as the usual U.S. Executive Staff delegation to Israel—Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Jason Greenblatt and, of course, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman. Plus, several journalists, educators, business leaders, congressional representatives, and religious leaders.

The 70^th anniversary of Israel’s prophetic rebirth as a sovereign nation is nearly as stunning as the rebirth itself. One of, if not the main reason: the striking significance of the number seventy. Whenever we encounter that number in Scripture it applies directly to Israel. And concerning Biblical prophecy, it refers specifically to Israel in the context of the end times, the final (Omega) generation of which we are living. With a generation defined in Scripture as 100 years; also, the more common time-frame of 70 years (Psalm 90:10).

(One of the celebrations when Israel declared Statehood in 1948; Centered is Israel’s First Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion)

Here is an except from Eye of Prophecy Article, The Omega Generation (Posted 2-15-14):

Some Christians are confused about or don’t entirely understand the role of the Church and Israel during the last days beginning with the Rapture. Please fathom one critical premise/truth: Although the Mount of Olives discourse indirectly applies to the Church (composed of all Jews and Gentiles who have been redeemed by Messiah Jesus), the whole purpose of Christ’s majestic return is to set up the Kingdom of Heaven (Kingdom of God) on the earth IN the Holy Land and THROUGH / FOR his chosen people, the Jews. And what triggers the need for Christ to return to Israel is none other than the ultimate and final rescue of the Jews (Israel) from conquest and destruction at the hands of Antichrist.

Concerning the Church, the sole purpose of the Rapture is to snatch away believers from the earth so that we do not have to experience the final wrath of God poured out on an ungodly generation of unbelievers. Otherwise, ALL Old Testament prophecies concerning the Last Days or End Times focus on Israel, not the Church; in fact, the Church (consisted of all Jews/Gentiles who place their trust in Christ’s sacrificial death) doesn’t even come into existence for over 400 years after the last book of the Old Testament was written. Moreover, from the 4th Chapter through the 18th Chapter of the book of Revelation, the Church is not even mentioned, as such.

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel

Virtually all Biblical prophecy focuses on Israel and the Messiah who would come from the tribe of Judah, through the lineage of King David. Let’s begin with a passage that I described as, The Most Panoramic Prophecy in the Bible. (See Eye of Prophecy articles of that same title, Part I & II posted in January 2018).

The following is one of the most recognized prophecies in all the Bible … obviously important for all believers, both Jew and Gentile. However, seldom do commentators indicate that the prophecy is directed specifically to and primarily concerns the Jews and Israel. For now, we’ll examine just the first verse of that passage, the composite of which is found in Daniel 9:24-27.

“A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place” (Daniel 9:24, italics for emphasis).

Some Bible translations describe the seventy sets of seven as “seventy weeks.” A prophetic week in the Hebrew Scriptures is seven years. Thus, a total of seventy weeks would be 490 years. However, the passage divides these seventy weeks into two basic periods of time. Fine tuning it even more, there are three periods; two of the three (seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven—Verse 25) combining to make sixty-nine weeks (483 years).

Then later in the passage (Verse 27), Daniel refers to the final week of the seventy by equating it to the seven-year treaty that the same ruler—whose armies destroyed Jerusalem and the (2^nd) Temple—would make with Israel. As documented in my book Out of the Abyss and many of the 50 Eye of Prophecy articles in the category of Antichrist, that ruler is the Roman Emperor Nero … who as the beast of Revelation will return from the Abyss (Revelation 17:7-8).

For purpose of this week’s article, we want to concentrate on the fact that Daniel’s prophecy in Chapter 9 is specifically addressed to (like so many other Old Testament prophecies) “your people and your holy city (Jerusalem).” It encompasses the prophetic timetable of Israel’s future in the panoramic context of Messiah’s First and Second Advent, as well as the appearance and reappearance of the Antichrist.

All but one of the six specific events detailed in Daniel 9:24 will be finally fulfilled during and shortly after the 70^th week—the seven years of the Great Tribulation followed immediately by the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Messiah Jesus. During that time: (1) any rebellion (of remaining unbelieving Jews in Messiah) will be finished; (2) their (national) sin of rejecting Messiah will come to an end; (3) everlasting righteousness will commence with the Millennial Reign of Messiah who will establish justice, righteousness, and peace on earth; (4) the prophetic vision (all prophecies concerning the end times) will be confirmed—realized; (5) the rebuilt Temple (Most Holy Place) will be anointed … by the very presence of Messiah.

The one prophecy in this list of six that would come to pass before the 70^th week (the final seven years) is: “to atone for their guilt.” This took place when Messiah Jesus died on the cross as the final, once-for-all substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of God’s people, the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. How do we know this atonement would take place before the 70^th week began to unfold? We know because of verse 25:

“Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes…”

This was exactly 173,880 days or 483 Jewish years … 30-day months of the Jewish calendar.

Astounding!

Several Eye of Prophecy articles have discussed this phenomenal date-dedicated prophecy, beginning with the article, An Incredible Time-Lapse Prophecy (Posted 1-18-14).

Later, we’ll return to the Daniel 9 passage specifically in the context of Israel’s 70^th anniversary, as part of the final generation just before the Rapture will take place. Which then ushers in the 70^th and final week (seven years) of Daniel’s prophecy, having been interrupted (postponed) for 2,000 years by what believers call the Church Age—the New Covenant of Grace for personal salvation to both Jew and Gentile. For now, let’s look at more examples of the number seventy in Scripture to see its significance as pertaining directly to Israel.

*Note: Including the phenomenal 70 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, there are a total of seven (7) substantial Biblical episodes involving the number seventy. Imagine that! Truth be known, I didn’t realize that until I counted them.

Jacob & His Family Move to Egypt

When Joseph invited his brothers, his father (Jacob), and their families to move to Egypt, do you know or recall the size of Jacob’s extended family?

Though Israel (the Lord had already changed Jacob’s name to Israel) was not yet a nation, Jacob and his family consisted of and represented God’s chosen people, the Israelites—who would later be called Jews after Jacob’s fourth son, Judah.

“These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who moved to Egypt with their father, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. In all, Jacob had seventy descendants in Egypt, including Joseph, who was already there” (Exodus 1:1-5, parenthesis in the text, italics for emphasis).

(Depiction of the Wrestling Scene when the Lord changed Jacob’s name to Israel … Genesis 32:22-30).

Obviously, this number of seventy applied exclusively to God’s chosen people through the Patriarch Jacob, whose twelve sons would be the ancestral catalyst of Israel’s exponential growth during their 400 years of bondage in Egypt, leading to the nation of Israel.

“In time, Joseph and all his brothers died, ending that entire generation. But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land” (Exodus 1:6-7).

By the time Israel became a nation (when they agreed to God’s Covenant with Moses in the wilderness or when they entered the Promised Land 40 years later under Joshua—either time could be considered Israel’s inception as a nation), her population was around two million people. From seventy to two million!

God’s Special Invitation to Select Elders of Israel

Beginning with a question. Where and to whom did God give the Ten Commandments? Most would answer that question with a roll of their eyes: Practically everyone knows God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.

True enough: “By the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18) the Ten Commandments were emblazoned on two tablets of stone; given along with other commandments to Moses while he was on Mount Sinai. But that was not the only occasion, nor was it even the first time.

The initial disclosure of the Ten Commandments was given by God in an audible voice (thunderous, Exodus 19:19 … you can bet that all two million Israelites heard God!) at the foot of Mount Sinai. The people were so terrified of God’s majestic voice, they pleaded with Moses: “…You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!” (Exodus 20:19).

Later, Moses ascended the mountain where the Lord engraved the Ten Commandments on solid stone, as a written testimony of those Commandments.

Do you recall what happened while Moses was on Mount Sinai?

Correct: The people became impulsively impatient and decadently rebellious by crafting a golden calf idol (with Aaron’s help no less); thereby, breaking at least two of the Ten Commandments they had already promised to keep. As a result, three thousand Israelites died that day. Because Moses broke the stone tablets in anger, the Lord told him to ascend Mount Sinai a second time, where God again etched the Ten Commandments in stone. This, then, would have been a third bequeathing of the Ten Commandments.

Shortly after God’s audible presentation of the Ten Commandments directly to the entire camp of Israel and before Moses ascended alone to the summit of Mount Sinai, the Lord said that a select group of Israelites could accompany Moses part way up the mountain. Prior to and after that special exemption, no one was to set foot on the mountain (except for Moses and Joshua) on pain of death. Just before this unique invitation, God (through Moses) had reaffirmed to the people his covenant with their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Said the Lord:

“And I will fix your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the eastern wilderness to the Euphrates River. I will hand over to you the people now living in the land, and will drive them out ahead of you. Make no treaties with them or their gods. They must not live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me. If you serve their gods, you will be caught in the trap of idolatry” (Exodus 23:31-33).

In the very next verse we read the Lord’s special summons; however, it came with conditions:

“Then the Lord instructed Moses: ‘Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him (meaning to the summit)” (Exodus 24:1-2, italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

Before these “VIPs” began to climb part way up Mount Sinai, Moses read aloud to the people those laws which God had already given to him, prior to Moses (40-day/night) stay on the mountain to receive much of the Law, including the engraved Ten Commandments.

The people responded, “…We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey” (Exodus 24:7).

After Moses confirmed the Covenant between God and the Israelites with blood from animal sacrifices made earlier that day, we read one of the most amazing scenes in all of Scripture. An event that this select group was extremely lucky (using that word in its optimum connotation, i.e. favorable, fortunate, or privileged in a providential way) to witness.

“Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!” (Exodus 24:9-11).

Incredible!

This was one of the Pre-Incarnate appearances of God the Son (Messiah Jesus), of which there are several recorded in the Old Testament. Please refer to Eye of Prophecy articles, Does God Really Have a Son? Part I & Part II (Posted 10-31 & 11-7-15).

Thus, whether it was Jacob wrestling with the Lord, or Joshua meeting Him just before the battle of Jericho, or Abraham visited by the Lord to reaffirm that Abraham and Sarah would miraculously conceive a child (Isaac) in their old age—all were appearances of God’s Son in human form.

Scripture is unequivocally clear that God the Father is Spirit and that no one can look on Him and live. That even applied to Moses. Said the Lord to Moses: “But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live…. Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen” (Exodus 33:20 & 23).

(Exodus 33:9:  “God spoke with Moses face to face” (a figure of speech) on a regular basis. However, Moses was shielded from God’s glory by a dense, dark cloud. Even then, God’s brilliant light caused Moses’ face to glow)

A Second Selection of Seventy Jews … To Assist Moses

Fairly soon after the Israelite’s Exodus from Egypt, Moses heeded his father-in-law Jethro’s advice to appoint administrators to help Moses with the judging of disputes among the people. Then about 14 months after the Exodus, the Lord lifted the cloud (by day, pillar of fire by night) over the Tabernacle. “So the Israelites set out from the wilderness of Sinai and traveled on from place to place until the cloud stopped in the wilderness of Paran” (Numbers 10:12).

Shortly thereafter, the Israelites again began to grumble and mumble against the Lord and against Moses because they were fed up (pun intended) with their diet. “…Oh, for some meat! They exclaimed … Our appetites are gone. All we ever see in this manna!” (Numbers 11:4 & 6).

Reading on: “Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the Lord became extremely angry. Moses was also very aggravated. And Moses said to the Lord, ‘Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people? Did I give birth to them? … Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? … The load is far too heavy. If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!’” (Numbers 11:10-15).

I thought to myself: Could even Moses talk to God like that? I’m not sure I would or could, no matter how miserable. Then realizing: I’m certainly no Moses. Not only Moses, but David, other Psalmists, and several prophets sometimes bluntly expressed their feelings to the Lord and did so in a way that seemed to give up on or even challenge God. Such as Elijah: “…He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life…’” (I Kings 19:4).

I/We also realize that the Lord can certainly “handle” those challenges and does so with compassion and sovereign wisdom. If, that is, they are from a sincere (hurting) heart and they are not intended to, as such, defy God.

Seldom did the Lord respond directly to the precise words of the prophet’s or the king’s complaint. Nor did he engage them in a detailed (therapeutic-like) discussion of their problems, nor reprimand them for being so abrupt. He let them get it off their chest (so to speak) and then proceeded to give them practical solutions to alleviate their predicament. In fact, with Elijah, it was a gentle whisper from the Lord.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather before me seventy men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel. Bring them to the Tabernacle to stand there with you. I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone” (Numbers 11:16-17, italics for emphasis).

Although Scripture doesn’t tell us, quite likely some of the 70 elders who accompanied Moses on Mount Sinai were part of this group of 70 administrators who would assist Moses in bearing the burden of the people.

Have you heard the term, Sanhedrin? If so, do you know what it is? One of the most well-known scenes in the New Testament is that of Nicodemus coming secretly to Jesus at night to determine just who Jesus might really be. Was he the Messiah? From that encounter, we get the most quoted verse of Scripture, at least in the New Testament (John 3:16).

Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, an organized Jewish council (the Greek word means assembly) of 70 men, with its reintroduction traditionally believed to be by Ezra after the return of some Jews from the Babylonian captivity. But historically (records) traced only to the 3^rd century B.C.

During the 400 silent years the (Great) Sanhedrin consisted mostly of Sadducee nobles and priests, with a few Pharisees, scribes, or elders of Israel. It was patterned after the 70 leaders of Israel of whom we just read. Subsequently, the Sanhedrin expanded to 71 members, primarily to break any tie in voting. But the original design was that of a 70-member body. Subsequently, due to Roman Empire suppression and oppression, the Sanhedrin dissolved in 425 A.D.

However, the Sanhedrin has been revived in today’s Israel. Though it doesn’t possess the political or even religious power it once held, it is nevertheless recognized symbolically as a viable organization in Israeli society. Observant Jews ardently anticipate that when the 3^rd Temple is built, the Sanhedrin will be the governing authority over religious life in Israel, perhaps even replacing the (secular) Supreme Court of Israel.

Also, it was members of the Sanhedrin who had Jesus arrested and who violated their own laws by an illegal mock trial in the middle of the night. Then they handed him over to the Romans to be crucified.

(Scene from the Acclaimed Movie, Passion of the Christ, showing the High Priest and members of the Sanhedrin. Film released in 2004, which happened to be the year that the Sanhedrin was reinstituted in Israel)

The Seventy Jewish Disciples

Many, even unbelievers, know that Jesus chose twelve men to be his inner circle of disciples. But that wasn’t the only group of followers whom our Lord selected for a special purpose.

“Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come” (Luke 10:1, NASB).

Messiah Jesus sent the seventy specifically to towns in Israel to, “…heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke 10:9, NASB).

Then Jesus issued a severe warning of (final day) judgment to those towns that rejected the message of the Kingdom of God, which would have been established then and there in Israel had Messiah’s own people not spurned him.

Said Jesus to the seventy: “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me” (Luke 10:16, NASB).

I don’t believe it’s mere happenstance that Jesus selected seventy of his Jewish followers to proclaim that Israel’s Messiah had arrived. Seventy, the same number of Jewish elders who assisted Moses in the administration of the Old Covenant. The new set of seventy would announce that Jesus was God’s Son who had come to mediate the New Covenant announced by Jeremiah hundreds of years earlier.

Seventy Times Seven

The following is another widely known passage of Scripture.

(I’ve even heard unbelievers quote “seventy times seven!” Including some Hollywood movies)

Obviously, Jesus’s reply was figurative in principle. We need to forgive others as many times as it takes—something that is sometimes hard to do even once. However, Jesus did literally say, “until (up to) seventy times seven.”

Thus, it was no coincidence that our Lord selected seventy (times seven) in this formula for forgiveness. In fact, I’m convinced the correlation to the passage with which we began today’s article, concerning the seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, is crystal clear.

“A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to…” (Daniel 9:24).

To what?

In the context of what Jesus told Peter concerning Peter’s brothers (the Jews): “to atone for their guilt…” (Same Verse 24). This took place 69 weeks or 483 years after Daniel’s prophecy (up to that point) culminating in Messiah Jesus’s sacrificial atonement for sin once and for all. Next would come the (final) 70^th week—the seven-year Tribulation preceded immediately by the Rapture which is precipitated by the final (Omega) generation that includes the rebirth of Israel and the restoration return of Jews to Israel foretold in many Old Testament passages.

Seventy times seven said Jesus. A period of seventy sets of seven as prophesied by Daniel.

Returning to the Old Testament for our last example, which is:

Seventy Years of Babylonian Exile

A frequently quoted verse in Scripture, treasured by Jewish and Gentile believers and by non-Messianic Jews alike, is one of the most (and there are many) encouraging promises the Lord makes to Israel.

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me … I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land” (Jeremiah 29:11-14, emphasis added).

The italicized words (Verse 11) is the part of this passage most often quoted. But in reading the following verses, we see that the plans, future, and hope are specifically linked to the return of exiled Jews to their Promised Land … the final restoration of the Jews, of Israel, and of Jerusalem. The beginning of which took place when Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948, seventy years ago!

Many also overlook the verse immediately preceding verse eleven. Examining the context of this passage more closely, we read:

“This is what the Lord says: ‘You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again” (Jeremiah 29:10, italics for emphasis). Then verse eleven begins with: For I know the plans I have for you…

Because God’s people never really returned to him, nor did most of them even return to Israel from Babylon or from Persia; and because hundreds of years later they rejected their very Messiah (Jesus), the ultimate fulfillment of this prophetic promise (the plans I have for you) would not begin to unfold for another 2,500 years.

In advance, the Lord (through Jeremiah) not only told the Jews that the southern kingdom of Judah would fall to and the Temple demolished by Babylon, he also specified the precise time of their exile—70 years.

The fact that what God says will happen, always happens; what he says he will do he always does, doesn’t diminish the drama of the Jews returning to Israel after seventy years captivity in Babylon. Then the even more dramatic return of Jews from the four corners of the earth when Israel was reborn in 1948. Since then Israel’s population has increased tenfold—from approximately 600,000 in 1948 to 6.5 million today. Well over a million Jews have made Aliyah to Israel from many nations, especially from Russia. Over six million Israelis in modern Israel to poignantly represent the six million Jews ruthlessly killed in the Holocaust.

(Aliyah–Immigrants Coming to Israel)

Is there a (prophetic) correlation between the 70 years of Israel’s exile in Babylon and the (ultimate) fulfillment of God’s promise to return his people to Israel, which began to take place 70 years ago? I would answer that question with a question: How could there not be?

The full passage (Jeremiah 29:10-14) establishes that link.

In that regard, was it mere chance that the 2^nd Temple was destroyed in the year 70. A.D.?

The Bible is replete with the significance of some numbers and their pattern connection with events and/or examples of God’s interaction with humanity. Such as the number three, seven, twelve, forty, seventy, and four hundred. Several Eye of Prophecy articles have focused on this Biblical emphasis regarding certain numbers.

For example, the article: Countdown to Armageddon … End of the Fourth 400-Year Era (Posted 7-29-17). Here is an excerpt from that article:

Jesus of Nazareth is the prophesied Messiah who came to this earth to accomplish the two providential plans that God conceived for the human race, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile:

(1) To bring salvation, through the Jews, to every Jew and Gentile who believes and receives Messiah Jesus as Lord and Savior.

(2) To fulfill God’s promise that Abraham’s descendants would possess the Promised Land of Israel forever.

In the last 70 years both of these magnificent plans have been in high gear and are now in the final stages. Tens of thousands of Jews have come to Christ especially since the Six-Day War of 1967, as have millions of Gentiles the world over. Israel has been reborn as a sovereign nation, with Jews immigrating to or being born in their homeland in great numbers.

Things to Ponder

What an amazing time of history we’re living in!

Israel born in a single day, May 14^th, 1948 … a direct fulfillment of Isaiah 66:7-9.

Jews returning from virtually every nation on earth. A miraculous accomplishment, one foretold by dozens of Bible passages.

The Gog/Magog terrible trio of Russia, Iran, and Turkey forming an unheard-of alliance, considering the animosity of these countries one toward another just a few years ago. Precisely as predicted by Ezekiel (Chapters 38 & 39).

Alongside their Gentile brothers and sisters in Christ, tens of thousands of Jews believing and receiving Jesus as Messiah and Savior, especially in the last 70 years. Waiting for Messiah’s return to, “…lead his flock with the Lord’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world. And he will be the source of peace…” (Micah 5:4-5a).

Israel’s economy is booming and agriculture flourishing unlike any time in her history since the glory days of King David and King Solomon. Not only bountiful crops, lush vineyards, and beautiful gardens planted and blooming, but the Jews themselves planted and prospering in their ancient home.

There’s still trouble ahead. The seven-year Tribulation will be more terrifying than anything ever experienced on Planet Earth. But after it’s over, all Israel will be saved (Romans 11).

For those, Jew and Gentile alike, who have believed and received Jesus as Messiah and Savior, God will spare us from this time of great misery and calamity.

If you don’t know Messiah Jesus as your personal Savior, I implore you to call upon the name of the Lord. You will be saved immediately (from your sins and the penalty thereof) and from the Great Tribulation soon to come.

Are you in awe of the spectacular 20^th and 21^st century end-times fulfillment of Biblical prophecy? I certainly am.

“Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!…” (Psalm 96:4).

Let’s rejoice with Israel over her 70^th birthday!