God’s New Covenant with Israel … Minus the Temple (Part II)

15 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by garybowers in Prophecy in General

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The New Covenant as Described by Jeremiah

In a few prior Eye of Prophecy articles, when citing the Old Testament revelation of the coming New Covenant, I normally quoted Jeremiah Chapter 31 directly. Which I will do again; however, from the book of Hebrews—which beautifully contrasts the Old Covenant Sacrificial System with the once-for-all sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God, Messiah Jesus, for all people. As follows:

“But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said (Then the writer quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34):

‘The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord. But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people … And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins’” (Hebrews 8:6-10, 12, parenthesis mine).

For you see, the Lord did remember the people’s sins under the Old Covenant; hence, the need for constant atonement through continual sacrifices required by the Law of Moses.

God’s Love for And Discipline of Israel

Though sometimes severe, the Lord’s discipline was rooted in his love for his special possession Israel and for his chosen people—the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From the perspective of the last days, Daniel wrote that the subjection of the Jews would accomplish a divine purpose:

“…In this way, they will be refined and cleansed and made pure until the time of the end, for the appointed time is still to come” (Daniel 11:35).

This persecution reached its apex during the horrific Holocaust of World War II. See Eye of Prophecy article: Two-Thirds of the Jews Killed … Past or Future? (Posted 9-19-15).

God’s passion for Israel is eternal and his plan for her, though interrupted by Israel’s disobedience, will not be denied. In the immediate context of Babylon’s imminent invasion of Judah, but also looking ahead to Israel’s subsequent exile to many nations (later called The Diaspora), God promises through Jeremiah:

“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).

*Note: The “disaster” referred to is both stated and implied in the Old Testament as complete annihilation of Israel. God would never let that happen, though many Jews would be murdered by merciless Gentile nations down through the ages. As well as Israelites killing each other (sometimes with huge casualties) in civil wars after Israel split into two kingdoms. Nor would the Lord eliminate his people himself; though he threatened to do so on more than one occasion—but for getting their full attention concerning the seriousness of the contemptible things they had done.

For example, see Exodus 32, the well-known incident depicted below in which God threatened to wipe them out and start over with Moses and his descendants.

There are several passages in which the Lord guarantees Israel that he would never perpetually reject, abandon, and certainly not eradicate them. Soon after announcing the New Covenant through Jeremiah, the Lord reassured Israel:

“I am as likely to reject (forever) my people Israel as I am to abolish the laws of nature! This is what the Lord says: Just as the heavens cannot be measured and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored, so I will not consider casting them away (permanently) for the evil they have done. I, the Lord have spoken!” (Jeremiah 31:36-37, parenthesis mine).

Earlier in that same chapter before the marvelous New Covenant is announced, the Lord states:

“Is not Israel still my son, my darling child, says the Lord. I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That’s why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him. Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Mark well the path by which you came. Come back again, my virgin Israel; return to your towns here. How long will you wander, my wayward daughter? For the Lord will cause something new to happen—Israel will embrace her God” (Jeremiah 31:20-22). *Note: Those signs and guideposts and markings are literally along the highways, in the streets, and on the buildings of the reborn nation of Israel.

God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is (finally) materializing before our 20^th and 21^st century eyes, i.e. the return of Jews to the Promised Land of Israel from nations all over the world. This is in preparation for the completion of the Lord’s covenant with King David, as well as the climactic culmination of the New Covenant by which all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26).

(Another joyous group of Jews making Alijah to Israel; Alijah literally means “going up” or going home … from other nations to Israel)

God’s Four Major Covenants

The Lord has created four prominent covenants with Israel and the Jewish people (to make them a conduit of God’s Word and salvation to all peoples). In chronological order: Abrahamic Covenant, Mosaic Covenant of Law, Davidic Covenant, and New Covenant of Grace.

It’s interesting to note that the first and third covenants were made with one man and his immediate descendant(s): Although those two covenants obviously included all of God’s people as beneficiaries, His unconditional covenant (Promised Land & Promised Child) was constructed directly with Abraham, then Isaac, and finally Jacob—father of the twelve tribes that would become the nation of Israel.

Subsequently, God’s covenant with David was unconditional (extended to Solomon for the duration of his life/reign) but conditional for all subsequent kings of Israel. Unconditional because an everlasting King would one day rule forever on David’s throne … a perpetual dynasty.

“…Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you (David)—a dynasty of kings!” (II Samuel 7:11). Then in verse 16: “Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.”

In one of the most well-known passages of Scripture (one of my favorites quoted several times in my articles), we read this powerful prophecy of both the first and second advent of the Messiah. Listen carefully to the titles ascribed to him:

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Which is why the Lord frequently cites Abraham (also Isaac and Jacob) and David (including Solomon) as the reason why He will faithfully extend those unilateral covenants to Israel as a nation. As a result, the remnant of Israel and Gentile believers will be richly blessed—both now, and especially beginning with the Millennial Reign of Messiah Jesus.

However, the Davidic Covenant was applied conditionally to the succession of Israel’s kings, if they would continue to obey and serve the Lord. None of the kings of the northern tribes followed the Lord; consequently, that kingdom ceased to exist 208 years after Solomon’s reign ended. Because several kings of Judah (at least in part), particularly Hezekiah and Josiah, sought the Lord’s guidance and served him willingly, the southern kingdom was spared for another 136 years.

(Depiction of the angel who killed 185,000 Assyrian troops overnight in a miraculous victory for and deliverance of Judah and King Hezekiah in 701 B.C. The southern kingdom would last for another 115 years)

*Note: The kings of the ten northern tribes (called Israel) did not descend from David, rather mostly from Jeroboam; whom God chose as their first king because the Lord knew that the northern tribes would revolt against Solomon’s son Rehoboam, which is exactly what they did.

In contrast to the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants, the Covenant of the Law was not given to just one man. Although the Law was given through Moses it was to all of Israel. It was a conditional covenant with the entire nation of Israel, with direct nation-wide consequences for obedience or disobedience. Thus, it was necessary for all of Israel to agree to the terms of this covenant. And why God would (and later did, via the New Covenant) revoke this agreement if the people failed to keep it.

“Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, ‘We will do everything the Lord has commanded’” (Exodus 24:3).

A little later we read: “Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again, they all responded, ‘We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey’” (Verse 7).

Alas, as both Biblical and secular history painfully record, the people wouldn’t (nor couldn’t) keep the Covenant of the Law. Therefore, the New Covenant began with the death, burial, and resurrection of Israel’s (the whole world’s) Messiah. Said Jesus to his disciples just hours before he was nailed to a cross:

This remarkable covenant would be for all people. However, unlike the Covenant through Moses, it would be unconditional—to parallel the covenants with Abraham (everlasting possession of the Promised Land) and David (eternal dynasty) and to merge and fulfill those covenants. Under the New Covenant, there was nothing that Jews (or Gentiles) need do except simply believe in Messiah Jesus and receive him as personal Lord and Savior. Salvation is to be received as a gift from God’s grace, not earned by doing anything, including keeping the Law of Moses—which no one has ever done or ever could do, except Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The New Covenant is so much easier and so much better and so much more permanent (as in forever) than the former covenant through Moses. In the very next chapter after announcing the New Covenant, Jeremiah refers to it as an everlasting covenant.

“And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land” (Jeremiah 32:39-41).

This everlasting covenant is mentioned by one other prophet prior to Jeremiah. In the context of the entire passage (chapter), it’s clear that the everlasting covenant will be a new one which would consolidate and bring to fruition the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants (See Isaiah Chapter 61).

The eternal New Covenant would be the all-important spiritual component and counterpart—salvation through Messiah Jesus—of the unending land and dynasty covenants with Abraham and David, respectively: From Jerusalem the capital of the Promised Land of Israel, Messiah will rule and reign forever.

Israel’s National Rejection of Their Messiah

Alas, it’s taken nearly 2,000 years for God’s people to (begin to) recover from the reason why their second temple was destroyed, and why they were exiled to the four corners of the earth. Jesus knew this would happen. And it broke his heart. He also predicted the fall of Jerusalem and the utter destruction of the Temple, which took place less than 40 years later.

First, Jesus’ poignant plea for Jerusalem and the people he and his Father formed as a nation separated to God; a people to whom he brought the New Covenant and for whom he would die:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” (Matthew 23:37-39, NASB). In Hebrew, the last sentence reads: Baruch haba b’shem Adonai.

Your house being left to you desolate is what would happen to Israel (dispersion) as/when the Temple was destroyed. In the very next chapter, we read Jesus’ graphic description of the Temple’s fate:

About 40 years elapsed from the onset of Jeremiah’s ministry—during which time he foretold the New Covenant and the destruction of Solomon’s Temple—to when that Temple was destroyed. It would be a prophetic preview of Israel’s rejection of the New Covenant (their Messiah) followed by the subsequent destruction of the 2^nd Temple and (this time) complete loss of the sacrificial system, and (this time) a horrifically long dispersion.

Remarkably, this was the same time-frame (40 years) from when Jesus established the New Covenant and foretold the fate of the 2^nd Temple, to the time when that Temple was leveled by the Romans.

The destruction of the rebuilt temple was a painful but residual (cause and effect) result of a new and better way (Covenant) in which God would once and for all redeem and reconcile fallen humanity. One that did not need a temple and repetitive animal sacrifices to maintain ongoing atonement for sin.

The New Covenant would be God’s love and law written on their hearts, not just on tablets of stone. It would come through forgiveness of sins by believing and receiving Messiah’s substitutionary sacrifice on a cross, so dramatically described by Isaiah: “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:5-6, NASB).

The reason the Babylonian captivity was so (relatively) short and the temple subsequently rebuilt is because the Lord was giving Israel one more opportunity to demonstrate that they could faithfully keep the Law of Moses.

The people didn’t. They couldn’t.

Led by Zerubbabel, over 42,000 Jews returned from Babylon to Israel and rebuilt the Temple. About 80 years later (August 4^th, 458 B.C.), Ezra guided a much smaller contingency of former exiles to Israel and found that the Jews had, “…taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.” (Ezra 9:1).

Ezra was both dismayed and appalled at what he found. The following is just a portion of his lengthy prayer to God:

“I prayed, ‘O my God, I am utterly ashamed. I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today. But now we have been given a brief moment of grace…. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery’” (Ezra 9:6-8).

Ezra continues: “And now, O our God, what can we say after all of this? For once again we have abandoned your commands! Your servants the prophets warned us…. Now we are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt. But we have actually been punished far less that we deserve, for you, our God, have allowed some of us to survive as a remnant” (Ezra 9:10-11 & 13).

However, Israel’s loss of their second temple and catastrophic dispersion to nations all over the earth in 70 A.D. was NOT far less than they deserved. It was as God said it would be through Moses (as alluded in last week’s article regarding the fourth and harshest phase of the seven-times over discipline):

“If in spite of all this you still refuse to listen and still remain hostile toward me, then I will give full vent to my hostility. I myself will punish you seven times over for your sins” (Leviticus 26:27-28, italics for emphasis).

The Earthly Temple Gives Way to the Heavenly Temple

In the closing portion of last week’s Part I article, I wrote:

“Summarily revisiting the first heading of this week’s article: Judaism Is Still in Denial … Of What & Why?

“Of what? Of the overwhelming evidence that the New Covenant (of Grace)—implemented when Messiah Jesus died on the cross and arose again from the dead—was providentially connected to and resulted in the subsequent destruction of the Temple, because God’s people rejected their Messiah.

“Why (still in denial)? Because they cling to the Law of Moses as the ultimate means of redemption, despite the cessation of the Old Covenant sacrificial system.”

In fact, the Jews were in the beginning stages of denial before their exile to Babylon. They had not come to terms with the fact that God’s presence (Shekinah glory) in Solomon’s Temple had been withdrawn six years before the Temple was razed by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel Chapters 8-11). Nor did God return to the Temple for some 600 years, when the Son of God (God the Son) first stepped foot in the rebuilt Temple.

(Depiction of Jesus with the religious teachers in the Temple. Even at the age of 12–when this scene took place: “All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” Luke 2:47)

In one of his visions of both the first and second coming of Messiah, the prophet Zechariah, who recorded his prophecies during the rebuilding of the Temple, wrote: “Then the angel of the Lord spoke very solemnly to Jeshua and said, ‘…If you follow my ways and carefully serve me, then you will be given authority over my Temple and its courtyards… Listen to me, O Jeshua the high priest, and all you other priests. You are symbols of things to come. Soon, I am going to bring my servant, the Branch’” (Zechariah 3:6-8).

As we’ve already seen, neither the priests of Israel nor most of the people followed the ways of the Lord and carefully served him. This disobedience continued to and through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, even if they had, they were still only symbols of the coming Messiah (as the Tabernacle and the earthly Temples and the sacrificial system only shadow patterns of the New Covenant to come). Indeed, God did send the Branch, none other than Messiah Jesus, only to be denied by his own people.

“He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:10-13).

In Jesus’s time, the lamentable lip service condition of Judaism had not changed. So much so that Jesus blasted the Pharisees; calling them hypocrites and comparing them to vipers and to tombs that were white-washed on the outside but full of death (spiritual) on the inside.

Twice, Jesus purified the Temple in a manner we would describe in modern terms as: cleaning house.

“When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers … and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. He said to them, ‘The Scriptures declare, My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have turned it into a den of thieves’” (Mark 11:15-17).

Messiah Jesus is the real (heavenly) Temple of God. He contains and expresses God’s glory (his very essence) because he is God—the Son.

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation” (Colossians 1:15).

“For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).

“So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come (through the New Covenant). He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever” (Hebrews 9:11-12, parenthesis mine).

In turn, those who have believed and received Messiah Jesus as personal Savior are also individual temples of the Lord indwelt by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19-20).

The following is excerpt from Eye of Prophecy article: Where is the Temple? Part III. Those remarks were meant primarily for the Jews, but also for all Gentile unbelievers. (In italics):

Where is the Temple?

…Does the question even have an answer? The answer to that question depends upon whether anyone earnestly and honestly searching for the truth will agree that a New Covenant is necessary and is in place. For, without the sacrificial offerings, the Law can only judge. Without a replacement to the Old Testament system of Atonement that ended with destruction of the Temple, the Law can only condemn.

However, for all who agree that Jesus is the Messiah who arrived on the scene of history as Biblically prophesied; …that he died and rose again as the ultimate perfect sacrifice for their sins; then place their complete trust in his redemptive atonement thereby entrusting their eternal destiny to his finished work on the cross, they will have positively answered the question.

Let’s get personal: If you prefer to stake your eternal destiny on your ability to keep the law, then you still haven’t answered the question. Indeed, there is no answer to your dilemma. Why? Because the Law of Moses demands perfect compliance—with continual sacrificial offerings as a divine solution for noncompliance, either willfully or carelessly.

Which is why, “…the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God. This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, ‘The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: You are a priest forever.’ Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God” (Hebrews 7:18-22).

…God still gives us free will, the option to choose. But concerning atonement, redemption, salvation: forgiveness is available only through the shedding of blood. The Old Covenant was a temporary shadow. It is gone, along with the Temple. Will you choose the Old or the New?

Also see Eye of Prophecy articles, The Cross and the Torn Curtain, Part I & II. (Posted 2-6 & 2-13-16).

A Third Jewish Temple?

Will there be another Jewish Temple? According to Ezekiel and Daniel the answer is an absolute, Yes.

*Note: Although Ezekiel’s Temple (Chapters 40-48, with Ezekiel 47:12 highlighting the ongoing existence of that Temple) will be the final Temple, it may or may not be the (third) rebuilt Temple constructed early in the seven-year Tribulation period. Which is the one that both Daniel and Jesus said would be desecrated by Antichrist. The temple described by Ezekiel in extraordinary detail could be a 4^th Temple. Also, there will not be a temple in the (heavenly) New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:22). Only in the earthly Jerusalem.

But why? If the New Covenant did away with the need for a material Temple and the Levitical sacrificial system, what will be its purpose? Because time/space in this week’s article doesn’t permit extensive elaboration and because I’ve written about this (in detail) in a few Eye of Prophecy articles, observations will be limited to an excerpt from one of those articles.

From, A Third Jewish Temple Part II, Posted 5-3-14 (in italics).

As follows:

So what about the 3^rd rebuilt Temple and/or Ezekiel’s Temple? Just as the earthly city of Jerusalem will remain forever, so will Ezekiel’s Temple. To support this conclusion, we read the following: “In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. Any nation in the world that refuses to come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will have no rain” (Zechariah 14:16-17).

The annual Festival of Shelters or Booths (Sukkot in Hebrew) is the only festival in which God will require that all nations send representatives to attend. Why? Because the Festival of Booths is a remembrance of God’s provisions, protection, but most of all his presence among his people … going all the way back to Israel’s wanderings for forty years in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land.

Though it’s crystal clear in Scripture that the sacrifice of Messiah’s blood and life was once and for all time to replace the Levitical sacrificial system, that doesn’t mean that animal sacrifices will not be resumed. According to Daniel Chapter 9, sacrifices and offerings will be reinstated during the seven-year treaty (Tribulation) with Israel. It’s just that the reason or purpose for them will be changed and understood by all after the Tribulation. Everyone will plainly comprehend that animal sacrifices are not the means of/to salvation; instead they will be a means of remembrance for what Christ accomplished in the past.

We know that sacrifices will continue after the Millennium begins, because in that same 14^th Chapter of Zechariah which explains that nations (their representatives) must attend the annual Festival of Shelters, we also read:

“…All who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices…” (Verse 21, italics for emphasis).

Also, see Eye of Prophecy article, Sukkot … The Forever Festival! Published 10-22-16.

Things to Ponder

I love Israel and the Jews because God loves them (and you and me) and has given me and many other believers a love for his chosen people. Not chosen because they’re special. Instead, special (set apart) because they are chosen. To bring us God’s Word and the light of God’s salvation through Messiah Jesus, who is the God/Man—the Son of David from the tribe of Judah—who makes us right with God.

Hear the words of God the Father through his prophet, Jeremiah: “In those days and at that time I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. In that day Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this will be its name: The LORD is Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:15-16).

Messiah Jesus IS our righteousness!

Said the Lord to Israel: “Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me!” (Psalm 81:8).

Hundreds of years later, the Father said the same thing, this time about the Mediator (I Timothy 2:5) of the New Covenant, Jesus of Nazareth: “…This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy! Listen to him” (Matthew 17:5, italics for emphasis).

And long before that, Moses wrote about the great Prophet (who would also be the final High Priest and King of all kings) to come:

“Then the Lord said to me… ‘I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf’” (Deuteronomy 18:17-19).

This message is found in God’s New Covenant with Israel … extended to Gentiles.

“…And that message is the very message about faith that we preach. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved … Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect … For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved’ (quoting Joel 2:32).

“But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” (Romans 10:8-14).

Double Israel’s Trouble & Double Her Blessings!

13 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by garybowers in Prophecy in General

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Crime & Punishment, Diaspora

Israel’s Twice Over Punishment

In this week’s article, we’re going to look at another remarkable prophetic passage in Scripture; one, however, that is often overlooked, minimized, misconstrued, or simply not understood at all. I suppose the main reason for that is because students of the Bible haven’t yet “discovered” the phenomenal meaning and application of the Seven Times Over prophecy given by God to Moses as recorded in Leviticus Chapter 26, which is a key to comprehending the verses we are about to read. Nor, unfortunately, have many studied Israel’s history as found in both Biblical and secular records.

Here is the poignant passage—an inspirational appeal to action and also (actually) a prophecy:

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2, italics for emphasis).

Many Old Testament prophets predicted the final restoration of Israel to include return of the Jews to Israel in the last days, none more so than Isaiah. Often he speaks about the future in the past or present tense, as though it had already occurred or was taking place when he spoke.

When you think about that, it makes all the sense in the world. For one thing: All Biblical prophecy has come to pass, or is currently unfolding before our eyes, or will happen in what I believe is the near future. For another thing, God is timeless. In fact, he created time itself. He is from everlasting to everlasting. He knows the end from the beginning; to him all time is compressed conveniently into the present. He sees all the parade floats (events) of the human race before him at once—from start to finish. For human beings, time and events unfold in a linear fashion … in sequence. On the best of days, we can see only a few floats at a time.

Isaiah Chapter 40 begins with this marvelous prophetic promise to Jerusalem, the Holy City of the Holy Land; which God separated, prepared, and gave as an everlasting inheritance to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants.

In less than twenty years after the Lord called Isaiah to be his prophet, Assyria vanquished the ten northern tribes (Israel). It would be another 136 years before the Babylonians destroyed Judah and Jerusalem and exiled most of the survivors to Babylon. Isaiah foretold the Babylonia conquest of the two southern tribes (Judah and Benjamin) before Babylon even became a world power. Likewise, with Mede-Persia subsequently conquering Babylon with such prophetic detail that God through Isaiah gives the name of the Persian King (Cyrus) who would defeat Babylon long before Cyrus was even born!

Yet, Isaiah says: “…Tell her (Jerusalem) that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned…”

Individually, Jews (and Gentiles through the light of the Jewish Messiah Jesus) first experienced this New Covenant salvation when Christ arose from the dead in the first century. Nationally, the complete physical and spiritual restoration (sad days gone … sins pardoned) will take place at the end of the Great Tribulation when Messiah Jesus returns to the earth. We are only a hop (up to heaven at the Rapture), skip (directly to the seven-year tribulation), and jump (immediately thereafter into the Millennium) away from the few Bible prophecies not yet fulfilled.

Isaiah tells us that by the time all of Israel’s sins are pardoned, she will have been “punished … twice over for all her sins.” Which is why the passage also begins with a double or twice over instruction to “Comfort, comfort my people … Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.” Why? Because the Lord has punished her twice over. The twice over prophecy has come to pass in my generation, with the second national discipline of Israel ending in 1967.

Which begs an intriguing question that has three possible answers (options): Why does God repeat himself … Comfort, comfort my people, and (because he has) punished Israel twice over for all her sins?

First Option:

Repetition exclusively for emphasis. There are a few instances in Scripture of a prophecy repeated for emphasis; to make sure that everyone fully understands what is being said as well as to stress the surety that what God said will happen would indeed take place.

Example: Pharaoh’s consecutive dreams of cows and stalks of grain that Joseph interpreted (directly from God) as the soon-to-come seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine in Egypt.

Another example: The two visions recorded by Daniel (one given to Nebuchadnezzar and one to Daniel himself) of the four Gentile kingdoms that would rule the world. Four nations chosen by God to rise and then to fall, accomplishing his primary purpose: to begin, complete, end, resume, and continue God’s judgment of Israel until the appointed time to end this discipline—the “twice over” punishment identified by Isaiah.

A third example: John’s (two) visions of the beast as recorded in Revelation Chapters 13 & 17. The doubling up of these prophetic visions is for emphasis and also to provide a few more details in order for each of the two revelations to complement the other.

Second Option:

The “twice over” punishment of Israel’s sins is a way of stating its severity; symbolically saying that God’s punishment will be twice as harsh because of her (detestable) sins. There is one huge problem with this application: Many times through many prophets beginning with Moses, God uses descriptive language vividly depicting Israel’s punishment that is not associated at all with numbers (twice over and seven times over). Such explicit expressions as: severe, violent, shatter, without pity, unforgiving (Israel had passed the point of no return), cursed, cut off completely, no escape, demolish, crush, and others.

There are many passages of such warnings, particularly applied to Babylon’s cruel destruction of Judah, Jerusalem, and the Temple. The following passage in which the Lord is speaking to/about Judah is a prototype example which includes specific means that God would use to punish his disobedient people:

“So I will turn you into a ruin, a mockery in the eyes of the surrounding nations and to all who pass by … You will be a warning to all the nations around you. They will see what happens when the Lord punishes a nation in anger and rebukes it … I will shower you with the deadly arrows of famine to destroy you … And along with the famine, wild animals will attack you and rob you of your children. Disease and war will stalk your land, and I will bring the sword of the enemy against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Ezekiel 5:14-17).

Yet, the vast majority (easily 99%) of these prophetic warnings contain no reference to a multiple (numerical) “formula,” like the twice over declaration in Isaiah Chapter 40. There’s no reason to, because the severity of the discipline is clearly indicated by the graphic descriptions in great detail of what would happen if Israel refused to return to the Lord, their God.

Another argument against this option: Use of numbers in the context of God’s punishment of Israel is confined to “seven times over” and “twice over.” If they are applicable to the severity factor/feature of Israel’s discipline, then there is a contradiction. Which is it? Seven times over as found in Leviticus Chapter 26, or twice over as found in Isaiah Chapter 40?

For one thing, there’s really no way to measure (how much) the severity of God’s discipline in terms of multiplication. To what do we compare it? Do we measure it by the quality (inherent severity of the punishment) or by the quantity of horrible things taking place. Even if severity could be measured with a multiplication factor, there’s a substantial difference between being punished seven times versus two times more strictly for Israel’s disobedience.

For another thing, neither twice over nor seven times over fits the clear principle found in the Levitical Law that the punishment must fit the crime. This is a legal and moral standard God established for Israel that some nations throughout history have borrowed; albeit, some of the inherent punishments for the Jewish people were harsher than those subsequently adopted by Gentile nations and others not nearly as severe. Plus, Leviticus Chapter 26—later summarized in Deuteronomy absent the “seven times over” paradigm—contains God’s general, panoramic (down through the ages) long-term promises (blessings) and warnings (curses) related to Israel’s ongoing national trust in and obedience to God and her rebellion against God, respectively. As opposed to the specific, day-in, day-out wrong things done and the consequential punishment imposed.

(Scales and Sword of Justice)

Third Option:

The only application of the twice over punishment and the corresponding, comfort, comfort, my people that fits is the same one that fits the amazing seven times over prototype model found in Leviticus Chapter 26. Neither have to do with the harshness of the punishment, as the severity factor is mentioned separately in Leviticus 26 … a total of four times, with each punishment becoming increasingly stern. Likewise in Isaiah with the “twice over” having nothing to do with a multiplied severity of punishment, as the severity feature is explained in hundreds of other passages by several Old Testament prophets.

Answer/Application: The correct choice is that God’s utilization of the multiplied factor of seven specified in Leviticus and two as found in Isaiah directly denotes the time duration of the punishments. Both are successive and both involve the 70-year Babylonian captivity of Israel followed by an agonizingly longer time-lapse of Gentile domination over Israel that finally ended in 1967.

Thus, the “seven times over” prophecy in Leviticus occurred twice in Israel’s history.

Revisiting the Amazing Seven Times Prophecy

I would like to begin this review by quoting from the Eye of Prophecy article entitled, Jubilee & Messiah … They Go Together! (Posted 1-25-16), which included a brief overview of the trilogy of articles posted in January & February, 2014 on the Seven Times Over phenomenon and the subsequent article, The Omega Generation.

Here are excerpts (in italics) from Jubilee and Messiah … They Go Together:

Then the entire 26^th chapter of Leviticus is God’s promise of his blessings on Israel if they worshipped only him; if they loved, respected, and obeyed him and the commandments given to them for their own good. Followed by God’s warnings if they did not, “…listen to me and obey all these mitzvot (commandments or more broadly—general principles for living), if you loathe my regulations and reject my rulings, in order not to obey all my mitzvot but cancel my covenant, then I, for my part, will do this to you: I will bring terror upon you … I will set my face against you—your enemies will defeat you, those who hate you will hound you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you” (Leviticus 26:14-17, New Jewish Bible).

Throughout this stunning 26^th chapter of Leviticus, the Lord specifies four successive seven times over punishments that he would inflict on his people if they began and continued their disobedience. Which is exactly what they did leading up to the Babylonian Captivity, but also following their return to Israel after seventy years of exile. Then continuing without interruption to and through the Diaspora that began with the Roman conquest of Israel and destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

The worst of this divine discipline took place during the horrible Holocaust; which, however, led to the rebirth of Israel in 1948 and the final end of Gentile domination of the Jews in 1967.

Here I want to pause and refer you to an astounding disclosure that the Lord gave to me nearly ten years ago (October, 2006). Namely, that these four cycles of seven times correction of God’s people was administered consecutively in actual years, both in principle and practice, to correlate with the seven-year Sabbath land cycle and the fifty-year Jubilee cycle. In order to see the amazing details of how this developed historically, coming to an end in the phenomenal year of 1967, please read the three-part Eye of Prophecy series entitled, Seven Times Seven (to the 4^th power!) Parts I, II, III, published 1-25-14, 2-1-14, and 2-8-14, followed by the summary article The Omega Generation, posted on 2-15-14.)

A review of the seven times over prophecy in Leviticus Chapter 26 will enhance our awareness that Isaiah’s prophetic twice over punishment of Israel is literal. It is exactly what it says and means—two separate time periods and events. Therefore, as previously indicated, the twice over terminology is not referring symbolically to the severity of the judgment. The final (fourth phase) of the first seven times over began with Assyria’s conquest of Israel, but not completed in its entirety until the 70-year exile of Judah in Babylon fully ended in 516 B.C. with construction of the second temple.

The second seven times over began immediately after the first (four phases) set of seven times over ended; and sadly lasted much longer. It included such horrible events in Israel’s history as (temporary) subjugation by Antiochus Epiphanies IV in 167-168 B.C; destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70 AD followed by massive exile of the Jews (a second time) from Israel—known as the Diaspora; subsequent European pogroms against the Jews; hundreds of years of persecution at the hands of Muslims; and worst of all … The Holocaust.

Let’s read the introductory warning to each phase. Focus on the words italicized for emphasis in each verse that clearly infer successive, uninterrupted periods of disobedience in Israel’s history.

First phase: “And if, in spite of all this, you still disobey me, I will punish you seven times over for your sins” (Leviticus 26:18).

Second phase: “If even then you remain hostile toward me and refuse to obey me, I will inflict disaster on you seven times over for your sins” (Verse 21).

Third phase: “And if you fail to learn the lesson and continue your hostility toward me, then I myself will be hostile toward you. I will personally strike you with calamity seven times over for your sins” (Verses 23-24).

Fourth phase: “If in spite of all this you still refuse to listen and still remain hostile toward me, then I will give full vent to my hostility. I myself will punish you seven times over for your sins” (Verses 27-28).

Moses then provides the longest narrative, by far, of what this fourth and final phase will bring (compared to the first three phases), ending with the worst possible disaster that could have befallen Israel: “I will scatter you among the nations and bring out my sword against you…” (Verse 33).

That’s exactly what happened to Israel; not just once, but twice over (Isaiah’s Chapter 40 prophecy). The first time was the culmination of the first seven times over punishment inflicted on Israel—the Babylonia Captivity. The second was the horrific forced exile of the Jews from Israel beginning in 70 AD, lasting until the 20^th century. Moreover, this final dispersion of the Jews from Israel took place within the fourth stage of the four continuous phases.

With the fourth phase beginning shortly after the end of the third phase (167-168 BC) when Antiochus IV devastated Israel, but one that did not result in complete exile of the Jews. As explained in Part III of the Seven Times Seven articles, the first three sets of seven (7 x 7 x 7) equals (348 Jewish calendar years) exactly the time from 516 BC (when the 2^nd … twice over seven times seven pattern began again) to when Antiochus IV (temporarily) conquered Jerusalem and defiled the Temple.

Details from Seven Times Seven (to the 4^th power), Part II:

(*Note: The non-italicized words in the following italicized excerpts were italicized in the original article).

It’s all too evident that the prophetic clock of Leviticus Chapter 26 begin to tick when Israel entered the Promised Land. The entire book of Deuteronomy is a condensed summary of God’s instructions to Israel just before Joshua led them to several victories over the Canaanites. They were given the choice between life and death, blessing and curses (Deuteronomy 30:19). God even told Moses that the prophecy would, in fact, come to pass; because it (unfortunately) was a foregone conclusion that the Israelites would rebel and turn from God (see Deut. 31 & 32). And that’s exactly what they did, not long after Joshua died.

It’s important to understand that the ultimate seven times over discipline is chronologically consecutive and even more so that it is uninterrupted or continuous in its prophetic unfolding. This is clarified by the passage itself. The Lord repeats a total of four times: IF Israel continues to disobey him, then he will prolong the corrective discipline and each time the punishment will be harsher, culminating in exile to foreign nations. Thus, the seven times over is not a symbolic expression of the severity of the discipline; rather, it is (as we have seen and will see) a measure of the lapse of time that all this will take place.

So, then, in examining Israel’s history from the Promised Land advent to the Babylonian captivity, do we find an unbroken, continuous, linear time-lapse (chain of events) in which Israel never repented and turned back to the Lord? No, we don’t. This is crystal clear during the times of the Judges and Kings of Israel. There were several periods of time lasting at least two generations (80 years or more), such as the consecutive reign of King David and King Solomon or the subsequent reign of a few “good” kings like Josiah. There were cycles of disobedience, deliverance, and restoration; but, on the whole, the Jews became progressively “hostile” toward the Lord, their God. Thus, the seven times over cycle was not continuous during this period of Israel’s history, which is why the Babylonian exile (as devastating as it was) would last for only 70 years—a relatively mild punishment considering the hundreds of year that Israel was mostly, but not entirely, unfaithful to God and his commands.

You might ask: “Relatively mild compared to what?” Good question. Answer: Compared to what happened AFTER their return to the Holy Land from the 70-year captivity.

So, did the Babylonian exile bring a conclusion to the seven times over prophecy of Leviticus? Sadly, the answer is, NO. Instead, it set into motion the ultimate severity of the prophecy. What transpired after the return of the Jews was even more tragic. Despite a relatively brief (part of a generation) resurgence of Israel’s devotion to God, as found in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, Israel never fully returned to the Lord. As indicated, the book of Malachi vividly illustrates Israel’s unyielding stubbornness.

Even though the Jews returned to Israel and rebuilt the second temple, they never again became a completely sovereign nation. They never again experienced the full blessings of the Lord. There were no more kings, and the Shekinah glory of God never returned to the temple. There were no prophets for the last 400 years before the birth of John the Baptist, and then the birth of Messiah. Israel had been, to some degree or another, under the domination of the Persians, Greeks, Syrians, and finally the Romans before and after the utter destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

The first set of seven times over judgments (up to the time of the Babylonian captivity), is best illustrated by the formula: 7 + 7 + 7 + 7. When the people confessed their sins and returned to God, the cycle of discipline ended. In other words the punishments were not continuous; however, each one lasted for a certain period of time, culminating with a specified period of 70 years for the Babylonian captivity.

Because the people didn’t (by any stretch of the imagination) continually seek the Lord when they journeyed back to Israel, the seven times over paradigm began again. This time it would be continuous, leading all the way to and through the greatest horror of all … the Holocaust of the 20th century. There would be no stoppage of the increments of punishment until all four phases had run their course. In fact, the seven times syndrome contained a mathematically measured built-in period of time, with a beginning and an end.

Tragically, Israel did not learn from its Babylonian captivity lesson. From the time Nehemiah returned to Babylon in 433 BC, 12 years after arriving in Jerusalem with another group of exiles to rebuild the walls; to his second trip to Israel a few years later, the people’s promise to serve the Lord had evaporated like an early morning fog. They had fallen into all kinds of detestable practices. Listed to Nehemiah’s words: “So I confronted the nobles of Judah. ‘Why are you profaning the Sabbath in this evil way?’ I asked. ‘Wasn’t it just this sort of thing that your ancestors did that caused our God to bring all this trouble upon us and our city? Now you are bringing even more wrath upon Israel by permitting the Sabbath to be desecrated in this way!’” (Nehemiah 13: 17-18).

And, so the seven times over sequence had begun again. This time the prophetic march of time relentlessly continued unabated and uninterrupted. If, however, the seven times over to the 4th power represents a measurable period of time, then it must come to an end. That’s what occurred to me that night in October, 2006: Although I didn’t know where it would lead me (what year in history), I realized that God was telling Moses and the people that the seven times seven model necessitated and would, in fact, unfold according to an exact prophetic timeline. Moreover, the formula was built into the prophecy: 7 x 7 x 7 x 7. When this prophetic paradigm reached its measurable deadline, Israel’s punishment would also reach its predetermined limit; and they would no longer be under Gentile domination!

A Phenomenal Finding (Let’s do the Math)

Calculations: 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 equals 2,401 (years). Remember the premise: This prophecy is a specific time-lapse utilization of sevens that can be measured in years, in a very similar manner to the Daniel Chapter 9 prophecy. We must now convert the 2,401 years to Jewish years.

Roman to Jewish calendar: 2,401 years x 365 Roman calendar days = 876,365 days. Dividing 876,365 by 360 Jewish calendar days = 2,434 years Jewish years. (We’re rounding this off, because we’re only interested in the year, unlike the exact day(s) of the Daniel prophecy).

Jubilee Years: Again, we need to remember that the ultimate criteria that God used to preclude or preempt any excuses or rationalization of the people was the Sabbatical rest of the land. But we also need to include all Jubilee years, which was a 50-year cycle of freedom from debt, servitude, and also resting the land from crop planting. Because of space/time restraints, I didn’t cover this, but it can be found in Leviticus Chapter 25. Because the Israelites also failed to keep the Jubilee requirements, this would be a central part of God’s formula for discipline.

So we divide 2,434 Jewish years by 50 and we get 49 (rounded off) Jubilee years over that period of time.

We add 2,434 years + 49 (Jubilee) years. The sum of these two: 2,483 (years).

The Astonishing Result: 2,483 years minus 516 BC (we must subtract BC years from the total) leads us to the year: 1967! Or 1,967 years AD plus 516 years BC is a total of 2,483 years.

What makes the year 1967 so amazing? We will cover this in more detail during next week’s article, but for now I will simply say: In 1967, one of the three monumental milestones of Jewish modern history took place. In fact, many students of Biblical prophecy (including me) identify the six-day war of June, 1967 as the turning point of Israel’s future, even surpassing her statehood of 1948. For the 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 prophecy to end in 1967 is no coincidence or a mathematical fluke.

*Note: Reminder that the preceding paragraph’s reference to “next week’s article” is still part of the excerpts from the Seven Times Seven (Part II) article; thus the next week article would have been, Part III.

Significance of the (Twice Over) Double the Trouble and Double the Blessings for Israel

First Significance: Other than the seven times prophecy from Moses, the twice over from Isaiah, and two other “double their punishment” passages in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 16:18 & 17:18), the scarcity of numerical based prophecies in the Old Testament is reason alone to realize that Israel’s punishment—so noted by the model of seven times over occurring twice in Israel’s history—was meant to be understood in actual years. With the first seven times over coming to an end with the Babylonian captivity, some 700 years after the Jews entered the Promised Land.

The reason that the otherwise continuous (in terms of years) seven times over ended and then started again during the period of Israel’s judges and kings is because there were, at different intervals, one or two entire generations of Jews that returned to the Lord.

However, with the second installment of seven times over, there was no meaningful or recognizable interruption of Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord, tragically epitomized by rejection of their Messiah in the first century. This national denial of their Savior led directly (less than 40 years later) to their second exile to the nations, which ever so sorrowfully lasted until the Jewish nation of Israel was reborn in 1948. Gentile domination of Israel finally ended when the Jews recaptured Jerusalem, the Holy City of the Holy Land in 1967.

Second Significance: For many, including even ardent students of the Bible in general and prophecy in particular, Isaiah’s (profound) prediction that Israel would be punished twice over for her sins isn’t exactly a prophetic headline grabber. But now that you know the rest of the story, I’m thinking you just might place this seemingly inconspicuous prophecy and the significance of the words to describe it (twice over) alongside of the seven times over prophecy; with both of them right up there with such prophecies as the miraculous return of Jews to the land promised to them by God himself.

Such as found in Jeremiah as quoted in the following excerpt from Eye of Prophecy article, The Second Exodus (published 5-10-14).

The way I see it, all Bible prophecies fall into the category of amazing; if for no other reason than they were fulfilled just as prophesied. But there are some like the subject of this article that zoom right past amazing to astounding, incredible, or mind-boggling. After you read it, pick your own superlative description. Here is the prophecy:

“In that day,” says the Lord, “when people are taking an oath, they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.’ Instead, they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.’ Then they will live in their own land” (Jeremiah 23:7-8).

Third Significance: Another considerable impact of Isaiah’s twice over prophecy is one that is both stated and implied in today’s article and previous Eye of Prophecy articles. One that can be applied directly to the deceitfully insidious hypothesis that many term, Replacement Theology, i.e. the Church has replaced Israel including the individual and national prophecies (exclusively) applied by God to Israel in the end times.

Taken from an article entitled, Why Is Support for Israel Waning among Younger Evangelicals? Written by Dr. Michael Brown, his final point #6 begins with, “The theology of preterism is rising in some circles teaching God judged Israel forever in 70 A.D. and that no national promises remain for the Jewish People as a nation.”

Time/space does not permit a long dissertation on preterism, except to say that the underlying premise of “scholars” who support this theory claim that there is no Rapture … that all of the Tribulation events predicted in Daniel and Revelation took place in the first century. Not only is this one of most absurd errors of prophetic study, but also the easiest to refute. As indicated, however, one very harmful side effect is that it reinforces the completely erroneous anti-Biblical claims of Replacement Theology.

Thus, when we grasp even tighter the fact that God’s discipline of Israel didn’t end until 1967 (Gentile domination), then compare this to the same generation when Israel once again became a sovereign state (1948), we clearly see that Isaiah’s prophecy of Israel’s national salvation (soon to come … all sins pardoned) dovetails in space and time with the end of Israel’s 2^nd seven times over judgment from the Lord.

(IDF Paratroopers at Western Wall, Celebrating Six-Day War Recapture of Jerusalem)

Please see Eye of Prophecy articles, Replacement Theology, Part I & II, posted 7-19-14 and 7-26-14.

Things to Ponder

Double Israel’s Blessings: God, through his prophet Isaiah, proclaims that his special possession Israel is to be comforted, then comforted again. This isn’t merely a repetition for effect. Instead it is a direct correlation to the “twice over” punishment of Israel announced in the very same passage.

Time/space in this week’s article doesn’t permit an in-depth examination of Israel’s double blessing; thus, a very brief overview:

The first comfort relates to the return of the Jews from Babylon. The second comfort fast forwards 2,500 years to the permanent return of the Jews (never to be exiled again) to the Promised Land that began primarily and prominently in the 20^th century. There is another verse in Scripture that fully tracks with Isaiah’s purposeful repetition to “comfort, comfort my people” (Israel). Says the Lord to his chosen people, the Jews:

“Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope! I promise this very day that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles” (Zechariah 9:12).

The two blessings are described frequently throughout both the Old and New Testaments: The first is even mentioned in this same chapter in Zechariah, when it says, “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt” (Zechariah 9:9).

Remember? Jesus precisely fulfilled that prophecy when he rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, less than one week before he was crucified and exactly one week before he arose from the grave! This was the first giant blessing (comfort) for Israel—spiritual salvation through their Messiah that has continued since the first century, and which will be finally fulfilled when Jesus returns on the same Mount of Olives from which he ascended to heaven.

The second blessing is also spoken of hundreds of times in Scripture: Total physical restoration of the Jews to God’s beloved land of Israel and to its consecrated capital, Jerusalem.

A very comforting double blessing for Israel to replace her twice over punishment, wouldn’t you say!

“Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him. Tell all the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’ … He will judge all peoples fairly” (Psalm 96:9-10).

“…He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth” (Psalm 96:13).

“He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon!’ Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

The Second Exodus

10 Saturday May 2014

Posted by garybowers in Prophecy in General

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Diaspora, Exodus, Jeremiah, Moses, Return of Jews

A SECOND EXODUS

You ain’t seen nothing yet! Don’t you just love those colloquial sayings? As long as they’re not overused and become too familiar, we all use them to punctuate a point or illustrate and intensify an idea we’re trying to share with someone. Sometimes you can even use words that aren’t really words (like ain’t). Oh come on now, I know ain’t is officially in the dictionary, but who among us considers it to be a valid contraction of am not, or whatever. Haven’t most of us who are moms or dads corrected our children when they say, ain’t. And then turn right around and mutter under our breath or whisper to our spouse, “That just ain’t right.” Point is that a catchy phrase often gets our attention, such as: “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” Even without ain’t that’s a popular adage! Right now, the problem with ain’t is that my spelling and grammar check has underlined it every time, and I don’t like red marks while I write. However there are seven red lines in this paragraph, which is my favorite number!

Since the underlying theme of this blog site is Biblical prophecy, I best get on with the topic at hand. Which is: You ain’t seen nothing yet. I’m talking about a modern-day marvel predicted nearly 2,600 years ago by God through a Jewish prophet that billions of people all over the world have probably heard of … Jeremiah. You remember: the prophet made famous by the rock group Three Dog Night singing, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog … was a good friend of mine.” I am not quoting that to be irreverent, only to emphasis how well-known Jeremiah is. By the way, Jeremiah in Hebrew is: Yirmeyahu. That’s another red line to eliminate in this document, but it’s worth it!

What is this prediction all about, and why is it so unparalleled? How is it that such a monumental event like the Exodus from Egypt could be relegated to, “You ain’t seen nothing yet?” In a nutshell, it announces far in advance that there will be a Second Exodus for the Jewish people. (Incidentally, this was the second time that Jeremiah made this prediction … the first being found in Chapter 16). It is one thing to utter such a bold prediction once (if it isn’t fulfilled, then once is too many), but to state it twice is prophetical suicide if it doesn’t come to pass. But it did happen … and it is still happening right before our eyes in the 21^st century.

What makes it even more spectacular is the fact that; although the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by Assyria, the southern kingdom of Judah was still a vibrant, thriving, prosperous, and powerful nation. For the southern kingdom Jews to be told that their return to the Promised Land would surpass in magnitude the miraculous Exodus was unthinkable, because nothing would ever rival their deliverance from Egypt. But also because they couldn’t or wouldn’t wrap their minds around the possibility that Judah and the Holy City of Jerusalem would ever be conquered in the first place. By that time Jeremiah had warned—and continued to warn—his people that Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed and the people taken captive by the mighty Babylonian Empire, unless they turned back to God.

Thus, it’s one thing to foretell such an incomparable return to Israel (by saying it will be even more memorable than the first Exodus); but it’s quite another phenomenon to prophesy about this Second Exodus before Judah had even been destroyed and the people exiled to Babylon. Moreover, Jeremiah was proclaiming that ALL of Israel would return, including the ten northern tribes that had already been scattered to the four winds. We’ll see that shortly when we read verses five and six of Jeremiah Chapter 23.

The Exodus from Egypt

Who hasn’t heard of The Exodus? Of Moses, the burning bush, Israelites, Pharaoh, the awesome parting of the Sea, and the finger of God blazing His commandments on solid stone. That isn’t just imagery from Cecil B. Demille’s film classic, The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston. Where do you think Demille got the idea? Several times throughout the Old Testament, Israel and the gentile nations are reminded of one of the greatest (some say the greatest) event of all time—the Exodus from Egypt. For hundreds of years afterward, Israel’s judges, prophets, kings, priests, scribes and many of the common people frequently reminded each other and themselves what mighty blessings and miracles the Lord God had performed before, during, and after the Exodus, including entrance into the Promised Land of Israel.

That’s what the majority of their annual festivals are about. There are many Old Testament references to the miracles of the plagues that rescued the Hebrews from abject slavery, and repeated reminders of such things as, “For he divided the sea and led them through, making the water stand up like walls! In the daytime he led them by a cloud, and all night by a pillar of fire. He split open the rocks in the wilderness to give them water, as from a gushing spring. He made streams pour from the rock, making the waters flow down like a river!” (Psalms 78:13-16).

From the very first Passover, Jews throughout the ages—even during their Babylonian exile and then during the Diaspora—right up to the present time have celebrated their deliverance from Egyptian bondage.

Yet, several hundred years after Moses, Jeremiah audaciously announces that one day something would take place to actually eclipse the Exodus in importance and impact. Once again it would entail Exile {to a foreign nation(s)}; Deliverance (from oppression by those nations); and Entrance (to Israel, the land promised to them by the true and living God). But this time it would be permanent … indeed, it would be everlasting.

The Jews of the Old Testament would often preface an oath–whether very serious such as in a court of law or more causal like when talking to a good friend or a city council–by saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I will….” (do this or that). Or they might say, “May the Lord strike me, and even kill me, if I don’t….” (do this or that). According to Jeremiah, they apparently would add, “…who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt,” to the oath/promise that began with, “As surely as the Lord lives….”

But, Jeremiah goes on to say: “In that day,” the Jews will change the saying to reflect another monumental milestone in Israel’s glorious, but troubled history. They will say, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.” In other words: As great as the first Exodus was and as much as it meant to the Jews, there would be a Second Exodus that would far exceed the first one, both in quality (scale and duration) and quantity (of people).

Which Day (Time) is “That Day”?

What day or period of time is Jeremiah referring to in this passage? We need to accurately read the historical clock, to clarify and confirm the exact era when this Second Exodus takes place. Is it when the Jews returned from their Babylonian captivity or a (much) later period of time? How can we know for sure in that day is taking place in this generation? Several Old Testament prophecies encompass both the near future (of that time) and the distant future—meaning the last days or end times. Others pertain exclusively to the near future of that time, such as the Assyrians conquering the ten northern tribes of Israel. But most apply directly and exclusively to the very last days. Furthermore, these end times prophecies often begin with the phrase, “In that day,” or references, “The Day of the Lord,” or something similar.

Admittedly, some prophecies are more difficult to evaluate … whether or not they apply to events that take place a few years, decades, or even a few centuries later (such as Greece and Alexander the Great representing the third beast of Daniel Chapter 7 which conquered Persia some three hundred years after the prediction); as opposed to those that take place thousands of years later or have not yet occurred. But the majority of prophecies are not all that hard to understand, including those pertaining to the last days. The basic rule of thumb is this: If you can’t find anything in Biblical or secular history that a specific prophetic event has occurred (particularly before the 20^th century because that’s when Israel once again became a nation), then the prophecy will apply to the end times, which we are living in right now.

In our Jeremiah Chapter 23 passage, it’s actually quite easy to place the fulfillment beyond the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon. Why is that? One word answer: Context. In the two verses that precede our just quoted passage of Jeremiah 23:7-8, we read, “For the time is coming says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a king who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name: The LORD Is Our Righteousness. In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety” (Jeremiah 23:5-6). Obviously, none of the specifics of this prophecy occurred during or within even hundreds of years after (some of) the Babylonian exiles returned to Israel.

The last sentence affirms that both Judah and Israel (both kingdoms comprising all twelve tribes of Israel) will be part of this final, magnificent restoration of land and people. One day soon, the so-called ten lost tribes of Israel will no longer be lost; they will be found by our Lord, the God of Israel! Moreover, the formerly divided northern and southern kingdoms will be reunited as one, as other Biblical passages tell us.

Amazing! For Jews and Gentiles who have embraced Messiah Jesus, we know him to be the righteous descendent of King David. This son of David is Yahweh Tzidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness) who was born of a virgin, lived, taught, healed, performed miracles, died, was buried, and rose again the third day … a historically recorded fact. He is from the Tribe of Judah, and his very birth separated time itself (BC to AD). We passionately await his triumphant and glorious return as the King of all kings who, “…rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land…”

There are several significant features of this “King who rules with wisdom,” but none more so that his designated name to match who he is, what he has done and what he will do. There is no getting around it … meaning the fact that this King is both a man (descendant of David) and God. Which is not what most Jews believe. Rather, they believe the Messiah will be merely a man … a great man, but not divine. But what does the passage say? It gives this man the name that God, himself, gave to Moses to identify who God really is. He is YHWH (Yahweh) or “I AM,” translated and designated throughout Scripture as THE LORD (capital letters). Moreover, to the Jews and all mankind, he is and will be “The LORD Our Righteousness.”

Scripture declares, “No one is righteous—not even one” (Romans 3:10). The apostle Paul, a former Jewish Orthodox Rabbi who was wonderfully transformed by Messiah, made this statement. But Paul is quoting King David from Psalm 14. Only the divine Son of God (God the Son) qualifies as being our righteousness. His righteousness is freely and unconditionally given to us when we believe and receive Him and what he did on the Cross. We must have his righteousness, because we have none of our own. And, Scripture tells us we need this righteousness (right standing with God) in order to be and live forever in His presence.

Many Jews, especially the observant, anxiously await what they believe is the first appearance of Messiah. Gentile and Messianic Christians (Jews) await Messiah’s second coming. Either way, when Messiah (re)appears, “In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.” And this glorious appearance will be heralded by a magnificent, miraculous Exodus of Jews from the four corners of the earth. This began a few decades ago, continues to this very day, and will continue through and a short time after Christ returns to the earth at the end of the Great Tribulation also known as the Time of Jacob’s trouble.

Oh how the Jews have returned to Israel! With statistics that are staggering, in numbers that exceed the first Exodus, from countries all over the world (only from Egypt did the first Exodus take place), which affirm the remarkable accuracy of Jeremiah’s prediction and many other Old Testament passages. But mostly from the, “land of the north.”

Some Fascinating Figures

Based on Exodus 12:37, Bible scholars estimate there were between 1.5 million and 2 million Hebrews who victoriously marched out of Egypt on that fateful day in Jewish antiquity. Just recently, the population of Israel reached 8,132,000. Of those numbers, 6,110,600 are Jews with most of the remaining population consisting of Arabs, who are Israeli citizens. This does not include Arab settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip composed of another 2 million Arabs or so. By comparison, the population of the State of New Jersey is 8,899,399, and the land mass of New Jersey also approximates Israel in size.

Beginning with the first Aliyah in 1881 (return of the Diaspora Jewish exiles to Palestine) to and a few months following declaration of statehood for Israel in May, 1948, there were about 800,000 Jews in Israel. Most of the Post World War II Jewish immigrants to Israel were survivors of the holocaust, emigrating from Europe. But they also came from the United States, from South America, from Yemen, Iraq and Iran (because they were expelled from those three countries), from North Africa, but not too many from the Soviet Union. That is: not until 1990 and onward until 2006. After the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia’s President Mikhail Gorbachev allowed Jews to leave Russia, the Jews emigrated from Russia in numbers never seen before.

In 1990, around 228,400 Jews left Russia, of which 183,400 made Aliyah to Israel, an astounding 80%. By 2006, nearly one million Russian Jews had immigrated to the land of their forefathers. Although these numbers have slowed in the past 7-8 years, there were still 7,520 Jews who left Russia and made Israel their home in 2013.

At one time over 5 million Jews lived in Russia. Some two million of this number were murdered during the Holocaust. Today there are only 440,000 Jews left in Russia and another 300,000 in the Ukraine, a former Soviet Union country. And Ukraine very well could be once again under the Federation of Russia in the not so distant future, but that’s another recent development!

Since 1948, some three million Jews have made Aliyah to Israel from 130 countries, with 20% of Israel’s Jewish population today Russian immigrants or children of those immigrants, an astonishing 1.2 million Jews. How’s that for putting a giant exclamation point on Jeremiah’s prophecy! Not only does it predict a massive return of exiled Jews from all over the world, it specifically identifies, “the land of the north,” which is none other than today’s Russia which was the former Soviet Union and its satellite countries. This same land to the north is also identified in the Gag/Magog prophecy of Ezekiel 38 & 39. Moscow is due north of Jerusalem. Just look at them on a global map. There is no other nation of any size or historical consequence which fits this description other than Russia.

That’s way more than reason enough for a modern-day Jew to knowingly or unwittingly think or quote Jeremiah and exclaim, I am here in the land God promised to my ancestors, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north…” Whether any given Jew actually quotes or paraphrases this verse or not, the fact remains that this wonderful prediction has unfolded before our very eyes. We are part of the Omega (last) generation.

First Hand Experience

I have seen this for myself during a 2006 trip to Israel that I made with one of my sisters. We traveled through part of Israel in a rental car—I was there primarily to do research on my first book, a novel called, O Israel … the end is the beginning for those left behind. On Shabbat (Sabbath) we attended a fairly small church in Rishon Letzion, Israel, south of Tel Aviv. The name of this congregation of Jewish believers in Messiah Jesus is Grace & Truth Congregation. I would estimate the number in attendance on that Saturday was 125 or so. It was a small building and we were packed to the point of keeping elbows close to one’s side so as not to invade the space of the person sitting next to you!

The Pastor’s message in Hebrew was simultaneously translated into English for those of us on one side of the sanctuary and in Russian for those on another side! I’m sure that eventually most of the Russian speaking believers would learn Hebrew, but what a sight to behold at the time. We also alternated singing in English, Hebrew, and Russian. One old Christian song, “I Need Thee Every Hour,” brought tears to my eyes. Of course, you had to be there to fully appreciate what I’m saying; but to see such a small congregation of believers accommodating three languages at one time (something you might not even see in a large church) was simply splendid.

It made Jeremiah’s prophecy all the more relevant; in fact, it jumped off the pages of Scripture. Up to that point, I had never heard the Russian language anywhere except on television or perhaps a movie. And I didn’t need to go to Russia to hear the language. The Bible was effectively saying: Jeremiah 23 is being fulfilled right now. Go to Israel and see for yourself!

I’m telling you folks: The God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob IS GOD. There is none like him … never has been, never will be. He is the one and only true and living God. No other so-called god of any other man-made religion can even come close to making a handful of predictions come true, let alone hundreds of prophesies (like Jeremiah 23) found in the Bible.

After 2000 years of exiled separation from the land of Israel and from each other, with nearly half of their number ruthlessly murdered by Hitler’s Third Reich; the fact that millions of Jews have returned to Israel and millions more born there is unprecedented. Until the transportation and communication technological advances of the 20^th century, this dream of Aliyah (on anything approaching its current scale) would have been impossible. The logistics, not the least of which were dozens of different languages spoken by Jews, would have been insurmountable. Not only did millions of Jews return to a reborn nation, they came back to their ancient, all but dead, reborn Hebrew language.

And guess what? No spectacular plagues, no seas or oceans being parted, no rivers gushing from solid rock, no burning bushes or mountains covered by fire and dense clouds and smoke (Mt Sinai), no clothing and sandals that lasted for 40 years in a harsh desert wilderness, no crumbling of walls by merely walking around them and then shouting … no state of the art miracles as such.

But Israel is a miracle, nevertheless. Something never before seen and never to be seen again in the annals of human history. A country and people and language reborn from the floods of dispersion and the fires of Nazi death camps. In fact, the former Israeli Chief Rabbi Abraham Kook (1865-1935) somewhat prophetically surmised that it would be more of a miracle for God to use natural methods and events to restore Israel and return the Jews to Israel than to supernaturally alter the laws of nature which he did in the first Exodus, i.e. the ten plagues and splitting of the sea.

And, yes, movies have been made about the Second Exodus, such as Cast a Giant Shadow, with Kirk Douglas. And, Exodus, with Paul Newman. Exodus is based on a gripping novel of the same name, written by Jewish author Leon Uris.

Summary

This past week, Israel celebrated its 66^th anniversary as a nation. For all practical purposes they once again celebrated their Second Exodus, greater in number and surpassing even the miracle of splitting the sea. For you see, it was accomplished through and a result of the greatest tragedy of all time, the Holocaust. Only God could possibly make something so good come out of something so horrible. Just like when he saved Jacob and his family (and also Egypt at the time) from certain death by famine through a series of supernaturally orchestrated natural events beginning when Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery.

Things to Ponder

Why don’t we take a moment to remember these things and rejoice with the Jews because they finally have a nation of their own, which was their land from the beginning? The only way that their solemn dream and promise, “Never again,” (meaning something like the Holocaust must never, ever happen again) could be accomplished was through a land of their own … that is Israel, the land given to them by God. We know the time is very, very short, because we are witnesses to the Second Exodus.

“Look and see, for everyone is coming home! Your sons are coming from distant lands; your little daughters will be carried home” (Isaiah 60:4).

“…You will know at last that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel” (Isaiah 60:16).

*Acknowledgment: In part, some of the subject of this article, Second Exodus and the phrase, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, was inspired from a March 24, 2013 article by Rabbi Tuly Weisz, entitled: Passover Miracles? You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet! Posted online through unitedwithisrael.org.

English words to Hatikvah:

As long as in the heart, within; A Jewish soul still years. And onward towards the ends of the east, An eye still gazes toward Zion.

Our hope is not yet lost, The hope of two thousand years; To be a free people in our land, The Land of Zion and Yerushalayim.

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~ "For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus" (Rev.19:10)

Tag Archives: Diaspora

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