In my last blog Israel – The Time of Jacob’s Trouble
we looked at the time of ‘great
tribulation’ the Israelis will pass through in the end times. We considered
the Jewish Anti-Christ who will rule Israel at this time; how he will cause the
Israelis to worship ‘the image to the
beast’. Thus, he makes the nation of Israel into idol worshippers.
In my blog Armageddon – Could it impact on you? We saw
that the king of the South [Egypt] attacks the Anti-Christ; provoking the king
of the North [Syria and her allies] to also attack the nation of Israel. The
king of the North conquers the nation and passes on to Egypt.
This is the time of ‘Jacob’s
trouble’ in Israel when “...two-thirds
in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third will be left in it.” (Zechariah
13:8).
The Lord Jesus Christ foretold this time of tribulation in Matthew
24:15-21, “Therefore when you see the
‘abomination of desolation’, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the
holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea
flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take
anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get
his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing
babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the
Sabbath. For then will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the
beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Let’s return to Zechariah for his prophecy about this time
in Israel. Zechariah 14:1, 2 tell us, “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil shall be divided
in your midst. For I will Gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the
city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut
off from the city.”
Israel is in extreme peril! There is no possible way any
human intervention can save the nation! Only God can save them out of this
terrible situation. Zechariah 14:3 states, “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He
fights in the day of battle.”
Matthew24:27
tells us, “For as the lightning comes
from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the Son of Man be.” The Lord Jesus Christ will suddenly appear as quickly as a
flash of lightning.
Let’s read on in Matthew 24:29, 30, “Immediately after the tribulation of those
days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars
will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the
sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the
earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory.”
Let’s pick up the time sequence from Zechariah 14:4, 5,
“And in that day His feet will stand on
the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives
will be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of
the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then
you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to
Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah
king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with you.”
Jerusalem will be saved by a great miracle; a huge
earthquake will occur when the Lord Jesus Christ stands on the Mount of Olives.
A huge valley will be formed for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea to flee
to safety.
Zechariah 14:12, 13 give us the judgement on the
invading nations. “...Their flesh shall
dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their
sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. It shall come to
pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone
will seize the hand of his neighbour, and raise his hand against his neighbour’s
hand.”
Revelation 19:19-21 tell us, “And I saw the beast [ruler of the revived Roman Empire], the kings of
the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat
on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured and with him the
false prophet [Anti-Christ] who worked signs in his presence, by which he
deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his
image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him
who sat on the horse. All the birds were filled with their flesh.”
From verse 16 of Revelation 19 we see that the One
who sits on the horse is ‘KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS’. The Israelis will be saved by their true Messiah; the
One whom they crucified on a cross at Calvary; on the outskirts of ancient
Jerusalem. In that day they will learn that this great Saviour is indeed Jesus
of Nazareth; the One who was crucified, died, was buried and rose again
triumphant. They will learn that He is the King of the Jews – the true King of
Israel!
Zechariah 12:10, 11 state, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of
Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom
they pierced. Yes they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and
grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a
great mourning in Jerusalem...” Verses
12 to 14 show us that the whole land of Israel will mourn for their
Messiah; when they will acknowledge they crucified their true King and He it is
who saved them from total destruction.
Let’s close this blog with some verses from Romans
11:33-36.
“Oh, the depth of the
riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements
and His ways past finding out. ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who
has become His counsellor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid
to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory
forever. Amen.”
Jon Peasey
[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version]
No comments:
Post a Comment