Israel In Her Crisis

The crisis of Israel hurts the heart of every true Bible believer. It is impossible not to bleed with this chosen people – His chosen people – as we watch the noose tighten toward the ultimate day of “JacobÂ’s Trouble.” It cannot be avoided regardless of how much we love them, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, or obey every commandment to be IsraelÂ’s friend. These things we must do in obedience to our and their God, the God of these special people. Listen carefully to the words of the Gospel writer Apostle Paul. He said, “For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.” (Romans 11:30-31) Our mercy to Israel at this conjuncture is ordered of God as time progresses to their salvation.

Israel, as a nation, but not all Jews, is in a very dark state of unbelief as it relates to Jesus Christ. There are thousands of these dear people who love the First Testament and are waiting for the Messiah that has already come. They are blinded to this fact and still read their Bible with scales on their eyes. Their nation and all of its geography, both present and promised, cannot progress to freedom and lasting prosperity until those scales of unbelief are removed. There are many very sincere Christians that want Israel to possess their homeland and to simply drive out the interloping Palestinians, but the prophetic Word would be violated in the process. All of our Biblical love of Israel will never alter the “timeline of truth.”

The Son of God has set the exact date when Israel will be free of non-Jews as violent possessors and troublemakers within her boundaries. Pray and scream until you are heard all over the world and you will cause more trouble than good. The date cannot and will not be altered. There is no fact that proves the Pre-Tribulational Rapture more beautifully than the political processes visible right now in world politics relating to Israel. The Jew-haters will be thoroughly defeated and judged according to the Word of God. If they are going to be judged by God, then they have got to be out there doing the things for which they are going to be judged. It is time for the saints of God who believe to rejoice over the developing conditions because our God, not the devil, is the architect. We must hurt as we watch the sorrows growing, but rejoice as we consider the outcome which will be the total salvation of the Jewish people to the Biblical Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The date that Jesus Christ hath set is at the end of “Jacob’s Trouble” which is the Biblical “Seven Years of Great Tribulation.” Christ’s words are very specific. “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (St. Luke 21:20-24)

Both Daniel their prophet and John the Second Testament prophet have confirmed this dark future of unparalleled trouble coming to Jerusalem. Those religious ideas of Post-Millenialism, A-millenialism, Preterism, and Dominion Theology are hopeless to see the coming hour. To many people, Israel is nothing but a sore spot with no prophetic future, while others want to sidestep the present trouble, as well as the even greater future sorrows, for these chosen people. The truth is that truth is on perfect target right now and will not fail.

When President Bush is attacked for supporting the peace processes (as destined to totally collapse), those attackers just do not get it. He has no power to change IsraelÂ’s present troubles. These troubles are the result of their own unbelief and spiritual darkness, and the great God is directing the process to strip them of their haughtiness and bring them to their knees. Yes, they are enemies for the GospelÂ’s sake but beloved for the FatherÂ’s sake. “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” (Romans 11:28) The Father loves them so much that He will bring this prophesied judgment upon Jerusalem and His chosen people so that the ultimate will be “glory for them beyond description.” GodÂ’s path is always through sorrow to joy and never the other way around.

The present “Positive Thinking Christianity” is the greatest system of heresy the church world has ever fostered. It defies the Cross of Calvary, the dark experiences of Israel’s past, and the whole New Testament. If we could eliminate man’s sin nature, we could adopt the “Positive Thinking” false gospel. This is the very same problem in understanding Israel’s present trouble and future hope. The Jewish people and nation must be redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, not by missiles and armies. All Israel can do at present is seek a compromised peace. It will be costly at best and a disaster at worst until the Prince of Peace is welcomed into the Eastern Gate and crowned King of Kings.

To prophetic-inspired eyes, what is happening is breathtaking; sad, but breathtaking. We must not be poured into the mold of an unrealistic mindset that refuses to see the obvious. The Bible makes Israel’s future plain as well as that of the nations and the believers in Christ’s imminent Rapture of His saints. It’s all a Bible mystery that cannot be understood without Holy Ghost inspiration and a literal interpretation of Scripture. The Apostle Paul said, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” (Romans 11:25-26) Note his reference to men: “wise in their own conceits.” What a description of the majority of the religious scholars (?) that have attacked either “Israel”, the “Pre-Tribulation Rapture”, the “future one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem”, or the “Great Tribulation of Seven Years.” The entire history of modern Israel and the beauty of their future glory all come to light when the eschatological truths are kept in Biblical order. Remember, “The truth is that truth is on perfect target right now and will not fail.”

Joseph R. Chambers