On May 14, 1948, two minutes after midnight, the nation of Israel was officially regathered according to Bible prophecy. The fig tree of Matthew 24 was blooming after two millennia of dormancy
"For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place."Jeremiah 29:10 (KJV)
On May 14, 1948, in Tel Aviv, Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion
proclaims the State of Israel, establishing the first Jewish state in 2,000 years. In an afternoon ceremony at the Tel Aviv Art Museum, Ben-Gurion pronounced the words “We hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine, to be called Israel,” prompting applause and tears from the crowd gathered at the museum. Ben-Gurion became Israel’s first premier.
In Matthew 24, a chapter devoted almost exclusively to the Jews in the time of Jacob's trouble, Jesus gives a really important time clue. He says that when we would see the "fig tree in bloom", a reference to the nation of Israel, that that would be the official start of the end times, or last days mentioned throughout Bible prophecy.
"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." Matthew 24:32, 33 (KJV)
We believe that the blooming of the fig tree officially began when Israel was regathered back in their own land after nearly 2,000 years of dispersion. This was the first formal regathering but it will not be the last. The one that the Bible has in view ultimately is the final regathering of Israel at the end of the time of Jacob's trouble when Jesus returns to vanquish the Antichrist and his evil hordes at the Battle of Armageddon.
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When the fig tree bloomed again in 1948, is started a minimum 70 year time period that, when finished, will have included the
great falling away of the Church, the end of the Church Age
in the Rapture, and the start of
the time of Jacob's trouble. As I write this article on the 23rd day of April, 2017, we are roughly 13 months away from the 70th anniversary of the regathering of Israel. 70 is a very important number in the Bible, and in Bible prophecy in particular.
But before we continue, it's important to remind ourselves first of the following:
- THE JEWS WERE REGATHERED IN UNBELIEF: At the time, in 1948, newspaper headlines made many references and allusions to Old Testament scriptures about God regathering His chosen people, and for a brief period the people who were fresh off of Hitler's Holocaust gave the God of Abraham the glory. But it didn't last long. Today, hospitals in Israel perform late-term third trimester abortions, and Tel Aviv is considered the premier LGBTQP capital of the world, eclipsing that of San Francisco and Greenwich Village in New York City. The Boston Globe calls Tel Aviv "the gayest city on Earth". Israel celebrates what God destroyed both Sodom and Gomorrah for, let that sink in for a moment.
- THE JEWS STILL REJECT THEIR MESSIAH: In the book of Romans, Paul weeps over the lost condition of his Jewish brethren, and wishes he could somehow get them to see that Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Scriptures. In Israel today, there is a growing number of Messianic believers, but the overwhelming majority reject the claims of Jesus.
- THE JEWS WILL FOLLOW THE ANTICHRIST AND BUILD HIM A TEMPLE: In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul shows us that after the Rapture of the Church, the Antichrist is revealed in what is called the "strong delusion". Not only that, Jesus in Matthew 24 directs us to Daniel 9:27 (KJV) and shows us the Antichrist sitting in the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple.
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All that now leads us to May 14, 2018, the 70th anniversary of regathered Israel:
Please note that this article is in no way setting a date for the Rapture of the Church, or a date for the start of the time of Jacob's trouble. But it is presented to show you some very real possibilities for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy in the very near future.
The prophet Jeremiah in chapter 30 and verse 7 makes a reference to something he calls the "time of Jacob's trouble", which is the same thing Jesus mentions in Matthew 24 when He talks about the coming time of "great tribulation".
“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:7 (KJV)
But just one chapter before that, Jeremiah mentions something that immediately preceded that, a visitation from the Lord after 70 years. Historically this is talking about the Jews in Babylonian captivity, but is also a prophecy of the Jews in the time of Jacob's trouble in the end times.
"For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place."Jeremiah 29:10 (KJV)
It is interesting to note that in the book of Revelation, Jesus says that in the time of Jacob's trouble Israel will be like "Sodom and Egypt". (Remember the Boston Globe article calling Tel Aviv the "gayest city on Earth"?) They have turned so far away from the LORD that this is how God now views them.
"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." Revelation 11:8 (KJV)
But Revelation also directs our attention to spiritual Babylon that has now trapped the Jews just like physical Babylon did in Jeremiah's day.
"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."Revelation 17:4,5 (KJV)
So I ask you, those of you who are Bible believers and understand that there is much prophecy yet to be fulfilled, is it possible that sometime around the 70th anniversary of the regathering of the nation of Israel, could the LORD be planning to once again visit Israel and His chosen people the Jews?
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If so, then wouldn't that of necessity place the Rapture of the Church before that visit? Yes, it would. The Church has no place in the time of JACOB'S trouble, it is Israel's final refinement according to the Bible.
"Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." Amos 3:1,2 (KJV)
The 70th anniversary of regathered Israel is 13 months away, and there are only 3 possibilities for what is mentioned in this article. It is possible that 1). some of it could happen, 2). none of it could happen, or 3). all of it could happen.
Are YOU ready for what comes next?
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