Why May 1948? (Part 2)

See the series here

 

In Missed Insights about Genesis 12:3 (Series), I note the majority of The Lord’s MASSIVE land grant to Abram and his descendants, has since been occupied, not by Jacob’s descendants, but by the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s first son. Jacob’s descendants were only able to capture a sliver of that massive land grant. Moreover, because of their lifestyles, The Lord allowed even that sliver of land to ‘vomit’ them out, iteratively, into protracted periods of exile. Rather than being His special, separated (i.e, holy) people, they wanted to ‘be with, and just like everybody else’. Thus, The Lord allowed them to live their dream. Biblical and secular history attest their ’fall from His Grace’, created patterned opportunities for satan’s crew to persecute and oppress them via the reactions they would receive from people whom they wanted to be among and alike.

A less mentioned rationale for their lengthy exiles was for the portion of the land they had conquered, to ‘enjoy her sabbaths’—one year of rest for every seven years of their occupancy. (See: Leviticus 26 and 2 Chronicles 36) That is a curious concept for us to grasp today, since we view land as an inanimate object. Thus, we totally miss The Lord’s perspective about that land, and the Earth, in general. See His several prophetic references to Earth as ‘her’. His perspective reveals something very significant about the land Jacob’s descendants had occupied. The perpetual covenants their ancestors had entered into with Him, included the land, itself. So ponder this: 

 

The Almighty granted to His covenant people,

whom He ‘called out’ to be unique and separated (i.e., holy),

the portion of covenant land they would conquer,

yet while occupying that land, they were/and are today,

just as sinful as all other peoples across the world!

 

Their lifestyles, then and now, invalidated the covenants, and testified that, spiritually speaking, they did not belong there. Today, they cling to the land promise, while ignoring or failing to understand The Lord’s critical quid pro quo that connects-the-dots between the covenants and the land!! Yet, as in times past, His Mercy allowed subsequent generations to return to the land for their time of testing and proving. As His Grace quietly winds down, they will increasingly encounter His predicted, pivotal downturns, before the majority of them will be vomited out, but unlike before!

 

On that foundation, let’s explore some pending downturns that await Jacob’s descendants both in Israel, and across the world.

 

Predicted, Pivotal Downturns

 

1. Time of Jacob’s Troubles: The Old Testament is chock full of troubles Jacob’s descendants encountered. It also predicts a spate of major, future troubles. 

 

Context: Jeremiah 30:1-7 and many other passages point to latter day troubles, which 

might include those since May 1948, and pending troubles during the 4th age—the tribulation age of our history. That chapter emphatically identifies the reasons for all their past and future troubles—their increasingly gross sinfulness. Since then, not much has changed--not that they were more sinful than any other people. But they were under covenant, and in covenant land, being as sinful as all other people! To convey His angst and more warnings, The Lord dispatched many prophets, most of whom were slaughtered. Thus, He promised great times of troubles for Jacob’s descendants in these latter days.

 

2. Third Temple ‘Trigger’: The establishment of modern Israel serves as a requirement for the predicted construction, and eventual defilement of a 3rd Jewish temple during the pending tribulation age.

 

Context: Just as Jesus accurately predicted the destruction of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem, Paul predicted the construction of a future Temple. It will be on the site known to Jews as the temple mount, which is currently the site of the Muslim Al Asqa compound for going on 2 centuries. This 3rd temple will be necessary to fulfill a prophecy that the anti-Christ global leader will defile it, and will thus, trigger the 42-month-long, global apocalypse. No Israel today or before The Millennial Reign, means no 3rd temple in Jerusalem for the anti-Christ to defile, and ergo, no apocalypse! This reveals the impeccable strategic planning across the entire Bible! 

 

Do you perceive a parallel between this point, and why Judeans had to be released from Babylonian captivity well in advance of the birth of Jesus as a man? 

Hint: Think 2nd Temple, etc.

 

3. A Global Burden: Jerusalem has been giving the world a proverbial hernia as nations try to ‘lift a massive, geopolitical stone’. 

 

Context: Zechariah 12:1-3 records The Lord’s stark promise that pretty much ‘feels like' what the world has been experiencing with Israel ever since May 1948! I even wondered whether His intent may have included giving the whole world, in this 3rd age, a ‘taste’ of what He experienced for many centuries in His dealings with whom He repeatedly called ‘a stiff-necked’, covenant-breaking people. A careful reading of this passage also hints it will also extend across the 4th age as well. For example, ponder the global problems might trigger (a) what may well be a 4th, hasty, global, Jewish migration, and later, (b) Armageddon, at the end of the apocalypse. Try to perceive The Lord's awesome strategy.

 

4. Jacob’s Regathered Remnant: May 1948 initiates The Lord’s promised, multi-stage regathering of all of Jacob’s living descendants to the entire covenant land, not only to the sliver of land their ancestors had conquered, and that Israel occupies today. See: IsraRan (Series).

 

Context: Since Jacob was renamed Israel, his seed has been exceedingly fruitful. His diaspora has likely flooded every continent, and mixed with all peoples. Yet The Lord has His criteria for who will be included in His multi-stage regathering campaign. While there are many Biblical predictions about this regathering, following are the ones that appear to indicate general timeframes:

 

    o  Ezekiel 37 summarizes a vision of a valley of dry bones that are progressively transformed into an exceedingly great, alive army. The early steps of the transformation process might best represent the first stage of The Lord’s regathering campaign—the May 1948 re-establishment of Israel as a nation—an exceedingly great, yet upright standing army of dry bones, yet with no breath. The Bible correlates breath, with spirit and especially with a living, spiritual relationship with The Lord. The latter parts of Ezekiel 37 and 39 reveal Israel will only receive its ‘spiritual breath’ during the Millennial Reign age, possibly right after The Lord's predicted purging of the post-apocalyptic, Jewish diaspora. (Zechariah 13:8-9)

 

    o  Isaiah 26:20-21 and Zechariah 10:8-12 predict what might be the second stage of The Lord’s campaign--a pre-apocalypse regathering (migration) of so many Jews from across the world, that they will spill-over into Gilead (N. Jordan) and Lebanon. I intuit this might be the 4th of 5 hasty Jewish migrations across their history. I also intuit this could possibly be the population, in a greatly over-populated Israel, that might experience the predicted Ezekiel 38 coalition invasion, and The Lord’s ‘Goshen effect’-type protection, possibly during the apocalypse. (See: First Ukraine, Next Israel’s Terrain? and Revelation – Future Attacks in Israel)

 

    o  Zechariah 12:10 and 13:8-9 predict what might be the third stage of The Lord’s campaign--a post-apocalypse regathering when The Lord promises to purge the remaining global population of Jacob’s descendants, down to only a third who will embrace Him as The Messiah, and thus be qualified to enter into The Millennial Reign age. This unimaginable event hints there will be many Jews who will REJECT Jesus as the Messiah, just as their 1st century AD ancestors rejected Him, and promoted His crucifixion. It is also possible that many of them will have received the anti-Christ's mark of the beast during the 4th age, and will be qualified (a) to be purged, and (b) to share in the judgment The Lord prepared for satan and his crew--eternity as immortal beings in a brimstone-lit lake of fire. 

Those who will survive His purging will serve as the equivalent of ‘Adam and Eve’ or ‘Noah’s family’, to repopulate Jacob’s descendants during the Millennial Reign age. (See: Ezekiel 39:21-29)

 

5. LEARNING the Key Lesson: Ever since their release from Egypt, The Lord has worked diligently to teach Jacob’s descendants that He, and He ALONE is their defense!!!

 

Context: Israel and Judah never learned that key lesson. They preferred to negotiate and count on military alliances with various nations in their region--seeking protection from visible, human power, instead of reliance on the invisible Lord. In response, The Lord periodically allowed them to taste defeat when their alliances failed to show-up in times of need. In light of this repetitive pattern, it is safe to presume The Lord allowed the reconstitution of Israel, so Jacob’s descendants, worldwide, will begin to encounter situations that will FORCE them to learn this lesson!! Ezekiel 38:13 and Armageddon emphatically emphasize this strategic plan.

 

Part 3 will review the ‘land math’ and some relevant implications of Jacob’s descendants’ ‘yo-yo’ relationship with the covenant land their ancestors had occupied.

See Part 3