Jerusalem in Prophecy

Jerusalem in Prophecy

Collin Leong. November 4, 2016

Anyone who had visited Israel as a tourist in the last two decades will easily testify how prosperous that nation has become. Israel has one of the most advanced technologies in agriculture, water treatment, military and computer software. It is a net exporter of fruits, flowers, vegetables, water and communications technologies.

This is remarkable from a nation that achieved independence in 1948, consisting of a small number of Jews (about 800,000) who migrated from all over the world after facing a genocide during World War 2 that killed two-thirds of their race in Europe. Before then, the land was largely a desert, populated by nomadic Arabic goat herders.  Today (2016), Israel has about 8.5 million Jewish citizens.

Even more remarkable is that Israel is surrounded by several rich Arabic nations that hated her and bent towards wiping her out of existence. More than 15 wars have been waged against her by the coalition of her much larger neighbours since the independence until today.  Israel not only survived but enlarged her territory in each war.

Are the Jews and is Israel just lucky? No experts who studied the survival of that nation think it's a matter of luck. Israel has been called a nation that shouldn’t exist.  Surviving the desolated land and the enemies had been called “miraculous.” No nations in history that has been destroyed ever came back into existence, and this is after almost 1900 years of disappearance. 

The fact that it is so improbable that such a nation could exist makes the ancient Biblical prophecies so much more significant. In understanding Biblical prophecies, we see the power of God and that He is still in control of world events, and if so, then we also know He is in control of our lives’ circumstances.  We can also see God’s faithfulness – whatever He had promised, He has done it and we can be sure that other promises yet to be fulfilled will surely come.  Most of all we see where God’s  heart is – His uncompromising Holiness and Justice against sinners, but also his infinite love for mankind for whom His redemption plan has been fully revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ, the prophesied Messiah.  

The study of prophecies can be complex.  More than a quarter of our Bible’s content is prophetic, “fore-telling” in nature. If prophecies are not important for our understanding (at least at basic level), then I’m sure God would not have asked us to carry around that extra content. In fact, Paul considers prophecies as a “elementary doctrine” for all new Christians to be aware of! (Hebrews 6:2)

God chose to give pieces of the puzzles to different prophets (including the New Testament writers) across thousands of years, and we have to be able to string them up to understand the timelines of when each event will happen. In many cases, the writers had problems describing the visions given to them, because the things they saw in the 21st century did not exist in their time. (Example, how would you describe tanks and planes in 1000BC?) 

Also, some prophecies have dual fulfillment – once shortly after the time of the prophecy was given, and possibly again at the end times.  This is likened to viewing a mountain range from afar, where the mountain peaks appear to be at the same distance from the observer.  However, as you get to the first mountain, you realise that the next mountain are miles ahead. Likewise, prophecies can be partially fulfilled in the past, but the history may repeat itself again in the future. Subtle hints in the prophetic passages as well as cross-referencing help to tell us which part is in the past and which part is still waiting for God’s timing in the future. 

For this study, which is given a very limited time of 30-40 minutes, our purpose is not to go deep into analysis, but to paint an end-to-end picture about the revealed prophecies of Israel.  Prophecies about Israel were given as early as 1400BC (by Moses) to 90 AD (by Apostle John). It would be challenging to give an overview, much less explaining every prophecy fulfilled. Our study this session focuses only on the time of Israel's independence till the end-times.

In coming up with a framework to describe Israel’s prophetic past and future, I noticed that one COMMON thing that MAJOR prophecies revolved around is the Jewish Temple.  Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied about the destruction of Solomon’s temple, but also the rebuilding of a second temple after the Babylonian 70-year exile. Jesus prophesied that the second temple would be destroyed because Jerusalem did not recognize “the time of the visitation” of the Messiah.  John wrote in Revelation that a 3rd Temple will be built during the 7-year tribulation period.  And Finally, Ezekiel described in great detail a measurement of a fourth temple, which by description, can only be placed AFTER the 7-year tribulation period where Christ reigns on Earth. These “Temple Milestones” give a firm anchor or handle for new students to place the rest the events. This framework diagram is illustrated below:

The prophecies of Israel is essentially the drama of God's relationship with the chosen people - a people who were very loved and blessed, yet a people that keeps going astray and getting into trouble. God's salvation plan for the world comes through the Jews, yet the Jews themselves rejected that plan. Paul explained this fully in Romans 11, summarized in verses 25-29: "A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in... Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs. For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable."

As a result of Israel's failure to recognize their own Messiah and even today is largely a secular government that leaves God out of the picture, the scriptures have prophesied for thousand of years that God will deal with them and bring their hearts back to God in the end-days. Zechariah wrote: 

“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, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 

(Zec 13:10) 

In conclusion, the study of prophecies must also produce a change in our mind-set, perspective and even our life priorities.  The study of Israel should prompt us to ask “What is the similarity between Israel and me? In terms of character, sin, failures, etc.” and “How does God’s affection and dealing with Israel teach me about His character and how He feels about me?”  Finally, from end-times prophecies, we know that Christ can come anytime and call us up to be with Him. We may not have the 20 or 30 years we think we still have on earth. If Christ were to come tomorrow, what will your plans be for today? Who do we need to reconcile with? Who of our love ones will be left behind? 

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

Rev 22:16,12-13,7

The full presentation slides (about 30+ pages) used for the interactive study are not uploaded here. If you would like a copy, please write to collin.leong@gmail.com.