Will Britain stand with Israel in the end times?

Not forgetting Messiah Yeshua – the real Saviour of the Jews

Don’t be distracted from the greatest sign of Jesus’ soon return

Judgment might be inevitable – but it isn’t the end of the story.

Lord’s prayer starts with plea for return of exiles

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Restoration’ by D Thomas Lancaster (2016, First Fruits of Zion).

Paul Luckraft reviews Stephen Bishop’s latest book on the questions posed by Jesus.

This is the latest book from Stephen Bishop, the first title under his own new publishing label, and taking a slightly different format to his previous books, which lends itself well to the book’s purpose. Bishop has chosen 31 of the 300+ questions that Jesus asked, giving each a chapter and challenging us to face up to what God might still be asking us personally and directly today.

Hebraic Discipleship

The introduction sets the scene well by considering why questions are so prevalent in the Gospels. Usually, they are not mere requests for information but are intended to challenge. They demand a response rather than a reply, and are often designed to open something up in the life of the hearer.

Jesus asked his disciples questions as part of their training. He chose questions that really matter - and if we are to be his disciples today, we must face the same questions he asked them. This way, we become more aware of ourselves and what we really think about certain topics and ideas. We then have the chance to allow him to change us.

Jesus asked his disciples questions as part of their training; if we are to be his disciples today, we must face the same questions he asked them.

Taking Jesus’ Questions Personally

Bishop organises the questions in his book into four themed sections: questions about realisation, about restoration, about reaction and about reflection. Each chapter is just three or four pages long, with a single word title which is intended to highlight the essence of the question.

Jesus asked his disciples questions as part of their training; if we are to be his disciples today, we must face the same questions he asked them.

For instance, the first chapter, ‘Searching’, considers the young Jesus’ double-barrelled question to his parents, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). After a brief and helpful consideration of the passage from which this is taken, Bishop concludes the chapter with a challenge for us, “Are you searching for God…in the right place?” (p16).

As with all chapters, he then provides a short selection of further questions for personal reflection (though these would also be ideal for discussion in a group study).

Each chapter follows the same format. The question is quoted, then the passage from which it is taken is referenced so that we can read it again in context. Before the brief exposition there is usually an amusing story or illustration from real life to ease us into what the author wants us to learn and the challenge that might face us. Finally, three or four further questions are offered to allow us to continue to reflect either on the passage or our own personal circumstances.

Jesus’ questions demand a response rather than a reply, and are often designed to open something up in the life of the hearer.

Transformative Devotions

This is an excellent book from a writer who is now well into his stride as a communicator and educator. He is well-informed, often humorous, and makes you want to keep on reading - although I suspect the full benefits of the book would come with taking a chapter a day. Here is a month’s worth of daily devotions that could transform your walk with the Lord.

Jesus’ questions demand a response rather than a reply, and are often designed to open something up in the life of the hearer.

In particular, it is good training in how to read the Bible better. Every time you come across a question - and there are many throughout Scripture, not just the Gospels - then stop and think. Is this for me? Are you asking me, God?

‘Are You Asking Me, God? Facing questions that matter’ (Bible-Bish-Books, 2018, 132pp) is available from Amazon for £5.99.

Prophecy Today UK has also reviewed the following books by Stephen Bishop:

• Finding a Place to Settle: The Book of Ruth: Learning to Find God-Gifted Identity (Zaccmedia, 2016)
• Time: Full Stop or Question Mark? (Zaccmedia, 2017)
• Two Minutes Added On (Zaccmedia, 2018)

Read more about the author in our 2018 interview, here.

God's plans for the faithful remnant.

The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. Go, proclaim this message towards the North: ‘Return, faithless Israel’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not be angry for ever. Only acknowledge your guilt – you have rebelled against the Lord your God, you have scattered your favours to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me, declares the Lord.’” (Jeremiah 3:11-13)

This pronouncement is said to have been given to Jeremiah “During the reign of King Josiah” (Jer 3:6) which makes it one of the earliest words given to the Prophet, as Josiah died in 608 BC when Jeremiah was still a young man, probably in his 20s.

If we compare this word to that given in the year 587 BC, more than 20 years after Josiah’s death, we find Jeremiah still talking about a promise of restoration to Israel, the Northern Kingdom. That promise was given when Jeremiah was being held in the gatehouse of the guard (Jer 33:14) just before the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar’s army, which reveals the life-time commitment of Jeremiah to the message of restoration and to unity between the two houses of Israel, North and South.

Calling Back the Remnant

This message is all the more remarkable when we remember that Jeremiah never knew the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which had been destroyed by the Assyrians about one hundred years before he began his ministry.

The city of Samaria had been destroyed and the whole Northern Kingdom of Israel overrun by the Assyrians who carried out ethnic cleansing, deporting whole communities and resettling them in different parts of the Assyrian Empire, while replacing the Israelites with people from Babylon and other parts of their Empire (2 Kings 17:24). Historically this began the formation of the mixed-race people known as the Samaritans, who were still around at the time of Jesus.

Jeremiah had a life-time commitment to the message of restoration for both houses of Israel, North and South.

Jeremiah firmly believed that it was God’s purpose at the end of a period of exile to bring together the remnants of both peoples, those of Israel and those of Judah, who were scattered around the old Assyrian and Babylonian empires. They would be brought back to the land originally promised to their forefathers, but there would no longer be any tribal differences: they would be one people in a covenant relationship with God who declared “I will be their God and they will be my people” (Jer 31:33).

Message of Hope

This word from the Lord pronounced by Jeremiah must have come as a wonderful message of love and mercy from God to the remnant of Israel still in the land. They must have felt lost and abandoned after the disaster that had befallen Samaria and the whole Northern Kingdom. It appeared that God had deserted them and that there was no hope of redemption from the yoke of Assyria. But this beautiful word of hope from Jeremiah would have brought them great joy.

A similar word was given in Babylon to the remnant of Judah, to whom Isaiah was sent by God with a message of restoration: “‘For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,’ says the Lord your Redeemer” (Isa 54:7-8).

This is similar to the promise given in Isaiah 49:15: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will never forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hand.”

The promise of restoration given to Jeremiah was conditional upon the response of the faithful remnant. He was told to go and proclaim the message towards the North: “Return, faithless people, for I am your husband. I will choose you – one from a town and two from a clan – and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:14-15).

The promise of restoration given to Jeremiah was conditional upon the response of the faithful remnant.

Preserving a Remnant

This promise is of great significance for us today. When a nation comes under judgment or grave misfortune that has been brought upon them by their own foolishness or falling away from the truth, everyone suffers – the righteous and the unrighteous, the guilty and the faithful. But God recognises that there is always a faithful remnant, even in times of judgment and national catastrophe.

They are the ones who provide the seed of renewal, the hope for the future – the tiny number of faithful believers who have not surrendered to foreign gods but who have remained faithful to the God of their fathers, the God of the Bible who gave his word of truth to Moses.

This promise says that God would summon “one from a town and two from a clan”: these precious individuals who had remained faithful to God, he intended to bring together into a new relationship with himself (the fulfilment of the New Covenant given first as a promise to the house of Israel and the house of Judah in Jeremiah 31 and opened to Gentiles through Jesus).

This faithful remnant would be used by God for the salvation and restoration of the whole nation – for a fresh outpouring of his cleansing, refreshing and empowering Holy Spirit that would bring resurrection life to the nation.

Sowing Life

While these promises were originally given to Israel and Judah, we can learn important principles from them that apply to us today. God loves to use small numbers for carrying out his purposes as he used Gideon’s 300 to save the whole nation. In the same way, God preserves a small number in every generation who remain faithful through the darkest days.

At the right time he turns to them and uses them as the seedbed for sowing life into the soil of the land; as the kindle for lighting the fires of revival that spread across the countryside from village to village and town to town, until all the people lift up their heads again and come to Zion, to the God of Creation, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He is the One who has given the true faith for all time: who so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever shall believe in him will have eternal life.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

Freshwater fish found in surrounding sinkholes: is ancient prophecy being fulfilled?

A remarkable thing happened to me last week. I was studying the Book of Ezekiel in preparation for a weekend retreat when a friend forwarded news of another sign pointing to the imminent return of Jesus.

One of Ezekiel’s famous prophecies – widely thought to be allegorical rather than literal – may be about to be fulfilled, just as he said it would 2,600 years ago!

In short, life has been found at the Dead Sea!¹ Fresh water is now flowing into this Rift Valley expanse that has been unable to support life since the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah thousands of years ago, useful only for drawing tourists to sample its healing properties while floating unsupported. And freshwater fish have now been seen swimming in the surrounding sinkholes that have opened up in recent years as the sea, made up of 33% salt, has been receding.

New Life Foretold

In chapter 47 of Ezekiel, who prophesied while in exile in Babylon from 597 BC, the Prophet describes a vision of an increasingly deep river flowing from the Temple in Jerusalem down towards the Dead Sea, bringing new life wherever it flows and supporting the same kind of fish as those inhabiting the Mediterranean.

Ezekiel wrote:

He said to me: ‘This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah [the Jordan Valley], where it enters the Sea [the Dead Sea]. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea [the Mediterranean]. (Ezek 47:8-10)

The vision comes amid the latter part of the book dealing with the promised restoration of the Jewish people to both their Land and their Lord. And I believe the ‘resurrection’ of the dead stretch of water reflects a time (near the end of the age) when the fortunes of Israel – long forsaken and persecuted – will be turned around.

I believe the ‘resurrection’ of the dead stretch of water reflects a time (near the end of the age) when the fortunes of Israel will be turned around.

This is what the world is now witnessing, with the Jewish state emerging as a major player on the world scene with a thriving economy borne out of extraordinary innovation.

At the same time there is a growing movement of those who believe that Jesus is the long-promised Jewish Messiah, fulfilling the word that when the Jews are finally restored from all the nations to which they were dispersed because of forsaking God’s ways, they would be given a ‘new heart’ and, as with the Dead Sea, cleansed and ‘sprinkled clean’ of their sins (Ezek 36:24-26).

You’d Better Believe It!

Dead Sea sinkholes. See Photo Credits.The freshwater life that is returning to the shores of the Dead Sea may not be a total fulfilment of Ezekiel’s extraordinary vision – but it certainly heralds the fulfilment to come.

You can be sure that all prophecy in Scripture will be fulfilled to the letter. Around three-quarters of Ezekiel’s predictions (and 81% of Bible prophecies on the whole) have already been fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy.²

Take, for example, his prophecy of Tyre’s downfall. The Eastern Mediterranean fishing port would, he said, one day be razed to the ground and thrown into the sea, and the bare rock where it once stood would become a place for fishermen to dry their nets (Ezek 26).

No other city, before or since, has ever been thrown into the sea, writes author and Bible teacher David Pawson in his masterful work Unlocking the Bible. “When Alexander the Great came marching down towards Egypt with his great army, the people of Tyre simply got into their fishing boats and sailed to the island half-a-mile offshore, knowing that Alexander had an army but not a navy.”³

But when Alexander saw this, he commanded that every brick, every stone and every piece of timber in the city be used to build a causeway to the island, after which his army went across and defeated the people of Tyre.

Even today, fishermen’s nets are spread out on the bare rock of old Tyre, just as Ezekiel prophesied, while the modern city is out on the island with sand having silted up against Alexander’s causeway. If it’s in the Bible, you’d better believe it!

You can be sure that all prophecy in Scripture will be fulfilled to the letter.

Personal Blessings

Ezekiel also had a profound impact on my personal life almost exactly 18 years ago when a verse from chapter 9 confirmed to my then-new girlfriend Linda that she should marry me! I was widowed at the time and she had asked the Lord for assurance as to whether I was the right choice for her life’s partner. He subsequently spoke to her heart directly from a rather obscure verse which told of “a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side” (Ezek 9:2).

The Lord then said to her: “I want you to support the man with the writing kit!” And of course I’m forever grateful for that. I couldn’t believe the extraordinary change in her demeanour towards me when I next called at her home. She had heard from the Lord – and that changed everything!

Momentous Times

But we can all be assured that God is returning to his holy city because the end of this prophetic book actually tells us that it will be named ‘The Lord is there’ – a wonderful thought also reflected in Charles Wesley’s hymn on Christ’s return, which includes the majestic line, “God appears on earth to reign!” (see Zech 14:4).

A river of life from God’s throne is also depicted on the last page of the Bible in the Book of Revelation, which is all about what will happen in the days immediately preceding the Second Coming.

The biblical symbolism of life from the dead relates both to Israel (see Rom 11:15) and their Messiah. We are living in momentous times that could well usher in the return of our Lord. Watch and pray so that you (and your loved ones) are not caught unawares.

References

1 Rudee, E. Ezekiel's end-of-days vision revealed: Dead Sea coming to life. Breaking Israel News, 4 October 2018.

2 Unlocking the Bible, David Pawson.

2 Ibid.

A step on the way, not the final destination.

The cry of the captives from Judah recorded in Psalm 137:1, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion”, has echoed down over the 2,500 years since the Babylonian captivity.

Similarly, for every Jewish household around the world at Passover, the heart-cry of “Next year in Jerusalem” expresses the longing and expectation of return to the homeland. It should be no surprise, then, that we at Prophecy Today constantly express our sympathy and support for Israel and affirm the nation’s God-given, historical and legal right to the Land.

Nevertheless, in this article I want to remind readers that the Jewish return to the Land from around the globe is a step along the way, rather than a final destination.

Bringing Balance

We can debate endlessly whether the political movement called Zionism is a work of man or an act of God, and in so doing miss the bigger picture. The bigger picture is of the covenant purposes of God and how he will fulfil these. We have to face up to the reality not only of history, but of what is prophesied for the future.

Though this fallen world is still awaiting redemption, God has nevertheless been working his covenant purposes out throughout history. As part of this, immense events of deep significance have been allowed, each of which open our eyes in some way to the nature and depth of his restorative purposes. For example:

• The Great Flood at the time of Noah
  
• The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
  
• The captivity of Israel by the Assyrians
  
• The captivity of Judah by the Babylonians
  
• The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans
  
• The 2000-year diaspora of the Jews, followed by a multitude of pogroms and persecutions, including
  
• The Holocaust

And, standing alone for its purpose in covenant history –

• The crucifixion of Jesus the Messiah as the atoning sacrifice for sin.

I include this list to argue that we must dig deeper than relatively short-term, political arguments if we are to put the return to Zion (a name for Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel) into true biblical perspective and move towards a balanced understanding of what is happening today.

We can debate endlessly whether the political movement called Zionism is a work of man or an act of God, and in so doing miss the bigger picture.

Fulfilment of Prophecy

At this deeper level of understanding, the Babylonian captivity (the first exile from the Land) and the global diaspora from AD 70 until 1947 (the second exile) are fulfilments of scriptural prophecies and are consequences of the Jews not heeding prophetic warnings.

A pivotal Scripture is Deuteronomy 28, which sets out clearly under the terms of what we now call the ‘Old Covenant’ what will happen to the Jewish people if they obey the Law given through Moses and what will happen if they fail to obey.¹ There are amazing promises of blessing for obedience. Sustained, wilful disobedience has consequences too:

And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other… (Deut 28:63-64)

Many religious Jews know this full well. We do not need to stress to them the responsibility of their calling and heritage, nor the importance of repentance. For example, Rabbi Jacob Berman writes:

Because of the sins of our forefathers, we were driven from our land, the land of Israel. Exile, dispersion and suffering caused many of our people to neglect the study of the holy language [Hebrew], to forget the Torah and to assimilate among the gentiles. But God has promised the eternity of the Jewish people…

Go forth and search for the nations of old; where are they today? They have vanished! Not so the people of Israel who live on forever more. What is the secret of their survival? There is but one answer: The Torah! "And you who cleave unto the Lord your God, you are alive, everyone of you, to this day." (Deuteronomy 4:4) Our sages explained it this way: The children of Israel who clung to God, the Source of Life, have come to possess life everlasting.

If Israel would return to God in true repentance, then will He fulfil unto us His promise which He gave us through the prophets, His servants, to gather in the remaining exiles from the four corners of the earth, to restore us to the land of our inheritance, and bring us the Messiah who will rebuild the Temple and restore Divine Worship on the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.²

It was within God’s purposes for the Jewish people to be scattered over the world, and also that they now be restored.

Similarly, many Jewish Zionists who have returned to Israel in our day know that repentance is called for in terms of 2 Chronicles 7:14, a promise given through Solomon directly to Israel: “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

It is within God's purposes that the Jewish people now be restored to the Land - but the story doesn't end there.A deeper view of covenant history and the prophetic scriptures should open our eyes to this: that not only was it within God’s purposes for the Jewish people to be scattered over the world, but it is also within his purposes that they now be restored – first to the Land, and then, in true repentance and faith, to their Lord. These are the days in which we are privileged to live.

Gentile Observers

The world at large is an observer of Israel and their place in God’s purposes. But it is easy to misunderstand how to respond. Too often the Gentile world has taken the initiative to persecute and punish the Jews. However, despite God allowing his covenant people to be driven into exile, subject to the sadness of the temporary loss of their homeland, they remain the apple of his eye. Therefore, to persecute the Jews is to draw God’s wrath.

The ancient nation of Babylon is typical in this respect. A Gentile nation into which the Tribe of Judah was taken captive, Babylon (also a type of the final anti-Christian world empire prophesied in the Book of Revelation) was subject to God’s punishment. Its empire soon collapsed when Israel’s captivity came to an end.

The role of the Gentile nations is to comfort God’s people, to understand the Bible and to beware of anti-Semitism or any act of unkindness towards Israel. God is the judge of Israel and will also bring judgment on all nations as his covenant purposes reach their climax.

The prophetic song of Moses (Deut 32) foretells what will come upon both Israel and the Gentile nations in the end times. Moses prophesied the falling away of Israel (vv15-18) and her consequent suffering (vv19-27), but also her return to God (vv36-43). He also foretold how the Gentile nations would be judged who took the initiative to inflict suffering on her:

The LORD will vindicate his people and relent concerning his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free…Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people. (32:36, 43)

God’s purposes for Israel do not end with Zionism or the return to the ancient Land.

The Song of Moses and the Lamb

God’s purposes for Israel do not end with Zionism or the return to the ancient Land. More suffering is foretold as nations gather in the Middle East to pressurise Israel. These nations will be judged with the judgments like those which befell ancient Egypt, as outlined in the Book of Revelation. In this context, Israel as a whole will finally look upwards, from the earthly Jerusalem, with the Messianic cry, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord” (Matt 23:37-39).

All the struggles of this world will climax with Yeshua’s return to redeem Israel and those who wait in faith for him from the Gentile nations. But woe to those who take it upon themselves to seek to harm God’s covenant people! Gentiles have a much worthier calling: to bless the Jews and to bring them the good news of Yeshua’s all-sufficient sacrifice on the Cross, atoning for their sin.

In this respect, Zionism is really about living out a hope and understanding of Israel’s significance in God’s purposes that goes beyond the restoration of heritage and homeland to the fulfilment of future promise. Let us pray and act accordingly.

Notes

1 The blessing and cursing of Old Covenant applies to those of the nation of Israel who have not entered into the New Covenant by faith in the sacrificial death of Yeshua (Rom 9-11; Gal 3:10-13).

2 Popular Halachah: A Guide to Jewish Living (1985, edited by Avnere Tomaschoff).