Israel Today

By Jimmy DeYoung, Ph.D.
Shofar Communications, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Although the regathering of a people once scattered among the nations of the world is evidence God is at work in fulfilling His prophetic word, this is only the beginning of a marvelous story for Israel.

The continuing immigration of Jews to their ancient homeland has earned the attention of the entire world as well as students of Biblical prophecy. This ingathering, each stage of which is known among the Jewish people as an aliya, has populated a young nation with the cross-section of humankind needed to build, plant, harvest, educate and defend themselves from the surrounding nations determined to destroy the regathered Israel.

An alignment of nations, described in the Bible, will come against Israel in the Last Days is placing the actors on the stage in possible preparation for the final act to begin. Syria, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Russia have formed loose alliances to become the fulfillment of the prophecies of both Daniel and Ezekiel. The European Union, Iraq and the nations of the “Far East” are all in position to be at least the foundational infrastructures of the prophesied revived Roman Empire, Babylon and the “kings of the east” respectively: Revelation 16.12.

Because of the desire of many international leaders to remove the Jewish people from the land of their forefathers, some have been doing all they can to put together comprehensive peace agreements for the region; namely, the Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel during the late 1970s and the 1993 Oslo Accord, a peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis. None of these treaties are working as they were intended. The impasse in peace negotiations sets the stage for a world personality to come on the scene to enforce these and other agreements. Daniel 9.27 says the antiChrist will eventually confirm the agreements or covenants, evidently making them stronger and giving him a sense of legitimacy. The peace will not last long, however, as the antiChrist will violate his own covenant with Israel.

The most exciting, documented evidence the Lord’s return could be close at hand is the activity surrounding preparations for the rebuilding of the temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There are Jewish men who now believe they are qualified to serve as priests. Their priestly garments are made and in storage; all the implements to be used for the sacrifices and worship at the temple are ready; Biblical harps are being handmade for the Levite orchestra and a red heifer is available for the purification of everything for the temple.

Ezekiel 40 – 46 gives detailed instructions for the temple, which will stand on the Temple Mount during the Millennium. However, Daniel 9.27 states an earlier temple, preparations for which are in process, will exist in Jerusalem during the Tribulation period.

These four major trends: the aliya of the Jewish people, alignment of the nations, anticipation for peace and arrangements for the temple were actually mentioned by the ancient Jewish prophets up to 2500 years ago. These are the signposts along the way the prophets and Jesus alerted the Jewish people to anticipate at the time of the end, the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Since Christ’s return takes place only seven years after the Rapture, how close must the Rapture be?