The Time of the End

We live in a time where anything can happen in an instant. The world seems to be on edge. Many are already involved in conflicts. Many are threatening or being threatened. Others are facing different troubles.

For the unbelievers, it may seem like a time of despair. The world probably seems like it has no hope. As Christians we have hope. We have the promises of God. He never fails. We just must hold on, trust Him and be faithful.

As I look at things today, I can see certain parts of Biblical prophecy coming to pass right in front of us. As Jesus was praying in Gethsemane, He encouraged His followers in Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”Be alert, pay attention to what is going on. Not to the point of worrying. Don’t become despondent. But be ready.

His second coming is not far off. He could come at any time. There are things happening right now that point to His imminent return.

I just want to take a little time to encourage you to watch also. Jesus tells us to be ready. Luke 21:34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.

The Nation of Israel is a focal point. They are His chosen people. He still has a covenant with them.

1. God's promise concerning the land of Canaan was fulfilled...

a. Solomon himself ruled over the entire land described to Abraham

2. Yet there are also prophecies of a latter-day restoration of Israel...

a. To be fulfilled in modern times, just before the Lord returns

b. That the return of Jews to Palestine and the establishment of Israel as an independent state on May 14, 1948, was a fulfillment of such prophecies. Isaiah 66:8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children.

3. Intertwined with such a restoration are beliefs concerning...

a. The rebuilding of the temple, where the Dome of the Rock now stands. Sounds like an impossible thing right now. The area where the temple once stood is under Muslim control. The furnishings are ready. Including a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. We saw them in a museum.

b. The reinstitution of animal sacrifices, as was done in the Old Testament. In 2021 a Christian Texas rancher shipped 5 unblemished red heifers to Israel. They are needed for the purification ritual for priest involved in service in the temple. Numbers 19:2-3 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come. 3 You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him; They are preparing. We need to be prepared!

I. PROPHECIES FOR A LATTER-DAY RESTORATION OF ISRAEL

A. FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT...

1. God has promised to restore His people to Israel - Jeremiah 29:14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. Prophesied this a couple of years before the Babylonians carried them away. 588bc

a. From all nations and all places

b. Not just Assyria and Babylon

2. There will be a second restoration - Isaiah 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 730bc

a. The first was restoration after the Babylonian captivity

b. The second is happening today. It has been a gathering from all over the world. We met Jews who had American accents. They decided to “go home.”

3. Return prophecies made to those who had been restored – Zechariah 8:1-8 Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. 3 Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain. 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. 6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts. 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; 8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness. 520bc

a. People who had come back from Babylonian captivity around 20 years prior to Zechariah’s prophecy.

b. Thus, it must refer to later events, i.e., events happening today.

4. The expression "in the latter days" confirm this - Jeremiah 30:24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not return until He has done it, And until He has performed the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will consider it.

a. I.e., just before the second coming

5. The promise of physical and economic restoration - Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; Isaiah 61:4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.

a. Not just political and religious restoration

b. But also the land itself along with ancient ruins

6. Along with promise of victories over their enemies - Amos 9:14-15 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. 15 I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” 750bc

a. No longer shall they be pulled up from the land

b. Suggesting victory over any who would try. Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran or any others.

-- Such are the arguments from the OT for a latter-day restoration

B. FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT...

1. The return of Jerusalem to the custody of the Jews - Luke 21:24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

a. The city to be trodden down by the Gentiles. In 70AD Rome destroyed the city after a Jewish uprising in 66AD.

b. Jerusalem has wholly been under Jewish control since the 6 Day War in 1967.

2. The rebuilding of the temple - 2Thessalonians 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

a. Paul's talking about the destruction of the man of sin. The anti-Christ.

b. Who is to be destroyed at Christ's coming.

3. The regathering of the Nation of Israel - Romans 11:25-27 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”

a. Inferred by those who believe in an end-of-the-age restoration

b. That a national return in unbelief would be followed by national conversion

-- Such are the arguments from the NT for a latter day restoration

C. FROM CURRENT EVENTS...

1. The establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948

a. Offered as proof that the prophecies are being fulfilled

b. As Jews from around the world migrate to Israel

2. The present-day reclamation of the land

a. After centuries of neglect

b. Through irrigation and re-utilization of physical resources

3. The swift victories of the Jews over their enemies

a. The War of Independence, 1948

b. The Sinai Campaign, 1956

c. The Six-Day War, 1967

d. The Yom Kipper War, 1973

4. Other points often made:

a. Control of Jerusalem now in the hands of Israel

b. Plans are being made by some to rebuild the temple

Even though it may look impossible, there will be a temporary peace achieved. The temple will be rebuilt. The anti-Christ will break the covenant after 3 ½ years.

Luke 21:25-28 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”