THE CURRENT TIME PERIOD
The Jews in the Current Time Period
There are an estimated 14 million Jews on the earth today. Many are found in America , approximately 5.9 million, followed by 6.3 million in Israel. Wonderful prophecy has been fulfilled when the Jewish nation of Israel was re-established in 1948.
Amos 9:14, 15 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel , and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.
Joel 3:1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
We are seeing the prophecies of the Bible unfold right before our eyes. This is why we study prophecy; to see God's Word come to pass and rejoice at the time we live in. Events current to the time I am writing this article have been horrendous. I am writing this article just days after the evacuation of the Gaza Strip by Ariel Sharon due to U.S. pressure. President Bush, whom I love dearly and pray for often, seems to have a replacement theology because he is forcing the Prime Minister of Israel to give up the very land God said is the Jew's land. If our president simply understood the verses I am giving, he would never do such a thing. We must pray for our president and his cabinet to receive God's wisdom concerning Israel because the nations that bless Israel will be blessed and the nations that curse Israel will be cursed (Gen 12:3). This is the year 2005 and it was prophesied that this would be a year of judgment on the national scale. I believe our nation has received judgment just recently in the form of hurricane Katrina. I am writing this less that a week after this terrible disaster that totally ruined parts of Louisiana , Mississippi , and Alabama . Many lives were lost and the city of New Orleans is under water and will remain that way for some time. I do not believe God sends disaster but I do believe He allows such things as a form of judgment.
The Bible is very clear on what land is supposed to be the Jew's:
Gen 13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.
Gen 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan , for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Deu 11:24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon , from the river, the river Euphrates , even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
Jos 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
The following is a picture of the land that God promised Israel:
(Larkin, Clarence. "The Royal Grant to Abraham," The Book of Revelation . Blue Letter Bible. 1 Apr 2002.
7 Sep 2005.
<http://blueletterbible.org/study/larkin/lark03.html>.)
The following is how much they possess now due to international pressure.
(http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html )
Unfortunately, the Jews are under judgment and will not posses the fullness of their land until they receive their Mashiach Yeshua, Christ Jesus. They are judged as man-slayers or what we would call manslaughterers for crucifying Jesus through the Roman government.
MAN'SLAUGHTER , n.
In law, the unlawful killing of a man without malice, express or implied. This may be voluntary, upon a sudden heat or excitement of anger; or involuntary, but in the commission of some unlawful act. Manslaughter differs from murder in not proceeding from malice prepense or deliberate, which is essential to constitute murder. (Webster, Noah Dictionary 1828)
You may say, “it was not manslaughter, it was murder.” It would seem that way on the surface. The Jews even said, “His blood be on us, and on our children. (Matt 27:25)” However, Jesus said otherwise, “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them ; for they know not what they do. (Luk 23:34)” Therefore, by Jesus' very own words they are not guilty as murders however in their religious zealousy and rage they did commit manslaughter. The Jews are under the judgment as man-slayers and need to go to a city of refuge. In Old Testament times a man guilty of being a man-slayer would flee to one of three cities of refuge and there the Avenger of Blood could not kill them. However, there are no cities of refuge on the earth at this time so they have been heavily persecuted by the Avenger of Blood, i.e. the devil, through one group after the next unto the point of almost genocide.
The Jews will continue to be attacked by the Muslims and flee seven ways (like they did from the Gaza Strip) though no man pursues. The worst time period in all of history is about to take place for the Jews called the Great Tribulation, far far worse than the Holocaust. The Bible calls it the time of Jacob's Trouble:
Jer 30:3 - 7 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah (i.e. bring them out of captivity), saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah . For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace (possibly terrorism). Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness (reminds me of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem )? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble ; but he shall be saved out of it.
We Christians need to love the Jews and pray for them earnestly that more will hear the Gospel so that they can be saved and escape the tribulation to come.
Links to Keep Up With the Nation of Israel:
Jesus told us to watch the fig tree (Luk 21:29). The fig tree represents Israel, the land and the people. By this we can know the times we are living in and see the fulfilment of prophecy.
The Nations in the Current Time Period
Act 13:44 - 48 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
These verses describe the time we are living in now. This is the time where the Jews almost as a whole have completely rejected their Messiah and the nations (gentiles) are embracing Him. I believe Jesus was speaking prophetically concerning the nations when a gentile impressed Jesus with his faith:
Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And again when a gentile women had faith in Jesus:
Mat 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
The nations for the last 1900 years have had the Gospel preached to them. Many of them are believing and turning to Jesus. However, all will not believe. The sins of those that reject Jesus will remain. If they have heard the Truth of Jesus Christ being the ONLY way to God and rejected It, then they have wrath to face. The sinful of the nations continue on believing a lie. The universal lie is, “however you find God is okay, just as long as you find Him.” Many organizations and groups are working toward a one world religion which will be proclaimed during the time of the antichrist. The lie that “all paths are the way to God” will culminate when the antichrist will be proclaimed, after showing many signs and wonders to the world, that he is the god that all these religions were worshipping all along. The religions will no longer fight one another but will be deceived into believing that this false peace is a result of this false god whom the Bible calls antichrist. The spirit of antichrist is already in the world pushing this lie. Do not be deceived. There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus:
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
How is the world going to know the difference between the antichrist and the true Christ? There are many ways, namely the antichrist's fruit will be that of deception, he will fulfill the antichrist prophecies spoken of in Revelation and Daniel perfectly, and he will not fly down from Heaven and touch down on the mount of Olives as Jesus will (without an airplane or helicopter!) with thousands of his saints:
Act 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he (Jesus) was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Act 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee , why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Jesus will come back again with ten thousands of His saints and angels in a cloud, not as a man walking the earth leading nations with politics and religion. If you are unsure that you would make the rapture or you would go to Heaven if you died tonight, click here and find the only way to God as the Bible proclaims.
The Church of God in the Current Time Period
The Church is to be doing the Great Commission of preaching/teaching the Gospel until the Lord returns to take us (rapture) from the earth:
Mat 28:18 - 20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
The Church looks forward to when the Lord Jesus will shout from heaven and a trumpet blast (possibly a shofar) will be heard and we shall fly up to meet Him in the air. Until then, we are working hard to bring the Gospel to the nations for when we leave, for a time, no one will be able to tell the Gospel story. When we leave, the absence of our influence will immediately be evident and gross darkness shall cover the earth spiritually speaking. As long as we are here, we are influencing the world for God and hopefully saving many.
Part 1 - Jews, Nations, and the Church of God
Part 4 - The Tribulation Time Period
Part 6 - The Coming of the Lord
Part 7 - The Millennial Reign of Christ Time Period
Part 8 - The Great White Throne Judgment and a New Beginning