SLIDES

The History and Future of Israel and the Middle East

Part 4

Introduction

To review, the five major events that are causing Israel and the Middle East to be in turmoil are:

1.  God put enmity between Satan and Israel.
(Genesis 3:15)

2.  Ishmaels’ descendants, the Ishmaelites, were prophesied to constantly cause Israel problems, do not exist today as a nation or people. However, their descendants continue to cause problems as they were absorbed into the Arab nations.

3.  Israel’s title deed to the land promised by God to Abraham and His descendants forever is found in Genesis 15 continues to demonstrate that the land belongs exclusively to Isarel and the Jewish people. In the Old Testament God reiterated to Isarel at least 18 times that He gave the land to them as an everlasting possession.

4.  Jacob received the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant instead of Esau. The descendants of Esau, the Edomites, have constantly caused Israel problems along with the Ishmaelites. In Psalm 83:5-8 we find that the Ishmaelites and the Edomites made a covenant with other peoples and nations at that time to destroy Isarel.

5.  God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. From Jacob, the first Jew, came the 12 tribes and the nation of Israel.

I.   The History of Israel and the Middle East

B. From the Birth of the Messiah to the Birth of Israel

Remember there are four prophesied distinct periods in God’s plan for Israel during the diaspora as part of Land Covenant found in Deuteronomy 28 - 30. They are dispersion, preservation, restoration, and reconciliation. These distinct periods cover a period of approximately 1900 years. These periods prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy and fleshed out in secular history contributed to Israel History and her becoming a nation after 1900 years. We have discussed the dispersion aspect of God’s plan for Israel in the diaspora, Now, we are going to discuss the preservation aspect of God’s plan for Israel in the diaspora.

Preservation

For 1900 years the Jews were scattered to many countries on the earth. In most of these counties they were persecuted beyond belief. Many were tortured, attacked, slaughtered, maligned, murdered and then the remaining in many cases were expelled from these counties to flee to counties that would not except them and if they did, the persecution continued. But God in His mercy kept His promise to preserve a remnant as we see in Genesis 49, Leviticus 26, and Jeremiah 31.

Genesis 49 deals with the prophecies that Jacob made concerning his twelve sons. Jacob is normally not considered as a prophet of Israel, but in Genesis 49 he certainly spoke some of the most important prophecies in Scripture concerning Isarel. Let’s read Genesis 49:1-2.

1   Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come.

2   “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;

And listen to Israel your father.

The word “befall” means “encounter.”  The nation of Isarel would encounter the things Jacob was about to prophecy which were blessings that were appropriate to each of them. The phrase “in the days to come,” is a prophetic phrase that can be translated and means “the end of days” or “the last day.” These prophecies from Jacob about the last days in relation to Isarel demonstrate that the Isarel as a nation will exist and will be functioning as a nation in the last days as revealed in the Prophets and in the book of Revelation. Isarel will be present in the last day, and this shows that no one and no nation will eradicate them.

Let me show you one more nugget from Genesis 49 because there are many in this chapter. Verses 8-12 are prophecies about the tribe of Judah. The symbol for the tribe of Judah is the Lion that comes from verse 9 as we shall see. Let’s read verses 8-9.

    8   “Judah, your brothers shall praise you;

Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

9   “Judah is a lion’s whelp;

From the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He couches, he lies down as a lion,

And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?

The brothers refer to the other eleven tribes praising the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Judah will earn the right by heroic deeds over his enemies and the tribe of Judah therefore will be looked to for leadership. The tribe of Judah will show power over his enemies and will be praised for it.

The tribe of Judah is seen in verse nine as a lion’s cub who would be powerful. The lion is not only the symbol of Judah as Israel’s monarchy, but the lion is used in the monarchy of other cultures as their symbol as well. Babylon was one of those. In verse ten we see the second prophecy about the Messiah. The first Messianic prophecy about the Messiah is found in Genesis 3:15.

10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

Until Shiloh comes…

Verse 10 is looking to the Messianic Kingdom. The scepter is a symbol of kingship, power, and authority. We see that the phrase the ruler’s staff is a parallel phrase to the word scepter. This strengthens the idea that the theocratic administration would remain with the tribe of Judah. Some see the word Shiloh as a proper name of the Messiah. However, to others, the word Shiloh should be translated, “to whom it belongs.” Therefore, the scepter, i.e., the theocratic administration would remain in the hands of the tribe of Judah until the Messiah comes to whom it belongs. Remember that in Revelation 5:5 Jesus is called “the lion that is from the tribe of Judah.” An extra biblical writing called the Targum Onkelos agrees with the last interpretation. It reads, “until the Messiah comes, whose is the kingdom and him shall the nations obey.”

Let now read Leviticus 26:43-44 to see what is says about the preservation of Israel.

   43   ‘For the land will be abandoned by them, and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and their soul abhorred My statutes.

  44   ‘Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God.

Lastly, In Jeremiah 31:35-37 we also see God’s promise to preserve Israel as a people.

  35   Thus says the Lord,

Who gives the sun for light by day

And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;

The Lord of hosts is His name:

  36   “If this fixed order departs

From before Me,” declares the Lord,

“Then the offspring of Israel also will cease

From being a nation before Me forever.”

  37   Thus says the Lord,

“If the heavens above can be measured

And the foundations of the earth searched out below,

Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel

For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.

Even though the Jews were slaughtered, maligned, and driven from county to county for centuries, we see God’s promises for the preservation of the Chosen People. There is a reason they called the Chosen People. These kinds of Passages demonstrate not only that God is faithful in keeping His promised to Israel that He made thousands of years ago, but that He will continue to keep His promises to Isarel. God keeping His promises to Isarel should also inspire believers in Christ to trust that God will keep the promises He has made to individual believers, as well as the His Church, the Body of Christ.

Each of us here today can trust the promises God in found Scripture. Each of us who has trusted in Christ for forgiveness of sin and eternal life that He promised to us, will keep that promise. Since He continues to keep His promises to Isarel made in the Abrahamic Covenant, we can be assured He will continue to keep His promises made in the New Covenant to the believer in Christ.

In keeping His promises to Israel, which is found in fulfilled prophecies, should also demonstrate to the Jewish people and to the nation of Isarel, to believers in Jesus, and to the world that God keeps His promises. Fulfilled prophecy demonstrates and validates that God’s Word is true and can be trusted in matters of faith and practice. This demonstrates that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the One and only True God.

In 1888 the Prussian Emperor Frederick III often would test his chaplain with theological questions. Frederick, however, said he did not have time for long answers and explanations. He wanted simple answers that he could comprehend quickly. One day he asked his chaplain if he could provide simple and succinct evidence for the truth of the Bible. Frederick asked if the chaplain could provide the evidence in just one word. The wise chaplain responded that he could do just that.

“What is this magical word?” Frederick asked.

The chaplain replied, “Israel, your majesty. The people of Israel.”