Preface: The tendency in some if not most reformed denominations is to interpret Israel today as just another nation on the world's scene. They will if asked give you detailed scriptural 'proof' of their interpretation. You will not come up with the same interpretation on your own reading of God's Word. It is perfectly understandable why they cling to this interpretation....for their strengths are in defending the gospel....and they correctly perceive Israel today in prophecy to often distort the gospel of salvation by grace alone....through faith alone....in Christ alone. The error in itself seems minor at first.....but I can through observation see how their overall compassion has been dulled because of this....and how their discernment on the importance of what is happening is not there at all. It is almost as if we are purposely ignoring the plight of Israel.....treating them with disdain....the very last thing we should do in this situation! The following are two posts on Israel and prophecy....the first....There Is No Getting Around May 14, 1948....is from June of 2022....and the second....Israel....What It Is....And What It Isn't....is from August of 2019:
There Is No Getting Around....May 14, 1948
It had been reported....I've read it on a number of occasions....that Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion...in his retirement years....kept a copy of Hal Lindsey's 'best-selling non-fiction book of the 1970s'....The Late Great Planet Earth.....on his bedside table.
That book was probably the start of the latest manifestation of interest in end-times prophecy. As it turns out....there are errors of significance in that book....(hey even R. C. Sproul was wrong on some things)....but it served a great purpose in God's plan.
I have roughly forty years of seeking God's prophetic word in the Bible. That in itself guarantees absolutely nothing...but try to seek answers to what God is doing.....while spending ten times as much time on a golf course....or planning family picnics....and you can forget it. God does not answer such lame and pretend attempts to find answers. Studying intensely may not guarantee that one has discernment....but not studying intensely.....not really desiring to know something....pretty much will guarantee that one will not have a lot of discernment!)
I could construct an outline of maybe one hundred different points that are related to the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....the King of Kings.....in power and great glory....along with His holy angels.....but they would have to begin with May 14, 1948. There is no getting around this....not even to the greatest reformed theologian. Hal Lindsey was right on this one....as were others. The establishment of the state of Israel....only a few short years after the Holocaust....is sure evidence that the holy angels grasped their swords in anticipation....and the horses bucked and neighed.
The obvious question then was.....how soon.....and here is where these prophecy experts were on their own. They really didn't get all that much right.....they were wrong on their rapture theories.....which in itself has proved very destructive to the discernment of today's evangelical.....as they tended to just rely on getting beamed up....pre-trib....which freed them to waste much of their lives and efforts on politics and conspiracy theories....resulting in a false prophet getting the better of the church!
No.....May of 1948 was the bugle's reveille call.....to form up for roll call. For all I know....the white horse of Revelation six may have been the pandemic. You may disagree....but are you ready to laugh at God if that would be the case? This much we should know....it is a time to get our houses in order......to check on the oil in the lamps.....and to encourage one another with holy kisses and pleadings of Maranatha....Lord Jesus....Come!
Note: I decided to add this from March of 2022 because of the above comment on the pandemic possibility being the white horse of Revelation....(the next horse being red....or war.)
Word Of The Year.....or.....Bow and Crown...."And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer." Revelation 6:2
The Oxford English Dictionary each year chooses a....'word of the year'....after the issue is debated. For example they choose the word vax as their word for 2021.....and unprecedented for 2019. They describe the choice of the word as based on the "mood, or preoccupations of that particular year."
In 2018 they choose the word....'toxic'....originating from the Greek....'toxon'....or 'bow'.......because in war....arrows were often dipped in poison. From this Latin gives us....'toxicus'....which gives us words such as....'toxic' and 'toxin.'
I don't know why I pick up on things like this.....maybe it's because my only near-academic award came in a spelling bee as an eight grader. Speaking of spelling bees.....the 2009 Scripts National Spelling Bee winner was thirteen year old Kavya Shivashankar. It was odd that after extremely difficult words such as palatschinken and herniorrhaphy knocked out a few of the young contestants....she won on the word....pronounced to her as....lay-odd-uh-see-an.....or Laodicean....the word description given being....:"lukewarm or indifferent, particularly in matters of politics or religion"....another interesting word at the time as we surely had become in America a Laodicean church.
As for the Oxford English Dictionary....their "team of expert lexicographers" decided that no one word would be appropriate in such an "unprecedented" year as 2020....so they instead chose themes around Covid-19....the coronavirus....because of the monumental effect it has had on the world....so what is....corona? The Merriam-Webster definition for corona is...."something suggesting a crown"
Israel....What It Is....And What It Isn't
As I reflect on this I see myself....along with other Christians....having looked forward joyfully to that day when God opens the eyes of the Jewish people to their savior and their king and messiah....where they had been blinded for two-thousand years....but increasing numbers of evangelicals seem more concerned with Israel's capital....or some other political event....than the salvation of the Jewish people. (This in no way reflects on the wonderful Christian ministries presenting the gospel and helping the poor of Israel)
God will indeed destroy the enemies of Israel....but He will also judge Israel....before He opens their eyes....and He will judge America as well! Tell me friends....we do still know that we are saved by Grace alone....through faith alone....in Christ alone....right? Tell me that we haven't changed the gospel to fit our political beliefs and personal biases! Tell me that we know that there will be no need for sacrifices.....ever....that all the sacrifices of the Old Testament pointed to the Lamb of God. We would not rejoice over sacrifices once again on the Temple Mount.....but rather in the imminent return of Jesus Christ.....and all of His powerful angels....that such a happening would surely allude to!
We also should know that as far as rebellion to God is concerned....the people of Israel are pretty close to identical to where we are. Their idolatry and rebelliousness to God rivals ours! Know this also....America couldn't save a green stamp....let alone Israel.....if it was not in God's will. How many times did God prove this in the Old Testament that neither Moses nor Gideon nor Joshua had the victory.....but God! Right now....they and we are trusting in Donald Trump....while ignoring God's warnings.
One last thing. There has been a lot of fuss made about President Trump being another Cyrus or Jehu. I have no doubt that he is being used in this by God prophetically....but not to the extent or for the reasons that have been claimed. Donald Trump is not to be trusted....that's what the last four years have proven....and I hope that Benjamin Netanyahu at least has a concern in that area. Moving the embassy was nothing in itself. That was no test. God gave specific warnings to nations that deal with Israel....even in its rebellious state to God as it is now....treat them fairly....don't even deceive them....keep your word if you give it!
