JERUSALEM CUP OF REELING

JERUSALEM, THE CUP OF REELING

                “The burden of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him; Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all nations of the earth will be gathered against it.” Zech. 12:1-3.

                In case we don’t know what time period Zechariah was talking about here, verse 10 tells us that “…they will look upon Me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son.” This refers to the second coming of Christ.

                To further cement this time period we can go to Revelation 1: 7 where it says:

                “Behold He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him, EVEN THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so Amen.”

                So Zechariah was talking about the second coming of Christ and as I have mentioned before, the last few chapters of Zechariah talk about the general time of Jacob’s trouble, the second coming of Jesus with all His saints (Zech. 14:5) and then he finishes the book by describing Yeshua’s earthly millennial reign.

                Donald Trump’s moving of the embassy to Jerusalem and declaring Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, may or may not fulfill a specific Bible prophecy, but what it does do is to set up the situation in which all of the last day prophecies can now be fulfilled.

                Depending upon who you listen to, this latest move to make Jerusalem the Capital of Israel represents the dawning of a wonderful new day, or the beginning of a complete disaster and both are probably true.

                Now, whether we like Donald Trump or hate him doesn’t much matter. We as believers need to know and remember this one fact:

                “Daniel answered and said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. And IT IS HE WHO CHANGES THE TIMES AND EPOCHS; HE REMOVES KINGS AND ESTABLISHES KINGS; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.” Daniel 2:20, 21.

                Like I said whether we like Donald Trump or hate him, we have to see his presidency as a Chess move on God’s part. As the sun, moon and stars have been shouting it out over the past 4 years, the time has come to enter into the final days of earth’s history and as we have seen, God is well able to put the people in place where He needs them to be in order for His prophecies to be fulfilled. ( And that may include not only the placing of Donald Trump, but the removal of the last Pope Benedict and the placing of Pope Francis for his role as the False Prophet.

                I believe that God is now changing the epoch… moving us into earth’s final events and He has announced His intentions by signs in the sun, moon and stars so that shepherds and wise men will see and understand.

                I believe that in making Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, God has set Israel up for the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. But since much of the church has been blinded by replacement theology, let’s review a little of the history of Israel’s prophetic return to their land:

                In 1897 Theodore Herzl founded the Jewish State.

                In 1917 after conquering the Ottoman Empire General Allenby was about to ride his horse into Jerusalem when one of his men reminded him that there was only one King destined to ride His white horse into Jerusalem and that was Jesus Christ. (Evidently they knew their Bibles and their prophecies better than we do today) So in reverence to that coming event, General Allenby got off of his horse and walked into Jerusalem beside it.

                But the conquering of the Ottoman Turks also cleared the way for the Balfour declaration in 1917.

                Then in 1947 the United Nations carved out a piece of land in Israel (then called “No man’s land”) and gave it to the Jews and they formally took possession on May 14, 1948.

                But the Muslims still had a firm grip on the city of Jerusalem because of their Mosque and holy site there, but when several Muslim nations gathered together to drive the Jews out of Israel, Israel won the war and actually gained more territory as well as possession of Jerusalem. This battle was won with many unbelievable miracles. Israel had just been formed. They only had one tank against 60 tanks. They were grossly outmanned and out gunned in every way and yet, as in times past, God gave them the victory.

                Now, the reason why some Bible prophecy students are getting excited is that Jesus made a prophecy concerning the last days saying.

                “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth may pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” Mt. 24:32-35.

                Now it is well known that the fig tree is the symbol of Israel and Jesus, in speaking about the events of His return says that the generation that sees Israel come back into its own land will also see His return, or at least the specific events leading up to His return.. A generation is well known to be 70 years. I was born in 1947 and I am now 70 years old. So if my generation is to see all these things fulfilled something significant has to happen and that something must be the Time of Jacob’s Trouble that ushers in the Messiah.

                That being said, those who believe in a pre-trib rapture see no way around the rapture of the church during this Jewish year and it is a significant year in many ways. If you will notice all of Israel’s significant dates listed above ended with a 7. 1897 1017, 1947, 1967 and now 2017 and this is believed to be a Jubilee year and the 70^th year of Jesus prophecy, the 50^th year of Jerusalem’s occupation, the 70^th year of Israel as a returned nation and the 120^th year since the founding of the Jewish State. And all of these are significant Biblical numbers including Noah’s preaching for 120 years before the flood when the saved entered the ark and the lost were destroyed. (And we have also come to the 120^th Jubilee.

                Jesus mentions the days of Noah in connection with His second coming as well.

                Now maybe we can begin to understand why there have been blood moons and total solar eclipses, the return of the Bethlehem star and the celestial sign of the virgin giving birth as described in Revelation 12 along with the dragon pursuing the woman and the Remnant of her seed, right into chapter 13 where we see the global government of the antichrist that enforces the Mark of the Beast.

                What are we to do with all of these signs? Are we to ignore them?

                Jesus warned us saying: “For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” Mt. 24:44

                It is interesting the way Jesus expressed it. He didn’t say He would come when we aren’t expecting it. He said He would come at a time when we specifically don’t think He will come. Why might that be? Could it not be because too many people have falsely predicted the date of His return so that people no longer want to hear about it? Maybe.

                So while there is no way we can predict just what all of these numbers mean, or what comes next, we must certainly be ready and waiting for His coming… and many are not as ready as they would like to think because much of the church has been covering up the truth of what it means to be ready. Many will say in that day, “Lord, Lord and He won’t know them. It is not enough to “Get saved.”  Knowing Him is an intimate connection like marriage where two become one. It is a marriage of our spirit with His Spirit. We are to be disciples, not just spectators. We are to overcome even as He overcame and we have been sold a cheap bill of goods in recent decades and it has produced a crop of casual Christians. The way of salvation is shown to us in the sanctuary.

                The tabernacle shows us that we are triune beings, made up of spirit, soul and body. Salvation then includes all three parts as 1 Thess. 5:23 tells us.

                “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete and without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass.”

                Obviously it is His work that saves us and not our own works, just as this text shows us. What we have not been taught is that it is His work IN us as we are betrothed to Him. It is not merely something that Jesus did historically, but what He is doing in us now as He applies His cross, His blood and His Holy Spirit TO us, IN us and THROUGH us.

                In other words, we don’t just “get saved” and then do our own thing. Salvation is a process, a preparation, a training to rule and reign with Him. This all happens within the context of an ongoing relationship with Him through His Holy Spirit, His Word and in fellowship with like believers. And in order to not see this, we have to ignore nearly the entire body of the New Testament and the Old.

                2 Thess. 2:13 says: “But we should always give thanks to God for you brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification, by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”

                Hebrews 12:14 says: Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

                Even the protection of Psalm 91 is offered only to those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High.  So we have all of these Christians in name only, claiming Psalms 91 even as they do their own thing and no nothing about abiding in Christ. Like insurance, it only covers you if you buy it. Likewise the secret place of the Most High only protects us if we are dwelling in it.

                This is not legalism. It is His work and not ours, but it is a work that He can do only as we are in an intimate relationship with Him…walking in His Word and living by His Spirit… being transformed into His image from glory to glory. (2Cor. 3:18)"...being born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding Word of God. (1 Peter1:23)

                “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

                Now pay close attention to the following verses: “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith supply moral excellence and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control and in your self-control, perseverance and in your perseverance godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, Christian love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” 2 Peter 1:5-11.

                Christians don’t read their Bibles anymore. They go to church with one ear tuned to the ball game and listen to feel good sermons about prosperity while the deep truths of our salvation lie dead in the streets and the Bible’s prophetic events come and go unnoticed.

                “As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form and in Him you have been made complete and He is the head over all rule and authority. Col. 2:6-10.

                Now if you read the rest of the chapter you can see clearly that Paul is not here talking about becoming legalistic. In this chapter he makes it clear that Jesus is everything and it is in our relationship with Him that all is fulfilled for he says in verses 16, 17: Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.”

                Clearly then our salvation is in Christ alone and not of works lest anyone should boast. But just as clearly, our relationship with Christ must be all-consuming and not just a casual affair.

                We live in earth’s most awesome hour and Israel is always God’s signpost as to where we are in time.  Perhaps it is time to understand Bible prophecy and to examine our lives as well. Selah.