davidbowerkingwood

A Very Disturbing Increase in Hostility Toward Israel!

Fox News

Israel hosts the largest core Jewish population in the world with 7.2 million, followed by the United States with 6.3 million. I find this very interesting in light of the times in which we live!

It is disappointing to me to see what is happening around the United States as increasing numbers of protestors demonstrate against Israel! Students identifying with the terrorist organization, Hamas, promote the destruction of Israel with calls for “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

A God-Given Land!

Israel is the only nation on the face of the earth whose land was specifically given to it by the Creator of the universe! Israel has a right to that land that no earthly force can reverse. The Bible offers a description of the land as follows:

Genesis 15:18-20 describes the land given to Abram (later Abraham) as stretching from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

¹⁸ So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt^[a] to the great Euphrates River— ¹⁹ the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
Genesis 17:7-8 also mentions the land of Canaan being given to Abraham and his descendants.

7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”

The northernmost city of the Kingdom of Israel is described as Dan, and the southernmost city settled by the Israelites is Be’er Sheva. The Promised Land is generally understood to include territories that would encompass modern-day Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and parts of Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.

As a born-again Christian, I believe the Bible, in the original languages, is the inspired word of God from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. The matter of Israels right to the land is fully settled by God!

Israel’s Time of Judgment!

After Israel’s rejection of their Messiah, they were temporarily set aside and dispersed around the world; they have now endured this judgment for over 1,991 years. God has promised them a time of restoration to their God-given land and this process was begun in 1948 and continues to this day. A time is coming when the restoration will be complete but that time is still in the future.

The church must be taken out of the way and Israel’s last seven years, in the “Times of the Gentiles”, must play out according to prophecy. One can say with confidence that Israel has glorious promises waiting for them in the future!

Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel!

Israel’s time of judgment will end and the nation shall be restored in accordance with God’s plan for Israel. Where they were scattered, they shall return to the land given to them by God! Since the second largest number of Jews in any nation are exiled in the United States, this establishes a special situation when one thinks of Jews returning to Israel!

In Ezekial 37:12-14 it is written:

 ¹² Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”

Is Antisemitism One of God’s Methods for Leading The Exiles Back to Israel?

I wonder if history is repeating itself? Could this rise in American Antisemitism be the beginning of the removal of the “good figs?” In Jeremiah 24, the prophecy of the good figs and the bad figs is recorded. Israel was to come under judgment from God, so God removed his chosen ones, the good figs, and sent them to Babylon for protection. The bad figs were left in the land and would be judged along with the land.

Could it be that God will use Antisemitism to drive his exiled chosen ones out of the United States and back to Israel so they can escape the judgment coming on the United States?

In my previous article, “Where is the USA in Bible Prophecy?” I discuss the future of the United States after the church is removed; it could well be a time of extraordinary suffering for those left behind.

This rise in Antisemitism, especially if it increases in scope and intensity, may just be the Shephard leading his exiled sheep back to safety before the storms descend on the land. Time will tell.