We see so
much in the news these days about the incessant conflict between Israel and the
Arab nations surrounding it. It’s quite saddening to know that it is a simple
issue but one that begs for a complex solution. The search for peace seems
far-fetched amidst the stance taken by the parties concerned.
But what is
more troubling is the fact that majority in the church are actually using the
headlines as sermons pointing towards the end of the world and the 2nd
coming of Jesus. We have to research our end time ideologies in the light of
what God accomplished in setting the New covenant.
Many are
quick to quote random passages in the Old Testament and relating them to a
rapture that will place soonest with a revelation of the Anti-Christ who is
supposed to broker peace between Israel and Palestine. One of such passages is
that heavily relied is Zechariah 14 which says “Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you
will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem
to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women
ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be
cut off from the city. Then the LORD will
go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
This scripture
is actually a prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. I would
like for us to see it in context.
Zechariah 14
“Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you
will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem
to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women
ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be
cut off from the city.
Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as
when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount
of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives
will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that
half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the
south.
You will flee by the valley of My
mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will
flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of
Judah. Then the LORD, my
God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! In that day there will be no
light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known
to the LORD, neither day nor
night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. And in
that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the
eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as
well as in winter. And the LORD will
be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. ”
(Zechariah 14:1–9)
Zechariah
prophesied in 520 BC which is about the time Israel returned from Babylonian
captivity. Just like other prophets they saw the end of an age that will see
the Messiah come in judgment.
Jesus
became king of the earth at his ascension in 30 AD. He sat at the right hand of
the father and was declared in Revelation as the King of kings.
You
will also notice that the language of Zechariah is almost identical to that of
Matthew 24 which also is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
“Then
the LORD, my God, will come,
and all the holy ones with Him! In that day there will be no light; the
luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it
will come about that at evening time there will be light.”
Matthew 24:29
29 “Immediately after the distress
of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
In Matthew 24:32–33 “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; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He
is near, right at the door. ” (Matthew 24:32–33)
This text has been greatly abused and applied
to Israel becoming a nation again in 1848 AD when in fact, it is prophesying
the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
However since Israel became a nation in 1948
AD, many who believe in a soon-rapture got all excited and began to preach that
the end would come within one generation (generally 40 years) of Israeli modern
statehood.
Some few years ago, Harold
Camping taught that exactly 40 years after May 14, 1948, that the “church age”
came to an end and ordered everyone to leave their churches in 1988. He then
went on to predict the end of the world not once, but twice in 1994 and again on
May 21, 2011. Ronald Weinland
predicted the end in 2008, then in 2012. All failed and it was based upon what
modern news stories give.
Most “Rapture time charts” use the
establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 as the beginning of the countdown
to the end, claiming it is the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Nothing could be
further from the truth. I wonder if we ever learn to research and consider if
we are missing it.
Paul said the hope of Israel was not physical
restoration, but only in Christ:
“And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to
our fathers; the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they
earnestly serve God night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being
accused by Jews. “Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does
raise the dead? “So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things
hostile to the name of Jesus of
Nazareth. ” (Acts 26:6–9)
“For this reason, therefore, I
requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the
hope of Israel.” (Acts 28:20)
This was
Jesus warning to his disciples on what to do before the destruction takes
place. Luke 21:20-24 “But when
you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is
near. “Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who
are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must
not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things
which are written will be fulfilled. “Woe to those who are pregnant and to
those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress
upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the
sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be
trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled. ” (Luke 21:20–24)
Luke 21 like Matthew 24 prophecies the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by Roman Armies, not its restoration! This
passage does not say Jerusalem will be restored or the temple will be rebuilt.
God doesn’t need us to expand the
gospel of the kingdom based on the conflicts in the middle east as many are now
using the headlines to exhort their brethren to live godly lives. The gospel of
grace can do the job without the consideration of fear, death and war. The gospel
is powerful enough to cause true transformation and not behavior modification.
We must understand and embrace the fact that we are living in the new age of
the new covenant. The glory of the kingdom will excel and increase as the days
goes by.
