Category: prophecy

When the LORD Turns Israel’s Captivity #5

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

“That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee” (Deuteronomy 30:3 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, Moses prophesies Israel’s glorious future restoration!

We read in Isaiah 5:13: “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” And 2 Chronicles 29:9: “For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.” And Ezekiel 39:23: “And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.”

The above Scriptures (and many others) were written in light of Assyria and Babylon carrying the idolatrous Jews away captive to foreign lands. Israel and Judah knew exactly why JEHOVAH was so angry. For centuries, He had warned them to reform (with no success). They would no more defile His Promised Land with their idolatry (Leviticus 18:24-30)!

Ezra 9:7, spoken after the Jews’ exile to Babylon, and the Jews’ partial return to Jerusalem, says: “Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.”

When Jesus came, He would have delivered Israel from her captivity amongst the nations. He was so willing to rescue Israel from that fifth course of judgment (God’s wrath and her exile), to save her from her sins, and deliver her from Satan’s bondage. Jesus Christ was ready to be their King and reverse their captivity (thus fulfilling today’s Scripture). But Israel refused Him: “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15). So, Israel waits even today to be released from that captivity….

When the LORD Turns Israel’s Captivity #4

Monday, April 20, 2015

“That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee” (Deuteronomy 30:3 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, Moses prophesies Israel’s glorious future restoration!

When dedicating the Temple five centuries later, King Solomon said (2 Chronicles 6:37-38): “[37] Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly; [38] If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name: [39] Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.”

About 350 years later, idolatrous Israel was dispersed worldwide. It was true when Jesus came 10 centuries after Solomon. Israel is still in unbelief and scattered globally. She will remain so until our Dispensation of Grace closes (see Romans chapter 11). Then, during the seven-year Tribulation, Israel’s believing remnant will form; the so-called “Lord’s Prayer” describes their conversion, their confession of sins, their return to JEHOVAH God, their allegiance to Him, and their plea for Him to come back to them and restore their land (Matthew 6:9-13). (Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, the restoration Moses and Solomon predicted, is His reply to them!!!)

Moses continued after today’s Scripture, “[4] If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: [5] And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.” Let us survey other Bible passages that predict that restoration of Israel….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Did Mary, Jesus’ mother, have a sister also named Mary?”

When the LORD Turns Israel’s Captivity #3

Sunday, April 19, 2015

“That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee” (Deuteronomy 30:3 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, Moses prophesies Israel’s glorious future restoration!

When God offered to enter into the Law Covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, He said, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:5,6). Israel replied, “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do” (verse 8). According to the rest of the Bible, and history, did Israel break her word? Yes! Yes! Yes!

Like many church members today, Israel failed to learn that she could never be God’s people in her own strength. Had the Jews truly learned the lesson of Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac (Genesis chapters 12 through 17), they would not have ignored God’s grace and preferred works-religion with Moses (see Galatians 4:19-31). Had they actually believed that it had to be God’s work to bring about a people for His name—divine efforts rather than human works, not Abraham’s efforts or their efforts but God’s efforts—they would have never entered into the Covenant of Law with the LORD at Sinai. Their deceitful sin nature (Jeremiah 17:9) caused them to believe they could keep God’s laws perfectly. God simply gave them the Law, what they wanted, proving to them and all the world that no one can be perfect (see Romans 3:19,20).

The Covenant of Law was a failure from the start. The Israelites danced naked around a golden calf idol after God wrote on the stones tablets that they were to not embrace idolatry (Exodus chapter 32)! The Law was a strict system—all or nothing. Because Israel broke the Law, she came under the curses, and automatically could not be God’s people. She came under Satan’s control (just as in Egypt). Today’s Scripture is part of God’s solution to Israel’s dilemma….

When the LORD Turns Israel’s Captivity #2

Saturday, April 18, 2015

“That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee” (Deuteronomy 30:3 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, Moses prophesies Israel’s glorious future restoration!

God, some 4,000 years ago, deeded much of “the Middle East” to Abram and his descendants: “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18). Concerning his son Isaac’s birth, God told Abraham (notice his new name): “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8). So why does Israel today not have all of that land, from Egypt to the Euphrates (central Iraq)? Why does Israel currently have a sliver along the eastern Mediterranean Sea?

Firstly, 500 years after Abraham, God warned Israel through Moses: after four rounds of persistent wickedness (mainly idolatry) and four sequences of divine judgment, the fifth course of chastisement would be deportation out of the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 28:62-68; cf. Leviticus 26:27-46). Israel would live amongst the Gentiles, hear foreign languages, be surrounded by heathen customs (which they had already largely embraced anyway), and serve cruel heathen governments. Many centuries after Moses, idolatrous Israel came under Assyrian, Babylonian, Median-Persian, Greek, and Roman powers. Even today, Gentiles (especially the Palestinians and Arabs, and their sympathizers) still harass Israel.

Secondly, when Messiah Jesus came to Israel “to confirm [or fulfill] the promises made unto the fathers” (Romans 15:8), they wanted God’s physical blessings and deliverance from Rome—they did not want God to deal with their sin problem (Mosaic-Law breaking). National Israel refused King Jesus, demanding His crucifixion, thus delaying their earthly kingdom that would have fulfilled God’s covenant with Abraham.

Thirdly, with unbelieving Israel scattered amongst the nations, God has momentarily paused her program. Through Paul’s ministry and epistles, we learn of the dispensational change—God is forming the Church the Body of Christ today. When our program ends, and Israel’s program continues, God will rescue Israel from her satanic and Gentile captivity….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Why did Jesus weep when Lazarus died?”

When the LORD Turns Israel’s Captivity #1

Friday, April 17, 2015

“That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee” (Deuteronomy 30:3 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, Moses prophesies Israel’s glorious future restoration!

After delineating the legalistic system of “do and be blessed of God, and do not do and be cursed of God” (chapter 28), and Israel’s punishment for her prior (and future) failure to do (chapter 29), Moses utters some of his final statements to Israel….

Chapter 30: “[1] And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, [2] And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; [3] That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.”

Seven centuries after Moses spoke this, Israel had broken the Law to such an extent that JEHOVAH had enough. After centuries of Israel’s pagan idolatry, God finally sent Assyrian armies into the Promised Land to deport the northern Jews. Some 100 years later, God sent Babylonian soldiers into Judah to deport the southern Jews.

For the last 2,700 years, the Jewish race has been scattered throughout every nation under heaven, suffering Gentile oppression. The day is coming, however, that Messiah Jesus will return to restore Israel as He “turned the captivity of Job” (see Job 42:10). Israel will not be without her land and King forever. Paul clearly teaches in Romans 11:25-29 that Israel will be saved after our Dispensation of Grace, when “there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer!”

“O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad” (Psalm 14:7).

Me Whom They Have Pierced

Sunday, March 29, 2015

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10 KJV).

JEHOVAH says, “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” What a clear affirmation of the deity of Jesus Christ!

Various and sundry Bible verses can be fulfilled twice—they have a dual application. Moreover, some verses have been completely fulfilled; others have been partly fulfilled (awaiting complete fulfillment). Concerning today’s Scripture, it is fulfilled on two occasions. It was fulfilled 2,000 years ago and it will be fulfilled again in the future. The Prophet Zechariah originally pointed to Jesus Christ’s Second Coming (still future), but the Holy Spirit moved John to use it to refer to His First Advent, too.

“And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced” (John 19:37). Israel looked at Jesus hanging on the cross that Rome had erected to appease them. Revelation 1:7 sees the Second Coming (future), just as Zechariah did in today’s Scripture: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

When Jesus was crucified (John 19:37), He was demonstrated to be the fulfillment of Zechariah 12:10. When He will come again, in wrath to avenge Israel against her (His) enemies, Revelation 1:7, He will again prove Himself to be Israel’s Messiah/Christ, her Deliverer/Saviour, the JEHOVAH of today’s Scripture (no wonder the “Jehovah’s Witness” New World Translation corrupts the verse).

After Jesus resurrected, His body still bore the scars from His crucifixion (John 20:25-27). Israel’s believing remnant will see them when He comes back one day. Zechariah 13:6: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” They will finally see their mistake in rejecting Him. They will finally receive Him whom they pierced!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Could you explain, ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David?’”

A Love Letter, Not a Dust Collector

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13 KJV).

You are hereby exhorted to read the Scriptures and learn doctrine!

Earlier this week, I received an email reply from someone I had emailed nearly four years ago! My unopened message sat in her inbox for all those years until someone recently showed her how to finish setting up that account. Till she replied, I had forgotten all about it. Imagine my delight when we finally made contact!

Similarly, God wrote the King James Bible to us, a love letter, written in the blood of His Son Jesus Christ, transmitted through history with the blood of His saints. Yet, there it sits on people’s bookshelves as a dust collector for years! Occasionally, it is taken out to construct a family tree, or put on the coffee table to decorate the room, but it is rarely utilized for its intended purpose. Sadly, time is spent on everything but what matters most. Mainly, these distractions are televisions, computers, and cell phones. People do not put God’s eternal Word in their eternal souls, so out in eternity, what will they have? For the lost, it will be one great strike against them at the Great White Throne Judgment! For Christians, it will be a tremendous loss of reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ!

Oh, beloved, my dear readers, may we not spurn the wonderful Word of God and the wonderful grace of God! May we blow the dust off His Book’s cover and actually read it for once. Consider the lost people who spend their whole lives—70 or 80 years—pursuing vanity and worthlessness. Without Jesus Christ, they go to hell. They could have spent 30 minutes reading the first five chapters of Romans. In that half-hour, they could have learned how to be saved from their sins, and they could have believed the Gospel and gone to heaven. They had many decades to read God’s Word. Now all they have is time without the Bible—eternity in hell!

Whether saved or lost, let us take time today to read and believe Romans chapters 1-5. It will be well worth the 30 minutes! 🙂

The Apocalypse, God’s Lips, and Our Mouths

Monday, March 23, 2015

“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103 KJV).

What is the “Apocalypse” and how can it be honey from God’s lips to our mouths?

A Christian brother told me he utterly feared the Book of the Revelation. Doubtless a saved man, certain of his home in heaven because of the Lord’s sacrifice on Calvary on his behalf. Yet, in light of Revelation 22:18-19, he dreaded studying that last Bible book: he feared “adding to it” or “taking away from it” would bring God’s chastisement on him. The poor brother had to learn that that warning is given to unbelievers in Israel’s program, not us believers (members of the Body of Christ) in this the Dispensation of Grace.

While people often use the term “Apocalypse” in religious senses, they usually have little to no grasp of what the term means in the Bible. The first word of the Revelation is apokalupsis—“revelation, unveiling, uncovering.” As the (Greek) Bible uses it, “Apocalypse” describes the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS is hidden in the third heaven, having not been seen in 2,000 years, exiled since His beloved nation Israel rejected Him. The door to the third heaven is currently closed, but one day it will swing open, and out will ride the Lord Jesus Christ! He will be leading tens of thousands of angelic soldiers to purge Earth of all its unbelievers, utterly slaughtering those who have persecuted His Israel—stolen her land and killed her people. Just as Satan’s plan of evil crescendos, and it looks hopeless, the God of creation wins and then reigns over all creation!

No wonder John wrote to Israel in Revelation 1:3: “Blessed [happy] is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” The book of the Revelation (“Apocalypse”) came from God’s lips; it should be as sweet honey to our mouths! Let us read it. It comforts us that evil will lose in the end, and our Saviour will be exalted in the end. Let us use our mouths to praise His holy name! 🙂

He Buried Him

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

“And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day” (Deuteronomy 34:6 KJV).

As someone once said, “God buries His servants but never His program.”

Other than Jesus Christ, the GodMan, the God of the Bible used two men most mightily—Moses and the Apostle Paul. For 40 years, Moses led Israel, from her escape from Egypt to just before her entrance into Canaan. God used Moses to write the first five books of the Bible—Genesis through Deuteronomy. He was the great Lawgiver at Mount Sinai: his divinely-inspired writings formed the Jewish religion. Moses was the only man at that time who had spoken with God face-to-face on numerous occasions.

Deuteronomy 34:10-12, written by Moses himself under the moving of the Holy Spirit: “[10] And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, [11] In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, [12] And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.”

Moses was a faithful servant of God (Hebrews 3:2,5). After he finished writing Deuteronomy, the Torah (the Bible’s first five books) was finished. At age 120 years, Moses died (Deuteronomy 32:7). There is no doubt in this author’s mind that God had Moses write about his own death and burial in today’s Scripture.

Knowing full well that the Jews would make a shrine of Moses’ grave, today’s Scripture says that God Himself personally buried Moses in a secret place, somewhere northeast of the Dead Sea. To this day, some 3,500 years later, Moses’ remains are still awaiting resurrection. God buried Moses, dear friends, but He never buried His plan for the nation Israel. Even today, despite the dispensational change, Moses will be raised again, and he, along with all of Israel’s saints of old, will go into the Promised Land, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Yes, God buries His servants but never His plan! 🙂

The Word Wearied With the Wicked’s Words

Saturday, January 31, 2015

“Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?” (Malachi 2:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture could have been written to our profligate society today!

The Prophet Malachi had a ministry to Israel about 400 years before Christ. Post-Babylonian-exile Israel, while not as wicked as it was centuries before God sent them away captive to Assyria and Babylon, is nonetheless still plagued with spiritual, economic, and societal problems.

Through the Prophet, the Holy Spirit rebukes His people—especially the priests in chapter 2 (today’s Scripture)—of their wayward behavior. They then ask Him what they are doing wrong, and God replies each time. Malachi’s short book, only four chapters, is compiled around six objections and six divine answers. Today’s Scripture is the fifth. God never grows tired in the sense of doing work and then feeling “drained.” Existing outside of our universe, He is not bound by our time-space continuum. But, today’s Scripture says that God can and does grow tired of people talking about Him in a very foolish way.

Just as you eventually have enough of someone slandering you, or trampling your name underfoot, and you finally react, God has grown sick of the Jews saying that He approves evil, them saying that He delights in those workers of iniquity. Furthermore, God has grown sick of the Jews asking where He is, if He will show Himself and punish them for their wrongdoings. They challenge JEHOVAH to retaliate! Chapters 3 and 4 proceed to explain how Messiah Jesus is coming: “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purge the sons of Levi…” (3:2,3).

Messiah Jesus came once, and He will be back again one day! He will punish the additional 2,000 years of man’s “wearisome words!”

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Will we know if a loved one is not in heaven with us?”