On shaky ground and thin ice

Often, on social media, I will read something to the effect, “Bible prophecy is happening right before our eyes.”

Well, not really.

There is a coming day when the Bible will give a play-by-play of worldwide events. During the sevenyear tribulation, people will experience hail and fire mingled with blood, resulting in the loss of one-third of the trees and all of the grass. When they read about that in Revelation 8:7, they know that the following two verses will soon come to pass when a meteor crashes into the ocean, destroying a third of the shipping and killing a third of all sea life (Revelation 8:8-9). The ability to see what just happened and read what is about to happen will be available to anyone who picks up a Bible. We are not there yet.

What is going on now is not the fulfillment of prophecy. We are seeing the signs that proceed the coming endtime prophecies. The Bible is clear that no one knows the day of Jesus’ return (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32), but Jesus did tell us we could know “the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3).

The Bible gives us dozens of signs that endtime events are coming. Those signs have increased in intensity over the last seventy to eighty years. They began to intensify in 1948 with the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy of Israel becoming a nation again.

A little history is needed here. Babylon conquered Israel in 586 BC. Babylon removed the people from the land, and the Israelites were slaves in Babylon for seventy years. After sev-

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enty years, the people were allowed to return to the land of Israel. As time passed, a series of foreign governments controlled the land. The Roman, Herod the Great, rebuilt the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. During Roman rule, Rome controlled the civil government in Israel. At the same time, Rome allowed the Sanhedrin, made up of Jewish leaders, to maintain the religious side of life. Rome and the Jewish religious elite were an unlikely pair, but Rome held all the power, and as long as the peasants were peaceful and obedient, Rome allowed the Pharisees some control over things. This unwritten agreement lasted until AD 70, when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. Israel was no longer a nation. The Jews fled the land of Israel and, for centuries, were scattered around the globe.

Now, back to the prophecies.

In 587 BC, the prophet Ezekiel predicted that Israel would become a nation again.

This prophecy came one year before the Babylonians took Jerusalem.

Fast forward to the twentieth century. The Jews endure tremendous suffering at the hands of Hitler during the Holocaust.

There was sentiment in the world to give the Jews back the land of Israel that was taken from them by the Babylonians over 2500 years prior and where they were removed from by the Romans nearly 2000 years before. Then, on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation again, just as Ezekiel said.

This prophecy is found in Ezekiel 37.

Ezekiel sees a valley of dry bones. There are no skeletons, just bones lying all over the valley—a dry, lifeless valley of bones as far as the eye can see. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones, and he does.

There is a noise, then a shaking. The bones start moving and forming skeletons. Sinew and flesh begin to cover the bones, then the skin. God then tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind. Ezekiel does as the Lord commands, and the four winds of the earth blow, and life enters the once-dry bones.

The bones live, have flesh, and stand to their feet, “an exceeding great army” (Ezekiel 37:1-10).

How do we know that this fantastic chapter is about Israel? God tells us. Ezekiel 37:11-12, “Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.”

Since God has made enormous efforts to bring His people back to the land (a work still in progress), will He allow the nation to be split in two and share the land with the Palestinians?

Ezekiel 37:22, “And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.”

Nearly every prophecy scholar believes the first part of Ezekiel 37 was fulfilled in 1948. However, much of what is said later in the chapter clearly happens after Christ’s second coming. So, is verse 22 referring to Israel now or Israel after Jesus’ return?

God only knows, but I will say this – It is evident that God does not want Israel split in two. Genesis 12:3 tells us that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. Demanding the division of Israel into two nations is very shaky ground made of thin ice.

Tim “ Preacher” Johnson is Pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County Indiana. Website: www. preacherspoint. com; Email: preacherspoint@ gmail. com; Mail: 25 W 1200 N; Kingman IN 47952. Facebook: https:// www. facebook. com/ Timothy- Preacher- Johnson-101171088326638. All Scripture KJV.