I. Israel is God’s Chosen
1. Israel has God’s Everlasting
Genesis 17:7 “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
2. Israel is the Source of Everyone’s
Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
a. Israel Gave Us God’s
b. Israel Gave Us God’s
II. Israel’s Rebirth was God’s
Joel 3:1 “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat [Jehovah judges]. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.”
Isaiah 11:11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. 12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.
III. Israel’s Rebirth is a Sign of the
1. Israel’s Rebirth was
Jeremiah 16:14 “… the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when men will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15 but they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers.
Matthew 24:15 “… when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel …”
Luke 21:20 “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.”
2. Israel’s Rebirth was
Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones … 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life … 11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off’ … 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’”
Isaiah 66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion [Jews in Jerusalem] in labor than she gives birth to her children.
3. Israel’s Rebirth Started the Last-Days
Matthew 24:31 “… they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Hosea 9:10 When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree …
Psalm 90:10 The length of our days is seventy years — or eighty, if we have the strength …
a. 1948 – Year Israel reborn – the “fig tree leaves” come forth.
b. Add + 80 Years for “this generation” not passing away.
c. 2028 – Year of Jesus’ second coming at end of tribulation.
d. Subtract - 7 years for the start of the tribulation.
e. 2021 – Possible year of the church’s rapture?