Israel in Bible Prophecy

by Dr. David R. Reagan

PROPHECIES CONCERNING ISRAEL

During the 20th Century, we were privileged to witness God beginning to fulfill in whole or in part seven prophecies regarding the Jewish people:

1) The regathering of the Jews from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:10-12). This was prompted by Theodor Herzl's book, The Jewish State, which was published in 1896. There were 40,000 Jews in Palestine in 1900. Today, there are slightly more than 6 million in the land of Israel.

2) The re-establishment of the state of Israel (Ezekiel 37:21-22). This prophecy was fulfilled on May 14, 1948 when the Israeli declaration of independence was proclaimed in Tel Aviv.

3) The reclamation of the land (Ezekiel 36:34-35). When the Jews started returning to the land in the early 20th Century, it was a malaria-infested swampland that had been denuded of all its forests. Today, it is the bread basket of the Middle East, and the forests have been replanted.

4) The revival of the Hebrew language (Zephaniah 3:9 and Jeremiah 31:23). When the Jews were scattered worldwide, they stopped speaking Hebrew. But in the 19th Century, God raised up a man in Lithuania named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda who devoted his life to resurrecting the language from the dead. In 1922, the British declared biblical Hebrew to be one of the three official languages of Palestine, together with English and Arabic. Ben-Yehuda died one month later.

5) The re-occupation of the city of Jerusalem (Zechariah 8:4-8). When the Israeli War of Independence ended in 1949, the Old City of Jerusalem was under Jordanian occupation. The Israelis conquered the city on June 7, 1967 during the Six Day War.

6) The resurgence of the Israeli military (Zechariah 12:6). Despite the fact that Israel is one of the smallest nations in the world, its military is regularly ranked among the top ten to fifteen in the world.

7) The re-focusing of world politics on the nation of Israel and its city of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-3). Today the whole world is focused on trying to force Israel to surrender all or part of Jerusalem.

 

Baruch Haba B'shem Adonai!