August 9th - The Return of Jesus to Save Israel

Jesus told the Jewish leaders that they would not see Him again until they called Him "Blessed". 

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Luke 13:34-35)

One reason that the Tribulation occurs on this earth is to force Israel to call upon the name of Jesus their Messiah for their salvation.

"For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short." (Matthew 24:21-23)

The "elect" of Israel will suffer great affliction in those days because of how they treated Jesus their Lord the first time He came - Israel "rejected the Lord" and "despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him".

"Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth! This is what the LORD says: “The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me. Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—but ISRAEL doesn’t know its master. MY PEOPLE don’t recognize my care for them.” Oh, what a sinful nation they are—loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have REJECTED THE LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him." (Isaiah 1:2-4)

Jesus is "the Holy One of Israel". Israel turned their back on Him and had Him crucified. Therefore, ISRAEL is said of God to be called "not my people".

"And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People,  for you are not my people, and I am not your God.” (Hosea 1:9)

But there will come a day when God will be merciful to Israel and they will call on Jesus. Then, once again, Israel will become the people of God.

"...and I will sow her for myself in the land. And will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’” (Hosea 2:1)

Hosea implied to me that this would happen two thousand years after Israel rejected Jesus, a thousand years for each of the "two days" mentioned in his prophecy.

"Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds. AFTER TWO DAYS He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence. So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, HE WILL APPER; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth." (Hosea 6:1-3)

Most Jews still do not believe Jesus is their Messiah and therefore are not calling upon Him to save them.

"I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise of His coming? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created...But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A DAY IS LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS TO THE LORD, and a thousand years is like a day...This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—speaking of these things in all of his letters." (2 Peter 3:3-4, 8, 15-16)

Nevertheless, Israel will be saved when Jesus returns. They will be saved because Jesus will "turn Israel away from ungodliness".

"The people of Israel have hard hearts...As the Scriptures say, “The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.” The people of Israel are now enemies of the gospel, and this benefits the Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because He chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and His call can never be withdrawn." (Romans 11:25-29)

Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover festival. As best as I can tell from my study of the Bible, that day was Wednesday April 11, 35 AD. He was entombed at sunset then spent three nights and three days in the tomb. He was raised from the dead at sunset on April 14, 35 AD. He then spent the next forty days teaching His followers about the Kingdom of God. Then from Bethany, a town on the Mount of Olives, He was lifted up into the clouds to return to heaven on May 25, 35 AD.

"When Jesus had led them out as far as Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, praising God continually in the temple." (Luke 24:50-53)

"In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:3-11)

Zechariah tells us that when Jesus returns to save Israel from the Antichrist His feet will set down on the Mount of Olives from which he left.

"Behold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city. Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem." (Zechariah 14:1-4)

We are nearing 2,000 years from the day He left - I am watching the events taking place in Israel and around the world, and it seems to me that His return and the redemption of Israel is drawing near!

"For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. WHEN THESE THINGS BEGIN TO TAKE PLACE, STAND UP AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEAR.” (Luke 21:22-28)

During the last half of the Tribulation Satan controls the armies of the world. He knows that Jesus is coming and so he is said to gather all the armies to oppose His return. It will be an instant defeat, and the Antichrist and the False Prophet will then be thrown alive into the lake of fire, and every person who had received the "mark of the beast" will be killed.

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS...And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse, and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh." (Revelation 19:11-16, 19-21)

Jesus then binds Satan and places him in the "bottomless pit". He will be kept there for a thousand years so he cannot deceive the nations during that time.

"Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while." (Revelation 20:1-3)

Christ Jesus, the Son of God, and Messiah of Israel will rule the world for a thousand years. Those who are killed for their faith in the Messiah during the Tribulation will be raised to life and become the "priests of God and of Christ" during this time.

"Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-5)