ISRAEL AND THE END TIMES-THE SALVATION OF ISRAEL

Romans 11:25-28, “²⁵ For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: ²⁷ for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. ²⁸ As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.”

In the above verses there is an assurance of the salvation of the Jewish people.  There will come a day when the nation will experience salvation from one end of Israel to the other.  In verse 15 of Romans 11 Paul informs us that the salvation of Israel will signal the resurrection (“For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?”); thus, marking the conclusion of the first resurrection: Re. 20:4-5, “ And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”  Jesus was the first fruit of the resurrection; followed by the resurrection of the Old Testament saints (Ephesians 4:7-10, quoting from Psalms 68), to be followed by the saints at the Rapture of the Church, and completed at the end of the Great Tribulation when the tribulation martyrs are resurrected. 

Paul explained that due to their rejection of the gospel the majority of the Jews have been blinded to the truth; only an elect few and a specific number of Gentiles will be saved (vs. 25, “…blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”):   “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded…¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. ¹² Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?”  According to Zechariah 12:6-11, when the nations invade Israel to utterly destroy the Jews, Jesus will return to fight for them at Armageddon:  whose presence will remove the blinders from their eyes; thus, inspiring the conversion of the whole nation:  “⁶ In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. ⁷ The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. ⁸ In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. ⁹ And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”  

Though salvation of the nation as a whole will not take place until Jesus’ return at Armageddon, the reference in verse 6 to Israel’s remarkable military prowess, which can be traced to the time of her rebirth in 1948 until the present, implies that the opening of her eyes may actually be gradual; culminating at Armageddon.  It is apparent that the Jews have been returning to the Lord in significant numbers in recent years ("Today the latest reports estimate almost 20,000 and 150 congregations in “the Land” (as Eretz Yisrael is called), while globally the reports range as high as 300,000 Messianic Jewish believers."(Charisma Magazine October 29, 2013))  Since 1948 there has been a steady turning to Jesus among Jews:  "Now there are an estimated 150 Jewish [messianic] congregations around Israel meeting in different languages. The number of believers is estimated to be around 20,000, growing exponentially from 1948 when 12 Jews who believed in Jesus could be counted, to 1987 when there were 3,000 and 1997 where there were 5,000."  Baptist Press, May 26, 2011.

The evangelistic efforts of Gentile Christians to convert Jews to Jesus has done more than account for the statistics mentioned.  The seeds of the gospel have been planted in the hearts of many millions more Jews whose decisions for Christ may not come until the Second Coming of Christ.  Zechariah 13:1 says that when Jesus returns the salvation of the Jews will be complete:  “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.”  However, we should not wait until then to attempt to reach the Jews.  We believe that the Church will be taken to heaven seven years prior to the Second Coming.  Our efforts for the conversion of Israel must be now.  Pray for revival in Israel, for more Jews to come to Jesus and messianic congregations to spring up; both internationally and in Israel, and for the New Testament to be opened by more and more Jews.  Of all the prophetic signs announcing the coming of Jesus, none is more important and apparent than the salvation of the Jews.  Though the first century saw thousands of Jews coming to Jesus, it is not until this generation, beginning with the rebirth of Israel as a nation in 1948, that this final end time prophecy has shown significant signs of fulfillment.  The referenced “fulness of the Gentiles” suggests that a certain number of Gentiles will be saved, and then the blindness that Israel has experienced will be removed.  As we follow the increase in Jewish converts, we, at the same, have noted the general disinterest, and even outright resistance to the gospel among many Gentiles, signaling that very soon the Rapture will take place.  However, the absence of the Church will not mean that the Jews will no longer have a voice calling them to repentance:  In the first half of the tribulation period God will send two witnesses to preach Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem; apparently directed toward the salvation of Israel.  According to Revelation 11 they will perform miraculous signs and wonders to convince their intended audience, and to protect themselves against the wrath of the Antichrist, and the apostate millions of the earth:  “³ And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.⁴ These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. ⁵ And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. ⁶ These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”  If there is not a mass conversion among the Jews as a result of these two witnesses, surely there will at the minimum be the deposit of gospel seed into their hearts.  Although God will give The Two Witnesses the ability to protect themselves supernaturally, their time on Earth will be finite and has already been predetermined by God to be only 3 ½ years. After their pre-determined 3 ½ years on Earth prophesying, God will remove his protection and they will be killed by the Antichrist:  “⁷ And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.”

After their death, the bodies of the two witnesses will be left unburied on the streets of Jerusalem for 3½ days as a macabre and ominous warning for all to see. In Biblical times, leaving a body unburied like this was one of the worst means of defiling and disrespecting someone who has died. In response to their murder, which brings an end to the droughts and plagues caused by the witnesses, their slayings will be greeted with much rejoicing throughout the world: Revelation 11:8-10, “⁸ And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. ⁹ And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. ¹⁰ And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.”  Just like Jesus, in the same city of Jerusalem, the two witnesses will be raised from the dead. Their mission to prophesy to Israel will be complete. The ascension of the two witnesses into Heaven will  happen publically in front of crowds of people. One can assume, in today’s age of instant communication via satellite TV and internet, the resurrection and ascension of these two witnesses will be seen by millions and millions all over the world: Revelation 11:11-12, “¹¹ And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. ¹² And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.”

The upsurge in Jewish interest in Christianity in this generation is surely an indication that we are living on the threshold of the return of Jesus Christ.  At no other time in history has the nation been positioned for conversion.  As Israel witnesses the loss of reliable allies at government level her leaders recognize that they have one unflinching partner—Christians.  Prime Minister Netanyahu has publicly recognized the support of the many Christian groups that support Israel.  In a televised address to the annual meeting of Christians United for Israel in July 2011, Prime Minister Netanyahu said: “When you support Israel, you don’t have to choose between your interests and your values; you get both. … Our enemies think that we are you, and that you are us. And you know something? They are  absolutely right” (96 | MEDITERRANEAN REVIEW | Vol. 5, No. 1 [June 2012]).