Based on Leviticus Chapter 26:32-39 and Leviticus 26:40-44
32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.
33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you;your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land;then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.
35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.
36 ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies;the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee;they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues.
37 They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues;and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
38 You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
39 And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.
Mark Twain visited Israel in 1867, and published his impressions in Innocents Abroad. He described a desolate country – devoid of both vegetation and human population:
“….. A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds… a silent mournful expanse…. a desolation…. we never saw a human being on the whole route…. hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”
He was amazed by the smallness of the city of Jerusalem:
“A fast walker could go outside the walls of Jerusalem and walk entirely around the city in an hour. I do not know how else to make one understand how small it is.”
Israel and Jerusalem were unimpressive, small and most of the ground was swamp land. God did what He said He would do. That was then and this is now. Israel has been brought back from the grave and God is not done with His land or His people yet, and in fact, He never will be done with the "Apple of His Eye."
Look at what the Lord says in the following verses in Leviticus:
Leviticus Chapter 26:40-44
40 ‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me,
41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies;if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—
42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember;I will remember the land.
43 The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; they will accept their guilt, because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes.
44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God.
Zechariah tells us that the day is coming when the Jews will see Him, the ONE that they (the Jews) pierced and they (the nation) will receive Yeshua as their Messiah and they will all accept Him. Our Lord said that He would not return until they could say, "blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." Luke 13:35
My friends, I believe the Lord showed me a hidden truth contained in the verses above. The promise is that the Jews "will" ask for forgiveness and because they will, God said He would remember their land. Here's what I believe the Lord showed to me.
Since the dispersion of the Jews A.D. 70 and their return to the land in 1948, Israel has blossomed and become the land of milk and honey. While the Jews were not in the land it rested and no one could raise crops or harvest the land, it laid dormant. It was swamp land in much of Israel prior to the return of the Jews. Because God knows the future and lives outside of time, He knows exactly when the Jews will see Him as their King and accept Him as their Messiah. The fact that the Jews are living in the land and it is once again prospering, this shows us how close we might be to seeing the entire country of Israel accept Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah and King? We should keep in mind that Israel is experiencing an explosion of Jews, like me, who are now accepting Yeshua (Jesus Christ) as their Messiah. The numbers are escalating and this is great news. This feeds right into the prophecies that Leviticus outlines. The Jews that are accepting Christ right now are the down payment or guarantors of what God said He would do with the whole nation. How can we as a body of believers not be excited about this news? It's as though God has given them, the Jews, a down payment on those things to come! I can hear the Holy Spirit in my heart saying, Stephan, you haven't seen anything yet, get ready for what I'm about to do with my people. All I can say is LORD YOUR WILL BE DONE! I'm just thrilled and overjoyed at what I see our Lord doing in the world today! Amazing things are happening.
This is the pressing question of our day. We know that the Jews will accept Yeshua, because the Lord Jesus gave us a clue that they would at some point in the future. That's what Luke13 is all about. Therefore, the pressing question is when will the Jews as a nation accept Yeshua? Personally I think the time for their redemption is very close at hand! Each day that passes we are that much closer to that event.
The additional question we all need to ask ourselves is this...are we living our lives as the Holy Spirit has directed us to live them? Are we doing the Word of God? Do we love God enough to obey Him? Are we confessing our sins as we comitt them and being sure to have a right spirit within us on a daily basis?
The Lord commanded us to be busy doing His will when we saw the Day of His Return drawing closer. The signs of His return are all around us. Are we drawing closer to Him on a daily basis? Are we doing His will? These questions you must answer for yourself... Please take some time to prayerfully look inward into your heart and take an honest assessment today.
Matthew 24:43-46
43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.
Keep looking up because Messiah's return is at the door!
Remember, the Lord loves us more than any of us will ever know. After all, He died and shed His blood for us and held nothing back!
Are YOU Prepared? Have YOU put your faith in Jesus Christ? He is coming again real soon. Prepare and believe in Him NOW! Click Here for Details
For more on this join the conversation at our Facebook group: Click Here
Until next time God willing...
Keep looking up because Messiah's return is at the door!
Peace and Love in Jesus The Messiah,
Shalom v'ahava b'Yeshua Ha'Mashiach
שלום ואהבה בישוע המשיח
Bro Stef
Watchman & Publisher
'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman's hand.' Ezekiel 33:6
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 1Thessalonians 5:1-6
“My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD. Because they lead my people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace …” Ezekiel 13:9-10
Thanks for the informative post, Stef! Praying I am ready for His return! :)
Posted by: Amanda Beth | Monday, July 29, 2013 at 11:12 PM
You and me both. Today I was praying and asked the Lord, "Lord I pray you will count me worthy to escape all the things that are coming..."
Luke 21:36 NKJV
Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.
Many Blessings!
Bro Stef :)
Posted by: Bro Stef | Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 03:38 PM
I feel like Simeon. I pray that the Lord will grant me the privilege of seeing the rapture of believers. The Holy Spirit shared something with me the other day, He said to me, "Stephan, whether you live or die, you will see it," and He reminded that the dead in Christ rise first! How awesome is the Lord.
Luke 2:25-35:
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: 29 "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel." 33 And Joseph and His mother g marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."
Posted by: Bro Stef | Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 03:45 PM
He is awesome! That's so true. We will see Him rise either way!:) Thanks so much for sharing!
Blessings,
Amanda
Posted by: Amanda Beth | Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 06:49 PM