Many Jews today still bear the scars of the Holocaust - believing that God forsook them in those dark days. And that has been a large barrier in their coming to Yeshua, or Christ Jesus. Walking through the Yad Veshem, it is easy to see how deep the wounds are, and how much healing has to take place. But God is faithful.
My two weeks in Israel were spent with the Mt Carmel School of Ministry - a wonderful ministry by a bunch of Israeli believers (Peter Tsukahira, David Davis, etc) on what God is doing in the Holy Land. It is a vital ministry, because so few of us in the Gentile nations know the prophetic significance of what God is doing in our generation - particularly with regards to Israel.
In Ezekial 36:17-18, God prophesises that he will "disperse" and "scatter" the people of Israel throughout the lands and nations, to "judge them" for shedding blood in the land and "because they had defiled it with their idols". This was fulfilled, as we know, in the Jewish diaspora.
In verse 24, however, He promised through the prophet Ezekial that "I will take you out of the nations (plural); I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land."
The reason God said He would do this is that when the House of Israel was scattered, His holy name was profaned among the nations. But God said when He brings back His people into their land, "then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD" (Ezekial 36:23)
"Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'but 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers." (Jeremiah 16:14-15)
"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 in labor than she gives birth to her children." (Isaiah 66:8)
I didn't know how staggering these verses were until it was explained to me at the School of Ministry. Then my eyes were opened. The formation of the State of Israel (following the Holocaust) on May 14, 1948, is a fulfillment of God's promises to the Jewish people in Ezekial, Jeremiah and Isaiah. Since 1948, millions of Jews (from the former Soviet Union - the north country), Africa, Europe, the US, etc, have returned to the land in one wave after another. God is restoring the glory of His great name.
Why is this significant for us believers?
Because Israel is the great prophetic event in our day. For 2,000 years, the Jewish people have wandered from nation to nation. God says that when they had no rights, no dignity, no identity, massacred, pushed from border to border, His name was profaned.
But He never forsook them. And His gathering of His people back to the land is testament to that. He is a faithful God who keeps covenant for all generations.
Our generation is a witness to these things, and to the fulfilment of one of the most prophetic events as laid down in the Bible.
We have lived to see these things. For that alone, we are highly privileged!
Let us not doubt it. No matter know the world defames or profanes His name, our God is a faithful, covenant-keeping God.
PS. The Mount Carmel School of Ministry describes itself as "an intensive two-week training course for men and women of God who are seeking a prophetic understanding of the Scriptures and an anointing from God for end-time ministry". Having attended the SOM, I highly recommend it to those wanting to understand the sign of the times, and God's calling on your life in this time and season. For more info, click here.
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