Supersign of Prophecy - Revelation Central

The Supersign of Prophecy

The Final Countdown

by Robert D Pace

The best way to help prepare you for this message is to provide a brief statement regarding the nation of Israel: In 586 BC, the Babylonians crushed the nation of Israel and it never reclaimed sovereignty until the 20th Century. This is one of the frequent prophecies of the OT. Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Zechariah all warned Israel of its demise if they persisted in rebellion toward God. I want to especially key in on the warning of Moses just prior to his death. I am reading from Deuteronomy 28:63—66,

Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. (64)Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. (65) Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. (66) You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life.

Isn’t that amazing! Moses had just brought them to brink of the Promised Land and yet he predicted they would never remain in it. And it all happened exactly as God’s Prophets foretold.

(Transition) The reason I spent time rehearsing Israel’s history and their expulsion from their land takes us into the vice of the Supersign of Endtime Prophecy. What has been happening over the past one hundred years is the sign that starts the Final Countdown to Christ’s Return to Earth. It provides the surest notification that Christ’s Return is near. That’s why I’ve entitled this message “The Supersign of Prophecy, the Final Countdown!”

Introduction

(Illustration) A while back, I spoke with a pastor of a mainline denominational church. As we discussed the promise of Christ’s Return he said: “If you spoke about the Rapture of the Church with most of our ministers they wouldn’t know what you are talking about.” I don’t know how it’s possible for trained seminarians, students of God’s Word, to overlook the most frequent prophecy of Scripture, because, according to scholars, there are over 1800 citations to the Second Coming of Christ.

Just so we understand this promise this is how 1 Thessalonians 4:16 states it: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. The dead in Christ shall arise and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.”

This is the most spectacular event of history because it will change everything we know about life. All our innervations and constraints will be instantly eliminated. The enemies of Christ and the Cross will submit to his lordship. And Christians will be glorified to reign with Christ forever.

But when will it happen? Is there a linchpin prophecy that the Bible has scripted that undeniably pinpoints the nearness of Christ’s Return? Did the Prophets foresee one sign so stunning that would alert people to the nearness of Christ’s Return? The answer is “Yes”!

You say, “What is that sign?” Rather than instantly disclosing it I want to unveil the Supersign the way Jesus unveiled it to his Apostles. And he initiated its disclosure in the form of Parables. The first Parable is found in Luke 13:6—9.

Parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree [He’s talking about Israel] planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. (7) And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ (8) And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. (9) Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Scholars believe Jesus told this parable during the first year of his ministry. And he purposely chose the fig tree to illustrate his point. That’s because the Old Testament Prophets had used the fig tree as a symbol for the nation of Israel. Just as the eagle represents the United States and the Bear represents Russia and the Lion represents Great Britain, the fig tree symbolizes Israel.

With those thoughts in mind, let’s move to Christ’s next reference of the fig tree. It’s found in Matthew 21:18, where Christ is now in his third year of public ministry and headed to the Cross.

The Cursing of the Fig Tree

“In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. (19) And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.”

This is no insignificant miracle because Israeli fig trees can grow 33 feet high and 25 feet in breadth—even in desert regions!

This is interesting: Christ’s first reference of the Fig Tree came in the form of a Parable. But now his teaching moves from a proclamation to a demonstration. And there’s a reason for this. There were times when it took more than words for God to get across his message. It required a visible presentation.

When words weren’t enough Moses threw down his staff and it became a serpent that swallowed the powers of Pharaoh.

Elijah had to call down fire to prove Jehovah was Supreme.

And that’s why Jesus cursed and withered the Fig Tree before their eyes. This miracle of Christ is the most foreboding, ominous, portentous miracle he performed. Why? It’s because he visibly demonstrated that Israel was about to be wiped off the map and expunged from the global scene.

(Example) Here’s what’s amazing: forty years after Christ’s death, in 70 AD, Christ’s act of cursing of the fig tree played out in actual events. The Romans attacked Jerusalem, killed a million Jews, destroyed the Temple, and eliminated Israel as a nation. At that moment, the Jews were uprooted from their homeland and those that escaped dispersed into 133 nations. At that point, Israel, the fig tree had fallen and was dead!

Once the Romans destroyed Israel, its land lay desolate and the Jews were without their homeland for approximately 1900 years. But this leads us to the final stage of Jesus announcing the Supersign of Prophecy. It’s recorded in Matthew 21:29.

Parable of the Budding Fig Tree

Then he told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; (30) as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is near. (31) So you also, when you see these things happening, [The reappearance of Israel—the fig tree—replanted in its homeland] recognize that the kingdom of God is near. (32) Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

After 1900 years of global absence, Israel—the fig tree—reclaimed its Statehood on May 14, 1948. Today, Israel is a sovereign nation once again and nothing like this has ever happened in world history! Jesus indicated that when this happened, the clock of Endtime events would lead to the final countdown to his Return to Earth. This is the Supersign of Endtime Prophecy!

But you need to know something more about this Supersign. Israel reclaiming its national sovereignty in 1948 is only the trigger, or the release valve, of this miracle. What makes this the Supersign of prophecy is the number of prophecies that are also attached to Israel reclaiming its Statehood.

There are about 20 prophecies that appear as branches stretching all directions from this fig tree. That’s how I want you to envision this Supersign. Imagine each sign I mention as being a branch of prophecy growing from Israel—the fig tree. And while there are about 20 branches, I’ll only mention several.

(Transition) As we continue, I want you to understand something about Israel. There was a reason I read that list of passages, in my Introduction, of the Prophets depicting Israel being scattered among the nations. The Prophets knew the Jews would backslide and cease from being a nation. But they also foresaw the Jews being re-gathered into their homeland in the Last Days. That’s what I want to talk about for a while— the regathering of the Jews into their rightful land. It’s strange how Ezekiel described this first branch of prophecy occurring:

(First Branch of Prophecy)

1. And this first branch of prophecy involves the regathering of the Jews into their Promised Land. Please turn to Ezekiel 38:8. The prophet writes: “After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword . . . but its people were brought out from the nations.”

Those last four words are important! Ezekiel says God would re-gather Israel “out of the nations.” What does that mean? If we could all read Hebrew, we could ascertain that the Holy Spirit embedded a mystery into Ezekiel’s words. When God pledged to re-gather the Jews “out of the nations,” the Lord was indicating that he would make the impossible possible!

This is not how countries begin. Other than Israel, never in history has a nation been formed by assimilating people “out of the nations.” In other words, it would be impossible to form a unified nation by cobbling together a few thousand people from Denmark, Ecuador, Mongolia, Indonesia, Spain, and Ethiopia. Trying to form a country like that would create chaos! This type of diversity doesn’t create unity; it creates anarchy and bedlam.

Professors of History understand how nations are formed: once people develop a common heritage they will coalesce around language, currency, heroes, and a set of values and customs.

What’s remarkable is, this isn’t how Israel was reborn. Israel reemerged the opposite way. Remember what happened during the 1900 years after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Jews scattered to 133 nations and embraced the culture of those nations. They had Jewish blood, but they lived as Russians, Americans, Germans, Romanians, Italians, Brits, etc. And then, suddenly, they all reemerge as one cohesive nation into the land that they lost for nearly 2000 years!

(Example) Maybe you’re saying to yourself, “Well, I really don’t see the profundity of this prophecy.” Let me illustrate it another way. What if the government abolished freedom of religion and required churches to be reestablished based on the principle of “out of the religions” just like “out of the nations”? Imagine the first service being comprised of ten Christians, ten Muslims, ten Catholics, ten Buddhists, ten Mormons, and ten Hindus. How long would that church last? It wouldn’t last! Now you understand what God meant when he said Israel would be birthed “out of the nations.” The Jews were returning as Greeks, French, Austrians, Peruvians, Americans, etc., and yet God made the impossible possible!

In defiance to how nations emerge, God called Israel “out of the nations,” unified them, and crowned them with Statehood. That’s what makes Ezekiel’s prophecy astounding: God rebirthed Israel contrary to the way nations are formed.

(Transition) But there’s another branch of this prophecy that needs investigating:

(Second Branch of Prophecy)

2. Not only does the Bible say Israel would be “brought forth out of the nations,” it says Israel would be “born in a day.”

Notice Isaiah 66:8: “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children.” What does the phrase “born in a day” mean?

(Example) Here’s another brief history lesson. When nations are formed, the process occurs over a period of years; hundreds of years. Do you know how long it took for the United States of America to form into our statehood? It took 284 years from the time Christopher Columbus (a Jew) discovered this continent until the Continental Congress ratified its Constitution in 1776. But this doesn’t describe how Israel reappeared.

Do you realize once Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD Israel was non-existent for the next 1900 years? But something remarkable occurred on May 14, 1948. Remember, the last empire to govern Israel was the British Empire. Britain controlled Israel from 1920—1928. But at 4:00 pm that day, the British Empire relinquished its control and Israel proclaimed its Independence. Suddenly, for the first time since 586 BC, Israel was a sovereign State in the homeland God had given to Abraham in 2000 years earlier. But to be precise, God had first given the land of Israel to Abraham in the year 1948 BC! Just as he had rebirthed Israel in AD 1948! Fourteen minutes later, the United States telegraphed Israel to officially recognize Israel’s Statehood upon the world map!

Here’s how Great Britain, the last country to govern Israel, reported this event: “At midnight on 14 May 1948, the British High Commissioner for Palestine left Palestine with all his staff, and 28 years of British responsibility for Palestine came to an end. . . . The manner in which the withdrawal took place is unprecedented in the history of our Empire.” Israel was “born in a day”!

(Transition) But there is something else remarkable about this Supersign. And the more you investigate the next branch of this prophecy, the more amazing it becomes.

Turn to Isaiah 43:5. Isaiah says, “I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; (6) I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth.”

(Third Branch of Prophecy)

3. Here’s what’s significant about Isaiah’s prophecy. He was not predicting that the Jews would randomly return to Israel. Isaiah predicted the EXACT sequential return of the Jews to their homeland! He said they would first immigrate from the East; secondly from the West; then the North; and afterwards the south. Did that happen?

In the early 1900s, history reveals the first wave of Jews returned from Arab Countries . . . in the East!

In the mid-1900s the next major influx of Jews came from Germany, Europe, and the Americas . . . in the West!

Then, in the 1980s and ’90s the Jews poured down from Russia . . . in the North!

And finally, the most recent surge of Jews returned from Ethiopia . . . in the South!

Everything happened exactly as Isaiah diagrammed it. Folks, the Prophets of Scripture have foretold the future more accurately than historians have chronicled the past! If God’s Word predicts it; it’s going to happen! “Heaven and earth will pass away, but his Word will never pass away” (Luke 21:33).

(The Disposition of the Sequential Return of the Jews to Israel)

But there’s another remarkable aspect of this sequential return. Did you notice the ease by which the Lord said he would gather the Jews from the east and west? He said, “I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west.” Isaiah predicted an unforced influx of Jews from those directions. And from the 1900s to 2003, the Jews effortlessly returned to Israel from Eastern Arab countries and Western countries. They were “brought” from the east and “gathered” from the west.

But Isaiah altered his words when he predicted the Jews’ return from the North and South. Look at Isaiah 43:6. This is the Lord speaking here. He says:

“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’

Did you notice that? The Hebrew text shows that God will give a verbal pronouncement before his people from the north could return to Israel. That’s what the Hebrew word ’amar means when it says in English, “I will say”! It means “to invoke an oral injunction; to issue an edict.” In other words, the country from the North would be commanded to relinquish God’s people.

Ronald Reagan at Brandenburg Gate

(Example) Did this happen? Well, listen to this: When the Soviet Union saw the Jews returning from the East and West they passed a law forbidding their Jewish citizens from joining the return. A few managed to escape, but not en mass. But when the time arrived for God to issue his edict to the North he sent United States President Ronald Reagan to the Brandenburg Gate in 1987 to utter the injunction. Do you remember that? As I heard those words in 1987 I can remember them sounding eerily prophetic! President Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Do you realize that four years later (1991), the USSR collapsed, and since that time over 1.1 million Russian Jews have returned to Israel! It took the demise of the Soviet Union to convince “the North” to release God’s people!

But it’s still not over! After God spoke to the “North” it was time to deal with the South. Notice God’s Word to them. He uses the phrase, “Do not keep them back”! This means: “Do not detain them; do not restrain, hold, or shut them in.”

But despite God’s warning, that’s exactly what Ethiopia has done. Ethiopia has repeatedly detained, restrained, and constrained its Jews from returning to Israel. It has released the Jews in spurts.

In November of 1984 the Reagan Administration directed the CIA to launch a secretive plan known as Operation Moses. The effort evacuated 7000 Ethiopian Jews and helped them back to Israel. Then, Ethiopia shut their borders.

Then, in 1985, Operation Joshua & Operation Sheba returned 494 Ethiopians into Israel. But again, Ethiopia detained the Jews.

But in May of 1991, Operation Solomon was the most remarkable rescue of all. Thirty-five Jewish airliners transported over 14,000 Ethiopians into Israel in 36 hours! It took a stunning 41 back-and-forth flights with planes gutted of seats and then stuffed with passengers to complete the effort.

Folks, everything has happened just as Isaiah prophesied about Ethiopia in the south. It has repeatedly detained and released. And since the 1900s nothing has stopped the flow of Jews from returning to their homeland from the “east, west, north, and south”! There has been a continuous wave of immigration that has brought back millions of Jews from 130 countries!

(Statistic) In the year 1900 the total population of Israel was about 600,000 people. Of that population only 6% were Jews. Today, Israel’s population stands at approximately 9 million people. And of that number, about 7-million are Jewish.

God wanted us to know as certainly as he scattered the Jews to the nations he would sovereignly return them, and return them according to his predetermined sequence. The “fig tree has budded.” It’s the Supersign of Prophecy! And it’s the Final Countdown!

(Transition) But, imagine what happens linguistically when 5 million exiles quickly immigrate to Israel from around the world. You have Babel . . . confusion of dialect! Which language will represent Israel in commerce, government, and social interaction? Well, this presents the next branch of this amazing prophecy.

4. Zephaniah predicted that Israel would reclaim a “pure language.” Notice Zephaniah 3:9. “At that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord.”

Wherever the Jews settled through the centuries they spoke the language of those nations. That meant they returned to Israel speaking Russian, German, Romanian, English, Arabic, Italian, and so forth. Today, there are 35-spoken languages within the borders of Israel. However, the Lord promised Zephaniah he would “change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech.” Is that happening?

When the British Empire ruled Israel for those 28 years, a British Mandate ordered the Jews to publish all government documents in English. Guess what happened to that British Mandate five days after Israel was reborn in May of 1948? The Knesset abolished that British Mandate requiring all government documents to be published in English!

(Statistic) How many here are ready to hear about a piece of the Bible’s prophetic puzzle that came together in 2018? Here it is: On July 19, 2018, the Knesset passed a law that defines Hebrew as “the State’s language.” Today, the Hebrew language is growing so rapidly that 70% of all Israelis already speak fluent Hebrew!

(Transition) But there is a fifth prophetic branch of this Supersign of Prophecy and at first glance it appears insignificant until you investigate it.

5. The Bible discloses the Lord will sovereignly plant multitudes of trees as a sign of his soon appearing. Notice Isaiah 41:19:

“I will put the cedar in the wilderness, the acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert together with the box tree and the cypress, [Why? Well, here’s why:] (20) that they may see and recognize, and consider and gain insight as well, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel created it.”

Imagine what Isaiah is saying when he uttered this prophecy 2800 years ago. If you’re imagining the appearance of thousands of trees in lush, verdant soil that doesn’t describe the context of this prophecy. The land of Israel is 60% desert. And 2800 years ago, long before modern irrigation, it was unimaginable that a forest of trees would appear in that desert wasteland.

That’s what makes this prophecy incredible! The Lord says, ‘When the day arrives that an abundance of trees are planted in Israel’s desert he wants people to (1) see it, (3) recognize it, (3) consider it, and (4) gain insight “that the hand of the Lord has done this!” The Lord warned us repeatedly not to overlook this!

(Example) Is there any official documentation that an abundance of trees has been planted? Yes there is! At the turn of the 20th Century the Jews began returning to their homeland. When they emigrated they also decided to plant trees! According to the records of the Jewish National Fund (a government organization), the Israeli’s have planted not 100,000 trees; not 500,000 trees; not even 1 million trees. But since the 1900s, the Israelis have planted more than 250 million trees! Surely “the hand of the Lord has done this”!

(Transition) Now, there is one more astonishing implication of Isaiah’s prophecy of trees. Jesus mentioned this prophecy too! And he mentioned it in what sounds like an off-the-cuff way. But nothing Christ says is superficial or fleeting. I want you to notice one phrase in Christ’s Parable of the Fig Tree in Luke 21.

And remember, Jesus is telling his disciples that his Return will coincide with Israel—the Fig Tree—reappearing on the global scene. Luke 21:29 says: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.”

Now let’s pause for a moment. Jesus was likely standing near a fig tree when he spoke those words on the Mount of Olives. And he probably pointed to one or even touched a branch. But then he said something that had to sound ridiculous. For some mysterious reason he continued his discourse by saying: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees” (29).

Had you been in that crowd you would have thought Jesus had lost his mind when he said, “Look at all the trees!” There was none! In fact, when Mark Twain, the genius of satire, visited Israel in 1867 he described the terrain as “rocky and bare, repulsive and dreary . . . [with] hardly a tree or shrub anywhere . . . a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land. . . .”

But Jesus, knowing the future perfectly, took a panoramic view of the barren landscape and foresaw millions of trees burgeoning from his chosen land. And today this prophecy has come to pass!

I have a question: Knowing this prophecy has been fulfilled in recent years according to Christ and Isaiah’s words. Knowing that over 250 million trees have blossomed in that desert: Do you see it; “recognize it; consider it; and realize that the hand of the LORD has done this”? That’s what this verse commands. It testifies to the nearness of Christ’s Return.

(Transition) There is a sixth prophetic branch of the Jews returning to their Promised Land.

6. The Bible notes that after Israel reclaims its Statehood it will become a cauldron of controversy. It’s not like this is “Breaking News.” There are Scriptures throughout the Bible that testify of this: Joel 3:1-3; Zechariah 2:8; Zechariah 12:1–3; Psalm 83; Ezekiel 38-39; Malachi 3:6, Luke 21:20; and the book of Revelation. Israel has always been a sore spot on the globe.

From the time Israel began claiming its boundaries 4000 years ago, it has fought Philistines, Arabs, Persians, and every neighbor that surrounded them. And the Bible emphasizes that nothing will change for Israel at the Endtime.

Do you realize it would contradict Scripture should Israel no longer appear in the crosshairs? If Israel had peace in the Last Days it would disprove the Bible! But it can’t! Since Israel regained its Statehood in 1948 it has seen nothing but war, terrorism, and bloodshed.

(Example) On the very next day after Israel reclaimed its sovereignty, May 15, 1948, it was attacked by six nations (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.) This is known as the War of Independence. Fortunately, by God’s grace, a few thousand ill-equipped Israeli soldiers routed the entire confederation! And since 1948, Israel has had to fight seven wars. Unfortunately, the peace process for Israel isn’t going to improve.

There is an ominous passage of Scripture that forecasts the day when Israel will imbibe the whole world into a tempest:

Zechariah 12:1 says: “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. (3) It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.”

(Explanation) Zechariah is painting his picture of the Battle of Gog and Magog. This battle is mentioned many times in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 38-39, Jeremiah 23 & 30, Psalm 83, Isaiah 29, Joel 2, Haggai 2, and Amos 3.) Zechariah’s vision shows the nations converging on Israel to displace it like a stone that burdens the land. But their efforts don’t injure the stone; it injures those that assail it.

We need to understand something. Since 1948 God has given Israel a place of permanence in their homeland and they will never again be uprooted. Never! Rocket fire, terrorism, or warfare will never expel them. They will remain in their homeland despite being a cauldron of controversy at the Endtime. But the nations better beware! Numbers 24:9 says, God “crouches as a lion” against Israel’s enemies.

(Transition) This leads to the seventh branch of this amazing prophecy. And it’s directly tied to this Battle of Gog and Magog.

7. Once this Battle concludes, the Bible shows a mighty move of the Spirit circling the globe and the Temple reappearing on God’s Holy Hill. I want you to notice that. The Temple will be rebuilt during the great last-day revival.

For years, people have speculated when the Temple would be rebuilt. The Temple cannot be rebuilt today because too many obstacles prevent it. But there is an appointed time for its reconstruction. And there is a coded message in the Bible disclosing the time of its reappearance.

A. The next Temple will be reconstructed according to the pattern of the first two Temples. Solomon built Israel’s first Temple but the Babylonians destroyed it. Years later, Zerubbabel rebuilt it. Interestingly enough, Solomon’s Temple and Zerubbabel’s Temple were built under similar circumstances. Let me show you:

(Insight) 1 Chronicles 22:9 says, “I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his [Solomon’s] days.” (10) “[And] he shall build a house for My name.” The Bible says Solomon built the Temple during a season of “peace and quiet.” What’s amazing is, 400 years later, Zechariah 1:11 uses the exact words as it depicts the rebuilding of the next Temple. He says “all the earth was peaceful and quite”—the same words Chronicles used! The Biblical pattern of constructing the first and second Temples forecasts how the Last-Day Temple will be reconstructed. It will be rebuilt during an interlude of worldwide peace!

One thing is certain. There is no peace in the world today; especially in the Middle East! The world hates Israel. Something significant must occur that will create a season of “peace and quiet” and permit the reconstruction project, because it’s impossible to rebuild the Temple under present circumstances.

Besides the world’s hatred of Israel, the Temple Mount is fettered by two Islamic shrines—the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Islam claims Mohammed ascended into heaven from the Temple Mount. So Muslims would never let the Jews rebuild their Temple and “desecrate” that site. So what’s the solution? It’s the Battle of Gog and Magog.

Remember, this battle is the Lord’s doing. With Israel’s enemies ready to attack God will strike the land with a devastating earthquake. It will not only melt the mountains where Israel’s enemies have gathered it will level the Temple Mount!

(Insight) Imagine this: When Israel’s enemies are utterly destroyed and this earthquake turns those Moslem holy sites into a pile of rubble it will paralyze the world with fear! Islam will be totally dispirited and no nation will prevent Israel’s claim of the Temple Mount.

And just as in Solomon’s day and just as in Zechariah’s day, the earth will experience a brief season of worldwide “peace and quiet” as the world stands in awe of God’s intervention for Israel. The construction of the Temple will go forth virtually unimpeded! No nation will dare to impede the Jews from rebuilding their Temple.

B. However, there’s one final obstacle preventing Israel from rebuilding its Temple. It’s Israel itself. Other than a few religious zealots, Israel has no desire to rebuild its Temple. It’s because the Jews are spiritually dead!

But there is an amazing sequence of events that God showed Ezekiel in three successive chapters that lead to Israel’s transformation. It’s in Ezekiel 37, 38, and 39.

In Ezekiel 37 God pictures Israel as a valley of “dry bones . . . very dry bones.” They are spiritually dead and have no inclination to serve God.

But in chapter 38, with Israel in a godless, backslidden condition, the Lord intervenes for Israel at the Battle of Gog. Suddenly, Israel realizes only Jehovah could move in such a demonstrable way and rescue them. The veil of darkness is lifted and the Jews realize they really are God’s Covenant people.

And when you turn to the next chapter you see the Jews repenting and accepting Christ. Ezekiel 39:28 says: “Then [after Gog and Magog] they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. (29) I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel.”

Do you see what’s happening? Once this war ends, the Jews see nobody but God left standing on the battlefield. And this is when Israel, as a nation, runs into his loving hands of rescue and accepts his Son Jesus Christ. And once the Jews recognize their Messiah and experience “power from on high,” they will acquire an unquenchable passion to rebuild their Temple!

But this moment not only belongs to Israel, it’s the Gentiles’ moment too! When the world witnesses all this happening the prophet Joel says, “It will come to pass after this [after the Battle of Gog and Magog] that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. (29) And on your servants and handmaidens will I pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29).

This is the moment God awakens the world from its spiritual stupor and sends a mighty revival! The grace of God will not let mankind walk blindly into the Apocalypse. The world is headed for the Great Tribulation, but God first has a redemptive wake-up call to warn mankind of the coming dread!

Conclusion

Two thousand years ago, the masses missed the Supersign of their day—the appearance of Jesus, the Messiah. The Scribes, Pharisees, and teachers of religion missed his appearance! Maybe you have thought, ‘If I had lived back then I would have believed the Prophets.’ What about today? God has given this generation its Supersign too. It’s the reappearance of Israel, with all its prophetic branches. It testifies that Christ’s Return is imminent! Have you Discerned the Days?

Summary

Israel—the Supersign of Prophecy

Israel rebirth comes “out of the nations” (Ezekiel 38:8).
Israel’s rebirth occurs in “one day” (Isaiah 66:8)
Isaiah predicted the directional sequence of Jews’ immigration back to their homeland (Isaiah 43:5-6, 21).
Once re-gathered, God will restore a “pure language” to the Jews (Zephaniah 3:8-10).
Israel will plant multitudes of trees (Isaiah 41:20-21).
Israel will become a cauldron of controversy (Zechariah 2:8; 12:1-3; Joel 3:1-3; Psalm 83; Ezekiel 20:34-35; 38-39; Malachi 3:6; Luke 21:20; Revelation).
Once the Battle of Gog and Magog concludes, the Bible shows a mighty move of the Spirit circling the globe and the Temple reappearing on Mount Moriah (Joel 2-3; 2 Thessalonians 2).