THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN AND THE KINGDOM #10
From a book by Grant Jeffrey (published in 2001)
Unique Signs Pointing to the Second Coming
We will now examine a number of unique biblical prophecies
that point to the soon return of Jesus Christ in our generation.
Every one of these significant prophecies is unique in that
history reveals that none of these predictions was ever fulfilled
in any previous generation. The unusual nature of these unique
predictions suggests that it is almost impossible that they could
be fulfilled again in a following generation. Jesus Christ
encouraged His followers in these inspired words, "And when these
things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28).
(This is only true if these so-called "unique" prophecies really
are unique or mentioned at all in the Bible. Many were saying
this same thing that Jeffrey is saying way back in the early
1980s, and we have had a new generation since then, about 25
years has gone, from those fundamental prophets of the early
1980s, and 25 years is certainly a generation ago - Keith Hunt)
Let's examine several of these unique predictions that
suggest our generation will witness the return of Christ in
glory. (Many said the exact same thing on the prophecies Jeffrey
is going to give us, back in the early 1980s. They at that time
were predicting Jesus would return before the 1980s were
completed. You had books like "Late Great Planet Earth" by Hal
Linsay, and others were teaching the coming of Christ before
1990. Those guys and gals have disappeared into the woods to
never give a prophecy again, for their utter folly - Keith Hunt)
The Rebirth of Israel in 1948
Throughout the Old Testament - from Genesis to Malachi -
hundreds of specific prophecies declare that God gave the
ancient land of Canaan to the Jewish people as their Promised
Land to enjoy forever. Jerusalem was their sacred capital. In
Genesis, we discover that God made an eternal covenant with
Abraham and his descendants that they would enjoy possession of
the Holy Land forever under the rule of His Messiah. The Lord God
declared to Abraham: "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the
place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and
westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give
it, and to thy seed for ever" (Genesis 13:14-15).
Abraham's son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, the forefathers
of the Jews and the "seed of promise," received repeated promises
that their Jewish seed would have sovereignty over the Promised
Land. However, we need to remember that Ishmael, the other son of
Abraham, was also included in this divine promise; his Arab
descendants would also live in the land forever. The Arabs now
inhabit twenty-one nations throughout the Middle East, occupying
vast oil-rich territories covering an area that is five hundred
times larger than the tiny Jewish state of Israel (8,000 square
miles). The Arab population now exceeds two hundred million
people, more than forty times larger than Israel's five million
Jews. And yet, the Arabs demand that the Jews surrender their
precious ancient homeland to the Arabs to achieve peace. The
truth is that there will be no true peace until the Messiah
returns to create peace in the hearts of both the Arabs and the
Jews.
The prophet Ezekiel described in his great vision of "the
valley of dry bones" (Ezekiel 37) Israel's final, miraculous
return from the "valley of dry bones" in the last days leading to
the return of their long awaited Messiah.
(Utterly false, as Jeffrey and the fundamentals do not understand
this prophecy. I have expounded it for you in the study of the
book of Ezekiel on this Website - Keith Hunt)
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole
house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and
our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore
prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold,
O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come
up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of
Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have
opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of
your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall
live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye
know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith
the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:11-14)
No other ancient people has lost its historic homeland for
many centuries and then recovered its territory to resume its
national existence once again. Yet Israel defied astronomical
odds to take its place as a Jewish nation in 1948, after almost
two thousand years of persecution and exile among the Gentile
nations.
(And that had nothing to do with the prophecy in Ezekiel 37 -
Keith Hunt)
Without a doubt, the rebirth of the nation Israel on May 15,
1948, is one of the most extraordinary of all the prophecies in
the ancient Scriptures. It is not only historically
unprecedented, but the prophecy of the rebirth of Israel is also
unique in that it cannot easily be fulfilled again in any
generation. If the restoration of Israel in 1948 is not the
fulfilment of Ezekiel 37 and Matthew 24, then the Jews must be
exiled from Israel for centuries and return once more to become a
nation. This is so unlikely that we can eliminate it as a
possibility. The restoration of Israel was foreseen by many of
the Old Testament prophets, and these prophecies motivated the
Jews during their many centuries of exile in foreign lands to
maintain their age-old longing to travel to the Promised Land in
anticipation of their coming Messiah.
***(I will now tell you WHY the Jews were restored to the Holy
Land. Way back in the days of Moses, God warned Israel (all 13
tribes) that if they continued long enough and often enough in
sin and rebellion, He would punished them "seven times" more for
your sins [Lev.26:18,28]. Most know that a "time" in prophecy is
360 days (30 days to the 12 months) into years. times 360 years
by 7 and you get 2,520 years in fulfilment. Judah started to go
into their captivity by the Babylon empire in 604 B.C. Add 2,520
years to that date, plus 1 for no year zero, and you get exactly
1917 A.D. It was in that specific year that the British under
Alenby freed Jerusalem. It's in the history books. From that ending
of the punishment for Judah of 7 times, you had the Jews returning
to the Holy Land.
What Jeffrey is going to tell you is because of the ending of
2,520 years punishment on Judah, and nothing to do with 1948 at
all - Keith Hunt)
During the last century, millions of Jews from more than
seventy Gentile nations as diverse as Russia, Morocco, and
Ethiopia abandoned their ancient homes, possessions, and
neighbors to undertake an arduous journey toward the fulfilment
of their age-old Passover dream: "Next year in Jerusalem."
Against staggering odds and rampant persecution, these Jews
gathered their extended families together and began their
dangerous personal journey toward the Promised Land. Following
the rebirth of the nation on May 15,1948, over 600,000 Jews who
had lived for several thousand years in every nation throughout
the Muslim world - from Morocco in North Africa to Iran - left
their homes to return to the new Jewish state. In an attempt to
save their lives and gain religious freedom most of these Jewish
exiles were forced to leave behind their homes, personal
property, bank accounts, and businesses with little or no
compensation.
(The truth is thousands of Jews had already returned to the Holy
Land BEFORE 1948. You could not have had a new nation being born
in 1948 unless many Jews had already come from everywhere to have
enough people to form a nation. They started to come from 1917
onwards in earnest - Keith Hunt)
Throughout history, most nations evolved gradually over the
centuries until they became recognized nation-states, such as
Egypt, England, and France. The prophet Isaiah predicted the
rebirth of Israel in these words: "Who hath heard such a thing?
who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth
in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as
Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (Isaiah 66:8).
From the time the ancient prophets first announced their
prophecies about the rebirth of Israel until recent times, no one
had ever witnessed a nation being created "in one day." Yet that
is precisely what happened.
(No that is not what happened! The "one day" in Isaiah is a
figure of speech. It means a relatively short time. The Jews had
been returning to Jerusalem and the Holy Land from 1917 - Keith
Hunt)
During hearings before the British Royal Commission on
Palestine, David Ben Gurion, as chairman of the Jewish Agency,
announced, "The Bible is our only mandate. The mandate of the
League [of Nations] is only a recognition of this right and does
not establish new things." Remarkably, when the British Mandate
over Palestine, authorized by the League of Nations, ended at
midnight on May 15,1948, Israel's first prime minister, David Ben
Gurion, declared publicly that Israel was once again a nation and
now took its rightful place on the stage of world history. Ben
Gurion announced, "The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the
Jewish people.... Here they wrote and gave the Bible to the
world.... Impelled by this historic association, Jews strove
throughout the centuries to go back to the land of their fathers
and regain their statehood."
(And unless you have people ALREADY in the land, enough of them,
you do not form a nation. The USA had to have enough people in
the USA to break-away from Britain to form a new country. The
Jews had been returning to the Holy Land from 1917 onwards in
large numbers - Keith Hunt)
The Miraculous Restoration of Hebrew
Twenty-five hundred years ago, the prophet Zephaniah
predicted that the Jewish state would restore its ancient Hebrew
language to be spoken in Israel during the last days. This
prediction of the restoration of Hebrew was as unlikely and
impossible in normal historical terms as the prophecy regarding
the rebirth of Israel. The Hebrew language had ceased to be the
common spoken language of the Jews long before the days of Jesus
Christ. After the exile of the Israelite captives from the ten
tribes of northern Israel to Assyria in 721 B.C. and the exile of
the Jewish captives from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in 606
B.C., (604 to 586 when the city of Jerusalem fell, to be exact -
Keith Hunt) there were relatively few Jews still surviving in
ancient Israel. Following the seventy years of captivity in
Babylon, the fifty thousand Jews who returned to Canaan in 536
B.C. and the vast majority of Jewish exiles who remained in
Babylon had adopted the Babylonian Aramaic language and lost the
normal use of Hebrew as their daily language. The priests who
served in the second Temple in Jerusalem after 516 B.C. were the
only Jews who still used the ancient Hebrew language. Most of the
Jews living in Israel in the first century spoke Greek, Aramaic
(the ancient Babylonian language), or Latin (if they dealt with
the Roman government).
(That is basically true - Keith Hunt)
However, in 520 B.C., God foretold through His prophet
Zephaniah that in the end times He would cause the returned
exiles to restore the ancient language of Hebrew: "For then will
I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon
the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent" (Zephaniah
3:g).
(No this prophecy is for the age to come, the Kingdom age. It has
nothing to do with Hebrew being restored by the Jews in the Holy
Land in this age. That restoration of Hebrew would be natural for
Jews to do when they once more had their own country/nation.
Hebrew was never lost per se, it was always used by the
"scholars" of the Jews - Keith Hunt)
A study of historical records confirms that no other nation
throughout the history of the nations has ever lost its natural
language and later recovered it as a living language after a
period of centuries. For example, there are no cultures in the
Middle East still speaking the ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, or
Chaldean languages from ancient times.
(Hebrew was never lost in the first place. The "scholars" and
religious leaders of the Jews have always had Hebrew. Any study
of the history of the Jews and those among them who preserved the
Old Testament, will soon prove what I've said correct, and what
Jeffrey is telling is incorrect. Once the Jews had their own
nation, the Hebrew language would again become the common
language of the people. It was never lost, only restored to the
common people as a natural language once more as it was before
the Jews went into captivity by the Babylon Empire - Keith Hunt)
Eliazar ben Yehuda, a Jewish Hebrew language scholar living
in Palestine in the early decades of the last century, received a
distinct vision that God was calling him to restore the ancient
Hebrew "tongue of the prophets." Eliazar was the first man in
history who personally restored a lost language from the ancient
world virtually single-handedly. Using these Hebrew words from
both the Bible and the Talmud as a foundation, Eliazar created
thousands of new Hebrew words to describe modern objects such as
"fountain pen," "airplane," et cetera, based on the ancient
Hebrew root words and the grammatical rules of biblical Hebrew to
guide his efforts. He persevered in his remarkable project,
despite powerful opposition from his neighbors in Jerusalem and
the Orthodox religious authorities who were scandalized at his
radical concept of using the sacred Hebrew "tongue of the
prophets" in ordinary conversation. Eliazar and his supporter
ultimately created a sixteen-volume Hebrew language dictionary
that was only published after his death in 1922.
(So indeed the Hebrew of old moved into the Hebrew of the new
world. But the foundational Hebrew was never lost. It was with
the new - restored. National pride would dictate that the Jews
would want Hebrew as their language, just as the Welsh people
still maintain, as national pride, the Welsh language - Keith
Hunt)
Palestine was ruled by England under the League of Nations'
sanctioned British Mandate until it expired on May 15, 1948.
(Yes, as I've pointed out, it was the British under Alenby that
restored freedom to Jerusalem for the Jews to start returning
after 1917 in large numbers - Keith Hunt)
After almost two thousand years, the Jewish exiles began to
return to the Promised Land from seventy different nations. The
new Israeli government and military wisely used compulsory Hebrew
language classes run by the army to bring together these widely
divergent Jewish exiles into a united Israeli people by teaching
them the revived Hebrew language as their common language in
their restored homeland. The inhabitants of Israel can now truly
join in one Hebrew voice to call "upon the name of the Lord, to
serve him with one consent." The restoration of the ancient
tongue of the prophets certainly qualifies as one of the most
extraordinary miracles and unique biblical predictions ever
fulfilled.
(Not at all, for it was not a fulfilment of any prophecy per se.
It was "national pride" and the ancient history of a people
persecuted and scattered abroad, that led them to be so proud of
their history, that Hebrew would become important to them. The
Jews would still be the Jews, and still be a part of Israel in
the eyes of God, no matter what language they spoke. Going back
to the roots of Hebrew for their language had nothing to do with
any prophecy in the Bible. Jeffrey is making a picture out of
nothing - one of the many fundamental picture prophecies that are
based upon the mis-understanding of the Word of God - Keith Hunt)
Arab-Israeli Conflict
Three thousand years ago, King David prophetically listed
the ancient enemy tribes that would ultimately form the modern-
day nations that will join in a military alliance opposing the
return of the Jews to their homeland in the final conflict during
the years before the return of the Messiah:
For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate
thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel
against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a
nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in
remembrance. For they have consulted together with one
consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles
of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the
inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they
have holpen the children of Lot. (Psalms 83:2-8)
(It is true that in the last days, end-time, Arab nations will
oppose the Jews, they are doing so now and will into the future -
Keith Hunt)
The nations in the current Arab League of Nations who
violently oppose the existence of present-day Israel are also
found in King David's ancient prophecy. The ancient names of the
tribes and nations that opposed the existence of Israel during
the Exodus and the following centuries while King David and
Solomon developed the Jewish state were listed in the prophecy in
the book of Psalms as an extraordinary preview of the future Arab
confederacy of the last days that will seek to destroy the Chosen
People. The following list details the ancient tribal name and
its corresponding equivalent nation in the Middle East today.
It is remarkable that thousands of years ago the ancient
biblical prophets received a vision regarding the profound hatred
that the surrounding Arab nations had toward the rebirth of
Israel in the last days. The Lord inspired King David to foretell
that the Jews' return to the Promised Land would trigger a bitter
interracial blood feud. David prophesied that the surrounding
nations of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt
would gather their military forces in a final attempt to
eliminate the Jewish state of Israel from the Middle East
forever.
(This confederacy of nations will be against the whole peoples of
Israel, which the Jews are only PART of. And so it is today.
Britain and her Commonwealth people and the USA are on the side
of the Jews, as "brother" people [which most do not understand]
it is only so fitting they would be with the Jews, hence in part,
that is why the Arab nations are in many ways AGAINST the USA,
Britain, as well as the Jews - Keith Hunt)
The hatred of the Arabs for the Jewish people was first
predicted four thousand years ago through God's prophetic command
to Hagar, Abraham's concubine. The Lord commanded that she should
call her son Ishmael "because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man,
and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the
presence of all his brethren" (Genesis 16:11-12). This prophecy
was tragically fulfilled; there has been hatred for thousands of
years between the descendants of Abraham. The Arabs descended
from his son Ishmael and the Jews descended from his son Isaac.
As the descendants of Ishmael, the Arab people travelled for
forty centuries as nomads throughout the Middle East.
(And they hate the brothers of Judah also - Britain and the USA -
but most fundamental prophets cannot see the connection that is
literal, with the Jews, Britain and the USA. But you can if you
read the book of Genesis and just believe the prophecies God gave
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - Keith Hunt)
Population in Jerusalem and Palestine
Many modern Middle East media commentators and most North
Americans have been led to believe that the Arab Muslims formed
the majority of the population of Palestine and Jerusalem until
the waves of Jewish immigration from Europe and Russia beginning
in the 1800s and 1900s overwhelmed them. The PLO has often
declared in their propaganda that the Palestinian Arabs formed a
majority of the population in the land of Canaan until the Jewish
immigrants came from Europe and took over their properties.
However, the official historical documents of both the
Muslim Turkish and anti-Jewish British authorities that ruled the
territory of Palestine provide authoritative and compelling
evidence that the Jewish inhabitants have formed a majority of
the population in Jerusalem and throughout Palestine for the last
one hundred and fifty years.
(Especially from 1917 onwards. All going to show that Jews were
many in the Holy Land before 1948. You do not form a nation
unless you have the population to do so - Keith Hunt)
The consistent evidence from historical sources is that the
Promised Land was quite desolate with a very small population
from ancient times until the last century. In 1788, Count
Constantine F. Volney wrote about his extensive visits to the
Holy Land in his Travels through Syria and Egypt in the Years
1783, 1784, 1785. Volney claimed that the whole population of
Jerusalem contained less than 14,000; the city of Hebron had
900 men and the town of Bethlehem had only 600 adult men. The
British Consul James Finn wrote in 1858 to his superior, the Earl
of Clarendon, about the population of Jerusalem. Consul Finn
wrote, "The Mohammedans of Jerusalem are less fanatical than in
many other places owing to the circumstances of their numbers
scarcely exceeding one quarter of the whole population - and of
their being surpassed in wealth, in trade and manufactures by
both Jews and Christians."
The British consul of Jerusalem wrote in his Report of the
Commerce of Jerusalem During the Year 1863 that the "population
of the City of Jerusalem is computed at 15,000, of whom about
4,500 [are] Moslem, 8,000 Jews and the rest Christians of various
denominations." An indication of the static population in
Jerusalem until God motivated the Jews to begin returning from
exile in the 1880s is found in the fact that the total population
of Jerusalem increased by only one thousand people during the
seventy-eight years from the census figures for 1785 until 1863.
(Ah ... so now he sees the Jews were coming back to the Holy
Land. After 1917 it started to gain more popularity to return to
Jerusalem - Keith Hunt)
The evidence that the Jews formed the majority of the
population of Palestine as well as Jerusalem is found in
examining the historical records (Turkish Census, 1844; Calendar
of Palestine 1895-96; 1922 Census by British Mandate; Jerusalem -
The Old City-1962; Israel Central Bureau Of Statistics; Jerusalem
Municipality Report).
Official Population Statistics for Jerusalem from 1844 to
1996.
Year 1844 Jews 7,120 Muslims 5,00 Christians 3,390
Year 1863 Jews 8,000 Muslims 4,500 Christians 2,500
Year 1896 Jews 28,112 Muslims 8,560 Christians 8,748
Year 1922 Jews 33,971 Muslims 13,413 Christians 14,699
Year 1948 Jews 100,000 Muslims 40,000 Christians 25,000
Year 1967 Jews 195,000 Muslims 54,963 Christians 12,646
Year 1983 Jews 300,000 Muslims 105,000 Christians 15,000
Year 1996 Jews 421,000 Muslims 166,000 Christians 15,000
(Notice indeed the swelling amount after 1917, when Jerusalem was
liberated by the British under Alenby - Keith Hunt)
The Islamic Koran Declares that Israel Belongs to the Jews
There have been numerous statements in recent years from
Muslim authorities that have asserted that the Jews have no right
to live in the Middle East, no right to live in Jerusalem, and no
historical or religious right to visit the Temple Mount. In fact,
many Muslim authorities now deny that the Jewish Temple ever
existed on the Haram Es Sharif (Temple Mount).
(The Jews do have a right to be there. Their punishment of 7
times [2,520 years] was over in 1917. The end time Jewish nation
could be multiplied and formed from 1917, as never before since
the time of David and Solomon - Keith Hunt)
However, it is fascinating to note that there are a number
of passages (known as Surahs) in the key Islamic religious text,
the Koran, written by Mohammed that relate to the children of
Israel and her legitimate possession of her ancient homeland, the
land of Israel. I am indebted to Dr.Michel Calvo's internet
article, "Sovereignty to G-d and Jerusalem Ministries
International," which recently published several excerpts from
his article. I examined the Koran to verify these intriguing
passages.
These ancient passages in the Koran clearly acknowledge and
affirm the right of the Jews to possess the land of Israel. This
declaration by the Muslim prophet Mohammed directly contradicts
the repeated statements of modern Islamic spokesmen who deny the
Jewish people have any right to live at peace in their ancient
homeland. However, the Koran declares that the Jews had the right
to enter and possess the Promised Land and that Allah "had not
given to any other among the nations":
And when Musa [Moses] said to his people [Israel]: O my
people! remember the favor of Allah upon you when He raised
prophets among you and made you kings and gave you what He
had not given to any other among the nations. O my people!
enter the holy land which Allah has prescribed for you and
turn not on your backs for then you will turn back losers.
(Surah 5:20-21)
This key passage, Surah 5:20-21, actually declares that the
Jews were to "enter the holy land" that was given to Israel and
was not given by Allah to any other people except the Jewish
people. The Koran affirms to the Jews of Israel that Allah "made
you kings and gave you what He had not given to any other among
the nations." This remarkable statement is reinforced and
confirmed in several other Koranic passages, including
Surah 7:137-138 and Surah 17:104:
And We made the people who were deemed weak to inherit the
eastern lands and the western ones which We had blessed; and
the good word of your Lord was fulfilled in the children of
Israel because they bore up (sufferings) patiently; and We
utterly destroyed what Firon and his people had wrought and
what they built. And We made the children of Israel to pass
the sea; then they came upon a people who kept to the
worship of their idols They said: O Musa! make for us a god
as they have (their) gods He said: Surely you are a people
acting ignorantly. (Surah 7:137-138)
And We said to the Israelites after him: Dwell in the land:
and when the promise of the next life shall come to pass, we
will bring you both together in judgment. (Surah 17:104)
[the word Musa refers to Moses]
It is fascinating that the Koran clearly declares that Allah
chose and blessed the Jewish people ("above the nations") and
gave them the Torah ("the communications wherein was clear
blessing"). The Koran states: "And certainly We chose them,
having knowledge, above the nations. And We gave them of the
communications wherein was clear blessing" (Surah 44:32-33). In
an extraordinary statement in Surah 45:16, we find these words
endorsing the biblical Torah and even a declaration that God
created Israel to "excel the nations" (Surah 45:16). "And
certainly We gave the Book and the wisdom and the prophecy to the
children of Israel, and We gave them of the goodly things, and We
made them excel the nations" (Surah 45:16).
The remarkable fact is that the Muslim's most holy book, the
Koran, actually declares that Allah affirmed the right of the
Jewish people ("and no other") to possess the Land of Israel.
This declaration is extraordinary. If this statement from the
Koran was publicly acknowledged and clearly taught throughout the
Islamic world, it might create a real possibility of negotiating
a true peace between Israel and the Palestinians as well as with
her surrounding Arab Islamic neighbors.
(It is interesting that the Koran would say such, but the
foundational truth of the matter is the Word of God. The Lord
would give back the land to the Jews after 1917 in a way that is
the State of Israel today. This happening is ONLY in the book of
Leviticus, and after the 7 times punishment. It really has
nothing to do with any time as to when the Messiah returns in
glory. His coming again is based upon the signs of the times that
have no direct bearing on 1917 or the Jews being a nation in 1948
- Keith Hunt)
The Return of the Ethiopian Jews
Zephaniah prophesied that the Ethiopian Jews would finally
return from thousands of years of exile to come home to the land
of Israel. Approximately three thousand years ago, during the
days of King Solomon, a group of Jews including representatives
from each of the twelve tribes immigrated to Ethiopia with Prince
Menelik, the son of King Solomon, and his mother, the Queen of
Sheba. (For more on this subject, see my book Armageddon -
Appointment with Destiny). The prophet Zephaniah foretold the
return of these Jews to their Israeli homeland in the last days:
"From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the
daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering"
(Zephaniah 3:10).
(This prophecy Jeffrey does not understand. It has nothing to do
with any Ethiopia Jews returning to Jerusalem. It's covered in my
studies on the Old Testament prophets - Keith Hunt)
The prophet Isaiah confirms the prediction of Zephaniah: "I
will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back:
bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the
earth" (Isaiah 43:6); the "north" refers to Russia and the
"south" refers to Ethiopia.
(Once more the fundamental prophet is wrong! It is a prophecy of
that is fulfilled when Jesus comes again to gather the scattered
people of Israel, who will be in captivity, and from which the
Messiah will deliver them. See my studies on the prophet Isaiah -
Keith Hunt)
In another passage, Isaiah prophesied about the land of
Ethiopia and the coming Millennial "rest" or Sabbath.
Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the
rivers of Ethiopia: That sendeth ambassadors by the sea,
even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye
swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a
people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation
meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have
spoiled! All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on
the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the
mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. For so
the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will
consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs,
and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.... In that
time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of
a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible
from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and
trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to
the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion."
(Isaiah 18:1-4,7).
(Once more very misunderstood by Jeffrey. This is a prophecy for
the beginning of the millennium, the age to come, the Kingdom of
god on earth age. See my studies on the book of Isaiah - Keith
Hunt)
Remarkably, during the period from 1989 to 1991 following
the end of the Ethiopian civil war, tens of thousands of black
Ethiopian Jews known as Falashas were flown home to Israel in
fulfilment of the ancient prophecy of Zephaniah.
(No! It had nothing to do with any prophecy. It was just man,
Jews desiring to go to Jerusalem - Keith Hunt)
Although they followed many of the Jewish rituals of worship
and feasts such as Passover, they had no knowledge of the Feast
of Purim or Hanukkah because these festivals were instituted in
the centuries after they were separated from their race.
(And so they were just converted people to Judaism from way back
when. They saw they could have a home in Jerusalem - the Holy
City - so why not they reasoned - Keith Hunt)
The Astonishing Fertility of Israel
The prophet Isaiah also predicted that Israel would become
fertile in the last days. "He shall cause them that come of Jacob
to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of
the world with fruit" (Isaiah 27:6).
(Again, a prophecy for the 1,000 year age, and has nothing
directly to do with anything today - Keith Hunt)
In the light of the history of utter desolation in
agriculture and deforestation throughout Palestine for almost two
thousand years since the time of Christ, it is remarkable that
the Bible prophesies that the land of ancient Canaan will become
fertile and abundant in the last days. The Roman legions stripped
the land of its trees and burned its orchards as part of its
scorched earth policy in A.D.70. The Turkish absentee landlords
displayed no genuine concern for the land and allowed the removal
of almost all trees for firewood for centuries. In Mark Twain's
book "The Innocents," he comments about his 1867 tour of the Holy
Land: "There was hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive
and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soul, had
almost deserted the country."
However, the returning Jews have transformed the Promised
Land, previously deserted and desolate, into the most
agriculturally efficient land on earth according to the United
Nations. The value of the agricultural crops produced annually
exceeds $2 billion. Today, Israel supplies over 90 percent of the
citrus fruit consumed by almost five hundred million Europeans
and has annual agricultural exports to Western Europe exceeding
$802 million.
The astonishing fertility of Israel in the last days is
verified by these yields:
* Peak yields of tomatoes reach 202 tons per acre.
* 1.2 million roses are grown in greenhouses per acre per
season.
* Annual milk yields per cow reach an average of 2,640
gallons.
* In the Negev Desert, peak yields of citrus reach 32 tons per
acre.
The terribly dry environment forced the Jews to innovate and
develop remarkable new drip-irrigation techniques that ensure
every drop of water is delivered directly through to the plant's
roots. Utilization of the pure fertilizer provided from the
minerals found in the Dead Sea has allowed Israel's farmers to
turn the deserts into lush gardens growing bananas, mangos, and
grapes.
(Hummmm, well...so the people in the Okanagan Valley of British
Columbia have done [basic desert naturally]. So have the people
of Southern California [basic desert naturally]. It is amazing
what man can do if he needs to or wants to - Keith Hunt)
The rainfall in Palestine increased dramatically during the
last century, as compared to earlier centuries. The returning
Jewish exiles planted two hundred million trees, transforming the
complete environment of the Promised Land. The prophet Joel
declared that the desert nation of Israel would experience
tremendous increases of rain during the last days. "Be glad then,
ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he
hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to
come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain
in the first month" (Joel 2:23).
(This is a prophecy for the 1,000 year age. If Jeffrey thinks
it's pretty good now, just wait till this prophecy is actually
fulfilled - today will seem like a desert - Keith Hunt)
Isaiah, too, prophesied about increased fertility: "And the
parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs
of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be
grass with reeds and rushes" (Isaiah 35:7).
(A prophecy for the future Kingdom age it is. The context proves
it. See my studies on the prophet Isaiah - Keith Hunt)
As a result of this unprecedented reforestation, Israel's
climate is beginning to return to the original conditions of the
ancient past when Israel was called "a land of milk and honey."
(You wait for the Kingdom to come, when these prophecies will
come to pass, the present day will be like a desert in contrast -
Keith Hunt)
The Rebuilding of Jerusalem
One of the most fascinating and little-known end-time
prophecies is the twenty-five-century-old prediction by the
prophet Jeremiah that the city of Jerusalem will be precisely
"rebuilt for the Lord" in the last days in a very particular
sequence.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall
be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the
gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall yet go
forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass
about to Goath. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and
of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron,
unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be
holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown
down any more for ever. (Jeremiah 31:38-40)
The order and the modern equivalents, in brackets, are as
follows: "The city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of
Hananeel [northwest corner of Temple Mount] unto the gate of the
corner [Jaffa Gate]. And the measuring line shall yet go forth
over against it upon the hill Gareb [northeast of the corner gate
on the ancient wall], and shall compass about to Goath
[Schneller's Orphanage]. And the whole valley of the dead bodies,
and of the ashes [ancient cemetery], and all the fields unto the
brook of Kidron [follows the ancient Brook Kidron], unto the
corner of the horse gate toward the east [an ancient walled up
gate near the sealed Eastern Gate] shall be holy unto the Lord;
it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever"
(Jeremiah 31:38-40).
(Wait now .... did you get the last words, look at them again -
hang on to them - Keith Hunt)
This unusual prophecy has been fulfilled with astonishing
precision in the last generation as the Jewish exiles have
returned from seventy nations throughout the globe to rebuild
their ancient capital as documented in the following pages.
G. Olaf Matson wrote a tourist's travel guide booklet entitled
"The American Colony Palestine Guide" early in the last century
that presented information to help English-speaking tourists to
make their way around Jerusalem and Palestine. The phrase
"American Colony" refers to the section of Jerusalem that housed
many of the American diplomats, expatriates, and tourists coming
to the Holy City. Matson's interesting analysis of the city
building developments reveal fascinating parallels with the
prophecy of Jeremiah 31:38-40. Another book, "Fulfilled Prophecy
That Prove the Bible" by George T.B.Davis, detailed how the
expansion of the modern city has precisely followed the ancient
prophecy.
After very careful analysis of Jeremiah's prophecy and
detailed examination of the precise stages of the expansion of
the modern city of Jerusalem, Professor Peter Stoner concluded in
his book "Science Speaks: An Evaluation of Certain Christian
Evidences" that the odds against the rebuilding of the Holy City
fulfilling this precise prediction by random chance were only one
in 80 billion. Professor Stoner explained his calculation of the
mathematical probabilities of Jeremiah correctly guessing the
precise directions and sequence of the rebuilding of this ancient
city as follows:
It is rather easy to find the number of ways in which the
city of Jerusalem might have grown in its first nine steps.
There are six definite corners to the old city. Certainly
the growth might have started from any one of these corners,
to say nothing of the sides. Let us say then, that the first
development could have come at any of these six corners.
Having built at point number 1 it could have next built at
any of the old corners, or gone on in any one of these
directions from number 1; thus, the second expansion could
have come as any of 8 places. Continuing this on for the
nine points and multiplying the results together, we find
that the probability of Jeremiah writing this prophecy, from
human knowledge, and having come true would be about 1 in 8
x 1010.
(Some prophecy is DUAL, it has a fulfilment, but has another,
often at the very end-time, or into the Kingdom age of the 1,000
years. I told you to hang on to the last word of Jeremiah. Go
back and note them again: "nor thrown down any more forever." Now
if you have studied with me through Matthew 24 in past chapters,
then see how Luke was inspired to word "the abomination of
desolation" you will see clearly that before Christ returns
Jerusalem will once MORE BE THROWN DOWN, MADE DESOLATE! Then you
have my many other studies under "prophecy" and "end times" on
this Website that will expound it all to you in detail. Jerusalem
will AGAIN be destroyed and made desolate, then it will AGAIN be
re-built as Jeremiah has written, in the Kingdom age to come -
Keith Hunt)
Two fascinating prophecies correctly foretold that Jerusalem
would be an "unwalled city" in the last days. The prophet Ezekiel
predicted an invasion by Russia and the Arab nations in the last
days: "And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled
villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely,
all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor
gates" (Ezekiel 38:11). Zechariah repeated this unusual detail in
his prophecy: "And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man,
saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for
the multitude of men and cattle therein" (Zechariah 2:4).
(Oh dear, how the fundamental prophets get things back to front
and front to back. These prophecies have nothing to do with
today. They are prophecies for the Kingdom age to come. Again you
can study what I've given you on the prophets Ezekiel and
Zechariah - Keith Hunt)
The reason this prediction was so unusual is that defensive
walls surrounded virtually every single village, town, or city in
the ancient world. However, the development of long-range weapons
of destruction - including artillery, aerial bombs, and missiles
- have made defensive walls useless, even for Israeli military
bases surrounded by Palestinian territory.
(This shows you have far off the fundamental prophets are.
Jeffrey wrote his book in 2001. Since then [if it was before,
then Jeffrey really had his eyes closed] the Jews have BUILT A
WALL, just about all the way around their land, to protect
themselves, to safe-guard themselves, for the enemy has dozens of
ways to kill Jews, and cause destruction. Ambush, hit and run,
suicide bombing, can be just as deadly as aerial bombs. The
"unwalled" Holy Land prophecies are YET to come to pass, when the
age to come has come - Keith Hunt)
Since everyone was familiar with the many prophecies that
describe Israel as surrounded by enemies in the last days, it was
nothing less than extraordinary for Ezekiel and Zechariah to
predict that Israel and Jerusalem would not have defensive walls
at the time of the end.
(HOW OFF YOU ARE JEFFREY. THEY HAVE BUILT A MIGHTY BIG ONE -
Keith Hunt)
Another unusual prophetic reference regarding the last days
relates to the unprecedented and unusual love of archeology and
the deep attachment to the ancient walled city of Jerusalem that
characterizes the Jews of Israel. King David prophesied, "Thou
shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour
her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure
in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the heathen shall
fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy
glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his
glory" (Psalms 102:13-16).
(It is so plain, it just about jumps out and bites you on the
behind. David said, "When the Lord shall build up Zion, He SHALL
APPEAR IN HIS GLORY!" This is a prophecy for the coming of the
Messiah in GLORY, for the Kingdom age, the 1,000 year age - Keith
Hunt)
The Jews in the Promised Land have a profound love of their
ancient capital and often visit its Western Wall and numerous
other historical and religious sites within its walls. Almost
every Israeli citizen I have visited collects objects such as
ancient pottery and coins of archeological interest. Unlike their
Arab neighbors, who usually display little interest in the
historical ruins that surround them, many of the Jews have a deep
interest in the archeological objects and discoveries that
demonstrate their historic connection with their ancestors and
their ancient homeland.
(Maybe they do. So do the British. So do the Scottish. So do many
nations treasure their past and their physical history marks, and
preserve them and remember them in many different ways. The Irish
have green beer on St.Patrick's Day. The Scots have their
"kilts." Both the Irish and Scots and Welsh have their harps. All
kinds of things can be bought as national reminders of those
nations, when visiting in their "tourists stores."
The prophecy of David in Psalm 102 is YET TO BE FULFILLED, WHEN
THE MESSIAH COMES IN HIS GLORY. THE HEATHEN DO NOT YET FEAR THE
NAME OF THE LORD, NEITHER DO THE KINGS OF THE EARTH "THY GLORY"
BUT THEY WILL WHEN THIS PROPHECY COMES TO PASS!! Keith Hunt)
....................
To be continued
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