What is the purpose of Prophecy??

“that ye may know” “ye may believe”

When our Lord tarried at Jerusalem two more days after he was told that Lazarus was sick,

Lazarus died. In John 11:11 Jesus then told his disciples the news saying;

John 11:11–15

11… Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. 13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. 14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

In the night Jesus was betrayed he told his disciples that he would be betrayed by the very person that “Eateth bread with me”, then he states in;

John 13:19

19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

When God spoke of all the signs that he would do in Egypt; when he spoke to Moses on the mount and showed him both his power of the elements of the earth by changing a stick to a serpent, and his power over life and death by making the clean hand leporous and the Leper cleansed, when he spoke of that which had not yet been or come to pass in exact detail before it came to pass, he did so that the people may KNOW that he is the LORD.

Exodus 10:2

2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.

Even in his judgment of the nation in the time of Jeremiah

Jeremiah 44:29

29 And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:

Even in the very obeying of his commandments does the result and benefit testify to the LORD;

Ezekiel 20:19–20

19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; 20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

Everything we see in the Bible that speaks of that which is not yet come is given to us that WE MAY BELIEVE.

That we may KNOW GOD IS TRUE

That we may be ENCOURAGED TO TRUST IN GOD AND GOD ALONE

THAT IS WORDS ARE TRUE AND WE CAN REST.

And one of the greatest signs of all is ISRAEL.

The Dispersion Foretold

It was the first century.

The King neared the city.

Almost 4,000 years had gone by since God testified to Adam of the one who would come to bruise the Serpents head, referring to Christ.

Almost 2,000 years had gone by since God had made a promise concerning the coming of Shilo through Jacob to his sons, saying;

 Genesis 49:10

10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Almost 1,500 years had gone by since Moses spoke of the Lord raising up a prophet from the midst of the people and of their brethren, “Like unto me” said he, “unto him ye shall harken” in Deut 18:15

And Daniel gave the exact day “the Messiah the Prince” would present himself by a PUBLICLY EVIDENT EVENT as a reference point in Daniel 9:25.

The ordering of the EVENT was Identified by NAME Isaiah 44:26-45:4, and THE EVENT was recorded as a double witness EVENT HISTORICALLY at the end of the Chroniclesand the first chapter of Ezra. 

Jesus even held the people accountable to KNOW of the VERY DAY OF HIS COMING RELATED specifically to that commandment of Cyrus, “to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince” in Daniel 9:25

And now he stands at the edge of the City and weeps.

Luke 19:41-44

41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

It’s almost impossible for us to comprehend the importance of that event historically. 

For two thousand years the People of Israel would be scattered abroad and out of the land, and the reason was simple, for all that has been told them, all the signs considering the coming of the very one that has been awaited for and written of in the greatest detail, and kept by those to whom were committed the oracles of God (Rom 3:2)… 

…Jesus condemns with that last sentence “because thou newest not the time of thy visitation”.

But the Bible spoke of this coming also.

History would refer to it as “the great dispersion” or “The Diaspora”, the scattering of the Jews to all corners of the world, and it was written of many years earlier by none other than Moses himself;

Turn to Deut 28:63

Moses had just finished pronouncing the blessings that would come upon the people should they obey the Lord, and from verse 15 he begins to go into detail respecting the curse that would come upon them should they “not unto the voice of the LORD thy God”

Deuteronomy 28:63-65 

⁶3 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. 

The verse I want you to consider for this point is this next one;

65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind”

The Scattering was foretold and they would find NO EASE, NO REST, A TREMBLING HEART etc

History testifies

They had troubles in almost every nation they found themselves, none would ever leave them comfortable in the lands in which they dwelt, continually the nation of Israel, identifiable ONLY AS A NATION WITHOUT A LAND, would find themselves having to identify themselves as Pilgrims. 

The Jews stayed a while in those lands, they built homes and businesses until trouble came looking for them. 

• Expelled from Rome in the 1st century
• Expelled from Italy in the 2^nd century
• Expelled completely from Palestine and Islamic countries from the 8^th Century
• Expelled from Nth Africa in the 10^th century
• Expelled From England in 1290 until 1650 (360 years)
• Expelled from France in 1306 and AGAIN 1394
• Expelled from Spain in 1492
• Expelled from Lithuania in 1495
• Expelled from Portugal in 1497
• They were prohibited in Russia from the 15^th century until 1772

Pogroms against the Jews are recorded from the 1300’s.

The Roman Catholic inquisition, the most notorious, cruel evil that has ever come upon a land in the name of whatever god they were worshipping, had seen the Jews find no place to rest for their feet in Roman Catholic Europe.

They were;

• Persecuted in Russia
• Persecuted in Europe
• Disdained in the UK
• Turned away from the United States during the Holocaust ^[1]
•  Murdered in Germany

The Desolation Foreknown

in Matthew 23:37 Jesus said “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! ³⁸ Behold, your house is left unto you desolate”

And desolate it became.

The Land of Israel, the land of Palestine, was FORSAKEN and made desolate. Not even the favour of God in watering the Land till their return would be accomplished. The dessert would not bloom in their absence, it would not yet flourish as a rose.

What Jesus had prophesied had come to pass exactly as spoken.

Titus Vespasian was the cruel Roman general who effectively dispersed the nation in 70AD, destroyed the Temple completely, and the City. 

Josephus, the Historian of the day, said so great was the destruction that it could not be told their was ever a Temple standing there. 

Yet another perfect and literal fulfilment of the words of Christ that “there shall not be left one stone upon another” (Matt 24:2, Mark 13:2 our passage earlier in Luke 19:44 and Luke 21:6), not “two witnesses” not “three witnesses” but FOUR portions of scripture that testified not a single stone left one upon another, not a foundation stone and certainly NOT an ENTIRE WESTERN WALL!

It is for these reasons and a number of other contradictions and historical considerations that I do not hold the current location known as The Temple Mount to have anything to do with the actual Temple itself.

I do believe that Scripture makes it plain, else we have a serious contradiction to deal with.

I also think history testifies that the current Temple Mount has more resemblance and location features with being the actual fortress Antonia than anything to do with the Temple. 

I think true history confirms the Bible rather than contradicts it.

But we can speak to all that after. Now that I have upset some of you….lets continue.

Moses spoke of the risk of the desolation Jesus affirmed would come upon the people of Israel for their rejection, not just in Deuteronomy but in Leviticus.

Leviticus 26

Again, he begins the discourse in verse 14 with “But if ye will not hearken unto me…”

Leviticus 26:32–33

32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

Some of these text doubtlessly have a partial fulfilment during the Babylonian Captivity, but elements of their testimony are perfectly fulfilled during the global diaspora. 

Consider the words of Ezekiel 36 for a moment

Ezekiel 36 speaks to both the scattering of the Jews AND the “Desolation” of the land they have left empty.

Ezekiel 36:19–20

19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries:according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. 20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.

The passage continues to tell of God receiving honour from the heathen world when he brings them back into the land;

Ezekiel 36:24

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

Recall that in the very next chapter is the prophecy of the DRY BONES which clearly speak of a regathering during a GLOBAL DISPERSION. Testifying to both a partial fulfilment in the 70 year captivity in Babylon, but a complete fulfilment in the Diaspora.

Now, consider the nature of the words as the LORD continues to build on their regathering and restoration from verse 33

Ezekiel 36:33–36

33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. 35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. 36 

Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.

Notice Verse 34 says of the land that “it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by”, and indeed it did so.

Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, known as Nachmanides, after fleeing Christian Spain in the late 1200’s, arrived at Jerusalem in the year 1267, where he writes to his son saying;

“Many are Israel’s forsaken places, and great is the desecration. The more sacred the place, the greater the devastation it has suffered. Jerusalem is the most desolate place of all.”^[2]

Nachmanides is the sage who’s Torah commentary is still studied by Jews to this day, yet he notes the lack of inhabitants in Israel at the time as a blessing. He wrote that the devastation… 

“constitutes a good tiding, proclaiming that during all our exiles, our land will not accept our enemies… Since the time that we left it, [the land] has not accepted any nation or people, and they all try to settle it… This is a great proof and assurance to us.”

More than 550 years later little seems to have changed.

In 1835, the French poet, Alphonse de Lamartine, visited Palestine. He wrote:

“Outside the gates of Jerusalem, we saw indeed no living object, heard no living sound. We found the same void, the same silence … as we should have expected before the entombed gates of Pompeii^[3]… a complete, eternal silence reigns in the town, on the highways, in the country … the tomb of an entire people.”^[4]

32 years later, the famous American author Mark Twain seemed to agree after he visited Palestine in 1867, he described his visit in ‘Innocents Abroad’:
he writes;

“There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”
“A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action. We reached Tabor safely. We never saw a human being on the whole route”.

“Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies. Palestine is desolate and unlovely. And why should it be otherwise? Can the curse of the Deity beautify a land?”^[5] (possibly referring to Matt 23:36-38)

Charles Warren, British archaeologist and researcher who did extensive research in Jerusalem, wrote in the year 1870:

“The Land of Israel is bound up in the chains of its curse which hangs over it. The land has no redeemer, and it is a wasteland with no one to cultivate it or care for it.”^[6]

But God had promised the return of his people, saying in Isaiah 43:5-6 & Ezekiel 37:1-14

And as they were beginning to return in number and in the fulfilment of the prophecy of scripture, it was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Abraham Kyper, in 1905 who stated 

“The Jews have come in vain, only God can check the blight of the inrushing Desert” ^[7]

It seems that for the space of 1800 years, Israel and Jerusalem are recorded as have very few inhabitants.

History testifies to nomadic peoples only coming in and going out, but none remaining and settling. Why would they in such a forsaken and arid land?

For two thousand years God had let the land lay fallow, he did not give anyone comfort in settling in Israel, it would be seen as Desolate by all who pass by. 

The Regathering Foreseen

For 1800 years the people of the Jews remained unsettled and strangers in strange lands.

“Next year in Jerusalem” is the phrase so long recited at the end of every Passover by the scattered people. 

“Next year in Jerusalem”, year after year, decade after decade, century after century. Discomfort in lands not ordained for them was how the Lord kept them desiring home.

ISA 43:5-6

5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; 6 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; 

The detail of what had become known as the Palestinian Covenant was expressed by Moses unto the people in Deuteronomy chapters 28-30.

God would return the people to the land he had promised them.

November 2nd, 1917, during the first world war, a government declaration was addressed to Lord Rothschild respecting the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish nation;

It reads;

“His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

The signatory was Author James Balfour and it is known as ‘The Balfour Declaration’

One month later on the 11th of December, on the Eve of Hanakkah, General Allenby led the British troops into Jerusalem and freed it from the vice grip of the Ottoman Empire of the Turks.

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. (Ezek 36:24)

bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; (Isa 43:6)

On the 25th of April, 1920, just over one hundred years ago, another agreement known as the San Remo Agreement was created to lead for the establishment of 22 Arab states and 1 Jewish state, signifying the division of the territories of the defeated Ottoman Empire. 

80% of what was known as British Mandated Palestine was designated as the Emirate of Transjordan which is todays modern Jordan, the remaining 20% of that referred to as Palestine was set aside for the Jewish state of Israel. 

(NB The borders of Palestine have never been truly identified, but it was ALWAYS much larger than the slither if Israel today), 80% now given to the Arabs as Transjordan)

This Agreement is known as Israel’s Magna Carta;

On July 24th, 1922 a vote held at the League of Nations (Precursor to the U.N.) to approve the creation of a Jewish state. Fifty-one member countries – the entire League of Nations – unanimously declared
“Whereas recognition has been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.”

And what was the Vote?  51-0

ISA 66:8

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.

The 14th of May, 1948, 75 years ago, the nation was born. It was a narrow vote of 6 to 4, but David Ben Gurion secured the right to create a nation in one day. 

Blood was spilled on that very day, the supreme forces of the Arabs roundabout would threaten the establishment of this nation from the very beginning. 

The United States sent a letter to the leaders of Israel, to put off statehood and accept the truce of the Arabs.

Golda Meir was one of the greatest diplomats of Israel, she was the woman who stood at the side of David ben Gurion, her statement saying “Peace will come when the arabs would love their children more than they hate us” would be one of the most quoted in Israel. 

She did all she could to petition The King of Jordon, but he would not promise to stop his threatened attack against Israel if they declare statehood.

Nevertheless, Israel was born in a day and fulfilled one of the most important and miraculous ancient prophecies of all, born in a day and “travailed as she brought forth her children”.

The war of Independence was their first war and lasted from the VERY DAY they declared independence on 1947 to 1949. The enemies of this tiny, new, nation state in that war were;

• Egypt
• Iraq
• Jordan
• Syria
• Lebanon
• Saudi Arabia
• Yemen
• The Arab liberation army
• The Palastinian Arab army

Together these formed a true Goliath against one David.

But the trouble against Israel would not stop. 

Turn to Zechariah 12:2-4

2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Now, the timing of the passage is specific, it relates to the time of Jacobs Trouble (Jer 30:7), also known to us at the seven year tribulation period, YET we should see continued escalation of this trouble UNTIL all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

And from 1947 there was a continued escalation of trouble just as the Bible teaches;

There was the Sinai war against Egypt in 1956

The Six Day War against Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq in 1967

The War of Attrition against Russia, Jordan, Egypt and the PLO from 1967-70

The Yom Kippur war against Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and North Korea in 1973.

Operation Litani 1978

1^st Lebanon war 82-85

1^st Intifada 87-93

2^nd Intifada 2000 – 2005

2^nd Lebanon war 2006

Operation Cast Lead  (Gaza) 2008-09

Pillar of Defence (Hamas / Gaza) 2012 (This began on a day when I and my family was in Israel)

Protective Edge (Hamas / Gaza war) 2014

Operation Chess (against Iran) 2013 to October 2023

I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about,

The Restoration Foreshown

THE DESERTS BLOOM

Recall how the Lord describes the land in Ezekiel 36:35? ;

This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden

Isaiah speaks also to this;

1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: (Isa 35:1-2)

6…for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. 7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: (Isa 35:6-7)

10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isa 35:10)

A record of King Faisal of the Arab nations who signed the San Remo Agreement in 1920, recalls him saying “of course we want the Zionists to come into Palestine, all the greatest scientists are Jewish…and the territory of Palestine now so arid and … a desert, will be transformed; it will become a garden, will blossom like a rose. We shall borrow their experts, we shall work together and we shall do the same in all [Arab] countries which have turned into deserts we will make them flourish again as the used to be in the past” ^[8]

Israel are identified as the 8th most powerful military nation on earth, more so than Australia and yet only 1/5th the size of Victoria. (Australia ranks 21st most powerful Military ranking in the world).   

It is as if the land had awaited its owner before it would produce fruit for its inhabitants.

Israel is the largest exporter of Roses to the world

Israel supplies Europe with 1/6th of all its Fruit and Vegetables.

And yet, we drove only a few minutes over the mountains of Moriah and it was arid land. We drove South, passed the dead sea, to Masada, and there was nothing but dirt and stones.

In a way beloved, I feel as if I have already exhausted you with the Miracle of Israel and one of the greatest signs of all, their being back in the land after being dispersed among the nations for almost two thousand years.

Never in history has this happened to another people group or nation. In fact, it is an impossible thing to ever occur in the natural sense. 

Why does ISRAEL EXIST AND WHY ARE THE EVENTS IN THE WORLD TODAY SO IMPORTANT?

“That YE may KNOW how that I am the LORD” says God in Exodus 10:2

“That YE may BELIEVE that I am he” says Jesus in John 13:9

And now?

Will you believe the Gospel that Christ also died for you as you see the unveiling of prophecy before your eyes?

You, dear Christian, will you START taking your faith seriously and LIVE AS IF YOU ARE HERE FOR A PURPOSE?

Will you read your bible?

Will you pray?

Will you share your faith?

Will you live as if Christ is coming in the next six months to a year?

{$NOTE_LABEL}. https://www.history.com/news/wwii-jewish-refugee-ship-st-louis-1939

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramban_Synagogue

^[3] A Pilgrimage To The Holy Land, Page 210.

[4]. A Pilgrimage To The Holy Land, Page 85.

^[5] Innocents Abroad. Mark Twain. Pgs, 233, 520, 607, 608

[6]. http://arachimusa.org/FAQSDetail.asp?FaqID=723

[7]. Get-a-life ministries Video 1 Israel 26:26 min

[8]. Palestine, a Twice-Promised Land. The British, the Arabs & Zionism: 1915-1920, by Isaiah Friedman Pg 227