Free End Times Book (pdf).. - Rapture Notes

However, all of the nations immediately surrounding the little sliver of land were opposed to the formation of a
Jewish state, so, on the very first day of Israel's independence, all of Israel's neighbors declared war against them.
Israel miraculously won that war--and four more which have been waged against them during their first fifty years
of existence.
The Arab population of the land, who were mostly Moslems, were invited to stay when Israel became a nation. They
were offered citizenship if they would stay. Many of them accepted the offer, but the majority fled into buffer areas
just inside the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, where they formed Palestinian refugee camps. The neighboring
countries would not assimilate them, preferring to use their plight as homeless refugees for political advantage.
Today "Palestinians" are the residents of certain areas of Israel designated by the Oslo Accords of 1963 as areas for
self-rule of Palestinian people under the leadership of Yasser Arafat and the PLO (Palestinian Liberation
Organization). There is a great deal of unrest, and occasional terrorist activity, between the residents of these areas
and the rest of Israel, all of which threatens to destroy the progress of the "peace process" in the area.
The Nation of Israel has been brought back together as promised in Ezekiel: the skeleton, the muscles, and the skin
are in place, but there is still one part of the prophecy which awaits fulfillment. That is the spiritual rebirth of the
people. This is symbolized by God breathing life into Israel, even as He did into Adam when he was created.
Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign
LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'"
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet--a
vast army. Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are
dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign
LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to
the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you
up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will
know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'" (Ezekiel 37:9-14)
Israel has moved back into their ancient lands without any special regard for the God of their Fathers, who was
doing this for them. The treatment of the immigrating Jews towards the Arabs living in the land was often harsh and
unfair. This is surely because they had returned in a general state of unbelief. They had forgotten for the moment the
Law of Moses, and God's standards for treatment of strangers and aliens living in God's land. Much of the rebellion
by the Palestinian people against the Jews is based on legitimate complaints, and God, of course, can not overlook
this in the long run. He has no favorites and is even-handed in His judgments of all people.
Israel's Glorious Future
As mentioned earlier, God's ultimate intention for the nation Israel is that they should one day live under the more
powerful, more effectual conditions of the New Covenant which is the covenant which is now in effect in the worldwide
church of Jesus Christ,
This is pictured in Ezekiel 36 this way:
"'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your
own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities
and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your
heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees
and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:24-27)
It is after the church is completed that God will turn again to Israel as a nation and focus His activities once
again from His unseen headquarters in Jerusalem.
Peter has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And with this the
words of the prophets agree, as it is written, `After this I will return, and I will rebuild the dwelling of David,
which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up, that the rest of men may seek the Lord, and all the
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done… 17