Israel’s Last Tribulation

How close are we to Jesus’ return? Quick answer? I don’t know. But, given the events in Israel and Europe, it would be good to remind ourselves of what God has told us about these days. 

Before we get into this, let me ask the reader an important question: Why should we care about Israel? Consider what Paul says:

If their [the Jewish people] being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Romans 11:15).1

Clearly, we tie our hope of resurrection to Israel’s fortunes! 

Why?

We, as Gentiles, have been grafted into the people of Abraham that we might partake of the promises made to Abraham, granting us status as an inseparable part of the Jewish people.

This thought shows that the day of Israel’s salvation will mark the beginning of God’s Kingdom on earth and, therefore, the day of our salvation.

God’s Purpose With The Jews

To understand God’s purpose with the natural offspring of Abraham, we need to remember the foundational promise made to God’s friend: 

What are the key elements of this promise?

God’s firm and declared purpose is to be the God of the family of Abraham, and they will be His People. 

God will give Abraham and his family the land of Canaan as their permanent possession. 

All prophecies concerning the Jews have the fulfillment of these two promises as their focus and goal. For example: 

Note the intense passion of God for His People and the fulfillment of His declared purpose in these passages. We can see that everything going on now on this earth concerning the Jewish people is directed towards working out this purpose! So, let’s see what all this means to us now.

The Beginning and the End

Before continuing, read through Daniel 2:37-45, then consider these questions about Nebuchadnezzar’s image:

How many great empires do you count? (Five) 

What were these world powers? (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Iron and Clay)

What is the common element? (All exercised power over God’s land and God’s people.) 

What happened to the 4th world power? When was this fulfilled? 

In AD 70, the nation of Israel, its capital city and holy temple, were completely destroyed by the Romans. The Romans sold the Jewish people into captivity and scattered them into all nations. In essence, there was no more a Jewish nation or land to rule over! 

Why is May 1948 significant? Because the “times of the Gentiles” of which Jesus spoke are now coming to a close! Why? After almost 2000 years of wandering, the dispersed Jews became a nation again in their own land in 1948.

Why is June 1967 significant? Remember Jesus’ words: “Jerusalem will be trodden down until…” When Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, is finally back in Jewish hands, a significant step forward in fulfilling this prophecy will arrive. This event is what happened in 1967. 

What does this all mean? It means the stage is now set for developing that fifth and last great power to exert its control over God’s people and their land. 

The Fifth Power: The Ten Toes of Iron and Clay

The iron fragments are the remnants of the Roman world and culture (the fourth element in the image). Today, these powers are in Mediterranean and European areas. It has always been a marvel that for almost 2,000 years, Greco-Roman ideas have continued to guide the Western world’s political, cultural, religious, and intellectual shape.

But who is the clay? Until early 2000, the identity of the clay was unclear. What surfaced in the popular press then gave shape to a most astonishing change. For the first time, the Arabs have succeeded in invading Europe. In fact, they are on the cusp of becoming a significant part of Europe’s population! According to Pew Research in 2017: 

The Muslim share of Europe’s total population has been increasing steadily and will continue to grow in the coming decades. From mid-2010 to mid-2016 alone, the share of Muslims in Europe rose more than one percentage point, from 3.8% to 4.9% (from 19.5 million to 25.8 million).2

And, very much in accordance with Daniel’s prophecy, they do not mix with Roman iron at all.

So, what holds them together? Since the mid-1970s, Euro-Arab collaboration has developed at all levels: political, economic, religious, educational, and scientific. This structure has become the channel for Arab immigration into Europe and the development of Europe’s and the Arabs’ anti-Israel policy and anti-Americanism. One political commentator has called this collaboration a “symbiosis,” i.e., a mutually beneficial relationship between two peoples or groups. 

One other thing that keeps Arabs and Western Europeans united is their shared hatred of all things Jewish. 

So, the iron and clay now exist as one element. All that remains is for ten powers to emerge from this “symbiosis.” Wikipedia had an interesting entry about this:

In 2010, the estimate of the Arab population in Europe was approximately 6 million (the total number of the Arab population in Europe described below is 6,370,000 people), mainly concentrated in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Greece. 

These are twelve nations with a sizeable Arab population. It is important to notice that Iran and Egypt are not on the above list, and for good reason. While 90% of Egyptians identify as Muslims, the people are Egyptians, not Arabs. Likewise, while 98% of Iranians are Muslims, the majority of the population are Persians, not Arabs. 

The Mountains of Israel

Why are the mountains of Israel so important? They are clearly the focus of the prophecy above. Notice the behavior and attitude of the enemy. What does the enemy do?

They take possession of the land of God with the help of “the rest of the nations which are all around.” (v. 4-5).

Takes possession of the ancient holy places of the Jews (v. 2).

Plunders and destroys the area they take over (v. 4-5). Who would do something like this?

Causes God’s land and people to be mocked and ridiculed by the world’s nations (v. 3, 6).

Why should this prophecy be vital to us today? What do you notice about these two areas? The “mountains of Israel” are what we today call the “West Bank.” This is a prophecy about today!

Who wants this area today and why? “Edom” (v. 5) seems to play the most prominent role in opposing Israel. Who is “Edom” today? Edom is the name given to the nation and descendants of Esau (Genesis 36:8). The key to understanding this prophecy is to understand what happened to Esau. At the hands of Jacob, Esau lost his birthright, which gave him the leadership of the Abrahamic family and the family blessing, the inheritance of the land promised to Abraham. It is easy to understand from this what Esau wants: What he lost: both the rulership and the land!

Why is this prophecy and Ezekiel 35 about mountains? God gave Mt Seir to Esau as his inheritance, hence the conflict between the two mountains. Esau lost the mountains of Israel, and now he wants both Mt Seir and the mountains of Israel for his possession.

Who are the descendants of Esau today? The Arabs, but especially, I suggest, the Palestinian Arabs.

What do the Palestinians want? They want the West Bank and Gaza as an independent state. Yet, if you look at any Palestinian textbook or any map produced for the Muslim world, you will not find Israel on it anywhere. As Ezekiel prophesied, these descendants of Esau want all the land.

What is the outcome of this controversy?

Notice two things:

The surrounding nations (Arab countries) will not succeed.

God will fulfill His promises to Abraham—the descendants of Abraham will inherit His land, and they, the Jewish people, will, at last, become God’s People!

Closer Look At The Drama Of The Last Days

The prophet Zechariah gives us a close-up look at these dramatic events prophesied by Ezekiel.

Notice it is a time of “siege” in Judah and Jerusalem. A siege is an effort to “bottle up” the people of an area, block supplies and other essentials, and, in general, disrupt the enemy’s life. The Arabs call this siege activity an “Intifada.” There have been three Intifadas so far. A fourth is underway now with the rockets and bombs from Gaza and Lebanon.

Will the Palestinians succeed in their “siege?” The prophecy says that God will give them a “cup of drunkenness.” This image is pretty transparent. How successful would a drunk man be in a real fight? That will be the same for the Palestinians: They will never succeed in their efforts to bring Israel to its knees.

Now consider the difference between this and Zechariah 14.

Can you spot the differences?

Here, Israel’s enemies now succeed! Why? The key phrase is in verse 2, “I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem.” It is the exact phrase found in Joel 3:11-12.

The spoil is divided in the city. This enemy has no intention of leaving the city; they consider it theirs.

But only half the city is taken, and not all of it. Why? Because the nations of the world will only allow the Palestinians to have what they promised them—half the city.

Finally, notice there is a “remnant” that God protects in the city, a remnant that will “not be cut off.” Why are they so significant? Compare Joel 2:32. Joel is very clear: there will be a remnant in Jerusalem that God will protect and shield from the enemy. Indeed, it will be for their sake that He sends their Messiah and Deliverer.

And how does God “fight” on the day of battle? Consider the testimony of these two Scriptures:

It shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, and raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand. (Zechariah 14:13).

Amazingly, God turns the enemy, those “round about,” against each other!

What is startling is that the Arab world is actually already split into two warring factions, the Sunnis, and the Shi’ites. They hate each other! God will use this hatred on the day of their apparent victory to turn them against each other.

And how will the enemy become so confused that they destroy each other? 

When the feet of our Lord Jesus touch the Mount of Olives at the very place he ascended 2,000 years ago, the result will be an earthquake of inconceivable magnitude. The word “Azal” in verse 5 can mean the “root of the mountain.” This meaning might indicate that this earthquake will actually tear the Mount of Olives in two right down to its foundation! This event would be a catastrophe of major proportions, probably creating shockwaves and tsunamis throughout this earth.

The end result will be as God declared: The LORD will give His people victory over all their enemies. And, at last, Yahweh, our God, will be King over all this earth! 

We might rightly feel this should be this prophecy’s final, triumphant statement, but it isn’t. Here is how this prophecy concludes:

This prophecy closes with an amazing statement: “There shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.” Does this seem strange? Perhaps not quite fitting? We may find this peculiar until we remember what Abraham saw when he entered the land God promised to give him for his inheritance: “And the Canaanites were then in the land.” (Genesis 12:6). 

Zechariah’s prophecy couldn’t end on a more satisfying note: Finally, the Canaanites will no longer be in this land because Abraham will have at last entered his inheritance with all his children. 

A perfect ending to a most powerful prophecy!

Reflections

As this article is being written, many Christadelphians have eyes on Gaza (Hamas-controlled, sending rockets and mortar shells) and the West Bank (Fatah-controlled, stabbings). Also, Hezbollah to the north of Israel in Lebanon is sending its rockets into Israel. To this, we can add the Houthis in Yemen, who are launching rockets and drones at Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea.

Israel has responded to all these attacks, but most especially to Hamas in Gaza. In this case, organizations are portraying Israel’s response as “genocide.” There is a billboard on the freeway near me with that very message with the sad face of a Gazan child.

What does this all mean?

There seem to be more Arab nations around Israel that are turning against Israel. There is also a growing concern among the Western nations that Israel is going too far in their bombing and destruction in Gaza. This development may lead to an increasing isolation of Israel in the larger world that prophecy leads us to expect.

Does this mean the prophecies we have considered are moving toward fulfillment? Perhaps, but we should be cautious. We need to continue to watch the unfolding of these events. I believe what is happening now is laying a foundation for fulfilling these prophecies, but the current situation doesn’t seem to be the actual fulfillment.

So, we continue to wait and watch and pray for the soon return of God’s Son as the only real solution to all the things we see going on in the Middle East and also in our own countries, including the destruction of the moral foundations that have given us some relative calmness in our ordinary and spiritual lives. How much longer this will continue should also be a concern.

Ted Sleeper,
San Francisco Peninsula Ecclesia, CA