The Convergent Factor

Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14
New Testament Reading: Romans 11:1-36

The Convergent Factor
“Israel: God’s Timepiece”
Matthew 24:32-34

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

Throughout the Bible, the fig tree is portrayed as a symbol of Israel. In Hosea 9:10, God spoke to Israel and said: “I saw your fathers as the first ripened figs of the summer!” 

• God saw the Jews as that ripened fig, and He chose them to be His own people, He planted them in their own land, as if they were a choice vine and a perfect seed, He was nourished by their love, and He took pleasure in them.
• In 70 AD, Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Jews were forced to flee to other nations around the world, and for almost 1900 years, the “fig tree” was dormant, as the Jews wandered about the earth as strangers; persecuted by every other race of people; six million were put to death in the German concentration camps!
• On May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel was reborn on the land from which they had been twice removed – that was the “budding of the Fig Tree”;  the greatest prophetic signs of the end-times in our generation.

1. Israel’s Divine Origination – Genesis 12:1-3 – “The Lord said…I will make of thee a great nation…and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed!”

    God called Abram to be the progenitor of a new race of people.

• God instructed Abram to separate from his father’s faith, his father’s family, and his father’s land.
• God promised Abram permanent land, permanent blessing, and permanent protection.
• Because of their lack of faith, Abram and Sarah agreed to birth a child through her Egyptian handmaid – Hagar.
  • He was called “Ishamel” – the progenitor of the Arabs.

• When both Abram and Sarah were beyond child-bearing age, God touched her womb, and she gave birth to her own son.
  • He was called “Israel” – the progenitor of the Jews.

   God called the Jewish people to serve Him in four ways:

• To be a witness for Him – Isaiah 43:10 – the fact that the Jewish people exist today is the evidence that God exists.
• To show forth His blessings – Isaiah 49:3 – they were to show the other nations how God blesses those who believe in Him.
• To be the repository for His Word – Isaiah 42:9 – God inspired Jewish men to document their own history with Him.
• To be the channel for the Messiah – Isaiah 49 – God preserved a remnant of the Jews to serve as the lineage of the Messiah.

2. Israel’s Divine Preservation – Isaiah 43:1-7 – “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. I will be with you!”

   In Deuteronomy 30, Moses assured the Jews that even if God allowed them to be scattered to the ends of the earth, at the right time, He would find them and bring them back into the land of their ancestors, and that the cultural identity of Israel would never be lost.

• God allowed His people to be removed from the Promised Land three times:
  • By the Assyrians in 721 BC – Satan’s plot to dilute the purity of Israel’s race in order to corrupt the seed-line of the Savior.
  • By the Babylonians in 586 BC – the city of Jerusalem was destroyed and the treasures of Solomon’s temple were stolen – 50,000 were taken captive to Babylon – the land lay desolate until a remnant of the Jews were allowed to return to the land and rebuild. The Jews that remained in Babylon were threatened with extinction. In 63 BC, Israel lost its independence, but the people were allowed to live under Roman bondage.
  • By Titus in 70 AD – the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the people were forced to leave the land. In 135 AD, the Romans plowed the land, and the Jews that remained were sold into slavery. The name of the land was changed from Judah (Israel) to Syria Palestina.

The Muslim invaders entered the land in 650 AD, followed by the Ottoman Empire from 1517-1917, when the British took over, and allowed the Jews to begin to return to their own land.

• On May 14, 1948, Israel became an independent nation again, and they regained control of Jerusalem in 1967 in what is known as the six-day war. These two events fulfilled 10 specific end-times prophecies.
• For 1900 years, the Jews were “off the land”, unable to maintain their God-given identity, culture and their own language.
• In 1933, 9-million Jews were living in 21 different countries, and by 1945, 2 out of every 3 Jews had been murdered.
• But not only have they survived, they have revived their Jewish culture, as well as the ancient language of Hebrew, while the nations that harmed them have either been destroyed or absorbed by other nations, validating God’s promise to Abram that those who cursed Israel would be cursed of God.

3. Israel’s Divine Destination – Jeremiah 30:2-3 – “The Lord says…the days are coming declares the LORD, when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess!”

The Apostle Paul said the gifts of God are irrevocable; He never withdraws them once they are given, and certainly that is true for Israel.

• For 4000 years Israel’s history has been a mixture of blessing and discipline; provision and persecution; discipline and deliverance.
• Today, there is widespread hatred of the Jews throughout the world, including the United States, but especially by the Arab nations who want to “push Israel into the sea and wipe every Jew off the map!”
• It is obvious that Israel’s enemies do not recognize that God has given that land to the Jews, and that the Jews must be in the land for the final end-time prophecies to be fulfilled.
• Israel is the only land God referred to as “My land”; Jerusalem is the only city God referred to as “My city”: the Jews are the only people God referred to as “My people”, for they are the channel of the Messiah, and Jerusalem will be His throne!
• In Ezekiel 37:21-22, God outlined the sequence of events that we are witnessing today:
  • The restoration of the people to the land of their ancestors – “I will bring them into their own land!” 
    • Over 6 million Jews now live in Israel, which is about 43% of the total population of Jews worldwide.
  • The revival of the nation – “I will make them one nation in the land!”
    • Jewish culture has been revived – Ezekiel’s “dry bones” have meat on them; all of Israel now speaks the pure language of Hebrew.
  • The establishment of a monarchy with one king – “and one king shall be king to them all!”
    • This prophecy will be fulfilled when Jesus returns to the earth as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

“Just think! God has allowed us to see the day when His prophetic clock started running again.

We are the generation to see the final biblical prophecies come to pass.

Rejoice! The King is coming!