Contending for the faith | Making Disciples | Equipping the Saints for Ministry

by Rayola Kelley

Q: I keep hearing about how the nation of Israel will be destroyed since it appears as if she is standing alone. Do you believe Israel will be destroyed? 

A: To best answer your question, I want to quote a godly man who was once asked by an atheist to give evidence that God exists. The individual told the man that he would give him one word to verify that God is real. The one word was, “Israel.”

      From the very beginning of Israel’s conception, Satan and those who serve his kingdom have been trying to unsuccessfully wipe her out. The people of Israel have been scattered, persecuted, and murdered by various despots throughout the ages. Yet in spite of everything they have suffered as a people, they have not only survived but they have thrived. They have maintained their genealogies, brought the Hebrew language back to life, and have caused the land promised to them by God to become productive. Through them God has fulfilled many prophecies, and since God cannot lie, He will fulfill the remaining prophecies concerning this nation.

      The truth of the matter is the people of Israel will once again inherit all of the Promised Land. It is the Arabs and Muslims who are the squatters on the land. One day the people of Israel will possess the land that God has promised their great patriarchs. God will clearly verify that they are the ones who rightly own the deed to the land.

      However, the Bible tells us before this will be accomplished there will be a great battle.Zechariah 13:8-14:3 tells us only a third of the Jewish people will be brought through the last major fire of persecution as Jerusalem and its people are ravished. Jerusalem at this point is a “cup of trembling” to the rest of the world (Zechariah 12:2). However, it is not only what many religious fanatics consider to be the main prize, but it will be trodden down by ruthless Gentiles for three-and-a-half years (Luke 21:24). We are told that it will almost be brought to utter destruction by an earthquake in Revelation 11:13.

      Jerusalem is the place where all the armies of the world will eventually gather to wipe out every memory of the people of Israel. In fact, God will put hooks in their jaws and draw them to His city (Ezekiel 38:4). The purpose for drawing these leaders and their armies to the city of the Great King is so that God can pour His wrath upon them, wiping out all remembrance of them. The armies gathering around Jerusalem will signal the coming of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. He will not only set matters right, but He will fight for His city and His people. When He comes, all the kings and unbelievers will recognize who He is. They will plead for the rocks to fall on them in order to hide from the wrath of the Lamb (Revelation 6:16-17). However, they will find no place to hide! We are also told in Zechariah 14:13 that at such times even the armies will turn on each other. These godless fools will taste the vanity of their wickedness and the clarity of His wrath.

      When Jesus returns to reign in His city, Jerusalem, He will make all things right. This includes reestablishing the boundaries of the Promised Land. Israel will reclaim its land while the people of other origins will go back to the lands from which they came. Zechariah 14:11gives us this insight, “And men dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.”

      Meanwhile, all of the world is turning on the nation of Israel including America. It is easy to see that the executive leadership in Washington D. C. is an enemy of Israel, which clearly makes these individuals enemies of God. Eventually they will come up against an angry God who will pour His wrath upon them; but meanwhile these godless, wicked, Socialistic despots are setting us up as a nation to taste God’s judgment, as He withdraws His hand of protection and blessings from it.

      We need to stand with Israel, as well as pray for her people. The events that are occurring have already been prophesied. Therefore, as believers we must not be surprised by what we see transpiring on a national and international level. Rather, we must do as the Bible instructs us in relationship to the days we are living in. Jesus was clear in Matthew 24:13, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”