MXp

The Mystery of Israel and the Church
by Art Katz

Israel and the Time of Jacob's Trouble - Chapter 15 (part 1 of 3)

It is an unwelcome task to put forth an overview of what the Scriptures call, "The time of Jacob's Trouble," a painful survey of the devastation and suffering, yet future, for Israel and the Jewish people.  But, the Church needs to have this view brought into its understanding, lest it finds itself offended at the lengths to which God will go in dealing with this Jacob nation to bring them to the place they might become, finally, the true Israel of God.  It is not only the Jacob in Israel who will be subjected to such devastation, but Jacob wherever he is to be found in the earth.  It is not so much the time of political Israel's trouble, but the time of Jacob's trouble.  The present political state of Israel is Jacob, but it does not encompass the Jacob that is outside the Land.  We need this brought home to us as the Church, because the 'Jacob people' who are in the nations of the world will not be exempt from the sifting and refining fire of God.

God has a purpose with Israel, but it is not because of Israel's virtue.  He chose them for no other reason than that He loves them and not because of their lovableness, but because of who and what God is.  The final revelation of God in His severe dealings and mercy upon this nation and people is a revelation of Himself. "I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy," not because the mercy is deserved, but because "I AM WHO I AM," and "I will be who I will be," and until that is established, God is not yet God in the eyes of mankind.  As long as we think that there is any condition or qualification, in either Israel or the Church that compels Him to be merciful, we still do not understand.
There is still something in us of a human self-righteousness that wants to be acknowledged for itself and this 'something' has not come to the poverty of spirit that alone inherits the blessings of God.  It is only the poor in spirit who recognize that they have no distinction or qualification in and of themselves, and God has got to go to great lengths to establish that point with us, because we have not correctly understood how deep-seated our human intransigence and sin are.  The history of God's dealings with Israel is God's textbook, but primarily, His dealing with them is the revelation of Himself; He is revealed in His dealings with them.  It has been a painful lesson for Israel, but it is a lesson that is going to last for all eternity.  Israel, even in her unbelief and apostasy, is the nation chosen to reveal God to the world.
God's free sovereign grace has chosen Jerusalem, the very same city where He was crucified and where the prophets were stoned and slain, yet, it is still His choice.  What would you say of a God like that?  We would have long ago rejected and discarded any people who had so shamefully abused their privilege as Israel has.  God's promises, nevertheless, remain irrevocable, even independent from and contrary to the desire of the people themselves, who give absolutely no thought to fulfilling their destiny, and who do not even want to be chosen.  If we are having difficulty with these statements, the issue is not intellectual, but it is because there is somewhere in us a residue of self-righteousness and confidence in ourselves as man, which we project onto our view of Israel.  We want them to succeed because we want to succeed on the basis of our own virtue and ability, rather than on the basis of His.  But God will not allow even the partial participation of man in his unaided humanity because He knows what is in man.
The name 'Israel' was given to Jacob after his climactic confrontation with the Son of God, the pre-incarnate revelation of Christ, when he saw Him face to face, wrestled with Him, was touched, made lame, and received the blessing.  'Israel' means, 'one who has prevailed both with God and with man.'  The name was given after a final, ultimate kind of confrontation between a man who lived in his 'Jacob' energy, strength of mind and determination, so much so that he virtually stole the inheritance from a willing Esau, whom God hated because he so readily gave it up.  Even though Jacob had a well-meaning intention, he was not much more than a 'conniver' (which is what the word 'Jacob' means), who succeeded by his own artifice and conniving, and no conniver is going to bless all the families of the earth.  Something has got to happen to the conniver in a final showdown in which he comes to the end of himself, and has such an intense interaction with God in a wrestling of ultimate combat  that he becomes another man-a lame man, who will no longer depend on his own sap and natural strength.
This is the very same scenario that is happening now in Israel.  The nation is called Israel, but 'Jacob' would be a more fitting name for it.  It is vexing its neighbours, and threatening the Middle East in the defense of its Jacob strength and life, trusting in the confidence of its own arm.  Jacob must become Israel, and it is not an exaggeration to say that this Last Days' time of Jacob's trouble is the beginning of the final end of Jacob.  He must pass through the searing dealings of God in a final wrestling, and he will not survive it, or come through it, except as the Israel of God in a transformed condition, because he has met Him face to face.  The whole saga will be a re-enactment of the struggle of the original Jacob with the Lord in order to become the Israel of God.  As long as Jews remain in their arrogant disdain and contempt for the Gentiles, they cannot bless the nations of the earth.
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning.  And the nations will see your righteousness...(Isaiah 62:1-2a).
When that people will be revealed as having a righteousness not of their own, but His, then God will be glorified in the sight of all nations.  To bring Israel to that place where her righteousness is God's will require a purging away of her own self-righteousness by a burning judgment, the likes of which has not been seen before.  By a certain logic, this judgment must be greater than all past tribulations.  Can we not assume, therefore, that being greater, it must subsume and exceed all past calamity, and again, necessarily include dispersion, exile and devastation in the Land?  When God says, 'great' or 'greater' than any previous calamity, it raises the question, "How great, then, must this final calamity be that purges Israel from its filth by the spirit of burning and of judgment?"  Jesus referred to this time in Matthew 24:21-22,
...for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.  And unless those days had been cut short, no life [Jewish life] would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect [of Israel] those days shall be cut short."  (Parentheses mine).
In Isaiah 6, the prophet saw the Lord high and lifted up, and cried out, "Woe is me, for I am ruined!" (v. 5a).  And after the angel had applied the coal to his lips, in agreement that he was a man of unclean lips, Isaiah's answer to, "Who shall go for Us?" (v. 8b) was, "Here am I.  Send me" (v.8b).  He then received the most fearful mandate, to be the mouthpiece that will not so much speak blessing, as it was to pronounce fearful judgment:
Go, and tell this people: "Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand."  Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed (vs. 9-10).
It was a word that was going to desensitize the people, deafen them and dull their hearts, fixing them in an apostate condition.  God's sending of the prophet was not to bring salvation, but judgment, and His word would condemn the nation to an inability to turn or hear.  But the prophet rightly asks in verse 11, "Lord, how long?"  Isaiah understood God's character well enough to know that judgment is not God's final word, but rather, a penultimate one, the word before the last word.  He wanted to know how long this condition would prevail.  It is not an exaggeration to say that this dullness of heart and deafness of ear describes Israel's present condition, and, in fact, Israel's historical condition.  That condition has not been alleviated or altered from Isaiah's time until this day, and the history of Israel, past and present, attests to that.  Israel is still under this judgment condition, and so the question of 'how long?' that Isaiah raises is enormously significant, and here is the answer,
Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people, and the land is utterly desolate, the Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.  Yet there will be a tenth part in it, and it will again be subject to burning, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump (vs. 11-13).
There has always been a saved remnant of Jews in every generation, but as a nation, Israel is still under this judgment and curse, until the 'until' is fulfilled-until a vast devastation comes upon the nation, laying waste its cities, its inhabitants, houses without people, the Land utterly desolate, and a great expulsion.  There will be a vast emptiness in the midst of the Land, and though only a remnant remains, the text suggests that even they shall be burned.  We have here an initial statement indicating that there is an until not yet fulfilled, and when it comes, it will require this devastation in the Land itself.  This is a devastation in the midst of the Land, so it requires a presence in the Land to suffer this judgment.  And when the Lord brings the 'redeemed of the Lord' back, the first function that awaits them is the rebuilding of the cities that lie in ruins and desolation.
It is clear that in order for Israel to be removed from this apostate condition, a certain character of events must take place that will leave the Land wholly desolate and in ruins, uninhabited, and the people cast far away.  This is suggestive of other periods in Israel's history where there has been desolation, expulsion and exile.  How, then, do we interpret this statement as being not yet fulfilled, and figure that it will be fulfilled only when these conditions are experienced?  These conditions are waiting for the 'until' of devastation and a great forsaking in the midst of the Land, also requiring a presence in the Land.  Our mistake is to view the present state of Israel as being, itself, the enduring Israel of God's intention, rather than the initial presence that must first experience desolation and ruin, out of which is to come the establishment of the millennial glory.  Our sense is that these verses are not a description of any of Israel's experiences to date, both of calamities and exiles, because a heart condition remains there now that would otherwise have been alleviated by this catastrophe, had it already taken place!
The Scriptures clearly state that when this violence of an ultimate ruin and devastation takes place, then the condition has been given by which the spiritual blindness, deafness and obdurate heart would be removed from the nation.  It takes an almost willful blindness to believe that the time of Jacob's trouble is past, and that, as some say, it was fulfilled in the Holocaust of Nazi Germany.  Deception has its opportunity when men are unwilling to consider hard things, when they have scant ability to bear things of an apocalyptic kind, and want to believe for a 'good' thing.  Deception comes to those who have not taken to heart the issue of the Cross and suffering.  In fact, this sense of what the future must hold need not come by some mystical revelation; the whole tenor of Scripture is clear that the redemptive way of God is always through death and resurrection.  It is a root principle of God from which even His own Son was not exempt, and neither His chosen nation nor the Church, for that matter, will be exempt from it.  To expect that Israel will somehow succeed without fulfilling that necessary requirement, though the Scriptures are explicitly clear that it will, is remarkably naïve.
My own prophetic understanding is that the cities that will be rebuilt upon the final and enduring return, effected by the Lord Himself, are not the cities of antiquity, but the existent modern cities of Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Tiberias, and so on.
Thus says the Lord God, 'On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt.  And the desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passed by.  And they will say, 'This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited' (Ezekiel 36:33-35).
This can be confusing, because it is easy to look at present day Israel, and assume that the building taking place now is the fulfillment of these Scriptures.  However, scrutiny of the Scriptures and attention to the detail of them, are more necessary now, in order to discern whether something being described is past or future.  And here we have to be careful Bible students, because it says that the desolation is the result of violence, and the rebuilding is in keeping with the time when "I cleanse you from all your iniquities," which, as Israel's present condition indicates, is yet future.  The devastation is future, the restoration is future, and the Scriptures indicate a certain time-"On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities"-which has not yet come.
Ezekiel continues in chapter 36,
Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it (v. 36)
There is a knowing that is yet future, and the statement "that are left round about you," indicates a kind of regional disaster that may include Israel's use of its military capability. This is clearly a statement of that which is still future, and culminates in the nations themselves recognizing God in both the desolation and the rebuilding.  The same text concludes with a reference to the millennial blessing-yet future,
Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men.  Then they will know that I am the Lord (v. 38).
Yes, there have been judgments, desolation, and expulsion in the past; this has been the characteristic pattern of God's judgments on Israel's sin, but this Scripture refers to a future and concluding judgment, because it ends with both Israel and the nations round about knowing that God is the Lord.  No previous desolation or ruin has ever eventuated in this knowledge, so, the Scripture itself indicates that we are speaking about a future time.
There is another supportive text in Amos 9,
"In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, and wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they might possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by My name," declares the Lord who does this (v. 11-12).
"Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them" (v. 14).
From the context, it is clear that in Amos 9, the reference to the tabernacle [fallen booth] of David is not speaking of a form of worship, but a form of government.  The Scriptures that follow speak of an Edom and all the nations that are called by "My name" coming under, or being submitted to, or affected by, the restoration of the tabernacle of David.  It is not speaking of the performance of Hebraic dances (as some interpret the meaning to be), but the coming under the authority of the theocratic government that will be raised up at that time.  So, with Israel's restoration, there also will come the restoration or the establishment of the Kingdom of God, the Davidic Kingdom, which we know to be still in the future.  The word 'Edom' is a symbolic term that refers to Gentile nations.
"It is I who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited!' And of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built.'  And I will raise up her ruins again" (Isaiah 44:26.  Italics mine).
"For your waste and desolate places, and your destroyed [devastated] land-surely now you will be too cramped for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you will be far away" (Isaiah 49:19.  Parenthesis mine).
The whole of Isaiah 51 speaks of Israel being trapped, as "antelopes in the net," with the enemy "walking over them."  It indicates a colossal defeat and humiliation, which makes greater sense, now, in the context of present world events.  The enemies of Israel, including Islamic hatred, are not satisfied with mere defeat, but want, and will obtain, an ultimate humiliation of Israel.  And so, it is not uncommon to have to wait until we come closer to the time of its fulfillment for an understanding of a prophetic text.  This reference in Isaiah 51 was in the Scriptures seven centuries before the advent of Christ, but it comes into greater focus now in this present hour, with the threat to Israel of the enemies that are surrounding her with their vitriolic hatred and their insatiable Islamic need for vengeance.  This is a way of reading and understanding Scriptures, which have been positionally there, but have waited for a closer proximity to the time and events of their fulfillment to become clearer.
Chapters 30 and 31 of the book of Jeremiah are the classic texts that graphically depict this devastation.
"For, behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will restore the fortunes (captivity) of My people Israel and Judah."  The LORD says, "I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it."
Now these are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah, for thus says the LORD, "I have heard a sound of terror, of dread, and there is no peace.  Ask now, and see, if a male can give birth.  Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale?  Alas! For that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it ['out of it' - King James version].
And it shall come about on that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "that I will break his yoke from off their neck, and will tear off their bonds; and strangers shall no longer make them their slaves.  But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.  And fear not, O Jacob My servant,' declares the LORD, 'and do not be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity.  And Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid.  For I am with you," declares the LORD, "to save you; For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, only I will not destroy you completely.  But I will chasten you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished."
For thus says the LORD, "Your wound is incurable, and your injury is serious.  There is no one to plead your cause; no healing for your sore, no recovery for you.  All your lovers have forgotten you, they do not seek you; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the punishment of a cruel one, because your iniquity is great and your sins are numerous.  Why do you cry out over your injury?  Your pain is incurable.  Because your iniquity is great and your sins are numerous, I have done these things to you.
Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and those who plunder you shall be for plunder, and all who prey upon you I will give for prey.  For I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds," declares the LORD, "because they have called you an outcast, saying, 'It is Zion, no one cares for her.'"
Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city shall be rebuilt on its ruin, and the palace shall stand on its rightful place.  And from them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry; and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished; I will also honor them, and they shall not be insignificant.  Their children also shall be as formerly, and their congregation shall be established before Me; and I will punish all their oppressors" (Jeremiah 30: 3-20.  Italics mine).
The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back, until He has performed, and until he has accomplished the intent of His heart; in the latter days you will understand this (verse 24).
We need to ask whether what is being described here is a description of things already in Israel's past.  Yes, there have been defeats; there have been expulsions; there have been enemies that have brought Israel into captivity.  But, "I will save you from afar," implies that Israel is cast out again into many nations, "and your offspring from the land of their captivity.  And Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid."  This cannot be a description of the resettlement of Israel in 1948 because they are still being made afraid; they are not in that place of security.  This 'peace, rest and quiet' is something that follows the time of Jacob's trouble, and is evidently yet future because Israel's present condition cannot be described as being 'at rest.'  It is evident by the yet unchanged condition of the nation today that this is not the consequence of previous disasters.  Israel must exhibit its moral bankruptcy, not because it is Israel, but because it is statement of man in his unwillingness to recognize the declaration of God on the human condition, and therefore must be condemned to seeing it in its own degenerate conduct.
But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them (Jer. 30:9).
This is identical to the promise given in Ezekiel 37, after the dry bones of the whole house of Israel, or what remains of it, are given life, and raised out of their graves, and Judah and Israel, the two branches, are united, and then the Lord says, "And My servant David will be King over them, and they will all have one shepherd" (v. 24a).  This is another aspect that needs to be considered in the whole review of Scriptures that speak of devastation and return, namely, the millennial conclusion, that the King Himself, the greater David, Jesus, is raised up to rule over the nation now being restored, and whose ruins are being rebuilt.
"For I am with you," declares the Lord, "to save you; for I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, only I will not destroy you completely.  But I will chasten you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished" (Jer. 30:11).
This scripture shows the effect of God's judgment on the nations which are employed to bring the chastisement to Israel.  He says, "I will destroy them."  We have not seen a destruction of the nations being used as the 'rod of chastisement,' indicating that the chastisement itself is yet future.  It is noteworthy that in the past, the nations employed to bring the destruction of God's judgment have historically and invariably gone beyond God's intention, spurred by demonic fury, and have taken an especial delight in bringing dimensions of suffering and humiliation to Israel, for which reason they themselves have suffered judgment.  "For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, only I will not destroy you [Israel] completely" suggests that some of the nations existing today will lose their identity when God fulfills the judgments of which He speaks.
Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and those who plunder you shall be for plunder, and all who prey upon you I will give for prey (Jer. 30:16).
The word devoured implies something of catastrophic proportions, rather than some minor discomfort, and shows the vehemence, bitterness, and total dominance that Israel's enemies shall have over them in this time of Trouble.  This violence will precipitate an expulsion of Jews, not only out of Israel, but also out of all nations, in fulfillment of Amos 9,
For behold, I am commanding, and I will shake the house of Israel among all nations (v.9a).
Ezekiel 20:23-44 supports this flight into the wilderness of the nations where Jews will encounter another entity, face to face, and in whose face will be seen the light of God.  At the end of this statement in Jeremiah 30 and 31 comes the millennial blessing, after the promised restoration. 
In Ezekiel 36, the Scriptures speak about Israel abhorring herself for her own sins after her return.
For I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and give them joy for their sorrow (Jer. 31:13f).

continues >> part 2 and 3 in Chapter 15