The Kingdom Will Be Restored to Israel
First, following the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, He appeared to His disciples several times over the next 50 days.
At His last appearance, just before He ascended into heaven, “they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:6-8).
Notice that Jesus didn’t say that the kingdom wouldn’t be restored to Israel.
Jesus said it wasn’t for His disciples to know the times or the seasons when the kingdom will be restored to Israel.
He added that the times and the seasons are the Father’s decision.
Then, He said the Holy Spirit would empower them and they would be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all of the earth.
Those four places recently caught my attention.
Israel was destroyed in 70 A.D., but Israel has come back into existence; Israel took control of all of Jerusalem in 1967; Pres. Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2018; Israeli Prime Min. Netanyahu recently said, if elected, he will annex some of the settlements in Judea and Samaria; the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, recently said Israel has a right to annex some of Judea and Samaria; and the Bible teaches that Holy-Spirit-empowered Jews (the 144,000 and Two Witnesses) and an angel will take the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth during the Tribulation Period.
Israel coming back into possession of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and some Jews accepting Jesus as the Messiah looks like stage-setting or preparation for the restoration of the kingdom to Israel (during the Millennium).
Second, in early May, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, held up a Bible and said, “This is our deed to our land” (the Promised Land).
It occurred to me that God could be telling the UN leaders that it is the Bible (God Himself) that says the Promised Land belongs to Israel.
A video of that incident and Mr. Danon’s speech was posted on the Internet.
The video went viral and then it was translated into Spanish, Polish, French, Portuguese, Turkish and who knows what else.
I am now wondering if God has warned the whole world in several languages that He will have the final say on who will get the Promised Land.
Third, it has been almost three years since British citizens voted to leave the EU, and they are still not out.
Many British citizens are beginning to show great disdain for the EU.
This should be a warning to other nations that are thinking about surrendering their sovereignty to the UN: Do it and you won’t get your sovereignty back until Jesus returns.
Fourth, a bill called the “Equality Act” has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives that will criminalize the Christian faith and make all of the currently legal Christian defenses (freedom of religion, freedom of speech, just telling people what the Bible says, etc.) illegal.
The “Equality Act” defines those that oppose the LGBTQ agenda as hate mongers, and it empowers the government to prosecute them.
Christians that take a Biblical stance on the LGBTQ agenda will be guilty of a hate crime, and they will be exposed to lawsuits by so-called “offended people.”
The goal is to force Christians to say positive things about the LGBTQ agenda or be silent.
This bill will not become law unless it is passed by the Senate and signed by the president, and that is not likely to happen under the current president, but it could happen under a future president (and we could be one election away from that).
Much prayer and major opposition is needed.
Fifth, many believe the U.S. was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs.
In 1620, the Pilgrims mentioned a nation under God in the Mayflower Compact.
In 1776, the U.S. Declaration of Independence said citizens have the unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; rights come from God.
In 1863, in his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln said that God brought forth a new nation (the U.S.) under God.
Now, one of the two major political parties in the U.S. has decided to delete the phrase “so help me God” when witnesses are sworn in before Congress because these politicians don’t want to offend people by mentioning God.
If it is wrong to mention God in Congress, how long will it be before it is wrong to mention God anywhere?
Sixth, there has long been speculation about the existence of electromagnetic pulse weapons (EMP’s).
On May 17, 2019, it was reported that the U.S. Air Force had deployed 20 operational missiles to the Middle East that emit EMP’s that can render electronic equipment and military vehicles virtually useless.
So, we now know that EMP’s exist (and some of America’s enemies probably have similar weapons).
Seventh, many articles are being published about the impact of natural disasters on crop production in the U.S., the impact of swine flu in China and elsewhere, etc.
Some experts are predicting that the loss of millions of acres of crops, destruction of more than 200 million pigs, etc., will cause food prices to soar next year.
Money is now worthless and people are bartering for food in Venezuela, and the U.S. spent more than $3 trillion this fiscal year.
The Church needs to pray for revival because famine, hyper-inflation and a global economic collapse are Tribulation Period signs (Rev. 6:5-6).
Eighth, concerning Iran, it is important to remember that the hardliners that are in control of Iran want to trigger the Tribulation Period because they believe they can hasten the Mahdi’s return, win the Mother of All Battles (Battle of Armageddon), speed up an Islamic world government and Islamic world religion, etc.
Signing a nuclear agreement with Iran didn’t work; giving billions of dollars to Iran didn’t work; putting sanctions on Iran hasn’t worked; four ships were sabotaged off the coast of the UAE; Iranian-supported terrorists used drones to attack an oil pipeline, the Saudi airport, Mecca, etc.; two tankers have been attacked in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz; rockets have been fired at U.S. bases in Iraq; Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe tried to deliver a message from Pres. Trump to the Ayatollah Khamenei, and he flatly refused to accept the message, saying Pres. Trump is not worthy of a response, etc.
Of importance too is the fact that Israel, the U.S. and England have said that they will not let Iran get nuclear weapons, and a former high official in the IAEA recently said that Iran could be as close as six months away from acquiring them.
God is in control, and I don’t think Iran can trigger the Tribulation Period without His permission, but it doesn’t look good; and the Rapture is clearly a pre-Trib event.
The hour is late, and most of this article is bad news for unbelievers, but the blessed hope of believers is real and perhaps closer than many think.
Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com