In this article, I would like to discuss several subjects that concern the last days, each a link one to another, especially in the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew and Revelation.
Regardless of subject matter, God’s relationship with National Israel is of the utmost importance. Understanding that relationship is one of the keys that unlocks several doors to a better understanding of end time prophesy questions.
Leviticus 26:14, God said, “if you (Israel) will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments: verse 16, “I also will do this unto you, I will even appoint over you terror, consumption (a wasting disease,) and the burning ague (meaning fever),—-.”
Having not heeded God’s warning, Daniel wrote,
“Daniel 9:11, “all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses —- because we have sinned against him.”
How long will the curse last?
Daniel 9:27, “until the consummation (utter destruction), and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
Now let’s see what’s on the other side of the coin, that being the restoration of Israel; the raising of the dead found in Matthew 27:52, and the marking of the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14.
When men abandon God, their liked to dead men, dragging out an aimless existence without hope in the world. They live for what they have, never thinking of what’s being lost.
Part 1: The restoration of Israel:
The LORD set Ezekiel down in a “valley which was full of bones,” Ezekiel 37:2, and as Ezekiel passed by them, “there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.”
For 1878 Years (from 70 A.D. to 1948) the Jews had been cast out of their land by God, therefore, without God! They remained in exile for centuries, living in fear, and without hope.
And so, the question, over these many centuries, was it possible for any Jew to believe they had any future at all? though spiritually dead, could they again be raised in spirit, by the Spirit of God?
Ezekiel 37:11, concerning Israel, “Our bones are dried; and hope is lost: we feel ourselves cut off —.”
The LORD asked Ezekiel, verse 3, “can these bones live?”
Ezekiel had no answers, but when the hand of the LORD came upon him, the emblem of death and despair was transformed into a symbol of hope.
“Very many” and “very Dry.” This would have been the fate of the whole house of Israel if it weren’t for the grace of God.
“Can these bones live again?” Ezekiel hesitated, struggling between what he was looking at (a valley of dry bones), and his faith, and suspended between fear and hope. In his own power, he could not comprehend the possibility of Israel’s resurrection. But in the abstract “all things are possible with God.”
The LORD said to Ezekiel, Verses 4-5,” Say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the world of Jehovah; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.”
And as the LORD had done in the beginning with the first man Adam,
First forming “man out of the dust of the ground, and afterwards breathed into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of life, so that he became a living soul.”
So also, will He do with the Israelites and their Promised land. This prophesy in Ezekiel is not a prophesy concerning the resurrection of individual Israelites who had perished, but of, “the resurrection of the whole house of Israel,” twelve tribes, one nation under God.
Matthew 24:34, Jesus speaking, “Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
In May of 1948, a generation of Israelites either entered the land or were born in the land, this after 1878 Years of exile. Those born in 1948 and who are alive today in 2020, have celebrated their 72 Birthday. This leads me to believe we are very close, possibly this year to the catching away of the body of Christ. Today it’s calculated that the average age for women in Israel is 82, and for men 79.
Before verse 34, we read in verses 29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” then, verse 30, shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:”
In these two verses which proceed verse 34, we can assume the tribulation has ended by verse 34, and those who had rejected the mark of the beast in the tribulation would have been killed, but are now raised from the dead, to,
Revelation 20:4, “live and reign with Christ a thousand years.”
Now, if 7 years are added to this year 2020; men born in 1948 will be 79 by the year 2027, one full generation by todays statistics.
A few years before May 24, 1948, the LORD began to shake the dry bones, and one by one, they would come together, “bone on bone.” The first Zionist movement began in 1881 when Jewish immigrants began to return to Palestine from around the world. It was a spiritually dead Israel beginning to rise to its feet.
After World War 2, some 6 million of 12 million Jews worldwide had perished in Hitler’s holocaust. Those who survived in Europe and elsewhere, were without land, without homes, without families, without a national homeland, and without hope: outlook; bleak at best.
Written some 750 Years before Christ’s birth, Hosea wrote,
Hosea 5:15 and 6:1-2, the Lord is speaking,
“I (Jesus) will go and return to my place (in heaven), until they (the Jews) acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction (great tribulation) they will seek me early (diligently).” He then writes,
Hosea 6:1-2, “Come, and let us (the Jews) return unto the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us: he has smitten (stricken), and he will bind us up. After two days (2 thousand Years) will he revive us: in the third day (the millennium) he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”
My start date for 2000 Years would begin when the Lord turned thirty, Luke 3:23. When He was baptized by both John and the Holy Spirit. The time, late October of 27 A.D.
After 40 days in the wilderness with the devil, Jesus would begin to confirm His new covenant with Israel for the next 3 ½ Years. The 3 ½ Years would end when He was cut off at the cross, early April of 31 A.D.
According to this date of October of 27 A.D., 2000 Years will end in October 2027 A.D., some 7 Years from now.
Another question, “when did the LORD begin to soften the hearts of the Gentiles concerning the suffering of the Jewish people?
It began with the Belfour Declaration issued by the British government in 1917 soon after the first World War. The Declaration would announce support for the establishment of a national homeland for the Jewish people. That declaration is considered a principle cause for the return of the Jews.
And in the years that followed, the LORD began gathering from the 4 corners of the earth the scattered and yet hated Jewish population. And in “one day” May 24th 1948, a nation was born: promise fulfilled! One day later, their enemies declared war on them.
Concerning the “rapture” of the bride of Christ:
All the faithful in Christ have the same promise; we are but sojourners on this earth, heaven is our home.
Scriptures absolutely support the teaching that the Bride of Christ will be “caught away” or raptured into heaven before the 7 Years of tribulation begins.
Verses that support this are,
1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” With,
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, when the Lord comes to take his bride, it is written, “we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (the resurrected dead) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air,–.”
1 Corinthians 15:23, we read, Christ is the “first fruits” of the resurrected; afterwards “they (His bride) that are Christ’s at his coming.”
1 Thessalonians 5:9, “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”
As for those left behind:
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, “the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night (to a fallen world). For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail (labor pains) upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
Part 2:
Do the resurrected saints of Matthew 27, have any direct connection with the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14? The scriptures are silent concerning what happened to these resurrected saints in Matthew after they had gone into Jerusalem. But there is one thing we can be sure of,
Hebrews 9:27, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Because of this verse in Hebrews, we have to believe those in Matthew 27 must have remained on the earth for the past 1989 Years, doing the Lord’s work. They having been raised incorruptible and immortal, and as Christ, having the power to be seen by those they choose to see them, but unseen to most.
Some may say, they were taken into heaven with Jesus. If they were, nothing is said about anyone going into heaven with the Lord when He ascended in Acts 1:10. As far as I can see, He was alone.
Let’s change subjects for one moment. What exactly does, “first-fruits” mean?
And what was it the Old Testament Jews understood concerning First-fruits? And what is it the LORD demanded of the Jews concerning first-fruits?
The law read,
Leviticus 28:10-11, “Reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you.”
Numbers 15:20, “Ye shall offer up a cake of the FIRST of your dough (lump) for an heave offering.”
The cakes made from the FIRST ground meal of the wheat harvest were set aside and made a holy offering to God.” Also,
Exodus 22:29, “the first-born of your sons shall you give unto me.”
In 1 Corinthians, the Lord Jesus is called the first fruits of them that slept;
1 Corinthians 15:20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.”
The day after the Passover sabbath was for offering the first-fruits, and the same day after Passover was the day Christ had been resurrected.
For as the first fruits were earnests to the Jews of the succeeding harvest, so Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection, or the earnest of any and all future resurrections. And because He has risen from the dead, others will be raised to life everlasting.
And who were the first resurrected saints? The following occurred soon after the Lord had risen from the grave.
Let’s begin with, Matthew 27:51, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom;” then there was an earthquake; the rocks of the hills around Jerusalem were split and thrown about.
According to the records, Jewish families buried their dead in caves and tombs carved out of the soft rock, a material common to Israel. Tombs, both elaborate and simple were hewn into the slopes of the hills surrounding Jerusalem, mainly on the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus.
Some tombs date back as far as 3000 Years to the time of Solomon’s Temple. The cemeteries found so far in Israel contain anywhere between 70,000 and 150,000 tombs from various periods.
These tombs were in continuous use for several generation by members of the same family. There may have been one tomb, but it would have held the bodies of several generations. This pattern for burial had been established by the patriarchs.
So, when we read, “the earth did quake, and the rocks rent (split in two); and the graves opened;” we now have a much clearer picture of what had occurred.
After this, Matthew 27:52, “the graves (of Old Testament saints) were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept (who were dead) arose (were raised to life).”
I have to assume they laid on the ground for 3 days, waiting for the Lord to be raised first. Being an important holy day, the touching of a dead body would have made a person unclean.
After the Lord was raised from death to life, these in Matthew 27,
“came out of the graves after his (Jesus) resurrection, and went into the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared (were witnessed) unto many.” Compare with,
Daniel 12:2, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” Many, in the Hebrew means a multitude, a great number. Compare with,
Psalms 3:5, David wrote, “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.”
After the quake, many bodies of these saints were raised to life by the power of Christ’s resurrection. These would have to be the first-fruits unto the Father and the Son.
Let’s take a look at the word “many.” How many is many? The Greek defines “many” as being a multitude, a great number, numerous and great, same as Daniel 12:2. Example of how it’s used in other verses; “great being a synonym of many.
Acts 11:21, “The hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed,”
John 6:2, “And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles”
And, Revelation 7:9, “a great multitude which no man could number.”
Who could these Old Testament saints have been? They could have been men like, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, his 12 sons etc. And from the 12 sons came men like Samuel, David, Isaac, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Malachi and John the Baptist, as well as tens of thousands more. All having died in faith before the Lord’s death.
So, would I be off base if I were to say, “there’s a strong possibility those raised in Matthew 27 could be the 144,000 found in Revelation. Those in Matthew and in Revelation are all Jews, so, as far as I’m concerned, these have to be the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Revelation 14:4, the 144,000 called by the Lord to Mt. Zion in heaven are also called “the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.”
Now if this is the case, these in Matthew shall never die in the tribulation under the evil of the first beast, having come through the first 3 ½ Years of tribulation unscathed.
What else I find interesting is, those in revelation are said to have been both,
- “Redeemed from the earth,” As those in Matthew 27. And also,
- “Redeemed from among men,” as they shall be gathered together from among men, Revelation 14.
Now, let’s set up a time line for all of the above and all that follows.
- Before his death, Jesus curses the Temple and all its buildings, Matthew 24:2.
- Jesus dies and in 3 days is raised from the grave.
- Before He ascended, he descended into the pit of hell, freeing those held captives, I believe it may have been the souls of those raised in Matthew 27.
- Then He alone ascended to the Father’s throne, presenting himself, a “Lamb without spot or blemish,” a Lamb, Revelation 13:8, “slain from the foundation of the world.”
- The Old testament saints are raised from the dead, after the Lord had been raised.
- In 70 A.D., the Lord sent the Roman armies to destroy the temple, and Jerusalem.
- For the following 1878 Year the Jews were persecuted by most every Gentile nation in Europe, Asia, North Africa, and the Middle Eastern, just as the LORD had prophesied.
- In 1917 the Belfour accord was signed.
- In May of 1948, the accord went into effect, and the Jews now had a homeland to return to.
- As of today, May 2020, the Temple Mount is yet being trample underfoot by the Gentiles.
- And, the abomination of desolation that Daniel spoke of, the Dome of the Rock, remains standing on the land David had purchased for the Lord’s house.
So here we are today, waiting for the next prophesy to be fulfilled? What is it? It’s the catching away of the church. There will be no signs concerning the rapture of the church. But, Matthew 24 gives a fairly good account of what to expect before Jesus return.
The Lord has put clues in the Bible for us to search out concerning his return. I believe one of them is this world wide coronavirus pandemic.
Israel is surrounded by its enemies, having one true friend, the Christian community. Once the body of Christ is removed from off this earth, Israel will be alone. The only thing that can save them, if they call on the name of the Lord.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com