CONTROVERSY OF ZION AND THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE - PART TWO
by Dalton Lifsey
This was a book I read a couple of years ago that has some great insights on end time eschatology concerning the church and the nation of Israel. The “time of Jacob’s trouble” refers to the Age-ending suffering of the Jewish people and the glorious restoration that follows. The following are my notes on the book. It may be ordered at the above website.
4. The time of Jacob’s trouble. Deut 4.26-31 spells it out: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
The final years of natural history will revolve around the nation of Israel, Jerusalem, and the issue of the Jewish people. This will be a time of unequaled violence and tribulation. The Holocaust was a warning, this will be worse, if you can imagine that. Zech 14.1-4, Jer 30.4-7, Matt 24.15-22, Dan 12.1-7
Three things will occur at this time:
1. Trouble and tribulation for Jacob. 2. Deliverance and salvation for Jews. 3. Resurrection of the righteous.
The issue of Israel’s suffering is also the issue of their salvation and deliverance. It all culminates at this time. The judgment of God and the rage of sinful men and nations combined with the wrath of Satan will collide--with the Jews in the middle. Jer 30.23-24, Is 34.8, Jer 25.31, the promise 1 Chron 16.15-18
Romans 11.25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Ignorance of this “mystery” is the seedbed of Christian arrogance. Israel stumbled over the mystery of the gospel, now nations are stumbling over the mystery of Israel. This issue of the “everlasting covenant” and the controversy over the land will become the world’s focus before the return of the Lord occurs. It is going to draw all nations into a valley of decision. Joel 3.2, 11-12, 14 God has predestined the issue of the Jew to be the issue on which all nations are going to be tested and judged. Zeph 3.8
The church will also be tested on this issue and the stigma which will be attached to it. Zech 12.2-3, 9 There will be divine testing at the end of the age: 1 Chron 16.17, Ps 105.10-11, Ez 37.25-26, Lev 26.42, Is 62.4, Micah 4.1-8, Acts 1.6, 3.18-21, Rom 11.25-29
5. Beginning and length of trouble
Matt 24.36...no man knows, Matt 24.32-34 We are to know the season and nearness. Coming events:
1. Crises in Jerusalem. Matt 24.15-22 Dan 12.1-2, Jer 30.7
2. Invasion of the land of Israel and escape to Judea. Isaiah 28.16-19, Zech 12.1-3, 14.1-3
3. Invasion and trampling of Jerusalem. Rev 11 for 42 months.
4. The probationary return to the land in unbelief. Ezekiel 22.19-22 is a re-gathering for refining and judgment.
Ezekiel 38.8-9, Zeph 2.1-3
5. The Abomination of Desolation. 2 Thess 2.1-7, Final tribulation, Anti-Christ, salvation of Israel, time of the end,
resurrection of the dead.
How long? Matt 24.22 says cut short. 3.5 years, when temple sacrifices end. Dan 11.31, Matt 24.15, 21-22
Dan 12.6-13 3.5 yrs, people shattered, 1290 days from the taking away of the offering. 1260 days Rev 11.2-3, 12.6, 12.14, 13.5-7
1260-1290 days is a transition between end of age and restoration? Dan 8.13-14 Abomination is set up between 1260 to 1290 days before time of the end.
6. Climax of trouble Jer 30.4-7...he shall be saved out of it. It ends with salvation. Dan 12.1-2,7, Micah 5.3-4, Psalm 102.13. In Rom 11 future salvation of Israel, Rom 9 Israel’s election in the past, Rom 10 Israel’s deflection in the present, Rom 11 Israel’s salvation in the future.
Romans 11
1. Gentile church is inclined towards ignorance and arrogance toward Israel. 11.25
2. Israel has been partially hardened. 11.25
3. Israel’s hardness not final or ultimate. 11.25
4. Israel will be delivered when time of Gentiles is fulfilled.
5. All Israel (at that time) will be saved at Gentile conclusion. 11.26 That is every surviving Jew, Ez 37.25-28, Is 4.2-4, Zech 13.8-9...1/3 saved, Jer 31.34, Zech 12.10 with Matt 24.29-30 with Rev 1.7, 2 Thess 1.7-10
6. Israel will be saved when Jesus returns. Rom 11.26-27, Is 59.20, Jer 31.33-34, Zech 14 Feast of Tabernacles.
7. Unbelieving Jews are our Beloved “enemies.” 11.28 In Rev 12.6 are the Jews nourished by the church for 1260 days? In the final hour of trouble we will nourish each other.
8. Gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. 11.29
7. The prophecies The state of Israel will be at the center of the greatest conflict in human history. Many will suffer and ultimately be saved. Israel achieved statehood in 1948 and reclaimed Jerusalem in 1967--these are the most significant events in modern history.
Isaiah 51.17-52.2 Jerusalem’s awaking and salvation is preceded by their suffering. The military invasion is an instrument of divine judgment. Isaiah 51.21-23 In Ezekiel 20.33-38 we see chastisement, a sifting of the people, pleading face to face, and Israel’s final re-gathering. Israel’s final affliction must have its inception in the “land and the city.”
8. Difference between the modern state and the future nation. In Zech 13.8-9 2/3 of the people perish and 1/3 are purged and survive. This appears to happen after the state comes into being in 1948. Messianic Jew, David Baron 1855-1926 also saw it this way. God’s long controversy with Israel (and the world) and sin will finally be settled on the same soil where it originated. People shattered Dan 12, sifted Zech 13, Is 63.18
After an age ending siege, the restored nation will be rebuilt on ruins in sight of all nations. Isaiah 28.14-22 is an end time word. This scourge will overwhelm the people in the land. Zech 14.1-4
Isaiah 51 is a message of hope, but reflects the coming tragedy prior to final salvation. In Isaiah 10.20-23 we see the remnant returns to restore the nation. Jacob’s trouble erupts from within the land, resulting in invasion, escape, and expulsion of the Jews. The “state” is today’s political Israel. The nation is future.
9. Difference between recent return to the land and the future return The modern state of Israel does not constitute the great and final re-gathering and restoration of the nation. Isaiah 49.22, 60.9, 66.20 This seems to indicate an even more massive return to the land. Isaiah 11.11-13, 14.6, 27.13 Final re-gathering Ez 39.29.
Many believe that now, having been planted in the land, that the Jews will never be uprooted again. Ez 36.33-35 seems to support this idea. They see Israel secure from future expulsion, but Isaiah 35.1-10 shows the weakness of this view as we are not at this point yet.
We have not seen: The glory of God revealed or His coming in vengeance to save. To date there has been no acknowledgement of God, as the secular state does not adore God’s glory and majesty. We have not seen a final return with singing, gladness, and peace. The Jews who have returned to the secular state still have many enemies. Hope drew many, but many have left because of fear. Those who return are to return in peace to a secure nation. This is not the state we see since established in 1948. Verses 1, 7, 5-6 have not yet been fulfilled. We see no rejoicing in Jerusalem today as in Isaiah 66.8-12. On the day a nation is born there is to be peace like a river--we only see conflict today.
The birth of a nation results in: Immediate joy and peace in Jerusalem, extending of God’s peace, God’s indignation against enemies. Therefore the birth of a state and a nation are two different things. We do not see the day and night prayer and worship of Amos 9.9-15 established as yet. The scripture says there will be future scattering and then a re-gathering. Jer 30.3-7, Ez 22.17-23, Joel 3.1-3, the city is invaded. The recent establishment of the state in 1948 makes this event possible. We see a post tribulation return here; Isaiah 11.11-16, 27.12-13.
Tomorrow Part Three
4. The time of Jacob’s trouble. Deut 4.26-31 spells it out: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
The final years of natural history will revolve around the nation of Israel, Jerusalem, and the issue of the Jewish people. This will be a time of unequaled violence and tribulation. The Holocaust was a warning, this will be worse, if you can imagine that. Zech 14.1-4, Jer 30.4-7, Matt 24.15-22, Dan 12.1-7
Three things will occur at this time:
1. Trouble and tribulation for Jacob. 2. Deliverance and salvation for Jews. 3. Resurrection of the righteous.
The issue of Israel’s suffering is also the issue of their salvation and deliverance. It all culminates at this time. The judgment of God and the rage of sinful men and nations combined with the wrath of Satan will collide--with the Jews in the middle. Jer 30.23-24, Is 34.8, Jer 25.31, the promise 1 Chron 16.15-18
Romans 11.25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Ignorance of this “mystery” is the seedbed of Christian arrogance. Israel stumbled over the mystery of the gospel, now nations are stumbling over the mystery of Israel. This issue of the “everlasting covenant” and the controversy over the land will become the world’s focus before the return of the Lord occurs. It is going to draw all nations into a valley of decision. Joel 3.2, 11-12, 14 God has predestined the issue of the Jew to be the issue on which all nations are going to be tested and judged. Zeph 3.8
The church will also be tested on this issue and the stigma which will be attached to it. Zech 12.2-3, 9 There will be divine testing at the end of the age: 1 Chron 16.17, Ps 105.10-11, Ez 37.25-26, Lev 26.42, Is 62.4, Micah 4.1-8, Acts 1.6, 3.18-21, Rom 11.25-29
5. Beginning and length of trouble
Matt 24.36...no man knows, Matt 24.32-34 We are to know the season and nearness. Coming events:
1. Crises in Jerusalem. Matt 24.15-22 Dan 12.1-2, Jer 30.7
2. Invasion of the land of Israel and escape to Judea. Isaiah 28.16-19, Zech 12.1-3, 14.1-3
3. Invasion and trampling of Jerusalem. Rev 11 for 42 months.
4. The probationary return to the land in unbelief. Ezekiel 22.19-22 is a re-gathering for refining and judgment.
Ezekiel 38.8-9, Zeph 2.1-3
5. The Abomination of Desolation. 2 Thess 2.1-7, Final tribulation, Anti-Christ, salvation of Israel, time of the end,
resurrection of the dead.
How long? Matt 24.22 says cut short. 3.5 years, when temple sacrifices end. Dan 11.31, Matt 24.15, 21-22
Dan 12.6-13 3.5 yrs, people shattered, 1290 days from the taking away of the offering. 1260 days Rev 11.2-3, 12.6, 12.14, 13.5-7
1260-1290 days is a transition between end of age and restoration? Dan 8.13-14 Abomination is set up between 1260 to 1290 days before time of the end.
6. Climax of trouble Jer 30.4-7...he shall be saved out of it. It ends with salvation. Dan 12.1-2,7, Micah 5.3-4, Psalm 102.13. In Rom 11 future salvation of Israel, Rom 9 Israel’s election in the past, Rom 10 Israel’s deflection in the present, Rom 11 Israel’s salvation in the future.
Romans 11
1. Gentile church is inclined towards ignorance and arrogance toward Israel. 11.25
2. Israel has been partially hardened. 11.25
3. Israel’s hardness not final or ultimate. 11.25
4. Israel will be delivered when time of Gentiles is fulfilled.
5. All Israel (at that time) will be saved at Gentile conclusion. 11.26 That is every surviving Jew, Ez 37.25-28, Is 4.2-4, Zech 13.8-9...1/3 saved, Jer 31.34, Zech 12.10 with Matt 24.29-30 with Rev 1.7, 2 Thess 1.7-10
6. Israel will be saved when Jesus returns. Rom 11.26-27, Is 59.20, Jer 31.33-34, Zech 14 Feast of Tabernacles.
7. Unbelieving Jews are our Beloved “enemies.” 11.28 In Rev 12.6 are the Jews nourished by the church for 1260 days? In the final hour of trouble we will nourish each other.
8. Gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. 11.29
7. The prophecies The state of Israel will be at the center of the greatest conflict in human history. Many will suffer and ultimately be saved. Israel achieved statehood in 1948 and reclaimed Jerusalem in 1967--these are the most significant events in modern history.
Isaiah 51.17-52.2 Jerusalem’s awaking and salvation is preceded by their suffering. The military invasion is an instrument of divine judgment. Isaiah 51.21-23 In Ezekiel 20.33-38 we see chastisement, a sifting of the people, pleading face to face, and Israel’s final re-gathering. Israel’s final affliction must have its inception in the “land and the city.”
8. Difference between the modern state and the future nation. In Zech 13.8-9 2/3 of the people perish and 1/3 are purged and survive. This appears to happen after the state comes into being in 1948. Messianic Jew, David Baron 1855-1926 also saw it this way. God’s long controversy with Israel (and the world) and sin will finally be settled on the same soil where it originated. People shattered Dan 12, sifted Zech 13, Is 63.18
After an age ending siege, the restored nation will be rebuilt on ruins in sight of all nations. Isaiah 28.14-22 is an end time word. This scourge will overwhelm the people in the land. Zech 14.1-4
Isaiah 51 is a message of hope, but reflects the coming tragedy prior to final salvation. In Isaiah 10.20-23 we see the remnant returns to restore the nation. Jacob’s trouble erupts from within the land, resulting in invasion, escape, and expulsion of the Jews. The “state” is today’s political Israel. The nation is future.
9. Difference between recent return to the land and the future return The modern state of Israel does not constitute the great and final re-gathering and restoration of the nation. Isaiah 49.22, 60.9, 66.20 This seems to indicate an even more massive return to the land. Isaiah 11.11-13, 14.6, 27.13 Final re-gathering Ez 39.29.
Many believe that now, having been planted in the land, that the Jews will never be uprooted again. Ez 36.33-35 seems to support this idea. They see Israel secure from future expulsion, but Isaiah 35.1-10 shows the weakness of this view as we are not at this point yet.
We have not seen: The glory of God revealed or His coming in vengeance to save. To date there has been no acknowledgement of God, as the secular state does not adore God’s glory and majesty. We have not seen a final return with singing, gladness, and peace. The Jews who have returned to the secular state still have many enemies. Hope drew many, but many have left because of fear. Those who return are to return in peace to a secure nation. This is not the state we see since established in 1948. Verses 1, 7, 5-6 have not yet been fulfilled. We see no rejoicing in Jerusalem today as in Isaiah 66.8-12. On the day a nation is born there is to be peace like a river--we only see conflict today.
The birth of a nation results in: Immediate joy and peace in Jerusalem, extending of God’s peace, God’s indignation against enemies. Therefore the birth of a state and a nation are two different things. We do not see the day and night prayer and worship of Amos 9.9-15 established as yet. The scripture says there will be future scattering and then a re-gathering. Jer 30.3-7, Ez 22.17-23, Joel 3.1-3, the city is invaded. The recent establishment of the state in 1948 makes this event possible. We see a post tribulation return here; Isaiah 11.11-16, 27.12-13.
Tomorrow Part Three
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