God of a Small Nation

Part 3

Suresh Manoharan – Hyderabad, India

The Savior

Great men of God were your fathers, and Christ himself was one of you, a Jew so far as his human nature is concerned, He who now rules over all. Praise God forever! – Rom. 9:5. In God’s sovereign plan, it had to be His Son born donning the earthly body of a Jew in the family tree of David who would complete the Redemption plan on the Cross (John 19:30). Didn’t Jesus Himself say “Salvation comes from the Jews (Jn. 4:22)!

The two Gospel accounts giving the genealogy of Jesus from both the paternal side (Matthew) and the maternal side (Luke) leave none in doubt about the Jews ancestry of the Savior that he indeed was the royal descendent of King David. 

Symbol: Israel figured by a withered Fig Tree, a symbol of their spiritual bareness. When it starts blossoming again, you can assume that I am right at the door remarked the Savior (Matt. 24:32-33) speaking on the subject of the Signs preceding His second coming. So Israel in a way is a time-piece. Israel resembled a withered fig tree for approximately 2000 years but in conjunction with His covenant with their forefathers – Duet. 7:7-8, they once again symbolize a budding, blossoming fig tree.

Looking at Israel’s rebirth from another dimension, it would not be possible for Anti-Christ to emerge as a Global problem (after the Rapture of the Church) without the existence of Israel. Rev. 6:1-2 portrays him as a conqueror who would win over the people’s hearts initially by deception (Dan. 8:25) without shedding blood. Note, he is depicted as carrying a bow but no arrows.

Arab-Israeli conflict: Today, there is conflict in West Asia because Israel is there (200 years back, it was not the case). If Israel had not been “re-born,” there would be no turmoil at all, leaving no scope for Anti-Christ to display his “peaceful” problem-solving abilities and broker a temporary Arab-Jewish pact and consolidate his position as undisputed Global leader, during the seven years of tribulation which would follow Church’s rapture. Boy, if Antichrist’s advent seems imminent, how much more imminent is the Church’s rapture (Rev. 4:1) which would precede it.

After initially posing as the friends of the Jews, the Anti-Christ would reveal his true colors in the second half of tribulation (Dan. 9:27) posing as God himself (Rev. 13:1-8) subjecting the Jews to severe persecution. In the midst of their heavy troubles, many Jews (a remnant) would in desperation finally look sky-ward to the rejected Messiah. They had rejected Him in His first advent but would accept Him now as their Savior (Rom. 11:26) for deliverance. Jesus in answer to their prayers would come, defeat the  Anti-Christ and his assistant the False Prophet in the  Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 19:11-21) and usher in the Millennial rule (Psa. 2 & Rev. 20).

Part 4 next issue: The Return of Christ and the Millennium.