Israel: An Appointment with Destiny - May 18

In the twentieth century, two massive events occurred in May. In 1945, the fall of Nazi Germany ended one of the most destructive wars in all of human history. Three years later on May, 14, 1948, the re-birth of the state of Israel shook the world and foreign governments.

Before we look at Israel's modern day rebirth, we must first look at the three captivities that Israel endured. The first two were regional in nature, the third captivity was worldwide.

The First Captivity: Egypt

Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD's divisions left Egypt. (Exodus 12:40-41)

Here's the best part:

The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:35-36)

To the very day the Israelites were driven out by the Egyptians. There was no escape here, they were pushed out! Moreover, they actually plundered the Egyptians prior to leaving and were laden with gold, silver and clothing. I don't know about you, but this absolutely blows my mind. The exodus happened to the very day that God promised to Abraham and were made rich with parting gifts in the process.

The Second Captivity: Babylon

This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. "But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever." (Jeremiah 25:11-12)

Notice the seventy year cycle. As I mentioned in 'Pentecost 2017', seventy years was often used to purify and sanctify God's people from sin. After King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jewish people to leave and go back to Jerusalem, a partial return in unbelief was the result.

The Third Captivity: Worldwide

The prophet Ezekiel was given an odd task setting the stage for the rebirth of modern Israel in May of 1948:

"Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel. "After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. (Ezekiel 4:4-6)

So 390 days plus 40 days equals 430 years, seeing as one day symbolizes a year. Of those 430 years, 70 years was subtracted due to Israel's captivity in Babylon. That leaves us with 360 years of judgement. However, these years were multiplied by seven due to their unbelief:

If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. (Leviticus 26:18)

If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. (Leviticus 26:21)

Those 360 years is now multiplied by a factor of seven. 360 x 7 = 2520 Biblical years (comprised of 360 days each). Divide 907, 200 days (2520 x 360 = 907,200) by 365.25 (the solar year to which we are accustomed) and you get 2,483.778 calendar years. So from 606 B.C. to the spring of 536 B.C. was seventy years of captivity under Babylonian rule. God's people then partially return in unbelief according to Cyrus' decree.

According to our logic, we add 2,483.8 calendar years to the year 536 B.C. (keeping in mind there was no year between 1 B.C. and 1 A.D.) we get:

May 14, 1948.

Israel's third captivity comes to a close and modern day Israel is reborn, exactly right on time.

Kudos to Grant Jeffrey

You didn't think I could come up with this all by myself did you? My research is based on Grant Jeffrey's book Armageddon: Appointment With Destiny. To be precise, Chapter 3: Ezekiel's Vision of the Rebirth of Israel in 1948 is where all this information is found.

So is Israel's Rebirth Really an al-Naqba/Disaster?

It is for those that oppose the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As the star of Bethlehem heralded the First Advent, the Star of David on Israel's flag heralds the Second Advent. No wonder the unbelievers are terrified! Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Johnny Cash