If we want to know where we are in the God’s prophetic timeline, we must always look to Israel, for Israel is at the center of all prophecy yet to take place. The closer we get to prophetic events, the more clear the scriptures become. Perhaps that is now the case with the following prophetic passage:
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Zech. 12:1-3
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. 6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. Zech. 12:5-6
The word “governors” is a translation of the Hebrew, eluf, meaning “brigadier” as in a brigadier general of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Jerusalem is the location of the Temple Mount where the last Jewish temple resided before its destruction in 70 A.D. by the Romans. Bible prophecy says that Israel will build a third temple and perform sacrifices during the Tribulation. The Temple Institute has been hard a work preparing for the day that the new temple is complete. In order for this to happen, Israel must regain complete control of Jerusalem. Today, that is not the case.
Violence at the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem has escalated in the last month causing tension between Israel and Jordan, the official “keeper” of the Temple Mount. Last week Rabbi Yehuda Glick, former director of The Temple Institute, was shot by a Palestinian following a presentation at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. In response, Israel closed the Temple Mount against Muslim worshipers for the day. Jordan responded by threatening to revoke peace treaty over the Temple Mount and recently recalled its ambassador to Israel over Jerusalem ‘violations’. Meanwhile Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas incited violence at the Temple Mount over the shooting incident and called the closure of al-Aqsa holy site a ‘declaration of war’. In another attack of violence today, an Arab driver plowed his vehicle into a crowd of people at a light rail station.
Perhaps most troubling is ISIS since they have already threatened to cut off Jordan’s King Abdullah’s head and have since threatened to: Islamic Caliphate will be established in the Sinai, calling it the ”first step towards the invasion of Jerusalem”. ISIS has made huge gains in the middle east mostly unreported by the media and to make matters worse Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, Egypt’s most active militant group, has sworn allegiance to Islamic State.
At some point, war will break out again in the region and the God of Israel and their superior firepower will eliminate the enemy in Jerusalem allowing them to build the 3rd temple. Israel continues to build their military prowess and now have the best Air force in the world and have the most powerful military in the Middle East today. Israel has continued to improve on its Iron Dome by adapting for Intercepts at Sea. With their powerful military and knowing they will be victorious in all the wars leading up to the Tribulation, moving them quickly to the powerhouse of the Middle East, it begs the question, what actually will the signing of the covenant with the Antichrist and Israel consist of?
When it is all said and done, the Lord will descend and will stand upon the Mount of Olives.
And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. Zec 14:4
Looking for that Blessed Hope! 