The Christ in Prophecy Journal

The Future Has Arrived!

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I am constantly running across articles by Dispensationalists in which the argument is presented that in order to be a “consistent futurist,” you cannot contend that prophecies are being fulfilled today. Instead, it is argued that all end time prophecy relates to Israel in the Tribulation and Millennium. Therefore, all we are seeing today is “stage setting,” but not the fulfillment of prophecy.1

I strongly disagree with this viewpoint. First of all, there are four end time prophecies concerning Israel that were fulfilled even before the 20th Century began. They are:

  1. The dispersion of the Jews worldwide — Deuteronomy 28:64.
  2. The worldwide persecution of the Jews — Deuteronomy 28:65-67.
  3. The desolation of the Jewish homeland — Deuteronomy 29:22-28.
  4. The preservation of the Jewish people — Jeremiah 30:7 and Jeremiah 31:36-37.

Some might respond by saying these are not end time prophecies, but they are. The end times or the “last days” began at the Cross. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to his day and time (the First Century) as the “last days.” The Apostle Peter also called the time in which he was living the “last times” (1 Peter 1:5 & 20). And in the same letter he stated that “the end of all things is at hand” (1 Peter 4:7). The “end times” began 2,000 years ago. We are currently in the end of the end times, and we know this because God’s Word gives us signs to watch for that will mark the end of the age.

The fulfillment of the prophecies listed above makes it clear that all future prophecies in the Scriptures regarding Israel do not relate to just the Tribulation and the Millennium. Additionally, there are other futuristic prophecies in the Scriptures regarding Israel that were either fulfilled in part or in whole during the 20th Century, and they are prophecies that point to the soon return of Jesus.

Current Fulfillment of Prophecies Related to Israel

Consider, to begin with, the most prolific futuristic prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures — namely, that in the end times the Jewish people will be regathered in unbelief from the four corners of the earth.

This regathering began in the late 19th Century when Theodor Herzl wrote his book, The Jewish State, in which he advocated that the time had come for the Jews to return to their homeland. In 1900 there were only 40,000 Jews in Israel. By the end of World War II this number had risen to 800,000. Today, it stands at nearly 6 million. The Jews continue to come, but there is no doubt this is a prophecy that is being fulfilled before our very eyes.

Or, consider the re-establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948. This was a clear and definite fulfillment of Bible prophecy. It is an accomplished fact, and it is a miracle of God. It is not mere “stage-setting,” it is a play that has already been performed in full.

Another accomplished fact is the revival of the Hebrew language from the dead. When the Jews were scattered from their homeland in the First and Second Centuries, they stopped speaking Hebrew. The Jews in Europe mixed Hebrew with German and created a new language called Yiddish. The Jews in the Mediterranean Basin mixed Hebrew with Spanish and created a language called Ladino. But the Bible prophesied that the Hebrew language would be revived in the end times (Zephaniah 3:9), and that is exactly what happened in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries through the efforts of one man — Eliezer Ben Yehuda. Today, the people of Israel speak biblical Hebrew.

Equally certifiable is the reclamation of the Jewish homeland. As pointed out earlier, the Bible prophesied that it would become a desolation after the Jewish people were expelled from it. But the Bible also prophesied that when the Jews returned to the land, it would once again become a land of milk and honey:

“The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passed by. And they will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.'” (Ezekiel 36:34-35)

When the Jews started returning to their homeland in the late 19th Century, it was a total wasteland. Nearly all the trees had been cut down and the soil was badly eroded. The land resembled a desert. Most of the valleys had become malaria-infested swamp lands. The Jewish pioneers began planting trees, reclaiming the soil, and draining the swamps. Today, Israel is the bread basket of the Middle East.

Another prophecy that has definitely been fulfilled in our times is the resurgence of the Israeli military. Zechariah 12:6 says that in the end times, God “will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples…”

The fulfillment of this prophecy can be seen today in the incredible military power of Israel. It is one of the world’s smallest nations, yet it is ranked by all experts as one of the four top military powers in the world.

Finally, with regard to Israel before the Tribulation begins, the Bible prophesies that Jerusalem will be re-occupied by the Jews (Zechariah 12:2-3 & 6) and that it will become the focal point of world politics (Zechariah 12:3). The Jews returned to the city when it was captured in the Six Day War in 1967, and today, all the nations of the world are coming against Israel over the issue of who will control Jerusalem in the future.

Current Fulfillment of Non-Jewish Prophecies

But end time prophecies regarding Israel are not the only ones we see being fulfilled in whole or in part before our very eyes. Daniel prophesied that in the end times the old Roman Empire would be revived (Daniel 2:31-45), and we can see that being accomplished today in the creation and expansion of the European Union.

The Bible prophesies repeatedly that in the end times there will be a great apostasy in the Church (1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 3:1 & 5, 2 Timothy 4:3-4). We are up to our ears in that apostasy today as major Christian denominations ordain homosexuals, approve same-sex marriage, deny the deity of Jesus, and mock the inerrancy of the Scriptures.

In like manner, the Bible prophesies that “in the last days” society will disintegrate into a cesspool of immorality and violence (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Can there be any doubt that those days have arrived?

Daniel was told that the end time prophecies would not be completely understood until the end time — that is, until the time comes for their fulfillment (Daniel 12:8-9). That time must be upon us for we are living in the time when ancient prophecies are being understood for the first time ever, due to historical developments and technological advances.

Taking the Signs of the Times Seriously

I could go on and on, but I think I have made my point. The future has arrived! End time prophecies are being fulfilled today. What we are witnessing is much more than “stage-setting.” God is clearly fulfilling promises He made thousands of years ago to the Jewish people. And God is orchestrating the fulfillment of end time prophecies that are not related to the Jewish people.

It is exciting to see these prophecies fulfilled, and I am tired of seeing people attempt to depreciate their importance by flipping them off in a cavalier way as nothing more than mere “stage-setting.”

Jesus is coming soon. The signs of the times attest to that fact. God expects us to take those signs seriously because He is about to pour out His wrath upon this world in the Great Tribulation, and He does not desire that any should perish. The fulfillment of prophecy all around us today is God’s way of waking us up to the fact that we are living on borrowed time, and we need to use the remaining time to commit ourselves to holiness and evangelism.

Notes

1) A good example of the Dispensational viewpoint on this issue is an article by Ron J. Bigalke, Jr entitled, “Prophetic Fulfillment”.

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Dr. David Reagan

Dr. David Reagan is the Founder and Evangelist Emeritus of Lamb & Lion Ministries. He is a life-long Bible student, teacher, and preacher and he led over 45 pilgrimages to Israel. Dr. Reagan was the host of the radio then television program Christ in Prophecy for nearly 40 years.

8 CommentsLeave a Comment

  • leviticus and ezekiel prophecy fulfilled 1948
    Quote

    leviticus – speaking of the 7x punishment

    26:18 `And if unto these ye hearken not to Me, — then I have added to chastise you SEVEN times for your sins;

    26:21 `And if ye walk with Me `in' opposition, and are not willing to hearken to Me, then I have added to you a plague SEVEN times, according to your sins,

    26:24 then I have walked — I also — with you in opposition, and have smitten you, even I, SEVEN times for your sins;

    26:28 then I have walked with you in the fury of opposition, and have chastised you, even I, SEVEN times for your sins.

    ezekiel

    4:5 And I — I have laid on thee the years of their iniquity, the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou hast borne the iniquity of the house of Israel.

    4:6 And thou hast completed these, and hast lain on thy right side, a second time, and hast borne the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days — A DAY FOR A YEAR — a day for a year I have appointed to thee.

    in 745 BC was the beginning of this chastisement of the house of israel. (not judah)
    the first captivity started in this year with the tribes of reuben, gad and half of manasseh, by the assryians
    by 721 BC the whole house was captive

    745BC to 1948 = 2,693 years in our calender
    390×7 = 2,730 JEWISH prophetic years of 360 days

    2,730×360 = 982,800 days
    982,000/365 days = 2,692.6 years (the difference being a matter of months)

    exactly as prophesied israels chastisement ended and became a sovereign nation again in 1948

    if you want to split hairs and say it should be 365.24 days, the average is actually 365.03 days, if you include the leap years from 1582, and the previous 365 days before that time

  • Zepahniah 3:9 doesn't appear to mention anything about the restoration of the Hebrew language in the last days, at least not to me. Can you please explain further why you think that verse can be interpreted that way?

  • KJV translates Zephaniah 3:9: "For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent."

    It's also a cross reference to Isaiah 19:18's "speaking the language of Canaan", meaning the Israeli's have their own language.

    Fascinating to see a language dead for hundreds of years come back into use as a national language of a nation. Even more fascinating is a nation coming back after almost 1900 years of not existing.

  • even the prophecies that are "stage setters" indicate the stage is not BEING SET but ALREADY IS set. i could be mistaken, and someone let me know if i am, but it seems the ONLY prohecies left to be fulfilled before the tribulation are psalm 83/isaiah 17)Gog/Magog) the setting up of 10 kings and i think thats it. and all these are interium (the period between the rapture and tribulation)prophecies. the rapture comes next

  • Dr Reagan, I believe Dr Fruchtenbaum who happens to be a dispensationalist also agrees with you in large. He certainly points to earthquake activity and the two world wars as indicators of the end of the age. So perhaps there are differences of opinion within that group where one shouldn't put them all in a bucket?

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