A Restored Israel

2021-12-03

One of the events that is key to the end times is a restored nation of Israel and a rebuilt Temple. Bible prophecy speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, but also talks about how it would be rebuilt in the distant future. Let us talk about the already fulfilled prophecy, and then we can look at what is left to be done. The prophecy of the seventy weeks (Daniel 9:24-27) is key to understanding this, and we will return to this throughout our study.

The seventy weeks prophecy talks about a few things. Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C. because of the people’s disobedience. God said through the prophet Jeremiah that Jerusalem’s desolation would endure 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10). After the 70 years, Daniel the prophet knew that the 70 years were ending (Daniel 9:2). He prayed on behalf of his people because of their sin that they might be prepared to return (Daniel 9:3-19). The Lord then sent the angel Gabriel to Daniel in response to give more information.

Gabriel said that 70 weeks of years (70 seven-year periods) would precede the full establishment of the kingdom in righteousness. During the first 69 weeks of years (with a gap somewhere after the first seven weeks), the Temple would be rebuilt, and the Messiah would come (Daniel 9:25). The Messiah means “anointed” and is the same word for “Christ.” This is speaking of Jesus’ first coming.

After the first 69 weeks, Jesus the Messiah would “be cut off, but not for himself” (Daniel 9:26). He would suffer the death penalty, but not because of His own sins, but for the sins of the world. This would be in the 30s A.D. Moreover, “the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary” (Daniel 9:26). This clearly refers to Titus Vespasian’s capture and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D. This is true prophecy, and nobody would argue that Daniel was written during or after these events.

However, we keep reading. “Unto the end of the war desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26). A large amount of time passes by before the 70th week. After that, we read “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease” (Daniel 9:27). The antecedent for “he” is the “prince that shall come,” which is the Antichrist, whom we will talk about later. But this man will cause “sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” This implies that somewhere between the 69th and the 70th week, Jerusalem is restored to the Jewish people. A restored Israel is a prerequisite for the 70th week to begin. The Temple is either rebuilt before the 70th week, or it is built as a part of the covenant mentioned in Daniel 9:27. Sacrifices only happen in the Temple, but they had ceased in 70 A.D. with its destruction. The sacrifices must have been restored at some point for the Antichrist to have stopped them, which means there must be a new Temple constructed. The Antichrist also will sit in the Temple and claim to be God according to 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

These prophetic prerequisites of a restored Israel and a built Temple have been partially fulfilled. For endless centuries, some scholars have interpreted the passages concerning the restored Israel allegorically because nobody would have thought that Israel would ever be a country again. From A.D. 70 to 1948, there was no Israel. However, with the modern Zionist movement, from the publication of Theodor Herzl’s Der Judenstaat and the Balfour Declaration, there was a slow movement to restore the Jews to the historic land of Israel. The horror of World War II expedited this. Now Israel has been a country for decades, which is of huge prophetic significance. Since 1948, there was a Jewish state of Israel, against all odds, after nearly two millennia of desolations.

The Temple clearly is not rebuilt. There are other religious sites where the Temple once stood. However, there is a Temple Institute that has an altar and implements ready for a new Temple. Once the Temple is rebuilt, they are ready to move in.

One can see that the 70th week, or the last seven years, could begin very quickly. Much of the groundwork has been laid.

This is the first element of the last seven years before the Kingdom.