Excerpts from a Teaching Paper

Keys to Israel in Prophecy Today

By Clarence Wagner, Bridges for Peace

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you...” (Isaiah 60:1).

God chose Israel and the Jewish people to be His instruments on earth to bring salvation to the world. God never had a Plan A for the Jewish people and a Plan B for the Gentile Church. He has only had a Plan A, and we as a Church were brought into God’s ongoing redemptive process that is still connected to the Land of Israel, which God calls His own. Sadly, the world and spiritual forces have fought God’s plans throughout the ages.

Despite this antagonism of the world and the exile of the Jewish people from the land of Israel, God never forgot His people or His plan. God said He would bring back His people, restore the land and redeem them as a people and nation once again (Ezekiel 36).

This prophetic process started just over 100 years ago and is progressing at full force during our lifetime. God is preparing His land and His people for the soon coming of Messiah. The Bible is full of prophetic Scriptures that we are seeing fulfilled before our eyes. The Land of Israel and her people were not just tools of God to be used in days gone by and subsequently discarded. They were, and are, part of God’s plan today, for His mercies do endure forever. In our day, instead of persecuting the Jewish people, millions of Bible-believing Christians are praying for the peace of Jerusalem and standing in support of God’s prophetic plan. . .

The prophet Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 36, speaks of a great end-time miracle, which I call the three “Rs” of prophecy concerning Israel.

First, there is the Return of the people to the land. Second, there is the Restoration of the Land. Then, he speaks of the Redemption of the heart of His people, Israel.

God will use the Gentiles to bless His nation and people.

Isaiah, the prophet of Israel, said: “Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God…Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you…Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations…For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined” (Isa. 60:9-11).

In Romans 11:11-14, Paul teaches us Christians that we are grafted into the olive tree, which are the covenants, promises and hopes of Israel. We do not hold up the tree, but it hold us up, so we should not boast against His people, Israel. In verse 28, he tells us that they are beloved for the sake of the Patriarchs. Without the faithfulness of the Jewish people in Israel, we would not have our example, our Bible, our Yeshua or our salvation. Therefore, he concludes, “by our mercy, they will receive [God’s] mercy.” (Rom. 11:31).

Paul teaches us that we have a debt to pay to the Jewish people, by blessing them in tangible ways.

Romans 15:27 clearly states: “For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.” How much more direct can God be regarding our Christian relationship to Israel and the Jewish people?

God will show the nations that He keeps His promises.

This same chapter 36 of Ezekiel declares that God is restoring His land and people to show the nations of the world that He is a faithful God who keeps His promises and His word. “And the desolate land will be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities have become fortified and are inhabited.’ Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, built the ruined places, and plant that which was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it" (Eze. 36:34-36).