The days are in decline once again, after reaching the peak last Saturday. Summer is here, bringing in ‘the end’: the Hebrew word for summer is ‘kayitz‘ (קיץ). There is the verse in the prophet Jeremiah (8:20), where Israel cries in a despair of lost hope: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!” Blessed be God, that when all hope is lost, He comes in to quicken hope for redemption and salvation! So it will be as the end of the age nears.
This week I have given lots of attention to prophecy. It was not intended; it just seems to be what the Lord brought to my attention by someone sending me a link to a site with a current events story tying into end-times scenarios. This led me to another, newer site, but related to the first.
Prophecy should be important to all believers, since God is fulfilling His word, which, to us, is all prophetic. The Word of God and current events are coming together more and more tightly as the end of the age draws ever nearer than when they were first written. Yet, the Holy Spirit is given to teach us, and to lead us into all truth, through the Scriptures which were written for us “living at the end of the age”.
Yeshua told the Israeli Jewish people in His day that they should have known the day of their visitation by Him, the Messiah. The prophets gave numerous details about the ‘time and season’ of His coming, especially through the prophet Daniel, which the Jewish authorities today have relegated to the ‘Writings’. We do not want to be as unprepared nearing the Lord’s return as so many in Israel were at the first coming.
Also during this week, another brother and I were discussing our expectations of what lies ahead of Israel and of those who believe. We are both born-again, serious students of the Word, love Yeshua, and live in the Negev. Yet, we are ‘miles apart’ as to the what, how, and why of future end-time events. How so? Because this dear brother believes that the Holocaust was Jacob’s Trouble — that is, that the worst is behind us now — while I believe that the worst is yet to come. Neither of us is a classic dispensationalist.
He suggested, and I would second it, that someone should organize a conference of a few days to talk about all these things, with a view to seek the Lord in love for Him and for the brethren, in which the various schools of thought can be openly discussed and that the Holy Spirit can help us all be more on the same page with Him. Any suggestions, anyone?