Ten Prophetic Keys

Here are 10 keys that I have learned from studying Jewish history, Rabbinic thought, and current events here in Israel:

1. Restoring the Language

What was perhaps the first modern prophetic key regarding Israel in the end times, came to Eliezer Ben-Yehuda in the late 1870s. He had a vision. He felt God tell him, “You will go back and restore the language of the prophets in the land of the prophets.” He accepted that calling, and today is known as the father of the Modern Hebrew language. He moved his family to Israel in 1881, and his son was the first person to speak Hebrew as his mother tongue since ancient times.

I see this as parallel to us as a Messianic community in Israel, as we return not just to the Hebrew language, but to speaking in tongues as the early church did for the first time on Shavuot in Acts 2.

2. Global Reconciliation

The second key was from Rabbi Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, and possibly the most significant in modern Jewish history. In the beginning, the Ultra-Orthodox Jews were against the nation of Israel. In fact, most of them continue to be so. Kook saw that the Israeli pioneers were secular, atheist Communists. Therefore it seemed that the movement could not be from God. However, because they were bringing God&039;s people back to the Land of Israel according to Biblical prophecies, he created a bridge between Ultra-Orthodoxy and modern Zionism, and in doing so, laid the foundations of what we call Modern Orthodoxy. Today this stream of Judaism is pro-Israel and even serves in the IDF.

Similarly, I believe that our calling as Messianics is to bring together all the diverse aspects of Israel, including Orthodox and secular Jews, as well as the international Ekklesia (church). Even though we’re all supposed to be on the same side, throughout history these groups have opposed each other. So the second end times prophetic word is the joining together of Israel and the church.

3. Stages of Restoration

When Rabbi Kook considered modern Israel, he did not believe that it was the kingdom of God, but rather the first stage of the restoration which would lead to the Kingdom of God. There had to be some sort of physical restoration of the Land and the people of Israel so that redemption could take place.

We are saying the same thing. Modern Israel today is not the Kingdom of God, but rather the initial steps of a restoration that is leading to the Kingdom of God. It is a mistake to be overly Zionist and call this the Kingdom of God, and it’s also a mistake to reject the idea completely. We’re saying that these are the beginning stages and the Messianic community is in the middle of it.

4. Reading the Prophets

David Ben-Gurion, visionary and leader of Modern Zionism, read the Bible, particularly the prophets. He held Bible studies each week in his home. He taught the Bible, but he mistakenly interpreted the Bible through a Communist viewpoint, as a kind of a socialist work. However, he was right to encourage the reading of the prophets, and to not just read the Bible, but try to live it. I believe that because he took inspiration from the Scriptures about restoring the nation of Israel, God chose him to be the first Prime Minister of Israel.

5. Pre-government Preparation

During the time of the British Mandate, prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, Ben-Gurion also realized that one day we were going to have a government, but we weren’t ready yet. We needed to build an organization that could function like a government so that we’d be ready to have a nation when the time came. He set up an organization called the “Histadrut,” and it began to function like a government until it later became one.

I believe that is a prophetic word for the church. The Ekklesia is supposed to be two things, not just the people who have been gathered out of the nations to become the body of Christ, but the word Ekklesia also means a governing body or coalition. As believers, we are here not just to run the church but act as our own “Histadrut” or pre-government. We are being prepared now to run Yeshua’s government when He returns. That’s why we believe in apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, in elders and deacons, and in the structure of the church, because we are in training. A government isn’t run by one person, but by a whole group of people. That’s what discipleship is all about; getting ready to run one of the positions of His government.

6. Preparing for War

Ben-Gurion also knew that when we declared the new State of Israel, within 24 hours every nation in the Middle East was going to attack us. We were not ready. We didn’t have any weapons or soldiers. We didn’t know how to fight. So he set aside all of his other functions, forming and training a military in a year and a half.

I believe this is a prophetic word coming out of the body of Messiah in Israel. We are heading towards the greatest war in the history of mankind. We are moving into a period where all the nations of the world are going to attack Israel and Christians, and do everything they can to stop the second coming of Yeshua. I’m not saying we have to learn to shoot guns, but we do need to learn to pray and prophesy, to understand the Scriptures and declare the Word of God.

7. Confrontation of the Nations

Binyamin Netanyahu, our Prime Minister, goes to the United Nations and confronts them, unlike any other world leader I’ve seen. He tells the UN that they are making decisions against the Land and people of Israel, even though we have a mandate from God to be here. He quotes the Bible and he rebukes them for immorality and humanistic thinking, boldly confronting the nations of this world.

There is something about the nation of Israel and its very existence that is in confrontation with the UN. I believe we are going to begin to confront the nations of the world with the truth of God. This is one aspect of Israel’s calling, and now that the body of Messiah is connected to Israel, we have a prophetic message to give to the world.

8. Exposing Radical Islam

Netanyahu – more than any other world leader today – understands that radical Islamic terrorism is the worst evil this world has ever seen, and we need to fight it. People are being murdered at an unprecedented rate and nobody is really fighting it other than Israel. There is an alignment coming out of the nation of Israel.

You have the choice either to succumb to radical Islam or to fight against it. The church doesn’t necessarily need to take up weapons. But it needs to be able to speak the truth and call it what it is: a murderous, Anti-Christ spirit. When you send people all over the world to murder everyone who disagrees with you, you are breaking the Ten Commandments. That cannot be the God of Israel, and we need to actively oppose it.

9. Establishment of the Throne of David

In Hebrew, there is no word for ‘prime minister.’ Instead, the title is the ‘head of the government of Israel.’ Do you remember all the prophecies about Yeshua when He was born? He would sit on the throne of David and rule over the tribes of Jacob. When Yeshua comes back, he will sit on David’s throne and rule the world from David’s throne forever.

What is a throne? A throne is a chair. The prime minister has a chair that represents the government of Israel, the authority of David being restored in the land of Israel. Right now, Netanyahu as the prime minister of Israel sits in that chair. I’m not saying Netanyahu is the Messiah. I’m not saying he’s born again. But in structure and authority he sits in the position of the throne of David.

We believe in a literal fulfillment of the prophecies of the kingdom of God coming on earth. But until there was modern Israel and a government in Israel, how could you believe these prophecies? For 2,000 years much of the church did not really believe in the second coming, but instead in the second appearance. They believed that Yeshua is going to appear, come half way down, rapture away His bride, and then leave again! But the Bible says He comes back once – all the way back to the Mount of Olives! Israel has been restored and its capital is in Jerusalem. Yeshua can now return and reign over the earth from Jerusalem.

10. Physically inheriting the Land

Lastly, one of the things that the head of the Israeli government does is to guarantee that Jews and their descendants can settle in the Land: that we have the right to build homes, establish farms, support an economy and raise our children. It is amazing how much this idea is hated by so many around the world.

Does the Bible indeed say that when Yeshua comes back the saints will inherit the earth? Yes (Matthew 5:5 and 25:34). The way God ensures that His kingdom will come to this earth is by promising it to the Jewish people, in the Land of Israel. If it doesn’t happen here, it can’t happen on the rest of the earth. The fact that Jewish people are living here is a sure sign that Yeshua is coming and we will inherit the earth.

The majority of Christians have misbelieved for the last 2,000 years that we will live for eternity in heaven leaving the earth to the Anti-Christ, without a physical resurrection. That’s all wrong teaching. But if the Jewish people never come back to the Land of Israel, then that would probably be true. The covenant rights of the Jewish people to live in Israel guarantee the rights of Christians to inherit their own lands and nations.