The Lord's Deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem First

The Lord’s Deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem First – Part One

‘Deliverance Promised’

Micah 2:12 “I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.”

Scripture writes that in the End Times, at the end of the second half of the seven year tribulation, the enemies of Israel gather together to destroy the Lord’s remnant. In the above Scripture the Lord promises to deliver the remnant. Also, the phrase ‘their king’ shows they ultimately recognize Christ Jesus as their Lord and Master.

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Apostate Israel

The Old Testament writes extensively of Israel’s continual apostasy and rebellion. Jeremiah 8:5 – “Why then has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in continual apostasy? They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return.” God ultimately divorces her because of her spiritual unfaithfulness – Jeremiah 3:8 – “And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce.”

God speaks of their judgment in Hosea 5. It finishes with Hosea 5:15 – “I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

In the New Testament the Lord Jesus laments over Jerusalem:

‘Lament over Jerusalem’

Matthew 23:37 – 39 “ ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you from now on you will not see Me until you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’ ” Jesus was telling them that they refused to listen to the prophets sent to them prophesying about Him, their long-awaited Messiah. He also was ‘going away’ and leaving them ‘desolate’. Christ Jesus told them that they needed to acknowledge Him. And they wouldn’t see Him again until they did.

Both the Lord God and the Lord Christ Jesus told apostate Israel to repent of their sins and worship the one true God.

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Israel during the Tribulation

During the Tribulation, there will initially be a seven year covenant established between the Beast and Israel. Jewish worship and sacrifice are reinstated. However, Daniel 9:27 – “He will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering.” One week is a metaphor for a seven year time span in the Book of Daniel. So the Beast breaks his covenant half way through the seven years and begins to persecute the Jews at the 3 1/2 year mark. The surviving Israelites flee into the wilderness where the Lord protects them for 1,260 days. Revelation 12:6 – “Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days”. That is approximately the same length of time as the reign of the Antichrist/the Beast, in the second half of the seven year tribulation. Revelation 13:5 – “…authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.”

During those 1,260 days Israel’s leaders and priests will finally come to the knowledge of the truth. The Holy Spirit will be poured out on them and will enlighten their understanding of Scripture (explained in Joel 2 and Zechariah 12 further down). There is also the testimony of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists (Revelation 7:4), and the previous testimony from the two prophetic witnesses (Revelation 11). Through their trials and tribulations, gained wisdom and realization, they finally repent and return God. They ultimately recognize and proclaim Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Then the Lord Christ Jesus returns and delivers them from the invading armies.

Jeremiah 3 gives a little more detail about the 144,000 who are sealed by God. Jeremiah 3:14-15 – “ ‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the Lord; ‘For I am a master to you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.’ Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding.” This is the Lord selecting the 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel who were sealed for God in the first half of the Tribulation. They go on to evangelize the Jewish people. Note the phrase ‘who will feed you on knowledge and understanding’ – they gain the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and proclaim it to the others. Click on the link for the article on: First Four Trumpets and the 144,000

The following passages write about the persecution that begins after the Beast breaks the covenant between them. Only one third of the Jewish nation will be able to escape and flee to the mountains. Matthew 24:15-21 – “When you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place…then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains…for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” The remnant that flees will be the ones who will eventually come to a full understanding and belief in Jesus Christ as their Messiah.

Zechariah 13:8-9: “ ‘It will come about in all the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say “They are My people,” and they will say, “The Lord is my God.” ‘ “

‘The Purifier’

Malachi 3:2-4: “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”

‘Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy’

Jeremiah 31:1-2: “ ‘At that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My People.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness – Israel when it went to find its rest.’ ”

Notice the ‘wilderness’ reference. This prophecy is about the End times. The Jewish people will flee Jerusalem for their lives and will find ‘rest’ (shelter and protection) by God. At no other time in history have the Jewish people been at rest.

The wilderness written here is different than the wilderness the Jews wandered in for 40 years, when lead by Moses. The Exodus was in 1491 B.C. Jeremiah prophesied around 600 B.C. of future events. However, their wandering in the wilderness after fleeing Egypt is an example for them (and for us).

Hosea 2:14-20 – “I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her…I will also make a covenant for them…I will betroth you to Me forever…in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.”

Isaiah 33:15-16 – “He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, he who rejects unjust gain and shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; he who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil; he will dwell on the heights, his refuge will be the impregnable rock; his bread will be given him, his water will be sure.”

‘Israel Regathered’

Ezekiel 28:25-26 – “ ‘Thus says the Lord God, “When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and will manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob. They will live in it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards and live securely when I execute judgments upon all who scorn them round about them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.” ‘”

Here is a passage stating the Lord will ‘execute judgments’ on Israel’s foes and following that the house of Israel will thrive once again.

Hosea 3:4-5 – “For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.” Here is another passage of the sons of Israel repenting of their sins. As well, ’David their king’ is referring to the Lord Christ Jesus, whom they finally glorify. ‘The last days’ quote refers to the End Times.

To recap, God and Christ Jesus are waiting for apostate Israel to repent of their sins and return to their faith. deliverance But even during the Tribulation, the Lord in His everlasting love and mercy, shelters them in the wilderness – still waiting for them to return to Him. It is in the wilderness that they come to the knowledge of the truth. At the end of the tribulation, Israel’s age-old enemies all join forces to invade and destroy Judah and Jerusalem. The Jewish people repent and cry out to God to save them. Then the Lord Christ Jesus, their King and Saviour, comes and delivers Judah and Jerusalem (first – before Armageddon at Megiddo, which is an entirely separate battle – a battle against the Lord’s enemies of the whole world). The next two articles provide Scripture detailing those events.