The Ezekiel War-Introduction
The locusts are coming!
A day is coming when Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies yet again. These armies will be for the most part Islamic and they will cover the Land of Israel like locusts. (Joel 2:1-4) The prophet Ezekiel saw this in a vision from the LORD and it would come about after Israel had become a nation again. In Ezekiel chapter 37 the LORD revealed to His servant that in the last days Israel would experience a physical rebirth as a nation and Jews would return to the land but that they would be gathered there in unbelief. (Ezekiel 37:1-8) In 1948 this part of the prophecy was fulfilled. However, once back in the land the nation would be spiritually revived. (Ezekiel 37:9-14) This part of the prophecy has not yet come true. Once this spiritual revival has occurred and the Lord Jesus the Messiah has come back, the nation of Israel will be one people under the rule of their Messiah in His Millennial Kingdom. (Ezekiel 37:15-28) To bring this about it will take the Time of Jacob’s Trouble that will see the armies of the predominantly Islamic nations surrounding Jerusalem.
David’s fallen Tabernacle restored
On the Day of Pentecost Israel experienced a partial spiritual restoration and David’s fallen Tabernacle was restored and that through a faithful believing Jewish remnant the Gospel of the Kingdom would go forth into the Gentile nations bringing a harvest of spiritual fruit for the Kingdom of God. (Acts 15:16-17) The prophet Joel spoke about this spiritual awakening that occurred on the Day of Pentecost in Israel that would ultimately transverse the Gentile nations. (Joel 2:18-32) At the end of this age the Day of Pentecost will be repeated but it will be in the midst of signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth blood, fire and billows of smoke with the sun turning to darkness, and the moon turning to blood before the great and dreadful Day of the LORD that will lead up to and include the Second Coming of Jesus the Messiah.
A foreshadow
There were no signs in the heavens and blood and fire and vapours of smoke on the Day of Pentecost. What happed at Pentecost was like that or a foreshadowing or pattern of what would happen again at the end of this age. For one last time the LORD will pour out His Spirit upon Israel and upon all flesh and multitudes will be swept into the Kingdom of God in a very short span of time but after that the bowls of God’s wrath will be poured out on those who have rejected the salvation that can only be found in the Lord Jesus. (Acts 4:12)
The ‘fishers’ and then the ‘hunters’
The LORD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah; “As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers. “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the LORD, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.” (Jeremiah 16:15-17)
“Go back to Israel!”
In the early 1930’s the Zionists went through Europe warning the Jewish people to get out of the countries they were in and to go back to Israel because the Zionists saw what was coming upon the Jews in Europe and especially in Germany. Multitudes refused to leave as they were well ensconced in society and contributors to the welfare of the countries in which they lived. Multitudes though because of the way they had helped prosper the nation in which they lived that persecution would not happen to them. Many Jewish people had served in the army, provided medical and scientific discoveries and had helped build up the economy of those countries. Having said this most of the European Jews were still rejecting their Messiah. The Zionists were the fishers and the Nazis were the hunters. Today the same thing is happening again in Europe primarily where Anti-Semitism is starting to show its ugly head once again towards the Jewish people. God is trying to get His people home because He has a pre-ordained appointment for them with their rejected Messiah the Lord Jesus and it is an appointment they cannot avoid.
Applied pressure
Through applied pressure the LORD is seeking to bring the Jewish people in the Gentile nations back to their own homeland. Sadly many do not want to leave as they did not want to leave in the early 1930’s and many are sitting on the fence but God is going to electrify the fence and they will have to jump one way or the other. He is fishing for them to go home but if they refuse then the hunters will come in the character of the Nazis once again. For the LORD to spiritually revive Israel the Jewish people have to be back in Israel. Multitudes of Jewish people are still living in many nations of the world. Since Israel became a nation in 1948 the Jewish people have generally prospered in the nations into which they had been scattered because of their unbelief and rebellion against God. In the nations they have proven to be very successful in all fields of science, medicine, agriculture, business, government, corporations and especially in banking and handling money. However, this has started to change with the rise of Anti-Semitism starting to spread like gangrene among the nations where they lived. God has a pre-ordained appointment in Israel at Jerusalem for them to keep with their long lost elder brother in the flesh and their Messiah the Lord Jesus whom they have rejected.
The Time of Jacob’s Trouble
Having said this we now need to look at Ezekiel chapters 38-39 to see what it is that will bring about Israel’s spiritual restoration that will prepare them for the Messianic Kingdom. In Jeremiah the prophet we read that Israel as a nation must pass through the Time of Jacob’s Trouble but that after God has purified His people He will save the nation out of this time of great tribulation and from the hands of their enemies. (Jeremiah 30:1-7) These chapters fit between Ezekiel 37 verses 1-8 and verses 9-28. The Time of Jacob’s Trouble will be the catalyst that drives the Israelis to cry out to the LORD for deliverance and as a result have their encounter with their Messiah the Lord Jesus, but it will be in the midst of the time of trouble unequalled in past history and never to be equalled again at the end of this age. (Daniel 12:1) (Matthew 24:21-22) When it looks like Israel is finished the Lord Jesus will come return, all surviving Israelis will be saved when they look upon Him whom they have pierced. (Zechariah 12:10)
The nations are now starting to gather
On March 27th 2018 a report in the Arabic Online Publication “Memri” a headline read; “Turkish Newspaper Close To President Erdogan Calls To Form Joint Islamic Army To Fight Israel.” The article went on to say; “On December 12, 2017, ahead of the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, the Turkish daily Yeni Şafak, which is close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling AKP party, published an article titled “A Call for Urgent Action,” which also appeared on the paper’s website under the title “What If an Army of Islam Was Formed against Israel?”
The OIC
The article called on the 57 member states of the OIC to form a joint “Army of Islam” to besiege and attack the state of Israel. It notes that such a joint army will greatly exceed the Israeli army in manpower, equipment and budget, and presents statistics to prove this. It also advocates establishing joint bases for the army’s ground, air and naval forces that will arrive from all over the Muslim world to besiege Israel, while noting that Pakistan, as the only nuclear country, has “a special status” among the OIC countries. An interactive map provides information on military forces stationed in various locations and the role they can play in the potential joint Muslim attack on Israel.
To fight Israel
The main points of the article are taken from the website of the Turkish SADAT International Defence and Consulting Company, which provides consultancy on defence and warfare, both conventional and unconventional, and on military organization, training and gear. The company has an agenda of promoting pan-Islamic military cooperation. According to its mission statement, it seeks “to establish defence collaboration and defence industry cooperation among Islamic countries, to help the Islamic world take its rightful place among the superpowers by providing… strategic consultancy and training services to the militaries and homeland security forces of Islamic countries.” According to Israeli security sources, the SADAT Company is involved in aiding Hamas, and seeks to assist – with funds and military gear – the creation of a “Palestine Army” to fight Israel.”
Into the Valley of Decision
There is no doubt in the light of President Trumps announcement to relocate the US Embassy in Jerusalem and his public affirmation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel the whole Islamic world is a stir with ‘General’ Erdogan of Turkey ‘leading the charge’ as it were against Israel. Ultimately the LORD will bring all of these Islamic nations down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat into the valley of decision and there enter into judgement with those nations because of their militancy against His people Israel. (Joel 3:1-7) In study 2 we will look at Ezekiel chapter 38.
