Understanding of The Times

by Christian Patriot

After death of King Saul and his sons by the hand of the Philistines, David was made King of Israel. All of the tribes of Israel joined themselves to him in unity and by a show of force. It is notable that they were armed and prepared for war. However, what stood out in my reading of Scripture this morning was this verse concerning the tribe of Issachar but was not said of the other tribes:

Quote:


In other words, they had a certain God-given spiritual discernment and wisdom granted to them by God for His purposes for Israel in that time. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for much of the Israeli leadership today. There are exceptions of course but generally most of the people currently in the Israeli government do not understand the prophetic times in which we are living today. Although Israeli military intelligence and their agency the Mossad , the equivalent to our CIA, is one of the best in the world that does not always necessarily mean that they have spirtual discernment and godly wisdom. It is not godly wisdom for the government of Israel to give land concessions to their enemies who are sworn to their destruction in exchange for false promies of peace, nor to agree to the so-called ' Road Map To Peace ' plan which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state in the heart of the land of Israel nor to consider giving up the Temple Mount and half of the city of Jerusalem in an attempt to appease those who hate Israel with an ancient hatred. No land concessions by the Israeli government are ever going to change those attitudes. It will be seen by Israel's enemies as surrender. Furthermore, in so doing, Israel is forgetting the everlasting covenants that God made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and with King David. If the Israeli leadership had an "understanding of the times" they would not want to implement these foolish policies nor would they be deceived by these peace treaties which, at the appointed time, will culminate in the advent of the prophesied Antichrist of whom the Bible says " by peace shall destroy many " ( Daniel 8:25 ). Can you imagine King David, Joshua or Moses or even some of the former prime ministers in the history of the modern state of Israel going along with this spiritual deception? I can't.

At the first advent of Yeshua Ha Mashiach ( Jesus the Messiah ) the Jewish religious leaders of His time, with a few exceptions, had no " understanding of the times. " In other words, they did not recognize or believe in Him as the promised Messiah when He came though every day of His ministry He was fulfilling Old Testament messianic prophecies that had been written of Him. When they came to Jesus asking for Him to give them a sign to prove that He was who He claimed to be He instead rebuked them for their lack of spiritual discernment:

Quote:


Jesus held them personally responsible for their lack of spiritual discernment and their subsequent rejection of Him. That applies also to all of us, Jew and Gentile, today. The Jewish religious leaders' failure to have an "understanding of the times " at the time of Christ and then afterward following His substitutionary, atoning death on the cross for the sins of Israel and for the people of all nations and His resurrection of the dead was due to their own ignorance of the prophetic Word of God, their emphasis on legalistic religion and their preoccupation with certain religious traditions that were not even scriptural in most cases. So the practice of religion does not itself guarantee that we will have wisdom and discernment from God. Wisdom and discernment in these last days is imparted by the Spirit of God indwelling in those who have believed the Word of God concerning the things written of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and who continue in His Word. It is wisdom that we must also inquire of the Lord for.

Last month the modern state of Israel observed it's 60th birthday since it declared and won it's independence from British rule on May 14, 1948. The rebirth of Israel in a day as a nation was foretold in the prophetic Word of God ( Isaiah 66:7-11 ). There are several other passages which prophesied that God would scatter Israel but that He would bring them again back to the land in the latter days. After more than 1900 years since the Jews were dispersed among the nations by the Romans they are making ' aliyah ', returning again to the land of Israel in fulfillment of God's Word. Actually, there have been waves of it since the late 19th century. The state of Israel is a modern day miracle and her restoration is the key prophetic sign, among many other signs in these last days that Yeshua ( Jesus ) is coming again soon as He promised.

Interestingly, I didn't hear a word about Israel's 60th on the news for some reason. It is likely that some in the news media, motivated by their anti-Israel biases and sympathies with the enemies of Israel, deliberately ignored this momentous occasion. For others it apparently was not a newsworthy event in their minds. However, everything that happens in the land of Israel and in other nations in relation to Israel today is big news for the student of Bible prophecy. Current events occurring there and around the world on a daily basis are fulfilling end times Bible prophecy. Many have noted that The Bible reads like today's newspaper. Many in the media may simply have been unaware of the occasion. For whatever the reason, the media in general clearly does not have an " understanding of the times " in which we are living and it shows in their manner of reporting the news, especially in regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Since the day that Israel was reborn as a nation there have been 5 Arab-Israeli wars as her enemies have sought to invade and to destroy her. Israel miraculously won each of those wars and defeated her enemies against incredible odds because God intervened time and time again to deliver His chosen nation. Israeli defense forces today are on a constant state of high alert for yet another major Mid-east war that is looming on the horizon with Syria and Iran. This time other nations will likely be drawn into this conflict as well and it may escalate into a third world war rather than be contained as a regional conflict like the other wars have been. Despite the well-meaning intentions of those in Israel who sincerely long for peace and the efforts of visionary utopian dreamers in the U.S., in Russia, at the United Nations and in the European Union, the truth is that there will be no lasting peace in the Middle East until the Second Coming of Yeshua Ha Mashiach ( Jesus the Messiah )who, in righteousness, will make war and destroy the armies of the earth gathered together against Israel at the Battle of Armageddon ( Revelation 16:12-16; 19:11-21 ). Until that day comes Israel must, the best way that she can, defend herself against fierce enemies who are sworn and determined to " wipe Israel off of the map " or to "drive the Jews into the sea. " as they say.

Israel today is indeed armed and prepared for war as that nation was in the days of King David. My prayer for Israel today is that the Holy One of Israel will again grant to the Israeli leadership an "understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do " as He gave to the leaders of the tribe of Issachar in those days.