Editorial - Where Do We Go To From Here?

by Joseph H Hunting

Sometimes it is a good thing to take a backward look when considering future events according to prophecy. The important events that led to the rebirth of Israel is a good place to start.

The pogroms in Czarist Russia and the anti-Semitism in Europe culminating in the Dreyfus trial gave birth to Zionism. Then began the pioneer settlements in the land such as Degania, Nahalal and Rishon LeZion, with the great turning-point in those turbulent years the capture of Jerusalem from the Turks in 1917, which ended the Ottoman domination of Palestine.

In the two decades that followed, waves of Jewish immigrants transformed the disease-ridden swamps of the Jezreel Valley into fertile farmland, and scores of new settlements were established. Then in 1939 Jewish immigration was severely curtailed by Britain's infamous White Paper just when Hitler was on the brink of plunging Europe into a bloodbath. The six war years which followed brought the fulfilment of the nightmarish prophecies of Deuteronomy 28, prophecies of agony fulfilled to the letter.

The next great turning-point was the rebirth of Israel in May 1948. Out of the very ashes of the Holocaust the Star of David was unfurled over the soil of Israel's ancient homeland; it even continued to wave in spite of the wars which followed when their enemies tried to wipe them off the map -- a miracle of survival indeed.

One of the greatest milestones in modern times was the liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem from Gentile control in 1967, control that had extended for 2,500 years. Many Bible students see this as the beginning of the end of "the times of the Gentiles" .

Then the year 1990 was born and the countdown for the end of the sixth millennium began with the destruction of the Berlin wall, the revolt of European states against their communist masters, and the astonishing events spearheading from Moscow and the Kremlin that have resulted in the release of thousands of Jewish families from Russia. 1990 also saw the reunification of East and West Germany and the Middle East crisis suddenly erupting in August.

The question may well be uppermost in our minds: "Where do we go from here in God's prophetic program?" The unification of European countries under one parliament is scheduled for 1992. This may well alter the course of history and lay the foundation for the fulfilment of Daniel's prophecy of a revised Roman empire and the emergence of the Antichrist as foretold in Daniel chapter 9:26,27; 11:36ff and Revelation chapter 13.

Where do we go to from here? According to the prophetic scriptures there are two main events still awaiting fulfilment. One is an invasion of Israel by a northern power (Heb. from the uttermost north) which ends catastrophically with the destruction of the invading forces described in the 38^th and 39^th chapters of Ezekiel.

The second unfulfilled prophecy is the battle of Armageddon which is graphically portrayed in Revelation chapter 19. This last battle will be "the war to end all wars" and will culminate with the triumphant return of Israel's Messiah to establish His reign of peace, justice and equity as foretold by Israel's prophets. May that day speedily come.

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