letsloveothers

Like many through the ages, Israel no longer fears the Lord because they have abandoned His word. No longer obeying His commands or honoring the covenant Papa made with her forefathers. 

Beginning at the bottom of Mount Sinai, the fear of the unknown hijacked their faith and obedience. Knowing this would be their downfall, through Moses Papa encouraged them to “fear not” because the Lord is the One who will go before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8

Despite Papa’s encouragement, Moses was told. “You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon Me and break My covenant that I have made with them.

Then My anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding My face from them, and they will be devoured. Terrible trouble will come down on them, and on that day they will say, ‘These disasters have come down on us because God is no longer among us!’ At that time I will hide My face from them on account of all the evil they commit by worshiping other gods.” Deuteronomy 31:16-I8

This terrible day is the “time of Jacob’s trouble”. An unprecedented time of difficulty that Papa revealed to Daniel.

“Now at that end time Michael, the great angelic prince who stands guard over the children of your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. 

At that time your people, everyone who is found written in the Book [of Life, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, resurrect these to everlasting life, but some to disgrace and everlasting contempt, abhorrence. 

Those who are spiritually wise will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever. 

But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the scroll until the end of time. Many will go back and forth and search anxiously through the scroll, and knowledge of the purpose of God as revealed by His prophets will greatly increase.” Daniel 12:1-4

At no time in history has the interest and study of the end times been so fervent. More and more insight is being revealed to those who are earnestly seeking Papa’s wisdom and guidance.

Israel and her role in the end times cannot be ignored, particularly the city of Jerusalem. It is the city of Jerusalem that will be the epicenter of Jacob’s trouble— the Great Tribulation.

Why Jerusalem?

Because Jerusalem is Papa’s alone.

This message is from the Lord who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth and formed the human spirit.

“I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.

On that day I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of their enemies. The clans of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The people of Jerusalem have found strength in the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, their God.’

On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a flame that sets a woodpile ablaze or like a burning torch among sheaves of grain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure.

The Lord will give victory to the rest of Judah first, before Jerusalem, so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah.  On that day the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem. The weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! The royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the Lord who goes before them! For on that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on Me whom they have pierced and mourn for Him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for Him as for a firstborn son who has died. The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.

All Israel will mourn, each clan by itself and with the husbands separate from their wives. The clan of David will mourn alone, as will the clan of Nathan, the clan of Levi and the clan of Shimei. Each of the surviving clans from Judah will mourn separately and with the husbands separate from their wives. Zechariah 12

The “abomination of desolation” in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem is the spark that ignites Jacob’s Trouble. Take heed of this warning by Jesus.

“So when you see the abomination of desolation— the appalling sacrilege that astonishes and makes desolate, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place. Let the reader understand.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains for refuge. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things that are in his house because there will not be enough time. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. Woe to those who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! Pray that your flight from persecution and suffering will not be in winter or on a Sabbath when Jewish laws prohibit travel. 

For at that time there will be a great tribulation— pressure, distress, oppression, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again.  And if those days of tribulation had not been cut short, no human life would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, God’s chosen ones, those days will be shortened.” Matthew 24:15-22

Jacob’s trouble— the Great Tribulation will be a time of great suffering. World conditions will be worse than any time in history. Mankind will be on the brink of self-destruction.  

Although Israel’s disobedience, her refusal to repent and accept Papa’s offer of salvation— Jesus Christ instigates the Great Tribulation. Papa mercifully promises to restore  her to fellowship with Him.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and with the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom). Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the Lord.

 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. Each man will no longer teach his neighbor and his brother. Saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me through personal experience, from the least of them to the greatest,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness, and I will no longer remember their sin.” Jeremiah 31:31-35

Nations will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf. They will lick the dust like a snake. They will come trembling out of their hiding places like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will tremble in the presence of Yahweh our God. They will stand in awe of You.

Who is a God like You, removing iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not hold on to His anger forever because He delights in faithful love. He will again have compassion on us. He will vanquish our iniquities.

You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show loyalty to Jaco and faithful love to Abrah that You swore to our fathers from days long ago.  Micah 7:16-20

Yes, the end of this age is drawing to a close, and it’s climax will be in Jerusalem. Until then we need to echo this prayer of King David’s.

Pray for peace in Jerusalem. May all who love this city prosper. O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls and prosperity in your palaces.

For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “May you have peace.”

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem. Psalm 122:6-9