I was praying for you all about this meeting through the night and this inspiration came to me…So that we will never question GOD’S FAITHFULNESS to His WORD, God made a covenant with and a promise to Abraham, “I will ALWAYS BE YOUR GOD AND THE GOD OF YOUR DESCENDANTS after you. And I will give the ENTIRE LAND OF CANAAN, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be THEIR POSSESSION FOREVER, and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7-8)
As we know the people of Israel were lot of trouble for God all throughout their history but God “who cannot lie” always rescued them from their calamities. “This is what the LORD says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.” (Jeremiah 29:10)
The King of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar, “…took all of Jerusalem captive…” (2 Kings 24:14) Now how was God going to get them back home? The Meads and Persians would defeat Babylon and a man named Cyrus would become king. Isaiah prophesied this 150 years before it happened, “I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will REBUILD MY CITY and SET MY EXILES FREE, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 45:13) This prophecy was shown to Cyrus which obviously affected his decision.
This is what GOD DID, Astyages, the king of the Medes and Persians, gave his daughter in marriage to prince Cambyses. From this marriage Cyrus (this name was given to him by the shepherd who raised him) was born. Astyages, having had a dream that the baby would grow up to overthrow him, ORDERED CYRUS TO BE SLAIN. His chief adviser, however, instead gave the baby to a shepherd (whose baby had just died) to raise. When he was 10 years old, Cyrus, because of his outstanding qualities, was discovered by Astyages, who, in spite of the dream, was persuaded to allow the boy to live and become king. “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has APPOINTED ME to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.” (Ezra 1:2) Now only 10% of the Jews returned the others “loved the world” they now lived in.
The Lord says, “I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:14) God did this because He is faithful…
Jesus said to His disciples as He, “…left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” He asked. “Truly I tell you, NOT ONE STONE HERE WILL BE LEFT ON ANOTHER; everyone will be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1-2) In 70 AD the Roman general Titus killed thousands of Jews, destroyed Jerusalem and tore down every stone from the Temple. Then he dispersed the remaining Jews all over the world. “It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again THE SECOND TIME To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.” (Isaiah 11:10-11)
April 12,1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, just starting his 4th term, dies in Warm Spring, Georgia; Harry S. Truman (who was talked into running for VP at the last minute) becomes the thirty-third President of the United States. Roosevelt was anti-Jew he would have been against Israel becoming a nation because of the Arabian influence. On May 14, 1948, on the day in which the British Mandate over a Palestine expired, the Jewish People’s Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved the following proclamation, declaring the establishment of the State of Israel. The new state was recognized that night by the United States and three days later by the USSR. Rabbi, Isaac Herzog, visited the White House to thank Truman, he told him, “Mr. president, God put you in your mother’s womb so you could be the instrument to bring about the rebirth of Israel after 2,000 years.” When the Rabbi finished, David Niles, the president’s assistant, who was in the room, thought the rabbi might have overdone it until he looked at the president and saw tears running down his cheeks.
“The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel FROM THE LAND OF THE NORTH…I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.” (Jeremiah 16:14-15) From Jan 1989 to Dec 2002 1.1 MILLION JEWS came from Russia (directly north of Jerusalem) to live in Israel. During the time when it was very difficult to leave Russia.
Here is the MOST IMPORTANT PART. This prophecy by Joel, “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I BRING BACK the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, (remember on May 14th 1948 this happened) I WILL ALSO gather all nations (mentioned in Ezekiel 38) And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.” (Joel 3:1-2) This May 14th will be 74 years since Israel, for the second time, became a nation, remember Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this generation WILL NOT PASS from the scene until ALL THESE THINGS take place.” (Matthew 24:34)
-Bill Stockham