“…. judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” -James 2.13

At the end of our lives, we will see that the most crucial component of our character in God, is whether or not we have become a people of mercy. When the smoke and fire of Jacob’s trouble has cleared, and judgment has been enacted in an ultimate way, the revelation of God in relation to Israel will be a revelation of indescribable mercy. The revelation of God that comes to us in Hosea and elsewhere in the prophets, is that judgment and wrath are not the end, but rather a means to the end; namely, the disclosure of God’s great character and desire, which is mercy.

Men who use “discernment” as a term for their self-righteous judgments and the spread of gossip have totally lost sight of the Spirit of the Gospel itself. If we look upon others- even those with false doctrine- from a humanly contrived foundation, rather than through the lens of mercy, we have removed ourselves from the wisdom of God. We are all recipients of mercy, and if we have anything at all in God, it’s only because it has been given from above.

One of the clear signs that our “discernment” of others is born from below is that it moves us to expose and insult the ones who we are purportedly examining. If the Lord gives us sight of another brother’s error, it is first for the purpose of intercession, and if we haven’t given ourselves in that place first, it most always becomes sin to speak of that erring brother.

There is a need for examination and discernment in this hour, maybe more than ever. I can’t think of time when there were more false gospels being propounded in the earth and paraded as authentic. I can’t think of time when there were more self-appointed apostles, popularized half-gospels, and strange emphases in the Church. True discernment is of paramount importance in our day. Yet there is no true discernment unless it comes from the Spirit of God, and if it comes from Him it will invariably lead us into humility, brokenness and hope for the ones who are deceived. If it leads to a superiority complex, a release of gossip, or any such thing, it has come from below rather than from above. Hear Wigglesworth on this:

Most people seem to have discernment, or think they have, and if they would turn it on themselves for twelve months they would never want to discern again. The gift of discernment is not criticism. I am satisfied that our paramount need is more perfect love.

Lord, in this hour, when the cross has been neglected, and the need for discernment is so crucial, mark us with the Spirit of Christ Himself. We don’t want to be a gullible people, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, nor do we want to be a people who think themselves superior or correct, and who have lost the primacy of merciful intercession, and love towards the brethren. Increase the reality of truth and love in our lives, Lord. We need You more than ever.

“I will make the lame a remnant
And the outcasts a strong nation,
And the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
From now on and forever. ” -Mic. 4.7

The remnant of Israel will call upon the name of the Lord from the ashes of tribulation at the end of this age. I believe the “remnant” will actually constitute millions of Jewish souls, according to my understanding of Zechariah 13, one-third of the entire population of those who are in “the land.” It will be a time of great shaking and trial, and a time of great glory and harvest.

In the time leading up to their salvation, they will be a despised and rejected people, considered by the nations to be the “scum of the earth.” The kings and potentates of the nations will see them as worthless, and they will pursue them with a vehemence and bitterness that can only be explained when we make note of how intensely the powers of darkness hate the God of covenant. There will be immeasurable trial and bloodshed during that distressful hour, and the Lord has declared that He will permit it as a necessary “affliction” before the salvation of Israel will be permanently established. (v. 6)

But here is where we see the glory of God’s brand of government. When Israel has been reduced to the category of the “lame” and the “outcasts,” it is “in that day” that He will “assemble” and “gather” them, setting into motion their remarkable national destiny. We ought to love how the Lord turns the wisdom of man on it’s head.

He makes “the lame a remnant and the outcasts a strong nation.” He will take the broken and fragmented nation, now dispersed throughout the earth and despised by all peoples, and anoint them as His own precious remnant, even a strong nation that He will reign over “from now on and forever.”

The mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be elevated above the hills, and peoples of the earth will make long pilgrimages in hopes of catching a glimpse of its glorious light. That previously despised people Israel, will be recognized as a “strong nation,” and her King will be present in the land. Everlasting joy will mark her as an entire nation, and not one sinner will be found among them. They will be a model nation for the rest of the earth, and their Ruler and King will be the One who governs with a rod of iron in one hand, and the towel and basin in the other.

Israel will pass through an unspeakable death before the glory of God rests upon her nationally, for her self-sufficiency and idolatry must first be purged from her midst. The prophets indicate that “Jacob’s trouble” will mean great trial and sifting for Israel, but when she emerges from the rubble, having called upon the name of the Lord, she will be crowned with mercy and grace, and God will raise her up, “a mighty and vast army.” We have a calling to set forth the Gospel to the Jew both now, and in the midst of the great trouble to come. We need to learn God’s government, that we are called to identify with those who are despised by men, even if it means a threat to our livelihood. We have been called to pray, to fast, and to set forth the Gospel of the Kingdom, until God Himself makes “the lame a remnant and the outcasts a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on and forever.” Amen.

“Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’
Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.’
‘Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people.’
‘I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,’ declares the Lord.” -Ez. 37.11-14

This well known visionary experience of Ezekiel gives us a glimpse into the kind of death that is necessary for resurrection life to ensue- namely, death in totality to everything that issues forth from the arrogance and presumption of man. Here we have a picture of “the whole house of Israel,” and they have been reduced to this self-description, “Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.”

There are at least 5 common ways that scholars interpret this passage, and I haven’t the time to touch on them all here. I will say that I am convinced that the vision has a partial application to the Babylonian exile and return, but I remain even more firmly convinced that the vision overall must pertain to a future death that the people of Israel will pass through. That is to say, when the remnant of Israel, which represents the “whole house,” has come entirely to the end of her striving, realizes the dryness of the bones which she previously thought had contained life, and becomes aware that political and humanistic hopes have perished, the light of the Gospel will break in so profoundly that they will be raised up, “an exceedingly great army.” (v. 10)

Hear this from OT scholar, Walther Zimmerli:

…. Ezek. 37:1-14, with the two different images of the revival of unburied dead bones and of the opening of graves and the leading out of those buried there to new life, expresses the event of the restoration and the regathering of the politically defeated all-Israel.

Before the resurrection of the dry bones of Israel occurs in a way that shall never be reduced or reversed, she must come to the place where all of the crutches she has leaned on for want of the true knowledge of God have been removed from her forever.

Hear Zimmerli once more:

…. vv. 12 and 13 hit exactly what is meant, that God’s people should be wholly the people of God- that is the aim of this new gift of life. Where the return of God in a new freedom and in a new linking of what was previously separated becomes a reality, there God will have achieved His aim.

…. Only when, as a result of this event, the great awareness dawns and men no longer appear with their own achievements, no matter how magnificently righteous these might be, but when they realize that God reveals himself in the miracle of his free promise of life- only there does God’s action achieve its goal. There all ecclesiastical prerogatives collapse, and there remains only the praise given to the God who in the majestic freedom of his faithfulness (“for the sake of my holy name”), has revealed himself to his community.

(Ezekiel 2: Hermeneia- A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible, Walther Zimmerli; Fortress Press, Philadelphia: 1983, p. 264, 266 [emphasis mine])

As Zimmerli notes so wonderfully, when Israel comes to the end of herself, when she is “politically defeated” and when “all ecclesiastical prerogatives have collapsed, and there remains only the praise given to the God who in the majestic freedom of his faithfulness,” reveals “Himself to His community,” then will He have fulfilled His great work in history.

Turning to the Church now, the question needs to be raised, “To what degree have we allowed the Lord to bring us to a place of political defeat, and have our ecclesiastical prerogatives collapsed?”

Have we a hope in the government of men, or are we leaning on some kind of ministerial program? Have we clung to creature comforts and political opinions as our safeguard, or have we an utter abandonment to “God who in the majestic freedom of His faithfulness,” reveals Himself to us?

Are we chasing after the American dream? Have we got aspirations after ministry and recognition that are devoid of a jealousy for the glory of God?

Before we can move Israel to jealousy, and be an intercessory witness toward her, we ourselves have got to be wrenched loose from the same kinds of influences and paradigms that will invite the reduction of Israel to a valley of dry bones in the last days. We need an apostolic faith, and if Ez. 37 represents anything, it represents the dynamic of God’s government, which is to say: resurrection life only issues forth from the death that truth requires. Ezekiel 37 describes Israel’s eschatological regrafting into the apostolic Gospel. It will be a glorious day.

But before then, the question remains, how deeply have we come into the necessary death ourselves? We need our ecclesiastical prerogatives to collapse, and to be totally caught up in praise of the One who has given Himself so lavishly for our deliverance. Let the hollow pursuits perish. Let our desire for recognition and prominence be shed from us forever. Let us be caught up in the primacy of worship and the glory of sonship. The Lamb of God is worthy, for He was slain, raised up, and He ascended to the right hand of the Father. He will return with passion in His heart and vengeance in His eyes, and I want to break free from all that hinders a full rejoicing in that great Day.

What about you?

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.
He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy,
Bringing his sheaves with him.” -Ps. 126.5-6

This psalm begins with the testimony of Yahweh’s salvific activity in the earth: “When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion…”

Isn’t it remarkable that there would be no verse 4 without 1-3? I’m not merely exalting numbers. I’m saying that there would be no prayer for the Lord to turn their fate for lasting salvation, if they had not first experienced a measure of His salvation before, and come to know that He is the one who restores. “We love Him, because He first loved us.”

When we experience grace in the inner-man our hearts are transformed, and we realize that we have too long neglected the most awesome Person, and His most magnificent Kingdom. We encounter the Lord and our lives shift radically. We have been brought back from captivity. Not too long thereafter, a cry begins to rise in our hearts for our fate to be turned permanently- for the revelation of the sons of God, the resurrection of the righteous (Rom. 8).

We are like the blind man that Jesus laid His hands on, who was enabled to see for the first time, but his seeing was not entirely clear. We see for the first time, and we are shocked with the joy that results, but it is not long that we are able to distinguish the fact that we are only seeing in part, and a longing for full and clear sight begins to emerge. Jesus laid His hands upon the man again, and his sight was restored entirely. So shall He work in the Church as she comes to maturity in these last days, and at the resurrection, once and for all we will break into an unveiled communion with Him, made possible by the new bodies He will provide us with. This is almost too stunning for words, and we shall be, more than ever before, “like those who dream.”

Verses 5 & 6 constitute a promise for that company of souls who are crying out for the fullness of God in the earth.

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.”

Go into the day then, saints. Face it while the light of God’s past works warms and empowers your back. March into it boldly, knowing that His promises will be like the dew to whet your soul until finally you reach the eternal oasis He has laid up for the saints. He will come to you today, cleanse your heart, lift your head, and fill you with the power of an indestructible life. 

Israel and the nations will never be the same when the Church comes into the reality which the 126th Psalm sets forth. Amen. 

“O Yahweh, turn our fate like the brooks in the Southland!” -Ps. 126.4

This remarkable prayer, which is sandwiched between a song and a promise, is filled with a note of despair and thirst which must again characterize the people of God in these last days. If Israel is not reduced to a cry unto the Lord, if she is self-sufficient and satisfied with mere democratic success, she will not be fit to cry out to the only One who can turn her fate “like the brooks in the Southland.” Regarding the brooks, hear Hans Joachim-Kraus:

There were at one time refreshing, life-giving waters available when Yahweh changed Zion’s fate (v. 1), but now the valleys of the brooks have dried up. The salvific vital strength has faded away. Prayer is now made to Yahweh that He might in miraculous ways create a renewal of the exhausted springs and change the fate of the community.”

(PSALMS: A Continental Commentary, Hans Joachim-Kraus; Fortress Press: Minneapolis, MN; 1993, p. 450)

In the “song” of verses 1-3, we saw the spontaneous, jubilant burst of worship in the life of the community of Israel, which characterized past deliverances that had been wrought by Yahweh, but which will find its ultimate fulfillment at the end of the age.

In verse 4, we backtrack from the rejoicing of the remnant to the prayer which must emerge from their hearts before salvation will break into the earth at last. The “brooks in the Southland” may be a reference to the brooks of the Negev, but the image of fresh, bursting waters can be applied present and future salvation as well.

There were at one time refreshing, life-giving waters available, when Yahweh changed Zion’s fate (v. 1), but now the valleys of the brooks have dried up.

However you view this chapter, Israel, both now and at the end, is in need of a Church that will help walk her through the time of her greatest trouble, and point her mercifully to Yahweh, who will turn her fate “like the brooks in the Southland!”

Yet a self-sufficient Church which is confident in its programs and personalities is not that people which will set Yahweh forth in a time of friction and turbulence. We must ourselves cry out, “O Yahweh, turn our fate…”

Have you cried out to the Lord for the transformation of your life to the extent that His life now constitutes your day-to-day reality?

“Alas! That day is so great
there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
yet he shall be saved out of it.
…. For I am with you to save you, declares the Lord;
I will make a full end of all the nations among whom I scattered you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
I will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.” -Jer. 30.7, 11

The prophets of Israel have spoken about a time of distress which will befall the Jewish race at the time just preceding the return of their Messiah (Ps. 2, 83; Is. 10; Jer. 30; Ez. 35-38; Zech. 12-14; Am. 9). As dark as Israel’s history has often been, the prophets indicate that a time is coming that will transcend every past event in the measure of trial, suffering, tragedy, and breaking experienced. The salvation that Jews will experience both now and at the end of the age has everything to do with the cross of Christ, as it is revealed through the Church. 

The history of the people Israel is simultaneously the most glorious and the most tragic history of any nation. The Lord’s activity in Israel’s history is like a precious coin that we are able to hold high and behold in wonder. One side is that of His merciful acts of deliverance and salvation, and the other side shows us His disciplinary acts, His holy judgments, and His chastening of the same nation. Our unwillingness or ignorance in seeing this “coin” has played a significant role in maiming the Church, and keeping her from the character and nature that she is called to bear.

Israel is a unique witness. No other nation has seen the magnitude and majesty of God’s Divine and miraculous works in its midst. A brief survey of the scriptures leaves us dumbfounded at the display of Yahweh’s hand in the midst of, and on behalf of, His people Israel. 

From the appearances of God to Abraham and the patriarchs, to the angelic activity so frequent in the Old Testament. From the strong hand of deliverance openly manifested against Pharoah and Egypt, to His mighty appearance and speaking in a thunderstorm on Sinai. From the pillar of coud by day to the pillar fire by night. From the manna which fell from heaven to the water which sprung out from the rock. From Elijah’s raising of the widow’s son, to the falling of fire from Heaven. From an endless list of signs and wonders, to the fiery oracles of the prophets. The list goes on and on and on, and the historical accounts of these events are shocking, breathtaking, and beyond our ability to fathom. 

As remarkable as the revelation of God is in the OT, the Lord took it to a permanent climax in the revelation of Himself through His Son in the NT. John the apostle wrote, “we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn. 1.14b)

The miracles He performed were too vast to number, and they extended into the book of Acts and beyond. This is all a part of Israel’s long history, and the glorious activity of God in Her midst. Consider now the cross, the greatest display of God’s nature and power in history! It took place in the land of Israel, and in the midst of a predominately Jewish crowd.

Consider His resurrection and subsequent appearances, all to a group of faint-hearted, disoriented Jewish disciples! Consider the fact that He preached, in a resurrected body, for forty days on matters concerning the Kingdom of God! Glorious time! And the apostles recorded none of it for us to hear? But there He was with a remnant from within Israel. 

Consider His ascension before approximately 500 Jewish souls. Consider the 120 and the thousands that would encounter Him through them, when the Spirit of Holiness was copiously poured out on the day of Pentecost. This all took place to Israel, and to a group made up mostly of Jews. Remarkable!

It goes without saying that Israel, more than any other nation, has had the greatest opportunity to see and behold the glory of the One true God, for bursting from Her chronicles come the words of the prophets and the acts of the Lord, which reach their fulfillment in the great Prophet and Priest, the Son of God Himself.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son…” -Heb. 1.1-2a

As we flip the coin of His presence in Israel’s history, we see the tragedy of a people who respond, more often than not, in unfaithfulness to the One who has revealed Himself to them. Their disobedience and unbelief have left them in the most precarious and horrendous of places. 

Roughly 400 years in Egypt as slave laborers; Decades in wilderness wanderings because of their unbelief; Over 50 years of exile and homelessness under the heavy hand of Babylon in the 6th century B.C. Devastation, mass slaughter, and displacement under the hand of Rome in 70 A.D. Centuries of diaspora and unsettledness. Temples and synagogues have been destroyed. Homes have been plundered and families broken up. Holocausts have rocked world Jewry, not the least of which was that of WWII, where over 6 million Jewish souls (including more than a million children) were wiped off of the face of the earth through a demonically inspired season of systematic annihilation. How can we put words to the depth of anguish that has been Israel’s experience? We agonize when we see the photos and hear the stories, and we haven’t a clue as outsiders how profound the distress really is.

Yet God, in His overarching wisdom, was ever-present in the midst of these unfathomable days of horror, confusion, and genocide.

As unspeakably tragic and dark as these historical details are- and we haven’t got the words to define the depth of their darkness- they only make up a small glimpse of Israel’s historical sufferings.

Though not many would make note of it, the internal devastation of Israel is much profounder, for She is destined to be a “nation of priests” and a “light unto the world,” setting forth the knowledge of God to the nations. This She has been mostly ignorant of, or outright opposed to, and this has not only caused the perishing of many in Her midst, but the apostasy of the nations has been further enflamed by Her lack of Priestly function in the earth.

I have yet to mention the stark reality of Hell itself, which is not only populated with evil dictators and mass murderers, but with millions of Jewish souls as well. Has this stricken our souls as believers in the Scripture?

The fact that we have been unwilling to consider the absoluteness of Hell is a statement that we have not known God as He is. We prefer our own comfort and ease over against the burden which caused prophets to weep, apostles to preach, and Jesus to bear the cross. The proof that we are unwilling to consider the reality of Hell is in the fact that we are not weeping, praying, and laboring to see men redeemed in the present, while they still have opportunity to be saved. The Church is especially guilty of this with regard to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. 

O, the horror of thinking that so many have been cut off from the very communion that He had desired them to be the heralds of! The horror of their eternal separation from the experience of grace, the Spirit which set David to dancing and the prophets to prophesying! It was meant for Her national experience, and yet how small of a remnant has actually tasted His goodness!

Do our hearts remain comfortable and well-primped in the face of their eternal death? Have we no tears for them? Have we no tears for Jerusalem? Though the external sufferings have been overwhelmingly dark, the greater cataclysm is that by and large, for the majority of Her existence, that nation whose history has seen more Divine mercy and grace than any other has spent the bulk of Her years totally removed from a vital union with the God Who has so persistently sought Her out. 

“Your holy people held possession for a little while;
our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
like those who are not called by Your name.” -Is. 64.18-19

All of Israel’s “little while” possessions have been so fleeting, like vapors which rise and dissipate with a brevity that only magnifies the seasons in which Yahweh’s “adversaries have trampled down” His sanctuary. The nations are perishing, and the people of God are languishing for want of a true revelation of God, and it can only come in the fullest sense when Israel steps into the priestly/national role for which reason She has been set apart.

When I speak of Israel on these terms, I am not speaking of the modern State of Israel, but the remnant from within the people Israel, who are presently scattered abroad throughout the nations of the earth. 

As the prophets have declared, Israel’s entry into Priestly destiny will not occur without the most immense and trying events she has ever known. A time of distress is coming, “such as never has been since there was a nation till that time.” (Dan. 12.1) She is going to come into a national experience of death, the likes of which we cannot describe or categorize. It is simply said by Jeremiah, “That Day is so great, there is none like it.”

Israel, residing in various nations, will experience the greatest opposition and distress that she has ever known. The prophet Amos calls is a “sifting” through which those who reject God’s glory, “the sinners of my people,” “shall die by the sword.” (Am. 9.10) But in the midst of that great shaking, “no kernel shall fall to the earth.” (v. 9) 

In other words, those who are ‘kernels’ of the pure wheat of God- which is to say, those who open themselves to the mercy He is extending to them- will pass through this time and make up a nation of priests that will convey the nature of God to the nations of the earth in a manner theretofore unseen. They will be a nation of priests, filled with the knowledge of God, and witnessing to other nations as to how they ought to function within the Messiah’s cosmic Kingdom rule.

“I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them.” (Am. 9.15)

This is a description of things yet to come. We are attempting to hold up the “coin” of God’s involvement in Israel’s history, to behold His merciful acts of deliverance, and on the other side, the chastening and disciplining which His hand has effected or permitted for their purification. It’s all one “coin,” and we have yet to see every aspect of either side. The Day of the Lord will shed indescribable light on it all, and they will know that He is their God, and that they are His people.

You may say, “I’m a gentile believer in the 21st century. What has this got to do with me or my career? What has this got to do with our Church and our ministries?”

Everything, dear saint, and the fact that you have disregarded it as peripheral is a statement of how far we have fallen from the apostolic Gospel.

The remarkable thing is here shown: Similar to the adding of new information or art in the engraving of a coin when it is updated, the Church which is mostly made up of gentile believers has been grafted into the awesome “coin” of Israel’s history. The “coin” which we have sought to behold has your own soul engraved alongside Israel, and though the majority of the saints in the earth are oblivious to the mystery of Israel, we have all been intimately included in the unfolding plan of the ages. If you hold the coin up rightly, and allow the Light of Christ to shine upon it, you can see that there is a carving of your own life and faith upon it. 

You see, unless the Church comes into the fullness of Christ and the reality of priestly obedience ourselves, when this time of ultimate distress rises, Israel will have no hope of salvation. So it’s the presence of an apostolic, Jesus-centered people in the midst of the shakings which gives a demonstration of mercy to Israel, though the nations have “raged” against Her. Paul has stated that “by your mercy they will obtain mercy.” (Rom. 11.31)

But how shall they obtain mercy through a people who are not merciful themselves? If we are self-righteous, promoters of our names and our ministries, jealous and envious men, we will be more concerned with saving our lives than we will with extending mercy at great cost to ourselves. We have got to be delivered from the power of self and brought onto the grounds of meekness and mercy, or else the offense that comes in times of trial and threats that emerge in the midst of persecution will be too much for our threadbare faith, and we will be unwilling to extend mercy to the lost sheep of Israel. A sentimental love for the state of Israel is insufficient. A class on Jewish roots, as wonderful and insightful as it can be, is not enough to fit us for the day of distress. We are being required to die to our self-preferences, even ones we think are spiritual, to turn to the Lord entirely, and be immersed in His Spirit.

Are you living by the “power of an indestructible life” (Heb. 7.16b), or are you living an uninspired religious life, mingled with hollow entertainment and a preoccupation with the things of this world? Our only calling is to be so enwrapped with the nature of God, so infused with the power of His grace, so aligned with the ways of His Kingdom, that we ourselves have become a demonstration of the kind of priesthood that will be Israel’s national experience after the smoke of judgment and purging has cleared, and She finds Herself passing through the womb of eschatological restoration.

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on Me, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over Him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
…. The land shall mourn….
…. and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.” -Zech. 12.10, 12a, 14

The people of Israel, as a majority, are not aware of their need for mercy. They are like other nations of the earth, thinking themselves to be “good people,” optimistic and hoping for prosperity and looking for their personal destinies. The prophets declare that in the time of greatest shaking, Israel will be brought to a place of brokenness as never before.

Out of Israel’s most acute awareness of Her need for mercy and cleansing, the Lord will pour out the Spirit of grace, breath and life and substance will come to Her “dry bones,” and She will be raised up, a mighty and vast army.

We settle for casual considerations of Israel, and have sentimental attachments to Jewish things and the State itself, because we are not willing to reckon with God as He is. The way you view Israel is the way you view the Gospel itself. If you think Her salvation will come by some kind of happenstance, or by some good of Her own, inherent in Her lineage, and that the land is sacred and the State is invincible, you have not rightly considered the depravity of the human heart.

“Look upon the nation Israel….
…. these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.” -1 Cor. 10.18a, 11 

Israel is not an anomaly or a strange phenomenon. Their moral failures and disloyalties to God are simply a statement of the spiritual condition of the nations, and of men altogether. If we have not seen ourselves in that same darkness, an utter hopelessness, a depravity beyond description, we have not been saved. 

I want to say in all humility, yet without mincing words, that these ministries who are touting a new and false gospel to the Jew- namely, that Israel will be saved without repentance and faith in Her Messiah- are more despicably deceieved than the Judaizers of Paul’s day. If Israel receives anything less than the apostolic Gospel of Christ from the Church in these last days, She will have no hope at all.

She doesn’t need a rally of American Evangelicals for Israel, who relish in bringing back a jar of water from the Jordan, and a stone from the holy land. She doesn’t need a group of believers who are merely passionate about seeing democracy flourish in the Middle East. She needs an apostolic witness, a people who have been filled with God, and who are setting forth His Son in the earth in bold and loving proclamation, demonstrations of His power, and a singular burden for the breaking in salvation in the Land and abroad.

Have we any burden for Israel’s salvation?! Is Israel to us a cute trinket that gratifies our religion, or do we ache inside that by and large, a veil still covers Her eyes? Have we tears for Israel, saints? Have we an apostolic faith as the men of old, who prayed and fasted and allowed their bodies to be broken in hopes of bringing the Light of the Son to the lost sheep of the House of Israel?

How slap-dash and flippant has our Christianity become? Have we taken it to ourselves and fashioned a religious sub-culture which is devoid of true mercy and meekness, and unable to demonstrate the power of His indestructible life in the midst of an unbelieving generation? We will not be able to set forth the Son of God in a time of extreme turbulence and shaking, unless we have ourselves received a “spirit of grace and please for mercy,” having looked upon Him, the One that we ourselves have pierced.

Many who bear the name of Christ in the West are still in need of a great conversion, by which we would mourn over the depravity which necessitated the cross, look upon Him, and cry out for salvation from the spirit of this age. We cannot look to men or to our closest kin. We must face Him with our own human depravity, repent of sin and believe the Son, follow Him wheresoever He calls us to, or else we have not been saved, and the life of God will not be extended to Israel in the time of Her greatest trial.

When we have been brought onto those grounds of an inward, tender, and radical experience of mercy, we shall be fit to extend it to Israel in that awesome Day.

You are a vital part of the “coin” we have been holding up, dear saint. Do not settle for a lackluster, earthbound view of life. If you don’t come into an adequate death to your own self-life, your resurrection experience will also be found wanting in the day of God’s power. Do not be as the foolish virgins, who lacked adequate oil at the Day when the Bridegroom returned.

What then? How do we respond? Turn from childish things, O man of God. Turn from the table that this world and its systems have spread before you. Look upon the One Israel has pierced. Look upon the One you have pierced.

O, how He has loved Israel! O, how He has loved us! O, how jealous He is for His Kingdom to break into the earth once and for all! 

Let us cry out to Him, and give Him no rest “until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Is. 62)

Amen!

“Son of man, can these bones live?” -Ez. 37

There must first come a death to our self-seeking and self-reliance if we want to see Christ magnified in His Body. But we ought not think that we have that life by the accuracy of our paradigms or ecclesiastical conclusions. There is only one gateway to the resurrection life of Christ, and it is through death. Death to our arrogance, death to our achievements, death to our uppity correctness.

In the valley of the dry bones of Israel, Ezekiel was asked, “Son of man, can these bones live?” We would be quick to give the Lord a verse about the resurrection, or to say, “Yes, Lord. Remember Lazarus? If You can do it for him, surely You can do it for them!” Ezekiel was on a whole different plane. He was not responding out of a pre-packaged correctness. He was utterly dependent upon the resurrection life of God, so he replied, “Lord, You know.”

It was that radical hope in the God of resurrection that caused the Lord to put the ball back into his court, “Prophesy to these bones…” 

When Ezekiel refused to play the know-it-all, the Lord said, “Ah. He knows something about dependency. He knows something about his own limitations. He knows something about my wisdom and power. He is fit to bear the authority to prophesy to the dead bones of his nation- to command life to come back into them.”

We think we’ve got the New Testament model of Church all hemmed in. We think our groups are superior to others, our books are the most anointed, our services are the most impressive. We think we know what it means to be apostolic and authentic. The Lord is looking down upon our presumption and saying, “They won’t be fit to prophesy until they are broken and cast upon Me without reservation.” We’ve got to be able to say with Ezekiel, “Lord, You know,” and to leave it at that.

What wisdom will we display to a wavering Church, an apostate Israel and the unbelieving nations of the world in these last days? Will we stand aloof with cold hearts, or come into a vital enjoinment with the intercessions of Jesus Christ?

“We have sinned life our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders…” -Ps. 106.6-7a

The children of Israel, having been delivered from bondage in Egypt, found themselves smack in the middle of the remarkable experience of God’s wonderful acts. Reading the Exodus account, one is struck with the radical supernaturalness of every event, and it is so miraculous that critical scholars- in their armchair intellectualism- question its historical validity. But to the one who has experienced deliverance from the grips of spiritual darkness, these massive acts of God become entirely believable and even tangible.

Still, with such an awesome deliverance, the vast majority of the Israelites were saved from Egypt’s slavic bondage, but never made it into the land that God had promised. The Psalm goes on to say that “they quickly forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel. But craved intensely in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. So He gave them their request, but sent a wasting disease among them.” It has also been translated, “He gave them their request, but sent a leanness into their soul.” (vv. 13-15)

Only a few of them made it into the promised land, and the hardness of their hearts was exposed and written into the annals of history. “Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.” (1 Cor. 10.5)

How tragic that a people so powerfully delivered by the strong hand of the Lord would not come into that for which He saved them! This is the result of their hardness of heart, but I believe another aspect needs to be considered here as well. See verse 7:

“Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders…”

They did not understand His wonders. They did not set apart the name of the Lord as holy. They were not genuinely thankful for His mercy, but treated their deliverance as if it revolved primarily around their benefit. They failed to realize that it was all about the glory of God. 

Are we much different than them? Are our souls cursed with leanness, rather than a fulness of joy, a brimming love, and a brightly burning holiness? Have we failed to understand His wonders? May we be rooted and grounded in the glory of God.

“When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion,

“At the very beginning of the psalm the faith of the community spreads the wings of its thoughts in a bold flight into the future, and looks into the smiling fields of blissful hope as through a widely opened gate.” 

(Hans Joachim Kraus, PSALMS; Fortress Press) 

“Behold, I have told you in advance.” -Mt. 24.25

“…let the reader understand…” -Mt. 24.15b

“To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” -Acts 1.3

“Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?” -2 Thess. 2.5

There is no question that the advent of Jesus, his perfect priestly life, his teaching and miraculous ministry, his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension have shifted history and radically altered the course of this age. A brief look at the Scriptures shows what was affected in the hearts of the earliest Jewish believers in Jesus the Messiah. From Mary’s (Miriam’s) outburst of praise, “My soul does magnify the Lord…”, (Lk. 1.46-55) to Simeon’s long-awaited prophetic cry of relief, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace…” (Lk. 1.25-33). From John the Baptist’s applications of messianic prophecies in Matthew 3 to Simon-Peter’s revelation from the Father in heaven (Mt. 16.15-18).

From Jesus’ own statements about the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God in His time (through speaking, healings, exorcisms, etc.) to the resurrected proclamation of Himself to the blind-hearted disciples on the road to Emmaus (Lk. 24.13-35). From the preaching of the apostles with signs following throughout the book of Acts, to the new community created by faith in Christ and the activity of the Spirit in their midst. From the quotations of so many OT prophecies by the early church as fulfilled in their time, to the establishment of new communities of faith in previously untouched regions and nations. From the church’s history of revivals, awakenings, miracles and missionary advancements, to the present movements of international church planting outbreaks, prayer and fasting movements, and miraculous healing testimonies.

Yes, friends, it is acutely clear that the Kingdom of heaven has been breaking into the earth for the last 2,000 years. It is clear that Jesus saw His own life and ministry as the start of a new era in history. A new age was being kick-started. A fuller expression of the eternal Kingdom was rocking the atmosphere. The apostles saw themselves as engaged in the continuum of the same things Jesus had set into motion. The early church saw themselves as connected to the privilege and responsibility of it all, too! And throughout Church history, in waves (sometimes with long gaps in between), the Church has seen herself in the same light. The result has been great revivals, awakenings, missionary movements, and great movings of God.

Who can read the history of the Church and doubt that the Kingdom has been breaking in for hundreds of years (despite the fact that there are many tragedies to consider- from the crusades, to anti-semitic theologies, to divisions and schisms)? It is clear that God has been at work, and that “the kingdom of heaven” has been invading the earth. There is so much to rejoice over, and I believe that the extension of God’s kingdom in these ways is only going to burn brighter and go further as the days go on. The present testimonies only serve to solidify this belief.

WHAT ABOUT THE AGE TO COME?

It was decades ago that men like George E. Ladd pioneered the perspective of the “already/not yet” nature of the Kingdom. This was simply the idea that Jesus and the apostles saw themselves as extending the Kingdom into the earth in their day, realizing also that the fullness of that Kingdom would not be released until an apocalyptic time in the future (however near that future was). The “not yet” was a thoroughly Hebraic expectation. In Jesus, the Kingdom was breaking in “already”, but the ultimate fulfillment (which was spoken of so often by the OT prophets) would “not yet” be seen until some major cataclysmic events took place, and “David’s Kingdom” was restored in the earth. The “already” was quite new for most 1st century Jews, and Jesus’ statements about the Kingdom being “upon you” were extremely perplexing to many of His hearers. “How could the Kingdom be upon us when we’re still being dominated by Roman rule? Doesn’t the presence of the Kingdom of God mean a complete transformation of Israel and the earth altogether?”

Many were waiting for something cataclysmic, something sweeping, something (or rather someone) that would break in and overthrow the state of things, bringing the rule of God back to Jerusalem. And why should they not expect this? The prophets had spoken of such things.

What they didn’t realize was that their own Messiah was to come and express the nature of the Kingdom through ultimate displays of the mercy of God first. His presence in the earth, every teaching, every healing, every demon driven out, the washing of the disciples’ feet, and ultimately the cross were all radical expressions of the nature of the Father to a nation that had mostly been given hollow, religious examples of the God’s Kingdom for hundreds of years. Jesus came to release the “already” upon Israel.

“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” -Lk. 11.20

We live in a generation where the “already” is being expressed in new and wonderful ways, as I’ve expressed before. Even in America, there have been more miraculous healings in the streets of our cities in the last 10 years than I can find over the 30 years previous to that. There is a great church planting movement going on in different parts of Asia, Africa, South America, and elsewhere. Hundreds of thousands of people are coming into the Kingdom. The missiologists estimate that about 20,000 souls are coming to the Lord DAILY in China. This is awesome, friends! The Kingdom is invading the earth “already”! Houses of prayer have been springing up spontaneously over the last decade in many parts of the world where people are engaging the Lord in worship, intercession and fasting to a degree never before seen in history! The Kingdom is invading the earth “already”! Every day it seems I hear some testimony of a healing that has taken place in a grocery store, in a Wal-Mart, or at a gas station. This is happening even in America! The Kingdom is invading the earth “already”! The issue of Israel and a prayerful consideration of the end is even on the increase in several places. Hallelujah! This is a wonderful hour, and the expression of His Kingdom is only going to intensify.

I’ve prefaced my main point with all of this positivity, because I know what the response will be from many hearts when I bring up my primary burden in this article.

We’ve covered the “already” in a clear way. But what about the “not yet”? What about the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments that speak of the things to come? What about the future of Israel and the nations?

Do these prophecies really matter? Are they too “far out” for us to really consider? Isn’t the whole realm of “end-times” teaching riddled with bad interpretations, false assumptions, and cheesy expectations? Haven’t the scholars argued on so many points for so many years that it would be vain for us to even go there? Is it really possible for us to see the end of the age in the way that the prophets and apostles did? Is it even necessary? Isn’t it our primary calling just to get the Gospel to the nations? Let me be very clear:

I believe that just as the powers of darkness have sought to slow the Great Commission, just as they have sought to snuff out the Spirit of prayer, just as they have sought to put a damper on the faith of the saints for the supernatural work of the Spirit, so have they sought to put blinders over the eyes of our hearts when it comes to our consideration of Israel and the age to come.

HOW OUR GENERATION FEELS ABOUT ISRAEL AND ESCHATOLOGY

There is a common sentiment in the Body of Christ in our generation. There is a paradigm that I would say is the most prevalent regarding the end of the age. It is this:

“The end of the age must have some importance since the prophets spoke about it sometimes. Israel must be important also. But I don’t see the point or benefit in studying or spending a lot of time on the end of the age or the issue of Israel. I believe God wants to use us to bring the Kingdom now. He is more concerned that I preach the Gospel and heal the sick than He is with me understanding some end-time chart or having a fixation with Israel. Besides, all of the end-time stuff has only served to distract people from our chief calling, which is the Great Commission. I think what really matters is that Jesus has fulfilled the prophets, and we need to preach Him in the nations.”

Let me just make a few points here. This is the primary disposition of the Church in our generation, and I believe there is a reason that we feel this way. In fact there are several.

1. We feel this way because we have seen so many people get distracted by a study of the end-times. We have seen believers make attempts at charting everything out, getting every eschatological duck in a row, and it seems that the majority of those who are engaged in these things are not concerned for the expression of the Kingdom in our generation. They have more of a “fatalistic” mentality, that everything is going downhill from here on out.

2. We have come to believe that the nations are in need of the Gospel (rightly so!), and that we have a primary calling to see the Gospel spread in a powerful way to all people (Amen to that!). To take time to really wade through the Scriptures regarding Israel and the end of the age seems like a diversion from this high calling.

3. We are intimidated by looking into these things, since so many have done so and been distracted from the Great Commission. On top of that, so many Bible scholars have differed in so many ways on so many points that it seems pointless for us to take up the issues pertaining to the end. We have lived most of our believing lives glossing over the passages that speak of the end of the age, moving on to something that seems more applicable to us. We can’t find the relevance of it all as 21st century American believers.

4. We have a bad taste in our mouths about even engaging these things, since all that we’ve heard over the last 30 years (from “Late Great Planet Earth” to “Left Behind”) pertaining to the end seems removed from reality, almost cartoonish and devoid of a sense of purpose.

I can relate to these feelings. I spent my first 4 years as a believer (from ‘96-’00) rebuking friends that I thought were too engaged in eschatological studies. “What about the end of the age?” they would ask. “Jesus is coming back, so repent and take the Gospel to the nations,” was my response. “What about Israel?” they would ask. “We have Jewish roots that we shouldn’t forget about, and we need to preach the Gospel to the Jews as well,” I would reply. For me, that was all there was to it.

Dear friends, that is not all there is to it.

While my jealousy for the harvest was from the Lord, there was a great loophole in my paradigm. I believe this is also the case with the majority of believers in our nation today. In 2001, the Lord brought me to a conclusion that we need to reckon, in fasting/prayer and study, with the issue of Israel and the end of the age. We cannot neglect the dozens and dozens (and that’s a modest number) of chapters in the Scriptures that pertain to the issue of Israel and the end of the age. They are there for a reason, and I believe that it’s our own ignorance (which is the result of many things) that keeps our hearts closed to these realities. It is absolutely crucial that we allow the Lord to restore a value for what the prophets have spoken.

I have heard more teaching in the last year AGAINST a consideration of the age to come than ever before in my life. Often times, the teaching is coming from those who are seeing genuine miracles and awesome fruit in terms of the Kingdom breaking in now. The argument is that those who consider the end of the age have lost sight of God’s desire to break in to change the world in the present. I believe that this is often the case, but I also believe that there is a big hole in the middle of these recent messages. The whole Kingdom view of the prophets, apostles and Jesus Himself was immersed in an awareness of the future, which included great turmoil in Israel and the nations, preceding the return of Christ and the permanent establishment of His Kingdom. They expressed the Kingdom in the present in light of what God promised and warned about the end. They charged the people of God to find hope and encouragement, as well as a healthy fear and sobriety from “these things.” While I rejoice in the fruit these saints are seeing (and I really do rejoice!), I’m compelled by the Lord to step back for a moment to inquire of His heart. My prayer for the last 7 or 8 years has been something like this:

“Lord, I am so thankful for what you are working in these saints. I pray that all over the earth, these works of power would increase in the Church…the Spirit of prophecy, the healings, the supernatural events that cause your grace to break in upon the hearts of unbelievers. I want to see an increase in my own life. But what shall we say of the age to come? Why is there this disposition of neglect toward Israel and the age to come? What was in Jesus’ heart? What was in the hearts of the prophets? What was in Paul and the other apostles that caused them to be possessed by a vision of the age to come, the issue of Israel, and to simultaneously release the life of the Kingdom in the present? The pendulum seems almost always to be on one side or the other. Would you breathe upon us, and make us a people who are not neglecting the prophets? Would you breathe on us, and make us a people who also express the Kingdom in the present? We want to be like Paul…like the prophets…like the Son.”

IT’S NOT EITHER/OR

I believe that we generally have two different camps that are grinding against one another. One is saying that a consideration of eschatology (usually Israel falls into that slot as well) takes away from a spirit of faith for the Kingdom to come now. The other is saying that everything is going downhill, apostasy is coming, “we’re in the Laodicean age, so why bother” (which is an unbiblical idea), etc. Both expressions are outside of the view that the apostles and prophets carried. The former may see some wonderful miracles, the latter may receive some genuine insight into the prophets of Scripture. But separate from one another they produce skewed measurements.

I believe Jesus performed miracles, expressed the power and nature of the Father, and spoke resurrectional words out of His intimate knowledge of what the prophets had spoken. This is what charged His mission with such meaning! His life and ministry were the “first-fruits” fulfillment of all that the prophets had foreseen with regards to the restoration of all things! He knew that the Kingdom which was to come in full on the Day of the Lord was already seeping into the earth through His own life and service. Jesus’ view was not just “already” or “not yet”. It was both at once, without one detracting from the other.

We don’t often meet the kind of men who can speak with authority on both realities. We don’t often find men who speak on the life of the Kingdom, miracle power, and faith for expressions of the God’s power in one breath, who can then turn the table and speak about the judgment to come, the glory of the future, the trials ahead, and the call to prepare for these things. Jesus was one such man. Paul was too. And I believe that God is wanting to raise up a generation that expresses the nature of God and His Kingdom in the present, while anticipating and preparing for the still future events that the prophets have spoken of. We need the “already/not yet”, not as a mere theology, but as a consciousness that affects our moments in real life. God’s going to raise up that company by His Spirit, and I long to be a part of that great company.

Our view of the Lord tends to determine our theology. This is why we have entire movements based on “the Father’s Heart”, and others emphasizing God primarily as judge. We need a view of God as He is, and this is the chief reason that a consideration of the end of the age and the issue of Israel becomes a stumbling block for the majority of believers. We do not know God as He is. Most believers have a stoic, “out of reach” view of God and have not been awakened and healed by the intensity and personal nature of His love. They may speak often of His love, but have not had a revelation of the fiery nature of His love toward them. Others have a view of the Lord that makes it unbearable to consider Him as the coming Judge who will literally deal with Israel and the nations in a cataclysmic way. These things are intense, and need to be prayerfully weighed out. If you can talk about them lightly, you are probably viewing them inadequately. To think about the intensity of what the prophets have spoken is not a cute hobby for the curious religious mind. The end-times have often been pursued in this way, and it has reduced the value of these things in the minds of believers. The end of the age, the nature of God, and the issue of Israel cannot be rightly considered as a hobby or a mere personal interest. We need to be awakened by the Lord through prayer and the Scriptures.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF STUDYING AND PRAYING ABOUT ISRAEL AND THE END OF THE AGE?

A church that has not rightly considered the issue of Israel will be in danger of lapsing into an illusive version of the faith. It will end up thinking that the Kingdom revolves around its own ministry and functions. It will not see itself as grafted into a glorious Kingdom. It will instead see itself as the center of that Kingdom. The mystery of Israel reveals God as the center of the Kingdom, Christ as all in all, and Jerusalem as the center of God’s purposes in the earth. We find that the Kingdom is much bigger than our individual prayer lives or our collective ministry endeavors (though the Lord has a radical love and value for each one of us). We find that the Kingdom is being expressed in the present, but that its fullest revelation will come when the consummation of all things has been released in the earth.

1. The study of Israel and the end of the age imparts a freeing and empowering hope to the people of God. We begin to see that we have been gloriously grafted in to God’s covenantal purposes which broke into the history manifestly with Abraham, and ran like a rushing river through the land of history, finding ultimate fulfillment in the coming Son of God Himself. This is awesome! There is a hope, empowered by the fact that the living God has spoken through the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. That hope is expanding and deepening, these men have told us, for this Kingdom will soon be indestructibly planted in the earth never to be uprooted again. Jesus will reign from Jerusalem, “all Israel” will be saved (Rom. 11), and the nations will study war no more (Is. 2.4). This is fascinating, and it produces great hope! This day really is coming to the earth.

2. The study of Israel and the end of the age also imparts a high seriousness, releasing the fear of the Lord and a love for His Governance. It gives us a burden for Israel and the nations. We begin to see that the earth is not prepared for what’s coming. Indeed, it’s not prepared for Who’s coming. We have a mandate to preach the Gospel to all nations, and the wonderful calling to come into the fullness of Christ for the Gospel to go out with power. We begin to see that we are not just a religious club that happens to read the Bible. We have a mandate to see the house of the Lord built in the earth. When we have revelation of the nature of the coming Kingdom, we receive a faith and wisdom for the Spirit to build that kind of community in our own churches in the here and now. For this we give ourselves to prayer and fasting, the Scriptures, community, witness, missions, and theology. To rightly peer into these issues is to be moved with urgency for the thing to which God has called us.

3. I believe that the Scriptures are clear regarding the simultaneous increase of glory and darkness in the final stretch of history. Some call it the period of “dual extremes.” Well, it’s obvious that to speak of the promises of last days’ Spiritual outpouring and Millennial glory is an encouraging, faith-building thing. But I believe the Lord has also spoken about what the Scriptures call the “time of distress” (Jer. 30, Dan. 12, Mt. 24) for very important reasons. We need to see the Lord with vision from the Holy Spirit, through the lens of the Scriptures. He is is coming to deliver His people, to judge the nations, to purge Israel, and to release His government on the earth. Our consideration of His nature (revealed now and at the end) is what draws us into the knowledge of God as He is. You can’t know God unless you know Him as Father and Judge. If we reject one attribute we neglect or distort the other. Friends, God is coming. And He is not bound by our categories. He is God over all, and when He comes we will be shocked to find that His love is so much deeper than we ever knew, and His justice is so much more sweeping than we ever imagined.

This Kingdom consciousness needs once again to permeate our preaching and living, or else we reduce the faith to something that is disconnected from God’s history and future, making hollow any attempt at expressing the Kingdom in the present.

With much prayer, and the accumulation of time in the Scriptures, we will obtain the grace to live and minister as Jesus did: expressing the Kingdom in the present, while anticipating events in the days to come that will introduce the Kingdom in a final and permanent way. I say again, God is coming! The nations are not ready! Israel is not ready! And most of us have been cruising our way through life, building a name for ourselves and our ministries, unaware that the great shaking is coming!

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.” -Mal. 4.1-2

One of our chief roles as the church of the last days is to prepare the earth for age to come. It will not be completely prepared by our labors (in other words, as great as the harvest will be, there will still be great judgment when He comes), but as we extend the Kingdom through repentance, prayer and fasting, worship, witness, and service we “hasten the day of God”(2 Pet. 3.12), invite the return of the King, and prepare many hearts that would have otherwise been caught unawares.

Isn’t this the picture? God has broken in through the Gospel, and the Kingdom is expanding in the earth. The prophets have spoken about an outpouring of the Spirit in the last days, which kick-started with Jesus and the first apostles and is heightening as this age draws to a close. If the “day” was near then, it’s even closer now! A great harvest takes place during this final season of history! God is being revealed in the nations, and unto Israel. The prophets also spoke about great tumult and cataclysm at the end of the age. Just as we’ve seen the earth contract and pulsate with mercy (revivals and moves of God), we’ve seen it contract and pulsate with judgments (earthquakes, wars, etc.). There will be a church in the earth that is prepared for the difficulty that moves through the nations. They’ll not be offended at what takes place, for they’ve been expecting it. The prophets have spoken these things! They will be a witness to Israel and to all people during this time. There will be a “falling away,” but there will also be many who “know their God” and thereby “do exploits.” It’s the heart that prepares now, through prayer and fasting, worship, lavished time in the Scriptures, fellowship and witness, who will be poised for the glory and “distress” to come.

It’s been the end of the age for 2,000 years, but all of these things are heightening as the age draws to a close. The day of the Lord is dawning. You say, it has been since the days of Jesus. Okay, well it really is now! A prayer and missions movement is burning like never before, the mystery of Israel is being revealed in a more profound way than it has in the last 1800 years, and a vision for the fullness of Christ in the Church is spreading like never before. We are called to prepare the way.

This is the hour for a fresh view. I haven’t presented a complete picture here, brothers and sisters. You and I only see in part. But let’s stop cooping up the expression of the Kingdom in the present. Let’s stop quenching the Spirit and carrying an “everything’s going downhill” mentality. Let’s open up our hearts and let God transform society through us. Let’s believe God for healing, prophecy, God-centered character, and works of power today.

On the flip side of the same “Kingdom coin”, let’s stop downplaying the significance of Israel, coming Judgment, and the age to come. Let’s dive into the Scriptures with impassioned hearts, knowing that the Spirit will guide us into all truth- even if much of it is difficult to bear. Yes, it’s time for the Kingdom to be known and understood in the Church again. It’s ancient, but it’s new to so many of us. We must look at the Scriptures as a whole, releasing the “already” while finding hope and sobriety in the “not yet”. I say, let’s put an exclamation point on the “already” and the “not yet”! Let this age be permeated with the Kingdom, and let us be prepared for the age to come! An exclamation point for both! They were both important to Jesus, and they ought to be of utmost importance for us as well. The hour is late, the Kingdom is at hand.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” -Acts 3.19-21

Amen. Let Your Kingdom come, Lord.