GENTLE BREEZE By NELLY FAVIS VILLAFUERTE  (Part VI) Nelly Favis Villafuerte Did you know that of the 13 million Jews on the planet today, more than half of them are already in Israel? The Bible tells us that at the end of the 6,000-year life here on this earth; the Jewish people will return to Israel from the various nations of the world where they were scattered to. In Ezekiel 34:11-13, we find the following: “...and will deliver them (the Jewish people) out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy day and dark day.” “And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the country.”

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Today, more Jews scattered in various parts of the world are returning to Israel. Today there is also an increasing number of Jews who are coming to faith in the Messiah. Thus, today there are more Messianic Jewish congregations than in the past.

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To this day, many people cannot understand why the Jewish people, God’s chosen people are in a perpetual state of war. Since the reestablishment of Israel in 1948 as a nation, the Jews have been at war. In 1967, there was the Six-Day War; in 1973 the Yom Kippur War; and the First, Second, and Third Gaza Wars in 2008, 2012, and 2014. The wars where the Israelites have been involved in can be divided into two. The first was a war with an inner ring of Arab nations that have a common border with Israel. The neighboring Arab nations with a population of over 350 million Arabs have a common goal and that is to destroy Israel. But the destruction of the Israelites has not been happening. Why? Because the Israelites have been victorious in every war.

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The Israelites are not only in a perpetual state of war. They have also been experiencing relentless persecution wherever they are located. Persecution has been the Israelites’ punishment for their sin of disobedience against God. In the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, Moses warned the Israelites of their persecution as a punishment for their sin of disobedience. However, despite the rejection by the Israelites of Jesus as their Messiah and their sin of rebellion against God, the Jewish people have a special role in the end times. Israel, the nation of the Jewish people, is God’s prophetic clock. There is no biblical verse that transfers the blessings promised to Israel to other entities. What God did everytime the Israelites swayed from God’s Law was to send prophets to call them to repentance and if the Israelites did not heed the prophet’s voice, more stringent punishments were imposed by God, like extraordinary plagues, diseases, and calamities. One severe punishment imposed by God upon the rebellious Israelites was scattering them in other nations.

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Let’s keep our eyes on Israel. While there may be other end-time prophetic signs, it is the nation of Israel that is the greatest of all the end time prophetic signs. In the meantime, the end-time prophetic clock keeps ticking.

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After the 6,000 years that God set to end the world, another 1,000 years will follow to cover the millennium kingdom age Israel will be the prime nation on the earth – a light to all the other nations, for the Lord’s Shekinah Glory will rest upon the nation. (Isaiah 60:3).

• The wealth of the nation will be given to Israel (Isaiah 60:5,10,16 and Isaiah 61:6).
• A glorious new temple will be provided (Isaiah 60:7,13).
• The nation of Israel will enjoy peace (Isaiah 60:11,17-18).
• The land of Israel will be reclaimed, receiving “the glory of Lebanon” (Isaiah 60:13).
• The Lord Himself will dwell in Jerusalem and it will be called “the city of the Lord,” “The City of Yahweh” (Isaiah 60:13-14,19).
• The Jewish people will receive respect worldwide, becoming “an everlasting pride and a joy from generation to generation” (Isaiah 60:15).
• All that has ever been promised (Genesis 15:18-21) will be given to the Jewish people to possess forever (Isaiah 60:21).
• The Jewish people will receive a garland of gladness and a mantle of praise (Isaiah 61:3,7,10).
• All the ancient ruins of Israel will be rebuilt (Isaiah 61:6).
• The Jewish people will receive a new “everlasting” covenant with the Lord (Isaiah 61:8-9).

(Reference: Israel in Bible Prophecy by David Reagan)

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This column continues to give out copies of the Holy Bible for free to those who cannot afford to buy their own copies. If interested, please send your letter-request to Ms. Nelly Favis Villafuerte, 5233 LRV Building, Fahrenheit St., Palanan, Makati City. Kindly mention if it is the Tagalog, English, Cebuano, or Ilocano Bible that is preferred. Be joyful and forgiving! (Comments may be sent to Ms. Villafuerte’s email: [email protected])