JUL 24

Zechariah 12:1-14, 14:1-4
Memorise Revelation 16:13-16
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh”

HOW WILL ISRAEL BE SAVED?

Israel is bound to be a great nation again, because God has set this seal upon her in Abraham: “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee” (Genesis 12:3). Thus those who have persecuted Abraham’s descendants the Jews have lost out. Yea, they have been thoroughly extinguished. The sad ending of the Jew-hating and arch anti- Semitic Hitler is notorious. Then there arose Egyptian President Nasser, who wanted to throw every Jew into the sea before the Six-Day War. He soon died in the War’s aftermath. From then to now, numerous other leaders of the Arab states have spoken out strongly in opposition to Israel’s existence as an independent state.

Yet all these conflicts are but the appetizers to the grand final war of the tribulation that will culminate in the Battle of Armageddon. In this final Battle the Messiah must come to save Israel. According to the prophecy of Zechariah on the climax of that last Battle: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south” (Zechariah 14:1-14:4). Yes Jerusalem will be taken by the might of her enemies, but then the Lord shall appear to fight for His people, returning upon the Mount of Olives. When all that happens, Israel will finally acknowledge their sin, and recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah, for the Lord says “and I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10). In sincere and true repentance they shall mourn for the one whom they crucified, and all Israel shall be saved!

Thought: Jesus will descend onto the very same mountain from which He had ascended—the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11-12).
Prayer: Lord, may Thou return soon.