Most of the signs that the Lord and the early church apostles said would mark the end of this age have either come to pass or are unfolding now. However, two of the most important signs appear to be very far from being accomplished: the grafting back in of the “natural branches,” the Jewish people, and the church coming into her fullness as a bride without spot or wrinkle.
Most of the things that are prophesied for the end of this age we do not have much to do with. We expect them and, as we can, prepare for them, but we cannot do much about them. However, as for the fullness of the Jewish people and the maturity of the body of Christ, we can do much. We must have a devotion to them if we are going to fulfill our purpose.
Concerning restored Israel, we are told that every nation on earth will turn against her and that the Jewish people will be driven back to their homeland from every nation on earth. About the church, we are told that Christians will be hated and persecuted in every nation. Therefore, the church, the “holy nation,” and Israel will be in the same “boat” at the end. This is actually where the word “fellowship” came from: two fellows in a ship. The implication is that if there are just two of them in the boat, then they will have to work together to get anywhere. This will ultimately happen with Israel and the church, and it will help bring about “the one new man,” the unity between them that is prophesied in Ephesians.
As we have covered, to understand these times we must devote much more attention to what the Lord is doing than to what the devil is doing. In fact, all that the devil does will ultimately help what the Lord is doing. The two main things that the Lord is doing are: building His church that is to rule with Him in the age to come and restoring Israel to her full purpose.
In this study, we have just begun to lay a foundation of what we will see unfolding for the building up of the body of Christ, and we have much more to cover. We also need to lay a foundational understanding of what God is doing with Israel, so we can be in harmony with Him in this as well. In fact, being a part of this purpose is one of the factors that will help mature the church into what she is called to be.
As with all of the important purposes of God and important truths, there are extremes in every possible direction around them. We will briefly address some of these to help us to avoid them, but we will mostly address the clear, biblical teachings on the church and Israel in the last days. This is a profound revelation of the whole purpose of God in redemption, reconciliation, and restoration that will be practically demonstrated to the world. It is very exciting to see this unfolding now.
For almost a thousand years, the Jewish people have been under constant threat of extermination by the most powerful forces on earth. What happened to them under Nazi Germany was the most recent attempt to destroy this remarkable people. Why is the devil so intent on their destruction? To answer this question is to understand some of the ultimate issues of our times. How have they survived? To understand that is one of the most important lessons we must understand to navigate through what is now unfolding.
