Bible Prophecy: The Essentials

Amir Tsarfati, Barry Stagner

Description

As the Day of Redemption Draws Nearer In this age of uncertainty, Christians want and need more than ever before to understand what the Bible reveals about the future. As authors Amir Tsarfati and Barry Stagner teach on the end times, their question-and-answer sessions remain a massively popular part of their ministry, demonstrating people's profound hunger to know more about the last days. In Bible Prophecy: The Essentials, Amir and Barry team up to answer 70 of their most commonly asked questions. Through succinct, Scripture-focused teachings, Amir and Barry address seven foundational themes of Bible prophecy: Israel the church the rapture the tribulation the millennium the Great White Throne judgment heaven When studied with wisdom and discernment, God's Word provides all you need to know about what is to come. User-friendly and organized by topic, Amir and Barry's thoughtful and informative question-and-answer book will become your go-to resource as you prayerfully grow in your understanding of Bible prophecy.

Sujets

• Bibles
• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology
• Theology
• Christianity
• Bible

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers
• Date de parution: 03 janvier 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736987257
• Langue: English

Extrait

HARVEST PROPHECY
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Bible Prophecy: The Essentials
Copyright 2022 by Amir Tsarfati and Barry Stagner
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97408
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
ISBN 978-0-7369-8724-0 (pbk)
ISBN 978-0-7369-8725-7 (eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022939439
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
DEDICATION
From Amir:
To my father-in-law, Hanan. You always had the right answers to my questions. You are loved, and you are greatly missed.
From Barry:
To my loving and incredibly supportive wife, Teri.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to Pastor Mike Golay for navigating the online question-and-answer broadcasts from which these questions are derived.
Your hard work and insights are much appreciated!
CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgments
We Live in Perilous Times
1. Israel
2. The Church
3. The Rapture
4. The Tribulation
5. The Millennium
6. The Great White Throne Judgment
7. Heaven
8. Additional Pressing Questions for Today
Notes
Other Great Harvest House Books by Amir Tsarfati
About the Publisher
WE LIVE IN PERILOUS TIMES
I n the midst of the perilous times in which we live-a time of false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, ethnic tensions, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes all increasing in a labor-pain-like progression-we need to remember that we are living during a very privileged season of church history.
In Daniel 12:4, the prophet was told to seal up the book until the time of the end. And today, we live in that time, during which what Daniel-and other prophets like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah-wrote is no longer sealed or shut up from our understanding. While we are living in an era of unprecedented prophetic activity and clarity, there are still questions many people have regarding Bible prophecy.
In this book, we have compiled 70 frequently asked questions from the live Q A sessions we have been doing for the past couple of years. We are hoping this format provides you with a useful go-to resource for not only finding answers to questions about Bible prophecy, but equipping you to be able to share those answers with others.
As you read, may the L ORD bless you and keep you; the L ORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the L ORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Love and blessings to you,
Amir and Barry
C HAPTER 1
ISRAEL
A mong God s most amazing miracles of all time is His preservation of the nation of Israel. Not long after Jesus crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, the Roman Empire sent armies to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, and the Jewish people were scattered abroad to the nations. For many centuries, the land was ruled by hostile foreign powers.
But beginning in the late nineteenth century, God worked in numerous ways through people and events to restore Israel as a nation. Jewish people began to return to the land, with their numbers increasing up through World War II, especially as Jews fled Europe during the Holocaust.
Then on May 14, 1948, the modern State of Israel was born. On a live radio broadcast, the first prime minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, read aloud the words of Israel s Declaration of Independence. Those who were familiar with Bible prophecy recognized the significance of what was happening. Time and again, the prophets had predicted that there would come a day when the Jewish people returned to the Holy Land, and, at last, it was now happening. As God promised in Ezekiel 36:8-10:

You, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come. For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
Here we see God speaking fertility into this dead land in preparation for the masses of Jewish people who would return. And today, the land is bountiful and filled with life. God has brought back His people by air, on ships, and by land. This is not man s doing, but God s. Against all odds, the nation of Israel has returned to its home-land and prospered.
The fact Israel is a country today-after 2,000 years of the Jewish people having been scattered worldwide-confirms God is faithful to His promises. And just as He has been faithful to Israel, He will be faithful to us. He will fulfill His promise in John 14:1-3 to rapture us and take us to be with Him in heaven. It is because God is faithful that we can have hope, and that we can be certain about the wonderful future that awaits us. 1
1. Did God choose the nation of Israel or just the man Jacob?
Amir: The answer is simple: Jacob is Israel. When Jacob wrestled with the Lord in Genesis 32, the Lord changed his name to Israel. Also, all throughout Scripture, the tribes of Israel are called the sons of Jacob. Yes, God chose Jacob, and that is the same as choosing Israel.
The promises made to Israel were not for only one person, but for the whole nation. In the Bible, sometimes the nation of Israel is referred to as Jacob, and vice versa. You cannot separate them. The Lord said through the prophet Malachi, I am the L ORD , I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob (3:6). Even though since their early days the Israelites had drifted away from the Lord s ordinances, God Himself confirmed that Jacob is national Israel.
Barry: When God made His covenant promises with national Israel, He also made promises regarding the land of Israel. In Genesis 17:8, the Lord said He was giving the land of Canaan to the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob-and not through Ishmael-as an everlasting possession. So not only did God choose the nation of Israel, He also chose the land that would become their national home.
Why would God give all the land of Canaan to one man? He didn t-He gave the land as an everlasting possession to the Jewish people. In case you ve wondered, the people of Israel began to be referred to as the Jews after the Babylonian captivity because the majority of the captives were from Judah. Today, not all Israelis are Jews in the sense of geographic homeland, but in a spiritual sense. The Jews, Israel, and Jacob are all references to the same people group, not a single individual.
2. Is the rebirth of Israel important to Bible prophecy?
Amir: Most definitely yes! God promised that in the latter days, He would bring His people back into the land. He said through the prophets that Israel s banishment from the land was temporary and that He would bring the people back because He promised the land to the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. In Jeremiah 31:35-36, the Lord said that when the sun, moon, and stars stop giving their light, then you will know that Israel is no longer a nation in His eyes.
We also know from Zechariah 12:10 that God has brought His people back into the land because He is going to save them. A time is coming when they will look on [Him] whom they pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
We also know that in the future, there must be a third temple on the Temple Mount so that the antichrist can commit the abomination of desolation. For that to happen, Israel must be in possession of all of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. The prophet Amos said that when Israel comes back into the land, the people will never be uprooted from it (Amos 9:14-15), and we have seen this be fulfilled. Israel has been attacked repeatedly since it became a nation in 1948, and yet the mighty hand of God has been a strong tower for His people and protected them.
Israel must be back in the land for all these things to happen.
Barry: I would say the rebirth of the nation of Israel is probably the most important sign of the last days. It set the stage for the end of the time of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24), which will conclude with the rapture of the church and opens the door for the seventieth week of Daniel to be fulfilled.
Israel has been referred to by prophecy teachers as God s time-piece. You cannot understand last days if you do not see Israel as central to that time period. In fact, the rebirth of Israel and the regathering of the Jews back into their national homeland are integral to the integrity of Scripture. If the modern nation of Israel has nothing to do with the Israel of the Bible, then passages like Amos 9:14-15 are either unfulfi