Israel is God’s prophetic clock
S(Part V)
TEVE Goodwin, a Christian author (and speaker specializing in end-time prophecies), believes that there are seven prophetic clocks ticking: He says that the first prophetic clock refers to the 6,000 years that God set to end the world before the so-called Kingdom Age which will last for another 1,000 years. In his book “Seven Clocks A Tickin,” Steve Goodwin said: “God’s first prophetic clock was pre-wound to tick for 6000 years; he also said that Israel is God’s last prophetic clock. “The nation of Israel is the greatest of all the end-time prophetic signs. It is the most visible ticking clock of the seven ticking clocks. On Bible prophecy, old-time preachers would often say. ‘Keep your eyes on Israel’,” Goodwin says.
***
We are living in the last hours of the end of the world (referring to the 6,000 years). And there is no way to stop the ticking of the 6,000-year clock. Like many others I believe what the Bible says about “end times.” This is the reason why I never stopped writing articles in this column about them, about the prophecies in the Bible (fulfilled and not yet fulfilled), about salvation, about the gospel, and about Israel. Israel was created by God to play an exclusive role in man’s redemption from sin and in restoring us into a relationship with God. He accomplished this by allowing His son to give his life for our sins in Jerusalem (capital of Israel) about two thousand years ago.
There is a very popular verse in the Bible that says “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17) According to one Christian writer (Mark Frost in his book, God’s Alarm Clock: The Nation of Israel), “John 3:16-17 is the reason for the creation and the existence of the nation of Israel – namely God’s love for the world. The nation of Israel was created so that it would be the channel for God’s sin-free child to be born into the Earth. Because sin had made its entrance into the Earth through human actors and through human action, so too the forgiveness of sin needed to come about through a human actor. It was for this reason that the Son of God became a man so that He could die to redeem or buy back God’s fallen creation. As early as in the Garden of Eden, God had promised that the Christ, the One anointed with God’s Spirit, would die to free humankind from the wages of sin which is death, and from the power of the author of sin which is Satan. The promise that the Christ would be born of his offspring was later given to the man Abraham. Abraham became the forefather of the Jews through his son Isaac. God promised Abraham that his physical offspring would become a nation through which the world would be blessed by the Messiah or the Christ, the anointed Savoir of the world.”
***
Let me refresh our minds with my earlier statement in Part 1 of this series (last December 16, 2018) – that when Israel became a nation (1948), the end-time alarm clock started ticking. Despite the many past attempts to relegate Israel to a memory, Israel continues to exist today as a sovereign nation. And according to the Bible, Israel will continue to exist as an independent nation until the end times. There are many prophecies in the Bible that require that Israel must exist before the prophecies can be fulfilled.
Despite what is happening today worldwide – the chaos; the violence and bloodshed; the open defiance by the US of God’s Word; the frequent attacks on Israel by its neighbors and the continuous attempts by leaders of various nations to its land through a “peace process” – God’s prophetic clock continues ticking. The question is: When the 6,000 clock stops ticking (the exact time, nobody knows), are we ready to meet the Lord, our Creator, our Redeemer, and Savior? Have we accepted Jesus as our Lord and our Savior? Do we believe in the gospel that simply says Jesus died for us; He was buried and rose again from the dead to pay the full price of our sins? Do we believe what the Bible says: that there is only one mediator (no co-mediator or co-mediatrix) between God and man – His name is Jesus.
(To be continued)
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: villafuerte_nelly@ yahoo.com)