ROMANS (2015) CH. 11 - ISRAEL'S FUTURE (NOTES)

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The Book of ROMANS Chapter 11 “Israel’s Future!” I) Israel’s Past (v1-12) (v1) Insight on Israel - Israel, so named from the grandson (Jacob) of Abraham, was chosen for a fourfold mission: (1) to witness to the UNITY OF GOD in the midst of universal idolatry (cp. Dt. 6:4 with Isa. 43:10); (2) to illustrate to the nations the blessedness of serving the TRUE GOD (Dt. 33:26-29; 1 Chr. 17:2021; Ps. 144:15); (3) to receive, preserve, and transmit the SCRIPTURES (Dt. 4:5-8; Rom. 3:1-2); and (4) to be the human channel for the MESSIAH (Gen. 3:15; 12:3; 22:18; 28:10-14; 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:12-16; Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Mt. 1:1; Rom. 1:3). (C.I. Scofield writes, “According to the prophets, Israel will be re-gathered from all nations, restored to her own land and converted; Israel is yet to have her greatest earthly exaltation and glory!”) (v2-6) Story of Elijah – 1 Kings 18:17 – 19:18 - Baal worship - A fertility and nature god of the Canaanites and Phoenicians. In the reign of Ahab, Baal was served in Israel by 450 priests (1 Kings 18:19), as well as by prophets (2 Kings 10:19), and his worshippers wore special vestments when his ritual was performed (2 Kings 10:22). The ordinary offering made to the god consisted of incense (Jer 7:9) and burnt sacrifices; on extraordinary occasions the victim was human (Jer 19:5). At times the priests worked themselves into a state of ecstasy, and dancing round the altar slashed themselves with knives (1 Kings 18:26,28), like certain dervish orders in modern Islam. (Dervish is a member of a Muslim religious order noted for devotional exercises as bodily movements leading to a trance.) (v7-12) National Israel is set aside, but not permanently - A REMNANT of JEWS are being saved, yet for 2000 years gentile believers are receiving the riches of God’s SALVATION through their Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

II) Israel’s Present (v13-25) (v13-25) Gentiles listen up and be WARNED! (v13-14) Paul received a personal call from the Lord to minister to the Gentiles - Acts 26:14-18- And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' So I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to LIGHT, and from the power of Satan to GOD, that they may receive FORGIVENESS of sins and an inheritance among those who are SANCTIFIED by faith in Me.' (v15) Israel will come ALIVE from the dead – Read Ezekiel 37:1-14; Jesus said in Matt 24:32-35 - "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near -- at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Israel did not repent of its sin at the end of the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Some of the Jews did return to the Promised Land, but the majority simply settled in the Persian Empire (Iran-Iraq). So, how long until God would re-gather the Jews and restore them back as the Nation of Israel? The solution to the mystery is found in Leviticus 26; "'If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for

your sins seven times over." (Leviticus 26:18). In other words, if Israel did not repent, the punishment promised would be multiplied by seven times. There was a prophet of God named Ezekiel, like Daniel, he too was captured and carried off to Babylon. He was there for about 20 years and like Daniel he also knew the prophecies of Jeremiah that the captivity in Babylon would last 70 years. The Lord appeared to Ezekiel and gave him this vision, "Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel. "Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel. "After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. (Ezekiel 4:3-6). That's 390 years for the house of Israel and 40 years for the house of Judah. That's 430 years, but we have to subtract the 70 years that Israel had served during the Babylonian captivity. So now Israel owed God 360 years of punishment, multiplied seven times: 360 years x 7 = 2,520 biblical years of 360 days each. So, when did the 2,520 year punishment begin? From the Bible and other historical sources, including Flavius Josephus, the end of the Babylonian captivity occurred in the spring of 536 B.C. This date will be our starting point. 2,520 biblical years x 360 = 907,200 days. Converting this figure into our calendar year of 365.25 days and dividing into 907,200 days we reach a total of 2,483.8 calendar years. (In these calculations we must keep in mind that there is only one year between 1 B.C. and A.D. 1). Therefore, the end of Israel's worldwide captivity would occur after a total of 2,483.8 years had elapsed from the spring of 536 B.C. God slowly started fulfilling Ezekiel's vision, whereas, Jews from around the world began coming back to the “PROMISE LAND.” God has brought new life and spirit into the Jewish people; it was on May 14th, 1948, exactly 2,520 years, since the end of the Babylonian captivity as the Jews shocked the world by becoming a nation once again! They proclaimed the independence of the reborn state of Israel, even while six Arab nations simultaneously prepared to invade the tiny country to destroy it at its birth. In a sudden and unprovoked onslaught, the armies of Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and volunteer forces from Saudi Arabia, converged upon Israel. It was David versus Goliath all over again. To any intelligent observer it was obvious that the Arabs would make short work of the undermanned and under-equipped Jews. If Israel was to survive it would take a miracle! It was a miracle and still is, God has brought the Jewish people back and He is keeping them in their land! > The Calculation of the Prophecy of Israel’s Rebirth in 1948: - The Babylonian captivity ended in the Spring of 536 B.C. - Israel’s Exile (2,520 biblical years) = 2,483.8 calendar years - End of the Third Worldwide Captivity - May 15th, 1948 (2483.8 - 536.4 = 1947.4 (one year between Passover in 1 B.C. and the next Passover in A.D. l) = 1948.4)

- The Nation of Israel proclaimed as a nation on May 14th, 1948! (See attachment at the end of study Ezekiel’s Vision of the Rebirth of Israel in 1948 by Grant Jeffries)

(v16-22) Gentiles have been grafted in through the root of FAITH! Do not take this for granted, the Bible talks about an apostasy (a FALLING away) in the last days (1 Tim. Ch. 4; 2 Tim Ch. 3; 2 Thess. ch. 2; Rev. 3:14-22 - Laodicea – the harlot church that goes into the Great Tribulation). (v23-25) What is the mystery that we should not be ignorant of? That Israel’s blindness in part will be removed “when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” When is that? Jesus said in Luke 21:23-24 - For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are FULFILLED. In the Great Tribulation (Rev. ch. 6 - 19) Israel will recognize their Messiah to be Jesus. In fact Revelation ch. 7 tells us that 144,000 Jews from the twelve tribes of Israel will be preaching that Jesus is their Messiah and many will be saved. Jeremiah 23:3-8 - "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all COUNTRIES where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD. "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to

David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. "Therefore, behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.' And they shall dwell in their own LAND."

III) Israel’s Future (v26-36) (v26-27) What does it mean, “all Israel will be saved?” This is not speaking of a national identity, whereas every Jew is automatically saved in the Great Tribulation, but rather those that turn to their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation through faith, like Abraham. Listen to Isaiah 59:20-21 - The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob (which is Israel)," Says the LORD. "As for Me," says the LORD, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the LORD, "from this time and forevermore." Israel’s restoration is found in Zechariah 12:10 - "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they PIERCED. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. (v28-32) God’s MERCY on all! (v33-36) God is INCREDIBLE!

Ø Ezekiel’s Vision of the Rebirth of Israel in 1948 by Grant Jeffries Ezekiel’s prophecy of the rebirth of Israel in 1948 and its precise fulfillment in our generation on May 15, 1948 is one of the greatest fulfillments of Bible prophecy in history. Twenty-five centuries ago, while he was a slave during the Babylonian Captivity, (606 – 536 BC), the Lord revealed to the prophet Ezekiel, the precise year – 1948 – when Israel would finally be restored to the Promised Land.. The Jew’s eternal relationship to the Holy Land is a major theme of Bible prophecy. In the Bible, times were specified in precise detail regarding the duration of the time when the Jews were to be exiled from the Promised Land and when God will allow them to return to the Holy Land.

The First Captivity – (Egyptian) – 430 years - The Lord prophesied to Abraham precisely when the Jews would return from Egypt from their First Captivity that lasted 430 years of captivity in Egypt (Genesis 15:13; Exodus 12:40-41).

The Second Captivity (Babylonian) – 70 years - Similarly, the Second Captivity of 70 years in Babylon, as prophesied in Jeremiah 25:11, ended precisely in 536 BC when the Jews returned to Jerusalem as decreed by the Persian king Cyrus the Great.

The Third Captivity (Worldwide) – 2520 years - The Scriptures contain numerous prophecies about the final return of the Jewish exiles to their Promised Land in the "last days." Ezekiel was taken to Babylon as a captive. Ezekiel was aware of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jeremiah 25:11) that the Jew’s captivity in Babylon would last seventy years. However, Ezekiel received another prophecy concerning God’s judgment upon the Jew’s disobedience and the precise duration of the remaining Jewish exile from their Promised Land. "This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year" (Ezekiel 4:3-6). As Ezekiel lay on his right side for a few hours for 390 days and then for 40 days on his right side the Jews in Babylon learned of God’s remarkable prophecy. God revealed that every day stood for one biblical year. Therefore, Israel would be punished for a period of 390 years plus an additional 40 years as a result of their disobedience to God’s commands, totaling 430 years. God declared that Israel would be punished by a worldwide exile for 430 years (390 + 40 years = 430 years). However, as prophesied by Jeremiah, the seventy year long Babylonian Captivity, which began with Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of Jerusalem in 606 B.C., ended in the spring of 536 B.C., in the month Nisan (March/April), when only a small remnant of the Jews (42,360) returned to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-3) under the decree of Cyrus the Great. However, the vast majority of the Jewish exiles chose to remain in the pagan Persian Empire as colonists and tradesmen. Naturally, most Jews who were born and had grown up in Babylon had little desire to leave their farms and businesses to return to a desolate Jewish homeland. Most Jews in Babylon did not repent of their rebellion against God and chose to remain in the pagan Babylonian Empire.

Out of God’s total decreed future punishment of 430 years for Israel's and Judah's sins (390 years plus 40 years = 430 years). First, we must deduct the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity, which Ezekiel and the Jewish exiles were already enduring, which ended in the spring of 536 B.C. Therefore: (430 years minus the 70 years in Babylon = 360 years). This indicates that a further period of 360 years of additional exile remained for the Jews following the end of the Babylonian Captivity in 536 B.C.

Ezekiel’s Prophecy of the End of Israel’s Exile - However, a careful study of the history of Israel cannot reveal any significant event that corresponds to this period of 360 years of additional punishment, either at the end of the 430 years or at the end of the 360 years beginning from the end of the Babylonian Captivity in 536 BC. The majority (95%) of the Jews never returned from Babylon to Israel. In fact, even the minority of the 42,360 Jews (Ezra 2:64) who did return did so with very little faith or true repentance. Most of the Jewish exiles failed to repent of their spiritual rebellion against God and they chose to remain in pagan Babylon. Ezekiel’s unusual prophecy revealed the precise duration of the Jewish exiles worldwide Diaspora and the actual time of their prophesied return to the Promised Land in May 15, 1948. The solution to this prophetic mystery was found in a divine principle revealed to Moses and recorded in Leviticus 26. In this chapter the Lord established definite promises and punishments for Israel based on Israel’s subsequent obedience or disobedience to His Divine commands. In four separate but repeated passages recorded in Leviticus 26, God warned Israel that: if, after being punished for her sins, she still failed to repent of her rebellion, the punishments previously declared by God would be multiplied seven times more (the number of divine completion). Moses declared God’s Divine principle of judgment if the Jews would not repent from their sinful rebellion against God after already experiencing His Divine punishment: "And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins" (Leviticus 26:18; 26:21, 23-24, 27- 28). In other words, if Israel did not repent of her sins after enduring God’s initial prophesied punishment; the punishments previously predicted would now be prolonged or multiplied seven times: The biblical record reveals that, tragically, even the 5 percent of the Jewish exiles who returned to Israel did not truly repent of their rebellion. Therefore, according to the Divine principle of multiplying the previous Divinely declared punishment by seven times due to the Jew’s lack of repentance, God’s previously prophesied exile of 360 additional years to the unrepentant Jewish exiles, as recorded by Ezekiel, would now be multiplied seven times more (Ezekiel 4:4-6; Lev. 26:18). (360 years of Exile x 7 = 2,520 biblical years of additional Exile for the Jews.)

The Biblical-Prophetic Year of 360 Days - The length of a biblical – prophetic year is 360 days: not the 365.25 days of our modern Julian calendar solar year. In ancient biblical times, the Jewish year was a lunar-solar year, with 12 months of 30 days each, which contained only 360 days. The modern solar-calendar year contains 365.25 days. An article on Chronology in the Encyclopedia Britannica, states that Abraham continued to use the 360-day year of his Babylonian homeland when he migrated to Canaan. The Genesis account of Noah's flood confirmed that the ancient peoples of the Middle East, including the Hebrews, used a lunar-solar year of only 360 days with 12 months of 30 days each. Genesis recorded that the five months from the beginning of the Flood on the 17th day of the second month till the day the Ark rested on dry land, on the 17th day of the seventh month, lasted precisely 150 days. The five months (30 days each) while the flood waters prevailed confirmed that the Bible used a 12 month year of 360 days. (Genesis 7:11; 8:3-4). Sir Isaac Newton confirmed that the ancient biblical year of the Hebrews, Babylonians, and Egyptians had only 360 days. Newton wrote in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (6th ed) that “all nations, before the just length of the solar year was known, ... in making calendars for their festivals, they reckoned thirty days to a lunar month, and twelve lunar months to a year, taking the nearest round numbers, whence came the division of the ecliptic into 360 degrees.” To understand the precise fulfillment of prophecy, we need to calculate using the biblical lunar year of 360 days. For example, in the book of Revelation John described the last three-and-one-half years of the seven year Tribulation period when the Antichrist will persecute the “woman” (Israel) as lasting precisely 1,260 days (Rev. 12:6). John also described this period as: “a time and times and half a time” (Rev. 12:14). A “time” equals a year of 360 days; “times” equals two years; and “half a time” equals half a year Similarly, “forty-two months” of 30 days each equals the same 1260 days (Rev. 13:5). The book of Revelation and Daniel’s prophecies (Dan. 7:25; 9:24-27; 12:7; 12:11) both confirm that the biblical year contained 360 days. Therefore, Ezekiel’s prophecy revealed that the Jew’s final restoration to their Promised Land would occur precisely 2,520 biblical years (of 360 days each) after the end of the Babylonian Captivity in the spring of 536 B.C. The end of the captivity in Babylon, according to the Bible and other historical sources – including Flavius Josephus, occurred in the month of Nisan in the spring of 536 B.C. This date is the starting point for our calculations: 2,520 biblical years x 360 = 907,200 days. Converting this period of 907,200 days into our calendar year of 365.25 days: we divide the 907,200 days by 365.25 days and we calculate a total of 2,483.8 calendar or solar years. In these prophetic calculations we must keep in mind that there was only one year between Passover in 1 B.C. and the next Passover in A.D. l. Remember: There is NO Year Zero B.C. - Therefore, Ezekiel prophesied that the end of Israel's worldwide captivity would occur after a period of 2,483.8 calendar years had elapsed following the beginning of the prophesied period of the Jewish exile in the Spring of 536 B.C.

> The Calculation of the Prophecy of Israel’s Rebirth in 1948: - The Babylonian captivity ended in the Spring of 536 B.C. - Israel’s Exile (2,520 biblical years) = 2,483.8 calendar years - End of the Third Worldwide Captivity - May 15th, 1948 (2483.8 - 536.4 = 1947.4 (one year between Passover in 1 B.C. and the next Passover in A.D. l) = 1948.4)

- The Nation of Israel proclaimed as a nation on May 14th, 1948!