Today, May 14th, 63 years ago, we celebrate the birth of Israel as an independent, united nation for the second time in history, and the first time in nearly 2,900 years. In 1948, 10 Bible prophecies were fulfilled. Below are the fulfilled prophecies:
- Jacob’s descendants would regain control of Israel I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the Lord your God. (Amos 9:14-15) This was prophesized in 750 BC by Amos. This was during the time when the people of Israel were forced out of their homeland after successive foreign invasions. After many centuries of exile, many Jews came back to claim independence over a portion of their ancient homeland. This triggered wars of 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 with the surrounding countries, which objected to the presence of a Jewish state. Despite its tiny size, Israel prevailed in these wars, preventing its people from being uprooted again, as they had been in ancient times.
- Israel would be brought to life So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet--a vast army. Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off. Therefore prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:10-14). This was prophesized by Ezekiel around 580 BC. The Jews were regathered back to the land, and the country of Israel was brought back to life. Israel re-established their independence in 1948, three years after the end of the Holocaust, during which the Nazis killed about one-third of the world's Jewish population.
- Isaiah spoke of an Israel being reborn in one day Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children."(Isaiah 66:7-8) This was prophesized by Isaiah in about 700 BC. Within 24 hours after the UN mandate has expired thus ending British control of the land, Israel declared its independence and was acknowledge by other nations. Keep in mind that Israel's status as an independent nation was established during the course of a single day, and that it was born of a movement called Zionism, and that its declaration of independence was not the result of a war but rather the cause of one.
- Israel would be re-established as a united nation and say to them, This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. (Ezekiel 37:21-22) The prophet says God will bring the people back to Israel to be united as one nation. Back then about 2600 years ago, Israel was a divided nation conquered by foreign invaders forcing the people including Ezekiel into exile.
- The 2nd Israel would be more impressive than the 1st However, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when men will no longer say, As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt, but they will say, As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them. For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers. (Jeremiah 16:14-15) When the first time Israel was established, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt after they have been enslaved for 400 years. But after a few thousand years later when they were scattered world-wide, the Jews came together the second time.
- Ezekiel predicted when Israel would be re-established 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) Ezekiel is asked by God to symbolically to act out the 430 year punishment after they lost their homeland for refusing God. After they were captured and exiled to Babylon and returned after 70 years with 360 punishable years left, they still turned away from God. So, according to Leviticus 26:18-28, their punishment would multiply 7 times which would put the total to 2,520 years based on the ancient Jewish calendar. This translates to 2,484 years to our modern day calendar. 2,484 years later became 1948!
- The people of Israel would return to their own land I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. (Ezekiel 34:13) In the late 1800, few hundred thousand returned to the land after centuries of dispersion. But after independence millions more returned to “their own land”.
- The fortunes of the people of Israel would be restored then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. (Deuteronomy 30:3-5) This was written about 1400 BC. This prophecy began to be fulfilled after 1948. Today, Israel is among the world's most prosperous countries.
- God will watch over the people of Israel Hear the word of the Lord, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: `He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd. (Jeremiah 31:10) Hours after Israel declared independence in 1948, the surrounding countries attacked, hoping to replace the Jewish state with an Arab state. These countries are much larger than Israel. But tiny Israel prevailed in that war and was able to capture additional land, increasing the land size of Israel by 50 percent. Israel also prevailed in the two other major wars that followed.
10. Israel’s army would be disproportionally powerful. If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. (Leviticus 26: 3, 7-8) Within hours of declaring independence, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon invaded Israel. The combined population of the Arab nations was at least 20 million. Israel with less than 1 million at that time won the war and expanded the size of Israel by 50%. During the 6-Day War of 1967, tiny Israel completely destroyed the Arab armies, took complete control of Jerusalem for the first time in 2000 years and expanded more territories. In 1973 (Yom Kippur War), Israel was caught by surprised by the combined Arab nations and was nearly driven to the sea, but they were able to push back and regain the land they lost. Now today, are the surrounding Arab nations going to try again? Will we witness the Psalm 83 War to finally arrive? In any case, the IDF will drive them back.
Isn’t that incredible? The prophecy of the Bible foretold over 3000 years ago arrived at our lifetime not once, but 10 times in that single day of May, 1948 is mind-boggling enough. I am completely overwhelmed. Israel is truly in God’s hands and He will protect her as a united undivided nation with an “exceedingly great army.” Since 1991, efforts by all nations to divide God’s land have not worked. And it never will. Happy Birthday, Israel and may God protect you forever!
God Bless,
Little David