Russia, Rebirth, Repentance, and A Moment in Time

Girlie men in Russia? Over the last several years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been photographed in a multitude of rugged actions shots. Apparently, Putin wants to convey to his countrymen that there ain’t no mountain high enough that he cannot scale. Yet, all of that manly notoriety came to a screeching halt recently, as President Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev were recently depicted in a painting wearing women’s undergarments. The fall-out from one man’s interpretation of leadership has been swift. The art museum, called The Museum of Power, no longer has any power.  It has been shut down. The artist is in hiding, and is facing a possible one – year jail term. Makes you kind of question why Edward Snowden would want to seek asylum in such a bastion of free speech. I hope it wasn’t an affinity for art. No doubt, Snowden is enjoying his accommodations at the Water Board Inn. If that doesn’t upset him maybe the winter months will. However, I must confess, the white birch forests in that vast and mysterious country are definitely worth a holiday there, as are the good people of Mother Russia.

Another, literally earth-shattering event happened in Russia back in February of this year.  That was when a blinding meteor streaked across the icy Russian sky and exploded over the Ural Mountains located in central Russia. Over 1000 people were injured as the blast sent shockwaves reeling through the Chelyabinsk region of Russia, which is slightly over 900 miles east of Moscow. The USA Today reported the massive power in that blast, “While NASA estimated the meteor was only about the size of a bus and weighed an estimated 7,000 tons, it exploded with the force of 20 atomic bombs.”¹ This was the most powerful meteor to strike humble earth since 1908. At that time, a meteor hit in the Siberian forest. Like I said, Russia is a vast country.
 

These are just a few of the cataclysmic events that have happened in our world as of late. We hear about them, we know about them, and we talk about them. They are reported on extensively – sometimes ad nauseam. Maybe I am guilty of that here.

Back in the mid-20th century there was an event which shook the destiny of time and history. To many, it is simply a footnote in history. But to the core of human events, this episode continues to reverberate in the annals of the spiritual world.

I am talking about what took place on 14 May, in the year of our Lord, 1948. In that epic moment of modern history, one of the most significant biblical prophecies of all was fulfilled. That was the day the scattered Jewish people were brought back together. It was when they became the nation of Israel again.

Before we unpack the impact of this occurrence, let us briefly look at biblical prophecy. Approximately 1/3 of the Bible is prophecy. There are two main topics of those prophecies. One of those is Jesus. There are nearly 330 biblical prophecies about Jesus, which were fulfilled in His thirty-three years among us on earth. That fact alone should make even the most rebellious skeptic look up, and take notice. The second main topic of biblical prophecy is Israel.

Here is a major prophecy on the re-gathering of Israel from the prophet Ezekiel 37:1-14; 21-23 (KJV)

37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, ² And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. ³ And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. ⁴ Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵ Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: ⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. ⁸ And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

¹¹ Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. ¹² Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, ¹⁴ And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

²¹ And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: ²² And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. ²³ Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

Here is a segment of the declaration from Israel’s rebirth as a nation:

                          The Declaration Of The Establishment Of The State Of Israel

May 14, 1948

ERETZ-ISRAEL (the Land of Israel) was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.

Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma'pilim (immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in defiance of restrictive legislation) and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood.

In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country…

The official language of Israel today, is biblical Hebrew. That means, for the first time in world history, a ‘dead language’ has been resurrected. The desert there is now alive. The contributions to the global community from the Israeli peoples since 1948, has been tremendous. For instance, count the number of Nobel Peace Prize winners they have had, and the reasons they were awarded the prize.

What still shall be fulfilled from the re-gathering prophecy is the spirit to be put in them. Look at Romans 11:26-27 ²⁶ And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: ²⁷ For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Israel has been re-gathered. It is now a nation again as foretold, a long time ago, in the Holy Bible. While this event does not dominate our current news, it is universe shattering because it is a major sign of the return of Jesus Christ. We read in His Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:31 ³¹ And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Are you ready for the return of Jesus? What if He were to come today, in this moment? Are you ready to meet Him? Jesus made it easy for us. He gave us a simple invitation in the gospel of Mark 1:14-15 ¹⁴ Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,¹⁵ And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

If you haven’t accepted this invitation I urge you to do so now. Consider that the Bible has never been wrong. So, when it says Jesus is coming back it’s gonna’ happen. Girlie men, or no Girlie men, it’s gonna’ happen. Are you ready?

¹www.usatoday/2013/02/15/russiameteorite/192199100.