How Do We Know The Re-Birth Of Israel Is A Sign?

Q

Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions of your many readers. In many posts and articles on your site, there is much discussion about the timing of the 2nd coming and the rapture. It appears that in the calculations the date of the reunification of the Jews as a nation in Israel in 1948 is used to determine the beginning of the end of times which Jesus referred to in Matthew 24. Are there any Old Testament prophecies to confirm that the re-birth of Israel is an end times sign?

A

In my opinion there are a couple of good ones. The first is Isaiah 11:11-12:

In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.

He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.

The first time He regathered the nation was at the end of the Babylonian captivity. The second began in 1948 and is ongoing. These verses are in the context of the End of the Age.

Another good reference is Ezekiel 36-37 where the Lord has Ezekiel explain Israel’s final regathering in great detail. One example among many in the passage can be found in Ezekiel 36:24:

“For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.”

Again the Ezekiel reference is set in the context of what we might call current events. The symbolism of the dry bones prophecy is eerily suggestive of the Jews coming out of the concentration camps at the end of WW2, and a casual visit to Israel today will confirm that the prophecy of the ancient cities being rebuilt is happening right before our eyes. Israeli PM Netanyahu recently declared the re-birth of Israel to be the fulfillment of Ezekiel 37.