By Dave Hunt
How far in the future are the Bible's prophesied events? Isaiah’s prophecies end with Israel restored to her land and the Messiah reigning in peace over the entire world. We seem to be experiencing right now the very things that Isaiah foretold would lead up to the final restoration.
The language...is riveting:
"Who hath heard such a thing?"
"Who hath seen such things?"
"Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."
"Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God."
"Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her…"
Surely, a nation “born in a day” can refer only to the rebirth of Israel in 1948. It was an event unprecedented in the history of mankind.
And, as Isaiah describes, it was also a birth that was not completed in a moment. It has been in process for the more than a century and has been coming to a climax over the past sixty years. God is causing “to bring forth,” the womb is open, but Israel will not be fully birthed until she possesses all of the territory that God gave to her, as described in Genesis 15:18-21. That miraculous birth now being in process, God will not “shut the womb.” This rebirth cannot continue much longer without a full deliverance of Israel.
As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. The greatest travail in Zion’s history was without doubt the Holocaust. Had it not been for that horror and the momentary twinge of conscience among the nations of the world, the United Nations would never have voted for partition of Palestine. That vote gives Israel a legitimacy—which the UN votes against today, the Arabs still deny, and which, bit by bit, the “peace process” has been taking away.
There are eyewitness reports that many Jews went to their deaths in Nazi gas chambers singing psalms of faith in God. Surely, in their distress, many must have believed in God’s promise of the Messiah and understood what it meant to them personally for eternity. No doubt many cried out to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and found mercy according to His promise: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” There was no miraculous intervention for the victims of the Holocaust—but there will be at Armageddon.
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth?...shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? This is language of assurance. We have come a long way in history. Israel has been brought to birth once again in her own land; she is surrounded by enemies who are all united to destroy her; the technology and weapons are at hand to fulfill prophecies that could not have been understood in prior generations.
Many prophecies are being fulfilled before our eyes. God is not going to shut it all down and wait a few more centuries. The day is at hand when Israel will be brought fully to birth! Now is the time for all mankind to make an eternal choice.
