CHRISTIAN LITERATURE TODAY

Was blind, but now I see.


1 : 3 January 2002

Pastor Harold Brokke

Pastor Harold Brokke and his wife Cathy Brokke have served the Lord Jesus as counselors to countless missionaries all over the world. Harold is a former President of Bethany Fellowship International, the community that established and runs the renowned Bethany House Publishers. Presently Pastor Brokke serves the Bethany Missionary Church as Senior Pastor Emeritus. Cathy was the Director of Bethany Fellowship Missions for many years. Both live in Minneapolis. God has called Harold to minister to people and communities around the world on Bible Prophecy and sanctification through the Message of the Cross.

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Copyright © 2001
M. S. Thirumalai

SOMETHING GOD FORETOLD IS GOING TO HAPPEN

Pastor Harold Brokke

1. SOMETHING GOD FORETOLD is going to happen to the nation of Israel. Ezekiel said:

I WILL GATHER THEM INTO THEIR LAND. I WILL LEAVE NONE OF THEM REMAINING AMONG THE NATIONS ANY MORE. (Ez. 39:28-29)

2. THE FIRST STEP: THE RETURN TO THE LAND

  1. THE LAND was promised to Abraham in these words, “I will give unto you and to your descendants after you, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” (Genesis 17:4-8)
  2. BEFORE the 1940’s, prophecies about a Jewish state in Palestine looked impossible. But two World Wars changed all that. The first W.W. resulted in the proposal that Jews make Palestine their home. During the 2nd World War, Hitler massacred 6 million Jews: men, women and children. Britan lost their Palestinian Mandate, The European Jews, in desperation, forced their way into Palestine and there they established an independent state on May 14 th 1948.
  3. THE JEWS have returned to the land but they have not, nationally, returned to God’s Covenant. The restoration of the land is now in process. The mass return of the Jews is yet to come. Ezekiel wrote, “You, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel: FOR THEY ARE AT HAND TO COME.” (Ez. 36:8)
  4. IT IS IMPORTANT to understand that Israel cannot be secure in the Land until it accepts Messiah. Christ alone can confirm and activate every promise in the Scriptures. “Jesus…has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made to the fathers.” (Rom. 15:8)

2. THE SECOND STEP: THE RETURN TO THE COVENANT

  1. WORLDWIDE PERSECUTION: “You will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice.” (Deut. 4:29-30 )
  2. THE JEWS REPENT AMONG THE NATIONS. “When all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse..and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, return to the Lord your God...then He will gather you again from all the peoples...and bring you into the land.” ( Deut. 30:1-5)
  3. THEY ENTER THE COVENANT-BOND. "Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you...I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the Covenant...Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers.” (Ezekiel 20:36-42)
  4. HE WILL SIGNAL ALL ISRAEL “It shall come to pass in that Day that the Lord will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and Islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

3. THEIR RETURN WILL BE MIRACULOUS.

With His mighty wind, He will shake His fist over the river and strike it in the seven streams, and make men cross over dryshod. There will be a highway for the remnant of His people that is left. (Is.11:15)

4. WHY WILL THERE BE A THIRD CRISIS ?

Israel will turn to the God of the Covenant, but when they enter the land, they continue to reject the Messiah . Only He can establish them in the land. (See Daniel 9:26) DANIEL 9 CONTAINS THE MEANING OF THE 3RD CRISIS.

5. THE FOCUS OF DANIEL’S PRAYER

The focus of Daniel's prayer is for his people and the Holy City. 70 WEEKS are determined to restore 6 goals:

  • First: To finish the transgression.
  • Second: To make an end of sins.
  • Third: To make reconciliation for iniquity.
  • Fourth: To bring in everlasting righteousness.
  • Fifth: To seal up the vision and prophecy.
  • Sixth: To anoint the Most Holy (One)

6. WHEN DOES THE 70 WEEKS BEGIN?

See Daniel 9:25 “From the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem”.Two dates are possible: Ezra 2:1 ” The Lord God of Heaven...has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem.” ( 458 B.C.)
Nehemiah 2:1 “It came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the 20th year of Artaxerxes...I ask that you send me to the city of my fathers...that I may rebuild it.” (445 B.C.)

7. HOW GABRIEL EXPLAINS IT TO DANIEL

“Know...and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks.” (v.25). PLEASE NOTICE THAT 1 WEEK EQUALS 7 YEARS. THUS 70 WEEKS EQUALS 490 YEARS.

8. WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE 62 WEEKS?

“And after the sixty two weeks (434 years) Messiah will be cut off but not for Himself. (v.26)
When you add the 7 and the 62 weeks the total is 483 years. At the end of this period Jesus was crucified...”Messiah will be cut off.”

8. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NATION?

“ And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the City and the Sanctuary, and the end shall be with a flood” (or like a flood).

We know from history that in 70 AD Titus, a Roman general, came and destroyed both the City and the Sanctuary. Jesus Himself foretold this event to His disciples .(Matt. 24:1-2). NOTE AGAIN THE PHRASE, “the people of the Prince who is to come...” If the people are Romans, then the prince who is to come, arises in the area of the Roman empire. This is the person who will eventually instigate the “abomination of desolation” that relates to the 70th week of Daniel. This prince is antichrist.

9. WHAT DID THIS DO TO THE JEWS?

They lost their temple, their city, and the land of Israel. The 70 weeks of Daniel only apply to the Jews when these things are restored. Jesus spoke about this period of disjuncture. “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” (Matt. 21:43 ) It is clear that we are nearing the end of this age.

THE 70TH WEEK OF DANIEL 9: Notice Dan. 9:27“Then he (antichrist) shall confirm a covenant with many for 1 week (7 years) but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to the sacrifice and offering.” Satan’s aim is to destroy God’s covenant. Leaders yield to Antichrist. “He shall ..return in rage against the Holy Covenant; and do damage. So he shall..show regard for those who forsake the Holy Covenant.” Daniel 11:30

10. JESUS BRINGS HIS DELIVERANCE

“..Until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the Desolator. ( Antichrist) The Lord sends His 2 witnesses to prepare His way. (Rev.11) Then JESUS COMES! He consumes Antichrist with the “breath of His mouth and destroys him with the brightness of His coming.” (2 Thess. 2:8)

“ The Deliverer will come out of Zion..He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.” Romans 11: 26-27

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Harold Brokke
Emeritus Professor of Missions and Biblical Studies
Bethany College of Missions
6820 Auto Club Road Suite C
Bloomington, MN 55438, USA
E-mail: harold.brokke@bethfel.org.