THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE

A scripture that I am fond of pointing out is Malachi 3:6, “I the Lord do not change.” Because we have lived so long in His grace, we forget that God has great power and great wrath. To understand the End Times we must remember the justifiable wrath of God. The world not only ignores the Creator God and Father of us all, the world also likes to pretend that we came from nothing. A lightning strike in a fetid pond somewhere “caused life to appear.” The Lord must be insulted. He is not only insulted; He is angry. Read Isaiah 63:1-6 to see how the Lord speaks of His anger and wrath.

This helps us to understand the dreadful events described in the Revelation. But how do the Children of Israel fit in? I am of the opinion that End Time events involve the Jews. When Jesus spoke to four of the Disciples on the Mount of Olives, He warned them against false Messiahs. Here, in the multi-layered Olivet Discourse, He was speaking to the Jews. Christians know who is the Messiah. This is one indication that End Time events affect the people of Israel. The Jews are still looking for the Messiah.

Jeremiah the prophet describes a future day that is so terrible, so horrific that there will be no other day like it. In Jeremiah 30:7 he calls it the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (or tribulation). Of course, Jacob is another name for Israel. Luke tells us that Jerusalem will be trampled on and controlled until the completion of the Times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24). The Revelation 11:2 has similar language.

Now, my hope, belief and desire is that the Church will not be here for the Tribulation events. But, at the end of the Tribulation the Lord will reclaim Israel and Jerusalem, His favorite piece of real estate. In the process He will save a remnant of the people of Israel. But will the Lord do this for Israel? The answer is “No.”

The Lord explains His plan in Ezekiel 36:22-23; “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.”

When the Lord completes His plan, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10). In the meantime, may all that we do and say be done and said to the glory of the name of God.