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ISRAEL'S REBIRTH IN 1948 FORETOLD BY EZEKIEL


http://www.hebroots.org/hebrootsarchive/9808/9808_m.html

by Grant Jeffrey
(In this article Grant Jeffrey demonstrates that the Bible prophesied Israel's rebirth on May 14, 1948. It was first published in his book Armageddon - Appointment With Destiny in 1988.) Israel's First Captivity and Return On the 14th day of Nisan, Passover, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham for the Promised Land. God also prophesied that Abraham's descendants would be in affliction and bondage for precisely 430 years. "And he said unto Abraham, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years" (Genesis 15:13).
This "affliction" began 30 years later with the hatred expressed to Isaac by Ishmael's mocking attitude (Genesis 21:8-10). This affliction of Abraham's seed in Canaan eventually ended in the bondage in Egypt. "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt" (Exodus 12:40-41). On Passover, 430 years later, the captivity ended. The Apostle Paul confirmed that the captivity lasted precisely 430 years (Galatians 3:17).

Israel's Second Captivity and Return When many of the kings of Judah began to rebel against God, numerous people turned to idol worship and pagan gods despite God's warnings through His prophets. The 10 northern tribes of Israel were conquered by the Assyrians in 721 B.C.E. (2 Kings 17:6). Then, Jeremiah prophesied that the Kingdom of Judah would also be removed for precisely 70 years from the Promised Land beginning in 606 B.C.E. because of their sins. "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years" (Jeremiah 25:11). Precisely 70 years later on the first day of Nisan, 536 B.C.E. King Cyrus of Persia released the Jews, just as Jeremiah had prophesied. Despite the royal permission, only a small remnant of the Jews left Babylon and returned to Israel. The vast majority never returned, choosing rather to reside in the nation of their captivity.

The Third and Worldwide Captivity
The Bible contains numerous prophecies of a final return of the exiles to the Promised Land in the "last days." In light of the precision of the prophecies about the duration of the earlier captivities, it seemed probable to me that the prophets must have revealed when the Jews would return from their final captivity to establish their nation. The prophet Ezekiel was given a vision concerning the final return of his people. "This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year" (Ezekiel 4:3-6).

Ezekiel declared that each day represents one biblical year. Israel would be punished for 430 years (390 years and 40 years). At the end of the 70 years of prophesied captivity in Babylon, in Nisan 536 B.C.E., only a small remnant of the house of Judah returned to Jerusalem to fulfill the prophecy. The vast majority of the Jews remained in the Persian Empire as colonists. Therefore, when we deduct the 70 years in Babylon that ended in Nisan 536 B.C.E. from Ezekiel's 430 years of punishment, Israel still had 360 years of further captivity due following the end of the Babylonian Captivity.
Despite the precision of Ezekiel's prophecy there was no return to the land, either 430 years or 360 years after 536 B.C.E. The solution to this mystery is found in Leviticus 26. The Lord established promises and punishments for Israel based on her obedience and her disobedience. God told Israel four times in this passage that if, after being punished for her sins, they still would not repent, the punishments previously specified would be multiplied by seven (the number of completion). "And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins" (Leviticus 26:18; also Leviticus 26:21, 23-24, 27-28). In other words, if the Israelites did not repent, the punishment previously promised (360 years) would be multiplied seven times (360 years x 7 = 2,520 biblical years) to reach a total of 2,520 years. Therefore, as of 536 B.C.E., the final restoration to the Holy Land would occur only after 2,520 biblical years.

The Biblical Year of 360 Days
When we refer to biblical/prophetic years we refer to the ancient Jewish year of 360 days. While our modern calendar year contains 365.25 days and the modern Hebrew calendar has 354 days, the biblical year of ancient Israel was lunar-solar and contained only 360 days. The solar calendar year of 365.25 days was not used by Israel. According to articles in the Encyclopedia Britannica and Smith's Bible Dictionary on chronology, Abraham used a year of 360 days consisting of 12 months of 30 days each. The Bible's account of the flood confirms the ancient biblical year of 360 days describing a five-month period as consisting of precisely 150 days between the 17th day of the second month to the 17th day of the seventh month (5 x 30 days = 150 days). Sir Isaac Newton declared that "all nations, before the just length of the solar year was known, reckoned months by the course of the moon, and years by the return of winter and summer, spring and autumn; and in making calendars for their festivals, they reckoned thirty days to a lunar month, and twelve lunar months to a year taking the nearest round numbers, whence came the division of the ecliptic into 360 degrees." The book of Esther (1:4) reveals this 360-day year in its description of a six-month-long feast that lasts precisely 180 days. The prophet Daniel also confirms this fact by describing one-half of the 70th week (Daniel 9:24-27) as containing exactly 1,260 days (3.5 x 360 days). Sir Robert Anderson, the brilliant head of Scotland Yard in 1895, described the 360-day year in his book The Coming Prince.

The Calculation
The Babylonian captivity ended in the spring of 536 B.C.E., 1st Nisan. This date is the starting point for our calculations. The period of worldwide captivity would last 2,520 biblical years x 360 days = 907,200 days. Converting this figure into our calendar year we divide the 907,200 days by 365.25 to reach a total of 2,483.8 calendar years. (Remember that there is only one year between 1 B.C.E. and 1 C.E.; there was no Year Zero). The end of Israel's worldwide captivity would occur after a total of 2,483.8 years had elapsed from the end of the Babylonian Captivity in the spring of 536 B.C.E.
End of Babylonian Captivity: Spring 536 B.C.E. the duration of Worldwide Captivity: 2,483.8 Calendar Years = When the Worldwide Captivity would end: Spring 1948.

The Rebirth of Israel: May 14th 1948
On May 14, 1948, the Jewish people proclaimed the independence of Israel and the end of their worldwide captivity at the precise time prophesied by the prophet Ezekiel. On this very day a united Israel took its place as a sovereign, independent state among the nations.


Covenant confusion: Jews don't need saving by Catholics, bishops admit
By Michael Paulson in Boston
August 14 2002


The Catholic Church, which spent hundreds of years trying to convert Jews to Christianity, has concluded that it is theologically unacceptable to target Jews for conversion.

Citing teachings dating back to the Second Vatican Council - and statements by Pope John Paul II - the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has declared unequivocally that the biblical covenant between Jews and God was valid and therefore Jews did not need to be saved through faith in Jesus.


"A deepening Catholic appreciation of the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people, together with a recognition of a divinely-given mission to Jews to witness to God's faithful love, lead to the conclusion that campaigns that target Jews for conversion to Christianity are no longer theologically acceptable in the Catholic Church," states the document, Reflections on Covenant and Mission.

It was issued by organisations representing US Catholic bishops and rabbis from the US's two largest Jewish denominations.

"The significance is far more than theological, because for centuries it was the refusal of Jews to embrace Christian teachings that legitimised the persecution, and often murder, of Jews in communities throughout Christendom," said Robert Leikind, a spokesman for the Anti-Defamation League.


"What the bishops have done here is decisively separated themselves from that history, and indicated once and for all that Jews have an authentic relationship with God and an authentic mission in the world, and therefore there is no reason for, or logic in, trying to evangelise Jews."

Jesus and his early followers were Jewish, but those who embraced Christianity began to turn on those who did not more than 1000 years ago. Violence against Jews began with the Crusades, and anti-Semitism intensified during the Middle Ages, then reached a peak with the Nazis before and during World War II.

The Boston Globe

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/13/1029113929190.html