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COVENANT
G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days
Baruch Battelstein
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Š Copyright 2005 - Baruch Battelstein
All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Scripture quotations are from Judaic Classics JP Tanach w/Rashi, CD-ROM, Davka Corporation, Copyright 1999 by Davka and Judaica Press. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules.
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DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to all the people in Israel who are crying out, be they young or old, whose hearts have been broken by those who are seeking to separate the Jewish people from their inheritance in the land of Israel. These are the ones who, by choosing to follow G-d’s way, have put their lives and the lives of their families at risk. Let these words comfort your heart. “…I call out to You when my heart becomes faint; on the rock that is higher than I, You lead me” (Psalm 61:3). This book is dedicated to all the friends of Israel in America and throughout the world who fear G-d, not man, be they Jewish or Christian; who believe that G-d’s covenant with Israel, regarding the land, is everlasting; who are willing to stand on the word of G-d even when the world leaders and world powers are seeking to divide the land of Israel in order to remove the Jewish people from their eternal inheritance—promised by G-d. Let the following be an encouragement. “You have given those who fear You trials with which to be tested, in order to beautify [Your behavior] forever” (Psalm 60:6). This book is dedicated to all the people in Israel and throughout the world who believe that the G-d of Israel is a covenantmaking, covenant-keeping G-d. It is dedicated to those who have chosen to stand on G-d’s promises regardless of the leaders, nations, religions, or powers who are seeking to lead the Jewish people away from their G-d and away from His everlasting covenant with them. May His words strengthen your belief.
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Remember that “G-d spoke one thing, I heard two, for G-d has strength. And You, O Lord, have kindness, for You repay a man according to his deed” (Psalm 62:12-13). This book is dedicated to all the people in Israel and throughout the world who believe that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel; that Jerusalem must never be divided and given over to a foreign god; that Jerusalem is the place where the Messiah will return to rule and reign and dwell among His people forever saying, “You shall be My people, and I am your G-d!” Continue to know and believe: “Only He is my Rock and my salvation; my stronghold, I shall not falter” (Psalm 62:7).
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book could not have been written without the continuous and fervent prayers of my wife. Her support and encouragement, coupled with her skills, brought form, structure, and life to this book. Her love and her prayers literally birthed this book. I give praise to my Lord that He gave me a wife like the one King Solomon wrote about: A woman of valor who can find, for her price is beyond pearls. …Her children rise and call her fortunate; [also] her husband, and praises her. “Many women have acquired wealth, but you surpass them all.” Charm is false and beauty is futile; a G-d-fearing woman is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and her deeds will praise her in the gates (Proverbs 31:10, 28-31). My most sincere and grateful appreciation goes to David, not only a great friend and brother, but one who also has such a wonderful heart and mind for the word of G-d. Your help and assistance in the editing of this work has been a great blessing to us, as well as to all those who will read it. My appreciation is extended to Earl, a special friend, for his support in editing as well. To my dear friend Ferro, whose mind and hands work as no other whom I know. I thank you for using the inspiration that the Lord gave you to create the artwork for the book. Your work will bless the reader by bringing vision to the text and causing their spirits to leap within them.
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To all of my dear friends who have prayed for the Spirit of G-d to lead me in the writing of this book, I say thank you. To those friends who have lifted up their prayers to G-d on behalf of His people here in Israel and who interceded before the Lord daily to remember His covenant with the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people, and for those who have prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, I say: May the Lord greatly bless you. Most of all, to the One True Living G-d, the Holy One of Israel, I praise You and thank You for putting in my heart Your strong desire to write this book so that others may also come to the truth of Your plan for Your people, and Your land, and for Jerusalem in the last days. You gave me the pen of a ready writer so I could declare Your faithfulness to this generation and those who will follow for a time such as this.
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CONTENTS
One
Two
G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper..................1
Four
A Covenant With Death and a Pact With Hell ............21
Three
The G-d of Israel and the Land of Israel......................11
Five
That the Name of Israel Be Remembered No More....33
Six
I Will Bless Those Who Bless Thee; I Will Curse Those Who Curse Thee ............................................................41
Seven
These Two Lands Will Be Mine ....................................49
Nine
Jerusalem—A Cup of Trembling ..................................67
Eleven
I Will Bring You Into the Bond of the Covenant ........93
Eight
Prophesy Unto the Mountains of Israel ......................59
Ten
Rend Your Hearts, Not Your Garments ......................85
Twelve
A New Covenant ............................................................99 A Book of Remembrance Was Written Before Him ..105
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PROLOGUE
In July 2005, Israel is a nation that has come to a historic “fork in the road.” All Israelis must choose the fork upon which they will travel. There are two forks: the one straight ahead with the road sign that reads: “G-d’s Way!” and the other fork, to the left, which reads: “Man’s Way!” The road sign that reads “Man’s Way” has a doctrine that is being espoused in Israel, and it is called the doctrine of “No Choice.” Its mantra is “Peace at any price!” The doctrine of “No Choice” is very strong in Israel. One of the primary tenets of this doctrine is that everything is negotiable: the land, Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and possibly even Tel Aviv and Haifa. To those who have chosen this road, nothing is holy—“Peace at any price!” Those walking this road according to its doctrine believe and espouse that Israel must be willing to give over most of her inheritance promised by G-d. They are like Esau, who gave up his G-d-given inheritance for a pot of soup. The peoples’ voices of “No Choice” declare, “There is ‘No Choice’ but to remove the Jewish people from their inheritance in Gaza because there is no possible way to continue defending the people living there.” America is demanding that Israel retreat. The Quartet of nations is demanding it. Both the U.N. and the E.U. have declared their support for Israel’s withdrawal; Israel’s own government and her own leaders have mandated it.
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Those who espouse the doctrine of “No Choice” will declare next that Israel must give over her inheritance on the “mountains of Israel,” Judea and Samaria, and in East Jerusalem to a foreign god, because there is “No Choice.” Why does Israel have “No Choice”? Because America is demanding that Israel returns to the “Auschwitz borders” of 1949! Therefore, Israel has “No Choice.” The people of Israel must be obedient to their American masters and to the leaders in Israel who declare, “We have ‘No Choice.’ We must do whatever they demand because if we lose American support, Israel is doomed. Without America, how could Israel possibly survive as a nation?” The advocates of “No Choice” will declare that unless Israel forsakes and gives over her covenant-promised land, America will abandon Israel, the unholy U.N. will announce a trade embargo on Israel, the E.U. and all the nations of the world will support it enthusiastically, and Israel will be brought to her knees economically and die. By the grace of G-d there is a remnant in Israel who believe they do have a choice, and that choice is choosing the fork in the road that says, “G-d’s Way!” They understand that they will be labeled extremists—like the settlers, who are being threatened with forcible removal from their homes in Gaza—because they have chosen “G-d’s Way,” rather than man’s way. So be it! The remnant has made a clear choice. They have turned to their G-d, the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, I exhort the remnant, “Let Him fight for you and save you from all your enemies.” As in the days of Jehoshaphat, G-d will fight for Israel when we call upon His Great and Holy Name, and He will prevail. He is our G-d and we are His people, and we do have a choice to stand upon His covenant promises regarding the land of Israel and Jerusalem. If all those in Israel who believe in Him will stand in the gap, before the Lord G-d of Israel, and cry out to Him, He will defend His holy Name; He will remember His holy covenant with Abraham regarding the land; He will reclaim His holy city, Jerusalem, rebuild His Holy Temple, and redeem His people, because He is the covenant-making, covenant-keeping G-d of Israel. To each one who has the courage to choose to follow “G-d’s Way,” you will be as the Psalmist:
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The kindnesses of the Lord I shall sing forever; to generation after generation I shall make known Your faithfulness, with my mouth (Psalm 89:2). These very words of the Psalmist express most vividly the heart of this book that you are about to read. Our G-d is a merciful G-d and He is faithful to keep His word to all generations. This book will bring you to the “fork in the road” in your life. You will understand that no power on earth or in heaven can stop the horrendous events that are about to take place upon the earth. Israel will be at the epicenter of these events, which were prophesied long ago in the Tanach (Bible). As we approach the time of testing and calamity, we will each have to choose which fork we will take. The cry of this author’s heart is that the words will leap off the pages of this book and into your hearts to set them on fire for G-d. I pray that your heart and mind will become desirous as never before to return to Him and seek His face with great fervency, and that your hunger in the days ahead will be for Him and His word. The Lord tells us in Lamentations: “Verily, the kindnesses of the Lord never cease! Indeed, His mercies never fail! They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). This book was written to encourage you to choose the fork in the road that leads to everlasting life, and not the one that leads to shame and everlasting contempt. In the Book of Daniel we find the words: “...the people that knows its G-d will adhere and perform. And the wise will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who bring the multitudes to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 11:32b; 12:3).
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By Mediaware. Used by permission.
C
The Map of Israel Today
C
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Chapter One
G-D, COVENANT-MAKER COVENANT-KEEPER
AND
The Jewish people should be like the many other ethnic peoples who have been lost in human history, having vanished with the wind in the sands of time. History reveals that in the year 70 C.E., the Romans besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the city and the temple, killing a million Jews and dispersing those who were left throughout the nations. For almost 1,900 years Israel ceased to exist as a nation. The Jews were expelled from their native homeland and scattered throughout the nations as aliens. They were persecuted, reviled, and hated wherever they sought refuge. Have any people or nation on earth ever been physically removed from their native land for 1,900 years and survived as a people? Has any group of people ever sojourned as aliens among the nations of the earth and yet maintained their native language, culture, heritage, and traditions for thousands of years? It was impossible—apart from G-d. By the mighty hand of the G-d of Israel, the Jewish people, generation after generation, maintained their bloodlines, their heritage and culture, and survived as a distinct people. In May of 1948, an event unparalleled in all of human history took place. The nation of Israel was resurrected from the ashes of history and once again became a nation among nations. 1
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days
HOW COULD
THE IMPOSSIBLE
BECOME POSSIBLE?
There is absolutely no human explanation or human understanding for the resurrection of the nation of Israel. Yet, in G-d’s eyes, nothing is impossible when it is based upon His covenant promises! And I will establish My covenant between Me and between you and between your seed after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be to you for a G-d and to your seed after you. And I will give you and your seed after you the land of your sojournings, the entire land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them for a G-d (Genesis 17:7-8). In these verses are key words and phrases that reveal the very character and nature of the G-d of Israel and how He is the keeper of His covenant with Abraham’s descendants:
C “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and your seed [descendants] after you throughout their generations”
C “As an everlasting covenant” C To be G-d to you and to your seed after you” C “I will give unto you and your seed after you” C “All the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession” C “I will be their G-d” Not one word in this covenant promise is conditioned upon Israel’s faithfulness—rather it is based upon the fact that G-d does not change and is always faithful to fulfill His covenant promises.
G-D’S UNCONDITIONAL, EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH ISRAEL
C G-d is the maker and keeper of this covenant with Abraham and his descendants.
C It is an everlasting, unbreakable covenant. C I will be G-d to you and to your offspring forever. C I, G-d, will give all of the land of Canaan to you and your descendants as an everlasting possession. 2
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G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper
C There is a physical and spiritual connection ordained by G-d for all eternity between the land of Canaan (Israel), and the Jewish people.
LOOK, YOU HAVE GIVEN ME NO OFFSPRING!
In these words we will examine how G-d’s covenant promise to give Abram a son revealed the grace and mercy of the Lord toward Abram and his descendants. And Abram said, “Behold, You have given me no seed, and behold, one of my household will inherit me” (Genesis 15:3). True faith persists before the Lord until the promise is fulfilled. Faith involves believing what we cannot yet see in the natural, but knowing in our hearts it will come to pass because it is based upon a promise from G-d. Abram lived before the law was given, and it is his faith and his obedience that are our examples to this very day. G-d knew He would give Abram a son. G-d was waiting for Abram’s heart and character to mature to the point where he would persist before the Lord until the promised son from Sarah would be given to him.
DELAYED PROMISES WILL EITHER DIMINISH FAITH STRENGTHEN FAITH!
OR
When Abram persisted before the Lord, he was not expressing unbelief, but rather his abiding faith that G-d would do exactly what He promised He would do. Seeing Abram’s heart and his faith, G-d affirmed the promise once again. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one [Ishmael] will not inherit you, but the one who will spring from your innards—he [Isaac] will inherit you (Genesis 15:4). The Lord told Abram to look up into the heavens and “count the stars, if you are able to count them.…So will be your seed” (Genesis 15:5). The words then came that changed human history: And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). 3
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days It was Abram’s belief, his faith in G-d’s word spoken to him, that was accounted as righteousness unto him—not the law, because the law had not yet been given. This covenant expressed G-d’s grace and the promise that He would forever honor His word. It was because the Lord remembered this covenant of grace that He brought the Jewish people out of bondage and slavery in Egypt after 400 years as was prophesied to Abram at the time that G-d made the covenant with him. G-d heard their cry, and G-d remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And G-d saw the children of Israel, and G-d knew (Exodus 2:24-25). This defining moment established the pattern of faith exemplified in the rest of the Tanach (Bible). It established the pattern for the Jewish people for all time, in all cases, under all circumstances. Faith is based not on the information we have about G-d, but rather on our belief in the absolute reliability of G-d’s promises to His people, expressed to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, and all the other prophets in the Tanach (Bible). This faith did not come easily or quickly to Abraham. He had to spend many years walking before the Lord before He gave him Isaac. The Lord had determined to develop Abraham’s faith to the point where He could entrust to him a level of intimacy and personal relationship given to no other person before this in all of creation. How long would you wait for the Lord to fulfill His promise to you? Do you walk by faith like Abraham, or strictly by the law? If you are Jewish and your walk is solely based on the law, then you must grow in your relationship with the Lord and develop an intimate relationship with Him, so your faith becomes so strong that you will wait for Him and believe He will always do what He promised. For the Jewish people, observing the law is an important part of our daily walk with the Lord, but our faith is what enables us to believe that He will never forget His covenant promises. 4
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G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper
G-D’S GRACE
HE REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM HIS DESCENDANTS!
AND
Would the Lord remember His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob after He scattered Israel among the nations for 1,900 plus years? As we closely examine Scripture, we find that often there are many years, sometimes thousands of years, that separate the words of promise or prophecy and the actual fulfillment of that word. We observe that it was G-d’s purpose and time for His prophetic word to be fulfilled when on May 14, 1948, after bringing His people out of the nations unto which He had scattered them and placing them in the land He had promised them as an everlasting possession, He brought forth the nation of Israel.
THE DRY BONES
Can dry bones be covered with new skin and can the breath of life come once again into a re-formed, revived body? Could the remnant of the house of Israel, the survivors of the holocaust who were literally walking skeletons, weak, completely cut off, helpless, with one foot in the grave, miraculously rise up after 1,900 years to become a nation on the very land promised to them by the G-d of Israel? Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Behold they say, ‘Our bones have become dried up, our hope is lost, we are clean cut off to ourselves.’ Therefore, prophesy and say to them, So says the Lord G-d: Lo! I open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves as My people, and bring you home to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and lead you up out of your graves as My people. And I will put My spirit into you, and you shall live, and I will set you on your land, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and have performed it,” says the Lord (Ezekiel 37:11-14). These prophetic verses, written more than 2,500 years ago by the prophet Ezekiel, pointed to the time ordained by G-d for the rebirth of the nation of Israel. 5
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days WHO ARE THESE DRY BONES?
The verses tell us clearly who the dry bones are: “These bones are all the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 37:11). The Lord says to Ezekiel, “Prophesy and say to them, so says the Lord G-d” (Ezekiel 37:12). Ezekiel is told to speak to the surviving remnant of the 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis.
TO WHERE WILL
THE
LORD BRING HIS PEOPLE?
What does Ezekiel say to them? “Lo! I open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves as My people, and bring you home to the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 37:12). How can this be possible? For 1,900 years there was no “land of Israel.” It did not exist. Yet He told the prophet Ezekiel to speak forth these words because “in G-d’s eyes,” the nation of Israel never ceased from being a nation before Him. Notice the Lord did not prophesy that He was going to bring His people back to the “land of Palestine,” but rather to the “land of Israel.”
THE GRACE
AND
MERCY
OF
G-D
Then the verses tell us that the G-d of Israel wants His people to recognize and know that He is the one who caused them to come up out of their graves. He is the one who put His Spirit into them, and He is the one who put breath in them for one purpose—to bring them to the land of Israel, to set them on their own soil once again! After 1,900 years G-d remembered His covenant with Abraham and his descendants, “to set them on their own soil again.” Then, and only then, says the G-d of Israel to His people, “You shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and have performed it” (Ezekiel 37:14).
I WILL MAKE THEM INTO ONE NATION
IN THE
LAND
And say to them, So says the Lord G-d: Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side, and I will bring them to their land. And I will make them into one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be to them all as a king; and they shall no longer be two nations, 6
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G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms anymore (Ezekiel 37:21-22). It was by the grace and mercy of G-d that He remembered His covenant promise to Abraham and His descendants. Interestingly, these verses reveal that it was the will of the Lord to bring them to their own land and make them one nation in the land. Since the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948, by the mighty hand of G-d, some 6 million Jewish people have been gathered from the four corners of the earth, from among the nations to which they had been scattered at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, and brought back to their land, the land of Israel—just as the word of the Lord declared! Was May 14, 1948, chosen by G-d as the exact day in time to resurrect the nation of Israel, or was it just some random date in human history? Could it be possible that this exact date was prophesied thousands of years before in Scripture? Not one word of Scripture is without eternal meaning and purpose. In the Book of Leviticus we find the prophecy of how the Lord would punish Israel seven times for her sins against Him: And if, through these, you will still not be chastised [to return] to Me, and if you [continue to] treat Me happenstance, then I too, will treat you as happenstance. I will again add seven punishments for your sins (Leviticus 26:23-24). As a stand-alone verse this is very strange, and when applying it to the history of Israel it seems impossible to fully understand. However, when we read the Book of Ezekiel we find another strange prophecy that leads us back to G-d’s prophecy in Leviticus. It is through these prophecies that we come to an understanding that May 14, 1948, was the exact date chosen by G-d for the resurrection of Israel thousands of years before it took place.
ATONEMENT
FOR THE INIQUITY OF THE OF ISRAEL
SINS
OF THE
HOUSE
Ezekiel is commanded by G-d: And you shall lie on your left side, and you shall place the iniquity of the house of Israel through it; the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you will bear their iniquity. Now 7
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days I have given you the years of their iniquity by the number of days, three hundred and ninety days, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when you complete these, you shall lie on your right side a second time, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, I have given it to you (Ezekiel 4:4-6). In this strange prophecy, Ezekiel is commanded to first lay on his left side for 390 days and then on his right side for 40 days, for a total of 430 days, as punishment for the iniquities of the house of Israel. We are told that this punishment represents one day for each year. Taken alone, the prophecies in Leviticus and Ezekiel do not take on any specific significance. However, when we combine them, the results are astonishing: Ezekiel 4:5—Lie on his left side = 390 days Ezekiel 4:6—Lie on his right side = 40 days Add those together: 390 + 40 = 430 days G-d decreed to Israel a total of 430 years of punishment for her sins against Him. That punishment consisted of physical removal from the land G-d had promised His people. Israel’s captivity in Babylon was exactly 70 years as prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10). Therefore, the first 70 years of Israel’s punishment was completed when the Babylonian captivity ended. By the decree of King Cyrus, conqueror of Babylon, the Jews were set free from their captivity in the year 538 B.C.E. The year 538 B.C.E., therefore, becomes the base year with which we begin our calculations: 430 years - 70 years captivity = 360 years of remaining punishment to come. Remember the prophecy in Leviticus: And if, through these, you will still not be chastised [to return] to Me, and if you [continue to] treat Me happenstance, then I too, will treat you as happenstance. I will again add seven punishments for your sins (Leviticus 26:23-24). 8
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G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper 360 years of coming punishment x 7 (Israel must pay 7 times for her sins) = 2,520 years
CALCULATIONS:
2,520 years x 360 days (Jewish calendar is a 360-day calendar)= 907,200 days Conversion to actual years: 907,200 days/365-day calendar = 2,485 years and 5 months or 2,485.5 years and months 2,485.5 years - 538 B.C.E. = 1,947 years and 5 months There is no year “0.” Consequently, from the end of year 1 B.C.E., the following year is 1 C.E. So we must call the year “0,” year 1 C.E., and in turn, the year 1 we must call year 2 C.E. and so on forward. Therefore, the year 1,947.5 we call the year 1948.5. So exactly 1,947.5 years after 538 B.C.E., we come to the year 1948.5. May is the fifth month of the modern calendar, and on May 14, 1948, Israel arose from the ashes of extinction to become a nation! G-d’s prophetic word is precise down to the exact day. These prophecies declare that our G-d is outside of time. He knows the end from the beginning. Remember the first things of old, that I am G-d and there is no other; I am G-d and there is none like Me. [I] tell the end from the beginning, and from before, what was not done; [I] say, “My counsel shall stand, and all My desire I will do” (Isaiah 46:9-10).
9