Isaiah 11:11-12 11And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
12And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

ensign for the nations
nês
nace
From H5264; a flag; also a sail; by implication a flagstaff; generally a signal; figuratively a token:—banner, pole, sail, (en-) sign, standard.

Ezekiel 38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

God told the people of Israel through the prophets that, because of their sins, they would be taken out of the land promised to them--twice. The first time was when the Babylonians came to take them captive. For 70 years, the Jews lived in Babylonia. This was the time of the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel. That’s where they were when they wrote their prophecies. The Jews were promised that they would be there for 70 years and then could return to their own land.

Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Jeremiah 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.If they still didn’t follow God, they would be taken over by other empires while in their own land. By the way, that’s exactly what happened. Finally, the prophets said if they STILL didn’t follow Him, they would be taken out of their land again, for a lot longer than 70 years.

The Jews would be scattered all over the world. When you listen to the news today and read about Israel in the Bible, you might think that it has existed for centuries. But there was a long time when it didn’t. There were the Greek Empire and then the Roman Empire that ruled over Israel for many years. In 70 A.D., the Romans decided that it was time to get rid of the Jews once and for all. They destroyed the Holy City of the Jews and their temple. They persecuted the Jews until they fled for their lives.

The land of Israel was given the name of “Palestine” by the Romans to remind the Jews of their enemies, the Philistines. The Jews tried to settle down and make themselves “at home” in other countries, but wherever they went, there were people and governments that tried to kill them. Although Jews would celebrate their Holy days in their adoptive countries, often they would say that they would celebrate “next year in Jerusalem”. But, they couldn’t go back to Israel, because there was nothing left to the country. When they left Israel, the whole country just “dried up/it became desolate”. There were relatively few people living in the land that they had left. The population was mostly made up of goat herders and tribes of nomads passing through.

Jeremiah 19:8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

Zechariah 7:14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

When Mohammad started the religion of Islam about six hundred years after the birth of Christ, they came through to claim the land that had been given by God to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But there was nothing there. There were only rocks, dirt, and a few houses. There weren't even very many trees growing there. The land was dead. They built a mosque near where the Jewish Temple had once stood, but relatively few people visited it. Mecca in Saudi Arabia was their "holy city". Almost 2000 years passed before anyone showed a real interest in it. By the beginning of the 20th century, the land was governed by the Muslims of the Ottoman Turk Empire.

Ezekiel 36:1-11 1Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:
2Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
3Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:
4Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;
5Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
6Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
7Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
8But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.
9For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
10And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
11And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

--End Times - Israel--

There seemed to be no hope on the part of most Jews of ever returning to Israel. Then the seemingly impossible happened. In 1918, as a result of World War I, Jews had been allowed to trickle into the “Palestinian Mandate”; land previously lived in by the Jews. But as the result of World War II with the Jewish Holocaust that brought about the genocide of 6 million Jews which ended in 1945, the Jewish survivors were told that they could return to the land of their ancestors and form their own country. In 1948, the new country of Israel was born in ONE DAY, just like the prophet Isaiah had said that it would be!

Isaiah 66:8 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.

And he was speaking more than 500 years before the Jews had been taken out of the land. Isaiah knew that God would scatter the Jews all over the world, but that He would one day bring them back never to be taken out of the land ever again!!

--Israel Now and Then--

Ezekiel 28:25-26 25Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.26And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

The creation of the land of Israel was a miracle and, although they have been under attack almost constantly from their enemies, they are still in the land. And this is another miracle seeing how all of their neighbors want to destroy them! Because we hear about it in the news every day, and how important it is to world peace, most people don’t realize how small Israel really is.

It’s only about 250 miles long and 60 miles across at the most. There are some places where it is only 19 miles across. This would be like if you could take the state of Rhode Island and put it in the middle of the United States, give guns and bombs to all of the other states to try to destroy it, and have Rhode Island come out the winner! And their Arab neighbors who have much more land are screaming that Israel has to give away more of their land for peace! In the midst of conflict, not only is Israel surviving, but it is prospering as both of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel said that they would!

Their return to the land has been blessed by God and it is no longer a desert. Their planting of trees and irrigation of the land has transformed Israel to the point that it now has forests. Even the climate has changed and the rain has returned. They now export over $800 million dollars worth of produce each year! Although, the continued existence of Israel is probably the biggest sign that Jesus will be returning soon, there are other signs that we are told to watch for. Jesus told us that, once the signs began, they would be like a woman’s labor pains. They would start out slowly, but gradually increase in frequency and intensity. And this is exactly what we are seeing now.

--End Times - Beginning of Sorrows--

Even those who say that they don’t believe in God or that Jesus is coming back are noticing that change is coming very fast to our society and our world. So, what are the signs that He is coming back soon? Click Here Many of them however will not actually take place until the 7 year period begins that we call the tribulation. But, we can see things moving in that direction so that, when the tribulation starts, some things will already be in place.

But we believe that God is faithful, will not lie to us, and, when He says that we are not appointed to suffer the wrath, that we, as Christians, will be taken away by Christ in "the rapture" before the tribulation begins to be protected by Him during that time of great distress.

--End Times - The Rapture--

--We Too Will Survive --

--If you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you must cry out in His name and ask Him alone for forgiveness of your sins, He will not refuse or turn you away. You must believe that Jesus is God and that He did die for you on the cross and was buried and rose again on the third day for all to see... only God himself could do this to show mankind that there is eternal life through the name of Jesus alone.

...Please don’t be Left Behind!

John 3

You Must Be Born Again

⁹Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" ¹⁰Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

For God So Loved the World

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

²⁵Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. ²⁶And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." ²⁷John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' ²⁹ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease."

³¹ He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. ³³Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. ³⁴For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.