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Thursday, March 30, 2017

The Fall of Babylon & The nation of Judah-Israel



The Fall of Babylon & the Nation of Judah-Israel (my title)
Original Title:  “Background to a soon-coming prayer campaign, Part 2”
By Dr. Stephen Jones of God’s Kingdom Ministries


March 30, 2017

Jews today are from two main branches: Sephardim and Ashkenazim. The Ashkenazim are from Eastern Europe and, according to The Jewish Encyclopedia, are Turkish-Mongolian converts to Judaism in (640-760 A.D.). The Sephardic (“Spanish”) Jews have their roots in Judea and Jerusalem that was destroyed in 70 A.D.

These Sephardic Jews were dispersed after the destruction of Jerusalem and were scattered throughout many of the Mideast nations. A large portion of them moved to Spain, where they remained until expelled by Queen Isabella in 1492.

Because the Sephardic branch has its roots in the New Testament era, they were the ones that conflicted with Jesus during His ministry. Judea was represented prophetically by the fig tree in Jeremiah 24, where we find two kinds of “figs” (i.e., Jews), some evil and some good.

When the time of Jesus’ ministry approached, a prophet named John the Baptist was sent to preach repentance to prepare the way. He also announced that a complaint had been lodged against Judea in the divine court, and that a “visitation” (or investigation) had begun to see if the charges were true. We read of this in Luke 3:8, 9,

8 Therefore bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father,” for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 And also the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

John was executed by King Herod before the conclusion of the visitation, so Jesus continued the investigation for the next three years. Toward the end of the time, He told a parable in Luke 13:6-9,

6 And He began telling this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any.” 7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper, “Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered and said to him, “Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.”

The fig tree still does not bear fruit, for Jesus knew that the nation would reject Him, thus refusing to repent, as John had commanded. Finally, in the final week before His crucifixion, when Jesus found a fig tree with many leaves but no fruit, He saw that it prophetically represented the nation of Judea. So He laid a curse upon it, saying, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you” (Matthew 21:19). The tree was withered by the following morning.

A few days later, Jesus commented on the fig tree, saying in Matthew 24:32, 33,

33 Now learn the parable from the fig tree; when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 34 even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.

Jesus had been speaking about the time of His return, tribulation, and the destruction of Jerusalem. He was hinting that the timing of these events was linked to the fig tree’s return to life, and especially when it “puts forth its leaves.” Most evangelical and Pentecostal Christians understand this to be the establishment of Israel in 1948, and I agree with this. Where I differ with mainstream thinking is where many believe that this prophetic fig tree will bear fruit. As I see it, Jesus prophesied only that it would bring forth more “leaves.” If it bears fruit, as so many say, then Jesus prophesied falsely in Matthew 21:19.

God is not satisfied with leaves. Fig leaves have been a problem since Adam (Genesis 3:7), as they represent a man-made covering for sin, that is, a carnal self-justification. God is looking for fruit, not leaves.

Hence, since 1948 the prophetic fig tree, known as the state of Israel, has not borne fruit to God, nor has the nation heeded the call to repentance that John the Baptist issued. There are, of course, individual Jews who had repented, even as Jesus Himself had disciples in the first century, but individuals do not constitute the nation itself. To bear fruit, the government itself would have to issue an official proclamation that Jesus is King. That has not been done, nor will it be done.

The purpose of the second chance—prophesied by the fig tree coming back to life—is to give the nation one more opportunity to repent prior to the final and permanent destruction prophesied in Jeremiah 19:10, 11. If Jerusalem had been fully destroyed in 70 A.D., then the fig tree could never have come back to life at a later time. Hence, the establishment of the state of Israel was necessary to fulfill Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:32, 33.

The problem comes when Bible teachers proclaim that the nation of Israel will soon bring forth the fruit that God requires. If this were to happen, Jeremiah 19:11 would fail, and Jesus’ prophetic curse in Matthew 21:19 too would fail. Both Jeremiah and Jesus would prove to be false prophets. That, of course, will never happen.
The confusion lies in men’s blindness in not seeing the difference between Israel and Judah. They assume that the Jews are Israel, when in fact the term “Jew” is short for “Judah” (or a Judean). The Israelites were from the ten tribes that split from Judah in 1 Kings 12:16, 19. The northern House of Israel later were taken captive to Assyria. The Jews of Judah survived that captivity, but were taken to Babylon 120 years later. From then on, the two peoples were separated and remained distinct to the present day.

The prophets give Israel many prophecies of restoration, including the one in Jeremiah 18:1-10, where Israel is pictured as a lump of wet clay being shaped by a potter. The clay was marred, so it was beaten down and remade into another useful vessel. But in Jeremiah 19, when the prophet begins to prophesy about Judah and Jerusalem, that nation is pictured as a jar of hardened clay, which was then smashed in the Valley of ben-Hinnom, never to be repaired or rebuilt.

The contrast cannot be more obvious. In 1948 a Jewish state was established, but they called it Israel in order to make it appear that they were fulfilling the prophecies of the ten tribes—that is, the wet clay in Jeremiah 18:1-10. In reality, however, they were setting themselves up for the time when the old jar would be smashed in the Valley of ben-Hinnom.

The fall of the Israeli state, then, will not cause prophecy to fail. The Jews cannot fulfill the prophecies of the restoration of biblical Israel. Each has its own set of prophecies to fulfill. But God has blinded the eyes of the church in order to allow the fruitless fig tree to come back to life and to see if it can bear fruit. The church has prayed and interceded for “Israel” for nearly 70 years now, faithfully fertilizing the tree and hoping that it will bear fruit.

If they had known the truth, they might not have found motivation to fertilize the tree for so many years. Their efforts have had a small measure of success insofar as individual Jews are concerned, but there is no biblical prophecy indicating that the nation itself will be saved.

We are now in 2017, which is the 70th year since the Palestinian Resolution (November 29, 1947). I believe that God has given the Jewish state 70 years in which to bear fruit. In effect, they have been given back the 70 years that they spent in Babylon. But instead of repenting, they sought to take control of the Babylonian system, and thereby became part of the beast itself.

They did not heed Jesus’ warning in Matthew 21:44, so they will be crushed by the stone that hits the Babylonian image on its feet and toes. The timing of Jerusalem’s destruction, then, is tied to the destruction of the beast system itself, which, as we have shown, is due by the end of 2017. One cannot separate it. This is a Jerusalem event as much as it is a Babylon event. God intends to set His people free from all forms of bondage, whatever its source—Babylon, Sodom, Egypt, Jerusalem, or the flesh itself.

The call of God is still the same. He is looking for fruit—the fruit of the Spirit. The prophecy in Isaiah 27:6 tells us through whom this fruit will come:

6 In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout; and they will fill the whole world with fruit.

Yes, Israel will bear fruit, but Judah bears only leaves. Do not be fooled by the label that the Jewish state has chosen for itself. It may call itself Israel, but it is not biblical Israel. Israel and Judah were two separate nations. The tribes of Joseph were in Israel, and the specific birthright holder was Ephraim, “fruitful.” His father Joseph was given the Fruitfulness Mandate, for Genesis 49:22 says, “Joseph is a fruitful bough” (ben, “son”). The Dominion Mandate, or Scepter, was given to Judah (Genesis 49:10) temporarilyuntil Shiloh comes.”

So we have now come to the year 2017, when we are preparing to see the final act on the great stage of history. As we too are participants, we are either supporters of fruit-bearing Israel, or supporters of the leaf-bearing fig tree of Judah, which calls itself Israel. This is a conflict between Jesus and the chief priests to see who is truly called as the King-Messiah.

Let us be on Jesus’ side of this conflict, so that we avoid becoming another Judas which betrays Jesus to those who would usurp His throne.

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting these truths, and for this site.

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  2. I agree with what you have written in your blog. Jerusalem is the bond woman and her son. There is one matter that I haven't heard concerning how great britan shared in the dept note of the beast nations. Great britain maintained control of jerusalem for 30 years.I believe that the extension of the beast nations contract of 100 years was due to Jerusalems reprieve between 163 to 63 bc.have you also considered that God would have the (Jacob church) share in the beast nations contract in the first 30 years of the 100 year extension? I believe that God has also allowed the church opportunity to join the naughty figs. God allowed jacob (church)to become part of the beast nations so that the overcomers would be cleared of userping jerusalem.

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  3. To my knowledge, Great Britain was never a part of the beast debt note. GB is considered to be the tribe of Ephraim which was the legal owner of the Birthright promise that Jacob gave to Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim/Jacob/England essentially gave the Birthright promise back to Esau or the Edomites (along with the Khazarians) in 1948 when the invading Khazarian gangs of converted Jews illegally established the modern nation of Israel. Illegally because the name “Israel” actually belongs to Ephraim (or England).
    Great Britain controlled the area containing Jerusalem for a time prior to giving it to the Edomites and Khazarians but there were never any Jews or so-called Jews living in the area and therefore were never a part of the beast nations.
    God has allowed most of the Church to devolve into a Saul type of Passover spirituality whereas David came into a Pentecostal spirituality, although the Pentecostal anointing did not occur until it came upon the disciples waiting in the upper room as described at the beginning of the book of Acts. David is most likely an overcomer and will be resurrected at the first resurrection.
    Every Church member has received a certain small token of the Holy Spirit but only a few called the overcomers have actually attainted the anointing close to that of the upper room disciples. Again, most Christians have placed the Holy Spirit into a side room and ignored the spirituality given to them.
    The fig prophecy, given by Jeremiah, was attributed to the Judeans as part of the Old Covenant and would not apply to New Covenant Christians with a token of the Holy Spirit. The current Jerusalem is prophesied to be destroyed and will not be present during the Millennial Kingdom of God (see Isaiah chapter 29 where Jerusalem is referred to as Arial).

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  4. Jacob took advantage of his fathers blindness by pretending to be esau.Jacob got the birth right by deception. God allowed great britain (Jacob) to take Jerusalem from the ottomans to fulfill the promise made to esau by isaac saying that esau would have the dominion. This was in order for esau to prove him self as the hated son. It's an eye for an eye. Esau took advantage of Jacobs(great britain) blindness in 1948. Remember that when general allenby took jerusalem it was the laodacia church era in 1917. Laodacia was still in need of eye salve at that time. Great britain was still a Jacobite at this time.
    Jacob had to be the one that gave the birthright back to esau.Jacob does not get the birthright back from esau in the future. Remember Jacob had to become israel to receive the birthright. Jacob is the church. Israel is the overcomer.

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  5. I would like to talk with sometime. It is difficult to express these deep matters in text form without The intended meaning being lost. I may be wrong on some of these issues but I'm willing to discuss these things. I have found that there has been little patience among the "overcomers" when one sees something slightly different. This ought not to be. If you would like to talk with me let's help one another come into greater understanding. Please feel free to friend me on fb at Barley N Flax. God bless I'm Jeff.

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  6. Actually Jacob traded Esau the birthright for a bowl of soup. Jacob pretended to be Esau and received the Dominion mandate by deception. In a sense Jacob (Union Jack) gave the birthright back to Esau (Edomites) in 1948. The birthright will remain with the Edomites until the return of Jesus Christ, who will receive the birthright for himself as He received the Dominion promise at His first appearance. Thus Jacob, or any other group, will not receive the birthright promise prior to the second appearance of the Messiah.

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  7. Never the less Jacob assumed the dominion mandate when great britain took jerusalem from the ottomans. Great britain assumed this dominion mandate for 31 years. This was done during the 100 years extention of the beast contract. Great britain is also guilty by association in giving that land to esau. The UK foriegn secretary author Balfour wrote a letter to walter rothchilds.Balfour was only instrumental in carrying out great Britain's wishes for these khazarians and edomites to occupy Palistine.

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  8. I think I see the problem we are having. There were two blessings given to Abraham, which were passed down from father to son to Isaac, then Jacob, then separated to Judah with the dominion or scepter promise and Ephraim and Manasseh with the fruitfulness promise. The dominion promise was fulfilled by Jesus Christ and was temporarily usurped by the Jews of His day although it was actually in possession of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire passed it to the Holy Roman Empire, and then off and on between the Crusaders and the Arabs. Eventually Canaan was captured by the British and although very few actual Jews lived in the area I suppose you can say that Great Britain possessed the dominion mandate for a few years. Since the British are ancestors of the tribes of Israel, it may not be necessary to say they possessed it illegally.

    You say that “Great Britain is also guilty by association in giving that land to Esau”. Great Britain was basically fulfilling prophecy. Jacob, which is Great Britain, was required to give the dominion and fruitfulness promises back to Esau according to the Word of God. Esau, or his descendants, were given the land and the promises as they have desired for over two centuries for an opportunity to prove or disprove they can produce fruit and not just leaves.

    I study quite a bit and I am certain you do as well. However, let me share a lesson I have learned the “hard way” even though it may not even apply to you. The lesson I learned is: prophecy must be studied in a spiritual manner and not by an academic method.

    In this particular instance, historical facts and knowledge are important in a personal understanding but there is no reason to argue about historical facts that make no difference in the final outcome. The bottom line is the Edomites currently have their opportunity to demonstrate their ability to bear fruit (which will not happen).

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