05-Rain Falls on Israel

Hosea 6:1-3,

1)”Come and let us return unto the Lord;; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2)After two days will he revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 3)Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord; his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Zechariah 12:10,

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierce, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

Running parallel to the unleashing of god´s judgment on sin and the world will be the glorious preaching of the true Gospel around the world. Not the half-hearted, half-baked, half-true Gospel that now is being preached by most, but the full, complete Good News of the cross and soon coming of Jesus. Today´s Gospel, in many circles, has been reduced to making the living, holy God a servant of rebellious, religious men. The meaning of grace has been altered thereby stripping it of power. Grace has become a license to fast and loose living. The rapture and return of Jesus to rule is a threat to the pompous, proud hearts of most who use His name. Who will carry the banner of Jesus during Daniel´s 70th Week?

It was the people of Israel who Jesus came to minister to for 3 1/2 years. Those who witnessed and confessed His death, burial and resurrection were also Jewish. Those who tarried in Jerusalem to receive the promise of the Holy Spirit were also Jewish. It was upon them the early rain of the Spirit fell. The first assemblies of Christians were from the houses of Judah and Israel.

These Jewish Christians continued to witness the great love in Christ Jesus to the lost people of Israel until they would no more hearken unto the Gospel. It was then that the apostles turned to the Gentiles and God poured the rain of His Spirit upon then. We are now in the period known as the times of the Gentiles. Once the rapture of the bride of Christ is history, God will again use regenerated Jews to reach a lost world with the Gospel. Then the end will come and Jesus will reign on the earth for 1,000 years from Jerusalem.

Matthew 24:14,

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

A study of Revelation 7 reveals that 144,000 converted Jews plus the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11, will be as effective in a few short years of the 70th Week than 2,000 years of the organized institutional church. They will witness to the truth of the cross and the coming of the Lord to set up His kingdom. The history of the institutional church from Pentecost to the rapture is one of increasing apostasy and compromise. Within this visible church consists the true body of Christ who are always faithfully witnessing to the Gospel message around the world. They will hand over the banner (via the rapture) to the remnant of the houses of Judah and Israel. The latter rain of the Spirit will be poured out on Israel.

The awakening of Israel to Jesus as their messiah is a most important sign of the times. The more Jews we see coming to Jesus, the closer is His return.