If you have followed this series, you would have seen how the situation in the middle East moved from war over land and supremacy of tribes to supremacy of religion. Now, let me drive it deeper. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim to be the heir of Abraham who is one that the entire region belongs to. The Jews believe that a messiah will come and declare them to be the rightful heir and wipe out the other tribes. That messiah is Jesus Christ, but they do not believe Him because of the church age that Jesus added to the calendar.
Daniel prophesied about a particular 70 weeks that will pass before the coming of the Messiah (Daniel 9). Now, the 70 weeks is actually 70 multiplied by 7 years. That's how it is calculated. 1 week is 7 years. So from that time, the Jews calculated it and on the end of the 69th week, Jesus showed up. For them, it was the perfect timing and one more reason why Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for not believing in Him despite their knowledge of the prophesy.
If 69 weeks had passed, they were to wait for just 7 more years before they break the bands of the Romans and eventually rule the world; led by their messiah. That was the reason for questions the disciples of Jesus asked Him about when He was going to take the kingdom. The death of Jesus really broke the hearts of the Jews. The messiah was not supposed to die! He is supposed to be a king that will ensure the rule of the Jews all over the world, but Jesus disappointed them.
Jesus actually didn't disappoint them. He simply had a better plan. There is a gap between the 69th week and the 70th week and that gap is the church age, but the Jews didn't see the church. The death of Jesus was to open the way for the Gentiles (non-Jews) to have access to the covenant of Abraham. That is what Paul explains in Romans 9. We are currently in the church age that is meant to bring in men from all tribes, tongues and kindred.
The 70th week will be after rapture (close of the church age) when the saints will be caught up for 7 years at the last trump. You find this in Revelations. At rapture, Jesus is simply going to appear in the sky, seen by all flesh, but He will not touch the ground. During the 7 years, the Antichrist will sign a peace treaty with the Jews and will honour the treaty for three and a half years before turning against them and for another three and a half years, it will be a very terrible time for the Jews, as the entire world, under the rule of the Antichrist would have turned against them and they will be persecuted greatly!
It this time, it will be very obvious that the Jews need a Messiah and Jesus will come to the earth with us to fight for the Jews in the battle known as Armageddon. The entire world will fight against the Jesus, the believers He came back with and the Jews. The winner is inevitably Jesus and His team. This will usher in the millennial reign. The headquarters of His reign will be in Jerusalem, right inside the temple! That's why the Jews want to rebuild their temple. That's why the devil do not want that temple built again. You see the connection?
Presently, the location of the temple mount is occupied by a mosque that was built while the Jews were scattered. So if the Jews will build the temple, they have to destroy the mosque which is regarded by the Muslims as the third most sacred mosque in the world. A great part of Jerusalem is still being contested as belonging to either Israel or Palestine and this includes the temple mount area. That is what caused the outrage when Donald Trump, the president of USA decided to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Do you see why we keep saying that Trump is fulfilling prophesies?
In the next edition, I will focus on Donald Trump and USA's involvement in the affairs of the middle East.
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