In the wake of the 7 October terror attacks, the nations of the world are increasingly turning against Israel. While it is both surprising and appalling to see Israel’s western neighbours pour condemnation over her at a time that she needs them the most, students of Bible prophecy will know that the rising international outrage against Israel is part of a wider picture predicted thousands of years ago.
But how should Israel respond to the global rise of antisemitism and to the hostility of her enemies? The big picture of Bible prophecy and specifically the Jewish feasts reveal a surprising approach.
The Nations Gather to Battle
Nothing takes God by surprise. The prophets of the Bible speak of a time when God will “gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem” (Zec. 14:2). As the armies come against Jerusalem, the prophet Joel gives us further insight:
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been… A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns… Surely nothing shall escape them.” Joel 2:1-3
This massive attack will completely overwhelm Israel. It will be a time of great suffering for Israel, and Zechariah predicts that Jerusalem in particular will be targeted:
“The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity…” (Zec 14:2)
It is a Jewish trait not to rejoice over the suffering of one’s enemies.
Interestingly, much of the world is already calling for and ‘recognising’ the establishing of a Palestinian state with half the city of Jerusalem as their capital. It would seem from the prophet’s message that a day will come when the nations will violently enforce this division of Jerusalem, plundering, looting and raping the civilian population along the way.
Calling A National Fast
It will be Israel’s most distressing moment in history, a day in which it looks like all is over not only for the state of Israel, but also for the Jewish people itself. In that day, the answer will not be found in their own strength, nor in help from any other nation. The answer will be in God alone. In a final desperate measure, a nation-wide fast will be called in Israel. Joel predicts this day:
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.” Joel 2:15-16
In other words, this is a call for everyone, young and old, in whatever stage of life, to put aside absolutely everything. The priests join in the chorus of desperation, interceding for God to deliver His people from certain destruction:
“Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O Lord’”
(Joel 2:17)
A Prayer of Repentance
Israel’s response of calling out to God will not just be a prayer for deliverance from her enemies, but also a prayer of repentance, wholeheartedly turning to God. Reminiscent of Joel’s prophecy, God has instructed Israel to annually observe the Day of Atonement as a nationwide holy day of prayer, fasting and repentance. In modern Israel, around 60% of the population fasts on this day, with gatherings of over 80,000 people at the Western Wall in Jerusalem calling out in prayers of repentance.
While it would be natural in the dramatic moments predicted by Joel and Zechariah to pray for the destruction of one’s enemies, Bible prophecy reveals that instead Israel will be calling out to God in repentance. There will be many serious issues facing Israel at that time, but she will suddenly realise that her greatest issue lies in her relationship with her God. And as she turns to Him with all her heart in prayer, God Himself begins to intervene.
God Joins the Battle
The prophet Zechariah announces the emphatic answer from Heaven:
“Then the Lord will go forth, And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives…” Zec 14:3-4
Having been so damaged, hurt and persecuted by the nations, Israel could be forgiven for gloating as God Himself begins to act on their behalf sending panic and great plagues on her enemies (Zec. 12:4-6, 14:12-13). Yet turning again to God’s calendar of Feasts we find another unexpected response from the Jewish people in this cataclysmic moment of world history.
The Feast of Tabernacles
Coming only a few days after the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles is a time of unparalleled joy in Israel, prophetically foreshadowing the great day when God Himself will dwell among His people again. Given Israel’s history, and especially her ordeals in the End Times, it is hard to imagine the joy and gratitude she will feel in this unprecedented moment.
Curiously, the Bible commands Israel to offer up seventy bulls as sacrifices during the Feast. The number seventy in Judaism represents the nations of the world (taken from the table of nations in Gen. 10). In other words, not only does Tabernacles predict Israel’s great end time joy, but also that she will intercede for the nations in the context of the End Times.
As God begins to fight for Israel, He utters these fearful words of judgment on the nations:
“It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy (or exterminate) all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”
Zec 12:9
It is a Jewish trait not to rejoice over the suffering of one’s enemies. Despite the millennia of suffering inflicted on the Jewish people from the nations, the pogroms, the crusades, the holocaust, intifadas, suicide bombings and then finally this great final End Time battle, Israel will do the unthinkable. Having been restored to God and having found mercy herself, she begins to intercede for the nations, begging God for mercy through the sacrifices of the Feast of Tabernacles.
I firmly believe this will be Israel’s finest hour as she intercedes for God’s mercy on her persecutors. What a tremendous example of intercession!
Could this be the reason that in the Messianic age, the survivors among the nations are commanded to come to Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles? Could it be that this feast will specifically memorialise how Israel’s intercession spared their lives? As the prophet Zechariah concludes:
“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”
Zec. 14:16
Getting Practical
In this article we have seen how Israel will respond to the final onslaught against her, by turning to God in repentance and praying for her enemies. Like Israel, we too will face times of betrayal and unfair treatment and increasingly so now in the End Times. Rather than growing angry and wishing revenge on those who have hurt us, let us learn from Israel’s example of repentance and turn to God, asking Him to reveal anything that is not right in our hearts. And then, as we are restored to Him, let us like Israel learn to intercede for our enemies and those who have so poorly mistreated us (Matt. 5:44). This is the nature of the response God is looking for from Israel in the days which are to come, and He is also seeking the same response from us.
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