Israel Was Not Just ‘Sat Aside’
As a Result of Her Fall in Acts 28:
She Was Entirely Destroyed!
Israel Was Not Just ‘Sat Aside’ as
Result of Her Fall in Acts 28:
She Was Entirely Destroyed!
JAN LILLEBY
It has become a ‘household’ expression in Acts 28 circles to speak of Israel as a nation which was ‘sat aside’ by God, after Paul confronted the Sanhedrin at Rome in Acts 28:25-28, 60 AD.
To my mind – after so many years of study and repetitive indulging and ‘digging’ in the Word of God, I find it not entirely correct.
It is unfortunately much grimmer than that.
There must be no doubt that Israel as a nation was more than just ‘sat aside’.
Should I express myself totally direct and blunt, I should rather say that Israel was blotted out, annulled, even returned back to where they came from…as if they never ever had been in existence at all!
When the day arrives with Jesus’ return from heaven, to establish the promised millennial kingdom (Dan. 2:44; Rev. 19-20) – He shall not establish the Israel which once existed. He will have to rise up and elect an entirely new national people for Himself. He does not bring back that which was, but arranges and establishes a fully new people to Himself. Why? Because there exists no Israel (in the eyes of God) today and eventually has been called by God to come forth as His nation on earth.
When Israel was destroyed in 70 AD, it resulted in the total disappearance of her. She ceased to exist. The later incident with the Bar Kokhba revolt in 132-136 CE (when Emperor Publius Aelius Hadrianus struck it down) has to be considered a ‘death-cramp’ and not uproar by some nation in existence. Afterwards, it was forbidden for any Jews to enter the city! The prisoners of war taken to Rome by Titus in 71-72 AD died under hard slavery and misery, and many thousands of prisoners taken captive in Israel were sent by sea vessels down to Alexandria, Egypt, to be sold as slaves, according to the prophecy of Moses in Deu. 28:68,
Ampl. Bible, “And the Lord shall bring you into Egypt again with ships by the way about which I said to you, YOU SHALL NEVER SEE IT AGAIN. And there you shall be sold to your enemies as bondmen and bondwomen, but no man shall buy you.”
Flavius Josephus wrote in his book works “The Jewish War” (also called ‘The War of the Jews’) of how the Romans in 71-72 AD sent thousands of prisoners away by ships to Egypt…from the age of 17, both Jewish soldiers and their spouses.
But no one would buy, for the market was inflated – and so they were let loose on their own. Thus Deu. 28:68 was fulfilled.
We cannot just go on saying that ‘Israel was set aside’ – when we learn from Scripture plus history that she was actually annulled and returned back to where she once belonged – as slaves in Egypt! IMAGE: Front page of Josephus’ book, showing a relief-work of prisoners carrying the Menora away from the temple.
This had never happened to the nation in earlier history. They were not annulled as the Assyrian king had great numbers of Jews from the ten northern tribes removed; neither did it happen when God had Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, take them captive in 586 BC – for which Jeremiah prophesied that Israel would be held there in 70 years, but be allowed to come back to Israel’s land. They came back by three ‘Alayah’ starting in king Cyrus the Great’s first year of reign, which was 456 BC according to historic documents. History shows that only ten percent of the Jews went back to build Jerusalem.
But when Israel was taken by Rome, then we get a totally different story. They were scattered out in the whole civilized world for their sin against the Lord, the denial and rejection of Jesus Messiah. WE CANNOT FIND ANY WORD SAYING THAT ISRAEL SHALL BE TAKEN BACK HOME, AS SUCH. But we find that God will form an entirely NEW ISRAEL, which has not existed in history.
Thus we can, for instance, read of the establishing of a new tribal system in Rev. 7. They are mentioned by names: Judah, Ruben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin – so making up a total of 144 000 sealed tribal Jews – 12 000 of each tribe, called a firstfruit. Comparing this list with the sons of Jacob, we find that Dan is not there. But instead we find inserted in the list Manasseh. For what reason, I cannot say with any measure of certainty. But at least these are the ones who will be found when the Great Tribulation in Israel takes place. I suspect that Elijah and Moses (the two witnesses in Rev. 11) will be engaged to master this election and establishing of the new tribal system in Israel. Moses will for sure have revelation-power of who is who in regard to the tribes.
After Rome destroyed them in 70 AD and burned their temple, there have not been found any files of the population and the existing tribe-relations from before they were taken. They were burnt when the city went down. The temple was even laid flat to the grown, leaving not a stone-upon-another as Jesus foretold in Mat. 24:2; this because most of the silver and gold had melted in the fire and the soldiers therefore removed each stone to be able to loot the place of these costly metals. We speak of tons, not kilos.
No Jew today can with certainty tell whether he actually is a Jew, much less which eventual tribe he comes from!
This election and sealing of these 144 000 Jews in Rev. 7 (see also Rev. 14) is actually the move of God to create a NEW ISRAEL. And like the ancient Israel, there have to be a tribal system there. Without tribes, there shall be no genuine Israel of God. Plus, they will have to believe on Jesus Christ. It is not enough just to be a Jew or Israelite. One must believe on Jesus as the Messiah of God.
Thus they are actually being ‘sealed’ with the name of Jesus and of God on their foreheads, Rev. 14:1,
“Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him 144, 000 (men) who had His name and His Father’s name inscribed on their foreheads.”
In Hebrew this inscription will look like the one seen here. Saying - Jesus Jehovah if English. They visibly tell onlookers that they are servants of Jesus and God Jehovah.
It is an offence against the anti-Christ (the beast) and those who – at that time – have taken the mark (logo) of the beast upon their foreheads or their hand (Rev. 13:16-18). And the logo, or mark of the beast, has been hidden in plain sight, for you can see that logo below here – the hexagram (an ancient occult sign of Satan) as used in the flag of Israel. This is also the ‘Star of Rephan’ mentioned by Stephen in Acts 7:43 – it is not the ‘Star of David’ for such a symbol has never existed! Let me also add to this, that it is not the name of anti-Christ (un-coding it) which has the occult value of 666 referred in Rev. 13:18 – but it is the occult numeric value of the hexagram (mark of the beast) which gives that 666 figuration. Six tags/shapes making three sixes in sum. All those speculating ‘prophets’ out there trying to figure out who anti-Christ really is, are wasting their time by trying to figure out names giving a value of 666. That is impossible. It is the mark itself which has that hidden (occult) value of 666.
Originally the Jewish leaders at the time of UN-Declaration of Israel as a state in 1948, - had actually wanted to have a flag with the Menorah on, the seven-branched candelabrum used in the temple, and also way back when they had the Tabernacle. But certain Jews among these voted for that hexagram – and we find in history that this hexagram was the symbol used by the Rothschild dynasty. The very finance house behind the establishing of the Zionist-State Israel. They ‘washed’ the symbol by calling it “The Star of David” – knowing that it is the symbol of the satanic god idol Rephan.
There is not a chance that God has stood behind this establishment! The Israel we have in our time is entirely made and concocted by human powers (probably ignited by occult powers) such ones we can safely say does not believe on Jesus Christ. They will rather receive the anti-Christ when he comes forth!
Not only was Israel obliterated and annulled, returned back to Egypt by the Roman army forces in 71-72 AD – all because of their persecution and murder of the apostles (see Mat. 22:7), but the Zionist-Israel of 1948 will meet another round of damnation and doom and destruction, as God cast the Great Tribulation upon them. But out of that horrible seven year period, will emerge a NEW ISRAEL, a nation devoted to Jesus Christ, and they will be lawfully established in their land by God (not UN!) and shall be the Lord’s Royal Priesthood as told in Scripture. Rev. 20:4.
I am among those who really believe that we are not far away in time – it shall soon come to pass, and this present dispensation of the Church, the Body of Christ, shall soon be concluded according to Col. 3:1-4; Eph. 4:30. I think it all will be sooner than later. (Check out my article here on the site of this topic)
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