Author: Richard Wilkins

Written by: Bill Perkins
Date: 24 December, 2024

Zechariah 12:3
“And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.

I recently had a conversation with someone I’m pretty certain is a Believer. She, in no uncertain terms, let me know how much she detested Israel.

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Note: If the link above no longer works, please go to the Compass International website (https://compass.org/) and insert the title of this article into their search engine.

By Robin.

On the 9th of the month of Av (2-3 August 2025) the Jewish people have a day of mourning called Tisha B’Av. The meaning of Tisha B’Av is the “9th of Av” and commemorates what are generally acknowledged to be the two most tragic events of Jewish history.

It was on this day that the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s Temple in 586 B.C. and on this same day in A.D. 70 that the Romans levelled the Second Temple with fire. Tisha B’Av is therefore set aside as a very somber fast day on the Jewish calendar.

Throughout Jewish history several other calamities have coincided with Tisha B’Av.

In A.D. 135 the Bar Kochba Rebellion was violently crushed by the Romans ending any hope for Jewish independence for the next 1800 years.

In the year 1290 all Jews were expelled from England on Tisha B’Av for no other crime than being Jewish.

On Tisha B’Av in the year 1292, the Catholic King and Queen of Spain launched the Inquisition. During the following years, hundreds of thousands of Spanish Jews were commended to convert to Catholicism or be burned at the stake.

Today, Tisha B’Av has come to be regarded as a symbol of all the tragedies of the Jewish People.

The mood for the synagogue is somber. Prayers and Scripture readings are chanted in hushed, melancholy tones. The assigned Scripture reading from the Prophets is Jeremiah 8:13 to 9:23 where the prophet is overcome by agony and grief at the sins of the people. The entire scroll of Lamentations is also read during the service. Worshippers listen with aching hearts to the intense distress of Jeremiah as he laments the devastation of his people and capital city;

Lamentations 2:11
“My eyes fail with tears … because of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem)”.

Is Israel forever destined to mourn her sin and the loss of her Temple?

There is a day coming when Israel will repent and her sins be remembered no more (Jeremiah 31:34) and Ezekiel and Zechariah tell us, her holy Temple will be restored, far more glorious than ever can be imagined. Most importantly, the Lord will reign from the new Temple and be King over the whole earth and the mourning of Tisha B’Av will be replaced by great joy and gladness.

While in Egypt the Hebrews were under the Law of the Pharaohs.

Having been taken out of Egypt and God declaring them to be a Nation, they now needed a rule of Law to live by. At Mount Sinai, God gives them His Holy Standard known as The Law or the Mosaic Law or Covenant (sometimes referred to as the Old Covenant today). The Jews include the first five books of the Bible in the Law, or the Torah as they call it.

This rule of law was only given to the Jews; not to any other nation.
The reason for this was to set the Jewish people apart from the other nations in order for them to be Holy and to be His alone.

The people agreed to this new Law.

Exodus 19: 8
Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

The law in and of itself is good.

Romans 7:12
Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

However, the one thing it could not give them, or us, is the power needed to fulfil its demands.

Hebrews 7: 18-19
For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

As a result of this deficiency, the need for the sacrificial system was introduced.

In addition, we also read that the Law gives sin it’s power.

1 Corinthians 15:56
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

The result of all this? No one is justified before God by the Law.

Galatians 3:11-12
But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” ¹² Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”

Galatians 2:21
“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain”.

Then why the Law?

Galatians 3:19-25
What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. ²⁰ Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. ²¹ Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. ²² But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. ²³ But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

The breaking of the Law did not annul the previous Covenant God made with the nation of Israel, that is, the Abrahamic Covenant, as that was an unconditional covenant. (That’s why today even though they reject Jesus and break the Law the land is still theirs).

God told them He would give them a new, and better, Covenant.

Jeremiah 31:31
“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah … .

The Lord Jesus Christ is the mediator of this new Covenant and the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Hebrews 9:15
And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Romans 10:4
and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

Jewish and Gentile believers follow the Law of Christ today as led by the Holy Spirit.

Written by: One For Israel

Sometimes, the celebrations of Passover and Easter coincide, but sometimes they can be weeks apart. Why is this? If Yeshua died at Passover, why does the Christian church mark his death and resurrection at a different time? How did they get separated? …

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Note: If the link above no longer works, please go to the One For Israel website (https://www.oneforisrael.org/) and insert the title of this article into their search engine.

By Robin and Michael

Answer: Romans 11:26 plainly says, “All Israel will be saved”. The question that arises is “What is meant by Israel?” Is the future “Israel” literal or figurative (i.e. referring to the ethnic Jews or referring to the Church)? Those who take a literal approach to the promises of the Old Testament believe that the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be restored to a right relationship with God and receive the fulfilment of the covenants. Those who advocate replacement theology basically affirm that the Church has completely replaced Israel and will inherit God’s promises to Israel, but will not inherit the curses; the covenants, then, will be fulfilled only in a spiritual sense. In other words, replacement theology teaches that Israel will not inherit the Promised Land; the Church is the “new Israel”, and ethnic Israel is forever excluded from the promises.

At Awake To Israel, we believe the literal approach is correct. Consider the context of Romans 11:25 clearly states that “Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”. This is extremely difficult to view as figurative for the Church, as it makes no sense at all. Also, the preceding text (Romans 11:16-24) depicts Israel as distinct from the Church: the “natural branches” are the Jews, and the “wild branches” are the Gentiles. The “olive tree” is the collective people of God. Some of the “natural branches” (Jews) are “cut-off” the tree in unbelief, and the “wild branches” (believing Gentiles) are grafted in. This has the effect of making the Jews “jealous” and then drawing them to faith in Christ, so they might be “grafted in” again and receive their promised inheritance. The “natural branches” are still distinct from the “wild branches”, so that God’s covenant with His people is literally fulfilled. Romans 11:25-29 (which cites both Isaiah 59:20-21 and Jeremiah 31:33-34), says:

Romans 11:25-29
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; ²⁷ For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” ²⁸ Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Paul emphasises the “irrevocable” nature of Israel’s calling as a nation. Isaiah predicted that a “remnant” of Israel would one day “be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD” (Isaiah 62:12). God proclaims that while His covenant with the natural ordinances are still in effect, Israel will not cease to be a nation before Him (Jeremiah 31:35-37; 33:19-26). Paul speaks of the “full inclusion” of Israel in the future (Romans 11:12). Regardless of Israel’s current state of unbelief, a future remnant will in fact repent and fulfil Moses’ prediction of Israel’s permanent restoration to the land (Deuteronomy 30:1-10). God’s larger redemptive plan involves both Jews and Gentiles. When Paul says Israel will be “saved”, he means their deliverance to this physical inheritance as integral to God’s ultimate plan (Romans 11:30-36).

So how will “all Israel be saved” and restored to the land? The details of this deliverance are filled out in passages such as Zechariah 8 – 14 and Revelation 7 – 19, which speak of end-times Israel at Christ’s return. The key verse describing the coming to faith of the future remnant of Israel is Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a first-born”. This occurs during the tribulation prophesied in Daniel 9:24-27. The apostle John references this event in Revelation 1:7. The faithful remnant of Israel is epitomised in Revelation 7:1-8 and 11:1-12. God will seek them out:

Zechariah 8:7-8
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east And from the land of the west; ⁸ I will bring them back, And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people And I will be their God, In truth and righteousness“.

The tribulation period will feature unprecedented apostasy in Israel for 3 ½ years, then during the second half of the Tribulation, Satan will be confined to the earth (Rev. 12:7-12) and once Satan is confined to this earth he knows his time is short (Rev. 12:12), and, knowing his time is short, he persecutes the Jews (Rev. 12:17). He must try to destroy the Jews before they have a chance to plead for the Messiah to return. The persecutions of the Jews will begin in the middle of the Tribulation and will continue until we come to the beginning points of the Campaign of Armageddon, towards the end of the Tribulation. During the period of the persecutions of the Jewish people, approximately two thirds of the Jewish population of that day will be killed, but one third will be left in the closing days, weeks, or months of the Tribulation. The Campaign of Armageddon is specifically organised by Satan for the purpose of annihilating once and for all the one-third Remnant of the Jewish people still living. Then there will be a “second exodus” arranged by God to protect the faithful remnant from Satan (Revelation 11—12) just as in the first Exodus. Some people believe this will be in Bozra, but we don’t wish to speculate on this.

The basis of the Second Coming of Messiah is Israel’s national regeneration. Until Israel as a nation confesses their sin & is saved; until Israel as a nation looks to the One whom they have pierced; until Israel as a nation cries out for Him to return with the words: “Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord”; there will be no Second Coming (Leviticus 26:40-42; Jeremiah 3:12- 18; Hosea 5:15-6:3; Zechariah 12:10; Matthew. 23:37-39). While the Rapture of the Church has no preconditions and can happen at any moment of time, the Second Coming does have this one precondition. We believe from scripture that both Israel’s regeneration and Messiah’s second coming will be at the closing stages of the tribulation. Isaiah predicted this as well: “In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people” (Isaiah 11:11). The gospel will be preached to all the world, and Christ will return to meet the faithful remnant (Revelation 14) and destroy the armies gathered against Him in rebellion (Revelation 19). The apostates left in Jerusalem will be purged, and the remnant set apart forever as God’s holy people (Zechariah 13:8-14:21). Isaiah 12 is their song of deliverance: Zion will rule over all the nations defeated under the banner of Messiah the King, and Israel’s “salvation” is the wholeness and peace she will enjoy during the millennial reign of Christ.