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Three streams of prophecy

I have focused on the influence of Edom upon Zionism in recent months. However, there is a bigger picture involved in this. Edom is not the only factor driving world events today. There are actually three main factors that are involved, and if we do not understand all three, we will not be able to understand the full picture.

The three influencers within world Jewry today are: (1) Judah, (2) Edom, and (3) Gog and Magog. God is dealing with all three of these factors now.

First, we turn to the Judah factor, as this was the first of the three. Judah, also known by the Greek term Judea, was the nation formed by the exiles returning to the old land after the Babylonian captivity during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. It was imperative that they return so that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judea (Matthew 2:1), as prophesied in Micah 5:2. However, He was not accepted by the religious authorities, as they wanted a different sort of messiah—one who would drive out the Romans and put the Jews in charge of the world.

This was the conflict seen in the New Testament. From the Christian point of view, Jesus came as the legitimate King, fulfilling the calling given by Jacob to Judah in Genesis 49:10. If so, then Jesus carried the right of the Kingdom itself, and His followers were citizens of the Kingdom of Judah. Those who rejected the King essentially opted out of Judah and established citizenship in a parallel nation.

A dispute then arose as to who were the legitimate Judahites/Judeans/Jews. Did the followers of Caiaphas have the right to be called Judeans, or did the followers of Jesus retain that right? The world at large continued to refer to the non-Christian faction as Jews, but the Apostle Paul claimed this right for the Christian faction (Romans 2:28, 29).

This dispute was sent to the Divine Court to determine the truth, as Jesus implied in His parable in Luke 19:14, where we read,

¹⁴ But his citizens hated him [Jesus] and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to reign over us.”

Their appeal to God, as foretold by Jesus, resulted in a final verdict in Luke 19:27,

²⁷ But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here [to the place of the offense] and slay them in my presence.

Although the Jewish diaspora was not mentioned in this parable, we see the Zionist movement bringing “these enemies” back to the place where the revolt against the King occurred. The verdict was the death penalty. In other words, the result of Zionism is not to bring Jews into a place of peace and safety in “their own land,” but rather to bring them into divine judgment.

When we factor in the prophecies in Jeremiah 19:10, 11 and again in Isaiah 29:1-6, we see that Jerusalem itself is slated for destruction.

The Visitation

Part of the New Testament story shows how John the Baptist was sent as a fruit inspector to see if the nation, pictured as a fig tree, would bear fruit. In other words, would that nation fulfill the responsibility of the birthright to “be fruitful and multiply”? Ultimately, the birthright holders were to bring forth the sons of God.

John was executed after just one year on the job. Jesus then took over his job, as we see from Luke 13:6-9. He spent three years looking for fruit but found none. An extension of time was then added to this, a time to fertilize the tree, and the outcome is then left open ended. Yet it is clear that if no fruit could be found, the tree was to be cut down.

In the final week of Jesus’ ministry, He cursed the fruitless fig tree (Matthew 21:19), telling it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” The tree withered up by the next morning. Jesus later qualified this incident by telling His disciples in Matthew 24:32,

³² Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.

In other words, the cursed fig tree, which was dead, would come back to life and put forth leaves as a sign that the end of the age was near. This passage has been used to prove that the Jewish state would again arise. I myself was taught this at an early age, and I have no reason to doubt it to this day.

The main disagreement that I have with them is that they fail to distinguish between leaves and fruit. Jesus did not curse the fig tree for its lack of leaves. He was hungry and wanted fruit. He then forbade fruit from ever growing on that tree again. Hence, when the tree began to bear more leaves in 1947-1948, this did not make Jesus a false prophet. It is only if that tree actually bears fruit that Jesus might be accused as a false prophet.

Hence, I do not believe that the Zionist state will meet the conditions of the birthright, even though Christian Zionists still have hope and confidence that it will bear fruit.

So the prophecy about the fig tree nation (Judah) overlaps with the prophecies of Edom. The two sets of prophecies have the same outcome in common, each with a different emphasis. Edom coveted the land and vowed to return some day, as in Malachi 1:4, yet without producing the required fruit. The faction of Judah which rejected the King lost their nation in the Roman war, but their “tree” was to come back to life in the end. Unfortunately, it too could not bear fruit, even though the tree was well dunged (Luke 13:8 KJV) throughout the centuries.

Gog and Magog

The third factor in world Jewry today is Gog and Magog from the well-known passage in Ezekiel 38 and 39. There we see people from various countries, led by Gog from the land of Magog, coming to invade the mountains of Israel. Most Christian commentators assume that this speaks of a Russian invasion, not knowing that it is, in fact, an invasion of Zionist Russian Jews.

Eastern European Jews, forming perhaps 80 percent of world Jewry today, are known as the Ashkenazim. The other main branch of Jewry is the Sephardim, or “Spanish” Jews. The Sephardim are the descendants of the Jews who were displaced and scattered by the Romans in the first century. This branch includes the Edomite Jews.

The Ashkenazim were Jewish converts about 600-700 years later. As the Jewish history tells us, King Bulan of Khazaria (centered in what is now Ukraine) adopted Judaism, and most of his nobles followed his example. Over the centuries, many common people did the same. Eventually, the Rus came down from the north and conquered the Khazars, incorporating them into what became known as Russia.

In 960 A.D. a Jewish doctor from Spain heard about a Jewish kingdom north of the Black Sea and wrote a letter to its king inquiring of its origins. King Joseph wrote back and told him that the Khazars were descendants of Togarmah, who is mentioned in Genesis 10:3. We learn from the same verse that Togarmah’s brother was Ashkenaz.

Ezekiel 38:6 tells us that among the invaders of the mountains of Israel were Beth-Togarmah, the House of Togarmah. Hence, the Khazars, who were of Togarmah, yet who also converted to Judaism (640-740 A.D.), are prophesied to be among the invaders in Ezekiel 38 and 39. These are not Orthodox Russians, but Khazar Jews. They did not use uniformed troops to invade the land. It was conquest by immigration a century ago through the Zionist movement.

Furthermore, Genesis 10:2 tells us that Gog and Magog were Togarmah’s uncles. They were of the same family and the same house. So Ezekiel 38:2 includes them in list of invaders, along with the House of Togarmah. Ezekiel 38:12 tells us that their motive for invading is “to capture spoil and to seize plunder.”

Because the Khazars were not Judeans and had nothing to do with the Roman war, their only claim to Palestine was in the fact that they had converted to Judaism and therefore had come under the Old Covenant which forms the basis of Judaism. Some today claim that the Khazars are not real Jews. They base their view on the idea that being a Jew is based on race and biology rather than religion or law. In my view, the Khazars are indeed Jews, as are many who have converted to Judaism over the centuries.

Nonetheless, their motive for invading the mountains of Israel differs from the remnant of Judah and from Edom. Gog and Magog and the House of Togarmah joined the Zionist movement in order to plunder what was not theirs—land, in particular. This is one of the main issues characterizing the Zionist state from its beginning. The Palestinians object to this, and when they try to fight back, they are labeled “terrorists,” and the Israelis claim the right of self-defense.

God is now ready to resolve all of these big issues. He is resolving the case for the true Messiah who is the rightful Heir to the throne as King of the Judeans/Jews. Will the Jews who have rejected Jesus as the Messiah bear fruit or not?

He is resolving the controversy/legal cause of Zion (Isaiah 34:8), which is the case that Edom filed against Jacob for his unlawful seizure of the dominion mandate.

And finally, He is resolving the case for the Palestinians who object to the plunder of their land.

All of these cases are being heard at the same time even now.