How do we tie a war to Israel and the end times? Is the current war related to the end times, and is the antichrist figure about to appear? This article is written with the 2023 war in Gaza uppermost in our minds. The newspaper headlines about war in the Middle East will come and go, but the details in the Word of God will remain faithful to show us the truth.
Let’s turn to Zechariah 12-14, which talks about war with Israel from a unique perspective.
Zechariah, one of the Minor Prophet books in our Old Testament, appears to speak about the final battle that Jerusalem will face. (Future prophecies become clearer once they are imminent or currently happening. So I say, “appears to” instead of being dogmatic.) What details help us understand that final battle?
12:1-2
The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.
Jerusalem will be a cup such that people, when drinking it, will lose their reason as happens when strong drink befuddles the mind. Logic will not work with the players of this drama unfolding even today when people make plans against Israel. They will not grasp that God is at work, otherwise they, “all the peoples around,” would leave Jerusalem alone.
A siege will be held against Jerusalem and Judah (the southern area of Israel). In war, a military siege is mounted to cut off supplies from entering the besieged area. That is a detail I have never seen around Jerusalem.
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.
The Lord makes Jerusalem a “burdensome stone” to the people. The city is being likened to a large stone in a field that is a nuisance to remove and is disruptive to their comfort. Here is a warning to those who try to move that stone from where God placed it. They will be “cut in pieces.”
The Lord does this. He is riling up the nations against Israel that He might show His might against those nations, and show Himself strong to His people, strong in power, grace, and mercy.
“All that burden themselves with it” reminds me of the covenant the Lord made with Abram in Genesis 12, “those that curse you will be cursed.” It is to our nation’s benefit not to antagonize Israel. A certain group of nations listed in Ezekiel will make it their business to deal with this burden once and for all–and they will be cut in pieces.
12:7-9
The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
The Lord will save Israel against the invaders in such a powerful way that they could only credit Yahweh for their deliverance, not their military strength or their allies. He will destroy all the nations that come against it.
This reminds me of Matthew 25, where Jesus talks about the division of the sheep and goats. In that passage, the destroyed nations will be the goats–far from giving the Jews help, they were bent on destroying them.
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 firstborn.
Jesus will come and show Himself to them and the Jews will mourn for having missed their Messiah for so long. They will see the wounds in His hands. They will see the love in His eyes. And they will wail.
12:11-13
In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves
The Jews’ grief will be deep; every person will agonize over the personal pain of their loss. Every excuse they had against Jesus as the Messiah will be dried up and seen for what they were. For a variety of reasons, they had turned a blind eye to the Messiah.
During this final war, they will suffer horrific losses. With so many nations against them, how could they not? Zechariah 13:8-9 gives us more details of this gruesome aspect of war.
“And it shall come to pass in all the land,” Says the LORD, “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested.
“They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’ ”
As of 2023, the population of Israel is 9,506,000 people dwelling there. Jews make up 73.5%. Two-thirds of the nation of Israel will be killed. 6 million loved ones will be gone. A second Holocaust is on its way. (Among those who survive will be the 144,000 sealed in Revelation 7.)
The Jews’ grief will reflect their profound shock over the horror of the war’s aftermath. The Lord will destroy all the surrounding nations, but the cost to Israel will be great. The one-third remnant that remains will be refined, and their priorities purified, until they confess the Lord is their God over all.
Their veil will be torn away and they will know Him. They will look on Him whom they pierced. Zechariah 13:6 tells us the Jews will see the Crucified One scourged for them and ask,”What are those wounds between your arms?” And He’ll reply, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.” They’ll meet the one who was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and the mysterious chapter of Isaiah 53 will be revealed at last.
How exactly will the Jews meet up with their long-promised Savior? Zechariah 14 gives the answer. It first begins by establishing the context of battle.
14:1-3
Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.
Two-thirds of the nation will be gone, and half the city of Jerusalem will be part of that. Yet God gathers the nations to their sure doom. This is why no President of the United States could ever get a treaty signed. God has other plans. He means to bring them together, reveal their true face, and wipe them out.
14:4-5
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.
Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You.
The Christ will come as a light shining in the night and land on the Mount of Olives. The mountain will split and the Jews will pour through to a place of safety. I suppose among them will be the 144,000 on Revelation 7.
The Lord will have a particularly nasty way of offing the nations. Once again in Zechariah.
14:12
And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
We should remind ourselves of a few more end-times war details before wondering if this war will be the last one. We already know from Ezekiel 38 what the final nation line-up will be that will fight against Israel:
Rosh and Magog = Russia and its satellites;
Meshech and Tubal = Russia or Turkey;
Persia = Iran;
Cush = Sudan;
Put = Libya;
Gomer and Togarmah = Turkey.
These details tell us whether this is the final war before Christ comes or not. Are these nations gathered against Israel now? For more details about this list, see my article here (though I suggest reading the entire current article before checking out these links):
https://stevehusting.com/doubtbusters/israel-in-the-end-times/
Daniel 9 gives us more details of the end times that we should bear in mind if we want to check whether a war with Israel is the last war before Christ returns. Daniel 9 states that there must be a covenant with Israel made for 7 years, and the person making it will be European or Germanic. Has such a covenant been mentioned with regards to the current war?
This covenant-maker will be the one to initiate the final battle against Israel in this age. I have the details in this article:
https://stevehusting.com/doubtbusters/the-end-times-according-to-daniel-9/
The above article gave only a few highlights of the coming end-times war. I chose to look at it from the vantage point of Zechariah, a book I don’t study often. Yet it is full of details of the end times, don’t you think? I encourage you to read chapters 12-14 in their entirety to learn more.
The war in Israel is a good stepping-stone to talking about Bible prophecy. Please be careful not to set dates or say that Christ is coming soon because of the war. Use the above scripture indicators to help people make up their minds from the truth of the Bible. Help them see the indicators according to the life-buoy verses bobbing in plain view so they guide their thinking rightly.
And don’t forget to consider the practical implications regarding the end times. Jesus calls us to be ready. Do you know what He regards as being ready? The answer may surprise you, especially if you think it means to be a good person and go to church. Learn more here:
https://stevehusting.com/doubtbusters/how-can-you-prepare-yourself-for-the-rapture/
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Sources:
La Haye, Tim, Prophecy Study Bible, New King James Version, 2001 AMG Publishers
Life Application Study Bible, New American Standard Bible, 2000 Zondervan Publishing House
The population of Israel, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel
