Who will Help Jacob on the Day of Trouble?
What we witnessed on October 7th, 2023 is a small sample of what will occur at a greater scale during The Days of Jacob’s trouble. The same atrocities that occurred during the Hamas massacre will occur again but globally, and at a greater intensity, having his epicenter in Israel. According to Zechariah 12:1-2 and Zechariah 14:2-3, on The Days of Jacob’sTrouble the Lord will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; the city (Jerusalem) shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zechariah 12:2-3 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.
Zechariah 12:1-2 A day of the LORD is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.
On that day cries of fear will be heard. There will be great terror, not peace. We will see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, and every face turned deathly pale. It will be an awful day for the jewish people. No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob. However the Lord will used this terrible time of anguish and turmoil to turn the heart of the Jewish people to him (Jeremiah 30:4-7). On that day when Jacob wrestles with the Lord, there will be repentance and new spiritual birth. On that day that generation of Jacob will meet him face to face.
The Lord will manifest himself to them through a powerful corporate royal queen. One that will perform the same job of intercession as Esther performed to save her people when haman made a decree to anihilate them. A queen that will risk her life for her brethren. A queen that will come boldly to the throne of grace to plead to her maker for the salvation of the Jews.
There will also be a corporate Joseph, one that has a prophetic foresight and knowing the calamities that are coming, will prepare in advance for a great famine, and will have enough provision to help his brethren. This corporate Joseph will be the one who sets a table for Israel in the wilderness, in order to feed them for 1260 days (Revelation 12:6).
There will be a corporate rahab. One that will risk her life as she is willing to hide the jews under her own roof to protect them from the enemy.
There will be a corporate Moses and Aaron. Two lampstands and two olive trees, that will perform signs and wonders in order to bring judgements over the Pharaoh of those days. They will be the ones who set Israel free from spiritual captivity as they proclaim the power of the blood of the Lamb through the word of their testimony (Revelation 11:3-6, Revelation 12:11). On that day the thick veil of unbelief that kept Israel captive will split in two, and those who put their trust in the blood of the Lamb will cross that spiritual read sea into spiritual freedom.
There will also be a corporate Elijah, that will appear as a forerunner right before the Lord returns, in order to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared (Luke 1:17. Micah 4:5-6).
In fact there will be a spotless bride that has made herself ready for the wedding supper of the Lord, one that understands her purpose and destiny as Christ helpmate. A bride that will radiate with the love and light of her bridegroom Jesus. She will be just like him and will collaborate with God’s plan.
On that day Israel will behold his savior face to face, in the wilderness of the nations, as the veil of their eyes is torn because now they are able to see their Messiah alive and dwelling in the ekklesia (Ezekiel 20:35). The presence and likeness of the risen one will be so evident among the ekklesia that Israel won’t be able to deny that their redeemer lives and operates in love and power through his body, the church.
There is no question the Lord will use that great tribulation to bring Israel to faith in Jesus, and there is no doubt he will use a remnant of his church to love them, hide them in the wilderness, feed them, support them and witness to them. But also there’s no doubt that if we do that we will also be hated and persecuted just as they will be.
So the question today is, are we willing to pay the price to fulfill our final calling as the church? Are we ready to endure and lay down our lives for our brethren the Jew? Are we spiritually, mentally and physically prepared to endure the coming persecution? Are we willing to be Jesus hands and feet even at the costs of our own lives? What are we going to do when Jews (young and old) are being persecuted, killed, taken captive and brutally abused? Are we going to be like the sheep of Mathew 25:3-46, or are we going to put our head in the sand pretending nothing is happening and act like goats? Are we going to tell Jesus: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ And then he will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
When we look at what is happening around the world we can sense and perceive that The Day is quickly approaching. So we truly need to ask ourselves what our stand is. Are we ready to be part of God’s remnant that acts like Esther, Joseph, Rahab, Elijah, and Moses and Aaron? Or are we going to become apostates because the price to pay for helping the Jew will be to high? Are we going to be like those overcomers that will rule with Christ for 1000 years because they do not cling to life when facing death? Or are we going to act cowardly, trying to save our life because of fear?
The final test of the church will be Israel. Upon that matter the Lord will separate those who are truly surrendered to him and those who are fake believers. Upon that matter the Lord will decide who’s truly mature and who’s not ready to pay the price for his sake. Upon that matter he will return and avenge his people.
Indeed God has promised that when the full was of the gentiles has come all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:25). But are we willing to enter our fullness knowing that it requires us to lay out life for our brethren, so they can enter into faith?
Indeed one day the Lord will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; and no longer will foreigners enslave them. Instead, Israel will serve the Lord their God and David their king. After the Great Tribulation the Lord will regather Israel. He will save them out of a distant place, and their descendants from the land of their exile. He will give them peace and security, and no one will make them afraid. And he will judge all the nations according to the way they have treated Israel. According to Joel 3:2 God will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There he will put them on trial for what they did to his inheritance, his people Israel, because they scattered his people among the nations and divided up his land.
So the question is, are we going to cooperate with God’s end time plan, or are we going to become a stumbling block for his will to be full filled through us. On the day of the valley of decision which side will we pick? Will we be on God’s side or on the enemy's? Today is the day to make up our minds. Today we must decide and prepare our hearts and our children’s hearts to make the right decision. Because the time is near, right at the door. May the Lord give us strength and understanding to fulfill his will.