Israel matters in God’s story
Israel is not a side note in the Bible. God called Abraham, formed Israel into a people, gave the covenants and promises, and brought the Messiah, Jesus, into the world through Israel. Paul grieved over many of his fellow Jews not recognising Jesus, but he also insisted that God had not cast away his people (Romans 9:4-5; Romans 11:1-2).
In Romans 11, Paul describes a present hardening affecting part of Israel alongside the gathering of Gentiles, meaning people from the nations, into God’s people. He then looks ahead to God’s saving mercy toward Israel (Romans 11:25-26). Christians differ over precisely how and when this will unfold. Some expect a large future turning of Jewish people to Christ, while others understand Paul’s words as describing the full people of God, Jews and Gentiles together. Both views should hold tightly to God’s faithfulness.
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Jerusalem and the words of Jesus
Jesus spoke soberly about Jerusalem’s coming suffering and desolation. His words in Luke 21 had a clear connection to the city’s destruction by Rome in AD 70, when the temple was devastated. Many Christians also see in his teaching a pattern that points beyond that event towards the final fulfilment of God’s purposes (Luke 21:20-24).
That is why Jerusalem has a weighty place in Christian reflection on the end times. Still, a biblical interest in Israel must never become indifference towards the suffering of Palestinians, Israelis, Jews, Muslims, Christians, or anyone caught in violence. The God who judges evil also calls his people to seek peace, pray, and act with mercy (Psalm 122:6; Micah 6:8).
Wars are not a countdown clock
When violence breaks out in Israel and Gaza, or elsewhere in the Middle East, it is understandable to wonder whether the end has arrived. Jesus did say there would be wars, international conflict, disasters and upheaval. But he also directly warned his disciples not to be troubled or treat these things as proof that the end had come immediately (Matthew 24:6-8).
Christians have connected dramatic events to end-times prophecy throughout history, often with great confidence and often wrongly. Current events may remind us that the world is broken and that history is moving towards Christ’s return. They cannot tell us the date, the sequence of every prophecy, or which political leader fulfils a biblical image. Be careful with voices that claim more certainty than Jesus gave his disciples.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Watchful, not fearful
After Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples asked whether he would restore the kingdom to Israel at that time. He did not give them a schedule. Instead, he said that the Father has kept times and seasons within his own authority, then sent them out to be his witnesses (Acts 1:6-8). That response still gives a healthy centre for Christian hope.
So, does what is happening in Israel today mean the end times are quickly approaching? It may be part of the kind of troubled world Jesus said would continue before the end, but no one can say from Scripture that a particular conflict proves the final moment is days or years away. Pray for peace, refuse hatred, care about real people, and live ready to meet Christ today. His return is a hope for believers, not a reason to panic (Titus 2:13).
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.