The Connection Between Jesus' Return and Israel

As I was talking to my friend (a devout Christian) a few years, he casually mentioned that the existence of Israel is a major sign of the return of Jesus. Me being ignorant about the subject, found my self shocked for two reason. The first is that Jesus actually comes back, something I didn’t know before, and the second was that Israel is somehow involved in his return.

Sometime later, I was flipping through channels, and happened to land on Vision TV (religion TV station) where one of the most famous evangelist speakers was talking about the return of Jesus. I don’t know the speaker’s name, although I’ve seen him on TV a billion times, selling prayer handkerchiefs and all kinds of religious “paraphernalia”. Anyway, in his speech to over 5000 audience members, he was preaching the importance of the state of Israel, and how “we as Christians should support and protect it.”

Looking up the matter on the web a few days ago, I came across a ton of resources on the subject. Here’s what “Hawaiian Christians Online” had to say:

Let us repeat the prophecy in Matthew 24:34: Jesus is speaking "Now learn this
lesson from the fig tree." The fig tree is used to represent
Israel. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you
know that summer is here. Even so, when you see things, you know that it
is near, right at the door." Jesus is speaking of the signs of His
return. He is indicating the period. When Israel blossoms forth the
time is here.

In 1948 the State of Israel was inaugurated and Israel was once again re-occupied by her peoples. Jesus continues, "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." The term generation connotes a period of 40 years and Jesus was saying that the generation in terms of 1948 will be there to see His return.

I highlighted particular words of interest in the passage above. I will not explain why these words stand out; I think you should know just by reading them.

What I find particularly interesting is how a fig tree is interpreted as being Israel. The whole reasoning and prophecies that follow, are based solely on the assumption that a fig tree = Israel. Furthermore, it’s important to highlight how the protection of Israel is becoming more of a religious activity, rather than a political one. Thousands of Christians in the US are being brainwashed every Sunday morning with the importance of Israel, and how they should protect it.

Many Arab bloggers have been focusing on the extremism that exists within Islam, and how it’s leading to terrorism. I think we should start paying more attention, and in a sense, start covering extremism of Christians, Jews, and other religions as well. Extremism is bad no matter what the religion is. We should at least take a fair shot at all religions, and not repeat the popular stories heard all over the media and blogosphere.

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