If we extend the imagery to the world of science and technology, the eagle flying in mid-air could be a great communications satellite. With its awesome solar panel-wings, it looks like a giant bird, and it transmits pictures and sound. John sees and hears it. Even more important than who or what the eagle is exactly, is its message. Everyone is able to see and hear it, because the eagle is flying high in mid-air, so that the whole world is able to see and hear it. It calls out with a prophetic voice. This messenger is able to announce the next trumpets in advance, just as the prophets in ancient Israel proclaimed God’s judgments, but were often allowed to say ‘Repent’ as well. And who knows whether anyone will hear and listen! Alas, this verse does not say anything about people repenting as a result.
How different was the reaction to Jonah’s message,1 much to the regret of the prophet of the message of doom, Jonah himself.2 Nineveh repented and turned to God and so God put His burning anger aside. A hundred and twenty thousand people were spared, as well as a lot of cattle. God relented and did not bring the destruction He had threatened upon them. Although many years later Nineveh was ransacked and fell. The preaching of the prophets regarding judgment is not always unconditional, and the Judge’s sentence can therefore be averted by repentance. But yes, there is unconditional judgment proclamation, such as the prophecies about the Babylonian Exile to come. And it surely did. In many cases though, there is a possibility of individual repentance, change of heart, turn around however. Even though judgment inevitably in the end take place upon planet earth. One can be saved. And believers know: even if I die, through whatever cause, be it disease, old age, a traffic accident, martyrdom, war, hunger or drowning, or apocalyptic events in the end times: I know that I belong to the Lord and that I shall not even be judged,3 for I have crossed over from death to life through faith by grace. I am born again and now Heaven is my home! I will live forever! For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.4 Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!5 I’m safe in Jesus in the fierce centre of war and battle, says an old hymn.
And an old song of Israel says: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.6
• What kind of ‘tribulation’ Israel will be in, it can never lead to their total destruction. The Lord promised in Jeremiah 31:35-37 “This is what the Lord says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord Almighty is His Name: “Only if these decrees vanish from My sight,” declares the Lord, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before Me.”
• There will always be the Jewish people and Israel. Israel has the guarantee for their existence by the Creator of Heaven and earth Himself. Only if the Universe is no longer there, no longer Israel and the Jewish people will be there. When that happens, nothing will be there anymore!
• As long as there is the rhythm of day and night, as long as the laws of nature are functioning – I’d rather call them ‘the institutions of Creation – as long as the Universe is there, there will be Israel. No matter how many times the ‘powers of darkness’ have tried to kill all the Jews and wipe out Israel from the map of the world in the past – and will continue to do so today and in the future: they will not succeed.
• But some say: ‘Cannot He reject them because of all the wrong-doing they sometimes do?’ The Lord says: ‘Only if you can follow My intelligence in Creation, in the macro-cosmos and the micro-cosmos, in the vast and expanding Universe, and in the tiny particles, atoms, neutrons, quarks and wavelengths of matter itself, only then will I reject Israel because of all the wrongdoings they sometimes do.’ And we never can. The more scientists discover the bigger the question-marks become. We have only scratched surface, scientists tell us. The Intelligence behind it all is so dazzling that we will never be able to follow the intelligence of the Creator.
• This is what the Lord says: “Only if the Heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out [and we never can] will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord. So not even because of all their wrongdoings will I ever reject them and wipe them out from the face of the earth, the Lord says.
• Today everything in the world seems to be shaking. Is this tremendous assurance for Israel’s existence falling apart as well? No. The Lord Jesus says: this ‘generation’ (meaning this ‘race’, this nation, the people of Israel, the Jews) will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.7
• The end of history can only come when all the promises God made to Israel will have been fulfilled for Israel. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away,” Jesus says. Therefore, Israel is the greatest sign of hope the world has ever seen.
Bible References:
1.Jonah 3 2.Jonah 4 3.John 5:24 4.1 Thessalonians 5:9 5.Romans 5:9 6.Psalm 46 7.Matthew 24:32-35
