Heaven Bound

Who could forget this story from almost a year ago today?  A gray whale spotted off the coast of Israel. An event so unlikely that one of the headlines read, “Mediterranean Gray Whale Appears Back from the Dead”.   A discovery so rare and so exciting that headlines around the world carried the story.  To refresh your memory, it was thought that the gray whale had been extinct in the Atlantic for several hundreds of years. To spot one in the Mediterranean was almost beyond belief.  How the whale got there was anyone’s guess and it is believed the whale had to have crossed from one ocean to the other (Pacific to Atlantic) by traveling through an ice packed passage in the Arctic Sea; a very long and arduous journey.

I find this story interesting for a lot of reasons.  Some of which I covered last May in a piece titled “The Sign of Jonah”.  With Israel’s 63rd birthday just a few days away, I thought it might be interesting to re-visit the story which occurred just a few days prior to Israel’s 62nd birthday on May 14.  https://cindybythesea.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/the-sign-of-jonah/

Alot has happened in the last year and in recent months and days the face of the middle-East has changed.  Israel’s enemies surround her and the prospect of a third intifada in the next few days has been given to them as both a promise and a threat.  On the 26th of Iyar 1967 (June 5) the six-day war broke out leading to the re-capturing of Jerusalem and on the 26th day of Iyar 2010 (May 10) the whale story made headline news. I always find it interesting when dates and events are linked; I can’t help but, think God is trying to show us something.

But, why would these dates be linked?

The Bible tells us that when Jonah was cast in to the sea, God prepared a great fish.  If not for the great fish, Jonah most certainly would have drowned.  Hidden within the belly of the fish, there was no reason for anyone who had seen him slip into the fathomless depths to believe that he was anything but, dead. But, he was not dead (or God revived him) and 3 days later, the reluctant prophet was regurgitated from the belly of the great fish to fulfill the calling to which God had called him.

The story of Jonah as most of us know foreshadow the death and resurrection of the Messiah who was hidden within the heart of the earth for three days and came forth to live once again. The nation of Israel seems to echo the same thing.  Swallowed up by the nations in the diaspora and given up for dead, the nation of Israel miraculously came forth to live again in 1948 as prophesied by Ezekiel in his vision of the dry bones.

God has not forgotten the mandate he gave the Jewish people when he called them to be a light to the nations. Just as he did not forget the calling placed on the prophet Jonah to go and  preach to the gentile nation of Ninevah.  From 1967 to 2010 is 43 years – add another 7 and you get 2017 – a year many believe will be a year of Jubilee and will also mark 50 years that Jerusalem has been re-established as the capital of Israel.

I’m wondering if the gray whale off the coast of Israel last year was a sign to them (Israel) that God has not forgotten the purpose for which he has called them.  And, while they may not recognize it as such yet, in time they will. In a few short days, Israel will reach her 63rd birthday – just seven years shy of a biblical generation. The next seven years may well be the last on the prophetic calendar and the most important in the life of this young nation just recently re-born. Days of destiny for her and for the world.  And, without the church to aid her, help her and pray for her, she will struggle through her darkest hour to become the shining light to the nations that God has always intended.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper who love thee” Psalm 122:6     Watching and waiting with YOU for the soon return of Jesus!  Cindy