We are now in our eighth year of presenting a Prophecy Update.  This is #397 in that series.

We talk a lot about prophecy because one quarter of the Bible is devoted to it.  One in every four verses is either a fulfilled prophecy, or a future one awaiting its fulfillment.

Eighty-percent of the Bible’s prophecies have already come true.  Those that have not come true are all concerned with what we commonly call the end times, or the last days.  They, too, must be fulfilled to the letter.

What do we mean by “Prophecy Update?”  It is our belief that we can identify trends in the world, and news, that would be expected in light of the unfulfilled prophecies.

We’re not saying that the things we report are the fulfillment of prophecies – only that they are what you’d expect to be happening in the light of what we know about the future.

The rebirth of the modern state of Israel is a miraculous fulfillment of Bible prophecies.  God said He would disperse His people all over the earth but that, in the last days, He would draw them back.  And He has.

The Bible also predicted Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, would be a “cup of trembling,” causing the other nations of the world problems (Zechariah 12:2).

Eventually, all the nations of the world will be against Israel (Joel 3:2; Amos 9:9; Zechariah 14:2; Matthew 24:9).

You’d expect, in light of that prophecy, for more-and-more nations to be against Israel, even today.  And that is certainly the trend.

Israeli’s see it.  ynetnews.com in Israel posted a story titled, Nearly three quarters of Israeli Jews feel that the ‘whole world is against us.’

Excerpts:

The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) and Tel Aviv University have released the monthly Peace Index poll…
 
According to the report’s findings, the Jewish public is aware of the deterioration that has occurred in Israel’s international status, which seems to stem from the intensification of voices calling to boycott Israel and its institutions.
 
The report highlights the clear majority (71%) of the Jewish public, agrees with the assertion that: “The countries of the world make moral demands of Israel that they do not make of other countries that are in situations of conflict.”
 
This sentiment represents the broader consensus in feeling that “the whole world is against us.” Similarly, a large majority (69%) of Israeli Jews characterize Israel’s relations with the countries of the world as not good, the study found.

http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/0,2506,L-4666517,00.html

Here is something you may have noticed.  I’ll quote from an article I read:

Figures with deep roots in America’s religious right have launched a quiet effort aimed at pushing evangelical Christians away from decades of growing loyalty to Israel and toward increased solidarity with the Palestinians.

The campaign by a coalition of religious leaders, international nonprofits, and activists has taken place in recent years largely behind the scenes and away from the prying eyes of the political press – and it’s being driven by a generation of Evangelicals alienated by the way their faith was yoked to Republican foreign policy during the Bush years.  

Now, organizations like the Telos Group and the large Christian nonprofit World Vision have joined a small army of ministers and Christian opinion-makers working to reorient Evangelicals’ stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – producing documentaries about the plight of Palestinian Christians, providing theological rationale for a more “balanced” view of the issue, and taking Evangelicals on trips to the Middle East.

In June 2011, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey… A majority of American evangelical leaders (49%) expressed neutrality when asked if they sympathize more with Israelis or with Palestinians.  Thirty percent expressed support for Israelis, 13% for the Palestinians.

… it highlighted the fact that only a minority within the evangelical leadership today hold strong pro-Israel views when it comes to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and attendant conflict with the Palestinians.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/07/israel-losing-support-biggest-ally-evangelical-christians.html

It’s just what you’d expect from reading the Bible.

We don’t expect, or need, to see anything happen, or to be fulfilled, before Jesus can resurrect and rapture the church.  It is presented in the Bible as imminent.

Are you ready for the rapture?  If not, get ready, stay ready, and keep looking up.  Ready or not, Jesus is coming!