God's Plan for Israel

For my Christian brothers and sisters who don't believe the return of Israel to their land is a fulfillment of prophecy, or perhaps believe God is done with Israel for good, how do you explain your position in light of Joel 3?

For context, here are some excerpts from Joel Chapter 2 that show this is regarding the last days. Joel writes about the Day of The Lord in verse one and two:

¹Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.

Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
² a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times
nor ever will be in ages to come.

 

Then in verse 20, a possible reference to the Gog and Magog invasion:

²⁰ “I will drive the northern horde far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench will go up;
its smell will rise.”

 

Then to wrap up chapter 2 there is a passage that is also repeated by Luke in the book of Acts when the current stage of eschatology had just begun:

²⁸ “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
³⁰ I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
³² And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,
as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors
whom the Lord calls.

 

Throughout chapter 3 it speaks of Israel being scattered across the nations, a final judgment for the offenders and that Israel will inhabit the land of Judah (Israel) forever. I will underline the scriptures that clearly outline that this event has not happened yet and I will touch on some of them below.

The Nations Judged

3 “In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
² I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will put them on trial
for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
³ They cast lots for my people
and traded boys for prostitutes;
they sold girls for wine to drink.

⁴ “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. ⁵ For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples. ⁶ You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.

⁷ “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. ⁸ I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war!
Rouse the warriors!
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
¹⁰ Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weakling say,
“I am strong!”
¹¹ Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
and assemble there.

Bring down your warriors, Lord!

¹² “Let the nations be roused;
let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit
to judge all the nations on every side.
¹³ Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
for the winepress is full
and the vats overflow—
so great is their wickedness!”

¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
¹⁵ The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
¹⁶ The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Blessings for God’s People

¹⁷ “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
dwell in Zion, my holy hill.
Jerusalem will be holy;
never again will foreigners invade her.

¹⁸ “In that day the mountains will drip new wine,
and the hills will flow with milk;
all the ravines of Judah will run with water.
A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house
and will water the valley of acacias.
¹⁹ But Egypt will be desolate,
Edom a desert waste,
because of violence done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
²⁰ Judah will be inhabited forever
and Jerusalem through all generations.
²¹ Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?
No, I will not.”

The Lord dwells in Zion!

I believe it is very clear that this passage is dealing with the last days and has not been fulfilled yet. In the passage, God is judging the nations for the mistreatment of His people, scattering them and selling them to foreign peoples. This judgment will come when God dwells in Jerusalem after He has re-established His people in Israel. In verse 17 Joel writes that never again will foreigners invade Israel. Well, Israel was invaded in 1948 and in 1973, and will be at a time yet to come (Gog and Magog invasion spoken of in Ezekiel 36-39). How could this passage already be fulfilled?

The very existence of modern day Israel after being scattered throughout the world for 2000 years and undergoing numerous attempts at her extermination is a miracle that can only be explained by God's hand. His promise endures forever.

Genesis Chapter 12:

 ¹ The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

² “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

Not only does God still have a plan for the People of Israel, he has a judgment for those who have abused her. I pray that our nation is always supportive of Israel's security needs and keeps her interests in mind. 

Washington Post Article on the Temple Mount

Recently, the Washington Post released an article that does a good job presenting the current situation surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The writer explains the issues and players that factor into the most contested and sensitive place on earth. 
Many Bible and prophecy scholars believe that the Jews must rebuild their temple in order for certain end-times events to take place (such as the abomination of desolation). Here is a compilation of bible references that imply that Israel will rebuild the temple:
Bible references to a 3rd temple

The Temple Mount as it appears today

with the al-Aqsa Mosque on top
 

Interestingly, there are preparations underway to rebuild the temple. Blueprints for the temple have been created, items to be used during priestly ceremonies have been made in accordance to biblical instruction. All that is needed now is permission from The King; no man can stop His will from being done in His timing.

The WP article touches on these preparations and more can be found at the Temple Institute web site.

Update

I will continue on with my new series as I find the time, doing the research required to write a decent article about those topics takes a lot of time. Time that I don't find very frequently. So, when I have the time, I will be writing those posts about why we can trust the Bible as true. But if and when I get snippets of time I will be posting interesting (at least I think they are) articles and videos as I stumble across them. 
Thanks for reading!