In this episode, we delve into the notion that Israel is not just a historical nation but a prophetic symbol predestined to play a critical role in the global spiritual landscape. Rabbi Schneider provides an erudite interpretation of biblical texts, inviting listeners to see God’s ongoing relationship with Israel as key to comprehend end-time prophecies. This enlightening discourse emphasizes the continuity of God’s promises and their eventual fulfillment, urging believers to embrace their spiritual duties with renewed understanding.
Welcome to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider. I’m your host, Dustin Roberts. And today we’re discussing Jacob’s time of trouble and its relevancy for us today. Have you ever wondered what’s so special about Israel? I mean, why does so many people make such a fuss over such a small patch of land that’s really the size of New Jersey? Well, Rabbi Schneider, he talks about that today as we continue our study on decrypting the book of Revelation. This little country plays a massive role and we’ll be looking at God’s plan of salvation that began with Israel and it continues all the way through the great tribulation. So let’s get started. Here’s Rabbi to share more insights into the end days as revealed in the book of Revelation.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is a very unique and exciting series. What I’m doing in this series, Decrypting the Book of Revelation, is showing you how what the Old Testament, or we call in Hebrew the Tanakh, teaches the same thing about the end days as what John and Jesus in the New Testament teach about it. So we’re gonna go through the major events spoken of in the Book of Revelation concerning the end times, and I’m going to show you how they play out time-wise, and I’m going to be teaching how they connect to what the Old Testament prophets and patriarchs wrote. I think this is going to happen. You’re going to get to the end of this series, and you’re going to have a much better feel and idea about how end times are going to play out and about the major themes of the book of Revelation. I know that some of you have felt a bit like I felt in the past, and some of you feel today. You want to understand the book of Revelation, but frankly, it confuses you and scares you. You know, I was like that, as I said, for many, many years. I would read the book of Revelation. It would confuse me and scare me. But I’m confident of this, beloved one, by the end of this series, you’re going to have a good understanding of the book of Revelation. So with that said, I want to get right in now to the first theme that we read about in the end times, both with what Jesus said and what John revealed to us in the book of Revelation. I’m going to be talking today, beloved, about what the Hebrew Bible calls Jacob’s trouble and what Jesus referred to as a great tribulation. Now, as we speak about Jacob’s trouble or the Great Tribulation, many of you are familiar with the term tribulation. It speaks of a time that’s coming on planet Earth, beloved, that is going to be so horrific. It’s going to be so intensely difficult that there’s never been a time like it on planet Earth before. But before I actually get into some of the dynamics of Jacob’s trouble or the Great Tribulation, Now let’s take a step back for a second and consider this. When God began His plan of salvation, how did He do it? He did it, beloved, through the Hebrew people. He did it through the Israelites that we call today the Jewish people. We can go back in Scripture and we see that God made a covenant with Abraham. And God said that this covenant that he was making with Abraham was unique in two ways. Number one, that God said to Abraham, listen, Abraham, I’m going to choose you and your descendants out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. So firstly, we read that Abraham’s descendants are very unique. But the other outstandingly unique feature about this covenant that began with Abraham is that God said through this covenant, Abraham, I am going to bless, get this now, all the nations, all the peoples on the face of of the earth. So God’s plan of salvation, his plan of redemption, his means of blessing people, beloved ones, it began with Israel. Now, the reason that I’m pointing this out to you is that Israel is also going to be at the center of the tribulation, and Israel as a people and as a nation play a central theme in all the events, beloved, that we speak of when we speak of the end times culminating at Jesus’ return. Now, there’s going to be a lot of scriptures that I’m going to be going through during this entire series. It’s very much a teaching series. So I would encourage you to get a notebook out. I would encourage you even to record it every week and start a Bible study around it with friends because I actually have teaching notes that you can get at no cost through my website. I’ve got study questions through the teaching notes. all the scriptures that I’ve used, and you can begin to discuss these. It would really be a very easy way to begin a Bible study in your home. And you know what? That’s a great way for you to build the kingdom of God on earth. Well, with that said, I want to begin now to iterate what I’m referring to when I begin to look at some scriptures. I want to go to the book of Deuteronomy to begin today, beloved ones. Chapter number seven, verse number six, hear the word of God. The Lord said to Israel, for you are a holy people to the Lord or to Yahweh, which is God’s personal covenant name. You are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you. Once again, he’s speaking to the physical descendants of Abraham. Listen, God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. So the point that I want you to understand today is that Israel is a very unique people. Now God said to Israel in the New Testament in the book of Romans that the gifts and calling of God, listen once again, Because a lot of people think today that the Jewish people are no longer God’s chosen people. But listen, they are still a unique chosen people. God said to Israel in the Book of Romans, the gift and calling of God upon your life is irrevocable. So God has set apart, that’s what it means to make holy, to set apart for himself. Why am I speaking about this now? We’re talking about the end times. Because God’s end times administration is going to continue to flow to the world through Israel as we enter in, beloved, to the last days. Let’s continue now. I’m going to read in the book of Genesis as we continue this same thing. The Lord said, now listen, now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and from your relatives and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you. And I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great. Now get this next word here. And you shall be a blessing and I’ll bless those that bless you. And the one who curses you, I bless. will curse. Two points once again. Israel is a unique people. God chose them. But why did God choose them? Listen to what I said again. Why did God choose Israel? So that they could be his vehicle, beloved ones. Listen now, to bless the world. And this applies to what’s going to be happening on planet Earth during the end times.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus and Rabbi Schneider will be right back. To go beyond what you’re hearing today and to connect with this ministry further, simply visit us online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. While you’re there, be sure to sign up to receive Rabbi’s weekly Seeds of Revelation newsletter, which includes up-to-the-minute ministry news, along with a powerful video devotional. or if you prefer to connect by phone, call us today at 888-MY-RABBI. At the core of everything we do at Discovering the Jewish Jesus is our commitment to declare the whole counsel of God’s Word from start to finish. In fact, Rabbi’s unique way of connecting the Old and the New Testaments has helped people all over the world to understand the Bible with fresh eyes. To join us in this work of God, give a donation online today at discoveringthejewishjesus.com or call 800-777-7835. And now here is Rabbi Schneider.
SPEAKER 02 :
As we continue, I want you to notice that the Lord said to Israel through Zechariah that they were the apple of his eye. In Amos chapter three, verse two, they are unique above all the peoples, all the families on the face of the earth. Now let’s listen again as we continue this theme And I want you to hear, not that Israel is better than anybody, but they’re unique, and the reason God chose them was so that they would be a blessing. Genesis 12, verses one through three. And in you, the Lord said, all the families of the earth, I’m looking at the third verse, and in you, All the families of the earth will be blessed. You know, Paul spoke about this blessing that has come to the world through Israel as being fulfilled in Messiah Jesus. He talked about that in the book of Galatians. And in the book of Galatians, once again, Paul quoted the Torah. He quoted from the book of Genesis. Let me read for you what he quoted now. I’m reading now Genesis chapter 22. Verses 17 and 18, this is the portion that Paul quoted from in the book of Galatians when he was speaking about Israel being the vehicle through which God would carry out his plan of redemption on planet Earth. And once again, church, this plan of redemption carries on through the end times. Israel, what I’m wanting you to hear on today’s message is that Israel is going to play a very important role through the end times. In fact, I believe that right now, The fact that God is raising up Jewish evangelists like myself is part of end times fulfillment that we read about in the book of Revelation. I’m reading now Genesis 22, verse 17 and 18. Indeed, the Lord said, I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. Now listen, in your seed… all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. And so now that we’ve established that Israel is going to play a very unique role continuing even in the end times, I’m turning now to the role of Israel, get this now church, in what Jesus called in the book of Matthew chapter 24, the great tribulation. I’m going to the book of Jeremiah. Now I want you to hear me for a second when I say this. When we read about many things that happen in Israel, in the Tanakh or in the Old Testament, they happen, listen, both literally and historically at the time that they were being written, but they were also prophetic in the sense that they pointed to something greater in the future. I know that’s confusing. Let me give you an example. In the book of Matthew, we read that when Jesus was born, Herod decided he was gonna kill the male Jewish babies, the male Hebrew babies, because he had heard that a Messiah had been born. So as a result of that, we know an angel appears to Joseph, Jesus’ father, and tells Joseph, take the child to Egypt, for Herod is going to kill the babies. So Joseph takes Jesus into Egypt. Now after some time had passed, the angel again appeared to Joseph while Joseph was in Egypt with Yeshua and said to Joseph, listen, I want you to take the child now out of Egypt and bring him back to Israel. So what Matthew does is he takes this incident when God had called Israel out of Egypt back in the Torah And it says, and out of Egypt did I call my son. And in that scripture, in the prophets, when the Lord says, out of Egypt did I call my son, this is spoken of in the book of Hosea, what we find there that God was speaking about him literally taking the children of Israel out of Egypt approximately more than 3,500 years ago, about 3,500 years ago. And yet Matthew uses that same verse to share how Jesus was brought out of Egypt back into Israel after Herod wasn’t killing the Jewish children anymore. So how then does that scripture that Hosea wrote when he was speaking about God calling Israel out of Egypt 3,500 years ago apply to Yeshua today, or I should say, you know, during this generation, meaning this season of the New Testament times, when God brought Jesus out of Egypt? The point was, is that When God brought Israel out of Egypt, it not only had application in its initial historical context, but it was also prophetic, listen now, because Jesus fulfills Israel’s history. In other words, what Israel went through, Jesus went through to bring Israel’s fulfillment to its climax in himself. Another example. Israel, what do they do? They’re in the wilderness for 40 years. So how does Jesus begin his ministry? The Bible says the Spirit of the Lord led him into the wilderness to fast for 40 days. And so the point that I’m making, beloved children of God, is that Israel’s history that we read about in the Bible had application in the literal historical context, but it also was prophetic in that it pointed to something greater that was going to be fulfilled in Jesus. This is also true, I’m just trying to help you understand this, this is also true of all the holy days that God gave the children of Israel. So for example, When did the Spirit of God come? The Spirit of God came, we read in Acts chapter 2, on Pentecost. But Pentecost is actually a holiday that the Jewish people had been celebrating for 1,500 years before Acts chapter 2. And it symbolized to them the time that God spoke to Israel from Mount Sinai. And so Jesus brings that to fulfillment a hundred years later by giving us his spirit so that the Lord was no longer speaking to us and writing his word on tablets of stone, but now he was speaking to us inside our heart. So everything that Israel went through, Jesus brought to fulfillment in himself. And so understanding that now, you can understand why I’m using the scripture that I’m gonna read for you right now to speak of end times. I’m going to the book of Jeremiah chapter number 30. Jeremiah chapter 30, I’ll be reading now verses number five through seven. Hear the word of God. For thus says the Lord, I have heard a sound of terror, of dread, and there is no peace. Ask now and see if a male can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale? Alas, for that day is great, and there is none like it. It is the time, get this now, of Jacob’s distress. So there’s a time coming on earth, beloved, that men are going to turn pale, that men are going to be so scared that they’re going to be grabbing things their groin area like a boy that has to go to the bathroom in his pants. Why? Because they’re so afraid. So listen again. There’s a time coming, alas, he says. Alas, why do I see every man with his hands on his loins as a woman in childbirth? And why of all faces turn pale? Alas, for that day is great. There is none like it. It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he, Israel, will be saved from it. What the Lord is speaking of here, beloved, is not only a time that initially referred to the children of Israel being brought into Babylonian captivity in the 600 BC era, but the Lord is also here referring to a greater time of trouble coming on Israel during, beloved, what Scripture calls the Great Tribulation. And we’re gonna see how the New Testament uses the words of these ancient prophets to speak of that time that is coming upon the world that was first known to Israel as Jacob’s distress or Jacob’s trouble, but is now known to the world in general as, listen now, the Great Tribulation. What begins with great distress for Israel at the beginning of the Great Tribulation is going to eventually spread, beloved, over the entire earth. The Great Tribulation will begin with Israel, and then it will become a horrendous global calamity. And so we’re gonna look now at how some of the other Hebrew prophets spoke about this, and then how Jesus brought it to its fullest meaning. Let’s look at, for example, what the prophet Daniel had to say about this same event. I’m reading from the book of Daniel, chapter number 12 now, verse number one. He said this, now at that time, Michael, The great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people. Who is he speaking of here? Once again, Israel. So Daniel is speaking here, and I want you to hear me. In Matthew 24, when Jesus’ disciples asked him, tell me about the great tribulation and about when you’re going to come. At the end of Matthew 23, the disciples said to Jesus, tell us when will these things be? And in Matthew 24, Jesus begins to talk about the great tribulation and about his return. And how does Jesus do it? Listen to me. He does it by quoting Daniel. So listen to what Daniel said. Daniel 12, 1. Now, at that time, Michael, the great prince… who stands guard over the sons of your people will arise. And there will be a time of distress. What did we just get done reading about from the Torah? That a time of what? Jacob’s distress. Same exact words. Jesus is speaking about the last times. He’s speaking about Israel. He’s talking about a time of great distress. There will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. And at that time, your people, everyone who was found written in the book will be rescued. Now this is so interesting because this is identical to what Jeremiah just said. Jeremiah called it Jacob’s distress. Now Daniel says there’s gonna be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. And then he says, and your people will be rescued from it, which is the same thing that Jacob said. Once again, beloved, remember Jesus, when they asked him about the end times and the tribulation, he quoted from Daniel, speaking of the verse that I just read. So in the days ahead, in this season, we’re going to be looking at how the Old Testament or Tanakh and the New Testament connect like a hand in a glove on what they have to say about the end times. Beloved, Jesus’ last words to us in the book of Revelation were, Behold, I come. Come quickly. And Jesus said about the book of Revelation, we’re gonna be blessed by heeding and studying the words of this book. This is an important word for you and for me, beloved. You’re not gonna wanna miss it. I look forward to being with you. God bless you. Shalom. Well, we’ve entered the new year, and you know what? If you’re like many people, when you enter a new year, you’re asking yourself, what could I do better? We know many people, they want to eat better, they want to exercise more. Well, you know what? There’s things that we can do in our spiritual lives to improve. And there’s disciplines that we can apply to our lives that will help us go to a deeper place in our walk with God. And one of those spiritual disciplines, beloved, is to be faithful to the Lord with our finances. God promises a blessing to those that tithe unto him. And we should honor God and his kingdom with our resources. It’s an ancient principle that goes all the way back to the book of Genesis. I want to encourage you, my beloved friends, if you’re not being faithful to the Lord with your ties, with your finances, make a commitment to do it this year. You will be blessed. The Lord promised it will come back to us running over into our lap. Thank you, beloved, for your love and financial support.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. Thank you, Rabbi. And if God is calling you to support Discovering the Jewish Jesus this year with a gift of any amount, please call and give today. You can reach us at 800-777-7835. That’s 800-777-7835. You can also give online at our website. Our website address is discoveringthejewishjesus.com or you can send a gift in the mail. Our address is Discovering the Jewish Jesus, P.O. Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan 49228. And, you know, as this new year begins, we wanted to remind you that we’ve partnered with Freewill. Freewill is an estate planning tool that allows you to ensure that your commitment to sharing the good news of Messiah Jesus lives on after you’re gone and in heaven. Your faithfulness and your support of discovering the Jewish Jesus, it touches countless lives, not only here in the United States, but all around the world in places like Africa, Russia, Israel. And it’s our desire to give you resources and tools that will help you continue to honor Jesus’ mandate to reach the entire world with His message of God’s kingdom. So I want to encourage you to get started today. And through free will, it’s absolutely free for you to create a will to leave a gift at Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Or if you just need a will, it’s still free for you as well. So if you’d like to support Discovering the Jewish Jesus, visit us there, discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And as always, we close each and every program with the Aaronic blessing. Rabbi.
SPEAKER 02 :
The Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers, chapter 6, is not a blessing that comes from an impersonal being out there somewhere in the heavens. This special blessing comes from a person, Yahweh God Almighty, our Creator and Maker. So receive God’s blessing into your life right now.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. God bless you and shalom.
SPEAKER 01 :
This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. And I’m your host, Dustin Roberts. Come back next week when Rabbi Schneider reveals the elements of the tribulation. Listen in and be prepared for what’s coming. That’s Monday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
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