Question: Enclosed is an article that kind of “blind-sided” me by a thought I’m having trouble ...

Question: Enclosed is an article that kind of “blind-sided” me by a thought I’m having trouble with, i.e., why aren’t evangelicals today warning Jews about the eventual slaughter of most of them who return to Israel?

Answer: The author, Gary DeMar, insists that Christ’s statements in Matthew 24 were all fulfilled in A.D.70. Nero was the Antichrist, Christ returned as the Roman armies to destroy Jerusalem, and we are now in the Millennium with Satan locked up. We offer a debate (audiotape or CD) which I had with DeMar on this very topic (see offering list).

He interprets Christ’s statement, “this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled,” to mean the generation living at that time. That is impossible, however, because “all flesh” could not have been destroyed with weapons of that day (Mt 24:22), angels didn’t gather the elect (v. 31), etc. The way both Christ and John the Baptist used “generation” makes Christ’s meaning clear: faithless, perverse, wicked, rebellious generation, generation of vipers, etc. In other words, Israel as a whole will continue in unbelief, rebellion against God and rejection of her Messiah until all is fulfilled. Only when Christ returns to rescue Israel in the midst of Armageddon will all living Jews believe (Mt 24:13; Rom:11:25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
See All...,26) at last, and that unbelieving generation will have passed away. That is when the angels will gather all Jews back to Jerusalem where the Messiah will reign over them on David’s throne at His Second Coming.

Other scriptures agree. Ezekiel:38:11-16 [11] And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, [12] To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. [13] Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? [14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: [16] And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
See All... refers to a people, who once were scattered but have been brought back into their land and dwell in apparent safety, being attacked by the armies of the world commanded by Antichrist. Verses 17-23 tell us that God has brought these armies against Israel (see also Zech:14:1Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
See All...)in order to punish them for their treatment of His people the Jews, and in order to make Himself known to them in great power and judgment. Ezekiel 39 tells of the destruction of these armies and of Israel’s redemption: “Israel...will not...pollute my holy name any more” (v. 7); “the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward” (v. 22); “for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel” (v. 29). These statements agree with Zechariah 12-14, which tells of Israel’s turning to the Lord at His Second Coming: “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced...” (Zec:12:10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
See All...). Christ’s statement about His angels gathering His elect from the four winds back to Israel is simply a further explanation of “I...the Lord their God...have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there” (Ezk 39:28). The present return of Jews to their own land is only a prelude to this final gathering at the Second Coming.

That most Israelis don’t yet believe sets the stage for their coming to faith when Christ intervenes to rescue them. DeMar claims that those who encourage Jews to return to Israel are bringing them into a trap where they will be killed at Armageddon. Yes, two-thirds of all Jews alive at that time will be killed; however those who are willing to believe the truth will not perish, but will be kept alive for Christ’s return.

Moreover, since two-thirds of all Jews on earth will be killed, and only about 40 percent live in Israel, more will be killed outside of Israel than within. Thus, Israel is probably the safest place for a Jew.