The Continuing Problem of the Restoration of Israel in 1948

You may be wondering how and why I would refer to the restoration of Israel in 1948 as as an on-going problem. Well, the actual truth of the matter is that in spite of the fact that prophecy pundits continue to point to 1948 as the super sign of the end of the age, the so-called restoration of Israel in 1948 will eventually be viewed as proof positive that Dispensationalism is false to the core! Read my article, The Loss of Argumentation for more of what I mean about time ultimately falsifying Dispensationalism. With each passing year, with the passing of each of the “super signs” claimed by the Dispensationalists, and with each failed prediction of the nearness of the end, Dispensationalism loses its ability to convince thinking people.

In the meantime – but, what I am saying will ultimately be shown to be true – Tim LaHaye has another brand new book out, entitled Target Israel. In this new book LaHaye assures his readers that modern Israel remains in the “bulls eye” of God’s purposes. He writes of the “miraculous” events surrounding the restoration of Israel in 1948 and insists that Israel’s so-called restoration constitutes the “super sign” that we are in the last days. So, on and on the drum beat goes about the supposed prophetic significance of 1948.

LaHaye and Ice colloborated on an earlier book, Charting the End Times, in which they, citing other modern so-called Dispensational prophecy “experts” claim that the restoration of Israel in 1948 is the “Super Sign” that the end of the age is upon us. So now, in his new book, LaHaye reiterates that claim. Other prophecy writers such as Hal Lindsey used the events of 1948 to predict, erroneously of course, that the end of the age would occur in 1988. Despite this kind of embarrassment to the Christian community, these men continue to point to 1948 as a sure sign that Israel remains God’s chosen people and that we are living in the last days.

Restoration of Israel – The Time is Up!

It seems not to have dawned on the seemingly gullible readers of the Dispensational authors that the “time is up” for the fulfillment of the “super sign of the end” i.e. 1948. Here is the problem. On the one hand they appeal to Matthew 24:34 where Jesus said “this generation shall by no means pass until all of these things are fulfilled.” They tell us that “all these things” refers to the “super sign of the end” i.e. 1948. Then, they tell us that what Jesus meant was that the generation to see the restoration of Israel would be the final generation! But that means that from the restoration of Israel until now comprises a generation of over 60 years?

In fact, we are now 67 years after 1948! But, Biblically a generation is 40 years – not 60+! Now, Hal Lindsay, after the utter failure of his 1980s Countdown to Armageddon fiasco, then claimed, with no proper Biblical evidence, that a generation in the Bible is 125 years! This is utter falsehood and a total abuse of scripture. It has no merit at all. A generation – Biblically – was 40 years. See Hebrews 3-4.

And yet, here we have Tim LaHaye once again repeating the mantra that  the restoration of Israel in 1948 was the super sign of the end. It is supposedly proof that the end is near! Now, I do not have his book, but, I suspect that LaHaye, like Lindsay, has now redefined “generation” to refer to a period of time that will extend well beyond his own lifetime from 1948. That way, he can continue to claim that 1948 was the super sign, and we are in the “final generation.” But, he will be dead and gone when “this generation” no matter how he defines it, finally passes away – without the end of the age coming! (I should point out that LaHaye has changed his claims about the prophetic significance of an array of events, and has never informed his readers of his earlier, major errors. I don’t have time here to document this, but, for anyone familiar with his writings there can be no denial of this).

The Restoration of Israel – A Nation of Atheists!?!

Another huge problem about the events of 1948 is that “Israel” was then, and remains, a largely secular, even atheistic nation and without question adamantly opposed to faith in Jesus Christ. So, are we supposed to believe that the restoration of Israel in 1948 was God restoring that nation of atheists?

The question therefore is, did God bless Israel, atheistic, rebellious Israel, by returning them to their land? Authors such as LaHaye, Ice, Fruchtenbaum and others claim that in reality, God did promise to return Israel to her land, in a state of unbelief! This question should trouble and challenge all students of the Bible and history as they examine the claims about Israel 1948!

Let me urge the reader of this article to purchase my book, Israel: 1948, Countdown to No Where. This is a careful, Biblical examination of the prophetic significance, or non-significance, of 1948.

Did God ever offer to bless Israel, in any way at all, while she was in a state of rebellion? When one reads the OT and God’s dealings with Israel under Torah, did He ever, a single time, bless Israel with restoration while she remained in her state of rebellion and unbelief? Invariably, when YHVH discussed Israel’s dispersions – due to rebellion – his promise of restoration demanded repentance and obedience to the Law of Moses! See Leviticus 26 / Deuteronomy 28-30.

In my book, I provide solid answers to this and other questions with a barrage of Biblical passages that all resoundingly say, “NO!” What is more, 1948 carefully examines every passage offered by Ice, LaHaye, Fruchtenbaum, etc etc., as proof for a return in unbelief, and shows that, amazingly, they say the exact opposite of what the prophecy experts claim!

So, if the passages offered by Lahaye and company to prove a restoration in unbelief actually say the exact opposite – the absolute directly opposite! – of what they claim, is this not prima facie demonstration that these men know they are teaching false doctrine? How do you take a text that says the unbelievers and rebels of Israel would NOT be restored to the land and claim that it promised the return to the land by “atheists, agnostics and unbelievers”?

My book, Israel 1948 has been called the most devastating critique of modern dispensational claims available today. The book is not lengthy, but power packed with information that positively refutes the Dispensational claims concerning Israel as a nation, and the prophetic significance of 1948.

After reading 1948 you will be astounded at the on-going claims of men like Ice, LaHaye, etc., because in this book, I show beyond doubt that the events of 1948 have no prophetic application whatsoever, and that the millennial claims are in fact false. 1948 was not the restoration of Israel in the Biblical sense.