Since I introduced my blog in May 2017, each post has received varying levels of interest, measured by how many people actually viewed a specific post.  To my surprise, the post that pinpointed April 20, 2018 as a key date in prophecy, which is less than one month old, has become my most-read post, even surpassing those that I published over 11 months ago.  Obviously, this is a topic that is of great interest to my readers.  I’m going to continue on that same theme and help you discover what’s next as we enter this new era of the full-frontal threats against Israel beginning to wane.  If you haven’t already read that earlier post, you may see it here, but chances are that you’ve already read it.

As I cited in that earlier post, the book of Zechariah is the prophet that revealed the specific date that we would turn the corner of prophetic events.  Once that date arrives, what do we look for to see what’s going to happen afterward?  Not surprisingly, Zechariah also provides the key to that question too.  Here’s his first admonition:

Zech. 1:4–“Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the FORMER PROPHETS have cried, saying, Thus saith Yahweh of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith Yahweh.”

In this verse, Zechariah is instructing a specific people of what NOT to do.  That is, the FORMER PROPHETS gave them instructions, but their fathers [previous generations] ignored and didn’t want to listen to what the FORMER PROPHETS told them.  If you’ve previously read my recent post, then you’ll immediately know exactly who Zechariah is now talking to.  He’s NOT talking to those who were alive when he wrote his book.  Instead, this instruction is being given specifically to a chosen generation that would be alive at the time that the 70 years of indignation would come to an end–our generation today.

In a nutshell, Zechariah is speaking directly to you and me and telling us that we should not make the mistake that our “fathers” made by ignoring the FORMER PROPHETS.  What else does Zechariah say about these important people?

Zech. 7:7–“Should ye not hear the words which Yahweh hath cried by the FORMER PROPHETS when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?”  [In this case, the ‘plain’ is also identifying Israel.  The Hebrew word is translated “Negev”, or the Negev Desert which is a region in southern Israel.]

For the second time, Zechariah emphasized the importance of paying attention to the words and explanations of the FORMER PROPHETS.  And again, he’s addressing his comments to the only generation in human history that would be observing the moment that the 70 years of indignation against Israel will finally cease.  That would be us again.

Unfortunately, our “fathers” were a stubborn bunch, as mentioned here:

Zech. 7:11–“But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.  ¹² Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of hosts HATH SENT IN HIS SPIRIT BY THE FORMER PROPHETS: therefore came a great wrath from Yahweh of hosts.”

Three’s a charm.  And this time, Zechariah makes it absolutely clear that those FORMER PROPHETS he keeps citing have information to share with OUR generation today that came specifically from Yahweh himself.

Okay, now that we’ve seen how critical it is to NOT be rock-heads [“hearts as an adamant stone”?], who are these former prophets and what does their message mean for us today?

One of the sad things about modern Bible study is that almost everyone reads their Bibles in the order which the books appear today.  That is, the Old Testament begins with Genesis and the New Testament ends with Revelation, with another 64 books in between.  In fact, there were only 49 original books in the Bible, consisting of 27 Old Testament books and 22 New Testament books.

In the Old Testament, there were three primary divisions of written materials.  First, there was The Law, or the first five books of the Bible.  Next, there were the Prophets, divided into different sections.  Lastly, there were the Writings which included Psalms, Proverbs and others.  The Prophets was divided into three sections: Former, Latter and Minor.  The Former Prophets do not have to be identified through some “research”.  They are the books of Johsua-Judges [which was just one book], followed by the Book of the Kingdoms [which we see today as 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings].

Joshua, Judges, Kings and Samuel comprise 100% of the Former Prophets that Zechariah was so insistent that we pay attention to.  In other words, we must not make the mistake of our “fathers” [a.k.a.: our ancestors] and gloss over their important words.  So, what makes these former prophets so important?

Each of the former prophets’ books are about prophecy and the vast majority of those prophecies haven’t occurred yet.  The prophecies are not a worldwide or universal view on upcoming events so they do not apply to the western world.  The prophecies of the former prophets ONLY apply to events that will happen IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

Now that we know WHEN to focus on these books, all we have to do is see WHAT they tell us will happen.  These books are too long and their messages are too detailed to summarize in a single post, so I’ll just show a few places that will allow readers to follow up and discover on their own what events lie ahead.

Josh. 1:2–“Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.”  This verse was talking about Joshua leading the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the promised land, Israel.  But since Zechariah has told us that Joshua is a book of prophecy that pertains to us today, we can easily see that the companion event, of Israel setting foot BACK into their promised land is no longer prophecy.  It is history because they did return to Israel on May 14, 1948.  What else?

Josh. 1:5–“There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”  Even though Israel suffered indignation for 70 years, Yahweh was with them the entire time.  Therefore, no nation could come close to winning Israel’s battles and each one was very brief, such as the 6-day war in 1968.

Again, each of those prophecies have already come to pass, so they’re now history also.  What is going to happen that has not happened yet?  For starters, we see that the borders of the nation of Israel will expand…and when I say expand, I mean EXPAND!  Joshua, chapters 13 through 15 specifically identify the territories by name that will become part of Israel.  All you need is a map of the ancient holy land and juxtapose it with a modern map of the region and you can see for yourself that Israel will include Baal-gad [Lebanon], the Gadites [Jordan], Gilead [Syria], Dumah [northern Saudi Arabia], the Jebusistes [inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem] and many, many others places.

When Joshua entered into Israel in chapter 1, Yahweh himself immediately identifies how expansive the land will be that has been promised to them, here–

Josh. 1:2–“Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.  ³ Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.  ⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, THE RIVER EUPHRATES, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.”

Israel’s northeastern border will eventually reach through Jordan, all the way across Iraq and come to the Euphrates River!  I know, it’s hard to imagine such a tiny, hated nation will become enormous and eventually encompass entire countries and portions of several others.  But they will.  What else?

The Book of Judges tells us WHY the Arab people have continued to inhabit Israel’s land and will continue to do so.  They remain there simply because Yahweh chose to NOT drive them out.  End of story.

Judg. 2:22–“That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.  ²³ Therefore Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.”

Well, that explains that.

When the nation of Israel returned to their homeland, which of the 12 tribes was supposed to arrive first?  It was the tribe of Judah, who we commonly refer to today as the Jews.  Did this happen?

Judg. 20:18–“And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of El, and asked counsel of Elohim, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And Yahweh said, Judah shall go up first.”

Yep.  It happened.

Now that we’re about to enter a different time in prophetic history, we may begin to look forward for the Temple construction to occur.  The exact timing of this event remains uncertain, but the event itself is absolute, as shown here:

2 Sam. 7:11–“And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also Yahweh telleth thee that he will make thee an house.”  [the Temple in Jerusalem]

That construction project will take 7 years:

1 Kings 6:38–“And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.”

Again, there are myriad things to discover in the former prophets of events still to come and now that we’re about to enter into a era where many of those prophecies will be fulfilled, we can read for ourselves and know in advance what will happen and where it will happen before it happens.

Oh, and 2 Kings is the book that describes the prophet Elijah taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot.

2 Kings 2:11–“And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

If you’re interested, when Elijah was taken up into heaven, he did not die.  In fact, he is still alive today, over 2,500 years old along with one other significant person from the Bible.  No, I’m not joking.  You can see for yourself that this is the truth about what the Bible tells us of these two amazing people by clicking here.

Studying the Bible is not for the faint of heart.