Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Nov. 5, 2007
Update	: Jul. 8, 2025
Parts	: 07

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part four, as I just said, in fulfillment of the prophecy which had been given to the Prophet Jeremiah, the Jewish captives were in fact kept enslaved in Babylon for a precise period of seventy years. Thus, within Christian circles, we refer to this historical Jewish period as the "Seventy Years of Captivity". We know from history, that following the invasions by the forces of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, and the fulfillment of the "Seventy Years of Captivity", the Jews were indeed allowed to return to Israel by Cyrus the Great, considered by many to be the greatest king of the Medo-Persian Empire. Again, this topic is discussed in considerable detail in my series called "Seventy Weeks Prophecy: What It Means".

In Jeremiah chapter thirty, a few verses after the ones I shared with you previously at the end of part four, we find some additional verses which speak of the "time of Jacob's trouble", and the eventual return of the Jews to Israel. As with the previous verses, while we can try to apply them to our current time and the modern return of the Jews to Israel, in my view, it is clear that they're really referring to the exodus from Babylon, which was initiated by Cyrus the Great. It simply does not make any sense to me that the Lord would speak to the Jerusalemites regarding their fast-approaching punishment, tell them that they will be liberated after the Seventy Years of Captivity have been completed, and then say that their return to Israel isn't going to occur for another 2,500 years. Consider the following verses:

"Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished."


Regarding the mention of the Jewish returnees serving "David their king", I am not exactly certain what that means. It is possibly a prophetic look into the future, when Jesus would fulfill His ministry in Israel. You may recall that in the Gospels, the people did refer to Jesus as the son of David. However, during the time of Jesus' earthly ministry, other than during the last week of His life, nobody ever referred to Him as a king. Even when they did so, it was mockingly or in a questioning manner. Also, nobody really treated Jesus as a king, or served Him as king, at that time either.

One other remote possibility is that "David their king" is a veiled reference to Zerubbabel, who was the son of Pedaiah, and the grandson of Jeconiah. Zerubbabel was born in Babylon. As I note in the aforementioned series, Jeconiah -- who was also known as Jehoiachin -- was removed from being the king of Judah after only a few months, and taken to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, along with the rest of the royal family, servants, and thousands of others. King Jehoiachin would be eventually liberated from prison thirty-seven years later by Babylonian king, Evilmerodach, who was one of the final four Babylonian kings before the Medes and the Persians overtook the empire. Jehoiachin was replaced by proud king Zedekiah. However, after three years, Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar. Thus, it was during Zedekiah's reign that Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.

But my point is this: Zerubbabel was thus royal seed, and a direct descendant of Jehoiachin, which also made him a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ. You will find him mentioned in the genealogies in the Gospels. If you take the time to read the series "Seventy Weeks Prophecy: What It Means", you will see that Zerubbabel had a very special calling from the Lord. He in fact oversaw the construction of the Second Temple. One other point worth mentioning is the fact that in the Bible, oft times when you see a particular name mentioned, it does not necessarily mean that particular person. It is simply a way that is used in the Scriptures to address descendants of someone. If you are not aware of this point, genealogies and such in the Bible can be a bit confusing.

There is another clear hint in the previous sets of verses I shared with you in part four which further supports my belief that these Scriptures are really prophesying the Jews' return to Israel hundreds of years BEFORE the birth of Christ and NOT a modern twentieth century return to Israel, as certain Israel-loving American preachers, as well as some Jews, are trying to convince us. Please notice that in the prophecy, the Lord states the following through the Prophet Ezekiel:

". . . but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment."

In similar fashion, the Prophet Jeremiah -- who began his preaching in Israel decades before Ezekiel began preaching as a captive in Babylon -- likewise clearly stated this in his prophecies:

". . . And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations."

This same warning of impending judgement is issued to the Babylonians in other places, and in other prophetic books as well. It is a proven historical fact that this is precisely what happened. As I explain in other articles, such as "The Fruits of Disobedience", time and time again, God would use the heathen nations to punish the Israelites. He would use these nations as His "vessels of wrath" against the Jews. But then He would turn around and judge those nations for their own wickedness. The reason why the "Seventy Years of Captivity" came to an end, is because the Babylonians were defeated by the Medes and the Persians, who initially formed the dual empire of Medo-Persia. The Persians are still with us today. As I noted earlier, they are the Iranians. It is also believed by some people that the Kurds are descendants of the Medes. The Babylonians, Medes and Persians are amply discussed in "Seventy Weeks Prophecy: What It Means".

But what I hope you can see here, is that these prophecies, which, according to some people, are supposedly talking about the Jews returning to Israel in our modern day, in order to found the modern nation of Israel in 1948, are in fact about historical events which actually occurred over two thousand years ago. Please notice that they very specifically mention the fate of Babylon. They were very time-specific prophecies, which cannot possibly be applied to our modern times. We are very specifically told that when the Seven Years of Captivity ended, and the Jews returned to Israel, God would punish the Babylonians. Well, that's exactly what happened. These events are intrinsically tied together, and they occurred thousands of years ago. You need to believe and understand this if you don't want to be deceived.

You see, the perpetrators of this deception have to convince you that the return of the Jews to Israel today is supported by the Scriptures. Why so? Because if they don't, then it is obvious that the rest of the deception will just fall apart. In other words, if the people who promote the false doctrine have purposely -- or perhaps ignorantly -- misinterpreted the previous verses, then it begs a big question: What else have they been teaching that is wrong?

My friends, seriously think about this for a moment. If the modern return of the Jews to Israel doesn't fulfill prophecy, well then what about Israel being declared a nation in 1948? What about all of the other things the Israelis have done in order to claim modern Israel as their own? What about the decades-old fight against the Palestinians? What about the terrible devastation in Gaza? What about the Palestinians' right of return? What about a two-state solution? So you see, everything is riding on the central belief that proclaiming Israel a nation on May 14, 1948 was fulfilling prophecy. In the same fashion, the Jews returning to Israel in our modern day is also fulfilling Bible prophecy. That is why they must maintain these two deceptions at all cost. They are the two key pillars upon which the modern state of Israel rests.

To continue then, the following verse is found in the Book of Isaiah. As some of my readers will probably already know, this particular verse has been widely used by a lot of the pro-Israel American preachers, and Zionist Jews themselves, to try to justify and legitimize the political "creation" of the nation of Israel on May 14, 1948, and declared on that same day by David Ben-Gurion and the Jewish Agency:

"Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."


We have already seen that the prophecies which have been used to explain the return of the Jews to the land of Israel since the twentieth century, have, in my view, been grossly misinterpreted. Is it possible that the meaning of the above verse has also been distorted in order to support a wayward doctrine? Again, I suspect that it has.

To begin, I do not believe that the nation of Israel can be born in our modern times, "in one day", or "at once", due to the fact that, according to the Biblical record, Israel has in fact existed for over four thousand years. As I explained before, it began with the birth of Jacob and his twelve sons. While it's true that Israel has been repeatedly attacked and dominated many times during this lengthy period of time, and even temporarily lost its national identity at times, such as when the Roman Empire renamed it Palestine, nevertheless, the Jewish nation, whether scattered, or bound together into one cohesive form, has existed. I'm sure that many Jews will know exactly what I mean by this. Nationhood is not just a matter of being at one physical place at the same time. It is also a matter of personal identity, tradition and belief.

Furthermore, in the real sense of the word, the nation state that we know as Israel today did NOT become a nation "in one day", or even "at once", as the prophecy states. It may have been declared a nation to the world on a particular day, just as the foreign colonial powers created and carved out quite a few nations in decades past -- particularly in the Middle East and Asia -- with just the stroke of their pen. But in reality, the 1948 announcement by David Ben-Gurion and the Jewish Agency was the result of political maneuvering which had been going on for literally decades. In short, this event did not occur "in one day", or "at once". Therefore, I am not fully convinced that it really meets the requirements of the prophecy. Isaiah's prophecy is describing something truly unique which creates astonishment for the observer of the event.

Concerning the events of 1948, I again suggest that you read the aforementioned two series, and/or conduct online research of your own regarding the British Mandate, Europe's attitude toward the Jews during that time period, as well as the 1917 Balfour Declaration. You'll learn that the Europeans wanted the Jews to leave Europe, and thus, they had to politically create a place for them to go. The atrocities committed by Hitler only strengthened the resolve of the European powers to achieve their goal, and they may have acted partially out of guilt. But the point I wish to emphasize here is that the process to carve out a home for the Jews did not occur "in one day", or "at once". It took decades to complete, and to my knowledge, such a slow development would not result in surprise or astonishment, as the prophecy seems to indicate. European politicians were fully aware of what was happening, as were the other major world powers of the day.

Another reason why I have difficulty accepting the argument that the verse in Isaiah is a prophecy regarding the "birth" of Israel in May of 1948, is because, as I explained in part four, Jesus very clearly stated that the Jews had forfeited their rights to the Kingdom, due to their unbelief. In fact, you may recall that the Lord very specifically said that it would be given to ANOTHER nation. That is the key which will help us to unlock this mystery. Let me share those verses with you one more time:

". . . Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."


So here we have Jesus clearly stating that another nation is going to be given the Kingdom, and we also have Isaiah saying that a nation will be born "in a day", and "at once". He also conveys the idea that the birth of this nation will come as a surprise. Thus he writes "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things?". This attitude cannot possibly refer to the 1948 declaration, because as we have already seen, it was no mystery that the Europeans had been working on plans to create a homeland for the Jews for decades. Is it possible that what Isaiah is saying, and what Jesus is saying, are in some way related. I suspect as much. So who is this nation?

To better understand what Isaiah is talking about, and to put the verse in its proper context, all we have to do is to read some of the previous verses in that chapter. Once we do that, we discover that just as God was sick and tired of the Jews, and their hypocritical, dead temple worship during the First Century -- as we discussed earlier -- He was equally tired of the Jews and their hollow temple worship during Isaiah's time as well. This was some one hundred and fifty years before the Babylonian invasions, and even before the Assyrian invasions. Isaiah was in fact sent to warn the Israelites of the coming chastisement by the hand of the Assyrians. At any rate, the beginning of the chapter clearly reveals God's attitude, as we can determine by the following group of Bible verses:

"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not."


So, as you can plainly see, the Lord was utterly fed up with their false spirituality, and even with their temple, which King Solomon had built centuries earlier. The Jews had become totally absorbed in their traditions. They were going through the motion of being holy and righteous, but they had lost the Spirit. How much this sounds like so many modern churches in America. As a result, God decided to do something new. After expressing His anger with the Jews, in the seventh and eighth verses He tells us exactly what He is going to do about it:

"Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."


In these verses, "Zion" refers to Jerusalem, or in a larger sense, to Israel as a whole. If we just read verse eight by itself, we can be tricked into believing that it is talking about Israel becoming a nation on May 14, 1948. This is what some of those preachers -- and certain Jews -- want us to see. However, if we take the time to read verses seven and eight together, as we really should, suddenly, the verses takes on an entirely new and wonderful meaning.

In short, the Lord seems to be saying that because the Jews have become so sidetracked in a spiritual sense, and are only interested in their temple worship and their vain traditions, just as Jesus would tell them centuries later, He is going to do something new. We are informed that a man child will be born. In other words, a son. Isaiah appears to be describing a very unique, miraculous birth. Notice that he says that the child will be born before the woman travails, and before her pain comes. In other words, it sounds as if this woman will give birth without experiencing labor pains. Are you starting to grasp what is actually being said here? Do you understand what this prophecy is really all about? It is much more than the concocted "birth" of Israel in 1948 deception.

In verse eight, it is translated as "for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." Actually, in my view, this is an important mistranslation; because the word "children" is translated from the Hebrew word "ben". As the Hebrew lexicon clearly proves, "ben" shouldn't be translated as "children". It should be translated as "son":

----- Begin Quote -----

ben bane

1) son, grandson, child, member of a group

  1a) son, male child

  1b) grandson

  1c) children (pl. - male and female)

  1d) youth, young men (pl.)

  1e) young (of animals)

  1f) sons (as characterisation, i.e. sons of injustice [for un-righteous men] or sons of God [for angels]

  1g) people (of a nation) (pl.)

  1h) of lifeless things, i.e. sparks, stars, arrows (fig.)

  1i) a member of a guild, order, class

----- End Quote -----

As you can plainly see, "son", or "male child", is clearly the primary meaning of the Hebrew word "ben". Thus, those two verses together should be correctly read as follows:

"Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her [son]."


As soon as I read those two verses together, my eyes nearly popped out of my head, because I was immediately reminded of very similar phraseology in the Book of Revelation. Consider the following verses:

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne."


As I have explained before, the above Scriptures are widely believed to be discussing Jesus' birth in Israel, as well as His subsequent Ascension to Heaven following His Crucifixion and Resurrection from the dead. Notice how the woman wears a crown of twelve stars on her head. This seems to represent the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and is very similar to Joseph's second dream where he also described how the Sun, Moon and eleven stars made obeisance to him. Joseph, of course, was the twelfth star. Consider the following verse which confirms this point:

"And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me."


Please notice the unquestionable similarities between the verses in the Book of Isaiah, and the aforementioned verses which are found in the Book of Revelation. In both instances, we see Israel -- or Jerusalem? -- being described as a woman in travail -- that is to say, in labor -- who then brings forth a son.

Now, unless a person simply wants to purposely be deceived, it seems to me that it is rather obvious that the phrase "she was delivered of a man child" in Isaiah 66:7, and the phrase "she brought forth a man child" in Revelation 12:5, are talking about the very same person: Jesus Christ. After all, there is only one person "who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron", and who "was caught up unto God, and to his throne." As such, it makes perfect sense that in Isaiah 66:8, the phrase should have been translated as "she brought forth her son", and NOT as "she brought forth her children".

Again, I honestly don't know if it was just a translational error, or if it was translated this way on purpose. However, to really give you the full prophetic picture from Isaiah to the Gospels to the Book of Revelation, please consider the following short Scriptural excerpts:

Isa. 66:7 - she was delivered of a man child

Isa. 66:8 - she brought forth her [son]

Isa. 7:14 - a virgin shall . . . bear a son

Isa. 9:06 - unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given

Mat. 1:21 - she shall bring forth a son

Luk. 1.31 - thou shalt . . . bring forth a son

Luk. 2:07 - she brought forth her firstborn son

Rev. 12:5 - she brought forth a man child

Now, for those of you who may possibly still be doubting what I am sharing here, following are the very same seven verses in full. Please note that I have substituted the word "children" with the word "son" in Isaiah 66:8:

"Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children [son]."


"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."


"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."


"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."


"And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS."


"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."


"And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne."


When read together, the two verses from the Book of Isaiah make it very obvious in my mind that the birth of this man child -- or son -- is directly linked to the creation of the mysterious prophesied nation. In fact, the birth of the man child seems to actually be the catalyst for the creation of this mysterious nation. If there is one thing of which we can be absolutely certain, it is that Jesus had absolutely nothing to do with Israel proclaiming itself a nation in May of 1948, because as many of you will know, Israel is a very antichrist nation which for the most part hates Jesus Christ.

It should be clear to you by now that I'm not referring to a physically-recognized, political nation with earthly borders like Israel, but rather to a global, spiritual, eternal one, that is comprised of all Christian believers everywhere, and for all time.

Based upon these verses, and others which I will be sharing with you momentarily, I am convinced that this is what Jesus was talking about when He told the Jewish religious leaders that the Kingdom would be taken from them, and then given to another nation. As we saw earlier, Jesus very clearly told them that the cornerstone which they had rejected -- meaning Himself -- would become the very foundation stone for His new nation. As we now know, that new nation would be born once He died and rose from the dead. You know, we often hear about nation-building in the modern political world. But if the truth be told, Jesus was a nation builder too, and you and I are a part of it! Praise the Lord!

So I am personally convinced that Jesus is in fact the man child, or son, and the nation which would be born "at once", or "in a day", just as Isaiah had prophesied. This spiritual nation which consists of born-again Believers in Jesus Christ perfectly meets all of the requirements set down by Isaiah's prophecy, because it had in fact never existed before, unlike the nation of Israel which had already existed for several thousand years.

Please go to part six for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the BBB Bible website. There are many treasures for you to discover.