Top of the Mountains
“In the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it” (Micah 4:1).
This blessed promise, well known among Bible Students, speaks of re-established Israel as the center of God’s Kingdom on Earth. This text is not yet fulfilled, but the process toward its fulfillment has begun. Already Israel is an independent nation “in the top of the mountains.” In time to come, when Israel has their attention directed to their Messiah, Jesus, and they “mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son” (Zechariah 12:10), then they will take the position God intends for them, under the Ancient Worthies, as a light to the nations (Isaiah 60:1-3).
The regathering of Israel began in the year 1878 with the founding of Petah Tikvah, in the aftermath of the Berlin Congress of Nations. The treaty which came from that gathering allowed equal protection of the law to all citizens of the Ottoman Empire, which at that time governed the land anciently known as Israel. Noticeably, that included Jews, who took advantage of the opportunity to purchase land and settle.
Seventy years later, in 1948, statehood was achieved. This span of 70 years reminds us that it was during the 70 years appointed for the rulership of Babylon that Israel lost their national existence (Jeremiah 25:11,12). Is this a coincidence? Is it only chance that the years designated for Israel’s punishment so long ago happens to match the years of restoration to their national existence in modern times?
If it is not mere coincidence, then it suggests that the establishment of Israel in 1948 did not occur at a random date, but one which reflects a sense of plan, purpose, and intent by of our Heavenly Father. But if this is so, are there other testimonies about this – a second, or a third, perhaps?
SECOND TESTIMONY – PARALLEL EVENTS
Another evidence that 1948 was not simply a random date is found in the series of events by which the State of Israel was developed. As we saw above, the return of the Jewish people commenced in a special way from 1878. But as the Ottoman Empire ruled the land, and they had no interest in providing an independent state for Israel, we have to look farther ahead to see the first open movement in that direction.
It was in 1896 that Theodore Herzl published his treatise “The Jewish State,” followed the next year by the first Zionist Congress. But not until World War I was there movement to break up the dominating control over Palestine that the Ottoman Empire exercised for 400 years, since their conquest of the holy land at about the time of the Reformation.
World War I was waged between 1914 and 1918. As a consequence of that struggle, England received a protectorate of the Holy Land and in 1917, by the Balfour Declaration, declared their intent to make of it a national homeland for the Jewish people. But other impediments would come, and it was not until 1948 that the new nation emerged.
The formative cause of Israel’s rebirth was the holocaust. This both aroused the sympathy of the world for the plight of the Jewish people, and acutely identified the need of a state of their own for this long dispersed and suffering people. The holocaust began in 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. As his troops went in, town by town they rounded up the Jewish population and marched them to the outskirts, where they were shot and killed. The gas chambers were a later development.
The rise of the Nazi party of Adolph Hitler in Germany was the cause preceding the holocaust. This rise culminated in a period of three years – from 1932 to 1934. In the elections of 1932 the Nazi party became the largest party in the German Parliament. In 1933 Hitler become Chancellor. In 1934 the aged war hero Paul von Hindenberg died, and Hitler replaced him as President – with unbridled power. Hitler had earlier dictated his plans for the future in his infamous book Mein Kampf in 1924.
Thus, here is the sequence of significant years leading to the birth of the nation of Israel – 1914 to 1918, 1924, 1932-1934, 1939, and finally 1948.
When Israel lost their national independence so long ago, during the years of the Babylonian Empire, there was a similar progression of events. We can itemize those years relative to the reigns of Nabopolassar and his son Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled that empire for so long a time. Genesis 15:18 gives the northern border of Israel as the River Euphrates (see also 2 Samuel 8:3). Crossing the Euphrates, then, would indicate when Babylon actually came against the land of Israel.
The first time (in that period of history) that Babylon ventured across the Euphrates into the land of promise was during the 19th year of Nabopolassar. “In the month Tishri the king of Akkad [Babylon] mustered his army and marched to Kimuhu which is on the bank of the Euphrates. He crossed the river, did battle against the city, and in the month Kislev he captured the city. He sacked it and stationed a garrison of his in it.”1 In the 20th year of Nabopolassar the Babylonians crossed the Euphrates again and took three cities, “Shunadiru, Elammu, and Dahammu, cities of Syria.” 2
In his 21st year Nabopolassar died at home while his son Nebuchadnezzar led the army to a stunning victory over Egypt near Carchemish on the Euphrates. Nebuchadnezzar pursued Pharaoh Necho southward to the very border of Egypt, and all of the Holy Land fell to his hand, including Jerusalem (Daniel 1:1). During this campaign Nebuchadnezzar learned of the passing of his father and hastened across the desert to take the throne reserved for him. He later returned and “marched about victoriously” 3 in the Holy Land.
Nebuchadnezzar continued his conquests in his first and second regnal years. It is at this point, after the conquest of Syria, Israel, and the Philistines, that the prophet Daniel identified Nebuchadnezzar as the “head of gold” (Daniel 2:1, 38). That campaign had consumed four years – from 19 Nabopolassar through 2 Nebuchadnezzar.
But Israel would not abide the punishment God put upon them. King Jehoiakim rebelled. He then died and was replaced by king Jehoiachin for three months until he surrendered to Babylon and was taken captive in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:12). His replacement, Zedekiah, also rebelled and lost his kingdom during a siege of three years (Jeremiah 52:4, 5). The collapse of his kingdom came in the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:29).
Sometimes we think that this marks the end of Israelites going captive to Babylon, but Jeremiah 52:30 says in the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar he returned to take still more captives – possibly from Egypt, where many had fled for refuge.
Later, in the 25th year of Ezekiel’s captivity – which corresponds to the 32nd year of Nebuchadnezzar – Ezekiel had his vision of restored Israel, described in Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48.
THE COMPARISON
With this testimony of scripture at hand, we can compare the sequence of events in restoring Israel’s statehood in modern times, with the sequence of events by which Israel was consumed by Babylon in ancient times. In the next column (boxed area) is a listing which shows a remarkable parallel between the two.
Specific years discussed above are indicated in bold type. Notice that the same pattern appears in each column. This again suggests that 1948 was not merely a random date for the reestablishment of Israel. The repetition of the same sequence of years suggests intent and purpose.
THIRD TESTIMONY – THE FLOOD OF NOAH’S DAY
A third testimony to the same conclusion comes from the narrative about the flood in Noah’s day. According to Peter, the ark represents our redemption in Christ and the waters surrounding the eight persons saved in the ark are a token of Christian baptism (1 Peter 3:20, 21).
A chart listing the years from modern history that are significant in the return of Israel to national independence in 1948 – compared to a listing of years from ancient history that were significant in the loss to Israel of national independence.
Thus when the eight persons entered the ark, we see a picture beginning at Pentecost in 33 AD, when those who accepted Christ were able to enter the redemption he provided, and be “saved” from the Adamic curse.
Thereafter it rained continuously for forty days. That downpour removed the old world, and may have a parallel to the 40 years following Pentecost, from 33 AD to 73 AD. It was in 73 AD that Masada fell, the last holdout of the old Jewish world. The Jewish kingdom was broken, “swept away” by the judgments of God (compare Revelation 8:7).
In Noah’s day, the waters prevailed for five months before the ark eventually came aground on some high point (compare Genesis 7:11, 8:4, to see that this period was five months precisely, to the day). We suggest that this five month period represents the Gospel Age and that the grounding of Noah’s ark brings us to the date 1874.
Five is a picture of the new creation – the five wise virgins of the first parable of Matthew chapter 25 for example, depict the elect by this number. The five strips in each of two parts of the first Tabernacle covering represent the two parts of the new creation – our Lord Jesus, and the Church. The five and six strips of the goat hair curtain which overlaid that seem to represent that during this age the Church is still in the sinful flesh (six), but is nevertheless the developing new creation (five). The ram skins dyed red overlay this covering, just as our flesh is covered by the ransom of Christ.
Thus five months is an appropriate length to represent this first age of the spirit. But after the ark came aground, the scene outside looked the same as ever – water everywhere, nothing else visible. So in 1874, as the saints came to the Harvest, or ending period of the Gospel Age, the world around them looked the same as before. But changes would come.
Genesis 7:24 tells us these five months totaled exactly 150 days. This in turn tells us something of the calendar then in use. It was, like the ancient Egyptian calendar, one of 12 months of exactly 30 days each. Of course the Egyptians, and certainly Noah as well, knew that the year was 365 days, and it was part of their calendar practice to insert the extra five days just before the next New Year day.
The observation that each month was precisely 30 days is of value in seeing how long a time lapsed before the next dated event, recorded in Genesis 8:5. “And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.”
The ark came aground on the 17th day of the seventh month. The tops of the mountains became visible on the 1st day of the tenth month. This is a period of precisely 74 days. This suggests something of interest. Adding 74 years to the date 1874 brings us to 1948, the very year of Israel’s statehood.
74 days (years) from 1874 to 1948 – the “Top of the Mountains”
This is a meaningful picture. The first visible, tangible sign among the kingdoms of this world as a portent of the Kingdom of God is the establishment of Israel, which in due time will become the focus of the Kingdom of God. Remember that Micah likened Israel to “the top of the mountains” – the same expression we find here. The top of the mountains were the first tangible sign to Noah and his family as they looked for evidence of the new world at hand.
Genesis 8:13 gives us the next event – the beginning of the next new year. There “the waters were dried up from off the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark.” When the kingdom begins it will be the establishment of “dry earth,” as it were. During that Millennial Kingdom, ultimately there will be no more sea, but only the stable earth of divine government (Revelation 21:1). Then the deliverance for the world in Christ, represented by the ark, will be revealed to all flesh, and the Kingdom of Christ will begin its blessing of “all the families of the earth.”
The marker to us in this passage, the assurance that the blessed Kingdom is on the way, the fist visible evidence, is the re-establishment of Israel among the nations. Israel is where the Kingdom of God will begin. Remarkably, the days of Noah points out this very date, 1948. The date is non-random. The same date is suggested by all three lines of evidence.
THE FIG TREE
Luke 21:29-31 records, “And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” The sign that portends the Kingdom to us is the very sign that Jesus said would verify that the Kingdom would be relatively soon.
We have already gone 65 years beyond that marker, and likely we have some decades further. But the progress of events is pointing in the right direction, even if the process consumes more years than the saints early-on had supposed.
When King Hezekiah looked for a remarkable deliverance for his people, the sign that it would surely come was the rolling back of the sun’s shadow by 10 degrees (2 Kings 20:11, 12). The shadow of God’s judgment had been against Israel for a long time. It was imposed by the rule of the “10 toes” of Daniel’s image. But now that “shadow” has been rolled back. Those Gentile nations no longer govern Israel. The rolling back of that burden was evident in 1948 when Israel became independent again. That is a dependable marker for us that the complete deliverance of Israel, and the world thereafter, will surely come.
– Bro. David Rice
(1) Texts from Cuneiform Sources, Volume V, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, Albert Kirk Grayson, 1975, pages 97-98.
(2) Grayson, page 98.
(3) Grayson, page 100.