“God is renowned in Judah;
 in Israel His name is great.” — Psalm 76:1

Three thousand years ago, King David described a situation that is strangely familiar to events unfolding today. Psalm 76 describes the transition into messianic times, or end-times. Jewish sages interpret the opening phrase “God is renowned in Judah; in Israel His name is great” to reference an intense confrontation that will occur at the End of Days.

In those days, the sages explain, the nations of the world will mass against Jerusalem, which is located within the tribal territory of Judah. There, God’s sovereignty will be made known to the entire world when He performs great miracles on behalf of the Jewish people and fights against their enemies.

Who could have imagined this prediction coming true hundreds or thousands of years ago? When Mark Twain visited the Holy Land in 1867, he published his impressions.  He describes a desolate country – devoid of both vegetation and human population: “… A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds… we never saw a human being on the whole route… hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”

For most of the past two millennia, Israel was mostly empty space. There were hardly any Jews left in the country, let alone a whole bunch of people trying to steal it from them! Someone reading this Psalm any time other than the past hundred years may have found it interesting, perhaps even inspiring. But the events described would have remained purely theoretical – something that would happen someday, far in the distant future.

Today, we can all but see the confrontation happening before our very eyes. The Jewish people have returned to their land, and just 45 years ago reclaimed Jerusalem as their capital. Jerusalem is one of the most heated topics in the world today. There are many plotting to split the holy city or completely rip it away from her rightful inhabitants.

We have already witnessed the (unsuccessful) attempt of the “million man march” – a plan for millions of people from around the world to enter Israel and march to Jerusalem in order to take her away from the Jews. In addition, with modern-day technology, we can understand how a cataclysmic event might be broadcast across the world — and also how God’s sovereignty witnessed by every living soul.

No one can say when the world will change. We don’t have the exact date for Redemption. It could still be years away, and it could be tomorrow. But one thing is for sure; it’s closer than ever. Are you ready?