Bible Prophecies: Will there be peace between Israel and other nations?

We are living in a time where Israel is always in the news. Recently it was in the news for war in the Gaza strip.
In 2006, there was a war between Israel and Lebanon.
2000-2005 - Second Infatida. Palestinian uprising against Israel.
1987 - 1993 - First Infatida, again Palestinian uprising against Israel.
1982 - Lebanon war
1973 - Yom Kippur war between Israel and the coalition of some Arab states.
1967 - Six-day war between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
1956 - Suez Crisis between Israel and Egypt
1948 - Palestine war between Jewish and Arab militants...
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Israel )

We see Israel in war with its neighboring nations ever since the birth of Israel in 1948. This often raises the following questions in our minds - Will there be peace between Israel and other nations? or Can someone bring a peace agreement with Israel and other nations? What does the Bible prophesy about the future of Israel?

Today, I would like to bring to your attention a Bible prophecy about a peace deal signed between Israel and other nations.

Daniel's 70 Weeks

Daniel 9:24-27 - It's popularly known as Daniel's 70 weeks.

24 “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.

25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.

26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 

27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”

To understand the concept of Daniel's 70 weeks, please go here.

In v27, we see "he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week".

'he' - refers to the prince who is to come in v26. He is known as the antichrist.
'covenant with many' - refers to some kind of agreement with many nations to bring peace.
'one week' - refers to a period of 7 years. This can be understood from the link provided above.


'But in the middle of the week, he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering'

'middle of the week' - after 3.5 years.
'end to sacrifice and offering' - Sacrifices and offerings happen in Jewish temples. Two Jewish temples were constructed and both were destroyed. The second one was destroyed at around AD 70. Since then there are no sacrifices and offerings. Here it refers to the 'end' of 'sacrifice and offering', which means that by the middle of 7 years the third temple has already been constructed and sacrifice and offerings were resumed.

Right now, the Jewish temple cannot be constructed because of the presence of the Al Aqsa Mosque in the same region. Many believe that the sanction for the reconstruction of the third temple will be given during the covenant made by the antichrist at the beginning of 7 year period. I have noticed an online funding campaign for the building of a third Jewish temple here.

As per the Bible prophecies, the Antichrist will make a covenant of peace with many nations sometime during the future. Not only that, he will break the covenant after 3.5 years which marks the beginning of the great persecutions.

Bible Prophecies: Israel and the second coming of Jesus Christ

Bible prophecies are very interesting and accurate. It's interesting to note what the Bible says about Israel and how is it related to the second coming of Jesus Christ and end-time events. This small nation, Israel, plays an important role during the end times.

1. Prophecy concerning the return of Jewish people and the prosperity of the land

As we know, the Israelites were scattered throughout the earth in AD 70. They were driven out of their homeland(Palestine) by Romans at the end of AD 73. The Romans then destroyed Jerusalem and annexed Judaea as a Roman province.

Bible prophecies say that the scattered Jewish nation will come back to their homeland and the land of Israel will flourish.

Ezekiel 36:8  "But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home."
Ezekiel 36:10 - "and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt..."
Ezekiel 36:24 - "For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land."

We see the fulfillment of prophecy in 1948 when Israel was announced as a nation and they were given land in their own place. We see the land also flourished and produced many fruits after the return of Jewish people.

2. Return and rebuilding of Israel will initiate the second coming of Christ

Psalm 102:13-16 - "You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come. For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity. The nations will fear the name of the Lord, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory. For the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory."

Matthew 24: 32- 34 - "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

We can see some hints from the other passages in the Bible that the fig tree refers to the Jewish nation.

Joel 1:6,7 -  A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white. 

Jer 24:8-10, 29:17-19, Hosea 9:10 - In all these verses we can see the Jewish nation has been compared to the fig tree.