While the following two revelations may appear at first glance to be ho-hum items, upon further reflection, might they actually have end-times prophecy implications?
The first is based on a poll just completed in Israel which revealed that young Israelis are moving farther to the right politically. This discovery is compatible with an Israeli survey taken a couple of months ago which revealed that the general population of Israel has moved to the right politically in the last ten years. Now we find that younger Israelis have also moved in that direction.
The second comes from a recently published report by Professor Arnon Sofer, chair of Geo-strategy at the University of Haifa. The professor predicts there will be a religious majority in Israel by 2030. His study assumes natural growth of 6-7% in the hareidi-religious sector, which would put its population at one million by 2030.
Again, these seem to invite the question, so what? However, in actuality, these are fascinating developments for Israel that may have significant implications for end-times prophecy. How so? As President Richard Nixon used to say to the press, "I'm glad you asked."
To understand how the first discovery relates to end-times prophecy, we need to realize that the Bible predicts that ten national leaders will sign a treaty with the nation of Israel. In addition, this end-times treaty will provide for Israel to rebuild the Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. For that kind of controversial mandate to be included in the treaty, and agreed upon by ten co-signing leaders of other nations, it will likely need to be a non-negotiable pushed hard by Israeli leadership. In order for the rebuilding of the temple to become a non-negotiable by Jewish leadership, it will need to become important for the Jewish populace. Up until the past few years, it was not important enough for Israelis as a whole. But the current movement of the Israeli population farther to the right on the political spectrum, a move which includes a national focus on the law of Moses, bodes well for including the rebuilding of the temple in this future, but, perhaps, not-so-distant, treaty. In fact, this kind of development for Israel seems absolutely necessary to get to the place where Israeli leadership demands that, for them to sign a treaty, it will have to include a primary proviso that will provide for Israel to immediately begin rebuilding the Jewish temple—on the Temple Mount.
As for the second revelation, Jesus indicated that by the time the end-times treaty is initiated, Israel will be a religious state, following the Mosaic (Old Testament) law. For this reason, Israeli leadership will demand permission to rebuild the Jewish temple on the Temple Mount as a requisite for signing the treaty; for the temple is necessary for Israel to practice the Mosaic law. After all, the sacrificial system was at the heart of the law and is absolutely necessary for the law to fulfill God's purpose for it. (The law revealed God's perfect standards, which no one can meet. Thus, the purpose for the law is to show individuals trying to keep it that they cannot keep those standards, revealing to them that they do not have the righteousness needed to have a relationship with God. Thus, the purpose of the law was to drive open-hearted Jews to faith in Jesus Christ for the righteousness needed [cf. Galatians 3:24; Romans 3:21-26; etc.]. The sacrificial system is an important and necessary aspect of the law to fulfill this purpose.)
Without a temple, there can be no sacrifices. However, based on how quickly events seem to be lining up with end-times fulfillment, it is unlikely that it will take that long for Israel to begin practicing the Mosaic law, complete with sacrifices. (By the way, see Daniel 9:27; also see Matthew 24:15 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 to see that the temple will be rebuilt during the first half of the seven-year period following the initiation of the end-times treaty.)
Interestingly, a recent survey of Jews in Israel found that 64 percent of them want the temple to be rebuilt, which is a staggering figure, since it seems that not long ago, Israel was primarily a secular state. The tide is changing, preparing for the rebuilding of the temple in the possible near future.
This appears to be one more piece of the end-times puzzle, demonstrating that God is quickly aligning events and circumstances to prepare for end-times fulfillment. We are living in exciting days! So keep looking up!
[For more on Israel's rebuilding of the temple, and for a clear understanding on many other riveting events that the Bible says will occur between now and the return of Christ, see Apocalypse 2012: The Ticking of the End Time Clock—What Does the Bible Say?]