THE FISHERS AND THE HUNTERS

In the previous rotulus, we delved into the second phase of restoration for the Nation of Israel. It was noted that even though God brought Israel out of Egypt, He promised to bring them out from Babylon (The Land of The North) and from all lands He has driven them (this incorporates the lost ten tribes) back to the land of Israel. The theme, “God’s endtime dealings with Israel” is to walk Israel through history and convey by the scriptures, expectations for Israel in this end of time.

The Fishers

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

—Matthew 4:19

Today, many preachers quote this verse with respect to the preaching of the gospel, the kingdom of heaven and the bringing in of the gentiles. However, this verse is an allusion to what God said in Jeremiah 16:16Jeremiah 16:1616 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks..

Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord , and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

—Jeremiah 16:16

We must look at who a fisherman is, in the natural, to understand how this applies to the restoration of Israel. A fisherman is one who catches fish with great care. Don’t let your mind drift to modern times, where there are several techniques of catching fish. Let us try and remain within the scope of the Bible times and we will see that the fishing involves the use of a dragnet from which the net is dragged to shore, after the fish must have been caught (see Matthew 13:47-48Matthew 13:47-4847 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. , John 21:6, 8John 21:6, 86 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. ). 

47. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48. Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

—Matthew 13:47-48

6. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
8. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.

—John 21:6,8

How does this apply spiritually? In the scriptures, the sea could refer to Gentiles (Isaiah 60:5Isaiah 60:55 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. , Revelation 10:2Revelation 10:22 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,).

Recall that Israel have been dispersed in AD 70 and these fishers were God’s instrumentation in beginning their restoration. The imagery employed here is for the fishers to get the Israelites out of the gentile lands and bring them to Land [even the land of Israel].

In history, this refers to the Zion Movement or Zionism, spearheaded by Theodor Herzl in the 19th century. Zionism is the national movement of the Jewish people that supports the reestablishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic land of Israel. How does this relate to the fishers? To fulfil the role of fishers, Jewish Rabbis were sent across the world with a traditional belief in a messiah to modern conditions, by teaching that the Jews themselves must lay the groundwork for His coming. They rejected the idea of assimilation into European Society and insisted that the essence of the Jew’s problem was their lack of a national home. But Israel being prosperous, didn’t hear the fishers. Theodor Herzl, in his book, “The Jewish State”, stated the need for the creation of a Jewish state, yet the wealthy among the Jews refused to put up their money to support the project.

The Hunters

He was a mighty hunter before the Lord : wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.

—Genesis 10:9

With Israel turning deaf ears to the Fishers, God had to activate the hunters. The above verse speaks of Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord. Many have interpreted that verse to mean that Nimrod hunted animals but when we look with the eyes of revelation, we can see that Nimrod actually hunted Men. Since Israel refused to hear the fishers, God activated the hunters, who were to search them out of every mountain, hills and holes of the rocks. Mountains in the scriptures, refers to nations (Joshua 14:12Joshua 14:1212 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said. , Psalms 48:1Psalms 48:11 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. , Isaiah 2:2-3Isaiah 2:2-32 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ), Hills refer to states / cities (1 Kings 16:241 Kings 16:2424 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. , Ezekiel 34:6Ezekiel 34:66 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.).

Literally, God was saying that He would send hunters that would hunt them out of every nation, states and cities and this would bring about a return to their homeland. The imagery employed here, is that of a hunter who would maim, shoot, hit, strike, just to get his prey.

This points to the “Holocaust” which is the almost complete destruction of Jews in Europe by the Nazis and its collaborators, using World War II (1939-1945), where an estimated 6 Million Jews were exterminated. There was a worldwide hatred for Jews called anti-semitism which brought about anti-jewish violence, but the height of this was the Holocaust. While we must not fail to see the hand of God in all this, we must also be aware of the role the Roman Catholic Church played in spreading anti-semitism; and yes, there is a prophesied destiny of the Vatican city, even the destruction by the European Union (Revelation 17:16Revelation 17:1616 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. ). The details of the Holocaust are not for the fragile hearted; there were concentration camps, gas chambers, starvation, disease, mass, shooting, etc. These hunters included men like Adolf Hitler, Eichmann, Mengele.

For many of the survivors of the Holocaust, the Zionist dream of a Jewish homeland was their anchor of hope; yet this was a quota of only 1500 Jews per month allowed by the British to enter Palestine. The Jews were split on how to deal with the British in Palestine. Some led by David Ben Gurion believed in negotiations while others led by Menachem Begin believed in fighting and driving out the British. Eventually, the British Prime Minister, Tony Benn declared that England would give up its rule over Palestine and hand the problem over to the United Nations to solve. We must be aware of the support of the United States for Israel. The United Nation decided on a two-state solution of Jewish and Arab. This was rejected by all the Arab States and brought about the end-time Arabic hatred of the Jews.

On May 14, 1948, the British, having control of only one half of Jerusalem, officially left Palestine and on that same day, the state of Israel was immediately declared by David Ben Gurion. This fulfilled Matthew 24:32Matthew 24:3232 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: and set in motion the fulfillment of Isaiah 66:8Isaiah 66:88 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. . Yes, a nation was born in a day.

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

—Matthew 24:32

8 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.

—Isaiah 66:8

May God help us see the prophetic application of this parable put forth by the Lord about the fig tree because the fig tree represents the Land of Israel (Joel 1:7Joel 1:77 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. , Mark 11:13Mark 11:1313 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. , Luke 13:6-7Luke 13:6-76 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? , Jeremiah 24).

The leaves points to the people of Israel (Daniel 4). That the branches were just putting forth leaves points to the return of the Jews to their homeland Israel.

Summer

The bible recognises two seasons—Winter and Summer (Genesis 8:22Genesis 8:2222 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. ). Though, under the influence of the Roman civilization, the Jews divided the year into four seasons. In Palestine, we learn that seed time was in September while harvest time was in March, winter began in December and summer in June. (ref Targum of Jonathan). Summer is the last season of the year and what Jesus was telling his disciples was that around the time Israel become a Nation again, there would come no other season before the end comes. This brings in view the church ages (Revelation 2, 3) and how that Israel would only become a nation again in the seventh church age.

With Israel returning to their homeland and the area heavily inhabited by the Arabs and dominated by Islam spirit, the stage is set for the endtime Arabic hatred against Israel.

Navigate to the next rotulus: “The Arabic Hatred”