The Holy Land Key: Unlocking End-Times Prophecy Through the Lives of God's People in Israel

by Ray Bentley, Genevieve Gillespie Narrated by Ray Bentley

Overview

Don't just read prophecy. Step into its fulfillment.

The study of prophecy inspires elaborate timelines and speculation about which world leader might rise to power in the last days. But meanwhile, it's far too easy to miss the significant prophetic signs contained in stories of biblical characters, in God's creation, and in the lives and actions of today's Israelis and Palestinians.

The Holy Land Key opens our eyes to little-known aspects of prophecy, including:

• God's master plan revealed in the seven Feasts of the Lord
• The ingathering of God's people, and the ways Israelis are hearing from God today
• Significant prophetic patterns discovered in the lunar cycle
• Awe-inspiring testimonies to God's glory spelled out in the night sky
• Glimpses of God's future kingdom revealed in the stories of well-known figures from Scripture

For decades, author and pastor Ray Bentley has partnered with God's people in Israel, including Judea and Samaria, the area known as the West Bank. There, he witnesses the fulfillment of prophecy firsthand. This is your introduction to prophetic signs that God reveals in sometimes unexpected ways. He does not want us to miss the work he is doing to usher in the coming Kingdom.

An EChristian, Inc production.

Editorial Reviews

OCTOBER 2014 - AudioFile

Author Ray Bentley narrates his own work with skill. His focus is the Jewish connection to prophecy as viewed through the lens of God's unbroken relationship with the Jewish people. He provides a compelling characterization of Isaac, God's promised son, and Ishmael, the handmaiden’s son, and their ancient conflict, which continues to play out in the Middle East today. Bentley's pleasing voice and conversational phrasing reveal a fascinating connection between Jewish feast days and a series of blood moons called Tetrads, recorded only three times in the last five hundred years. His pace slows for emphasis as he notes those years: 1942, when Jews escaped to America from the Spanish Inquisition; 1948, when Israel was reborn as a nation; and 1967, during Israel's Six-Day War. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

Praise for The Holy Land Key

“Get ready for your mind to expand with new thoughts, your heart to enfold God’s people, your eyes to glimpse God’s plan, and your faith to soar in worship. My applause!”
—Anne Graham Lotz, speaker, author of The Magnificent Obsession

“Ray Bentley has immersed himself in the land of the Book and the people of the land. His challenge to not only study prophecy, but also to live it, rings with the clarity of a bell. He makes an ancient subject come alive, and I found this book riveting and convicting and moving.”
—Jerry B. Jenkins, New York Times best-selling author of the Left Behind series

“In The Holy Land Key, Ray Bentley ties together history, current events, prophecy, Israel’s feasts and festivals, and the progress of the gospel among Jews and Arabs. Ray also explains the mystery of the Messiah’s return, which God laid out for us to see through dramatic signs in the heavens. This book will challenge your thinking, fill you with hope, and bless your life.”
—Tom Doyle, vice-president of e3 Partners, author of Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?

“Seeing prophecy through the eyes of God’s chosen people, Israel, is the only way to fully understand all of its implications. Ray Bentley sets forth the importance of being on God’s calendar and seeing the patterns that are visible in God’s feasts. Ray gives us a greater understanding of the signs in the heavens as God’s signals of coming events. I am glad he is getting the truth out in these last days, as we know time is short!”
—Pastor Mark Biltz, founder of El Shaddai Ministries

“What I appreciate most about The Holy Land Key is the common ground Ray Bentley and I have in our hearts. We both desire that out of every tribe, tongue, and nation countless numbers of individuals would be saved and brought into the kingdom of Christ. I appreciate the growing interest Ray has in the perspective of Arab and Palestinian believers living in the land. We do not have to allow differences to keep us from loving each other and enjoying the wondrous friendship and fellowship Christ brings.”
—Botrus Mansour, general director of Nazareth Baptist School, author of When Your Neighbor Is the Savior

“The Holy Land Key offers a look into the heart of one who is a lover of God’s people and a true friend of the Jewish people. Ray’s longtime interest in God’s covenant with His people, Israel, and his insatiable desire to find God’s mind on the issues of the conflict in the Middle East, make this book a pleasure to read.”
—Tass Saada, founder and president of Seeds of Hope, author of Once an Arafat Man

While on vacation this year, I had the privilege to read Ray Bentley’s new book on Israel.  I am not a stranger to the Holy Land, having been there many times, but I learned so many things about Israel and God’s people that I did not know.  The book reads like an adventure story.  It causes you to look over your shoulder at God’s continued blessing upon His people and to look forward to the many prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled.  When you are finished with this read, you will want to book a tour of Israel!
—David Jeremiah, founder & CEO of Turning Point Ministries

OCTOBER 2014 - AudioFile

Author Ray Bentley narrates his own work with skill. His focus is the Jewish connection to prophecy as viewed through the lens of God's unbroken relationship with the Jewish people. He provides a compelling characterization of Isaac, God's promised son, and Ishmael, the handmaiden’s son, and their ancient conflict, which continues to play out in the Middle East today. Bentley's pleasing voice and conversational phrasing reveal a fascinating connection between Jewish feast days and a series of blood moons called Tetrads, recorded only three times in the last five hundred years. His pace slows for emphasis as he notes those years: 1942, when Jews escaped to America from the Spanish Inquisition; 1948, when Israel was reborn as a nation; and 1967, during Israel's Six-Day War. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172681233
Publisher:	EChristian, Inc.
Publication date:	02/18/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

These Are the People the Prophets Saw

The Holy Land Key is not a book that renews familiar debates over a prophetic time line or argues for or against a particular interpretation of John’s Revelation. We will not try to narrow down the most likely candidates for the Antichrist. It is important to read prophecy carefully, to handle its interpretation with great care, and to anchor all our conclusions in God’s Word, but we also want to explore some new territories in Scripture that have prophetic significance.

In the chapters that follow, we will look at certain passages of Scripture from a Hebrew perspective. We also will study what God has written in the heavens and what the Bible says about these heavenly revelations. We will look at the testimony of history, we will study the Jewish calendar and the biblical feasts, and we will even find startling insights based on research done by NASA on blood moons. Paul wrote in Romans 1 that we are without excuse if we fail to see God and His character in the signs that are clear in His creation. God has left signs for us in more places than we can imagine. It would be a mistake to ignore any of them.

God’s Covenant with His Chosen People

One of the clearest and most enduring signs is God’s unbroken relationship with the Jewish people. The people living today in the Holy Land are the people the ancient prophets saw in the end times. They are the descendants of Jesus’s family and of His disciples. They are living evidence of God’s plan to gather His people back to Israel after two thousand years of exile.

Israel is a witness to the world. It is not an exaggeration to say that when we look at Israel, we are looking into the eyes of God. When we look at Israel, we see God’s intentions for the world. We will explore this further in the chapters that follow. We also will look at patterns throughout history that open our eyes to what the very near future holds. Some of the patterns that most clearly reveal God’s plans as well as His heart are found in the Hebrew calendar and the timing of the feasts of the Lord listed in Scripture. The significance of these Jewish holidays is far greater today than was the original purpose of each feast.

Further, it has been revealed that the timing of the feasts—right down to the specific dates—coincides with repeated cycles of astronomical events and patterns. The full meaning of this correlation remains to be seen, but it is significant that God confirms the testimony of history, of the Scriptures, of religious observance, and of the signs He has put in the heavens. All these together point to the coming—and the return—of the promised Messiah. Ultimately, they point to Israel’s destiny and to the destiny of humanity. The Jews were given the predictions of the ancient prophets long before the Christians inherited those Scriptures along with the New Covenant of God’s Word. It is important to look carefully at the way Jews understand the written testimony of the Hebrew prophets. Familiar prophecies from thousands of years ago are being fulfilled today in Israel. It is no overstatement to say that God’s plan is being moved forward by committed Jews, and this, too, is a revelation to us. God called Israel the “apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8). That never has changed, and when God looks at His chosen people today, He sees His plans unfolding at the end of this age. When we look at Israel, we see God’s intentions for the world. I will introduce you to modern-day Israelis who—no matter if they are Jewish or Gentile, Christian or otherwise—are answering the call of God on their lives. These current-day brothers and sisters of Jesus have much to show us of the ways and the heart of God.

But the people of Israel and their work to restore the Holy Land is only a start. In addition, we will look at the signs of what God will bring to pass on earth. This includes a study of the heavens, the way time is recorded, and more. A  guiding principle here is to identify and learn from patterns that are repeated throughout Scripture and described in 1 Corinthians 15:46: “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.” What God does in the natural realm is a picture of what He is doing in the spiritual realm. God reveals His plans and His future work, including what is in store at the end of the age, first in the natural world.

Bringing Prophecy to Life

Prophecy and its interpretation are a fascinating study. You can get lost in the words of God’s ancient messengers, studying their dreams and visions and seeking to piece together the larger picture. It is important to know what God has said through His prophets. However, we need to avoid the tendency to study prophecy with a sort of academic detachment that separates us emotionally—and spiritually—from the impact of what God is doing on earth. Prophecy is a biblical teaching to be lived out. We need to bring prophecy to life by connecting it to our lives and the lives of others.

By getting to know people who live in the Holy Land (Jews, Christians, Israeli Arabs, and Palestinians), we are drawn into more than just the facts of prophecy. We go beyond end-times theories and encounter the people who are involved in the fulfillment of prophecy. These descendants of Jesus are witnessing events He prophesied when He lived in the same land two thousand years ago.

More and more, Christians are taking action by joining with God’s people of Israel. The Israelis witness daily what God is doing in their ancestral land. They are eyewitnesses to the unfolding of God’s work. You and I—and all people of  faith who join with Israel in an active way—are part of the prophetic story. A Jewish friend who helped me go much deeper in my study and understanding of prophecy opened my eyes to this truth.

Ron Nachman, the mayor of a small Israeli city in the West Bank, took great risks to help rebuild Israel after the Jews started returning to their homeland after 1948. He read the Hebrew prophets and studied the ways their visions were becoming reality in the Holy Land—the land he was committed to help restore.

Men such as Ron see the solidarity of Christians who work alongside Israelis as an important sign of prophecy being fulfilled. The people living in Israel are already on the scene of God’s culminating work on earth: the return of His Son to claim His own. As God brings this age to a close, Israelis are having their eyes opened to God’s dealings with humanity. It is not simply the building of a nation, protecting Israel against the enemies that surround it, or arguing the issues related to territory and boundaries as part of the so-called Palestinian question. All those are important,
of course, but there is a growing sense that developments are taking place that transcend political, military, and nationalistic concerns. These are spiritual issues and spiritual concerns shared by Jews, Arabs, and Christians alike.

For years we have seen the Arab-Israeli conflict dominate the headlines. As I was writing this book, Israel was criticized for sending aircraft into Syria to destroy missiles supplied by Iran and stored near Damascus. The missiles were said to have a two-hundred-mile range and were en route to Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah, a sworn enemy of Israel, typically operates in Lebanon but also has joined the fighting in Syria’s civil war.1 Global tensions have focused in and around Israel since the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948. Just about everything concerning Israel—even its right to exist—remains the focus of international debate in spite of decades of negotiations, wars, shifting boundaries, and treaties.

What Are Israelis Hearing from God?

Many of the signposts we have missed in our past study of prophecy come clearly into view only when we study Scripture in tandem with committed Israelis. How do the people of Israel read the signs of the times? What do they anticipate for the future as they face the hostility of enemies bent on their destruction?

To study prophecy apart from the people who live in the Holy Land is similar to studying a road atlas and pretending you’ve visited the Grand Canyon or Yosemite National Parks. Reading words on a page is only one of the steps in learning the deeper meaning of prophecy. The prophets delivered their prophecies to people who needed to have their eyes and hearts opened to God’s plans. None of this has changed since the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah. God has not changed His plans, nor has He stopped speaking to His people—as we will see.

Many of the people I am working with in Israel are hearing from God. He is opening the eyes of His people to the reality of His power, His involvement in world affairs, His never-ending love for His people, and His plans. He is setting things in order to bring about His kingdom on earth, just as His prophets foretold.

In The Holy Land Key you will be introduced to contemporary Israelis—from national leaders to local leaders to ordinary citizens. You will begin to hear from God just as those in Israel hear from Him. Let’s start making introductions.

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