50: An Important Number This Year

Fifty is a very important number in Scripture.

• The Lord agreed to spare Sodom if 50 righteous were found. Of course, Abraham bargained that down to ten, and we all know the result. Ten righteous could not be found
• The tabernacle in the wilderness had 50 loops on each side of the curtain with 50 gold clasps to fasten them. The east and the west sides of the courtyard were 50 cubits wide
• There are 50 days between Passover and Shavuot or Pentecost. This is known as the counting of the Omer leading up to the great harvest of Shavuot, and, we know, the great harvest of souls in Acts chapter two. Yeshua was ministering to His disciples after the resurrection during this time period
• Men in the Bible served up to 50 years of age in the tabernacle and later, the Temple. They served between the ages of 30 and retirement at 50
• One out of 50 of the Israelites were selected to serve with the Levites, the priests, in Scripture
• Fifty was often the figure required for ransom after sin that required payment: 50 coins, 50 shekels
• King David paid 50 pieces of silver for the threshing floor in 2 Samuel 24:24
• A military company in Scripture was often 50 men
• Fifty was a common measure in building
• Yeshua, we are told, fed the 5,000 people in groups of, you guessed it, 50
• Fifty is often the number that denotes a generation. It can be 40, 50, or 70, but 50 is one of those numbers that denote a generation
• Finally, the 50th year was a jubilee year in ancient Israel. Lev. 25:10 says “consecrate the 50^th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you. Each of you is to return to your family, property, and to your own clan” (NIV). Debt was also forgiven on the 50th year for the jubilee year.

So why do I bring up the number 50? Because there are two milestones this year involving the number 50.

Jewish Voice is Turning 50

The first is, Jewish Voice is turning 50. It was 50 years ago that the Lord spoke to Louis Kaplan, a Jewish boy from Brooklyn, to start a ministry to reach Jewish people. The Lord actually gave him that vision in December 1966, and in January of ‘67, Louis started Jewish Voice Broadcasts. He started on radio, one radio station here in Phoenix, and he was preaching the bark off trees. We spread to dozens of cities throughout the United States on radio, and then in the late 70s we expanded to television. Today we are seen all over the world on “Jewish Voice with Jonathan Bernis.” It all began 50 years ago. So this is Jewish Voice’s jubilee year.

Jerusalem’s 50^th Anniversary

When Louis Kaplan founded Jewish Voice in January 1967, it was just months before another great event. This one is even more important. 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem back under Jewish control. Amen! That is a very, very exciting thing.

Prophecy Fulfilled

Why is this so important? Well, because Luke 21:24 records a prophecy from Yeshua Himself. He said, “They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations. . . .” The Jewish people of Israel had been taken into captivity by Assyrians 700 years earlier. Then, the Babylonians defeated the Southern Kingdom of Judah in 715 A.D.

Many returned, but Yeshua said that those that returned would still fall by the sword. He said here in Luke that they would, be taken prisoners to all the nations, and “Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles.”

Now listen to this. This is so important―“Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (emphasis mine). The prophecy of Yeshua Himself weeping over Jerusalem declaring that the city would be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles was fulfilled.

Now let’s look quickly at what happened after Yeshua declared this almost 2,000 years ago.

Jerusalem in Gentile Hands from 70 A.D. to 1967

First, the Temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., according to Yeshua’s prophecy that not one stone would be left standing upon another. The city was then rebuilt as a Roman city in 135 A.D., and this lasted until 324 A.D. Now, during this time, the Jewish people were banished from Jerusalem and cast to the uttermost parts of the world. It is called the Dispersion or the Diaspora. God declared this would happen if the children of Israel were disobedient, and sure enough, the people of Israel were scattered to the nations of the world. Jerusalem was under Roman control until 324 A.D.

Then we have the Byzantine period from 324 to 614 A.D. This was actually a Christian period. In 614, the Persians captured the city, but the Byzantines recaptured it and ruled Jerusalem until 638 A.D.

Next, in 638 A.D., along came the Muslims who, under Caliph Omar took the city and ruled it until 1099. This is known as the First Muslim Period and is when the Dome of the Rock was built. It was also when Al Aqsa mosque was built on the Temple Mount.

The Muslims ruled Jerusalem for 500 years, and then, in 1099, the Crusaders marched in and defeated the Muslims. They captured the city of Jerusalem, destroyed part of the city, and rebuilt it. They ruled not even one hundred years until 1187 A.D. when the Muslims returned, this time under the leader Saladin. Saladin recaptured and controlled Jerusalem until 1259 A.D. During the 1200s, the Caliphate dismantled, and we have the Mamluk period until 1516.

In 1517, along came another empire. The Ottoman Empire emerged under “Suleiman the Magnificent.” He rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, and the city remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire until 1917. You can see many remains from the Ottoman Empire when you tour Israel today.

In 1917, the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the British after World War I. Next, Jerusalem was divided with half under the control of the British and half given to Trans-Jordan, which was created when they give this land to the former Emir of the Hashemite Kingdom, Abdullah the First. He became the ruler of what in 1946 became Jordan. He ruled the entire Old City of Jerusalem ―which is half of the Jerusalem of today ― while the other half was under British control.

These nine empires ruled over Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. Destruction after destruction, rebuilding again and again until 1967.

The Six-Day War of 1967 had a miraculous outcome: Israel’s continuing survival and the re-establishment of Jerusalem under the control of the Jewish people. After almost 2,000 years since 70 A.D., Jerusalem came back into the hands of the Jewish people, making it possible for the words of Yeshua to be fulfilled that Jerusalem would be trodden down until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled.

In other words, there was a set time in history when Israel and the Jewish people would again be in Jerusalem controlling Jerusalem. We also see, then, that the words of Matthew 23:39 can be fulfilled when Yeshua wept over Jerusalem and said of the people of Israel, “you will not see Me again until you say blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

1967 was a prophetic shift.

This year, we are celebrating the 50^th anniversary of that prophetic year. The jubilee celebration is the 50th anniversary of the restoration of Jerusalem to the Jewish people.

Celebrating 50 years of Jerusalem

We are going to be there at the Western Wall at the Temple Mount to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this very event. I want to extend an invitation for you to join us on our 2017 Celebrate Israel tour to celebrate Jerusalem’s jubilee with us. We still have a few spaces left.

We are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jerusalem’s liberation along with the 50th anniversary of Jewish Voice. We will be staying at beautiful accommodations with delicious Israeli

breakfasts and dinners provided. We are going to experience the sights and sounds of an ancient land and ancient people. We‘ll take part in Jerusalem Day celebrating the return of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall back into the hands of the Jewish people. Israelis will be celebrating at the same time, and we will be there with them. It is going to be an incredible celebration. We’re also going to visit an Israeli military base, and have dinner in a Bedouin village.

You can get more information by CLICKING ON ISRAEL TOUR or call us at 1-800-299-9374.

Celebrating 50 Years of Jewish Voice