The most significant sign in this century that the Lord is coming soon is Israel. The following is a compilation of prophetic signs involving Israel.
History has shown that the Jews returned to the land in the following order: the East first, then the West, followed by the North, and finally the South. The Jews first returned from the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Jordan 1930-1940), then Western Europe after WWII, then Russia starting in 1988, and finally Ethiopia (Operation Solomon, Summer, 1991)...
Isaiah 43:5-6 - Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth--
Israel will regard the miracle of their return to the land as a greater miracle than when their forefathers came up out of Egypt...
Jeremiah 16:14-15 - "Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that it shall no more be said, `The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, `The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.' For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.
There are fewer languages in the world than there once were. Languages and dialects are consolidating as the world seeks to work together more. During the dispersion of Israel, Hebrew as a spoken language was all but lost except for Biblical scholars. During the Diaspora, pure Hebrew had become mixed with German (Yiddish) and with Spanish (Ladino). Zephania Elineazer Ben Yahoda dedicated his life to the pure Hebrew language inventing thousands of new words based on Hebrew root words. Now it is the language that binds Israelis together despite their coming from different nations. Israelis now can read original Biblical scrolls without translation. In 1982 Hebrew became the official language of Israel...
Zephaniah 3:8-9 - Therefore wait for Me," says the LORD, "Until the day I rise up for plunder; my determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all my fierce anger; all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy. For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord.
Before the Jews returned to the land, the area was called Palestine. When Israel came back as a nation it will not be called Palestine, or Samaria, or Judah, it is to be known by its Biblical name, Israel...
Ezekiel 37:12 - "Therefore prophesy and say to them, `Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel."
Israel was born as a nation in a single day, May 14, 1948. They immediately had travail in the form of war with their Arab neighbors...
Isaiah 66:7-8 - "Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children."
Israel will be ruled by a democracy rather than a monarchy as they were in times before their dispersion. Also note that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East...
Zechariah 12:5 - And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts, their God.'
Israel will pay their taxes in shekels...
Ezekiel 45:12-16 - "The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina. This is the offering which you shall offer: you shall give one-sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley. The ordinance concerning oil, the bath of oil, is one-tenth of a bath from a kor. A kor is a homer or ten baths, for ten baths are a homer. And one lamb shall be given from a flock of two hundred, from the rich pastures of Israel. These shall be for grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them," says the Lord GOD. All the people of the land shall give this offering for the prince in Israel."
Israeli forces have astounded the world by their victories during six wars with vastly superior forces that have opposed them in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1981 and 1991. Today Israel is the third or fourth most powerful military force in the world, and probably number one in terms of effectiveness. They are certainly the most powerful force in the region and currently the only nation with nuclear weapons.
Zechariah 12:6 - In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place-- Jerusalem.
In 1967, Israel re-took possession of Jerusalem for the first time since they were dispersed by the Romans in 70 A.D. Since then, Jerusalem has been under the governments of the Romans, Byzentines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamlukes, Turks, British, and Jordanians. In this respect, the times of the Gentiles have been partially fulfilled. This is only a partial fulfillment of this prophecy because we know that Jerusalem will again be trampled on by the revived Roman Empire until Jesus Christ returns to crush the head of the revived Roman Empire (the Antichrist)...
Luke 21:24 - "And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."
Israel's location in the heart of the world's oil reserves makes it of great strategic significance to all the countries in the world. Jerusalem is a "burdensome stone" that stands in the way of world peace (cessation of hostilities)...
Zechariah 12:3 - And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.
When the Jews return to the land, they will buy it back. They did this to establish the kibbutz system...
Jeremiah 32:44 - "Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,' says the LORD."
Israel will rebuild their cities and their names will be the same as in Biblical times. Even the little city of Cana is still called Cana.
Ezekiel 36:10-11 - "I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD."
Jesus cursed three cities where He did most of His witnessing and performed most of His miracles. These cities are uninhabited rubble to this day...
Matthew 11:20-23 - Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day."
When Israel returns to the land, they will no longer be divided as Israel and Judah was. Israel will again be one nation...
Ezekiel 37:16-17 - "As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.' "Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand."
Ezekiel 37:21-22 - "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again."
Mark Twain visited Israel in the 1860's and wrote about it in his book "Innocents Abroad". He reported that Israel was a barren wasteland with no trees. Almost 2000 years of foreign conquerors had abused the land having no respect for it. Today there are over 400 million trees in Israel and rainfall has increased over 450% since the beginning of this century.
Isaiah 35:1-2 - The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the excellency of our God.
Note that Lebanon was well known for its cedars...
Judges 9:15 - And the bramble said to the trees, `If in truth you anoint me as king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon!'
I Kings 5:6 - Now therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians.
II Kings 19:23 - By your messengers you have reproached the Lord, and said: "By the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the limits of Lebanon; I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; I will enter the extremity of its borders, to its fruitful forest.
Psalm 29:5 - The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, yes, the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
Psalm 104:16 - The trees of the LORD are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
Song of Soloman 5:15 - His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
Isaiah 2:13 - Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan;
Isaiah 14:8 - Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, `Since you were cut down, no woodsman has come up against us.'
Jeremiah 22:23 - O inhabitant of Lebanon, making your nest in the cedars, how gracious will you be when pangs come upon you, like the pain of a woman in labor?
Zechariah 11:1 - Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars.
Israel is now the breadbasket of the Mideast exporting fruit all over the world...
Isaiah 27:6 - Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
When the Jews return to the land, they will grow several crops a year. Due to advanced irrigation in Israel this is a reality today...
Amos 9:11-13 - "On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name," says the LORD who does this thing. Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it."