The Hebrew poem Hatikvah, literally “The Hope”, was written by Naftali Herz Imber in 1878. Proclaimed the unofficial national anthem of Israel in 1948, an abbreviated two stanza version became the official anthem in 2004.
It occurred to me in 2018 that the lyrics of Hatikvah speak to the great tribulation and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Here are the lyrics in Hebrew:
And now the lyrics in English:
As long as in the heart, within,
The soul of a Jew still yearns,
And onward, towards the ends of the east,
An eye still gazes toward Zion;
Our hope is not yet lost,
The two-thousand-year-old hope,
To be a free nation in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
Look carefully at the third and fourth lines of the first stanza:
(lit. “And-towards-outskirts east, forward”)
And onward, towards the ends of the east,
(lit. “Eye towards Zion watches”)
An eye still gazes toward Zion
Surely this is the LORD and also Jesus Christ, per Isaiah 49:14-16 and Matthew 24:27.
But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Isaiah 49:14-16
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:27
When the seventh trumpet sounds and the seventh vial is poured, the Son of man Jesus Christ will come to redeem Israel. He will come from the direction of the east and in the clouds with power and glory.
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luke 21:27-28
Thus begins the kingdom of God.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
Isaiah 10:20-21
And for this reason, the hope of Israel, Hatikvah, is the Messiah!
Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil anymore.
Zephaniah 3:14-15