02.05. Israel Restored and Renewed

V ISRAEL RESTORED AND RENEWED

I IN considering "the Times of the Gentiles" in our last chapter, it was assumed throughout that when those "times" came to an end the time of Israel, as a nation, would begin again; that she would be restored to her own land and be in fellowship with God, through faith in Jesus of Nazareth, her Messiah and her Saviour. It remains to prove this. The proof begins indeed with the initial promise to Abraham. "All the land, . . . to thee will I give it, and to thy seedforever"(Genesis 13:15). This promise practically was repeated to David, the kingdom of whose Son was to be establishedforever(2 Samuel 7:13). Certainly in the perspective there appeared no opportunity for a doubt in this matter, and no indication of even a break in the continuity of the possession of the land or the perpetuity of the kingdom. A break came, however, as we have seen, first in the division of the kingdom in Rehoboam’s reign, and later in the captivity both of Israel and Judah.

Nevertheless, the later prophets now take up the strain, and foretell that this break, serious as it is and prolonged as it may be, will make no difference in the outcome. God’s word shall be fulfilled, and His purpose of the redemption of the world through the descendants of Abraham shall not fail.

Take the first of these prophets in the order in which they appear in our canon. Isaiah, in his earliest message, speaks of the spiritual harlotry of Judah and Jerusalem and of the judgments that shall fall upon her, but they will be purifying judgments. Her judges shall be restored as at the first and her counsellors as at the beginning, and afterwards she shall be called "the city of righteousness, the faithful city" (Isaiah 1:25-27). Manifestly this has not yet taken place in the history of Jerusalem, and unless God’s word shall fall to the ground, it is still to be looked for.

Jeremiah is very full and very plain in similar prophesying, and almost at random we select for our illustration Jeremiah 33:1-26. Jehovah, by the prophet, is speaking of the Babylonian victory soon to be accomplished over Judah, and her captivity to follow. Of Jerusalem especially He says: "I have hid my face from this city." But then He adds, "I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will blend them as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all iniquity. . . . And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth" (Jeremiah 33:5-9). As further accentuating the futurity of these promises they are associated with the second coming of Christ. "In those days and at that time will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord, our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 33:15-16).

Four times in the chapter does Jehovah refer to His covenant with David (see the third chapter), reaffirming it, and declaring that it will not be broken any more than His covenant of the day and of the night shall be broken.

Ezekiel’s prophecy of the dry bones is so familiar that it is not necessary to quote it (Ezekiel 37:1-28); but it may be sufficient to say that the resurrection it typifies is not a physical resurrection of individuals, but a political resurrection of the nation of Israel and Judah, to be then brought together again as one. Their moral resurrection is foretold in the preceding chapter, on which ground it is that the Lord is now able to say: "And David my servant shall be king over them and they shall have one shepherd; they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; . . . and my servant David shall be their prince forever. . . . And I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. . . . Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the Gentiles shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore" (Ezekiel 37:24-28).

Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks is even better known than Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones. These seventy weeks, or seventy "sevens" of time, are determined upon Judah and Jerusalem "to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness" (Daniel 9:24). There is a general agreement among students of prophecy that a period of 490 years is here referred to, which is broken up into three parts. The first part ended with the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, and the second with the crucifixion of Christ and the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. The third part is yet to come, the last of the seventy sevens, during which these events of which Daniel speaks will be brought to pass, and which are similar in character to, and synchronize with, the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, already named.

We might pause here with our consideration of these four, which are called the major prophets; but Hosea, the first in order of the minor prophets, is a unique witness. As an object lesson, Jehovah called upon him to marry an unchaste woman, who deserted him even after she had borne him children. Nevertheless, he was commanded still to love and to provide for her, and to covenant while doing so, that she should not be the wife of any other man and that he would keep himself for her.

All this, we are told, is "according to the love of the Lord towards the children of Israel." "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without an image, and without ephod, and without teraphim. Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days" (Hosea 3:1-5).

II A question might arise at this point as to whether these prophecies, uttered prior to the Babylonian captivity of Judah, do not find fulfillment in their return therefrom.

One method of reply to this would be to point out, as might easily be done, that the nut does not fit the bolt. In other words, the prophecies werenotfulfilled in that return. Jerusalem did not then become the righteous or faithful city. Judah and Israel were not cleansed from all iniquity then, nor did the nation then become a praise and honour before all the other nations of the earth, and much more to the same purport. But another method of reply is to quote the prophets who prophesiedafterthe Babylonian captivity, and whose utterances are in perfect harmony with those who went before.

Take a single one, Zechariah. In the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth chapters he is speaking of a time yet to come, when Jehovah "will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the peoples round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem." In former times, when the sacred city had been besieged, the Gentile nations had been made "a cup of trembling" for her, but now it will be reversed. In that day "I will seek to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem." When the Romans came against Jerusalem,A. D.70, this was not so, but Jerusalem herself was destroyed. Is it not evident, therefore, that a future period is meant? In that day“they shall look unto me, whom they have pierced." "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness." "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives." “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth." Even a cursory reading of these chapters must convince anyone willing to be convinced that the prophet is speaking of a time which is yet to come, when Judah and Israel shall be restored. And the same is the testimony of the New Testament as well as the Old. Christ’s words in Matthew 24:15-31 have not yet been fulfilled in the history of Judah and Jerusalem, and who shall dare to say that they shall not be? And what of Paul’s remarkable testimony in Romans 11:1-36? “I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved." As a closing word it may be said that, unless Israel shall be restored again to her own land, the larger part of the book of Revelation, certainly Revelation 7:1-17, Revelation 8:1-13, Revelation 9:1-21, Revelation 10:11, Revelation 11:1-19, Revelation 12:1-17, Revelation 13:1-18, Revelation 14:1-20, Revelation 15:1-8, Revelation 16:1-21, Revelation 17:1-18, Revelation 18:1-24, Revelation 19:1-21, Revelation 20:1-15, would be almost entirely without meaning. Those chapters are very largely Jewish, and relate to events that will take place in the history of that people, to a considerable extent in Palestine and the beloved city of Jerusalem.

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON 1. What proof of the future restoration of Israel is there in Genesis 13:15 and 2 Samuel 7:13?

2. Quote Isaiah on this point.

3. How does Jeremiah associate the restoration with the second coming of Christ?

4. To what earlier promise of God does Jeremiah 33:1-26 refer?

5. What two kinds of “resurrection" in Israel’s case are named by Ezekiel, and where?

6. What is to be the consummation of Daniel’s “seventy weeks"?

7. In what chapter of Daniel is this referred to?

8. Distinguish in history, past and future, the three parts of these seventy weeks.

9. What makes the prophet Hosea a unique witness to the future restoration?

10. In what two ways would you reply to the question as to whether these prophecies were not fulfilled in Judah’s return from Babylon?

11. Have you read Zechariah 12:1-14; Zechariah 13:1-9; Zechariah 14:1-21, or Matthew 24:15-31?

18. What verse of Romans 11:1-36 is quoted in this chapter?