03.03. Israel to Be Restored as a Nation
CHAPTER THREE Israel to Be Restored as a Nation
ONE OF THE greatest themes in the Bible is the promised restoration of Israel to their land, that is, the promise that Israel shall be returned to Palestine and their kingdom re-established.
It was this promise that Nehemiah had in mind when he fasted and wept and prayed and took back a remnant to Palestine.
It was these great promises that Daniel had in mind when he fasted and wept and prayed and confessed his sin and the sin of his people Israel (Dan 9:3-19) until God sent him the promise concerning his people Israel and his city Jerusalem, when the transgressions would be finished, sins brought to an end, reconciliation made for iniquity, everlasting righteousness brought in, and the Most Holy One anointed, that is, when the great coming Jewish King should be anointed (Dan 9:24). This was the hope and promise which the apostles had in mind when they asked the risen Saviour, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6).
Peter meant this when he preached that Israel should repent, looking forward to the "times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets," at the second coming of Christ (Acts 3:19-21). This was the hope of the misguided Zealots when they rebelled against Rome and finally brought about the utter destruction of the city by Titus and the Roman army in A.D. 70.
Israel to Be Dispersed and Later Regathered to Their Land
Deu 28:1-68 is one of the most terrible in the Bible. Almost all of Deu 28:1-68, and most of Deu 29:1-29 following it, tell of the terrible plagues, the punishment that was to come upon the nation Israel if they should disobey the Lord and forsake His laws.
Deu 28:63-66 makes plain the great dispersion and scattering of Israel among all nations which was to come. As you read it, you will see that it has certainly been fulfilled.
"And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life" (Deu 28:63-66).
Verse Deu 28:64 shows that this was not merely the Babylonian captivity which God had in mind. They were not to be taken to one nation, but "the Lord shall scatter thee AMONG ALL PEOPLE, FROM THE ONE END OF THE EARTH EVEN UNTO THE OTHER"!
No, what God here threatened was that which has come to pass, and is true even today; Jews are scattered in every nation under Heaven. They are in every land and yet have no land of their own, they are among every people, yet they remain a separate people.
Many of Abraham’s Seed Destroyed Utterly That Deu 28:15-68 full of terrible predictions of the ruin of those Jews who turn away from the Lord God. A careful reading of it makes clear that many Jews have been and will be destroyed without remedy. The promise is not to all of Abraham’s seed. In that chapter, verse Deu 28:20 says that the cursing, vexation and rebuke will be upon them, "until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly."
Verses Deu 28:22; Deu 28:24; Deu 28:48; Deu 28:51; Deu 28:61 say that the curses of God shall smite wicked, unbelieving Jews "until thou perish" and "until thou be destroyed" etc. It becomes certainly evident that the promises to Abraham’s seed are not for disobedient and rebellious Jews. God plainly told these that they should be destroyed. But this limitation of the promise was made known from the very beginning. The Lord told Abraham, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Gen 21:12). The promise was not to all of Abraham’s seed, not at all to Ishmael and the sons of Keturah by Abraham. Later, God chose Jacob and rejected Esau. The "birthright" which included the covenants and promises was sold by Esau for a mess of pottage, and profane Esau did not inherit the promises as did Jacob. The promise to Abraham did not include all of his descendants. The Promises Inherited Only by Faith Rom 4:13 shows that only converted Jews, those who like Abraham believed in God, shall inherit the Abrahamic promises.
There we are told: "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." The promise was to Abraham on the basis that he believed God, and the promise to his seed is on the same basis. Jews who inherit with Abraham the land of Canaan will inherit it on the basis of righteousness by faith. Happily, Gentiles also who have the same faith are counted the seed of Abraham, and will inherit the earth with Abraham (Gal 3:7-9; Gal 3:14; Gal 3:28-29). But the point that we are now making is that only a limited number of all those who have ever descended from Abraham will inherit the land with Abraham. Those who inherit will be those who have trusted in the Saviour, as Abraham did. That is the reason that half the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy gives verse after verse saying that Israelites who sinned should be "destroyed," should "perish."
Then verse Deu 28:63 says:
"And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it." When God threatened to destroy Israelites, He did not mean that the last Jew would be blotted out, for many Scriptures foretell the eternal existence of the race. But relatively few of the nation have been converted and can inherit the promises. No Second Chance for Unsaved Jews
Let it be understood that God’s plan of salvation for the Jew is the same as for everybody else in the world. Jews are sinners, as are the Gentiles. To be saved, they must turn by faith to Christ as others must do. A Jew who dies unsaved, not having trusted in Christ, does not have any part in the promises made to Abraham. Those promises can be inherited only by those who are heirs through the righteousness of faith (Rom 4:13). Unrepentant and unbelieving dead, whether Jews or Gentiles, are in Hell and will never be saved. The rich man about whom the Saviour told us in Luk 16:19-31 was a Jew, an unsaved Jew, who in Hell yet called Abraham his father, as he literally was, that is, his ancestor.
Unbelieving Jews Not Really Abraham’s Seed
How could unbelieving Jews inherit promises of God made to the spiritually-minded, believing Abraham, the child of God, the friend and prophet of God? Jesus plainly told the unsaved Pharisees of His day that though they were physically descended from Abraham, they were not really Abraham’s seed but were children of the Devil (John 8:37-44).
John the Baptist preached that "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Mat 3:9).
Even when the whole remnant of Israel is converted, each individual must put his faith in Jesus as the Saviour, the only way anyone has ever been saved, or ever will be saved. A nation shall be born at once (Isa 66:8), "and so all Israel shall be saved" (Rom 11:26); but that will come when individual Jews all turn, as they one day will, to receive the Saviour and trust Him as their Messiah, their Deliverer, and their King. The Regathering of Israel and the Future Foretold
After all the warnings of the terrible punishment God would bring on Israel when they forgot God, it is refreshing to know that He will one day turn their hearts back again. Israel has been dispersed. Israel will be regathered. God has not cast away His people.
Deu 30:1-6 is a very important passage showing God’s plan for Israel in the future. When you read it carefully, I will call attention to several important facts in that passage.
"And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And, the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live" (Deu 30:1-6).
Notice the following great facts which are made clear in this passage:
(1) God does not say "if," but "when." God knew that the sins of Israel would lead to their being scattered in all the world.
(2) He also knew that far later those of the nation yet alive would be led to return to the Lord as told in Deu 30:2.In the inspired words of Moses, Israel will return to obey the very commandments in these Mosaic laws. (This will be in the Great Tribulation period to come, as you will later see.)
(3) The nation Israel will be regathered to their own land. Deu 30:4 makes clear that every living Jew "driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven" will be gathered and brought back to the land of Canaan.
Notice particularly that Deu 30:5 says, "And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it." The fathers of present day Jews possessed the land of Israel, but they did not have EVERLASTING possession of it. In the future, every living Jew under Heaven will be brought back to the land of Canaan to possess it.
(4) This Scripture above makes clear that after the Israelites are gathered back to their own land, then they will not merely keep the law of Moses, but they will be "circumcised in heart." They will be converted, born again, and have everlasting life.
Ezekiel Reveals the Hope of Israel
Many times in Ezekiel do we find this theme of the restoration of Israel to their own land, Palestine. Eze 34:1-31, Eze 36:1-38 and Eze 37:1-28 are especially plain. God is the Shepherd and the children of Israel are His people.
Eze 34:11-13 says:
"For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country." The prophecy is about Israel; they will be brought "to their own land," Palestine, the land of "the mountains of Israel." This is not figurative, but literal.
Again in Eze 36:22-28 we find a plain promise from God to Israel that they will be regathered from among the heathen, gathered out of all countries, and brought again "INTO YOUR OWN LAND," that then they will be given new hearts, or converted.
"Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into YOUR OWN LAND. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. AND YE SHALL DWELL IN THE LAND THAT I GAVE TO YOUR FATHERS; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Eze 36:22-28). This passage, like Deu 30:1-6, plainly promises that all of Israel left alive on the earth will one day be restored to Palestine, their own land, that there they will be converted and there will enter into the everlasting possession which God promised them. Do not call this figurative language, nor explain away the meaning. The Lord plainly says, "And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers," the literal land Canaan.
If there should be any doubt, the remainder of the chapter tells of the increase of corn, the tilling of the land, the building of cities and that the whole land shall be like the Garden of Eden (Eze 36:35). The Lord is not here talking about some mystic, unreal place out in space where disembodied spirits gather. He is talking about a literal land, with soil that grows crops, a land where cities are built and prosper. The place is the land of Palestine where people will be regathered with literal bodies to eat, drink, sow and reap, build and inhabit, a physical Garden of Eden, a literal Heaven upon earth. The Valley of Dry Bones In Eze 37:1-28, Ezekiel saw a vision, a valley of dry bones, very, very dry. In the vision Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to these dry bones that they should live, and as he prophesied, there was a noise and shaking and the bones came together, sinews and flesh came upon them and skin, and then the wind brought breath into these bodies, and they lived, an exceeding great army! Then the Lord explained the vision in the following words:
"Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold., O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord" (Eze 37:11-14). The bones are not the bones of the dead, but the bones of the living. The graves are the countries all over the world where Jews are scattered and buried alive. Israel as a nation seems dead, but God will revive national Israel again. God is not talking ABOUT Israel, but TO Israel.
It is important to notice that though God here uses a figure of speech, He plainly states what the figure pictures.
He says, "These bones are the whole house of Israel." The resurrection here pictured, then, is the resurrection of "the whole house of Israel."
God hears the despairing cry of the Jews as they say, "Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts."
Many Israelites mourn as did Daniel and Nehemiah over their state; no king, no priesthood, no sacrifice; cast out of their land, persecuted around the world. To these God says, "Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel."
God is speaking here to living Jews but about their national deadness. It is a promise to the literal people, Israel, of their restoration as a nation to their land and to the favor of God. The breath that will come into Israel will be the return of the Spirit of God to spiritually dead Israel. The resurrection He promises here is the return to their own land from the graves which are other countries. Notice again the plain, literal promise in Eze 37:14, "And I shall place you in YOUR OWN LAND."
Israel, that is, living Jews, will be restored to their own land as a literal nation again. The Sign of the Two Sticks In the rest of Eze 37:1-28, God showed through the prophet the reuniting of the two kingdoms, Judah and the ten tribes, the Northern and Southern kingdoms, which divided in the days of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. Notice how literal are these promises. Notice the promise about Christ, the greater David, the Descendant of David. See that the happy land promised is not a heaven on some other planet, but literal Palestine.
Here is the rest of the chapter, Eze 37:15-28 :
"The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, More-aver, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and BRING THEM INTO THEIR OWN LAND: AND I WILL MAKE THEM ONE NATION IN THE LAND UPON THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all 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 HAVE DWELT; AND THEY SHALL DWELL THEREIN, EVEN THEY, AND THEIR CHILDREN, AND THEIR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN FOR EVER: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." Do you not see why Jews in the time of Christ expected Him to set up a literal kingdom? Do you not see why they expected it to be in the land of Canaan, "on the mountains of Israel?" Many, many times are these plain promises given by the prophets in the Old Testament.
"For Ever," "For Ever," "Everlasting Covenant," "For Evermore," "For Evermore" In the above Scripture, Eze 37:25-28, especially Eze 37:25-28, the Lord emphatically repeats His statement that the restoration of Israel to the land of Canaan shall be for an everlasting possession. Five times in these four verses does the Lord mention the eternal character of this restoration of Israel.
- They shall dwell in the land of Canaan "for ever" (Eze 37:25).
- And the greater David shall be their prince "for ever" (Eze 37:25).
- The covenant God will make them will be "an everlasting covenant" (Eze 37:26).
- God will set His sanctuary in the midst of them "for evermore" (Eze 37:26).
- Again we are told the temple or sanctuary will be in the midst of them "for evermore" (Eze 37:28). The promise to Abraham was forever and so is the promise to the nation Israel. When Israel is restored to their land to possess it, they will possess it for evermore. The land, the kingdom, the covenant, the sanctuary of God, all of these shall be enjoyed forever "in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt." The Return From Babylon Did Not Fulfill This Prophecy The promises which we have read in Ezekiel were not fulfilled when the children of Israel returned from their captivity in Babylon. Those Jews did not stay in their land forever. God’s sanctuary did not abide there forever, but the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, and since that time Jews have been scattered to all parts of the earth. Nor were the Jews converted (that is, the entire nation) at that time. In the passage used above to show the promised restoration of Israel to their land, we were clearly told that Israel should be wonderfully converted.
Eze 36:26-27, mentioned above, tells of this conversion.
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."
Just before and just after these two verses in the same passage, we read how God was to restore Israel to their land. When the children of Israel were brought back from the Babylonian captivity then we could not say that every individual Jew had a change of heart. Nothing like that is said in Nehemiah and Ezra which describes their return from captivity. Many of those Jews doubtless were saved, but never yet has there been a nation on the earth, as far as we know, in which every individual was a child of God.
Above we studied Eze 37:15-28 where the Lord instructed Ezekiel to take two sticks and bind them together until they should be one and say to the people that one day He would bring back Judah. and Israel and make them, one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel forever. In the midst of that passage, now notice Eze 37:23.
"Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God." That verse says that when Israel is restored to their land forever, they never again shall defile themselves with idols nor detestable things "nor WITH ANY OF THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS." In other words, the Scripture makes clear that Israel will never again turn away from God nor sin against Him. when they are brought back to the land of Canaan and restored again as a nation to God’s favor, for they will be saved and not only saved but glorified.
Certainly then, that restoration mentioned in these Scriptures and prophesied for Israel was not the restoration from their Babylonian captivity. Israel since that time has clearly sinned. They have rejected and crucified their own Messiah or Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. For their sins they have now been scattered from one end of Heaven to the other, around the world.
Israel to Be Regathered Out of "All Countries," Not Just Out of Babylon The restoration of Israel to their land which we are discussing is a far more general and universal restoration than that which happened when Israel went back from Babylon to their land. In that day the total number who went back, as given in Ezr 2:64-65 and Neh 7:66-67, was only about 50,000. Probably many more Israelites were in the land of Babylon who preferred not to return to Canaan. Most of those who went back were of the tribe of Judah though some were from every tribe. Those who returned were a remnant of the nation.
How much greater will be the return to Palestine when God restores the whole nation again as pictured in His Word. In Deu 30:3-5 speaking on this matter, remember that the Lord said:
"Then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers." This Scripture plainly indicates that God will gather every living Jew under Heaven back to the land of Palestine!
Verse Deu 30:3 says that the Lord "will return and gather thee from ALL THE NATIONS," not simply from the region of Babylon. Even from "the outmost parts of heaven" the Lord will gather Israelites to bring them back to their land.
Eze 36:24 says: "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you OUT OF ALL COUNTRIES, and will bring you into your own land."
Eze 37:21 says that "I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them ON EVERY SIDE, and bring them into their own land." The re-gathering of Israel prophesied will include every Jew alive in every nation on earth. Nothing like this happened in the days of the return from Babylon with Ezra and Nehemiah. From Babylon Jews "Returned"; at The Restoration God Will "Gather" Them When some Israelites under Nehemiah and Ezra returned to Palestine to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and their temple, King Cyrus made a proclamation stating that all Israelites who wished might return to their land (2Ch 36:22-23; Ezr 1:1-4). They went of their own accord. Those who chose to return, returned. Those who chose to remain where they were, remained. So it has been since that time. The Zionist movement is a movement sponsored by unconverted Jews with a laudable purpose of restoring some Jews to their own land, Palestine.
Those who are successful, prosperous and happy in other nations around the world remain where they are. Those who are unhappy, and long to go back to Palestine are encouraged to go. The movement rests on the will of men, not the will of God. The new national Israel is only a fragment and is not a fulfillment of the prophecies about Israel being restored. Preachers who think so are mistaken. The capture of Jerusalem in 1917 by General Allenby whereby Palestine was opened to control by the British and colonization by Jews, was of no significance in the promised restoration of Israel to their land. The stream of immigration whereby Jewish people dribble back to Palestine in this day does not fulfill the wonderful promises of God. First, as we have shown, this does not include all the Jews in all countries, even to the outmost parts of Heaven, and second, in this movement men are the active ones, and not God. As long as it is left to the will of men, we can expect that Jews will be found in every nation in the world. Their enterprise, their foresight, their thrift will carry them wherever there is business for bankers, traders, merchants, peddlers, capitalists, scientists, artists, musicians, and statesmen, but when God’s time comes He will turn the hearts of the people back toward the land and then He Himself "will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land."