The Conversion of Israel

For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.—Matthew 23:39

Carl Hagensick

Christians of many denominations note with interest the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland. For some it becomes a challenge to convert them to their form of Christianity. For others it is an opportunity to encourage them to realize their potential in God’s plan as Jews. For a few it is merely a fluke of history. For a large number it indicates where we are on the stream of time. But all must admit that it is a miracle unprecedented on the pages of history.

The world marvels at the ability of this small nation to absorb such a vast quantity of immigrants in such a short period of time. They have come from all directions. Some have been enticed by a fervor of Zionist nationalism. Others have sought refuge from persecutions in the lands of their birth.

They span a vast spectrum of beliefs, from orthodox to reformed to conservative. Some profess Christianity. Many claim to be non-religious. A few are atheistic. They are presently united as a people by the sharing of a mutual parentage and not by the bonds of any one religion.

The Bible prophesies this return of Israel. It predicts that when they become again settled in their land it shall be permanent; they shall not be plucked up. However, its portrait of the future is of a race that is joined on religious grounds—as Jews. More than that, it sees them as Jews united under a new "David" as theirking, the Messiah. Marvelous as it has been to witness the return of Israel as a nation and the manifestations that God is certainly with them, it will be even more marvelous to watch the future development of their acceptance of the Messiah. The turn of belief will be an even greater event to behold, for it will become the foundation for Israel accepting their unique role of leadership in the Kingdom of God.

A Two Step Process

This process will be in two progressive stages. First, there must come a firm belief in the God of their fathers, Jehovah. Only after this is accomplished will they come to a belief in their Messiah.

A large number of those living in Israel today already profess a firm belief in God. They recognize him as different from the God that is portrayed by the Christians. The God of the Jews is described in Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, is one LORD." The Jewish concept of God, correctly enough, is not the trinitarian concept of Christendom. To them that is the blasphemy of polytheism. Yet, while many Israelis believe in this "one LORD," many others do not.

Even those who do believe hold various ideas of how he is to be worshiped. The validity of the ancient Mosaic law in modern society is seriously questioned. Yet that very law is the foundation for Jewish unity. The God of the Old Testament is the God of today. As it was tempting in the past, when the going became difficult and enemies pressed hard against them to seek alliances with more powerful gentile neighbors, so the temptation is the same today.

It is difficult for anyone, Christian or Jew, to lean solely on the arm of God. In times of distress and national peril God seems so remote and intangible. In contrast, political alliances appear so convenient and real. Speaking of a message of comfort to Israel, Isaiah 40:6-8 phrases it thus: "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:...The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." How pertinent are the words of Hezekiah to Sennacherib, "With him is the arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles" (2 Chron. 32:8).

On some forty occasions in the book of Ezekiel alone God speaks through the prophet of the times and circumstances when Israel shall "know that I am the Lord." Many of these refer back to the Babylonian captivity when his judgments show Israel God was indeed their Lord, and one who would exact punishment for disobedience. Other references in Ezekiel carry this same lesson forward in time to the present, when not only Israel but other nations who incur God’s displeasure will see by the execution of judgment that Jehovah is able to carry out his threats of punishment.

Several of the references, however, are more upbeat. A good example of this is found in Ezekiel 28:25, 26: "Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God."

God Fights for Israel

The turning point in Israel’s future experiences will come when they are surrounded by enemies and have their back to the wall. Zechariah 14 predicts that at this time "the city shall be taken." It will evidently be, though, for only a short while. For "then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle" (v. 3). The resultant victory Ezekiel speaks of in our previous verse is when he will be "sanctified in them [Israel] in the sight of the heathen."

The interim between the present and that glorious event is described in Ezekiel 20:33-42. Here he pictures regathered Israel, though physically in the land of promise, as being "in the wilderness of the people." The allusion appears to be to the wilderness of Kadesh-Barnea, from whence the spies were sent out and the people of Israel made the fateful decision not to enter the land. This is the challenge of the present. Will there be faith, not in their own might but in the power of God to save?

In verses 38 and 42 we read these words: "And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. . . . And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers." While they are literally in the geographic land promised to them, only after the rebels are purged out will the remainder realize this as the covenanted land of Israel. Then they "shall know that I am the LORD."

This same process is described in Zephaniah 3:11, 12: "In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD."

One of the contributing factors to this sudden realization and appreciation of the Lord as their God will be the failure of earthly alliances to bring them deliverance. All her "lovers," gentile nations to whom she has been allied, shall forget her and forsake her (Jer. 30:14). In ancient times, a frequent alliance was sought with the government of Egypt. The prophet predicts of that symbolic ally, "It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord GOD" (Ezek. 29:15, 16).

Covenant Teachers

Another contributing factor in the future reform of Israel is a new covenant. Under the old covenant, made at Sinai, they were given a law to show them what God required of them. Now the same will be true of a new law covenant. This is referred to in Ezekiel 16:60-62, "Nevertheless I will remember my [old] covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting [new] covenant. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy [old] covenant. And I will establish my [new] covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD."

In this context the elder and younger sisters are described as Sodom and Samaria, two cities known for their wickedness. When these are raised from the dead, Israel will also be restored. These must be received or accepted by Israel just as Israel must be accepted by these. This is the lesson of Job 42:8-10, where it was mutually dependent upon Job and his comforters to recognize each other before complete restoration could be made.

This new covenant will have a further aspect in bringing Israel to recognize their Messiah. Under this covenant the ancient Hebrew prophets will be restored from the dead. In Isaiah 1:26 these are described as "judges" and as "counselors." The work of these ancient prophets amongst Israel is further described in Jeremiah 3:15, "And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding."

The Spirit of Prayer

What will it be that triggers the resurrection of these ancients? Several scriptures indicate that resurrection will be an answer to prayer. Seemingly men would be raised from the tomb through the medium of prayer. But whose prayer? And when?

We are given two clues to these questions. Micah 5:5 says of Israel: "we shall raise against him seven shepherds [the completed church], and eight principal men [the ancient worthies]." How can Israel accomplish this? Only through prayer. At this same time the LORD "shall defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem," and God will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "the spirit of grace and of supplications" (Zech. 12:8, 10). And what will that prayer be? We know not, but perhaps, in light of the dire circumstances described in Zechariah 14, it may be nothing more than the one word, "Help!"

Two Previous Influences

Even before this climactic battle, however, two other influences work upon Israel to prepare them for their Messiah. The church of Christ is commissioned in Isaiah 40 to comfort Israel. Their message is likened to that of John the Baptist in the third verse, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."

As John prepared the way for Messiah at the first advent of Christ, so the church is to prepare his way at the second advent. The burden ofJohn’s message was twofold. First, he proclaimed "repent and be converted;" and secondly, "Behold the Lamb of God." So it will be the responsibility of the church of Christ to seek to draw Israel’s attention to their law and the need to be converted to it and, secondly, to point out to them that their Messiah is working on their behalf.

But while the church points Israel to the fact that Messiah is working on her behalf, it is not the church’s role to convince Israel of the identity of this Messiah. The Apostle Paul points out that this cannot be accomplished until after the church is complete. "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in" (Rom. 11:25).

However, God will still have his witness on the earth after the church is complete. There will still be those with spiritual minds, the "great company" of Revelation 7. The early expectation of the Bible Student movement was that the "great company" would play a prominent role in this conversion of Israel. In the year-end report of the harvest work for 1910, the statement was made "It is not our expectation that the Jews will become Christians now....The Scriptures seem to imply that the ‘great company’ will have the honor and privilege of leading them to recognize Jesus as Messiah, during the time of trouble" (R4728).

Two specific texts may refer to this activity. In the Song of Solomon, from the second verse of the fifth chapter through the third verse of the sixth chapter, there is a small vignette of a maiden who is too tired to answer the door when her lover appears. To her dismay, when she does arise, he has withdrawn himself and she seeks him throughout the city. The keepers of the wall beat her and take her veil from her. In desperation she turns to "the daughters of Jerusalem" and inquires of them, "If ye find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love." They respond by asking how her beloved differs from other young men. She describes him in beautiful poetic words and the daughters of Jerusalem respond with their own query, "Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither is thy beloved gone that we may seek him with thee?"

The maiden exemplifies the qualities of the "great company." Both are in love with their Lord. Both feel the tugs of the flesh so strong that they miss meeting him when he calls. As the maiden is beaten, so the "great company" comes through great tribulation.

The term "daughters of Jerusalem" is an apt description of natural Israel. Their first question, "What is thy beloved more than another beloved" indicates they have heard about such a beloved before and want to know how this "beloved" is different from the others. Israel has been besieged with Christian missionaries presenting to them the name of Jesus. However, they have not been attracted to these presentations. The "great company" will present a different "beloved"—a Messiah, free from the superstitions of centuries. Knowing that God’s plan is to work with Israel after the church is complete, they ask the question, "If ye find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love." If these facts be so, then the responsive question of the "daughters of Jerusalem" indicates a willingness to now earnestly seek their Messiah—"we will seek him with thee."

A second text which may fit in with the above is from the picture of the last day of the life of the prophet Elijah. After crossing the Jordan in company with Elisha, an apt picture of the great company in fellowship with the church, Elijah is taken up in a whirlwind. His mantle falls to the ground and is taken by Elisha, who uses it to smite the Jordan a second time and return to the west bank (2 Kings 2). That the mantle represented the office of a prophet can be seen from the fact that Elijah commissioned Elisha to become a prophet by placing his mantle on him (1 Kings 19:19).

This thus indicates that whatever is represented by the crossing of Jordan, it is accomplished through the exercise of prophetic authority. This implies the giving of a message and, at that point in time, the most likely recipients of such a message would be the next class with whom God will work in accomplishing his plan—the faithful remnant of Israel.

Then they will realize their kingdom potential. They then will say, in the words of our text, "Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord." Then they will see Jesus in a way they have never seen him before (Rev. 1:7). Then they will be ready to fully assume the glorious position God has designed for them in his kingdom: not as Christians, but as Jews who have found and accepted their Messiah.