God’s Oath to Judah
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The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm, “I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; Nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.”—Isaiah 62:8¹

Dan Wesol

Isaiah gave this prophecy to Jerusalem, the capital of the two-tribe kingdom of Judah. At the time of this part of Isaiah’s prophecy the ten-tribe kingdom was already in captivity in Assyria because of their disregard for God and His Law (1 Kings 12:1-33; Isaiah 42:24, 25). Jehovah tells Isaiah that he “swears”:

shaba‘ Strong’s #7650, “to swear; take an oath.” This is a common word throughout the history of the Hebrew language. The fact that it occurs more than 180 times in the Hebrew Bible alone attests to its importance there also. Often “to swear or to take an oath” is to strongly affirm a promise.—Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words

The apostle writes, “When God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you” (Hebrews 6:13,14). When God gives an oath it will surely come to pass. God’s oath is not dependent upon the behavior of those to whom he gives the oath (Romans 11:25-29). “I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back” (Isaiah 45:23).

God will not give Jerusalem’s food and drink, the fruit of his people’s labors, to their enemies or to foreigners ever again. God allowed Judah’s grain and wine to be taken. He stepped back and allowed it to transpire, otherwise Israel’s enemies would have had no power to stand before them.

God allowed his people to return to the land of Israel after the prophesied seventy years of captivity in Babylon; however, the nation of Israel was in subjection to Medo-Persia, Greece, then Rome, and finally the nation toppled in 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome. Judah’s enemies continued to eat of the fruit of Judah’s labors. The Jewish population was further decimated after Rome’s scorched earth policy to put down the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 A.D.).

God’s oath to Judah was not fulfilled while in subjection to the great world empires, and far from fulfillment during nearly two thousand years that the great majority of the Jewish people were in diaspora. Isaiah writes, “Cities are devastated and without inhabitant … the land is utterly desolate, the LORD has removed men far away” (Isaiah 6:11,12).

In 1867, Mark Twain visited the land of Israel and in Innocents Abroad his words bring Isaiah 6:11-13 to life:

“Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies. Palestine is desolate and unlovely—Palestine is no more of this workday world. … There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country. … A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action. We reached Tabor safely. We never saw a human being on the whole route. … There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent—not for thirty miles in either direction. … One may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings. … these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness.”

Since God’s oath to Judah was not fulfilled in the past, is it possible that it is beginning to be fulfilled now? As God gave Judah’s enemies the power to eat and drink of Israel’s labors, he will use his awesome power to prevent their enemies from doing the same: “As I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy, and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:28).
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1. All quotations are from the NAS unless otherwise noted.

It is God who changes the landscape and brings his people back to tend it. Ezekiel 37:21,22 describes how God reunites Judah and Israel and brings them back to the land of Israel. He also writes: “The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passed by. And they will say, This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited” (Ezekiel 36:34,35).

Zionists and pro-Zionists, like Theodore Herzl and Pastor Russell, restored hope in Jewish hearts for a return to Israel, their ancient homeland, as figuratively described in Ezekiel 37. In 1878, the Berlin Congress of Nations removed the barriers erected against Jewish people to return to the land of Israel. In that same year, Petach Tikvah (Gate of Hope), the first Jewish farming collective in Israel, was established. Although evacuated in 1882 for a year to eradicate the malaria threat, it has grown to a population of 180,000 today.

On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to approve (by a 133-13 majority) the partition of the western part of Palestine into one predominately Jewish state and another predominately Arab state.

On May 14, 1948, Israel declared independence. The world saw the rebirth of the nation of Israel and the end of the British Mandate, which expired the next day. War was immediately declared against Israel by seven Arab nations. The fledgling nation fought for its life against overwhelming Arab forces.

The psalmist seems to describe the sentiments of the opposing sides on that day: “O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, ‘Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.’ For they have conspired together with one mind” (Psalm 83:1-5, NASB updated edition).

Israel repelled the invaders and gained over 20 percent more land. Then three more against-all-odds military victories (1956, 1967, 1973) provided a remarkable fulfillment of Zechariah 12:2,3: “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.”

Some victories came from Israel’s advanced technologies and tactics, while others were beyond human control. Small airplanes, too small to be detected by radar, were used for surveillance of opposing forces. In the south, a sandstorm arose in front of an advancing column of fourteen tanks, exposing plastic land mines that would have gone undetected by metal detectors. The opposing forces had been so confident they slept through the night and the Israelis took them captive. Shortly afterward thousands of Arab soldiers suddenly surrendered when they saw a huge army of Israeli soldiers, most of whom did not exist.

Zionism (the movement desiring a homeland for the Jewish people in the land of Israel) was called a “threat to world peace” and “racist” by the U.N. in resolution 3379 (November 10, 1975). Sixteen years later, on December 16, 1991, the U.N. voted to repeal that resolution. Still, twenty-five nations voted against repealing such a blatantly prejudiced resolution. Those who see that the Jewish people are back in the land of Israel because of God’s providence, and see how world opinion is often prejudiced against the Jewish people just because they are Jews, or because of jealousy, would do well to speak up against such bigotry and support the Jewish people’s biblical return to the land of promise.

God has given his people the strength to defend themselves, but what about the land? Is there grain and wine production?

With the return of the Jewish people to drain the swamps and cultivate the land of Israel, the soil is fertile again, producing wheat and other grains, grapes, and many other crops. Many of today’s grain crops that are disease resistant and high in nutrition have been enhanced with Israeli wild grain genes. In the deserts, where the soil is not as fertile, wise water management is required to produce crops. Israel’s oldest and greatest agricultural innovation has been drip irrigation. Using drip irrigation has greatly reduced the amount of water needed to produce crops and yields have increased. Computerized drip irrigation systems in Israel provide precise amounts of water and fertilizer to plants. Israel is actively sharing this technology with developing nations.

Greenhouse technology, invented by the Dutch for use in colder climates, has been adapted for use in Israel. Three thousand hectares (one hectare is about two-and-a-half acres) of greenhouse crops are in production in Israel to compensate for the arid climate and scarce amount of available water. Three hundred tons of tomatoes per hectare per season are produced in Israel. “The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1, KJV). Israeli greenhouses average three million roses per hectare!

“Israel is home to the world’s largest producer of generic agro-chemicals.” Israel is one of the world’s largest producers of potassium nitrate, a highly soluble fertilizer, used on a variety of crops. “Israel is the world’s leading exporter of potassium nitrate, with 50% of the global market; it is the largest exporter of generic agro-chemicals.” Israeli scientists make use of “friendly detergents” that create a barrier between the insect and the leaf, without harming the leaf. Biological pesticides have been designed to destroy specific insects without harming the crop. One Israeli collective farming community breeds tiny spiders, which prey on mites that destroy strawberries. Millions of these spiders are exported to California to protect the strawberry crop there¹.

Israeli scientists have developed disease-resistant seed varieties which provide higher and better quality crop yields, with less water in hot climates. The seed produces fruit with a longer shelf life. In Israel a new seed is developed in four years, instead of five, due to advances in biotechnology methods.

As God told Moses, it is “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8) and the milk and honey is flowing again. Israel’s dairy cows have the world’s highest yield of milk production. The average yield per cow is 10,000 liters! Israel’s 90,000 beehives produce 3,600 tons of honey every year. An Israeli company, Bio-Bee, exports 60 percent of the bumblebee hives it produces for pollinating a variety of agricultural crops.

Grapevines have been planted throughout Israel. With extraordinary wine production in Israel, most recently in the Golan Heights, almost 40% is exported to other countries. As God promised, the people of Israel and Jerusalem are eating what the land has produced and drinking the new wine for which they have labored.

God told Abraham that his seed, Israel, will bless all the nations of the earth. Although the world is not yet coming to the Jew because they have heard that God is with him (Zechariah 8:23), some are coming to the Jew to be blessed by the miraculous and life-sustaining innovations being developed in Israel during this time of distress, in which knowledge has been increased (Daniel 12:1-4).

As God’s purposes are fulfilled, He will put a new heart in his people (Ezekiel 36:26). God will restore Jerusalem’s judges and counselors (the ancient worthies) as at the first and it will be called the city of righteousness (Isaiah 1:26). Israel will lift up Jesus Christ, the righteous (figuratively the bread and wine), who died a ransom for all, as a standard and signal (the Way, the Truth and the Life) to the people (Isaiah 11:10; 62:10; John 3:14,15; 12:32; 14:6, 1 John 2:1,2).

Is not this marvelous in our eyes? God is causing his words, spoken by the ancient prophet Isaiah, to come to pass now, during our lifetimes. These are precursors to God’s kingdom on earth, where none shall hurt or destroy, and for which Jesus taught us to pray (Isaiah 11:9; Matthew 6:10). Soon, every member of the human race shall sit under his own vine (Christ—the spiritual phase of the kingdom) and fig tree (Jerusalem—the earthly phase) and none shall make them afraid. Under the administration of Christ and his church, the armies will have beaten their swords (weapons of death) into plowshares (tools to sustain life) (Micah 4:4; Isaiah 2:2-4). These prophecies must have made Isaiah smile and his heart would have been lifted up.

“This is the LORD’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.”—Psalm 118:23; Mark 12:11