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God's Concrete Pledge
How to Talk to People about Israel “All Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer” (Romans 11:26 RV). Many are the prophecies of the restoration of Israel (perhaps the only thing more often prophesied than Messiah, Christ). Christians may be tempted to think that prophecies of ill to Israel are to the Jews and that prophecies of good are to Christians, who will enjoy them in heaven. But what of prophecies of both good and evil in the same context? And how would geographic descriptions of the land promised to Abraham apply in heaven? If that “replacement theology” were correct, then one may ask why Israel is coming back, while organized Christianity is in decline?
The Land of
Promise
God promised Abraham: “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where
thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land
which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever ... Arise,
walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will
give it unto thee.” “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of
Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 13:14-17, 15:18-21).
Yet Stephen speaking before the council, reminded them, “The God of glory
appeared unto our father Abraham ... God removed him into this land, wherein ye
now dwell: and he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his
foot on: and he promised that he would give it to him in possession, and to his
seed after him” (Acts 7:2-5
RV). God promised
Abraham the land, and Abraham walked in the land; yet Abraham died without ever
possessing that promised land. Therefore, Abraham will have to be resurrected to
receive the land of Israel here on earth.
To this land of promise was added the lands of Heshbon and Bashan, on the east side of the Jordan River, due to the belligerence of the inhabitants of those lands (Deuteronomy 2). With geographic boundaries so specific to named bodies of water, as well as cities, it seems evident this land of promise is on Earth. Moreover, it seems equally evident that planet Earth is not to be obliterated, as that land was promised to Abraham’s seed “for ever.” Moses Prophesies Disobedience Moses told the Israelites they would be blessed in basket and store, etc., if they would hearken diligently to the LORD thy God and His commandments; but if they would not hearken, then they would be cursed in basket and store, etc. (Deuteronomy 28:1-14,15-68). Moses foretold that after his death Israel would persistently disobey, and the LORD “will scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;” but he also foretold a subsequent re-gathering: “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” (Deuteronomy 28:64, 30:3). Thus, both Israel’s unfaithfulness with the consequent Diaspora [Dispersion] and their return to the land were foreknown. Israel’s sins are recorded throughout the Bible. The only thing that makes Israel look any good at all is — everybody else! But it shows who is faithful through it all: “I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6 ASV). “Thus saith Jehovah that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel ... ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and I am God ... Yet thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel ... I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins ... I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel a reviling” (Isaiah 43:1-28 ASV). Nevertheless, the sinful Israelites are witnesses of Jehovah and are to be restored and pardoned. The Return More than just the return of the Jews to the Land of Promise is given in Jeremiah 16:14-15, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.” The modern Exodus is already double the size of the Exodus in Moses’ time. When the return began in 1878, nearly half the world’s eight million Jews were in one country, Russia, “the land of the north.” First came the Zionist motivators, then began the Nazi terrorists, and Israel is being restored. All this is in full accord with the prophecy of twenty-five centuries ago. “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof ... that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this ... and I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God” (Amos 9:11-15). Thus, the return of the Jews to the land of Israel is sure; Jehovah God has put His name on it. The tabernacle of David (Hebrew sukkah, literally, booth) is not in heaven, as it did not fall down there. This is a prophecy of the earthly phase of Christ’s Kingdom, for which 40% of world Jewry has already returned. Every major world event since the 1870s has contributed one major step towards the restoration of Israel to their land, as may be seen in the following table (with future events perhaps less clearly foreseeable): 1873-1890’s • The Long Depression • The 1874-1875 crop failure in the Balkans led the Ottoman Empire to declare bankruptcy. A consequential series of wars/events led to the Jews beginning to return in 1878. 1914-1918 • World War I • The Balfour Declaration set aside Palestine as a homeland for the Jews. It was enforceable only when England was on the winning side of the war. 1929-1939 • The Great Depression • By 1929, 1% of world Jewry had returned. By 1939 (with the rise of Hitler and the Holocaust) 3% had returned. 1939-1945 • World War II • Jews fled (or were interned by) the Nazis, many going to Palestine. (By 1953, 10% had returned.) 1945-1989 • East vs. West Conflict • Jews continue returning to Palestine/Israel from Central Europe. Then they return in force from the Soviet disunion. Soon • The Deep Depression? • Jews flee the Americas to go to Israel? Later • Armageddon • Israel attacked by the Eastern Bloc, but then all foreign troops are abandoned by their own countries. Ezekiel 38. Can one carefully read Romans 11 without recognizing that both spiritual and fleshly Israel are to ultimately be saved? E.g., verses 25-32 tell us, “a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer [Christ and the church in heaven]; he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob [Israel on earth] ... even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy. For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all (ASV).” They Shall Mourn for Him “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son” (Zechariah 12:10-14 ASV). They will mourn: the houses of David (kings), Nathan (prophets), Levi (priests), and Shimei (who threw stones at King David). Even all these sinners will convert themselves to the spirit of God. Nor is conversion in the thousand-year Kingdom of Christ to be limited to the Jews. As Revelation 1:7 elaborates, “Behold, he [Jesus Christ] cometh with the clouds [unseen]; and every eye shall see [perceive] him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him (ASV).” The return of Israel is God’s visible pledge that He will indeed establish His kingdom. |