The Restoration of Israel
Memory Verse: Romans 11:26
Key Verses: Is. 11:11,12; 27:12,13; Isa. 46:9-11; Jer. 31,31-34, 32:37-41;
Ez. 34:13; 36:24-27; 39:25-29
The Jews had their origin in the morning time of history when God called Abraham, a Shemite, to be the father of a new nation (Gen. 12:1-3). The history of the Jewish race is without a parallel in human history. Though oppressed, downtrodden, carried captive to other lands and scattered through the nations because of their individual and national sins, the Jew has outlived all his conquerors and walks unscathed amid the nations. The Jews saw the rise and fall of the Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman nations; and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert, aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality? The answers: Deut 32:9 - “The Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.” Mal. 3:6 - “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Any other race would have been swallowed up and it’s identity and national characteristics lost. The preservation of the Jewish race is the “Miracle of History.” Their “Emblem” is a “Bush Burning and not consumed.” The Roman Catholic church hates the Jew so much, they used Adolph Hitler to try to exterminate the Jews. The Nazi regime murdered six million Jews with the Pope’s blessing.
The present degenerate condition of the world is owing to the Fact that the Jews have lost their savor (Matt. 5:13), and until they recover it, degeneration will continue to develop until the time comes that the smell of the decomposition of the decaying nationalities of the earth shall call for Divine interposition and the Jewish “salt” be re-savored by the conversion of the Jews, and their becoming the leading nation of the world.
The Jews today have no altars, no sacrifices, no priesthood as in former days. They observe the “Passover”, but no paschal lamb is slain. They keep the “Great Day of Atonement,” but no blood is shed to make reconciliation for sin. They have no King, no Judges, no Prophets, no inspired writers. Their last Great Prophet was the “Man of Galilee”, but Him they rejected (Hos. 3:4-5; Lu. 21:24; Rom. 11:25-26).
The restoration of the Jews is according to many prophetic scriptures (Jer. 3:18; Amos 9:14,15; Is. 11:11.12). Upon the death of King Solomon, the ten northern tribes of the children of Israel revolted against the house of David and set up a rival kingdom (Israel). The tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained faithful to the Davidic dynasty. There was continual enmity and war between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, but one day the 12 tribes will lay aside all enmity, and as one people will return to God (Jer. 3:18).
The Jews first restoration was from Babylon, and Is. 11:11,12 speaks of a second restoration. This time they return not from “Babylonian Captivity”, but from the “North” and from “All Countries” (Jer. 16:14-15; Isa. 43:5-7).
God’s first call to Israel to return to Him (Jer. 3:12,13) went unheeded. The strokes of judgment therefore, had to fall on them. The second Call to return (v.14) will not go unheeded, The Lord calls attention to the promised blessings which the people of Israel would have received if they had followed Him implicitly (Jer. 3:19-20; Lev. 26,1-13; Deut. 28:1-14). In a vision, Jeremiah saw a host of Israel marching penitentially back to God (Jer. 3:21-25). God is the one who gives them a heart to repent of their sin of idolatry, which the nation did from the beginning of its existence.
Time and time again, we see the “I wills” of God. Yet people, even professing saved people, deny that God will or even can, “do” that which He says in His word He will do. God says, “I will” and man says, “Only if I let you.” (see Dan. 4:35)
The Jews will not be restored until after the “Times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24) have been fulfilled. Nehemiah and Daniel had the restoration of the Jewish nation in mind when they fasted and prayed and confessed their sins and rebellion against a loving and holy God. 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). This was the hope of the misguided Zealots when they rebelled against Rome and finally brought about the utter destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and the Roman army in A.D. 70. Since that date until 1948, the Gentiles were in control of the land of Palestine. As always though, God’s promise of salvation to the Jews is inherited only by faith (Rom. 4:13; Gal. 3:7-9, 14, 28-29). A Jew who dies unsaved, not having trusted in Christ, does not have any part in the promise made to Abraham. Unbelieving Jews are really not Abraham’s seed (Jn. 8:37-44). Even when the whole remnant of Israel is converted, and a nation is born, each individual must put his faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord (Isa. 66:8; Rom. 11:26).
The young Prophet Zechariah, one of the three post-exile prophets, guided by the Spirit of God, touched upon the restoration of Israel in Zech. chapters 12-14.
· The war of the Great Day of God the Almighty (12:1-6).
· Divine assistance given to the Remnant (12:7-9).
· Penitent Israel mourning because of his sin (12:10-14).
· The fountain for sin and uncleanness (13:2-6).
· The Cross of Jesus “Towering O’er the Wrecks of Time” (13:7-9).
· The return of the Messiah, Jesus (14:1-8).
· The World-wide Reign of King Messiah (14:9-21).
By the terrific judgments of the Tribulation, the remnant of Israel will be brought to their knees; in a manner and to an extent as has never been experienced by any people. Again, as in their past trials, they will seek hope of deliverance in the Messianic prophecies. As they study their prophets afresh during those terrible days, God will burn into their hearts and souls the truth that they are guilty as charged by all the prophets of their scriptures. They have been gathered back into the land unconverted (Ezek. 36:24-27). They are being judged (Ez. 20:34-38, 22: 19-22; Mal. 4:5-6, 3:1-3; Zech. 13:9), in the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” (Dan.12:l).
In Ez. 37, 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. As he prophesied, there was a noise and a shaking and the bones came together. Sinews and flesh came upon them. Then the wind brought breath into these bodies, and they lived, an exceeding great army (Ez. 37:1-14). 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. So when the Lord Jesus returns (Zech. 14:4-9), the Jews will see Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Messiah (Zech. 12:10; Rev. 1:7), and as a nation will possess and occupy all that was promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:18; Ez. 48:1-29).
In summary of the outward physical restoration of the unconverted Zionists to Palestine:
· Arthur James Balfour, was British prime minister from 1902 to 1905 and foreign secretary from 1916 to 1919. He wrote the Balfour Declaration (1917) that expressed official British approval of Zionism and led indirectly to the establishment of Israel as an independent state in 1948.
· The last obstacle to their return to Palestine was the Ottoman empire which was defeated by British troops during World War I. Led by General Edmund Allenby, they won a great victory over the Turks along the Gaza-Beersheba line in November 1917.
· By Dec. 9, 1917, his army was in Jerusalem. Nearly a year later, on Sept. 19, 1918, he defeated the Turks at Megiddo, and went on to take Damascus and Aleppo in Syria.
· After these actions, Palestine was open to control by the British and colonization by Jews.
· The pledge of Britain to support the establishment of a Jewish National home was incorporated into the League of Nations in 1922.
· On May 14,1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed by Jewish leaders, and the British fleet sailed away. Official existence began at midnight.
· Eleven minutes later the State of Israel was recognized by the U.S.A.
· Two days later it was recognized by the U.S.S.R.
· The Yom Kippur War was fought June 5, 1967.
· A treaty was signed in Washington on March 26 1979 between Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat of Egypt.
Yet war continues…because - there will be no peace until Jesus returns.
I once heard a preacher say that Jesus would have restored the kingdom to Israel and taken it’s throne had the Jews repented and turned to Him. That would have been impossible. Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He had to die! That’s why He came. His death was prophesied in the Old Testament. Had He not shed His blood, there would have been no remission for our sins.