Why is the nation of Israel being restored?

God’s control of human affairs may be very complex. God had made Himself a people. Though they were not always respectful or thankful to him. More than once they went astray. The bible brings different prophecies about that chosen People of God. In the Book of books we learn about the sojourn in a foreign land; the slavery; the taking of a spoil; the 400 years.

Moses explained to the eager Israelites:

“Not because of your righteousness are you going in to possess their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you” (Deuteronomy 9:5).

God promised them a long and happy life in the land He was giving to them. However, there were conditions. Their continued possession of the land was dependent on their obedience. If, like the Amorites, they defiled it with blood and barbarity, their tenancy would be terminated.

This brings us to the next remarkable prophecy about Israel, in which Moses was able to foretell their history for hundreds, even thousands, of years. To memorialise their agreement with God, He pronounced on the people a series of blessings and cursings, which they were to recite aloud and write down for a witness on entering the land. They are to be found in Deuteronomy chapter 28. The first 14 verses are concerned with the blessings they would enjoy if they were obedient. The rest of the long chapter outlines the troubles God would bring upon them with increasing intensity, if they failed to honour their promise. At first their economy would go wrong. The rains would fail, and crops would shrivel. Their enemies would get the better of them, and foreign kings would rule over them. As the pressure increased, they would be invaded and besieged, and taken away into captivity. Eventually, Moses warned, “The LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other . . . And among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot . . . night and day you shall be in dread, and have no assurance of your life” (vv. 64-66). Verse by verse, it was a terrifying catalog of growing calamity.

The amazing thing is, it all came true. After the 40 years wandering, the Israelites took over the land of the Amorites. Ruled by leaders called Judges for 500 years, they reached the pinnacle of their power and prosperity in the time of their early kings, David and Solomon. Their devotion to the Lord and their obedience to His law had brought about the blessings promised by Moses. But then, slowly, they drifted away from God. They imported the worship of foreign gods from the nations around them. They preserved an outward form of piety in observing the festivals and sacrifices of the Law, but neglected to care for the poor and oppressed. Inevitably, the curses began to bite. Neighbouring countries like the Syrians and Edomites encroached upon their territory. The mighty Assyrians crossed the Euphrates, put them to tribute, then deported 10 of the 12 tribes into captivity.

God was extremely patient with His people. Through the prophets, great men like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, He sent them constant reminders that they were breaking their promises to keep His laws. “Wash yourselves,” Isaiah pleaded, “make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes” (Isaiah 1:16). But the response was not there.

Eventually, around 587 BC, the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and took Judah and Benjamin away. For 70 years the land was empty of all but the poorest Jews. After that time, a proportion were allowed to return from Babylon. They picked up the thread of national life, without a king, and were subject in turn to the Persians, Greeks and Romans. It was into their oppressed world that Jesus of Nazareth was born.

Why is the Nation of Israel being restored?

This key Bible teaching shows that the modern revival of Israel is central to God’s purpose with the nations of the world. The
following selection of Bible verses, to which many more can be added, is based on the six aspects of Israel’s National Restoration noted in the book “The Rebirth of the State of Israel – Is it of God or of Men?” by Arthur W Kac. His book
was published in 1958 – just 10 years after Israel became independent. The return of Jews to Israel has continued; so that
now, at close to 6 million, the Jewish population is nearly ten times its size in 1948. If you want to know that God is behind
Israel’s restoration, see how many times God says, “I will”, in Ezekiel chapters 36 to 39.

Return to and restore the Land of Promise

The Jewish people must return to and restore the Land of Promise

“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10).

“And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the
dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12).

“Thus says 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” (Ezekiel 28:25).

“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” (Amos 9:14).

“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That you which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28).

Full spiritual restoration of God’s nation

When Israel has returned there will be a full spiritual restoration of the nation

“And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD” (Isaiah 62:12).

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the LORD, I will put
my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:33-34: Hebrews 8: 10-12).

“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 a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26:27).

“ Thus says the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their
God, in truth and in righteousness” (Zechariah 8:7-8).

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27).

Restoration of Israel

The restoration of Israel will be complete and permanent

“Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified” (Isaiah 60:21).

“And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will
put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jeremiah 32:40).

“Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there” (Ezekiel 39:28).

“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, says the LORD thy God” (Amos 9:15).

“ The LORD has taken away your judgments, he has cast out your enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the
midst of you: you shall not see evil any more” (Zephaniah 3:15).

Leader of the restoration

The Messiah, the anointed of the LORD, will be the leader of the restoration

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:7).

“Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE
LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

“And, behold, you shall conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:31-33).

Judgments upon nations

God’s judgments will come upon all nations that resist the restoration of Israel

“For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion” (Isaiah 34:8).

“And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them” (Ezekiel 39:21).

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land” (Joel 3:1-2).

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zechariah 12:2-3).

“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou should give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18).

All nations worshipping the Only One True God of Israel

The nations will be converted to worship the God of Israel

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us
of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:2-4).

“And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says the LORD” (Isaiah 66:23).

“Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
Thus says the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you” (Zechariah 8:22-23).

“ After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, says the Lord, who does all these things” (Acts 15:16-17).

Preceding

God’s Self-Revelation

The Greatness of the eternal God

The New Testament and Judgement

To be prepared for the Day of Judgment

Living as a believer in Christ

A participation in the body of Christ