Israel

Scattered because of sin

God had warned at the start that unfaithfulness would cost Israel the land: “I will scatter you among the nations” (Leviticus 26:33); “the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other” (Deuteronomy 28:64). Ezekiel, writing from exile in Babylon, explains that this is exactly what happened.

Ezekiel 36:16–37

• The cause. “When the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds… So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. I dispersed them among the nations” (36:17–19).
• The damage to God’s name. Wherever they went, people said, “These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land” (36:20). Their exile made God look weak or unfaithful.
• Why God acts. “It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name” (36:22). The restoration is grace, not reward.
• The promise. “I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. I will also sprinkle clean water on you… I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you… And I will put My Spirit within you” (36:24–27).
• The land restored. “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden” (36:35).

Ezekiel 39:23–29

• “The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them” (39:23).
• “Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel” (39:25).
• “I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations. And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel” (39:28–29).

The scatterings in history

Jesus wept over Jerusalem and gave the reason for its coming fall: “because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God” (Luke 19:44). He added that Jerusalem would “be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24), with a “until” that points to an end.

The promise to regather

Jewish historians speak of three “commonwealths” of Israel in the land: the first from the kings to the Babylonian exile, the second from the return under Cyrus to AD 70, and the third, the modern State of Israel declared in 1948. The prophets promise a regathering that goes beyond the return from Babylon.

Ezekiel 37:15–28: two sticks become one

Ezekiel takes two sticks, one for Judah and one for Joseph (Ephraim, the northern tribes), and joins them in his hand. “I will make them one nation in the land… and one king will rule over all of them. Then they will no longer be two nations” (37:22). This comes right after the valley of dry bones (37:1–14), where the bodies come together first and the breath of God enters afterward.

• “I will take the Israelites out of the nations to which they have gone, and I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land” (37:21).
• “My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them” (37:24), a title for the Messiah, David’s greater Son.
• “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant… and I will set My sanctuary among them forever” (37:26).

Isaiah 43:5–6: from every direction

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 43:5–6)

The return from Babylon came from one direction, the east. Isaiah describes a return from all four, and Isaiah 11:11 calls it the Lord recovering His people “a second time… from the four corners of the earth.” Since 1948, Jews have come to Israel from more than a hundred countries, including large waves from the former Soviet Union (the north) and Ethiopia (the south).

Hosea 6:1–2: “on the third day”

“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us… After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.” (Hosea 6:1–2)

This passage is read several ways:

• A short time. In Hosea’s day, a call to quick repentance. God’s reply in 6:4 shows Israel’s repentance was shallow, “like a morning mist.”
• Pointing to Christ. Many see the “third day” as a picture of Jesus’s resurrection, in whom Israel’s hope is fulfilled (1 Corinthians 15:4).
• Days as thousand-year periods. Using “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8; Psalm 90:4), some read two “days” of about two thousand years of dispersion, then revival and the “third day” of the Messiah’s reign. This is a popular interpretation but should be held loosely, since date-setting has always failed.

Jeremiah 31: gathered and given a new covenant

• “I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth” (31:8).
• “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock” (31:10). The same God who scattered also gathers.
• The new covenant: “I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people… for I will forgive their iniquities” (31:31–34). Hebrews 8:8–12 quotes this as fulfilled in Christ, and Romans 11:27 connects it to Israel’s future salvation.

The promise never to fall again

After the return from Babylon, Jerusalem fell again in AD 70. So the prophecies that promise a permanent restoration point beyond that first return, to a final one.

Jeremiah 31:35–40: as sure as the sun and moon

“Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night… ‘Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.’” (Jeremiah 31:35–36)

God ties Israel’s survival to the order of creation. Jeremiah then describes Jerusalem rebuilt, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate, holy to the LORD: “It will never again be uprooted or demolished” (31:38–40).

Ezekiel 37:19–28: forever

The word “forever” runs through the passage: they will dwell in the land “forever,” David will be their prince “forever,” the covenant is “everlasting,” and God’s sanctuary will be in their midst “forever” (37:25–28).

Amos 9:11–15: never again uprooted

• “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David” (9:11). James quoted this at the Jerusalem council to show God was also bringing in the Gentiles (Acts 15:16–17).
• Abundance: “the plowman will overtake the reaper” (9:13).
• “They will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards… I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them” (9:14–15).

Zechariah 9:8: God as guard

“But I will camp around My house because of an army, because of those who march to and fro, and never again will an oppressor overrun My people, for now I keep watch with My own eyes.” (Zechariah 9:8)

The context is the coming King: the next verse is “See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey” (9:9), fulfilled on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:5). The full security promised comes with the King.

New Testament confirmation

Some ask whether the New Testament cancels these promises. Paul answers directly in Romans 11.

Romans 11:11–15: stumbled, not fallen

• “Did God reject His people? Certainly not!” (11:1).
• “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Certainly not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous” (11:11).
• “But if their trespass means riches for the world… how much greater riches will their fullness bring!” (11:12).
• “If their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (11:15).

Romans 11:20–27: the olive tree and the mystery

Israel is pictured as a cultivated olive tree. Some natural branches were broken off “because of unbelief,” and Gentile believers were grafted in as wild branches (11:17–20). Paul warns Gentile Christians: “do not be arrogant, but be afraid” (11:20), and “God is able to graft them in again” (11:23).

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.’” (Romans 11:25–27)

Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20–21 and Jeremiah 31:33–34, the same new covenant promise. He adds: “God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable” (11:29).

Revelation 19:11–21: the Deliverer comes

“The Deliverer will come from Zion” is fulfilled when Christ returns as the rider on the white horse, “Faithful and True,” King of kings and Lord of lords, and defeats the beast and the armies gathered against Him (Revelation 19:11–21). This matches Zechariah 14, where the Lord stands on the Mount of Olives and fights for Jerusalem.

Other New Testament confirmations

• Jesus to Jerusalem: “You will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Matthew 23:39). A future welcome is implied.
• The disciples asked, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus did not deny it; He said, “It is not for you to know times or seasons” (Acts 1:6–7).
• The twelve apostles will sit on twelve thrones “judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28).

Christians read “all Israel will be saved” in different ways: a future large-scale turning of the Jewish people to Jesus at His return (the most common view today); all the believing Jews through history; or the whole people of God, Jew and Gentile together (Calvin’s view). The first fits the flow of Romans 11 best, since Paul has used “Israel” for ethnic Israel throughout the chapter.

God defends Jerusalem

The principle goes back to God’s promise to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you” (Genesis 12:3). Zechariah applies it to the last days.

Zechariah 9:8

God Himself stands guard over His house, and “never again will an oppressor overrun My people” (see above).

Zechariah 12:1–10

• “I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples” (12:2).
• “When all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured” (12:3).
• “The LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem… On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (12:8–9).
• Then comes the turning point: “I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child” (12:10). John quotes this of the crucifixion (John 19:37), and Revelation 1:7 of Christ’s return.

Zechariah 14:1–12

The nations gather against Jerusalem, and “then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations… On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives” (14:3–4), the place from which Jesus ascended and to which the angels said He would return (Acts 1:11–12). Verse 12 describes the plague that strikes the armies that fought against Jerusalem. “The LORD will become King over all the earth” (14:9). This is the same final battle described in Revelation 16 and 19.

The pattern in history

• Egypt was judged at the Exodus (Exodus 14).
• Assyria’s army was struck down outside Jerusalem (Isaiah 37:33–36).
• Babylon fell the night of Belshazzar’s feast (Daniel 5; Jeremiah 50–51).

Israel as a witness that God is real

In both of the Ezekiel passages, God gives the purpose of everything He does with Israel: so that the nations will know Him.

• “The nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes” (Ezekiel 36:23).
• “Then the nations around you that remain will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed” (36:36).
• “Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is among them forever” (37:28).

The phrase “know that I am the LORD” appears about seventy times in Ezekiel. God stakes His reputation on what He does with Israel. Isaiah says the same: “You are My witnesses, declares the LORD… so that you may consider and believe Me” (Isaiah 43:10).

Why many see Israel as evidence

• Foretold in advance. Both the scattering and the return were written down centuries before they happened (Deuteronomy 28–30).
• Survival as a people. The Assyrians, Babylonians, Philistines and Hittites disappeared as distinct peoples. The Jewish people survived nearly 1,900 years without a homeland and kept their identity. Mark Twain wrote in 1899: “All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
• Return to the same land. A people returning to its ancient homeland after so long, from every direction, has no real parallel in history.
• A language revived. Hebrew, used for centuries mainly in prayer and study, became a living everyday language again.
• The land restored. Ezekiel 36:35’s “like the garden of Eden” and Isaiah 35:1’s desert blossoming, after travelers in the 1800s described a largely barren land.

Jeremiah 31:35–36 makes the same point from the other direction: Israel will continue as long as the sun and moon do.

Putting it together

Read together, the passages describe one story in stages:

Where Christians differ

Summary

• Israel was scattered because of idolatry and bloodshed, just as God warned, and it damaged God’s name among the nations.
• God promised to regather His people from all four directions, reunite them as one nation, and give them a new covenant.
• Unlike the return from Babylon, the final restoration is permanent: “never again uprooted,” as sure as the sun and moon.
• The New Testament confirms it: God has not rejected Israel, a partial hardening lasts until the fullness of the Gentiles, and then “all Israel will be saved” when the Deliverer comes.
• In the last days, God Himself defends Jerusalem against the nations gathered against it, and Christ returns to the Mount of Olives.
• Through it all, God shows the nations that He is the LORD. Israel’s survival and return are a witness to His faithfulness.

“The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.” (Jeremiah 31:10)