Was the 1948 return foretold in Scripture?
'A greater miracle than the Red Sea crossing'
There are few things clearer in Scripture than the promise of Israel's future restoration. In fact, more than half the prophetic scriptures relate to the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland.1 John Wesley, perhaps the most revered man of God in English history, wrote:
"So many prophecies refer to this grand event that it is surprising any Christian can doubt of it."2
The prophet Jeremiah said it would be a greater miracle than the crossing of the Red Sea, when some two million Israelites fled Egypt on dry land before the waters closed in on the chasing army:
'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when people will no longer say, "As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt," but they will say, "As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them." Then they will live in their own land.' (
Jer 23:7f)
Quoting the Lord again later, Jeremiah writes:
"See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth" (
Jer 31:8). This promise is repeated often (indicating its great importance) by other prophets of old, including Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Micah and Zechariah.
And the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Roman Christians written with the specific emphasis that God had not turned his back on the Jews because of their apparent rejection of Christ, adds that when the full number of Gentiles has come in,
"all Israel will be saved" (
Rom 11:25f).
It needs to be understood that there are both physical and spiritual applications to many important areas of the Bible's teaching. For example, Jesus says that physical birth must be followed by spiritual birth if one is to 'see' or understand the kingdom of God (
John 3:3-6). It's the same with Israel's restoration – first to the land, and then to the Lord. Notice that the prophecy of
Jeremiah 31:8, quoted above, is followed shortly afterwards by God's promise of a
new covenant with the house of Israel when he would write his law on their hearts, and they would all
"know the Lord" (vv31-34).
Ezekiel follows the same pattern, first stating that God will bring his people back to their own land (
Ezek 36:24) and then, just two verses later, adding that he will give them a new heart and put a new spirit in them!
And so, in these latter days, we have witnessed the miracle of Jews returning to their ancient homeland from every corner of the globe, in perfect fulfilment of the scriptures mentioned above. There are now over six million Jews – nearly half of world Jewry – living in Israel, with ever-increasing numbers of new arrivals, many of whom are fleeing anti-Semitism.
At the same time, we are witnessing the unprecedented worldwide growth of so-called Messianic fellowships (Jews who believe Jesus is their Messiah), along with a rapidly growing openness (even among ultra-Orthodox groups) to the prospect that Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew) may, after all, be their Messiah. God has a great future for Israel!
Notes
1 Fisher, J, 2016.
What is God doing in Israel?Monarch Books, pp87-91.
2 John Wesley's notes on Romans, quoted in
A Nation Called by God, published by Love Never Fails.
'A greater miracle than the Red Sea crossing' There are few things clearer in Scripture than the promise of Israel's future restoration. In fact, more than...
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