Israel Scattered
God was not surprised when Israel rejected Him. The Bible predicted the rejection of Messiah and the scattering of His people. Look at Zechariah 13
6 "And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'
7 " Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion," Says the LORD of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.
8 And it shall come to pass in all the land," Says the LORD, "That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one- third shall be left in it:
9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people'; And each one will say, 'The LORD is my God.' "
Did God foreknow that Israel would strike out against the Messiah?
Did God say that they would be cast off forever?
What does it mean, they will be ‘refined and tested’?
This prophecy is partly fulfilled and partly yet to be fulfilled. When Jesus was taken captive in the garden, His disciples scattered and He was left to face the cross alone. When the Shepherd was stuck, the disciples ran away to fulfill this prophecy, but on an even larger scale, the “lost sheep of Israel” also scattered. When they rejected Jesus as Messiah, they also stuck the Shepherd that protected them. Once Israel was willingly outside of God’s protection, He allowed their enemies to come in and scatter them. When the Shepherd (who was Jesus) was crucified, the hand of God was turned against His people just as described in verse 7. Verse 6 refers to the remnant that God will return to His land. Before Israel rejected their Messiah, God said they would smite the Shepherd and He would cast them out of the land and scatter Israel, but not reject them. God said that He would take Israel through the refining fire and they would one day be called His people again. They will see the scars and will be told by Christ, “I was wounded in the house of my friends”. Then they will recognize Him and return to Him. In verse 9, the remnant will repent and say, “The LORD is my God”. Hosea 9 says:
17 My God will cast them away, Because they did not obey Him; And they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Israel will be wanders among the nations, but not absorbed into the nations. God promised to scatter Israel because of their unbelief and rejection of Him and He promised to extend grace and restore Israel in the end.
What does it mean to ‘be wanderers among the nations’?
Why weren’t the Jewish people absorbed into the nations?
Is there any other culture where people remained wanderers instead of becoming part of the nations they entered?
Israel Returned
Ezekiel gives the most vivid description of Israel’s restoration found in the Bible. In Ezekiel 37, God gives the prophet a vision of a valley of dry bones and then asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live”? Look now at Ezekiel:
4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
5 'Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.
6 "I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD." ' "
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
9 Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." ' "
10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'
12 "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
…
14 "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.' "
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21 "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
22 "and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.
According to verse 21, is this the church or Israel?
Why does God assemble Israel again even though they failed Him?
This passage continues to describe the restoration of Israel. The Bible tells us that they will turn to the Lord, will keep his commands, God will be in their midst and will make an everlasting covenant of peace with them. This covenant has never come to pass because it is an everlasting covenant – it will never come to an end. The only way Israel can keep all of God’s commandments is to repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. If you follow the logic of Ezekiel, Israel is first assembled as dry bones. Afterward, they are given flesh but had no breath of life. Then God will breathe life into them and they will live again. The breath of life is the Holy Spirit of God. Israel may be in their land now, but they will not be alive until they are as the church of Jesus Christ is. Roman 6 puts it this way:
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Is there anyway Israel can become alive in God without turning to Christ?
There is no legitimate argument to identify these prophecies as being anyone but the Jewish people. The church was never scattered and dead. If God said, “This is the whole house of Israel” and “I will bring you back into your land”, how can anyone say this is not as He has clearly stated? How can anyone who believes the truth of scripture say that God has rejected Israel forever? Half of the unfulfilled Old Testament prophecies have to remain unfulfilled or explained away if Israel has been rejected forever.
We have seen the bones assembled and the gathering of Israel to their home against all odds. The assembling of the bones and re-gathering from the winds of the earth was proven true in 1948 when they were recognized by the world as being a nation once again. Yet to be fulfilled is Ezekiel 37:
26 "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
27 "My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
28 "The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." ' "
We know that this is future because God promised that the peace He will bring will never end. There is a trial by fire between the rebirth of Israel and the day when Jesus Christ will make a true covenant of peace, make His tabernacle in their midst, and be acknowledged as the God of Israel.
How long will God’s covenant with Israel last according to verse 26?
How will we know that God has sanctified Israel?
What does it mean to sanctify Israel?
Israel was recognized as an independent nation on May 14, 1948. The Arabian nations promised to “drench the soil with Jewish blood” if this recognition were to be acknowledged by the world. The day after recognition, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq invaded Israel with all their fury. Against insurmountable odds, a nation less than a week old was able to regroup and defend itself. Not only did they drive these nations out of their territories, but they also gained new territory including Jerusalem. After utterly defeating the invaders, the Israeli army isolated the Egyptian army and were in route to the capitol of Egypt to overthrow it. Under the pressure of the Soviet Union, the UN declared a cease-fire in order to end the conflict and protect the 5 attacking nations. Though costly, Israel gained much of its ancient territory by victory over the invading countries.
Under another attack, Syria launched an attack and sent 1000 planes into Israeli airspace. None returned and Israel regained Jerusalem and more of its ancient territories. Each time Israel has been attacked, it has benefited territorially.
This
is Israel after the 1967 war cease-fire. If history does not persuade us that
God has a plan for Israel, the scriptures should. Hatred against the reborn
Israel has been prophesied long ago. Now the land is the catalyst for hating
Israel, however, before they were a nation, they were hated by almost every
nation. The Soviet Union heavily persecuted the Jews and does so today. Hitler’s
mission in life was to annihilate the Jews. Throughout history we see a lineage
of persecution against the Jews who God scattered to be wanders among the
nations.
Why is Israel so hated by the world?
If God pointed to His grace toward Israel as evidence of His plan, will Satan allow permanent peace willingly?
After Israel’s gathering in Ezekiel 37, the Bible says that a powerful coalition of nations will assault Israel in the latter days. Look at Ezekiel 38:
3 "and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.
4 "I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.
5 "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6 "Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops -- many people are with you.
Rosh is the region of Russia. It is unknown where Russia gained its name. Many theories exist about how they received their name. One is that they were named after a river called ‘Ros’; another says they were named after the Swedish name Ruotsi; and some claim that when the hordes were attacking southward, they had no name so certain scholars stated that these must be the ‘Rosh’ spoken of in the Bible. However, during the time of barbarian hordes, the land of Russia was called Muscovy.
Meshech, and Tubal are easily identified by history. Meshech settled in western Russia. The name of the region became known as Moskva and later changed to the modern name, ‘Moscow’. Tubal settled in Siberia and the region was called Tobol. The modern day name of Tobol is the city of Tubolsk. Iraq and Iran are the modern inhabitants of Persia. Ethiopia, and Libya are the same. Gomer is the region surrounding Germany and Togarmah is modern day Turkey.
Identifying the exact names is not essential to understanding this prophecy. The focus of this prophecy is that the nations surrounding Israel will all attack. If you look at a map and locate these ancient settlements, you will see that Israel is attacked from the north, south, east and west. They are at the center of the entire world, just as the Bible states. Look at Ezekiel 38 again:
11 and you will say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,
12 to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.'
I used the NASB because I believe the wording of verse 12 clearly describes what is going on – Israel will be at the center of the world. In the Bible God says to Israel’s enemies, “I will put hooks in your jaws…to draw you out”. It may be that these nations are financially desperate. The Bible says that they are coming to plunder Israel because they have acquired wealth.
I realize that some balk at this prophecy in Ezekiel. Some also claim that this has been fulfilled. However, if we read the passages we see clearly that it has never been fulfilled. For one, Israel has returned from being scattered across the whole earth. During their first captivity, they were in bondage but not scattered. When Israel returned the first time, they were not attacked on all sides. Some claim Ezekiel refers to the Greek invasion or that it was Rome who occupied Israel. However, Greece did not attack from four directions. Rome did not conquer Israel from four directions. Even more important, God did not defend Israel during any of these invasions in the past. God states the purpose for the invasion – “I am against you”. The nations are drawn out so God can judge them at the height of their might and pride. In the future invasion, God will defend Israel, destroy the kingdoms of the world and then will present Himself as their eternal King. This final conflict is for the purpose of judging the nations. Look at Zephaniah 3
8 " Therefore wait for Me," says the LORD, "Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation, All my fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured With the fire of My jealousy.
Is there any prophecy where this judgment against the nations has been fulfilled?
Did God use Rome or judge Rome when it invaded Israel? What about Greece?
Can we be accurate in biblical interpretation if we force events into prophecy and then explain away scriptures that are not fulfilled?
We know that the purpose of the final invasion is so that God can pour out His wrath against the nations for centuries of rebellion and sin. In the next section we will look at how God said He will accomplish this.
Exchanged Life Outreach
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