The physical descendants of the ancient nation of Israel.

[Biblewriter]

Many deny that the scriptures explicitly prophesy a return of the physical descendants of the ancient nation of Israel to their ancient homeland. But the scriptures indeed teach this, and they teach it, both repeatedly and in explicit words. The first such prophecy we should notice in this context is unique among God s prophecies, for it is addressed to neither a nation nor an individual, but to a tract of real estate.

“Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and My fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I have raised My hand in an oath that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame. But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come. For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.” (Ezekiel 36:6-10)

The words “the land of Israel” , along with the words “the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys,” leave no way to even imagine that this prophecy is addressed to anything other that the physical homeland of the ancient nation of Israel. But what does this prophecy say about this physical land? “I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.” The words “all of it,” added to the words “all the house of Israel” (and yes, the word “all” is repeated in the Hebrew) makes it exceedingly clear that this means that ABSOLUTELY all of “the house of Israel” will again inhabit the land of Israel , along with the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys of that land.

One clearly stated scripture is enough to convince anyone who is subject to the authority of the word of God, the Bible. But there are many other scriptures that say the same thing in other ways. A future revival of the physical ancient homeland of the physical ancient nation of Israel is made even more clear by a passage in Ezekiel 47, where we are given a precise definition of the borders of that future land, along with explicit instructions for how it is to be divided. That passage is:

“Thus says the Lord GOD: These are the borders by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I raised My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance. This shall be the border of the land on the north: from the Great Sea, by the road to Hethlon, as one goes to Zedad, Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazar Hatticon (which is on the border of Hauran). Thus the boundary shall be from the Sea to Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus; and as for the north, northward, it is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. On the east side you shall mark out the border from between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel, along the Jordan, and along the eastern side of the sea. This is the east side. The south side, toward the South, shall be from Tamar to the waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the Great Sea. This is the south side, toward the South. The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the southern boundary until one comes to a point opposite Hamath. This is the west side. Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance, says the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 47:13-23)

Now some very wrongly claim that this is part of a prophetic vision, and therefore its meaning is symbolic, rather than literal. But that is an error. The vision which Ezekiel saw ended in Ezekiel 47:12. From Ezekiel 47:13 to the end of the book of Ezekiel, every statement is explicitly couched in clear, simple language. This was also done in numerous comments interspersed with the vision as it progressed through chapters 43-47. Ezekiel was shown things in a vision, and then was told exactly what they meant. Then he was shown more, and then was again told exactly what the new material meant, often with explicit instructions for actions to be taken when the prophecy was fulfilled. This was done repeatedly as the vision progressed.

The land is again explicitly mentioned in Isaiah 65:8-10, where we read, “Thus says the Lord: As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it, So will I do for My servants sake, That I may not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, And My servants shall dwell there. Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me.” Here Jacob and Judah, two names which are never applied to either the Lord or the church, are said to be heirs of “My Mountains.” It goes on to say they shall dwell there, And explicitly names Sharon and the valley of Achor, two physical places in the land of Israel.

Again, we read, “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that they shall no longer say, As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, but, As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.” (Jeremiah 23:7-8)

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[Biblewriter]

Thus far we have seen that the prophecies refer to the ancient homeland of Israel in explicit language, and also that they just as explicitly say that it will be inhabited by absolutely all of the descendants of this ancient nation. But the scriptures also very clearly state the sequence of events that will bring this to pass. The first of these is the one scripture that clearly shows when they will return. We read:

“For behold, the Lord will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword The Lord will judge all flesh; And the slain of the Lord shall be many. Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together, says the Lord. For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites, says the Lord.” (Isaiah 66:20-21)

This passage begins with the Lord coming “with fire, to render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire,” and then says “it shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations.” So we see that the Lord here refers to Armageddon, and explicitly says that he will send those among them who escape to go and declare his glory. “Then,” it says, “they shall bring all your brethren, to My holy Mountain Jerusalem.” So we notice two critical things from this passage. The first of these is that “all your brethren” (and yes, the word “all” is in the Hebrew text) will be brought back AFTER the Lord has come in power and glory, not BEFORE that time. And the second one is that they will be brought back “to my holy mountain Jerusalem.” So the scriptures explicitly tell us that all of them will be brought back AT THIS TIME.

But many among the children of Israel are rebels, and God cannot have rebels in his presence. So the scriptures explicitly tell us how He will deal with that.

“As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you, says the Lord GOD. I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 20:33-38)

So although there will be rebels among those that will be brought back to the land, God himself will meet them at the border as they arrive, and purge these rebels from among the people. And it explicitly says concerning these rebels that, “I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel.”

But the explicit detail does not end there, for we also read:

“I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.” (Zechariah 12:10-14)

So now we see that “the spirit of grace and supplication will be poured upon the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem,” and they will repent with grief and bitter mourning. But what is it that they are repenting of? They will look on Me whom they pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son. So we see that they will repent of their rejection of Him in his first coming. For, although not even one of them had been there at that time, yet every one of them had participated in his rejection. For we must remember, they are Jews, and all true believers in Jesus have already been raptured at this time. This will be true, whether the rapture takes place pre-trib, mid-trib, pre-wrath, or post trib. For this is after the Lord has come in power and glory, and thus after all those times. The rapture is past and over when this repentance takes place. And the result of this repentance is that:

“In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel WHO HAVE ESCAPED. And it shall come to pass that he WHO IS LEFT in Zion and REMAINS in Jerusalem will be called holy everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. WHEN the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning.” (Isaiah 4:2-5)

Again, we read of that time, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34) This is so important that the Holy Spirit quoted it in Hebrews 8:10-11.

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[Biblewriter]

It is only in the light of these explicit statements of scripture that we can properly understand what the Holy Spirit was saying when He said through the Apostle Paul:

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins. Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are IRREVOCABLE.” (Romans 11:25-29)

These numerous prophecies also make our Lord’s meaning clear, where He said, “See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more TILL you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 23:8-39 and Luke 13:35)

So we see that the scriptures do indeed tell us, both in explicit language and repeatedly, that the physical descendants of the ancient nation of Israel will be brought back to their physical ancient homeland. And when they are brought back, the rebels will be purged from their midst and all the rest will repent and turn to the Lord with their whole heart. This is not an interpretation of the meaning of the scriptures. The only interpretation here is that the scriptures actually mean what they EXPLICITLY say. And this is what they EXPLICITLY say, in CLEAR, SIMPLE statements, rather than in apocalyptic symbols.

Those who refuse to believe these prophecies usually imagine that they are just typically speaking of the church. But this assumption cannot explain scriptures such as the following:

“For the Lord has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused, Says your God. For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, Says the Lord, your Redeemer. For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, Says the Lord, who has mercy on you. O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.” (Isaiah 54:6-13)

There is no way to even imagine that this speaks of the church, for there has never been a time when the church was refused by God, nor a time when the Lord hid his fact from the church. But we have already seen that many scriptures clearly state that Israel will again be accepted after her time of rejection is over, as we see again in the following passage:

“Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, That they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.” (Isaiah 61:7-9)

But perhaps the clearest statement of this in all of scripture is:

“Then God said: Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, You are not My people, There it shall be said to them, You are sons of the living God. Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel!” (Hosea 1:9-11)

This prophecy not only says that their rejection will end. It also explicitly says that this will be declared “in the place where it was said to them.” This is so important that the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, quoted it in Romans 9:26, in that chapter’s development of the fact that Israel s rejection is only temporary, and that Israel will finally be restored.

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

Israel is the clock of the world. Jesus will not return until Israel repents:

Matthew 23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Hosea 5:15 says the same ‘I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.’

Zechariah 1210 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

‘Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.’ (Zechariah 14:16).

Luke 21:29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place.

In 1988 Soviet Union collapses, and 1.5 million of Jews move from north to promise land, leaves are coming out of the fig tree.

Joel 3:1 For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land,

Isaiah 24 too, read it, it has not happened yet.

 

[Brian Mcnamee]

Hi this is a great post and the volume of scripture that you can post on this subject is immense. There is a clear before and after picture of what is going on before Jesus returns and after. I think this foundation of a literal view shows a literal future and in Luke one we see the prophecies about Jesus mission.

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

These passages tell us what is happening when Jesus takes the throne of David. This notes Jesus is redeeming His people as the prophets have said and He is keeping the covenant and perform the oaths that Israel will be delivered from their enemies and all who hate them and then they will worship and serve him without fear and now in holiness and righteousness all the days of their lives.

This is the before and after picture and in Zech 14 the LORD comes on a day when Jerusalem is overrun and half the city is taken captive. The LORD melts the enemies and the LORD is now king over ll the earth. The Mt of Olives splits that day and the new river and valley is formed. This river flows year round and one branch goes east which would put it flowing into the dead sea. Eze 47 was brought up and this chapter has the Dead Sea being healed and now is a prosperous fishing area at the same time the 12 tribes are receiving the inheritance. This is literal and future. These long posts are just touching the surface on all that can be shared on this topic. So glad to see this post.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

It is only in the light of these explicit statements of scripture that we can properly understand what the Holy Spirit was saying when He said through the Apostle Paul:

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins. Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are IRREVOCABLE.” (Romans 11:25-29)

These numerous prophecies also make our Lord’s meaning clear, where He said, “See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more TILL you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 23:8-39 and Luke 13:35)

So we see that the scriptures do indeed tell us, both in explicit language and repeatedly, that the physical descendants of the ancient nation of Israel will be brought back to their physical ancient homeland. And when they are brought back, the rebels will be purged from their midst and all the rest will repent and turn to the Lord with their whole heart. This is not an interpretation of the meaning of the scriptures. The only interpretation here is that the scriptures actually mean what they EXPLICITLY say. And this is what they EXPLICITLY say, in CLEAR, SIMPLE statements, rather than in apocalyptic symbols.

Those who refuse to believe these prophecies usually imagine that they are just typically speaking of the church. But this assumption cannot explain scriptures such as the following:

“For the Lord has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused, Says your God. For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, Says the Lord, your Redeemer. For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, Says the Lord, who has mercy on you. O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.” (Isaiah 54:6-13)

There is no way to even imagine that this speaks of the church, for there has never been a time when the church was refused by God, nor a time when the Lord hid his fact from the church. But we have already seen that many scriptures clearly state that Israel will again be accepted after her time of rejection is over, as we see again in the following passage:

“Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, That they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.” (Isaiah 61:7-9)

But perhaps the clearest statement of this in all of scripture is:

“Then God said: Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, You are not My people, There it shall be said to them, You are sons of the living God. Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel!” (Hosea 1:9-11)

This prophecy not only says that their rejection will end. It also explicitly says that this will be declared “in the place where it was said to them.” This is so important that the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, quoted it in Romans 9:26, in that chapter’s development of the fact that Israel s rejection is only temporary, and that Israel will finally be restored.

What are your thoughts on the generations and generations of Jews who have died before geopolitical Isreal existed? They have no chance to renew their minds. Why only one generation ? Why are these people more important and special than all the rest of their kinsmen? Thanks for clarifying. Be blessed.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

.

 

[Navair2]

The point of the prophecies brothers and sisters?
Keep your eyes on Jerusalem and on Israel.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

The point of the prophecies brothers and sisters?
Keep your eyes on Jerusalem and on Israel.

"But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment. 4 Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel."
Ezekiel 5:3 NIV

 

[Navair2]

What are your thoughts on the generations and generations of Jews who have died before geopolitical Isreal existed? They have no chance to renew their minds. Why only one generation ? Why are these people more important and special than all the rest of their kinsmen?

Romans 11:1-8.

 

[Brian Mcnamee]

What are your thoughts on the generations and generations of Jews who have died before geopolitical Isreal existed? They have no chance to renew their minds. Why only one generation ? Why are these people more important and special than all the rest of their kinsmen? Thanks for clarifying. Be blessed.

The generation that saw Jesus and every Jew since has had a chance to enter the new covenant which is clearly established. Prophetically the stone rejected by the builders has become the chief corner stone. God understood that Israel would be rejected and Jerusalem and the temple destroyed and Jews scattered into all the world. The passages being quoted on this post show what God declares will come to pass for Israel. For fun look at Isaiah 61 which is a key passage as it begins with a portion Jesus quoted and noted this day it was fulfilled in their hearing.
1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;

you will see here an acceptable year proclaimed but this same one Jesus is also bringing in the day of vengeance of our God. Now the rest of the chapter shows what is accomplished in the day of vengeance. (tribulation) and it is very Zion focused and shows again Israel being delivered and converted.

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

What are your thoughts on the generations and generations of Jews who have died before geopolitical Isreal existed? They have no chance to renew their minds. Why only one generation ? Why are these people more important and special than all the rest of their kinsmen? Thanks for clarifying. Be blessed.

If I can throw in my opinion...

This Jews are not better, nor more worthy. It is only by God's grace someone is saved, no matter their background, race, when are they born or anything else for that matter.

This is what I've got from the book of revelation: Before Israel repents, they will face some terrible events in the Great Tribulation, where two thirds of Israel will be killed, and that one third will face Armageddon, but then God in His mercy, will pour His Spirit on them, and the remnant of Israel will repent of rejecting Messiah, and Jesus returns on Earth. Not that this remnant is better or worse, God will simply chose them in His grace. Why God has decided this? Everything is for His glory, and we do not have to understand it. We will once we are in Heaven. Btw even today, you have people in Israel who are truly saved. As God said it: He will have mercy on whomever He will.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

So we see that the scriptures do indeed tell us, both in explicit language and repeatedly, that the physical descendants of the ancient nation of Israel will be brought back to their physical ancient homeland. And when they are brought back, the rebels will be purged from their midst and all the rest will repent and turn to the Lord with their whole heart. This is not an interpretation of the meaning of the scriptures. The only interpretation here is that the scriptures actually mean what they EXPLICITLY say. And this is what they EXPLIC

Romans 11:1-8.

Thank you for the scripture reference however, there has always been a remnant of Isreal who know God. I am speaking specifically of a people who are given a miraculous chance to turn to Jesus Christ of Nazareth all at once merely because they live in Israel. This has always been a stumbling block for me.
The OP states this above.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

The generation that saw Jesus and every Jew since has had a chance to enter the new covenant which is clearly established. Prophetically the stone rejected by the builders has become the chief corner stone. God understood that Israel would be rejected and Jerusalem and the temple destroyed and Jews scattered into all the world. The passages being quoted on this post show what God declares will come to pass for Israel. For fun look at Isaiah 61 which is a key passage as it begins with a portion Jesus quoted and noted this day it was fulfilled in their hearing.
1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;

you will see here an acceptable year proclaimed but this same one Jesus is also bringing in the day of vengeance of our God. Now the rest of the chapter shows what is accomplished in the day of vengeance. (tribulation) and it is very Zion focused and shows again Israel being delivered and converted.

Thank you . My question is what is the condition of the generations of Jews who died never setting a foot on the land of Israel ? Why only one generation will turn to God merely because they live in Israel ?

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Great Tribulation, where two thirds of Israel will be killed, and that one third will face Armageddon, but then God in His mercy, will pour His

This is yet another stumbling block for me. Why would any Christian wish this upon a people ? Are they not being led to death? We should be directing them away from Isreal so they do not get deceived into worshipping the "anti-Christ". Many Jews are annoyed that Christians promote living in Isreal while fully acknowledging this fact.
Btw there is more than one view of eschatology and I hope this can be a safe forum to express other views, if not, I will bow out.

 

[claninja]

Many deny that the scriptures explicitly prophesy a return of the physical descendants of the ancient nation of Israel to their ancient homeland. But the scriptures indeed teach this, and they teach it, both repeatedly and in explicit words. The first such prophecy we should notice in this context is unique among God s prophecies, for it is addressed to neither a nation nor an individual, but to a tract of real estate.

“Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and My fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I have raised My hand in an oath that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame. But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come. For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.” (Ezekiel 36:6-10)

The words “the land of Israel” , along with the words “the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys,” leave no way to even imagine that this prophecy is addressed to anything other that the physical homeland of the ancient nation of Israel. But what does this prophecy say about this physical land? “I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.” The words “all of it,” added to the words “all the house of Israel” (and yes, the word “all” is repeated in the Hebrew) makes it exceedingly clear that this means that ABSOLUTELY all of “the house of Israel” will again inhabit the land of Israel , along with the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys of that land.

One clearly stated scripture is enough to convince anyone who is subject to the authority of the word of God, the Bible. But there are many other scriptures that say the same thing in other ways. A future revival of the physical ancient homeland of the physical ancient nation of Israel is made even more clear by a passage in Ezekiel 47, where we are given a precise definition of the borders of that future land, along with explicit instructions for how it is to be divided. That passage is:

“Thus says the Lord GOD: These are the borders by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I raised My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance. This shall be the border of the land on the north: from the Great Sea, by the road to Hethlon, as one goes to Zedad, Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazar Hatticon (which is on the border of Hauran). Thus the boundary shall be from the Sea to Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus; and as for the north, northward, it is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. On the east side you shall mark out the border from between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel, along the Jordan, and along the eastern side of the sea. This is the east side. The south side, toward the South, shall be from Tamar to the waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the Great Sea. This is the south side, toward the South. The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the southern boundary until one comes to a point opposite Hamath. This is the west side. Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance, says the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 47:13-23)

Now some very wrongly claim that this is part of a prophetic vision, and therefore its meaning is symbolic, rather than literal. But that is an error. The vision which Ezekiel saw ended in Ezekiel 47:12. From Ezekiel 47:13 to the end of the book of Ezekiel, every statement is explicitly couched in clear, simple language. This was also done in numerous comments interspersed with the vision as it progressed through chapters 43-47. Ezekiel was shown things in a vision, and then was told exactly what they meant. Then he was shown more, and then was again told exactly what the new material meant, often with explicit instructions for actions to be taken when the prophecy was fulfilled. This was done repeatedly as the vision progressed.

The land is again explicitly mentioned in Isaiah 65:8-10, where we read, “Thus says the Lord: As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it, So will I do for My servants sake, That I may not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, And My servants shall dwell there. Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me.” Here Jacob and Judah, two names which are never applied to either the Lord or the church, are said to be heirs of “My Mountains.” It goes on to say they shall dwell there, And explicitly names Sharon and the valley of Achor, two physical places in the land of Israel.

Again, we read, “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that they shall no longer say, As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, but, As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.” (Jeremiah 23:7-8)

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God spoke to the prophets of Israel in Riddles, and Parables, and Visions, and Dreams.

Numbers 12:6-8 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Where does the NT confirm your interpretation of these visions, parables, dreams, and riddles?

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Thank you . My question is what is the condition of the generations of Jews who died never setting a foot on the land of Israel ? Why only one generation will turn to God merely because they live in Israel ?

The majority of Jews, and of Israel, are "the rest of the dead" that will come up in the 2nd resurrection spoken of in Ezekiel 37.

 

[Biblewriter]

What are your thoughts on the generations and generations of Jews who have died before geopolitical Isreal existed? They have no chance to renew their minds. Why only one generation ? Why are these people more important and special than all the rest of their kinsmen? Thanks for clarifying. Be blessed.

There has never been a time when ANY individual could not repent and be blessed by God. But our God has promised that, in a day that is still in the future, He will bring ALL of that ancient and rebellious nation to repentance.

But before THAT happens, we are explicitly told of two purgings of that ancient and rebellious nation.

The first one applies to those already in the land when the end times begin, and is detailed in Zechariah 13:8-9. where we read:

" '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: 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." ' "

Further detail about this purging is found in Zechariah 14:2-3, where we read:

"For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle."

This purging takes place during the last half of the seventieth week, beginning with the attack by "the Assyrian" at the middle of the week, as described in Isaiah 7, 10, 14, 30, and 31, in Micah 5, and in the book of Nehemiah. Many simply assume that this attack will be made by the Roman power. But not even one scripture says that.

The second purging applies to those who will be brought back to the land at the time Messiah returns, as described in Isaiah 66:15-20. This purging is described in Ezekiel 20:33-38, where we read:

" "As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,/ says the Lord GOD. 'I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "

So we are EXPLICITLY told, concerning those already in the land, that two-thirds of all them will be killed and half of those in the city will be taken captive. And concerning those brought back to the land at the end of this period, that the rebels will be purged from their midst.

And it is only after these purgings that ALL Israel will be saved, as we are EXPLICITLY told in Romans 11:26, Isaiah 4:3-4 and Zechariah 12:10-14.

 

[Biblewriter]

God spoke to the prophets of Israel in Riddles, and Parables, and Visions, and Dreams.

Numbers 12:6-8 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Where does the NT confirm your interpretation of these visions, parables, dreams, and riddles?

What I have posted here is not "interpretation." Our God has EXPLICITLY said He will do ALL of this. And if you deny that He will indeed do EXACTLY as He said, you will be calling God a liar.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

He will bring ALL of that ancient and rebellious nation to repentance.

Even the dead?