The world was stunned when the modern State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948 after eighteen hundred years of Jewish dispersion and persecution around the world and after Satan's most
successful bid at annihilating them. No such thing had ever been heard of. Historians were baffled. The phenomenon broke every principle of history pertaining to such things. "Surely, this was
the return of Israel to the Land as prophesied in Scripture," mused many, and many still do - yet, there is this puzzlement: Where are the Messianic blessings so lavishly and copiously promised
in the Hebrew Scriptures in such passages as these?
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1. And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the LORD will be
established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it. 2. Many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to
the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths." For from Zion will go forth the law,
even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3. And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war. 4. Each of them will sit under his vine
and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of
hosts has spoken. |
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~ Micah 4:1-4 ~ |
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1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2. And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
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1. The wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the Arabah will
rejoice and blossom; like the crocus. 2. It will blossom profusely and rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the majesty of
Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. . . . 10. And the ransomed of the LORD will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion,
with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
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Where are these blessings? Where is Messiah? Where is the peace? Where is the justice?
The key to the mystery is in the very next two verses:
| 11. Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12. And He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. |
~ Isaiah 11:11-12 ~
The Lord will again recover the second time . . . the remnant of His people . . . from the four corners of the earth.
The second time. The passage indicates two worldwide gatherings of Israel - not one - and two distinct classes of Scriptures attest to this. One speaks of a gathering for judgment, and the other of a gathering for Messianic blessing.
Various passages prophesy a worldwide gathering of Israel in unbelief for the purpose of judgment, among which are Ezekiel 20:33-38; 22:17-22; 36:22-24 and Zephaniah 2:1-2.
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33. "As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with
wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. 34. "I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an
outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; 35. and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36. "As I
entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you," declares the Lord GOD. 37. "I will make you pass under the
rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38. and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they
sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the LORD. ~ Ezekiel 20:33-38 ~ |
Verse 34 indicates a worldwide gathering of Jews. The only worldwide gathering of Jews to date culminated in the modern State of Israel, born on May 14,1948. In verses 34-35,
God says that He will gather Israel with wrath poured out and enter into judgment with
[them]. First, the wrath poured out; then, another judgment. The wrath poured out had to have been the Holocaust, if not the centuries of persecution that
preceded it, as well; but a more severe judgment awaits Israel, namely, the time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) in the second
half of the Great Tribulation. During this period, two-thirds of the world's Jews will be killed (Zechariah 13:8) as opposed to the "piddling" one-third during the Holocaust.
But there is a divine purpose in this:
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And I will bring the third part through the fire, 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, 'They are My
people,' and they will say, "The LORD is my God."
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I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit
of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over
Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
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And their lament will be,
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3. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 6. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. ~ Isaiah 53:3-6 ~
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Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. (Hosea 6:1).
And thus, All Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26).
The first worldwide gathering in 1948 was in preparation for the future judgment of unbelieving Israel during the future time of Jacob's trouble, which will result in the universal salvation of her survivors, the climactic fulfillment of God's New Covenant that He made with Israel:
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33. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,"
declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34. They will not teach again, each
man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will
forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
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Now comes the worldwide gathering for blessing.
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8. "I will whistle for them to gather them together, for I have redeemed them; and they will be as numerous
as they were before. 9. When I scatter them among the peoples, they will remember Me in far countries, and they with their children will live and come back. . . . 12. and I will
strengthen them in the LORD, and in His name they will walk," declares the LORD. ~ Zechariah 10:8-12 ~ 17. Therefore say, Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel." 18. When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. 19. And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20. that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.
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And Messiah will dwell among them and be their King, as is declared in the Micah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 11:1-10 passages, above.
Some other prophesies of a worldwide gathering in faith for Messianic blessing are Jeremiah 23:3; 31:8-10; Ezekiel 20:40-41 and Zephaniah 3:20.
Much of Israel is now gathered in the Land in preparation for judgment during the Great Tribulation, which will result in the
purging of the world's Jews of its rebels, those who reject divine light, and the salvation of all the rest. The Lord will then gather the entire saved nation to the Land, where they will enjoy
the prophesied Messianic blessings for the thousand year reign of Messiah, and Israel will suffer no more; for after the thousand years comes the eternal ages when the saints of all ages and all
the holy angels will live in the blessed presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit forever.
Lord, hasten that day!
* If you were blessed by this study, please consider linking to it. Thank you. *
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RECOMMENDED READING
Materials by Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum:
1. Messianic Bible Study 007: Jews,
Gentiles, Christians
2. The Footsteps of the Messiah (Tustin: Ariel Ministries Press, 2001), 691-696.
* Dr. Fruchtenbaum's materials are available for purchase at Ariel
Ministries in various formats. Some of his
Messianic Bible Studies (mbs) are also available for free online reading at Ariel's Come and See.
Other select materials
and resources are available at Ariel, as well.
*
© Norman Manzon, 2011
Part 1: Who Is Israel? Who Are the Jews?
Part 2: The Chosenness of Israel
Part 3a: Contrary Claims I: Replacement Theology
Part 3b: Contrary Claims II: Ephraimite or Two-House Doctrine
The Faithful Remnant of Israel
The Prophetic Feasts of Israel
Was the Law of Moses Given on Pentecost? A Tale of Two Occasions