The idea of returning to the Promised Land is not just a
matter of Jewish desire, but it is the central part of God’s Plan. Yehovah wants the People of Israel to return to the
Land that He chose for them, as he promised to the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob) and to their descendents.
God promised Abraham that he would give him land and
descendents, all for the purpose of forming the People of God. Today, Abraham’s
descendents are returning to the Promised Land; however, it is necessary that
they not only return to the land, but also to the faith – “they shall be my people, and I will be their God”.
(Isaiah 27:12-13) In that day
from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the LORD will
thresh out the grain, and you will be
gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. (13) And in that day a great
trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those
who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
ALSO THE HOUSE OF
ISRAEL
This promise of the return is not only for the Jews (House
of Judah) but it is also for the “lost tribes” (House of Israel or Ephraim –
read the study… The Two Houses of Israel).
(Jeremiah 31:1-5) “At that time,
declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they
shall be my people.” (2) Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the
sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest,
(3) the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. (4) Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again
you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of
the merrymakers. (5) Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of
Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit.
Today, the Samaritan Mounts are not “politically” considered
to be a part of Israel, because it is a land occupied by the Palestinians,
known as West Bank. But God considers this territory as part of the Promised
Land.
Ezekiel prophesies that the Sons of Israel will return to
the Promised Land, and they will form a nation right on the mounts of Israel
(chap. 37:15-28). But they won’t be two nations anymore (Judah and Ephraim –
Jews and believing gentiles), but it will be one nation, with one king: Yeshua,
David’s descendent.
(Ezekiel 37:21-23) then say to
them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel
from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to 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, and they shall be no longer two nations,
and no longer divided into two kingdoms. (23) They shall not defile
themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of
their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in
which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
A vital part for the restoration of Israel is the spiritual
transformation of the people who were once exiled because of their sin. While
they are on faraway lands, they will repent and return to God…
(Ezekiel 39:22-28) The house of Israel shall know that I am
the LORD their God, from that day
forward. (23) And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into
captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that
I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and
they all fell by the sword. (24) I dealt with them according to their
uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them. (25)
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house
of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. (26) They shall
forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when
they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, (27) when
I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’
lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many
nations. (28) Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God,
because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into
their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore.
The House of Israel will return to God, and the Lord will
have mercy on them…
(Jeremiah 31:17-19) There is hope
for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country. (18) I have
heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like
an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are
the LORD my God. (19) For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I
was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
(Jeremiah 31:20-23) Is Ephraim my
dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do
remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares
the LORD. (21) “Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself
guideposts; consider well the highway,
the road by which you went. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your
cities. (22) How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For
the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a
man.” (23) Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more
they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I
restore their fortunes: “‘The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness,
O holy hill!’
In the context of this promise of restoration, the Lord
talks about the New Covenant that he will make with His People, Israel…
(Jeremiah 31:31-34) “Behold, the
days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, (32) not like the
covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I
was their husband, declares the LORD. (33) For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within
them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. (34) And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor
and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will
forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
The Lord guarantees that this promise will be fulfilled,
since it is a spiritual law; this will be kept like the natural laws are kept…
(Jeremiah 31:35-37) Thus says
the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the
moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves
roar—the LORD of hosts is his name: (36) “If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel
cease from being a nation before me forever.” (37) Thus says the LORD: “If
the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can
be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they
have done, declares the LORD.”
There are many verses that prophesy of the return of the
people of God to the Promised Land. We will see some more on the next post…
More articles on the
Promised Land, in the page: Israel
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