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A NATION REBORN: The Dispersed Return

“The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 30:3). “Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, Give them up! and to the south, Do not hold them back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:5-9).

Explanation:

First the Assyrians swept into northern Israel, conquered the kingdom, and deported the people into other lands. Then the Babylonians invaded southern Israel and not only carried off the treasures still remaining in the city of Jerusalem but, also some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility. In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great of Greece invaded the Holy Land and, the Greeks held power until the Romans conquered them in 63 B.C. Palestine then passed from one conqueror to another. At each incident of conquest, more and more Jews fled or were deported into nations throughout the world. All hope for the future of the people of Israel was not lost. In the prophecy above God promised His people He was going to bring His people back to Israel in the end times. Not only would he bring them back as a nation again but also, he gave them details as to how He was going to bless them when they came back into the land. I will cover these details one by one in this chapter.

FULFILLMENT

Throughout all these centuries the Jews held in their hearts the longing to return and rebuild the state of Israel. In 1948, Israel’s dream came true: Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared Israel was once again an independent state. God said that Israel would be reborn, and it has been! Prior to 1948, there were Jews living in the land of Palestine; however, their numbers were small. On the day that Prime Minister Ben-Gurion read the declaration of independence May 14, 1948, Arabs attacked the newborn nation with all their military might, determined to destroy the budding nation. But God had a different idea about the outcome of the attack. Large military forces from Syria, Egypt, and Iraq moved against the nation of Israel. Their armies were bigger, better, stronger, and older than Israel’s ragtag, quickly assembled fighters. Unlike Israel, the Arabs had heavy military equipment, planes, and armored vehicles moving against the small country of Israel. It looked hopeless for the new state. But they knew of God’s promise: “I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save” (Isaiah 49:25). The people of Israel were determined to keep their nation alive. With very little training and limited armament Israel handed a decisive defeat to the Arabs. It was the first time the people saw how God would contend with those who tried to destroy Israel.

Since Israel’s rebirth in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over the world have migrated back to their homeland. At the start of World War I, about 85,000 Jews lived in the land called Palestine. When Israel became a nation in 1948, the Jews in the area numbered around 630,000. Presently the Jewish population in Israel is almost 6 million. Ever since the state of Israel was reborn Jews from all over the world have made their way back to their homeland. At the same time, Israel was being blessed by the return of Jews from around the world, nations such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and others have tried to destroy the nation, but have continued to fail.

In Isaiah 43:6 the Lord spoke about calling his people from north and south. The countries the Lord was referring to are Russia, which, is directly north of Israel, and Ethiopia, which, is south of Israel. Both Russia and Ethiopia were under dictatorships. Both countries had a policy that prohibited the Jews from migrating to their homeland. For years, pleas were heard from Jews living in those two nations. They wanted desperately to rejoin those who had already migrated to Israel.

In recent years, both Russia and Ethiopia have been facing difficult times. Not only have their economic, social, and political systems almost completely collapsed, they also have to defend themselves from attacks by bordering nations, and the threat of civil war from within. As a result of the conflicts and turmoil, both countries were forced to alter their policies concerning Jews migrating back to their homeland and the Jews were allowed to leave. Little do the leaders of Russia and Ethiopia know the real reason for this policy change? God ordained the return of His people back to Israel and it has taken place in our generation. God ordered their release as His Word prophesied—not by chance, but by design. In just ten years, according to the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, from 1980, to 1990, the Jewish exodus from the Soviet Union more than doubled. In 1980, 21,471 Jews were released; in 1990 the number of Jews migrating to Israel was 147,386. In 1991 Jews from Ethiopia started to make their way back into Israel with Israel's help. In 1991 Ethiopia was a nation at war. During the Ethiopian conflict, Israel sent planes to Ethiopia in order to airlift Ethiopian Jews who wanted to leave their country, and bring them back to Israel. The airlifts taking Jews back to Israel was called operation Solomon. "Operation Solomon airlifted 14,163 Ethiopians over 36 hours." (Ethiopian News, Jan 27, 1998,). In another section of the report from Ethiopia it stated, "Israel has quietly orchestrated its third mass exodus of Ethiopians, overcoming questions about whether they are really Jews and giving them a right to Israeli citizenship. Since October, Israeli's minister of information confirmed in an interview, an estimated 1,200 Ethiopians known as Falashmura have left their huts in Addis Ababa to fly to new homes in Israel, with the blessing of both the Ethiopian and Israeli governments. Another 2,400 are set to arrive before the summer." (Ibid., Jan. 27). In 1999, 2000, and again in 2003, more Ethiopians have made their way back to Israel to begin a new way of life. In January 9, 2004 the BBCNews reported "Israel to take all Ethiopian Jews". The Israeli Government are to speed up the moving of the remaining 18,000 Ethiopian Jews to the Middle East." After 2004 Israel found out that there were still Ethiopian Jews in Ethiopia that wanted to go back to Israel. Finally, on August 5, 2008 The Jerusalem Post reported, “The last official airlift of Ethiopian Jews landed in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, bringing to an end a state-organized campaign which began almost 30 years ago and brought in around 120,000 immigrants from the east African nation”. The exit out of Ethiopia to Israel is seen in the prophecy in the book of Zephaniah as well. Zephaniah 3:10 states, "From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering." The Ethiopian Jews have played an important part in fulfilling the words of God!

The prophecy told us God was going to bring His people back from the North, South, East, and West. Has the Lord fulfilled His words? The answer is yes! Here is the proof. "Since the establishment of the state, more than 2.6 million people have immigrated to Israel: approximately 59% from Europe, 18% from Africa, 15% from Asia, and 8% from the Western Hemisphere and Oceania. The largest numbers of immigrants have arrived from the former Soviet Union, Poland and Morocco. Since 1948, there have been more than 900,000 immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union, approximately 340,000 from Poland, and 270,000 from Morocco." (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 1997). Once again in 2007 Israel is pushing for all Jews to return to their homeland. A December AP report stated, “Israel is trying to persuade hundreds of thousands of its citizens living overseas to return home in a project to coincide with the state's 60th anniversary next year, the Immigrant Absorption Ministry said Sunday. The project, dubbed "Coming Home," will try to lure Israelis living abroad to come back with tax breaks, employment and small business loans” (AP Dec. 9, 2007). The government of Israel has set their sites on the 650,000 Israelis who live abroad, of which 450,000 of them are in North America. You will see more Jews return to Israel in the next few years, it was a promise from God that had to do with the last days. Every detail God gave us concerning the prophecy happened precisely as God told us it would.

In 2007 thousands of young Jewish Iranians left Iran for Israel in search for a new life. One of the biggest reasons why these young people moved was because, in 2007 the tensions between Israel and Iran has gotten worse. Over the course of 2007 many of these Iranian Jews have been called Israeli spies. These false claims have now put their families in danger; as a result many of these people are fleeing Iran for Israel. In doing so they are helping fulfill the prophecy. A Guardian report shows what happened to one such person who was forced to leave Iran. “Once Benjamin, 23, was teaching Hebrew and running a shop in Iran. Two years ago he was arrested by Iranian intelligence agents who threatened to kill him and his family. "They put a gun in my head and forced me to sign that I was a spy for Israel and they said: 'We will kill you'. I thought: 'I'm going to die just for being Jewish,'" he said” (Nov. 24, 2007). As it now stands around 20,000 Jews make Aliyah to Israel every year, most arriving under the Law of Return under which the state grants citizenship to anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent. The Guardian report also makes it known “Not all the new Iranian arrivals have had such harsh experiences. Others in the same absorption center in east Jerusalem, where they live and take Hebrew classes for six months, say they simply felt suffocated by the current Iranian regime and unable to live freely” (Guardian Unlimited Nov. 24, 2007). The Jerusalem Post on December 26, 2007 reported that the “Jewish Agency is working hard to bring all of Iran’s remaining 25, 000 Jews to Israel, an official told the Jerusalem Post as 40 immigrants landed at Ben-Gurion Interntional Airport on Tuesday afternoon.” God is bringing His own home. On the eve of the Israel’s 60th Independence Day, May 14, 2008 there are 7,282,000 people living in Israel. On August 4, 2009 you get a clear picture how this

prophecy has come to pass. “Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu welcomed a planeload of olim on Tuesday at Ben- Gurion Airport, telling them "for the first time in 2,000 years, there are going to be more Jews in Israel than outside it." Speaking to a terminal full of olim from the United States and Canada, who came with Nefesh B'Nefesh on the organization's 38th chartered aliya flight since the first one in July 2002, Netanyahu noted that Israel's Jewish population was nearing the six million mark. It is hard to gauge the number of Jews in the Diaspora. In the largest community - America - the only effective tool is a telephone poll. Nevertheless, Diaspora Jewry is usually estimated at between six and seven million, though some demographers and scholars consider this figure low. Netanyahu told the 238 new immigrants that aliya to the State of Israel had given the Jewish people "our ability to control our fate and our destiny" (The Jerusalem post Aug. 4, 2009). Only ten days later after Netanyahu’s speech concerning the number of Jews returning to Israel news broke out informing us, “Israeli sources confirmed on Thursday Yemeni media reports that the overwhelming majority of the final remnant of Yemen's ancient Jewish community, numbering some 250 people, are looking to leave the country due to persecution and violence. "About 120 of the Yemeni Jews want to move to Israel, 100 want to move to the US" - where there is a small Yemenite Jewish community - "and between 20 and 30 want to stay," the source said, citing information obtained from the community” (The Jerusalem Post Aug. 14, 2009). Just the fact that these people are making their back to Israel should be enough proof God’s warnings are all coming to pass.

PROPHECY: A Vast Army Marshaled

“Then he said to me, ‘Prophecy to the breath; prophecy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.” Therefore prophesy and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will love, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:9-14).

Explanation: God was showing Ezekiel what He was going to do to Israel in the end times. Israel was a dead nation for a long period of time but, God spoke and said He would bring his people back to life by breathing new life into them. Part of this new life God spoke of was reestablishing His people in Israel and, bringing back His mighty army. Both of these prophecies have been fulfilled in this generation. Below I explain how God fulfilled His words

FULFILLMENT

There is no doubt Israel has once again become a nation. God said that a “vast army” would come with the rebirth of Israel. In this prophecy of the valley of dry bones, God breathes on a dead nation and raises it back to life. He brings Israel’s army to life. The history of that army proves that God is in control of it. Here are the facts. As the population of Israel has kept growing the Arab nations have never stopped trying to destroy her. In 1956 there was the Sinai campaign. In July of that year Egypt attacked Jews on the Gaza Strip. Egypt seized the Suez Canal, ignoring the UN Security Council's free passage of the canal. Jordan, Lebanon, and Syrian forces made attacks on Israel from 1965 to 1967. At no time during those years did Israel ever lose a battle. By the 1960s Israel formed a mighty air force, so when in 1967, Israel fought the well-known Six-Day War against the major forces of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, Israel won with little effort. Israel’s air force bombed and wiped out Egyptian airfields. Israel then turned her military machine toward the Syrians who were on the Golan Heights. It took only four days for Israel’s army to crush her enemies. When the war was over, Israel had captured all of the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and most importantly the old city of Jerusalem. There is a major prophecy in the book of Luke, which says, “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). The Babylonians invaded Israel thousands of years ago, Israel lost control of the holy city Jerusalem, and it has been in the hands of the Gentiles ever since. However, God told us the end of the gentile reign would come and, in 1967 the Lord’s words were fulfilled. A portion of a news report on the six-day war entitled “Israel’s Spirited Plunge into War” sums it up best. “The military victory of Israel, startling in its speed and efficiency, is not as impressive as the spirit that produced it in this moment of her history. With the Old City of Jerusalem back in its control, Israel is not only a nation but a family.” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 8, 1967, front page) The time of the gentiles ended in 1967, at the hands of the powerful army of Israel. Unfortunately the 1967 war would not be the last one Israel would encounter. When Israel was observing the Yom Kippur religious holiday in October 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a massive assault against her, hoping to catch

the nation by surprise. Syria attacked the Golan Heights; Egypt came at Israel from across the Bar-Lev line guarding the Suez Canal. Israel suffered heavy losses; however, the air force recovered very quickly, as did the army, bringing victory to the little nation of Israel. Although out numbered by five to one during the wars between 1967 and 1973, Israel was still victorious. Since the Yom Kippur War, Israel has had no peace or rest from her enemies. This little nation has engaged in battles with the PLO, Syrians, and Lebanese. In every battle where Israel was forced to attack her enemies, she has defeated them. Did God raise His people and the Israeli military as He promised in the last days? The answer to that question is, absolutely. It would help to understand this fact. Israel is only the size of New Jersey yet they have the 4th largest air force in the world. The nations who have a bigger air force are the USA, Russia and, China. God has truly blessed this nation and He has protected it. God’s prophecy of the valley of dry bones that became a vast army has been fulfilled. God is protecting His people. Journalists reporting each war give Israel little chance of winning; if the journalists would have read the scriptures they would have been able to predict an accurate outcome of each war. God’s Word concerning the mighty army has come true.

PROPHECY: A Language Restored

“Thus says the Lord of Israel: as yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; the Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness” (Jeremiah 31:23).

The Hebrew Alphabet

EXPLANATION

When the nation Israel was destroyed and the people were lead into captivity, the Israeli language, which was Hebrew, was also lost, or so it seemed. God knew in the future He would again cause the Israeli people to speak their own language.