Is Modern Israel Part of God's Plan?

David Guretzki, president and CEO of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, recently penned a good article on the current rise of antisemitism. He even spoke of believers as grafted into Israel (Rom. 11:17). But then he wrote: “Indeed, if I could insist upon a fundamental interpretive corrective, especially among evangelical Christians, it would be to stop equating the word ‘Israel” in the Bible to the modern State of Israel.” He offered no reason for this statement.

Before looking at Scriptures that support a different view than Guretzki’s, I’d like to offer some observations. While the land of ancient Israel experienced fluctuations in population over the centuries, by the time of the Ottoman occupation in 1517, it was largely depopulated, inhabited only by a few thousand Jews and a few tens of thousands of Arabs. This period of significant decline lasted for several centuries, making the return of eight million Jews—over half the known Jewish population—truly remarkable. Surely this miraculous homecoming requires some sort of explanation. If this is not a fulfillment of God’s promise, what else could it be?

After centuries of bareness, the deserts began to bloom once more when the modern State of Israel was established in 1948. We know Mark Twain’s observation that virtually echoes the words of Deuteronomy 29. Twain famously wrote of his travels through the Promised Land in 1867: “We never saw a human being on the whole route…There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”  Millennia before Twain penned The Innocents Abroad, the prophet Isaiah prophesied, “the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus” (35:1) when the people of Israel return to the Land. If Israel’s current fertility is not a fulfillment of God’s promise, what else could it be?

I’ve recently heard the following question: “How do we know the Israelis are the descendants of the Israelites of the Bible?” The answer could fill the pages of a book. In short, the post-biblical history of the Jewish people has been well-chronicled as they have been expelled from country after country because of their Jewish identity. Moreover, what would prompt non-Jews to pretend to be Jews, when the consequence would be persecution? If we can be sure of the ancient roots of any people group, it’s the Jewish people. 

A Second and Greater Return

I confess that I have not always seen today’s Jewish people and modern Israel as fulfillment of prophecy. I now realize that my education lacked focus on the biblical prophets and their prophecies being fulfilled in our times. As a result, as young pastor, I believed the scriptural promises speaking about a regathering of Israel referred to the return of the southern kingdom of Judah after 70 years of Babylonian exile. Today, I hear pastors echo that same belief when I speak to them about modern Israel fulfilling God’s Word: “Those Scriptures only refer to Babylon.”

However, the prophets speak about another return that is much more significant than the return from Babylon. In Isaiah 11:11, we read, “On that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people.” Notice that the prophet is specific that the second return will be from the four corners of the globe, not just from Babylon. “I will bring your offspring 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,” (Isa. 43:5–6).

Isaiah 11:10 also makes it clear that this remarkable regathering will stand as a signal to the nations. For those who have eyes to see, it will serve as a trumpet call announcing that God is on the throne and is accomplishing His divine purposes.

The prophet Jeremiah takes things even further, pointing out twice that this return will be so remarkable that the Exodus from Egypt will pale by comparison. “‘Therefore behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when it will no longer be said, “As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” but, “As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.” For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers”  (Jer. 16:14–5; 23:7–8).

We also need to look at the return from Babylon in 536 BC through the lenses of history. After 70 years in exile, many of the Jews had become comfortable in Babylon, which meant that only a small number returned to Jerusalem. In fact, those who remained in exile only began returning when persecution arose in modern times. Approximately 123,000 Jews fled Iraq between 1948–1951 because of intense Islamic persecution. The majority of them settled in Israel, thus finally fulfilling Jeremiah’s prophecy of a second regathering.

Israel and Judah

Another reason to look beyond the Babylonian exile for the fulfillment of the regathering prophecy is found in Jeremiah 30:2–3. “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.’”

This verse mentions both Israel and Judah. Following the reign of Solomon, Israel was divided into two kingdoms. We know that the northern kingdom of Israel was dispersed by the Assyrians in 722 BC, well before the southern kingdom of Judah was exiled to Babylon. For generations, this dispersed northern kingdom has been referred to as the “Ten Lost Tribes.” But they are no longer lost. Over the last few decades, some of them have been identified and are now coming home. For centuries, the Ethiopian Jewish community preserved an oral history that they descended from the Tribe of Dan, one of the northern tribes exiled in antiquity. Israel has gone to extraordinary lengths to bring this community home.

Another remarkable story concerns the tribe of Manasseh. Jews living in north-east India began writing to the Israeli government in the 1970s claiming to descend from Manasseh. Rabbis were sent to India to investigate the claim, which proved true. Over the past 15 years, thousands of B’nei Menashe, sons of Manasseh, have come home to Israel. Bridges for Peace is proud to have played a role in helping members of both communities make aliyah (immigrate).

Never to be Exiled Again

We’ve established that the promised regathering of the Jewish people occurs from the four corners of the earth and includes both the tribes from the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. A third argument against limiting the prophetic Scriptures to the return from Babylon is found in Amos 9:15: “‘I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them,’ says the Lord your God.”

History shows that the majority of Jews were uprooted again after they returned from Babylon, and then remained in exile for almost 2,000 years. This makes the return we have witnessed over the past 145 years so remarkable. Keep in mind that we are not only seeing Israel’s regathering but also the restoration of their ancient language and the continuation of their ancient faith.

Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) words in Luke 21:24 support Amos’s prophecy. Jesus spoke of an uprooting that would follow His death and resurrection, but with a clear end date. “They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (emphasis added).

The Spiritual Condition of Modern Israel

Another factor that prevents some believers from recognizing modern Israel as the Israel of the Bible is the fact that many Israelis are secular and not religious. This is a legitimate question. After all, the Israelites were exiled because of their idolatry and unrighteousness.

In Deuteronomy 30:1–2, God promises that He will bring the nation back when they call to mind His laws, return to Him and obey His voice in all that He commands. That seems very conditional. However, in Ezekiel and Zechariah, God does not necessarily maintain this requirement. In Ezekiel 36, God clearly states that He will not bring the Jewish people home for their own sake or because of their righteousness, but for the sake of His holy name. His name has been profaned among the nations where they have been scattered, and He intends to sanctify His name, to demonstrate that He alone is the true God, fully capable of keeping His promises.

“‘I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land’” (Ezek. 36:23–24).

Does this mean righteousness is set aside? By no means. Ezekiel prophesies that when Israel returns to the mountains of Israel, God will sprinkle His people with clean water, cleanse them from all uncleanness, give them a new heart and a new spirit and cause them to walk in His statutes and carefully obey His rules. 

We see this same sequence of return followed by repentance and regeneration in Zechariah. Zechariah 13 clearly teaches that following the regathering and after an attack by many nations, which the Lord repels, the nation of Israel as a whole enters a time of deep mourning and repentance. It is so profound that husband and wife cannot even enter it together. Again, as in Ezekiel 36, God responds with forgiveness, cleansing and holiness.

“In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity” (Zech. 13:1).

May Many Have Eyes to See

We are living in the days of Ezekiel 37, when dry bones are becoming as flesh. I thank God for opening my eyes to what He is doing on the earth, in my generation. Let us testify to those around us, in our families, our churches and our nations, that what we are seeing in Israel today is a demonstration of the power and faithfulness of our God. He is vindicating His holiness by gathering His chosen people back to the Land He promised them 4,000 years ago.