“That this restoration of the kingdom again to Israel will involve the ingathering of God’s chosen but scattered nation, the Jew: Their reinstatement in the land of their fathers, when it shall have been reclaimed from “the desolation of many generations,” the building again of Jerusalem to become “the throne of the LORD” and the metropolis of the whole earth.” Article XXII
Conclusion
The words of Paul in Rom. 11:25-27 indicate that the turning away of “ungodliness from Jacob” can only take place after the return of Christ to this earth. The regeneration of Israel will occur because the deliverer shall have “come out of Zion.”
“This is my Blood”
The very fact of its being the New Covenant necessitates its having been first confirmed by the death of the covenant victim before it could practically be applied to Israel. Jesus knew and foretold His rejection and crucifixion at the hands of the Jews. On several occasions He attempted to prepare His disciples for the effect that His death would have on them. Invariably, as the following quotation shows, the significance of His words escaped them: “Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they’ the things which were spoken.” (Luke 18:31-34) The Master knew and understood that He was to be rejected by His own people. However, Jesus also knew that the mode of the death He would suffer would be the precise means arranged “by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23) in which He, as the Lamb of God would take “away the sin of the world” (Jo. 1:29).
In this final meeting with Hies twelve apostles on the night of His betrayal, the Lord instituted the Memorial Supper as a means by which He could be held in constant memorial by His followers. The Lord declared of the wine, “For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:28) That is, His blood would be the means by which the new covenant would be confirmed, and thus, brought into force. We can now clearly see why the eventual conversion of Israel must await the coming of Jesus. The veil still remains “untaken away in the reading of the old testament” (2 Cor. 3:14), as it was in the days of Paul (see v16).
“And they shall mourn for Him”
How, then, will the Messiah remove the veil that all Israel might be saved ? The answer is to be found in Zech. 1 2 :10-14, where the prophet foretells the revelation of Jesus Christ to the ancient people of Israel: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.” One would have thought that the sudden appearance of their long sought for Messiah would have occasioned a great rejoicing in the land; particularly, after He had delivered them from the hand of their enemies. Any nation, writing about their own destiny, would never have depicted the things which Zechariah now places before us. But the prophet’s words constitute the message of God, and truly depict the national mourning which shall encompass the Jews in the land. The reason, of course, to the student of the Bible is transparent. They are overwhelmed with remorse, when suddenly, after twenty centuries of blindness and stubborn refusal to accept Jesus as their Lord, they come face to face with reality. The impact of this discovery will be heightened when they understand that their very own prophets had warned them of their stiff-necked attitude, and had actually foretold the very change which they would then experience. Truly, as John declared, “Behold, he cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindred’s of the earth shall wail because of him.” (Rev. 1:7)
“I will be their God . . . “
It will be then, when Israel shall have been prostrated before Him in humble remorse, that God will make His new covenant with them, by which He will cleanse them from their sins. Ezekiel speaks of the spiritual revival of this people when God shall cause breath to enter into them. The entire 37th chapter of his prophetic book is devoted to the reconciliation of ancient Israel to God and should be read to adequately grasp the complete picture. The significance of the vision brought to bear on the prophet is outlined in VV21-24: “And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.” David is a name that means “beloved,” and here, refers rather to David’s greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the “beloved Son of God.”
It will be at that time that God will make with the whole house of Israel a covenant of peace under which the nation will prosper and grow: “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” (VV26-28)
Constituted as such in the land, under the protecting hand of Jesus, their Messiah, Israel will be the first dominion of the Kingdom of God (Micah 4:6-8). The blessings which the Lord will bring upon His ancient people will make it obvious to all that “He which scattered Israel” has now gathered them and shall “keep him, as a shepherd doth His flock” (Jer. 31:10).
“Jerusalem . The Throne of the Lord”
It will be in the vicinity of Jerusalem that the initial overthrow of Israel’s enemies will take place. The nations will have gathered together against God’s people, intent on the anihilation of Israel. Zechariah vividly portrays the vain and futile efforts of those who “know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsels: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor” (Mic. 4:12). “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half the city shall go into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle” (Zech. 14:2-3).
The result of this divine judgment poured out upon the enemies of Israel will be the establishment of God’s Kingdom, and the exaltation of His holy Name in all the earth: “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one LORD, and his name one” (V9). This eventual state of things will take place after “the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee” (V5). In an earlier vision, the prophet foretells the return of Jesus Christ (the Father in glorious manifestation) and His subsequent dwelling in the city of Jerusalem: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy fountain” (8:3).
The ancient city, with its colorful though violent history will then render honor and obeisance to the Prince it once denied and crucified. A “city of truth” indeed, by virtue of the presence of Him who is “the way, the truth and the life.” Since the law is to go forth “out of Zion,” and “the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:3), it is quite fitting that the city itself shall be called the “throne of the LORD”: “At that time shall they call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart” (Jer. 3:17).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One