There are many within the Christadelphian brotherhood who believe there will be a period of suffering for Israel before our Lord Jesus returns. So what form will this suffering take? This article is written to show from Biblical prophecies that there will be probably be a second captivity of the Jews of Jerusalem before the return of Jesus. The first captivity (from Jerusalem) was when Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took most of Jerusalem’s population into captivity in 596 BC.
We cannot regard the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD as a captivity, as the Jews were not taken captive then. They were scattered, homeless, into all countries throughout the world for 2,000 years, but they were not in captivity.
The prophecies of a second Jewish captivity are found in Zechariah 14, Luke 21 (Jesus’ own words), Ezekiel 39, Psalm 79 and Isaiah 11. So let us consider the passages in each of these prophecies.
Zechariah 14:2
“I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” (Bold mine)
There is no question from these words that Jerusalem will be defeated: (“The city shall be taken”). There is also no question that a great number of Jews will be taken into exile: (“Half of the city shall go into exile”)
In 2011, the population of Jerusalem was 801,000. Of these, 497,000 (62%) were Jews. Does Zechariah mean that half of the Jewish population will go into exile (about 248,000) or does he mean that the half of the population who are not “cut off” from the city will be non-Jews? If so, there would be 497,000 (or more) Jews going into exile as a result of Jerusalem’s defeat.
Either way, a huge number of Jews will be taken into exile — 248,000 at the very least. Taking this number of prisoners of war would be a major exercise, watched by the world in amazement. Nearly a quarter of a million Jews being taken into exile is a far larger number than anything we have seen since the Second World War.
Where will they be exiled? As we will see later in this article, they will be exiled into various surrounding Middle Eastern Islamic countries.
But what about the next verses in Zechariah 14, prophesying that the Mount of Olives will be split in two by a major earthquake when the Lord’s feet stand upon it? This major event will be part of a major victory by God against His enemies. But as we have seen, Zech 14:2 describes a major defeat for Jerusalem and its people. It is suggested that there is a gap in time between the defeat in verse 2 and
the earthquake in verse 4. This, too, is confirmed in other Scriptural prophecies as we shall see.
The earthquake that will destroy the Mount of Olives (and incidentally, Jerusalem) will occur after Jesus’ return, not at the time of the defeat of Jerusalem. There is good reason for thinking that this earthquake is the same earthquake that is used to destroy Gog — after Jesus returns.
“And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezek 38:18-23, see also Ezek 39:1-6; Rev 16:17-21)
Luke 21:20-24
Jesus spoke of this same defeat of Jerusalem and captivity of its people:
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 20:20-24). (Bold Mine)
The first thing to note about these words of Jesus is that he is not referring to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Jews were not “led captive” as a result of Rome’s attack on Jerusalem in 70 AD and subsequent years. They were scattered amongst the nations of the world for the next 2,000 years. Few Jews were taken captive by Rome.
In fact, Jesus refers to the Jewish captivity being amongst all nations. Rome was a single entity. Psa 79:1 confirms this:
“O God, the nations 1 have come into your inheritance. They have defiled Your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in ruins” (Psa 79:1)
As we know, Ezekiel 38 and 39 contain considerable detail about the attack against Israel by Gog. These chapters thus have a future context, and Ezekiel 39 twice mentions the future captivity of the Jews.
“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 hands of their adversaries” (Ezek 39:23).
“They shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations.” (Ezek 39:28). (Bold mine)
It is important to note that, as with Zechariah 14, Luke 21 and Psalm 79, the captivity of Israel involves multiple nations.
God speaks of their iniquity and treachery. Today, only 63% of Jews believe in God. 37% are either not sure or don’t believe that God exists. Thus, almost 4 out of every 10 Jews either don’t believe in God, or are not sure that He exists. For a nation of people who are God’s chosen people, this rejection of Him is astounding. Add to that rejection the notion of giving away part of God’s land to the Palestinians, thus breaking the covenant between them and God, and we see why God accuses them of iniquity and treachery.
So we see at the time of Gog’s attack against Israel, there will be many Jews in captivity, having been taken into captivity some years earlier when Jerusalem was defeated by the attacking nations. If the Gogian attack takes place after Jesus returns (as the writer believes) we have a scenario which is as follows:
- There will be a huge number of Jews in captivity in surrounding Arab/Islamic nations when Jesus returns.
- Gog attacks Israel, thus pitting himself against Jesus. This raises the prospect that the Gogian battle against Jesus may be the same battle described in Rev 19:19-21 when the beast attacks Jesus and is destroyed by Jesus. Thus, Gog could be the beast.
- Gog and his hordes are devastatingly and totally destroyed by Jesus: “You [Gog] shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to the birds of prey and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God” (Ezek 39:4-5)
(Compare these words with Revelation 19:17-18 concerning the battle of the beast against Jesus).
Ezekiel gives graphic detail on how Gog and his army will be destroyed. There will be a massive earthquake and natural elements will be unleashed against him:
“On that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, My wrath shall be roused. For in My jealousy and in My blazing wrath I declare: On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the men that are on the face of the earth, shall quake at My presence, and the mountains shall
be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. . . I will enter into judgement with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rain and hailstones and fire and sulphur” (Ezek 38:18-22).
Revelation also describes this scene of total destruction of Gog. We are told that:
“ And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great” (Rev 16:17-21).
- There will be a great earthquake, greater than has ever been.
- Jerusalem will be split into three parts.
- The cities of the nations will fall.
- Islands will be flooded and covered, and mountains destroyed.
- A massive hailstorm will occur, with hailstones about 100 pounds each (45 kg) falling from heaven on people.
This will surely be the time that the Lord’s feet will stand upon the Mt. of Olives, which will be split in two from east to west by this massive earthquake.
Ezekiel states that God will bring them (the captive Jews) back from their enemies’ lands, where He sent them into exile among the nations:
“Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God because I sent them into exile among the nations and then gathered them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore” (Ezek 39:28)
This brings us to Isaiah 11 which tells us that Jesus will regather these captive Jews from the nations where they have been in exile, and bring them home to Israel.
Isaiah 11
Isaiah 11 prophesies of Jesus once he has returned to the earth. Verse 1 speaks of him as “a shoot from the stump of Jesse”, and verses 2 to 5 are descriptions of Jesus in his glorified form in which “righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his loins.”
We learn from verse 10 that he will be “a signal for the peoples — of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.”
It is verse 18 that tells us of his regathering of the captive Jews (the banished of Israel and the dispersed of Judah — verse 12) from the nations in which they have been in exile. Those nations are named:
- Assyria (Turkey, Syria and Iraq)
- Egypt (Egypt)
- Pathros (Upper Egypt)
- Cush (Sudan or Ethiopia)
- Elam (Iran)
- Shinar (Iraq – Babylonia)
- Hamath (Upper Syria)
- Coastlands of the sea (Gaza)
All of these nations are today either governed by Islamic rule, or have large Islamic populations (e.g. Egypt).
Thus, the hundreds of thousands of Jews to be taken captive into these Islamic nations will be regathered by Jesus — the second regathering (Isa 11:11). The first regathering took place after the Second World War, and Israel was declared a nation in 1948. In that future day of regathering, the Jews, having returned to God and in recognition of Jesus as their Messiah and King, will proclaim:
“Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation” (Isa 12:2).
Conclusion
The thoughts in this article are not those we normally associate with latter day prophecy. However, we cannot ignore the frequent references to a latter day captivity of a huge number of Jews from Jerusalem. It is suggested that this will be the catalyst that brings Israel to its knees and brings them back to God.
The work of Elijah at this time in “turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers” (Mal 4:6) will also be focussed on turning the Jews back to God and His ways, as well as preparing them for the coming of their Messiah.
For us, we should not be dismayed at the defeat of Jerusalem before Jesus returns, or the Jewish captivity presented in prophecy. These are just some of the many major prophetic events leading up to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We must be prepared.
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