“Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them ; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. For mine eyes are upon all their ways ; they are not hid from my force, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes” (Jer. 16:16-17).
May 14th marked the tenth anniversary of Israel’s independence. It was just ten years ago that the modern state of Israel came into existence, when Britain withdrew her mandate of Palestine. There was great celebration in the city of Jerusalem, dancing in the streets, as the ,Jews commemorated their miraculous existence. In spite of the protests of her Arab neighbours, Israel displayed her military might in a parade that took her dangerously close to the borders. The whole procedure passed without incident, and affairs soon settled down to normal.
What does Israel’s occupancy of the land of Palestine indicate to the people of God ? Has this latter day birth of a nation been foretold in the Scriptures? If so, what is the significance of Israel in the land again after nearly 2000 years, during which Palestine has been under Gentile dominion? Can this be the fulfilment of those Scriptures that speak of the gathering of Israel by the hand of God in the last days?
Amos declared, “And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them ; they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof : they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them” (9 :14). Similarly, the Prophet Jeremiah proclaimed, “Hear the word of the Lord, 0 ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, he that ,scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd don his flock” (31 :10) .
It can truly be said that Israel is indeed reclaiming the waste places of the earth ; that she is planting vineyards and enjoying the fruit thereof, and that a great portion of them have found settlement in the land covenanted to their fathers.
Does it not appear, then, that we are today witnessing the fulfilment of these divine prophecies, and others of a similar vein? On the surface, this view may seem reasonable. However, upon a closer look at these Scriptures, it becomes at once apparent that Israel’s present status could hardly have been what the eternal Spirit intended when speaking these words. For instance, in the chapter referred to above in Amos, the prophet goes on to state in the next verse. “And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God” (v. 15). Jeremiah, likewise, continues his proclamation, “For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he” (v. 11).
God certainly has not redeemed Jacob, nor ransomed Israel from the hands of their enemies. Their appearance in the land of Palestine has been the direct result of the terrible persecution, suffered in other parts of the world. In the words of Paul, Israel’s salvation is bound up in the appearance of their redeemer, who will come out of Zion and turn away their ungodliness (Rom. 11:26).
Only after the personal appearance of their Messiah will the Jews be truly established in their land; only when their immortal king reigns over them and in their midst, in the sight of all nations will it accurately be said that God has performed the good thing which He has promised to the House of Israel.
If this be true, what is the meaning of the Jews in Palestine? First of all, it might be said that they are there because it has been divinely decreed that they would be. Jesus made mention of this latter day sign in Luke 21 :24, indicating that his followers would be able to discern his near advent. By observing Israel in the land, Bible students were to understand that Christ’s return was near, not present. This pre-adventure occupancy of the land by the Jews was to be in total unbelief. They have not returned, in the most part, because of any great love for God, or a recognition of Jesus as their Messiah. They have returned because of the extreme racial persecution they have suffered amongst the nations where the hand of God has led them. There has hardly been a nation in the history of man that has undergone such terrible and atrocious affliction as has the people of Israel. Over six million of them perished in World War II in Germany alone, while countless others were destroyed in other nations. This extreme punishment inflicted upon them caused them to seek the refuge that Palestine alone seemed able to give them. It was. here, finally, that God’s people could find rest for the soles of their feet.
United in a common fear for their very existence, Israel has become one of the most powerful nations for its size in the world today. In the two verses in the 16:11, chapter of Jeremiah quoted at the beginning of this article, the prophet depicts Israel as being the victims of hunters and fisherman, who would search them out of the hills and holes of the rocks, inflicting death and punishment upon them. In the next verse (16:18), Jeremiah continues, “And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double ; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things !” The prophet further relates that this was to take place in the time when the Gentiles were to come to God from the ends of the earth, saying, “Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity and things wherein, there is no profit.”
Israel’s presence in Palestine today serves to stimulate the minds of all Bible students, as they recognise the absolute necessity of her being there before the return of the Lord from heaven. The Jew’s position in Israel eventually will place her in the predicament described in Ezekiel 38, where they are described as having been “brought back from the sword,” and having been “gathered out of many people” and established in the “mountains of Israel” (Ezek. 38:8).
This situation will serve as a temptation to the King of the North (Russia), who, in the evil intents and thoughts of his mind, will ascend like a storm to take away a prey and a spoil (v. 11-12) Although Israel is said in verse 8 to be dwelling in safety, the term is a relative one, and may very well depict a false period of peace, that some feel must precede the invasion of the Gogian host. Israel, in this chapter and in the companion one of Daniel 11, is depicted as overcome of her enemies, but finally restored in true peace and safety by her Messiah.
Extreme care must be exercised in attempting to correlate many of the beautiful prophecies that have to do with Israel’s future glory and presence in the land of promise, with her position today. Those Scriptures dealing with this era of time are rather to be contrasted with the Jews’ position today in which they live in complete ignorance of the plan of God, and totally oblivious to Jesus Christ.
In our next issue, God willing, we shall continue our observation of the Jews, both today and in the coming age.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One