There is a difference between chance occurrence and faith in God. You can rely on what God has said, but you can’t rely on chance. One way to know God exists is seeing Him keep His promises, and one of the strongest examples of God’s promises being fulfilled has to do with the dispersion and latter-day restoral of Israel (Jeremiah 30).

In past articles in this series, we’ve looked at how God foretold the history of His dealings with Israel. He promised blessings on them if they would obey Him, and cursings if they didn’t. Israel chose to rebel, and all of the cursings happened one by one. Israel was eventually scattered throughout the world. And yet they retained their national identity for thousands of years, and came back together as a nation relatively recently… just as God had said. These events are unique: no other nation has had things like these prophesied, let alone fulfilled. What happened to Israel was extremely unlikely. But with the prophecies, written thousands of years before their fulfillment, we see evidence that God is at work.

Whose command was ever fulfilled unless the Lord decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes – both calamity and blessing? …

– Lamentations 3:37-39

In this article, I want to look at some of the details of recent prophetic fulfillments in relation to Israel, because God is in the details as well.

Returning From The Nations

Because the people of Israel were scattered throughout the world as prophesied, it’s appropriate that their return would also be prophesied as coming from throughout the world, not from just one nation or region. Here are some of those prophecies…

In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.

– Jeremiah 3:16-18

“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused. I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you; and I will not come in wrath. They will walk after Yahweh, who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west. They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses,” says Yahweh.

– Hosea 11:8-11

‘And,’ says the LORD who rules over all, ‘though such a thing may seem to be difficult in the opinion of the small community of those days, will it also appear difficult to me?’ asks the LORD who rules over all. “The LORD who rules over all asserts, ‘I am about to save my people from the lands of the east and the west. And I will bring them to settle within Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness.’

– Zechariah 8:6-8

Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

– Psalm 107:1-3

It will happen in that day that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners ¹ of the earth.

– Isaiah 11:11-12

Don’t be afraid; for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west. I will tell the north, ‘Give them up!’ and tell the south, ‘Don’t hold them back! Bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth.

– Isaiah 43:5-6

This is not a prophecy of something that would happen to a community of Jews living in one country or region. It’s global, and our generation is seeing this fulfilled. Large numbers of Jews have come and are coming to the land of Israel from Russia (the “land of the north”), Europe and the United States to the west, and from countries to the south and east. This is much greater than when the Babylonians and Medes and Persians brought some Jews back to live in their own land as their subjects. It’s the long-foretold end of the Diaspora.

As I mentioned in the introduction to prophecy, notice this is not just a passive prediction of future events, but God telling us what He will actively do (i.e. “I am about to save my people…”, “…he has redeemed… and gathered…”, “…the Lord will set his hand…”, “…I will bring…”, etc.).

The Gentiles Help

Through the centuries, the Jews have longed to return to their homeland. When it happened, it was not because they took the land by force. The Jews came to their own land through the decision of gentiles, and this in spite of much continuing hostility to the idea. Gentiles from various nations (including the United States) are still helping the Jews return and rebuild. The Bible shows this was God’s plan all along, and He is fulfilling it in His own time.

Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my banner to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”

– Isaiah 49:22-23

“Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you: for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor have I had mercy on you. …

– Isaiah 60:10

Eventually these prophecies will be completely fulfilled during the Messianic kingdom, but we have seen the beginnings of their fulfillment.

The Land Restored

One of the results of the curse in Deuteronomy 28 and elsewhere was the land of Israel becoming barren. Zephaniah 2 describes the desolation of the land in detail. This condition continued on until almost the present time. When Samuel Clemens visited, he wrote:

“Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies…. Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and is become a pauper village; the riches of Solomon are no longer there to compel the admiration of visiting Oriental queens; the wonderful temple which was the pride and the glory of Israel, is gone, and the Ottoman crescent is lifted above the spot where, on that most memorable day in the annals of the world, they reared the Holy Cross.”

– The Innocents Abroad (1869)

Robert Murray M’Cheyene traveled to the land of Palestine in 1839 and wrote:

“The land is changed; no more is it the rich land of Philistia. The sand struggles with the grass for mastery. The cities are changed,–where are they? The people are changed: no more the bold Philistines,–no more the children of Simeon,–no more Isaac and his herdsmen,–no more David and his horsemen; … ‘Baldness is come upon Gaza.’ The old city is buried under sand-hills, without a blade of grass, so that it is bald indeed. The herds and flocks are innumerable, fulfilling Zeph. 2.”

– The Memoirs of Robert Murray M’Cheyene

But God promised He would restore the health of the land in the latter days, and we see those promises being fulfilled today. Israel is now one of the top exporters of agricultural products in the world.

“Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the former rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain, as before. The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed.”

– Joel 2:23-26

It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will come forth from the house of Yahweh, and will water the valley of Shittim.

– Joel 3:18

“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills. I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.

– Amos 9:13-15

The Economy restored

Israel’s economy has also been restored. It now has the highest standard of living in the middle-east, and was rated as having the most durable economy in the face of crises. This was also prophesied:

Speak up again with the message of the LORD who rules over all: ‘My cities will once more overflow with prosperity, and once more the LORD will comfort Zion and validate his choice of Jerusalem.'”

– Zechariah 1:17

The Land Too Small

Today, Israel is one of the smallest countries in the middle east – smaller than New Jersey, but with a similar population density, even though much of it is arid. The prophecies of Israel’s return also foretold this. For a time Israel will be too small for its inhabitants.

Yes, your land lies in ruins; it is desolate and devastated. But now you will be too small to hold your residents, and those who devoured you will be far away. Yet the children born during your time of bereavement will say within your hearing, ‘This place is too cramped for us, make room for us so we can live here.’ Then you will think to yourself, ‘Who bore these children for me? I was bereaved and barren, dismissed and divorced. Who raised these children? Look, I was left all alone; where did these children come from?'”

– Isaiah 49:19-21

Though I scatter them among the nations, they will remember in far-off places – they and their children will sprout forth and return. I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to the lands of Gilead and Lebanon, for there will not be enough room for them in their own land.

– Zechariah 10:9-10

Jerusalem’s Wall

In Biblical times, cities had walls to protect them from attack. When the prophecies of the return of the Jews to their homeland were written, we would expect them to mention walls again being erected around their capital city. This was the norm. But today, Jerusalem is an open modern city with no protective walls. This was also prophesied:

And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”

And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. …

– Zechariah 2:1-13

A United Kingdom

During old testament times after king Solomon, Israel was divided into two parts. Ten tribes were known as Israel (or sometimes called Ephraim), and two tribes called Judah (which included Benjamin). The ten tribes were known for abandoning God for idols. But the prophecies of Israel’s return say they would come together as a single nation again, which is true today. Eventually they will all seek God.

Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Jezreel.

– Hosea 1:10-11

For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.

– Hosea 3:4-5

The Lost Ark

There has been much speculation as to the location of the Ark of the Covenant. Some rabbis say it is under the temple mount. But the Bible says in the last days it will not be found, nor with another one be made.

It shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days,” says Yahweh, “they shall say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh!’ neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more.

– Jeremiah 3:16

If the Bible were fiction, I would expect the prophecies to say the Ark would be found to give some hope to Israel. But the Ark has to do with the old covenant, and the old covenant is no longer in effect, having been replaced with the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34, 32:40, Ezekiel 37:26).

Gentile Antagonism

The Bible also says in the last days, when Israel returns to their land, the other nations will be highly antagonistic to them, including the land “to the uttermost north” (i.e. Russia). This is seen in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. Only after the Messiah comes (Jesus Christ) will there be peace.

Other Prophecies

God did not limit His prophecies to Israel. He also mentioned other neighboring nations in the Old Testament, and what would happen to them. Some nations He said He would utterly destroy, and others He said He would restore, and would be present in the last days. I find it interesting that those ancient nations He said He would destroy (such as Babylon) are no longer with us, while those He said would be present in the last days (such as Egypt: Jeremiah 46:26, Ezekiel 29:8-16) are still around today, thousands of years later!

I’ve just skimmed the surface of modern prophecy fulfillment in Israel. The Bible also speaks of Israel becoming a nation in a single day (May 14, 1948), the eastern gate of Jerusalem being shut and no other, Israel’s future monetary unit, and much more. You can read about these prophecies and their detailed fulfillments in the book The Hand of God: Ancient Prophesies- Modern Miracles of Israel, by Bill Heinrich.

This is more than fascinating information: it is very significant for us. The events happening today are the beginnings of the signs of the second coming of Jesus Christ. You can trust God to fulfill what He said would happen. You can be on the side of righteousness by believing in Jesus, whom God has set as judge over the whole world (Acts 17:30-31), or you can reject Him and take the consequences. Speaking for myself, I’d rather trust Him!