Out Of Exile: The Covenantal Cycle
Out Of Exile: The Covenantal Cycle
“In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.” - David Ben Gurion, 1st Prime Minister of Israel
On May 14th, 1948 the world witnessed the rebirth of a nation. In the wake of the greatest tragedy to ever befall the Jewish people, the state of Israel re-emerged onto the world stage. The nations watched in awe as they thwarted the onslaught of their Arab neighbors in order to reestablish themselves in their ancient homeland. After almost two millennia in exile, Jacob was home.
Never before had a nation disappeared into the pages of history only to re-emerge with their ethnic identity intact. But this wasn't just any nation. It was Immanuel's land. And such a miraculous rebirth surely had significant implications. But what could they be? And could Israel's contemporary return unveil a mystery tucked away within the Hebrew oracles?
Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth all at once?
- Isaiah 66:8
Coming Up Short
After witnessing the incredible rebirth of the state of Israel, many believers immediately concluded it was the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. And looking to Scripture, it's clear why. The prophets had all foretold of a day when the Jewish people would be regathered out of the nations and restored to their homeland. The events of 1948 seemed to fit perfectly. This had to be that.1
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities… I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted…
- Amos 9:14-15
But the same prophets had also foretold that Israel's regathering would usher in a golden age of peace, prosperity, and spiritual restoration. God would cleanse the nation of its iniquity in one day, destroying all of their idols and putting His Spirit within every Jewish person. They would all know the Lord. And they would live in perpetual safety, with no enemies left to threaten them.2
For behold, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease, and no one will make him afraid.
- Jeremiah 30:10
But today, less than one percent of the nation’s Jewish population are Christ followers. And nearly eighteen percent of citizens are Muslim. There are over four hundred mosques in Israel, seventy-three of which are located in Jerusalem. And since their return, Israel has fought eight major wars, all while living under the constant threat of attack from their regional neighbors.
I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land… and I will put my Spirit within you…
- Ezekiel 36:24-27
Needless to say, the contemporary state of Israel simply doesn't match the descriptions listed in these prophecies. While the Jewish people were regathered to their homeland, they're still in unbelief, and certainly not living in peace or safety. So while it may be tempting to connect the events of 1948 with these prophecies, it's clear that their fulfillment awaits a future day.
Behold, it is coming and it will be done, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken.
- Ezekiel 39:8
A Day Of Small Things
But this wasn't Israel's first regathering that had fallen short of the promises. The Jewish nation had experienced this once before, following a comparatively short exile of seventy years (607 B.C. - 537 B.C.). Returning from Babylon, they were hoping to witness the advent of the aforementioned golden age, having held on to the promises of restoration throughout the duration of their exile.3
For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.’
- Jeremiah 29:10
But when the Jewish people returned, it was anything but the triumphant homecoming the prophets had foretold. The nation was still mired in apostasy. Jerusalem was still threatened by the surrounding countries. And only a small number of Jewish exiles had even returned, far from the complete regathering that had been promised.4
The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.
- Nehemiah 1:3
Zechariah had called it a day of small things. That is to say, a down payment on a promise that would ultimately have to wait for a future fulfillment. But it was a reminder that God had not forgotten. Israel had been regathered, after all. And through God's providence, the Jewish people were even able to rebuild the Temple. So while it wasn't the golden age they had anticipated, it was a fresh start for the Jewish nation.5
Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.
- Zechariah 4:10
A Blast From The Past
In the same way, Israel's contemporary return is another day of small things. But in order for us to understand its implications, we must first recognize that Israel's national trajectory is predicated on covenant. Not only does their unique agreement with God frame the nation's past, it also explains their present condition. But perhaps most importantly, it determines their future.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine.
- Exodus 19:5
According to the terms of the covenant, the Jewish people were allowed to live in the land so long as they obeyed God's Law. Failure to obey would result in consequences, referred to as the 'curses' of the covenant. These curses include military harassment from the surrounding nations, destruction of Israel’s sanctuaries (i.e. the Temple), and ultimately, expulsion from the land.6
But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you…
- Deuteronomy 28:15
Before Moses' death, God revealed that Israel would go on to break the covenant, bringing the full thrust of curses upon them. Jerusalem would be invaded, the Temple would be destroyed, and the Jewish people would be exiled amongst the nations, where they'd be hunted like fugitives. And in the interim, God would temporarily hide His face from the elect nation.7
And the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other… among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but the Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul.
- Deuteronomy 28:64-65
While this might initially seem to have found its fulfillment in the Babylonian invasion and subsequent deportation, there's something unique about the destination of this exile. All nations. And there's only one exile in Israel’s history that can answer to it: Their global dispersion between 70 A.D. - 1948. But did the prophets know about this second, even lengthier exile?
As it turns out, they did.
For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar… afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God… and they shall come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.
- Hosea 3:4-5
Part 2
“Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies.” - Mark Twain 1867
The Desolations Of Many Generations
Forty years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem was invaded by hordes of Roman legions. The city was destroyed, and the Temple was once again burned to the ground. The cycle of covenant curses had overtaken Israel now for the second time. But due to the nature of their offense (the rejection and crucifixion of their promised Savior), this exile would be more severe.
Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
- Matthew 23:38-39
Throughout the prophets, we can find subtle references to this exile that would span a significant portion of human history. Isaiah, for example, sees an exile that would last many generations, after which the Jewish people would return to their long forsaken homeland, which had since become an utter desolation. Hosea, too, seems acutely aware of this generations-long exile, while Micah leaves us an especially intriguing clue as to its cause.8
With a rod they will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek… therefore He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the rest of His brethren shall return to the people of Israel.
- Micah 5:1-3
An exile of this length (and magnitude) simply cannot be reconciled with seventy years of Babylonian captivity. Something far greater in scope and time is clearly in view. Desolations of many generations can fit only within Israel's nearly nineteen hundred year exile (70 A.D. - 1948). During His public ministry, Jesus would carry these prophecies forward, confirming the coming exile the prophets had foretold.9
For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.
- Luke 19:43-44
This nearly two millennia exile also fits perfectly within the “untils” of Scripture. That is, the oracles of the Hebrew prophets that deftly foretell both advents of Messiah in the same passage. Veiled in mystery until the time appointed, these passages subtly reference a twice coming Messiah who, after being rejected by His own people, gives them up to an age-long exile until the time of their national repentance, at which point they'll all be brought home.10
I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their distress they will earnestly seek Me.
- Hosea 5:15
But these prophecies all have one thing in common: They place the conclusion of Israel's global exile at the return of Jesus. Even Isaiah's prophecy of a land “born in one day” finds its fulfillment when the Lord appears in flaming fire. So herein lies the mystery: If Israel's global exile ended in 1948, how do we reconcile the passages that seem to indicate this regathering should have coincided with the arrival of the Messianic Kingdom (i.e. the golden age)?
Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins; They will raise up the former devastations; They will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations… They will possess a double portion, and everlasting joy will be theirs.
- Isaiah 61:4,7
Back To The Future
Students of prophecy are well aware the last days revolve around an invasion of Jerusalem and the destruction of a rebuilt Jewish Temple. Called the abomination of desolation, the destruction of the Temple is the premier sign of the end of the age. It's the catalytic event that ignites the final and greatest tribulation, which will see a global conflict centered around the state of Israel and the Jewish people.11
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses plundered…
- Zechariah 14:2
This conflict, sometimes referred to as Jacob's Trouble, is not just for Jacob though. All nations are involved. And in the same way a man hell bent on the annihilation of the Jewish people sparked a second World War, so also will this final travail pull every nation of the globe into its orbit. God's covenantal judgements on Israel always affect the nations, and this age-ending conflict is no different, being framed squarely by God's covenant with Israel.
When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey His voice.
- Deuteronomy 4:30
And it's at the conclusion of this Great Tribulation that Jesus will split the sky like a scroll, riding through the clouds to rescue His people. This is the moment when the Jewish nation will recognize their Messiah, repenting of their sin and receiving everlasting righteousness. With the Law now written on their hearts, their covenantal dilemma will finally be resolved, allowing Israel to inherit the land in an eternal way and welcome the arrival of the long awaited Messianic Kingdom.12
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on Me, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him…
- Zechariah 12:10
Of course, it should go without saying that all of these events (the invasion of Jerusalem, destruction of the Temple etc.) presuppose Jewish presence in the land. Said another way, the reestablishment of the state of Israel has always been a prerequisite for prophetic events to even be possible. But so far, we’ve yet to uncover a single passage that directly references the Jewish repatriation of the land in 1948.
So what gives?
Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.
- Amos 3:7
Every Gog Has His Day
In light of Israel's emerging pattern of exile and return, Ezekiel 38 presents a striking reality. While the focus of Ezekiel's prophecy is the last days invasion of Israel by an antagonist called Gog (the antichrist), he does leave a couple of (intentionally?) well placed clues that indirectly reveal the status of the Jewish nation. And here's the kicker: They've only recently been regathered - out of many nations - to their long forsaken homeland, which had been lying desolate for generations.13
Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him… in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations…
- Ezekiel 38:2,8
Gog is also said to conduct his invasion in the latter years, a Hebrew phrase that is used consistently throughout the Old Testament to refer to the period just prior to the arrival of Messiah to establish His Kingdom. The passage gives a bird’s eye view of Gog's initial invasion and looks forward all the way to his eventual defeat at the end of the Great Tribulation. And it’s set against the backdrop of the state of Israel we see today.
To seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.
- Ezekiel 38:12
There is simply no other time in history that can meet the criteria listed in Ezekiel's prophecy. While the context of the latter days automatically excludes any time from history past, the description of Israel’s regathering places the entry point of this prophecy no sooner than the back end of Israel's contemporary return. To use a track analogy, the return of Israel to the world stage can be viewed as the final turn leading into the home stretch.14
And you will come up against My people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.
- Ezekiel 38:16
This means that when you see terrorist groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah launching attacks against Israel, you are actually witnessing the curses of the covenant in real time. And while there are certain conditions in Ezekiel's prophecy that aren’t yet in place (such as Israel living securely with no security barriers), the reality is that the Israel we see in the land today is the same Israel that will be invaded by the antichrist at the onset of the tribulation.
Thus says the Lord God: Are you (Gog) he of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for many years that I would bring you against them?
- Ezekiel 38:17
Such an obvious signpost should not be quickly dismissed by the Body of Christ. After all, God does nothing without first revealing it to the very prophets who recorded these ancient oracles. Which means the contemporary return of Israel, mentioned only once throughout the entirety of Scripture, was specifically intended to alert believers of where they stand within the Biblical narrative.
Remember the former things of old; For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’
- Isaiah 46:9-10
Epilogue: A Practical Aspect
During the Holocaust, Christians living in Eastern Europe were faced with a difficult choice. Stand aloof while Jewish victims were deported to concentration camps - or - put their own lives on the line (as well as their families) in order to harbor fleeing Jews. And while many Christians did indeed take a heroic stance alongside the Jewish people, regrettably, there were many more who chose the former.
But this is a people plundered and looted; All of them trapped in holes or hidden in prisons; They have become a prey with none to rescue, spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!” Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen for the time to come?
- Isaiah 42:22-23
But there's a deeper meaning behind all of this. Jesus identifies with His Jewish brethren. Because of covenant. He’s bound up His trustworthiness in His ability to get that people into that land permanently. Which is why this story ends with a Jewish Messiah judging nations for their attempt to subvert His promises and destroy the Jewish people. “Now what have you against Me?”
At that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to My inheritance, My people Israel, because they scattered them among the nations and divided up My land…
- Joel 3:1-2
In His famed sermon on the end times, Jesus imports Joel's prophecy to show that not just nations - but individuals - will be held accountable for their response to the Jewish plight. In fact, it will be the litmus test that separates the sheep from the goats during the final judgement. This is because the heart posture you have towards His Jewish brethren, Jesus says, is a reflection of the heart posture you have towards Him.15
I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me.
- Matthew 25:42-43
So as the present age hastens toward its appointed end, it's not unlikely that we could soon find ourselves in the same scenario as the Christians in Europe during World War 2. Except what's coming will far outweigh the scope and magnitude of those days. So as the finish line begins to come into view, each of us must answer the same question within our own heart: If you knew another Holocaust was coming, what would your response be when it arrived?
Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.
- Matthew 25:40
Deuteronomy 30:4-5; Amos 9:14-15; Isaiah 11:12, 66:8; Jeremiah 16:14-15, 30:10, 31:37-39; Ezekiel 11:17-20, 37:21-23; Nahum 2:2; Joel 2:25-26; Zechariah 10:6-10
Isaiah 66:8-16; Jeremiah 30:10, 33:14-22, 46:27-28, 50:20; Ezekiel 36:24-27; Zephaniah 3:19-20; Zechariah 3:9, 13:2
Jeremiah 25:11, 29:10; Daniel 9:1-2
Nehemiah 1:1-3, 4:8, 7:6-66; Ezra 2:1-64, 4:1-24, 9:1-4
Zechariah 4:10; Haggai 2:18; Ezra 5:1-2, 6:15
Exodus 19:5-8, 24:3-8; Leviticus 26:31-33; Deuteronomy 28:15, 36, 41-52
Deuteronomy 28:63-66, 31:14-20, 32:15-24
Isaiah 58:12, 61:4; Amos 9:14; Hosea 3:4-5, 5:15, 8:8; Micah 5:1-3; Ezekiel 36:10
Matthew 23:38, 24:1-2; Luke 19:41-44
Hosea 5:15-6:2; Micah 5:1-4; Psalm 110:1; Matthew 23:39; Acts 3:20-21; Romans 11:25-26; 1st Corinthians 2:8
Daniel 8:11, 9:27, 11:31, 12:1,11; Zechariah 13:8-9, 14:1-2; Matthew 24:15-21; Revelation 7:9-14, 11:1-2, 12:6-17
Deuteronomy 4:30, 30:1-5, 33:2,26-29; Hosea 6:1-2; Isaiah 34:4, 59:20-21, 61:6-9; Jeremiah 31:33-34; Zechariah 12:7-10; Romans 11:26-27
Ezekiel 38:1-23
Genesis 49:1; Deuteronomy 4:30; Isaiah 2:2; Hosea 3:5; Micah 4:1; Jeremiah 23:20; Daniel 10:14
Joel 3:1-4; Matthew 25:31-46