THE FUTURE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL - PART 5 - SCRIPTURES IN ISAIAH
This is a continuing study on the restoration of Israel from both Major and Minor Prophets. Every Restoration passage is being covered, and I hope none has been missed. The series began with the book of Isaiah, and this is PART 5 of Isaiah. Israel will be restored at the start of the Millennium in spite of a lot of misunderstanding on that.
{{Isaiah 43:5-7 DO NOT FEAR for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the EAST and gather you from the WEST. Isa 43:6 I will say to the NORTH, ‘Give them up!’ and to the SOUTH, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, Isa 43:7 everyone who is called by My name and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”}}
This lovely passage is one of gentleness. “Do not fear,” the Lord assures His precious ones whom He is calling from all corners of the earth. This has never happened even in the remotest way. Check back to Isaiah 11:11-12 for the same event. The intimate family relationship is there in verse 6 with His own sons and daughters. The Lord is gathering the whole family together from the entire world. What a legacy stretching from Abraham! The bible never wastes words so when it uses three synonyms in verse 7, “created, formed, made” then it means to emphasise that fact very strongly. These ones created in the image of God were created the children of Abraham, but recreated through faith during the Tribulation, to enter the land as restored children of Messiah’s Kingdom. Over and over these restoration passages show the tenderness and compassion the Lord (Messiah) has for His own earthly people. Please do not spiritualise away these promises for Israel by saying they are for the Church. They are not.
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{{Isaiah 44:1-6 But now listen, O Jacob, My servant and Israel whom I have chosen: Isa 44:2 Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you, “Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, and you Jeshurun whom I have chosen, Isa 44:3 for I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON YOUR OFFSPRING and My blessing on your descendants Isa 44:4 and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.” Isa 44:5 This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s,’ and that one will call on the name of Jacob and another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the LORD,’ and will name Israel’s name with honour.” Isa 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, THE LORD OF HOSTS: “I am the First and I am the Last, and there is no God besides Me,”}}
This remarkable passage, like so many, waits in the wings for its blessed fulfilment. The key to these verses is verse 3, for without the Spirit’s regeneration and sealing, there is no work of God. This verse speaks of water being poured out on dry, thirsty ground, “water” being a symbol of the Holy Spirit. In the Tribulation the land of Israel will be not only dry and devastated, but His own people struggle through that horrific time. When the moment is right, God will heal the land in Millennial restoration, and the people with the “gift” of the Holy Spirit. That then will enliven the redeemed. Leading up to all this is verse 2, a parallel to the passage examined before this one. Jeshurun means uprightness and a term of affection for Israel, the “upright nation”. It is used 4 times in the Old Testament.
Verses 4-5. Development and productivity is the key here. Just as the land in the Millennial Kingdom will sprout forth, so too shall its people, standing tall for their Lord. It is joy that promotes the witness in verse 5. The people are honoured; the land is honoured, but above all, it the Lord of the land and of the people, who will be honoured throughout the earth. We can only read verses like this with expectant appreciation, but when all falls in place, what a time of joy it is for Israel.
Verse 6. This powerful verse sets God apart and has shades of Revelation chapter 1, where God is heightened by His glorious names. It is so packed with superb promises for the Jewish saints in God’s flock of the future, but the words are applicable to all the redeemed of God. What this verse declares is “God is the LORD = Jehovah”; “Messiah is King of Israel = King of the Jews”; “Israel's Redeemer”; “He is the LORD of hosts = YHWH saboath [Jehovah of Hosts] = Commander of the angelic armies of heaven”; “The First and the Last = The Ancient of Days; the Eternal God; Alpha and Omega”; “No God beside Me = In the beginning was the Word”. God is Majestic over all His creation, yet this God loves His earthly people.
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{{Isaiah 45:21-25 Declare and set forth your case. Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Saviour. There is none except Me.
Isa 45:22 Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other. Isa 45:23 I have sworn by Myself - the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. Isa 45:24 They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him and all who were angry at Him shall be put to shame. Isa 45:25 IN THE LORD ALL THE OFFSPRING OF ISRAEL WILL BE JUSTIFIED AND WILL GLORY.”}}
The initial thoughts about this passage is that it is a general plea from God to the world and as such it is not connected with Israel's restoration. However that is not the case, because through Israel blessing has come to the whole world. When this was written by Isaiah, salvation resided in Israel and not in the whole world, and in the Old Testament times such a plea would not have been appropriate in context. Paul argues that case in Romans where Israel's fall means the salvation for the world, realised through the cross, but once Israel turns to Messiah then it will move into its special blessing. From verses 21 to half 24 it is the Lord speaking and in verse 24 (2nd half) and 25 the prophet speaks. It is that last verse that is for Israel.
For most of these verses it is the Lord who is putting His case – He is solely God; God without rival; but He is a righteous God. The gods of the nations, and we know the Greek and Roman gods, they were vengeful and full of corrupt morals and actions. God invites the whole world to turn to Him (repent) and be saved. Every knee will bow to Jesus and every tongue confess. This is New Testament teaching, but is a great example of deity because it is the Jehovah who is speaking (“God” in 22 and “LORD” [Jehovah] in 24) and compare with Philippians 2:10-11. Jesus is Jehovah. Righteousness and strength belong only in God, the fact that the Jews will learn in the Tribulation so that “in the LORD all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will glory.” That is their restoration. That does not mean the Church in any way for the scripture is very clear - IN THE LORD ALL THE OFFSPRING OF ISRAEL WILL BE JUSTIFIED AND WILL GLORY,” and that is NOT the Church, but Israel. The Church is not the offspring of Israel.
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{{Isaiah 49:8-13 Thus says the LORD, “In a favourable time I have answered YOU, and in a day of salvation I have helped YOU. I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, to RESTORE THE LAND, to make them inherit the desolate heritages Isa 49:9 saying to those who are bound, ‘Go forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ Along the roads they will feed, and their pasture will be on all bare heights. Isa 49:10 They will not hunger or thirst. Neither will the scorching heat or sun strike them down for He who has compassion on them will lead them, and will guide them to springs of water. Isa 49:11 “I will make all My mountains a road and My highways will be raised up. Isa 49:12 Behold, these shall come from afar, and lo, these will come from the north and from the west and these from the land of Sinim.” Isa 49:13 Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains for the LORD has comforted His people, and will have compassion on His afflicted,”}}
This is a full restoration passage. It is about the returning Jews. Who is spoken to? It is the “YOU” in verse 13, and in context this is none other than the restored Jews. Their land will be restored. Can you not capture the joy and delight here as the Lord leads home His people after the Tribulation has ended and Jesus reigns in Jerusalem.
Verses 8-9. “In a favourable time,” yes, after the Church has been called home, that is the time of Israel's calling. It does say that God has answered them and that means they have been calling and pleading with God to hear them. That is what the Tribulation will do for Israel. The discipline will turn them back to their Messiah. Verse 8 speaks of a covenant but I will leave that one until the Minor Prophets, but that leads to restoration of the land - the people, then their land, in that order. They will make their way to Israel, some from hiding (darkness), and as they go, God will provide for them.
Verses 10-11. This is an expansion of God’s provision as they homeward go, for the Lord will lead them. God makes the path easy for the mountains/highlands will not be a problem and the road will be made easy. Incidentally, this is one case where “mountain” in prophecy is not “nation, kingdom.” It must always be understood in context.
Verses 12-13. These Tribulation saints will come from all over as the earth and the universe is told to shout in rejoicing and with joy because God will then be comforting His afflicted people. The Lord gathers them all in. They are restored.
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{{Isaiah 49:22-23 Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations and set up My standard to the peoples, and they will bring YOUR sons in their bosom, and YOUR daughters will be carried on their shoulders, Isa 49:23 and kings will be your guardians, and their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet, and you will know that I am the LORD. Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.”
How interesting is this. The YOUR in verse 22 is Israel. The Jews who have been redeemed and are in the nations still, will find great favout from the sheep nations after the Tribulation and will do all possible to get the Jews back to Israel.
Today the nations of the world either hate Israel or are becoming anti-Semitic, but in the restoration of Israel, those nations and people who survive after the Battle of Armageddon, and after the sifting of the sheep and goat nations, these righteous nations will have such compassion on the returning Jewish believers. That is indicated by “bosom” and “shoulders”. The kings (I think “rulers and heads of nations) will provide all that is necessary with the whole leadership lending a hand. Princesses mean the national care from the ones enabled, and by the honoured of the nations. By “bowing down” and “licking the dust of the feet” of these redeemed Jews, it is not humiliation; it is the acknowledgement of God’s great salvation and mercy. Verse 23, at the end of the verse, is from the NASB, and a better thought is, “Those who wait for Me in hope, will not be put to shame.” That applies to Israel at the beginning of the Millennium. However the Church would well be advised also to “wait for the Rapture in hope” so that we will not be ashamed at His coming in the air.”
THAT ENDS PART 5. PART 6 WILL CONTINUE
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
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