Return of the Nation of Israel

The restored nation of Israel was established May 14, 1948 following the horrors of World War II.1, 2 As noted above, multiple OT and NT verses prophesied that Israel would be expulsed from the Holy Land due to their disloyalty to the one true God. Moses was taught a song directly by God about this expulsion, which he was told to teach to the people as well before they ever took possession of the promised land (See Deuteronomy 31 and 32).

19 “Now, write down this song. Teach it to the people of Israel, so that it will stand as evidence against them. 20 I will take them into this rich and fertile land, as I promised their ancestors. There they will have all the food they want, and they will live comfortably. But they will turn away and worship other gods. They will reject me and break my covenant, 21 and many terrible disasters will come on them. But this song will still be sung, and it will stand as evidence against them. Even now, before I take them into the land that I promised to give them, I know what they are thinking.” 22 That same day Moses wrote down the song and taught it to the people of Israel.  (Deuteronomy 31)

Of note, an interesting “prophecy” from Hosea seems to indicate that God would leave Israel on their own for nearly two days specifically for their turning to gods their fathers never knew (just as mentioned in the song of Moses). In Hosea, it states that God would return to Israel at the end of the 2nd day, and would bind up their wounds (See Hosea 6:2). Earlier in Hosea (Hosea 3:4), the prophet indicated that the Hebrew children would go for a long span of time without the presence of God or His leadership:

“For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.”  (Hosea 3:4 – New King James)

Eventually, God would come and live in their presence on the third day. Irenaeus has been given a series of dreams which led him to relate the song of Moses and the 3 days prophecy from Hosea. As Scripture reports that one thousand years is like a day with the Lord (II Peter 3:8), one might speculate that two days of separation could equate to the equivalent of 2000 years on earth. Interestingly, our Lord Jesus Christ has currently been absent from the earth in physical form for nearly 2000 years (i.e., His death is thought to have likely occurred in 32 AD or thereabouts by plus or minus a year or two). The nation of Israel reappeared only 75 years ago, seemingly at the last hour of the “second day.” Could this be the binding of their wounds?  If so, the prophetic statement of Hosea would suggest that the Lord will return on a third day to live in their presence. Moreover, with this interpretation, the 3rd day, could also be seen as the millennial reign of Christ on earth. If it did occur shortly, then in terms of this “days of the Lord” interpretation, it would also be the 7th Day of God’s documented biblical history. More specifically, the Bible records that there were 2000 years from the Garden of Eden until Noah’s flood and then 2000 years from the flood until the appearance of Jesus. Following Jesus’ resurrection, there has now been a third set of 2000 years, with a cumulative total of 6000 years or 6 days of the Lord (with the 6th day likely ending shortly). In terms of numerology, this pattern would cap off a week of Days of the Lord, with the Millennial Kingdom corresponding to the final Day of Rest or Sabbath (for both the scientist and the theologian, we will eventually add commentary to discuss the age of the earth. For this current section, we are working with the biblical account of theological epochs in spiritual history only.)

The physical return of Israel makes it possible for the events of End Times prophecy to indeed occur in a literal manner. To mention just a few highlights, a third temple is predicted to be built (Revelation 11:1-2; II Thessalonians 2:3-4; Isaiah 2:2; Zechariah 12:1-14). According to the book of Revelation, this temple is allowed by the “man of perdition” or anti-Christ, who establishes an agreement with the Jews only later to set himself up as their “god” to be worshipped in their holy place. Daniel, from the book of the same name from the OT, mentions that this antichrist discontinues Temple sacrifice half-way through the 7-year period of this tribulation (Daniel 9:24-27; 11:31). Daniel also reported that there would be an abomination of desolation to occur in this temple, which has already been foreshadowed by the actions of one, Antiochus Epiphanes, a former Greek king of the Seleucid empire. Antiochus desecrated the Jewish temple in 167 BC (long before the birth of Jesus) by entering the Holy of Holies and slaughtered a pig on the altar. He also had his men erect a status of himself portrayed as Zeus and declared himself to be god (“Epiphanes”).3, 4 Jesus noted that this Abomination of Desolation would be a sign of His impending return, and a warning to the Jews to flee the Holy city to the mountains (Matthew 24:15-16). It was clear that He was speaking of a future event not the historical incident involving Antiochus. This event requires the Temple to be rebuilt in order to be fulfilled.

Many End Times prophecies pertain to the Israelites, as God is dealing with His chosen people during the final tribulation, using this evil time to prepare them to accept Him at His second coming (even though they may at first accept the anti-Christ as their potential Messiah/at minimum they establish a peace covenant with him – See Daniel 9:27). These prophecies would not make sense without Israel restored to the Holy Land (which led to the many 19th and early 20th century works suggesting that the prophecies were all non-literal metaphors).5-7 One hundred and forty-four thousand young Jewish men will be raised up to teach the world about Christ (Revelation 14:1-7), and two witnesses will appear to challenge the anti-Christ (Revelation 11:3-4). They will ultimately be killed and lay in the streets of Israel for 3 ½ days before being resurrected (Revelation 11:7-12).  

References:

  1. Affairs MoF. The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel [online]. Accessed April 20, 2024.
  2. Frilling T, Troen SL. Proclaiming independence: Five days in May from Ben-Gurion’s diary. Israel Studies 1998;3:170-194.
  3. Desau Louis M. Hannah and her seven sons: An incident of the persecution of the Jews by the Syrian Monarch Antiochus Epiphanes, 167 B.C. London, UK: Forgotten Books, 2018.
  4. Barry P. Antiochus IV, Epiphanes. Journal of Biblical Literature 1910;29:126-138.
  5. Bultmann RK. The New Testament and mythology and other basic writings: Augsburg Fortress Press, 1984.
  6. Bultmann RK. Neues testament und mythologie1941.
  7. Dorrien G. The making of American liberal theology: Idealism, realism, and modernity, 1900-1950. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2003.