On the 45th
Anniversary of the State of Israel
The Fall and Rise of Many in Israel
"Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again
of many in Israel; . . . "—Luke 2:34
When the great historian, Charles Gibbons, wrote his classic Rise and Fall
of the Roman Empire he could have written similarly about many great
dynasties. Kingdoms and empires do rise and fall. That is how the world runs.
But only of Israel could one write of its fall and rise.
On May 14, 1993 Israel will celebrate the 45th anniversary of its rebirth.
Over 2500 years elapsed between the collapse of the monarchy of Judah when
Babylonian conquerors blinded their last king, Zedekiah, and carried him away
captive. More than 1900 years passed by since Jesus of Nazareth wept over
Jerusalem with the words Your house is left unto you desolate (Matt. 23:38).
And a parenthesis of 1813 years set apart the final collapse of Jerusalem in
the days of Bar Kokhba from the re-establishment of the state of Israel in
1948.
The intervening time has not been pretty either. Scorned as
Christ-killers, confined to squalid ghettos, passed as pariahs from nation to
nation, they became the scapegoats of history. But, united by their religion
and bound by their culture, survive they did—maintaining a national identity
even in the farthest flung hideouts of their Diaspora.
From the beginning of the nineteenth century their fortunes began to
improve, only to collapse once more in a new wave of pogroms in Eastern
Europe in the latter part of that century and, finally, into the abyss of the
Nazi holocaust some fifty years ago. Still they survived and, like the fabled
Phoenix, they arose from the pyre to assume an equal standing among the
nations of the earth.
Politically they suffer the same swings, caught in the eternal tug of war
between left wing and right. Economically, high military budgets constantly
threaten the populace with rising inflation. Religiously, they run the gamut
from atheistic to rigid orthodox believers. Militarily they have proved to be
impressive fighters, defending their small bit of territory against
overwhelming odds. Socially, they have amazed the world with their ability to
absorb new citizenry by the tens and hundreds of thousands, greeting each
wave with housing, education and employment. Viewed on the whole, they are a
typical twentieth-century state. Despite such an average ranking, the eyes of
the whole world are riveted on Israel.
Forty-five years old . . . and counting. Hostile neighboring nations fuel
the animosities of Palestinians within, creating a climate of constant
tension. The threat of violence is omnipresent. Through the United Nations,
the world community of nations puts on constant pressure for Israel to
compromise its position with their Arab neighbors. Peace factions within toy
with the concept of land for peace, but such experiments in the past have
proven illusory. What is it all leading to? Can Israel survive?
People
of the Book
It is not the oddity of a nation rising from the dust bins of the past
that make Israel the remarkable identity that it is. Far more, it is the fact
that this rising again was predicted even before the nation fell millennia
ago. Prophecies of the Bible not only foresaw the collapse of God’s chosen
people, but their resurrection as a nation some twenty centuries later.
Space will only permit a sampling of the Scriptures which predicted the
downfall of Israel: "But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the
nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no
man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land
desolate."—Zechariah 7:14
"Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first
the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon hath broken his bones."—Jeremiah 50:17
Even the reasons for their downfall were noted: "Son of man, prophesy
against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to
the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds
feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill
them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not
strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye
bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was
driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and
with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no
shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were
scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high
hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none
did search or seek after them."—Ezekiel 34:2-6
The prophecies foretold how the various nations would do the dispersing.
"I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the
valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for
my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my
land."—Joel 3:2
"Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns [the
coming world empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome]. And I said
unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These
are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and
Jerusalem."—Zechariah 1:18, 19
The prophets predicted that there would be a small remnant that would not
be scattered. "Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that
shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through
the countries."—Ezekiel 6:8
They further foresaw that the Jewish belief in God would provide a haven,
a sanctuary, even among the nations of their dispersion. "Therefore say,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen,
and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them
as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come."—Ezekiel
11:16
Finally. the same prophets show that this dispersion, this scattering,
would be temporary. "Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people,
and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I
will give you the land of Israel."—Ezekiel 11:17
"Hear the word of the LORD, O
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 doth his
flock."—Jeremiah 31:10
"For I am with thee, saith the LORD,
to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have
scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct
thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether
unpunished."—Jeremiah 30:11
The Reason for the
Dispersion
This last text shows that the dispersion of Israel was a chastisement from
the Lord to correct thee in measure. We must turn to the New Testament for
further specifics concerning why Israel was cast off for a time.
When Jesus of Nazareth presented himself to Israel as their king, riding
upon the traditional white donkey of a king, he was not accepted by his own
people as their Messiah. In sadness he wept over this failure of Israel with
these words:"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and
ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto
you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord."—Matthew 23:37-39
Thus, it was for their failure to recognize the Messiah that Israel was
cast off. But this was to be temporary. Note the words of the Apostle Paul:
"I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. . . . there is a
remnant according to the election of grace. . . . For I would not, brethren,
that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your
own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness
of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is
written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away
ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take
away their sins."—Romans 11:1, 5, 25-27
Paul speaks of both a remnant according to the election of grace and of a
regathering and saving of all Israel. It is with Israel of this final
regathering that Paul says God would make a covenant to take away their sins.
A New Covenant
This is the covenant, replacing their old Law Covenant, which was promised
through the prophet Jeremiah: "But this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my
people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man
his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the
least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."—Jeremiah 31:33,
34
Notice the breadth of this covenant—they shall all know me. This covenant
is not for Israel alone but for all people, the Gentile as well as the Jew.
Yet, it will be, as Paul says in Romans 2:10, "to the Jew first, and
also to the Gentile."
In fact it will be through the Jews that the Gentiles will gain access to
this covenant favor. "Thus saith the LORD
of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold
out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him
that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is
with you."—Zechariah 8:23
And so we see, it is just as Simeon had said, Jesus was set for, first the
fall, but later the rising of many in Israel. Notice that he does not say all
in Israel, but many in Israel, because God’s favor must be accepted on an
individual basis, even though first offered nationally to the Jewish people.
Israel's Future Fall and
Rise
Having looked at the large picture of, first, a fall, and then a rise in
the fortunes of Israel, let us turn to another fulfillment of this prophecy
in the future—in the near future, we believe.
The regathering of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland has been
remarkable. A recent return of 14,200 Jews from Ethiopia in one 24-hour
period well illustrates this, as does the absorption of Jews from Russia by
the tens of thousands. But all who return to not share a common strong faith
in the God of Israel. It can be said, as Paul said in his today, "They
are not all Israel, who are of Israel."
In one of the prophecies of the Jewish return from Diaspora, we find these
words: "And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that
transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they
sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know
that I am the LORD".—Ezekiel 20:38
The reason for this purging is given by the prophet Zephaniah: "In
that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast
transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee
them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of
my holy mountain."—Zephaniah 3:11
The method which God will use to accomplish this purging is spelled out in
greater detail in Ezekiel 38 and 39 than we have space to examine here.
Briefly it describes a coalition of forces against Israel descending from the
north. These forces will initially enjoy great success in their campaign for
we read of the results of this battle in Zechariah 14:2—"For I will
gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken,
and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go
forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from
the city."
But this defeat of Israel will be temporary. In the very next verse we
read:" Then shall the LORD go
forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of
battle."
When God fights for them victory will be sure. And the result will not
only be the rising again of many in Israel, but the strengthening of their
faith as well. "And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the
heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have
laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their
God from that day and forward."—Ezekiel 39:21, 22 (Read on to the end of
the chapter.)
Then, truly, shall Israel rejoice, for they will have realized the
potential for which God has been preparing them for all their past history.
Then all men may rejoice for, through the restoration of Israel, God will
inaugurate his long-promised kingdom of peace, love and happiness upon the
earth.