Today Israel often has a bad press - but what is the truth; what does God say?
Firstly, as the Creator of the whole universe, he declares:
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Ps 241 (see also Joel 32 + Jer 274,5)
If Almighty God chose to give a small part of his land (about the size of Wales) to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but not to Ishmael.
The Lord appeared to Abraham and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." Gen 127
This promise was repeated in Gen 15 when one night he took Abram outside and said to him:
“Look up at the heavens and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” Gen 155-7
And he repeated this, giving specific boundaries.
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates. Gen 1518
About a year later Almighty God confirmed this covenant with Abraham:
“I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ...
I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
Gen 171,2,7,8
God cannot annul his covenant with Abraham and his descendants; it is eternal.
"Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done," declares the Lord. Jer 3137
I ask then: did God reject his people? By no means ...
Again I ask: did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! ...
For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Rom 111, 11, 29
It is true that Israel fell and rebelled against God. It is sadly true that the current Israeli people and leadership are far from perfect. The same could be said of us. But God's purpose in this section of Romans (9-11) is to warn about Gentile arrogance and to reveal his desire to have mercy on all, including the Jews, who remain his chosen people.
Let us examine some history and refute the many false claims
In 135 AD Rome renamed Judea as Palestine, which was Roman for Philistine. This took place after the Jewish Bar Kochba rebellion, when Rome enslaved and expelled many Jews and wanted to give maximum insult to the Jews. So the name 'Palestine' (Philistine) was given to an area of land, not to an indigenous people, as only Jews lived there then. Thus it was a very clever ploy by Arafat to adopt the name Palestinians for the Arabs he led to try to give them credibility - in 1964! Up to 1948 the land was inhabited by Jewish Palestinians and Arab Palestinians. After 1948 the Jewish Palestinians called themselves Israelis.
There has never been a Palestinian nation. Only Jews and Arabs
In the days of Jesus all the land of Judea and Samaria belonged to the Jews. Rome killed many of the Jews in the rebellions of AD 70 and 135. The supposedly Christian emperor Constantine began the systematic persecution of the Jews which has continued for almost 2,000 years, especially during the Crusades and recently the Holocaust. At various times nearly all the nations of Europe expelled all Jews, including England. But Jews and Arabs continued to live in Judea under different foreign rulers. The Ottoman Turks controlled Judea from 1517-1917 and continued to call the area Palestine. In 1900 there were more Jews than Arabs living there.
The Turks were defeated in WWI and the British government issued the Balfour Declaration (1917) which made public the intention of giving control of the land back to the Jews. The 1920 San Remo Agreement gave the Mandate for Palestine to the British and the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon to the French. The League of Nations confirmed this in July 1922 in which 80% of the British Mandate was given exclusively to the Arabs and became Transjordan, and the remaining 20% a 'homeland for the Jews' (from which Arabs were not to be excluded). The Arabs, led by Emir Feisal, who attended the League of Nations were in full agreement to this decision.
In 1946 the new United Nations took over from the League of Nations and ‘relocated its many components’. Under the influence of oil, and the growth of Muslim Arab hatred of anything Jewish, the San Remo Agreement was largely discarded. The 20% ‘Homeland for the Jews’ was divided in the 1947 UN proposal. (Within this proposal there is no mention of Palestinians, only ‘Jews’ and ‘Arabs’.) The Jews agreed to the UN proposal, but the Arabs violently disagreed. In the ensuing 1948 War of Independence much of Judea and Samaria was captured and 'occupied' by Jordan; and no one complained or called it 'occupied territory'! The Palestinian Arabs were content to be under the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan.
In 1967 Syria, Egypt and Jordan again attacked Israel, but were defeated. So this time Jordan lost all the area to the west of the Jordan river it had gained in 1948. Under international law if an aggressor (Jordan) attacks and loses territory it then legally belongs to the defender (Israel) if they are victorious. In 1967 the Lord Almighty enabled Israel to defeat the combined attack of Egypt, Syria and Jordan in 6 days. They thus became the rightful legal possessors of Judea and Samaria - all their ancient homeland - it is certainly not ‘occupied land’.
In the last 3000 years Jerusalem has only ever been the capital of Israel. It has changed hands 21 times since the days of Jesus, but was never made the capital of any other nation.
Can you name any Palestinian leaders before Arafat? You can't? That's not surprising, because there were none. Arafat only started calling the Arabs 'Palestinians' in 1964. Before that there was never a Palestinian flag or government. And incidently, Arafat was born and brought up in Egypt.
In Dec 1995 when Arafat was given control of Bethlehem, he proclaimed, "Jesus was a Palestinian, Jesus was a Palestinian". Not so! As usual, Arafat lied. When Jesus was crucified Pilate, the Roman Governor wrote, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." The term 'Palestine' was only introduced 100 years after Jesus was crucified when the Romans wanted to insult the Jewish rebels in 132 AD by calling the land ‘Philistine’!
See Maps for the above Use back arrow to return
Why are the Arabs so filled with hatred?
Why do they work tirelessly to extinguish Israel?
Islam divides the world into two camps, Dar-al-Salaam meaning "House of Peace" where Allah rules and Dar-al-Harb, "House of War" where the people are not in submission to Allah and Islam - especially the Jews (and Christians). From the beginning Muslims have used the sword to gain adherents. First they took all N.Africa and Spain but were defeated in central France in 732. After the Crusades they tried again and were defeated near Vienna in 1683. Thankfully on both occasions God saved Europe and Christianity.
Today the Arabs have oil-power and are making a third attempt to rule the world. Muslims are the protagonists in 30 of the current 38 world conflicts! But most of all they hate Israel as the one 'Infidel' nation that stubbornly remains in the very centre of the Middle East - an insult to Allah. This is the heart of the conflict and their endless hatred. (https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker)
Why is there such needless suffering, death and destruction?
Israeli Arabs have lived peacefully in Israel for over 50 years. They are currently represented by 18 Members (2018) of the 120 seat Knesset (Israel's Parliament). They have enjoyed a higher standard of living than in any other Arab country. After the 1st Gulf War in 1991, a 'peace process' was begun. Arafat, Abbas (his successor), have kept none of the agreements they signed, though Israel has been pressured to make more and more concessions. In 2000 PM Barak even offered Arafat 98% of Gaza, Judea and Samaria, for their own independent state, half Jerusalem for their capital and the Temple Mount above ground level. To Clinton's dismay, Arafat turned it down and almost immediately ignited the pre-planned armed intifada. It became clear to Israel, and even to President Bush, that Arafat had no interest in peace, only Israel's destruction - by any means. He embezzled over £2 billion and obviously cared nothing for his people. His successors have continued the practice but none of the donors seem to object.
Following various raids on illegal Palestinian buildings in 2002, Israel obtained written evidence that Arafat was a liar who financed and encouraged terrorism - using much of the £20 million/month that he was given by the EU and $50million/month by the USA. If the Palestinian Authority had stopped his war at any time there would be peace. If Israel stopped their countermeasures they would die! The Arab goal and that of Abbas and all the other various terrorist factions (Hamas, Hezbullah, Syria, Iran etc) remain unchanged - the total destruction of the Jewish nation.
The current PA endorses the on-going ‘Pay-to-slay’ policy the guarantees the payment for life to the widows or wives of imprisoned terrorists who managed to kill a Jew. (~$230million/year or 8% of the PA budget). Payments are also made to the families of those imprisoned for terrorism. President Biden has suspended the ‘Taylor Force Act’ that subtracts this amount from the allowance paid to PA.
What of the future? Is there any hope of peace?
In one word, No!
Most world leaders continue to support the Palestinians who’s one hope is to destroy Israel! The idea of ‘land for peace’ is futile. When Israel left Gaza in 2005 there was no peace. In the last 18 years Hamas has bombarded the civilian population of southern Israel with over 10,000 rockets and mortars! In Oct 2023 they made a surprise attack on S.Israel. They murdered over a thousand civilians. They raped, tortured, burned babies and took women and children hostages. Israel responded appropriately. This war is not yet resolved. The Hamas objective remains (Feb 2024) the total destruction of Jewish Israel. It is a fight to the death. The rest of the world, led by the UN and the EU, are trying to arrange a lasting cease-fire that would be an effective Hamas victory. Largely unrealised, it is a biblical and spiritual battle; Light .v. darkness.
God's word to Daniel was that war will continue to the end. Dan 926b
The Lord Almighty is the only one who knows what the future holds. Furthermore he instructed Zechariah to warn the nations that at the end they would all band together and attack the Jews in Jerusalem. But when they did so he said, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling ... On that day when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. ... I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it ... Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations. Zech 122,3 142,3
This will be fulfilled at the end of the Tribulation when the Beast and his False Prophet described in Rev 13 attack Jerusalem. See Rev 1911-21
Is there any hope?
Yes !!
Zechariah also saw the day when they (the Jews) will look on me, the one whom they had pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son. ... On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. On that day I will banish idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more, declares the Lord Almighty. Zech 1210 131, 2
God's vital rescue plan for man remains the same in every generation and nation,
for Jew and Gentile - we must repent, believe and trust in "Christ crucified".
There is no other way that God can forgive our sin.
There is no other way for any man to be reconciled with the Holy Sovereign Lord.
Main Scriptures Concerning His 'Land Gift' to Israel [Top]
Almighty God made an unconditional eternal covenant with Abraham and his descendants. It included the gift to them of a small, but special slither of ME real-estate, about the size of Wales. Many today, even in the Church, object to this. But God's repeated covenant remains -- and thus it will be fulfilled; even if evil men, led by Satan, do their best to prevent its fulfilment.
Gen 127
At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram
and said, "To your offspring I will give this land."
Gen 1314-17
The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Lift up your eyes
and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward
and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring
forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone
could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the
length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."
Gen 157
And he said to him, "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans
to give you this land to possess."
Gen 1518
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, "To your offspring I
give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates."
Gen 174,7,8
And God said to him, "Behold, my covenant is with you, ... And I will establish
my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their
generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your
offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the
land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession, and I will be their God."
Gen 262-4
And the Lord appeared to him (Isaac) and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell
in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you
and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and
I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your
offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands.
And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."
Gen 2813-15
And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of
Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give
to you (Jacob) and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the
earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north
and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth
be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will
bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have
promised you."
Gen 3512
God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob,
but Israel shall be your name." So he called his name Israel. And God said to him,
"I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations
shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that
I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your
offspring after you."
Exd 37,8
Then the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in
Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their
sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the
Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land
flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites."
Exd 316,17
Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, 'The Lord, the God
of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me,
saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I
promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the
Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the
Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey."'
Exd 62-8
God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make
myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them
the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have
heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and
I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, I am the
Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will
deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm
and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be
your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that
I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a
possession. I am the Lord."
Exd 201,12
And God spoke all these words, saying, ... "Honour your father and your mother,
so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."
Exd 2331
"I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and
from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who
live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant
with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land or they will cause
you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare
to you."
Lev 1433,34
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, "When you come into the land of
Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in
a house in the land of your possession, then ..."
Lev 201,22-24
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ... "You shall therefore keep all my statutes and
all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not
vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am
driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested
them. But I have said to you, 'You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you
to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.' I am the Lord your God, who has
separated you from the peoples."
Lev 239,10
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them,
When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring
the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the
sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted."
Lev 252
The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel
and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall
keep a Sabbath to the Lord."
Lev 2538
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of
Canaan and to be your God."
Lev 2642,43
"But if they confess their iniquity ... I will remember my covenant with Jacob and
my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the
land. For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it
lies desolate without them."
Num 1422-24
"Not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in
the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times -- not one of them
will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has
treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a
different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he
went to, and his descendants will inherit it."
Num 2712,13
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see
the land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be
gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was."
Num 3351-53
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,
drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved
images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession
of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess."
Deut 1011
"Go," the Lord said to me, "and lead the people on their way, so that they may
enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them."
Deut 3119,20
And the Lord said to Moses, ... "Now therefore write this song and teach it to the
people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me
against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing
with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten
and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and
despise me and break my covenant."
Deut 344
Then the Lord said to Moses, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants. ' I have let you see
it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."
Josh 11-4
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son
of Nun, Moses' assistant, "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go
over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them,
to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I
have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this
Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites
to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory."
Is 1110-12
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples - of him
shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. In that day the
Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains
of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam,
from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a
signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel (in their land -
implied), and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Is 141
For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will
set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach
themselves to the house of Jacob.
Is 276
In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
and fill the whole world with fruit. (fruit from their land - implied)
Is 2712-13
In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out
the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. And in that day
a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and
those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord
on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Is 3218
My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet
resting places. (in their own land - implied)
Is 3317, 20-24
Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches
afar. ... Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see
Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never
be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. But there the Lord in majesty
will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can
go, nor majestic ship can pass. For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver;
the Lord is our king; he will save us. Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the
mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in
abundance will be divided; even the lame will take the prey. And no inhabitant
will say, "I am sick"; the people who dwell there (in Israel) will be forgiven their
iniquity.
Is 4424-28
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the
Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out
the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the
word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of
Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be
built, and I will raise up their ruins'; who says to the deep, 'Be dry; I will dry up
your rivers'; who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my
purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your
foundation shall be laid. '"
Is 5713b
But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy
mountain.
Jer 317,18
At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall
gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more
stubbornly follow their own evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall join
the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to
the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
Jer 1614,15 and Jer 237,8
Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer
be said, 'As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of
Egypt,' but 'As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north
country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' For I will bring
them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.
Jer 245-7
Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good
the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the
Chaldeans. I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this
land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not
pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall
be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole
heart.
Jer 303, 8-11
For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes
of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the
land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it. ...
And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will break
his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no
more make a servant of him. But they shall serve the Lord their God and David
their king, whom I will raise up for them. Then fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the Lord, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far
away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and
have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with you to save
you, declares the Lord.
Jer 317-9
For thus says the Lord: "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for
the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O Lord, save your
people, the remnant of Israel.' Behold, I will bring them from the north country
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and
the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labour, together; a great
company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with pleas
for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a
straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and
Ephraim is my firstborn.
Jer 3116,17
Thus says the Lord: "Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded," declares the Lord. "They will return from the
land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future," declares the Lord. "Your
children will return to their own land.
Jer 3123-28
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Once more they shall use these
words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: "'The
Lord bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!' And Judah and all its
cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their
flocks. For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will
replenish." ... "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will sow
the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of
beast. And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and
break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to
build and to plant," declares the Lord.
Jer 3236-44
Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which
you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine,
and by pestilence': Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I
drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them
back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my
people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they
may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after
them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away
from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they
may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in
this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. For thus says the
Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring
upon them all the good that I promise them. Fields shall be bought in this land
of which you are saying, 'It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into
the hand of the Chaldeans'. Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be
signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about
Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities
of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes,
declares the Lord.
Jer 3312-16
Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and
in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their
flocks. In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the
cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in
the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts
them, says the Lord. "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will
fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those
days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and
he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be
saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be
called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'
Ezek 1116-18
Thus says the Lord God: "Though I removed them far off among the nations, and
though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to
them for a while in the countries where they have gone." Therefore say, "Thus
says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of
the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of
Israel. And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable
things and all its abominations.
Ezek 2824-26
"No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbours who are painful
briers and sharp thorns. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord." This
is what the Sovereign Lord says: "When I gather the people of Israel from the
nations where they have been scattered, I will show myself holy among them in
the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my
servant Jacob. They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant
vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their
neighbours who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their
God."
Ezek 3411-14
For thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will
seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that
have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all
places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries,
and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains
of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed
them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their
grazing land.
Ezek 3624,25
I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring
you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean
from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will
give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.
Ezek 3724-28
My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd.
They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell
in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and
their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David
my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with
them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their
land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel,
when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."
Ezek 388
After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you (Gog) will go
against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered
from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual
waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all
of them.
Ezek 4713,14
This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "These are the boundaries by which you are
to divide the land for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel, with two
portions for Joseph. You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore
with uplifted hand to give it to your forefathers, this land will become your
inheritance."
Joel 32, 16,17, 20,21
I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my
heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have
divided up my land. ...
The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens
and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the
people of Israel. So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in
Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never
again pass through it. ...
But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. I will
avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion.
Amos 911-15
"In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen ...
Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, ...
"I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the
land that I have given them," says the Lord your God.
Zech 210-13
Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among
you," declares the Lord. "Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day
and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord
Almighty has sent me to you. The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy
land and will again choose Jerusalem. Be still before the Lord, all mankind,
because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling."
Zech 81-8
Again the word of the Lord Almighty came to me. This is what the Lord Almighty
says:"I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her." This is what
the Lord says:"I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will
be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called
the Holy Mountain." This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Once again men and
women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with cane in hand
because of his age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing
there." This is what the Lord Almighty says:"It may seem marvellous to the
remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvellous to me?" declares
the Lord Almighty. This is what the Lord Almighty says: "I will save my people
from the countries of the east and the west. I will bring them back to live in
Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them
as their God."
Zech 121-5
This is the word of the Lord concerning Israel. The Lord, who stretches out the
heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man
within him, declares: "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the
surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that
day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make
Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure
themselves. On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with
madness," declares the Lord. "I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah,
but I will blind all the horses of the nations. Then the leaders of Judah will say in
their hearts, 'The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is
their God.'
Zech 142-9, 11, 21b
I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be
captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go
into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the
Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the
Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with
half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my
mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the
earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come,
and all the holy ones with him. On that day there will be no light, no cold or
frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime - a day known to the
Lord. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow
out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in
summer and in winter. The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day
there will be one Lord, and his name the only name. ...
It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure. ...
And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord
Almighty.