From The Voice of Israel
Volume 1—Number 2 (February 1851)
“So many of the prophecies of the Old Testament do evidently refer to the reduction of the Jews into their own land, as the people of the Messiah, that I can by no means doubt of the certainty of that event.”—Doddridge’s Comment on Romans 11: 12. —Note a.
* * *
We have already directed the attention of our readers to the return of the Jews from Babylon; and endeavoured to exhibit that event in its exact scriptural bearing and magnitude. We have seen that the promise of a restoration at the expiration of seventy years, was not a promise which had respect to the whole nation, but was expressly limited to that portion of the people who were carried captive to Babylon in the reign of Jehoiakim and that of his son Jehoiachin. That such was the case, must appear obvious to every one who gives attention to those passages of scripture adduced in our article on this subject. Moreover, we find that the accomplishment was in accordance with the prediction; for the Jews who returned were not one-hundredth part of the whole Jewish race. * These things considered, it is truly surprising that the return from Babylon should ever have been looked upon as the principal object of the numerous prophecies which relate to the restoration of Judah and Israel, and an event in which they have received their full accomplishment.
We now proceed to take a cursory view of a few of those prophecies to which we here allude. Before, however, entering on the subject, we shall make one observation, which it is of importance to bear in mind in reading the Hebrew prophets. When prophetic promises, &c. are addressed to Judah and Israel, we must understand them as addressed to Judah and Israel, properly so called, and not to the Gentiles. When promises are made to the latter, they are always called by their own name—Gentiles, nations, peoples, or terms of a similar import; and are never, in the language of the prophets (whether in a converted or unconverted state,) confounded with Judah and Israel, or the Jewish people.
* (Judea contained as may be fairly calculated, from 2 Samuel 24: 9, nine millions of souls.)
The first prophetic promise relating to the general restoration of the Jewish people to which we would invite attention, is that which is contained in Deuteronomy 30: 1-5, where Moses, after having in the two preceding chapters described, with wonderful minuteness and precision, the calamities which should befall them in the event of their disobeying the voice of the Lord their God, thus addresses them:
“And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart and with all thy soul: that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee. And the Lord thy God will bring thee unto the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.”
This prophecy of Moses contains all the buds of prophetic truth, regarding the restoration of the Jewish people, which we find fully developed in the writings of the Prophets, and exhibited in detail. We shall, at present, only remark, that the restoration here spoken of, is not partial, but comprehends the whole Jewish race, as is obvious from the 3rd and 4th verses.
The Prophet Isaiah contains many remarkable predictions relating to the national restoration of these people. We read, 11: 11-12,
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea (or islands of the west). And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
Both Judah and Israel, the two tribes and the ten, are here mentioned; and they are gathered from the four corners of the earth, that is, from all parts of the earth. None, surely, will say, that any event like this has ever yet occurred in the history of this people. The same great deliverance is spoken of, 27: 12-13: —
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which are ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.”
This was not done at the return from Babylon; nor is there any event in the subsequent history of the Jewish people to which this prophecy can be referred, as having received its accomplishment. Again, in chapter 49 —
“Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth. . . Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant to the people (i.e. the Jewish people,) to establish the land, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. . . And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north, and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim” (supposed to be China,) Verses 7-9, 11-12.
And when Isaiah prophesies of the Messiah as the deliverer of captive Israel, he says,
“And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations,” chapter 61: 4.
And in verse 18 of the preceding chapter, it is said,
“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting and destruction within thy borders.”
The reverse of this is exactly the state of things in their land, at this present time. It is not safe for any one to go any distance from Jerusalem without arms. Even those who are employed in cultivating the soil are all armed.
Moreover, in chapter 54: 7-10, it is written,
“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”
Verily, there remains a time for the display of this uninterrupted kindness! The Lord has been angry with his people, and his anger is not yet turned away from them. From the days of the Prophet to the present moment, they have experienced little else besides oppression and calamities, which have befallen them as a punishment for their transgressions. But read the language of mercy, verses 11-14:
“O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold,” &c.
In that day they shall say,
“I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord; for though thou hast been angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou hast comforted me.”
Yes, the Holy One of Israel hath said,
“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in JERUSALEM.”—Isaiah 66: 13.
Were we to produce all the passages in Isaiah which relate to the restoration of this people to their own land, we must transcribe the greater part of his prophecies. All the latter chapters especially direct our attention to it. See, particularly, the whole of the 60th chapter, viewed in connection with the two last verses of the preceding one, which is a prophetic picture of this great and glorious event, and of the state of blessedness consequent thereupon.
In Jeremiah, 3: 12-18, we find a prophecy relating chiefly to the restoration of Israel, or the ten tribes. It is there said,
“At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.”—Verse 17.
Nothing like this has ever yet taken place.
“In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.”—Verse 18.
Again, in chapter 16: 14-15, it is written,
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.”
In the public prayers, &c. of the Jews, there is a continual reference to the deliverance out of Egypt, as the greatest event in their national history; but it is here intimated, that that deliverance shall be obscured by one still greater—their restoration, in the latter days, to the land of their fathers. There are persons who possess a remarkable talent for spiritualising, or rather allegorising, the language of the Prophets, who say, that bringing up and leading the seed of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither they have been driven, means converting persons out of all nations to the faith of the gospel; but, as if to refute all such interpretations, it is added,
“And I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers;”—“and they shall dwell in their own land.”
In the 30th chapter of the same Prophet we read,
“Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I will break his (the oppressor’s) yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and not leave thee altogether unpunished.” Verses 2-3, 8-11.
How wonderfully, hitherto, has this part of the prophecy been fulfilled! We look for the ancient conquerors and oppressors of the Jews, but they are not to be found. The Egyptians afflicted them, and detained them in bondage; the Assyrians carried away captive the ten tribes of Israel; the Babylonians afterwards carried away the remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin; the Syro-Macedonians, especially Antiochus Epiphanes, cruelly persecuted them; and the Romans utterly dissolved the Jewish state, and dispersed the people, so that they have never been able to recover again their city and country. But where are now those great and famous empires which, in their turns, subdued and oppressed the people of God? Are they not vanished as a dream, and not only their power, but their very names lost in the earth? The Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians were overthrown, and entirely subjected by the Persians, who were the restorers of the Jews, as well as the destroyers of their enemies; the Syro-Macedonians were swallowed up by the Romans; and the Roman empire, great and powerful as it was, was broken in pieces by the incursions of the northern nations; while the Jews are existing as a distinct people at this day. Faithful is He who hath said,
“Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” Isaiah 41: 11-13.
Seeing such hath been the end of the enemies of the Jewish people let it serve as a warning to all who, at any time, would oppress and persecute them. —See Numbers 14: 9.
We now return to the 30th chapter of Jeremiah, verse 18:
“Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them. And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
And that there may be no mistake as to the season of this mercy, it is added,
“In the latter days ye shall consider it.” Verse 24.
These great and precious promises of the Lord to his people require no comment: no language can be more plain and specific: it forcibly reminds us of the command which the Lord gave to the Prophet:
“Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”—Habakkuk 2: 2.
It is language which sets at defiance all the efforts of spiritualising Christians and spiritualising Jew * to explain it away. The Prophet Jeremiah proceeds in the same strain throughout the 31st chapter, giving assurance of Israel and Judah’s restoration in the latter days. See verses 1, 4, 5, 8, & 10. And, in order to remove all doubts, as to the accomplishment of these promises, the Lord ratifies them in the most solemn manner, verses 35-37.
* * *
* (There are among the Jews of the present day many who spiritualise the prophecies which relate to their restoration to the land of their fathers; who maintain that these prophecies are to be understood as expressive of a spiritual regeneration of the children of Israel, and a reign of universal peace; when they shall live among the nations in peace and unity, have temples every where, and be treated as citizens in every country where they live; when they shall no more sigh for the desolation of Jerusalem, and of the beautiful house where their fathers worshipped, because the whole world shall be their Palestine, every city their Zion, and every synagogue their Temple!)
* * *
Again, in the 33rd chapter verse 7, it is written,
“I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. . . . Thus saith the Lord of Hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds, causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.”
This verse is the key passage of the prophecy. The title “Branch” is not given to the Messiah in any passage that is applicable to his first coming; but in all the passages in which it occurs there are some circumstances to show that it applies to his second coming; as in chapter 23: 5-6, and in this place. In both these passages, it is said, “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely;” which is exactly the opposite of what took place at the first coming of the Messiah; for instead of dwelling safely, Judah and Israel have had no safe dwelling in any country on the globe.
The above is only a small portion of the testimony of these two prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, relating to the restoration of the Jewish people to the land of their fathers; but it is sufficient, if the passages which we have adduced be viewed as they stand related to their respective contexts, to convince impartial readers that, although the goodly plant which the Lord planted in Canaan is cast out and withered as a dead tree, it shall again be planted in the mountains of Israel, and take root, and bud, and blossom, and fill the face of the world with fruit!
(To be continued.)
* * *
