The Tearing Apart, Scattering, and Regathering of Israel
So, what do the prophets have to say about the scattering of Israel into the nations? The Lord spoke through the prophet Nehemiah, saying, “Remember, I beseech you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations.” (Nehemiah 1:8)
The Lord said, “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)
When Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) toured the Holy Land in 1867, he described it as desolate and dismal. Here is a quote from his book, “Innocents Abroad:” “Of all the lands that there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine (Holy Land) must be the prince. The hills are barren, dull of color, and picturesque in shape. The valleys are unsightly deserts fringed with a feeble vegetation that has an expression about it of being “sorrowful and despondent.” It is a hopeless, dreary, heart-broken land.” – Mark Twain 1867
The land was without her husbandman!
“The vine dried up, and the fig tree languished; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, were withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.” (Joel 1:12)
In the early 1990s my wife and I had an opportunity to visit and travel around Israel for a month. We witnessed a land quite the opposite of Mark Twain’s description. The hills were dotted with trees. The valleys abound with lush, green crops of vegetables and fruit. Orchards without number of oranges, grapefruits, avocados, and the like flourished. Thousands of date trees, loaded with sweet fruit, and I could go on. The land was desolate and barren for two thousand years while its occupiers reigned over it. Now, it abounds with life because her rightful inhabitants have returned to the land to nourish her.
This is the natural part that comes before the spiritual. That which is first is not spiritual, but that which is natural then that which is spiritual. (1 Corinthians 15:46)
“For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so, the Lord G-D will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” (Isaiah 61:11)
“Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people. Yes, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do great things.
Be not afraid, you beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree bears her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he has given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
The floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, which has dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.” (Joel 2)
The Lord warned Israel before they went into the promised land, by the mouth of Moses, saying, “It shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so, the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to naught; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go to possess it. The Lord shall scatter you among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known, even wood and stone.
Among these nations, you shall not find any ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest, but the Lord shall give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear day and night and shall have none assurance of your life.
In the morning, you shall say, Would to God it were evening! and at evening you shall say, Would to God it were morning! for the fear of your heart wherewith you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.” (Deuteronomy 28:63-67)
Without doubt, what is happening today is the fulfillment of the word which God spoke to Moses in Deuteronomy chapter twenty-eight. However, because of deaf ears and blinded eyes, people today do not understand that God has set all of this in motion according to what is written. I believe this is the time of visitation for the Gentile nations. Unlike any other time in history, the world as a whole has risen up in hatred against the nation of Israel and its people, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah.
“In that day “I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people:” all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” (Zechariah 12:3)
If this prophecy is not being fulfilled today, then we must reckon ourselves to have the mind of reprobates, denying that there is no God and that his word is not true!
Because of their continued disobedience, according to Deuteronomy, the judgment and dispersion of Israel into the nations of the earth began with the tearing apart of the nation. This began in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE when the Assyrian empire under Tiglath-Pileser 111 and Shalmaneser V oversaw the initial conquest of the northern tribes of Israel. After the fall of the Kingdom of Israel, thousands of Israelites were disposed of and forcibly relocated by the Assyrians. In New Testament, they were referred to as the Samaritans.
Yet, the southern tribes, Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, remained loyal to the house of David and were later taken into Babylonian captivity in 587 BCE. According to the Jewish calendar, the first temple was destroyed on the 9th day of the month of Tisha B’Av by the Babylonians. The Romans also destroyed the second temple on the same day and month as the first.
More Jews today are acknowledging the scriptures concerning their scattering into the nations as the fulfillment of prophecy. At this time an urgent call is being made to those in the Diaspora to quickly make Aliyah to the ancestral homeland because of the rise in antisemitism.
The Jews continue to celebrate feasts relating to the exodus out of Egypt. They are obligated to continue observing them until another appointed time which we are quickly approaching. That is the day that the prophet Jeremiah wrote about when he said:
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but, The Lord lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries where I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.” (Jeremiah 23:5-8)
How can we know that we are in the final days of man’s governmental and religious rule in the earth? According to the scriptures this will not occur until the “fullness of the Gentiles is complete." You will never hear this preached from behind the pulpit.
So, what do the prophets have to say about the scattering of Israel into the nations? The Lord spoke through the prophet Nehemiah, saying, “Remember, I beseech you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations.” (Nehemiah 1:8)
The Lord said, “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)
When Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) toured the Holy Land in 1867, he described it as desolate and dismal. Here is a quote from his book, “Innocents Abroad:” “Of all the lands that there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine (Holy Land) must be the prince. The hills are barren, dull of color, and picturesque in shape. The valleys are unsightly deserts fringed with a feeble vegetation that has an expression about it of being “sorrowful and despondent.” It is a hopeless, dreary, heart-broken land.” – Mark Twain 1867
The land was without her husbandman!
“The vine dried up, and the fig tree languished; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, were withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.” (Joel 1:12)
In the early 1990s my wife and I had an opportunity to visit and travel around Israel for a month. We witnessed a land quite the opposite of Mark Twain’s description. The hills were dotted with trees. The valleys abound with lush, green crops of vegetables and fruit. Orchards without number of oranges, grapefruits, avocados, and the like flourished. Thousands of date trees, loaded with sweet fruit, and I could go on. The land was desolate and barren for two thousand years while its occupiers reigned over it. Now, it abounds with life because her rightful inhabitants have returned to the land to nourish her.
This is the natural part that comes before the spiritual. That which is first is not spiritual, but that which is natural then that which is spiritual. (1 Corinthians 15:46)
“For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so, the Lord G-D will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” (Isaiah 61:11)
“Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people. Yes, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do great things.
Be not afraid, you beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree bears her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he has given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
The floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, which has dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.” (Joel 2)
The Lord warned Israel before they went into the promised land, by the mouth of Moses, saying, “It shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so, the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to naught; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go to possess it. The Lord shall scatter you among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known, even wood and stone.
Among these nations, you shall not find any ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest, but the Lord shall give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear day and night and shall have none assurance of your life.
In the morning, you shall say, Would to God it were evening! and at evening you shall say, Would to God it were morning! for the fear of your heart wherewith you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.” (Deuteronomy 28:63-67)
Without doubt, what is happening today is the fulfillment of the word which God spoke to Moses in Deuteronomy chapter twenty-eight. However, because of deaf ears and blinded eyes, people today do not understand that God has set all of this in motion according to what is written. I believe this is the time of visitation for the Gentile nations. Unlike any other time in history, the world as a whole has risen up in hatred against the nation of Israel and its people, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah.
“In that day “I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people:” all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” (Zechariah 12:3)
If this prophecy is not being fulfilled today, then we must reckon ourselves to have the mind of reprobates, denying that there is no God and that his word is not true!
Because of their continued disobedience, according to Deuteronomy, the judgment and dispersion of Israel into the nations of the earth began with the tearing apart of the nation. This began in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE when the Assyrian empire under Tiglath-Pileser 111 and Shalmaneser V oversaw the initial conquest of the northern tribes of Israel. After the fall of the Kingdom of Israel, thousands of Israelites were disposed of and forcibly relocated by the Assyrians. In New Testament, they were referred to as the Samaritans.
Yet, the southern tribes, Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, remained loyal to the house of David and were later taken into Babylonian captivity in 587 BCE. According to the Jewish calendar, the first temple was destroyed on the 9th day of the month of Tisha B’Av by the Babylonians. The Romans also destroyed the second temple on the same day and month as the first.
More Jews today are acknowledging the scriptures concerning their scattering into the nations as the fulfillment of prophecy. At this time an urgent call is being made to those in the Diaspora to quickly make Aliyah to the ancestral homeland because of the rise in antisemitism.
The Jews continue to celebrate feasts relating to the exodus out of Egypt. They are obligated to continue observing them until another appointed time which we are quickly approaching. That is the day that the prophet Jeremiah wrote about when he said:
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but, The Lord lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries where I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.” (Jeremiah 23:5-8)
How can we know that we are in the final days of man’s governmental and religious rule in the earth? According to the scriptures this will not occur until the “fullness of the Gentiles is complete." You will never hear this preached from behind the pulpit.