The Return
Ezekiel 34:11, 36:24, and Isaiah 43, as well as many other Scriptures, promise the return of Israel, and we live in the age when it is happening. God said, 'I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries ...' They're coming from the east, the west, the north, and the south. The return is not quite complete yet but events will soon cause it to happen. War tensions just increase the flow.

 

 Israel is like a watershed of decision. It is the tool by which God judges the nations.

"In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat." - Joel 3:1-2

The word Jehoshaphat means 'the Lord judges'. Joel continues

"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." - Joel 3:14


"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." - Isaiah 11:1
Isaiah prophesied some 2700 years ago that Israel would be brought back to their own land. This spectacular event was to be a 'flag waving' event for the nations. In other words, when the nations saw this re-gathering they would know God's clock of history was winding down.

Until the 20th Century, skeptics said it would never happen. Many Bible scholars said it was to be taken symbolically, or that it applied to the Church.. However, when the time was right, God began bringing them back, and doing it just as He said He would.

Israel went into captivity because of their sin. Read Leviticus 27:14-45 and you will see that it was exactly fulfilled.

The final judgment came after as a nation they rejected their Messiah. Regrettably, the first Church, which was largely Jewish, also suffered the judgment. The break came in two parts; 1) the people of Israel were separated from their covenant land and 2) the believers of Israel were separated from their role as leaders in spreading the Gospel and building the Church. Both these breaks will be healed.

In 1948, God began to restore the break with the land.

"Return, faithless people,' declares the Lord, 'for I am your husband. I will choose one of you from every town and two from every clan and bring you to Zion." - Jeremiah 3:14.

They have returned as a 'faithless' nation. Zionism is largely agnostic in philosophy, but that will change. Often times only one or two of a family survived the Holocaust.

"In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance." - Jeremiah 3:18

They went into exile as two nations, Judah and Israel, but they came back as the single nation of Israel just as Jeremiah prophesied. The Hebrew language, which was dead, is now a living language. The 1st break is being restored.

The 2nd break is beginning to be healed also even now, as the Church begins embracing the 'One New Man' that Paul teaches about:

'His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two (Jew and Gentile), thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.' - Ephesians 2:15, 16 -

 Why is there so much hatred toward Israel? They have suffered 7 wars, none of which they started, and 10s of thousands of terrorist attacks since 1948. Now that the 2nd Break is beginning to be healed, the hatred is growing more intense. Most nations vote against Israel in the UN (429 resolutions against since 148).

Satan is behind this hate because he knows his time is getting short. The only way he can prolong his time is to stop Israel from gaining their land, or stop the One New Man from forming.

One of Satan's favorite deceptions is the 'land for peace' theme. Even Israeli leaders have succumbed to it. But God warns against it.

'...I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.' - Joel 3:2

Every nation that has tried to touch Jerusalem has suffered.

'... I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.' - Zechariah 12:3

History proves the truth of this Scripture.

In this valley, nations will have to choose whether or not to submit to God's revealed plans for Israel.

Will they comfort her?

"Comfort, comfort my people says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins." - Isaiah 40:1-2.

Or will they continue to judge her, find her guilty and divide her God-given land among the heathen?

What many fail to understand is that nations choose on the issue of Israel based on their relationship to God - are they for or against Him. That is why His judgment in the valley of decision is based on a nations actions towards Israel.

Soon, Israel will be re-building the Temple. When that happens, the final gathering of the nations to the Valley of Jehoshaphat will begin. Then, the prophesy of Psalm 2 will fully come to pass.