Restoration of the Jews

From the time King Jeroboam – the son of Solomon’s servant – established two golden idolatrous calves and a false religious system – the children of Israel mainly were filthy idolatrous people.  Once in awhile a good king would come in and restore things to their proper condition as it pertained to serving God!  Here is an example with good King Hezekiah.  You can read about this in 1 Chronicles 30 and 31; it is chock full of heart-warming detail.  Here are a few examples:

1 Chronicles 30 & 31:
1 ¶  And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.
2  For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.
3  For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.
4 And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.
5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written.
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9 For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.
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13 ¶ And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.  (JUST THINK OF THE REJOICING!)
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19 That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
20 And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

Another example is found in the story of the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s day.  You can read about it in Ezra 10; again, a little of the language to show you the concept.

Ezra 10:
6 ¶ Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.
7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;
8 And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.
9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.
10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.
11 Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.
12 Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do.

The promise to restore his people – his elect Jews, his beloved first fruits who obeyed him – abound in the Scriptures.  Look at this language at Ezekiel 16, where after 59 verses of hard-hitting descriptions of the great evil they had done against their God (by Ezekiel’s day; they were just getting warmed up; today they are a thousand times worse!), look at this promise from a longsuffering and merciful God:

60 ¶ Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:
63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.

The prophets spoke of it often!

Ezekiel 37:
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22  And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23  Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24  And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25  And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26  Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27  My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28  And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Zech. 12:
9 ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

You know who they pierced!  It was the Lord Jesus Christ!

John 19:
33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.)

Gill on John 19:37: they shall look on him whom they pierced; in the Hebrew text it is, "upon me whom they have pierced"; the reason of this difference is, because Christ, who is Jehovah, is there speaking prophetically of himself, here the evangelist cites it as fulfilled in him, that is, that part of it which regards the piercing of him; for that of the Jews looking upon him and mourning is yet to be fulfilled, and will be at the time of their conversion in the latter day, and at the day of judgment. And as the piercing of the Messiah has been literally fulfilled in Jesus, there is reason to believe, though the Jews are to this day hardened against him, that that part of the prophecy which concerns their looking to him, and mourning for him on account of his being pierced by them, will also, in God’s own time, be fulfilled. Nor is it any objection to the application of this prophecy to our Lord Jesus, that not the Jews, but the Roman soldiers pierced him, since what one does by another, he may be said to do himself: though it was a Roman soldier that pierced the side of Christ, the Jews might desire and urge him to do it; and however, they agreed to it, and were well pleased with it

Revelation 1:
4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Again you see that those which pierced him are shown as a separate group from the rest of mankind.

Isaiah 66:
5 ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.
10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. (SEE SONG OF SOLOMON BELOW)
12 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
13  As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
15 ¶ For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

The Gladness and Help of the Gentile Church When the Jerusalem Church is Restored

Isaiah 66 shows us that the Gentile church will be rejoicing when reunited with the restored Jews.  Isaiah 14 suggests that the Gentiles will be servants and handmaids helping their Jewish brethren. 

Song of Solomon 8:8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?  9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.

The Younger Son – The Elect Jews – Is About to Come Home!  We Rejoice!  It’s almost time for the younger brother to come home.  I’m talking about the elect Jews – “a remnant according to the election of grace,” Romans 11:5.

Christ spent three and a half years ministering to the Jews, and told his apostles to go preach “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Matthew 10:6.
The Jews were stiff necked and hard hearted.  They refused to hear Christ and the apostles, denied salvation to all, and killed the Lord Jesus, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.  Because of unbelief, the original branch was cut off.  But, if they “abide not still in unbelief,” God is able to graff them in again, Romans 11:20-23.

The Lord Jesus spoke in parables, so the disobedient do not understand his words, Matthew 13:10-13.  But God’s people find great light and comfort in these parables.
You can read the parable of the younger son in Luke 15.  “A certain man had two sons.”  That man is God. 

The younger son took his inheritance, journeyed to a far country, and wasted his substance on riotous living.  Then a famine arose in the land and he joined himself to a citizen of the far country, who sent him to his fields to feed swine.  This young man would have filled his belly with the husks given to the swine, but “no man gave unto him,” Luke 15:16.  At God’s hand, the disobedient Jews have become a hissing and reproach among the nations, Jeremiah 29:18.
Then the young son “came to himself,” and went home to his Father, repenting, saying, “I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son,” Luke 15:21.

His father was full of compassion and said:  “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet,” Luke 15:22.
The prophet Zechariah told of Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan accusing him for his sins, clothed with filthy garments.  The Lord said, “Take away the filthy garments from him, [and] I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment,” Zechariah 3:4-5. 
This robing in righteousness is the event described by the Apostle Paul: “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 11:26-27.
After the young son was clothed in his father’s garments, great rejoicing followed.  Because, the father said, “this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found,” Luke 15:24.    What will the receiving again of the elect obedient Jews be, “but life from the dead?” Romans 11:15.

The rejoicing of the church of God – represented by the older brother in this parable -- was described by the prophet Isaiah:  “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: … all ye that mourn for her: [t]hat ye may … be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream,” Isaiah 66:10-12.
“Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase,” Jeremiah 2:3.  The progeny of Abraham were the line of humans to Jesus Christ, the Redeemer come to earth to be obedient to death to save his people.  
The Jews are contentious naughty figs, poisonous and deadly, Jeremiah 24:2.  They manifest the worst of reprobate mankind.  It is hard to imagine one righteous Jew today.  But the Lord knoweth them that are his, 2 Timothy 2:19.  He will soon call, sanctify, seal, authenticate and deliver his elect Jews, in great mercy and kindness.  The church – the elder brother – is standing by to rejoice.  Isaiah 14?