The certainty of the Lord fulfilling His oft-repeated promise to restore the fortunes of Israel displays His holy character as a covenant-keeping God. As such, it assures us of our “blessed hope” in Jesus’ appearing (Titus 2:11-13).
You might think I am at least a bit out of my mind for making such statements. How could I possibly say that Israel’s future restoration vindicates God’s holiness? Does that not seem rather extreme for even an avid premillennialist as myself? And how could it possibly have anything to do with our future deliverance as New Testament saints?
I begin the defense of my sanity with what the Lord Himself said in Ezekiel 36:22-24:
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.”
Ezekiel tells us that God’s future outpouring of blessings on the Jewish people has nothing to do with their goodness. In His own words, the Lord says that He will act “for the sake of my holy name” and to “vindicate the holiness of my great name.”In other words, the Lord’s keeping of His promise to restore a kingdom to Israel in the future vindicates His holiness. I rest my case.
There’s much more at stake here than just the future restoration of a kingdom for Israel. The keeping of His covenants with and promises to Israel sets God apart from all other objects of worship. It first proves His ability to keep His word and second, it demonstrates His unshakeable determination to do so. It’s all about defending the honor of His name.
For us, it signifies that when Jesus promises eternal life to His followers such as in John 10:27-30, we can know with absolute certainty that He will keep His word to us. He is, after all, one with the Father and as such, we can count on His promises because He places the burden upon Himself to fulfill them, not us.
Because so many in the church today deny a future restoration of Israel, let’s look more in depth at what this passage and Zechariah 12-14 tell us about the future of Israel.
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