Some reason that modern Israel simply cannot be the people that God promises to bring back to the land because the nation is largely unbelieving. They see its current presence in the Middle East as entirely inconsequential.
Such thinking misses the mark entirely. Israel’s return to its land is an event unparalleled in all history. The idea that the nation’s restoration is utterly unrelated to the biblical predictions regarding Israel’s future seems to strain credulity.
Just like numerous prophetic events, Israel’s return takes place in two distinct phases. Ice explains:
… readers of God’s Word need to be careful to distinguish which verses are being fulfilled in our day and which references await future fulfillment. In short there will be two end-time regatherings: One before the tribulation and one after the tribulation.2
Ezekiel 36 and 37 clearly demonstrate this reality. Both chapters speak of both aspects of Israel’s return and restoration. Utilizing a writing style common in the Hebrew Scriptures, chapter 36 gives us the broad overview, then chapter 37 retells the story, providing additional details for emphasis.
Ezekiel 36:24 promises that God will bring the people of Israel “from among the nations … out of all countries.” The Jewish people’s return from the Babylonian/Medo-Persian captivity that commenced under King Cyrus of Persia in 539 BC (Ezra 1:1–4) does not fully encompass this prophecy. Something far greater will happen as the world approaches the end times.
In Ezekiel 36:25–38, we see that the people of Israel will be spiritually transformed once they come back “into [their] own land” (v. 24). The land itself also will be physically transformed and will one day “become like the garden of Eden” (v. 35).
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