When Japan’s surrender finally ended World War 2 on September 2nd, 1945, another crisis was already staring the world in the face:
Stabilization.
For six years humanity had bombed, burned, and bled their existence on Earth. From water pipelines to government officials, entire nations had to be lifted from rubble and rebuilt. In that process, some national boundaries were redrawn and others were newly created. A part of this global reshuffling was the founding of the modern nation of Israel in 1948. The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine facilitated this national independence that against immense odds still endures today.
This modern story is said by some to have been foretold thousands of years ago. They believe that in ancient books of the Bible, Israel’s ancestors prophesied their 1948 declaration of independence. The passages most frequently appealed to as such prophesies are the following Old Testament excerpts. Other passages exist, but these suffice as characteristic examples:
Ezekiel 37:21-22
This is what the sovereign LORD says: “Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms.”
Ezekiel 34:13
I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.
Amos 9:14-15
I will bring back my people, Israel; they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble and settle down. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; they will grow orchards and eat the fruit they produce. I will plant them on their land and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them, says the LORD your God.
Jeremiah 31:10
Hear what the LORD has to say, O nations. Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea. Say, “The one who scattered Israel will regather them. He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.”
These passages and others that refer to a scattering and regathering of Israel are from books of the Bible written by prophets preaching before and during Israel’s exile in the 6th century BC. This is an important observation.
As part of God’s plan for that time, the kingdom of Israel was conquered and deported by Babylon. Later, the Israelites returned to their homeland under the protection of Persian King Cyrus. The Old Testament book of Ezra is the record of this feat.
It seems to me the above passages are promises from God to return his people to their homeland, and those promises were fulfilled with the proclamation of King Cyrus of Persia (see Ezra chapter 1).
To the best of my knowledge, no prophecies of another scattering and regathering of Israel occur in any Old Testament book written after the Babylonian exile. This is further evidence that the prophecies about Israel returning to their homeland were fulfilled circa 538 BC as recorded in the book of Ezra.
So while it is possible that the Bible could contain prophecies of Israel’s 1948 declaration of independence, the Old Testament passages normally appealed to as such prophecies were almost certainly already fulfilled 2,500 years before modern Israel was born.
Below is a chart that places the Old Testament writing prophets in their respective times. The chart shows how prophets like Ezekiel who prophesied about a regathering wrote during the Israelite exile in Babylon. The chart also shows the prophets like Haggai who do not prophesy about a future regathering wrote after the exile.
(click on the thumbnail to expand the image)
What do you think? Use the comment box below to let me know.
Copyright © 2008
Sun, Sep 7, 2008
Miscellany