The Second Coming of Christ & the regathering of Israel

by Mikkel S. Kragh

Part 1:

Why aren't the prophecies about Israel returning to the Promised Land fulfilled in the Jewish State of Israel?

It is evident from Bible prophecy that the people of Israel would one day return to the land of Israel. Most Christians today believe that the Jewish State of Israel founded in 1948 was that prophecy come true. Here we shall see that this is not the case.

That raises two questions:

1) If the State of Israel is not the fulfilment of the prophecies of the people of Israel's return to the land of Israel, what is it then? Where does it fit into Bible prophecy?

2) When will the people of Israel actually be regathered to the land of Israel?

Is the Jewish State of Israel the fulfilment of prophecy?

If the Jewish State of Israel is the fulfilment of God's prophecy of the people of Israel returning to the land of Israel, it would fulfill the central prophecies:

1) Israel will return to the land of Israel AFTER they return to God

When God promised the land to Israel, it was a CONDITIONAL promise. If Israel followed God, God would give them the land of Israel. If Israel stopped following God, God would take the land of Israel away from them.

Above: The Lost 10 Tribes of Israel go through the Dariel Pass in the Caucasus Mountains on the border between Georgia and Russia. It was formerly also known as the “Pass of Israel”.

God did just that in 721 BC when He let the Assyrian Empire invade and conquer the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Assyrians deported the 10 tribes of Israel out of the land of Israel, and they became known as the “Lost 10 Tribes of Israel”. Again in 604 BC, God let the Babylonian Empire invade the southern Kingdom of Judah, and the Babylonians deported a large part of the people of Judah to Babylon. The Old Testament is very clear about the reason for God doing this. The reason was that Israel and Judah continually worshiped pagan gods instead of worshiping the God of Israel.

After Judah returned to the land of Judaea, the Jews (the people of Judah) were the only part of the 12 tribes of Israel which remained in a covenant relationship with God. But as a people the Jews rejected Christ, and were therefore no longer in a covenant relationship with God, Whom they had rejected. Therefore God let the Roman Empire defeat the Jewish Rebellion in AD 66-73. And following the Bar Kokhba Revolt in AD 132-136, the Romans prohibited Jews in Judaea from following the Torah and Jews from staying in Jerusalem.

God would only give the land of Israel back to the people of Israel – both the Lost 10 Tribes and the Jews – when they would return to Him. Moses was very specific about this. In Deutoronomy Moses said that in the distant future, after God had removed Israel far away from the Promised Land, He would bring them back AFTER they had returned to Him:

“And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.” (Deu 30:1-5)

The most important part in returning to God is, of course, to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Now ask yourself: Did the Jews all turn to Christ prior to 1948? No. In fact the Zionist movement, which founded the State of Israel, was mainly led by secular and Socialist Jews.

Today the ultra-Orthodox Jews, the Haredim, make up 8% of Jews in the State of Israel. They are generally anti-Zionist and many even refuse to recognise the State of Israel, because they correctly believe the Hebrew Bible's words that God will only make Israel a nation in the land of Israel AFTER they have returned to Him.

It is a paradox that ultra-Orthodox Jews, who do not believe in Jesus, have a better understanding of the Old Testament than the many Christians who erroneously believe that the Jewish State of Israel is the fulfillment of the prophecies of Israel returning to the land.

Above: Isaiah prophesies that when Israel would return to the Holy Land, they would come from “the north and the west”: “Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.” (Isa 49:12) If you draw a line north and west from Jerusalem, you get an area covering Europe, the USA and Canada, where the vast majority of the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel live today. The “land of Sinim” means “the south land” in Hebrew. It refers to Australia, which is derived from “Terra Australis”, which means “the south land” in Latin.

2) All 12 tribes will return and the Messiah will be their king

When Israel will return to the land of Israel, it will be all the 12 tribes of Israel (Israel & Judah, also called Joseph & Judah), and the Messiah (Jesus Christ) will be king over them:

“Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 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: 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.” (Eze 37:19-22)

The Jewish State of Israel has not gathered all the 12 tribes of Israel, but only the Jews, which are the House of Judah. The 10 Lost Tribes have not returned. And the Messiah is certainly not the king of the Israeli Jews. Only app. 30.000, or 0,5%, of Israeli Jews believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

3) The 2^nd Exodus will be full of miracles

The 1^st Exodus out of Egypt was full of supernatural miracles, most notably the dividing of the Red Sea. The 2^nd Exodus will likewise be full of supernatural miracles. God's judgments upon Babylon and “Spiritual Egypt” in the Book of Revelation is full of parallels to the 10 Plagues of Egypt.

The return of the Jews to Israel included zero miracles! They returned in ships and airplanes, and rich and powerful men, such as the Rotschild family and the British Lord Balfour, facilitated the founding of the State of Israel. No atheist sees any miracle or anything supernatural in that. The State of Israel was A WORK OF MEN, NOT GOD.

Part 2:

Edom in prophecy

If the Jewish State of Israel is not the fulfillment of the prophecy of Israel returning to the land of Israel, is it then mentioned in any other Bible prophecies? We shall see that indeed it is.

Above: The Land of Israel in the 9^th cen. The Kingdom of Israel (blue) consisted of the 10 northern tribes. The Kingdom of Judah (yellow) consisted of the 2 southern tribes. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah)

Israel is divided into Israel & Judah

When Israel under Joshua conquered the Promised Land app. 1400 BC, Israel consisted of 12 tribes. Later the 12 tribes were united into a kingdom under the kings Saul, David, and Solomon.

In the latter part of his reign King Solomon worshiped the pagan gods of his foreign wives, and God therefore punished Solomon by letting the 10 northern tribes secede, but only after his death. Under Solomon's son, King Rehoboam, the 10 northern tribes did secede and formed the “Kingdom of Israel”, in the Bible also called the “House of Israel” or simply “Israel”. King Rehoboam's rump kingdom in Jerusalem consisted of the 2 tribes of Judah and Benjamin and became known as the “Kingdom of Judah”, in the Bible also called the “House of Judah” or simply “Judah”.

The northern 10 tribes in the Kingdom of Israel continued to worship pagan gods, and eventually God let the 10 northern tribes of Israel be deported out of the land of Israel – just as God through Moses had warned Israel He would do. This happened in 722-721 BC when the Assyrian Empire invaded the northern Kingdom of Israel and deported almost all of the inhabitants to areas in what today is northern Iraq and Syria, south-eastern Turkey and north-western Iran. These Lost 10 Tribes of Israel migrated to Europe where they formed the nucleus of the Western nations.

The Kingdom of Judah are called “Jews”

From 722-721 BC and onwards there was only one Israelite kingdom in the Holy Land, and that was the Kingdom of Judah. It consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, plus the majority of the tribe of Levi and a smaller number of individuals of the other tribes. Thus the only part of the 12 tribes which was left in the land of Israel was Judah. Therefore from this point in time, the people of Judah were also known as “Jews”, which simply means “Judahites”.

A “Jew” simply means “a man of Judah”. The 10 northern tribes were called “Israelites” but they were never called “Jews”, because they were not of Judah.

Non-Israelites become Jews

A number of non-Israelite people became a part of the nation of Israel by living among Israel and following the God of Israel. There was nothing wrong about that, and that is shown in the fact that the Bible specifically points out that King David – and thus the Lord Jesus Christ – were descended from at least two non-Israelite women, the Canaanitess Rahab of Jericho and Ruth the Moabitess.

Many non-Israelite individuals also became a part of Judah (the Jews). For example, in the book of Esther it is mentioned that many individuals of the Medo-Persian Empire became Jews (Est 8:17).

Prior to Christ, many non-Jewish individuals of the Roman Empire appear to have converted to Judaism, no doubt because Judaism as a monotheistic religion was more sympathetic than the polytheistic pagan religions. Historians estimate that at the time of Christ, Jews made up app. 10% of the Roman population. This was a much higher percentage than Israelites made up of the population of the same area centuries before. There is nothing which indicates that the Jews were more fertile than other ethnic groups in the area which became the Roman Empire. But there is plenty of evidence that many non-Israelites converted to Judaism.

For example, in the Acts of the Apostles non-Israelite converts to Judaism are mentioned several times:

“When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.” (Acts 13:43 NIV, see also Acts 14:1, 17:1-4, 12)

Only few Khazars became Jews

A major conversion of non-Jews to Judaism is that of the Khazars. The Khazars were a Turkic people which had a huge empire in southern Russia in the 8^th century. Some sources indicate that the Khazars as an entire people became Jews. The Ashkenazi Jews, which used to live in Eastern Europe and make up 90% of today's Jews, are sometimes claimed to entirely descend from the Khazars.

But the evidence suggests that it was only a smaller part of the Khazars which became Jews. For example, the Ashkenazi Jews spoke (and speak) Yiddisch, a Germanic language based on Old German, because most of them used to live in Germany before they moved on to Eastern Europe. There are a few Khazar words in Yiddisch, but the language itself is Germanic, not Turkic.

DNA analysis of modern Jews have shown that a small minority have DNA similar to the Khazars, but most Jews are genetically closer to peoples of the Middle East and Europe.

The Jews ARE Judah

Despite the fact that many non-Israelites have become a part of the Jewish people, the core of the Jews are descended from ancient Judah. In Bible history and prophecy, the Jews are called the House of Judah. They also identify themselves with ancient Judah, even though most of them probably descend from both ancient Judahites and converts. But that is just the same with almost all other ethnic groups – including the nations where the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel live. They descend from both the original ethnic group as well as people from other ethnic groups which have been absorbed into the people. The bottom line is that in Bible history and prophecy the modern Jews are the House of Judah.

Edom becomes a part of the Jewish people

But one major conversion stands out. App. 126 BC the King of Judaea John Hyrcanus subdued the entire nation of Edom and forcibly converted the Edomites to Judaism. From that point on, the Edomites were an integrated part of the Jewish people.

In mainstream history it is an undisputed fact that the Edomites became a part of the Jewish people. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote in the 1^st century AD:

“Hyrcanus also took Dora and Marissa, cities of Idumea [Greek for Edom], and subdued all the Idumeans, and permitted them to stay in that country, if they would circumcise their genitals, and make use of the laws of the Jews … at which time therefore this befell them, that they were hereafter no other than Jews.” (Flavius Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews, XIII, IX, 1, The Complete Works of Josephus, p. 279)

The Jewish Virtual Library confirms this:

“The Edomites were later forcibly converted into Judaism by John Hyrcanus, and then became an active part of the Jewish people.” (https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-edomites)

There are many prophecies in the Bible about Edom and what their fate is in the Latter Days. These prophecies must therefore be fulfilled in the part of the Jews which descend from Edom. At this point it is important to emphasize that today it is not the entire Jewish people which is of Edom, but only a minority of the Jews. The Jewish people as a whole is the House of Judah. Only a minority is of Edom.

In Genesis Jacob-Israel disguised himself as Esau-Edom

The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, a.k.a. Edom, Jacob-Israel's brother. Esau was the firstborn of Isaac and therefore the rightfull heir of the birthright. But when Isaac was about to give the birthright blessing to Esau, Jacob disguised himself as Esau and deceived his father Isaac by lying to him and saying that he was Esau. Then Isaac gave the birthright blessings to Jacob, while Esau only got some minor blessings.

God is just, and He corrects people who do wrong, both sinners as well as saints. Shortly after Jacob – God's favorite and the ancestor of God's people – deceived his brother Esau, Jacob was himself deceived. When he was about to marry Rachel, his father-in-law, Laban, deceived him into marrying Leah, Rachel's sister. Jacob reaped the deceit he had sown, even though he was God's favorite.

In the Last Days Edom will disguise himself as Israel

In the Old Testament, the injustice which Jacob-Israel had done to Esau-Edom was never corrected. Justice was served to Jacob, but not to Esau. We can therefore deduct, that just as in the beginning of the Bible, Jacob deceived Isaac and Esau by masquerading himself as Esau, so will Esau in the Last Days deceive the heirs of Isaac and Jacob by masquerading himself as Jacob.

And why will Esau masquerade himself as Jacob in the Last Days? Because he has the Divine right to do it. If Esau-Edom cannot deceive the world into believing that he is Jacob-Israel, justice will not have been done to Esau.

We must therefore look for a Jewish entity which claims to be Israel, but is in fact Edom. Obviously that is the Jewish “State of Israel” founded in 1948. It calls itself Israel and most Christians believe it to be the fulfillment of the prophecies of the people of Israel's regathering to the land of Israel. But in fact:

The Jewish “State of Israel” unmasked is the “State of Edom”

The tables have been turned around so that Edom in the Last Days can have his birthright, even if it's only temporarily.

Ezekiel: In the Last Days Edom will take over the land of Israel

One of the prophecies about Edom says that in the Last Days Edom will take over the land of Israel.

In Ezekiel, chapters 33-39 are chronologically in order. If they are compared with Revelation chapters 19-22, you will see that the prophesied events are in the same order, although some events are mentioned in one book and omitted in the other, and vice versa. The events are, in chronological order:

1) Edom will take over the land of Israel

2) The Second Coming of Christ

3) Israel will be regathered to the land of Israel

4) The First Resurrection

5) The Millenial Kingdom

6) Attack of Gog and Magog

7) The New Heavens, the New Earth, the New Jerusalem

In Ezekiel the First Resurrection, the regathering of Israel into the the land of Israel, the reunion of Israel and Judah and the Second Coming of Christ is foretold in chapter 37. But before that, in chapter 35 and 36, Edom is said to be in possession of the land of Israel:

“Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir [another name for Edom], and prophesy against it ... Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it” (Eze 35:2, 10)

“Thus saith the Lord God; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession ... Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea [Greek for Edom], which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.” (Eze 36:2, 5)

Ezekiel's prophecy continues to state that after Edom is in control of the Holy Land, God will give the land of Israel to the people of Israel:

“But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come … And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:” (Eze 36:8, 10)

Obadiah: Edom in the land of Israel will lose its allies

The Book of Obadiah confirms that Edom will be in the land of Israel in the Last Days. Obadiah writes that Edom has “drunk upon my [God's] holy mountain” (Oba 16). In the language of the Bible, “God's holy mountain” refers to only one place, and that is the land of Israel.

Obadiah gives more details about how the State of Edom in the land of Israel will end. He writes that Edom's allies will deceive them and “bring them to their border”, or as the New International Version puts it: “All your allies will force you to the border” (Oba 7, NIV)

“How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.” (Oba 6-7)

The State of Israel (Edom) has many allies, but there is only one that really matters, and that is the United States. As long as the USA supports the State of Israel, the State of Israel will stand. The day the USA stops supporting the State of Israel, the State of Israel can fall.

From a secular point of view a continually larger part of the left-wing of the Democratic Party in the USA supports the Palestineans more than the Israelis. At the same time, more and more people on the Left call the State of Israel an “Apartheid State” and demand that the USA place sanctions against it like they sanctioned South Africa until that nation abolished actual Apartheid. From a secular point of view, it is entirely plausible that in some decades from now, the political spectrum in the USA will have shifted so much to the Left that the USA indeed will stop supporting the State of Israel.

Un-identified “heathens” will take over the land of Israel before the Second Coming

Obadiah continues and writes that some un-identified “heathens” will take over the land of Israel (“my holy mountain”) from Edom. After these heathens are in control of the land of Israel, the people of Israel will finally return and take over the land of Israel:

“For as ye [Edom] have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” (Oba 16-17)

When we compare this prophecy with other prophecies discussed below about the same events (Isa 11:11-14), it seems to suggest that the “heathens” which wrestle control of at least a part of the land of Israel out of the hands of Edom are Muslim Arabs.

An Israeli rump state will exist at the Second Coming

Another detail in Obadiah says that the “house of Jacob” and “house of Joseph” will burn the “house of Esau” when Israel returns to the land:

“And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.” (Oba 18)

This seems to indicate that there will be an Edomite state in the land of Israel when the true people of Israel returns. Since Arabs will have taken control of a part of the land of Israel, it seems to indicate that at the Second Coming of Christ there will be an Israeli rump state in the land of Israel. And that this Israeli rump state will fight against the returning Messiah and be destroyed, along with the rest of the armies of the world (Rev 19).

Isaiah 11: Israel & Judah will fight against the Philistines and Edom

In a related prophecy, Isaiah says that after Ephraim and Judah are united and return to the land of Israel, they will fight against the “Philistines” and Edom:

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 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. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.” (Isa 11:11-14)

The ancient peoples of the Philistines and Edom both vanished in the Hellenistic Era. But today the Arab Palestineans refer to themselves in Arabic as “Philistines” [filastini]. And, as we have seen, the descendants of Edom are a part of the Jews. It would therefore be not only possible, but likely, that when Christ-believing Israel and Judah returns to the Holy Land under Christ, both the Muslim Palestineans and the Zionist Jews will resist. Ask yourself this: Would you expect any of them to give up the Holy Land to someone (Christ) they do not believe in?

Zechariah: religious Jews will receive the Returning Christ

In Zechariah 14 is found a very exact prophecy about the Second Coming of Christ. Zechariah writes that God (“the LORD” = YAHWEH) will return and set His feet upon the Mount of Olives. When He returns, Jerusalem will be under occupation by a heathen army, and half the inhabitants will have fled, while the other half will remain:

“For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east” (Zech 14:2-4)

This prophecy is believed by both Christians and Jews to be about the coming of the Messiah. Christians believe it to be the Messiah's 2^nd Coming while religious Jews believe it to be the Messiah's 1^st Coming.

Above: The Mount of Olives and the Kidron Valley. In the middle of the photo are the tombs of 70.000+ Jews

who expect to be among the first to be resurrected when the Messiah returns to the Mt of Olives, as Zechariah prophesies.

On the southern slopes of the Mount of Olives there is a giant Jewish cemetary with app. 70.000 graves. The Jews who get buried there believe that they will be among the first to be resurrected when the Messiah returns, because they correctly believe what is written in Zechariah 14.

When Christ returns, the spiritual descendants of all those religious Jews who still live in Jerusalem and the land of Israel will correctly believe that it is the Messiah who has come back to save His people. Then Christ's prophecy will be fulfilled:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Mt 23:37-39)

From Obadiah and Zechariah we can therefore conclude that Christ will return to the Mount of Olives and destroy the armies of the Antichrist and the Arabs. The religious Jews which live under Palestinean occupation will receive Him, while the Zionist Jews in the Israeli rump state apparently will fight Him.

Part 3:

The Second Coming of Christ, the First Resurrection & the regathering of Israel

We read in Zechariah that the Second Coming of Christ will take place in a very specific place: the Mount of Olives next to Jerusalem, while heathen armies are occupying Jerusalem:

Sequence of events at the Second Coming

According to several prophecies, at the same time as the Second Coming two other huge events will take place:

First Christ and the armies of Heaven will return,
then the dead in Christ will be resurrected and come WITH Christ and thousands of angels from Heaven to Earth,
and then the angels will gather the “elect” - the faithful Christians of Israel and all nations, colors and languages - by taking them up into the air and bring them to the land of Israel.

Paul writes about this sequence of events in 1^st Thessalonians:

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thes 4:13-17)

(These verses are used to promote the erroneous “Rapture Theory”. But if you read the verses in their context you can see that the Christians will be taken up into the air, or “raptured” if you will, immediately after the Second Coming, not before or during the Great Tribulation.)

Matthew 24: Second Coming and then regathering of the “elect”

Jesus affirms that first He shall return from Heaven and then He will send His angels out to every corner of the world and gather the “elect” - Christians of Israel and all other nations – up into the air:

Above: The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, woodcut by Gustave Doré (1866)

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. … Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” (Mt 24:30-31, 40-41)

The angels are therefore going to take the Elect from the Earth up “in the clouds”. The question is therefore: Where are the angels going to take the Elect to? To Heaven, as many say? Think about it: Christ has finally returned after 2.000 years and He is in the land of Israel. Are the angels going to bring the Elect to Heaven or the land of Israel? Fortunately, we don't need to guess, because Ezekiel tells us the answer.

Ezekiel 37: Resurrection, then regathering of Israel to the land of Israel

Ezekiel chapter 37 affirms this sequence of events, and adds the important detail that when God regathers Israel, He will take them to the land of Israel. The first part of Ezekiel chap. 37 describes the vision of the “Valley of Dead Bones”, which describes the First Resurrection:

“And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land:” (Eze 37:13-14)

The second part of Ezekiel 37 describes the Union of the Two Sticks of Joseph & Judah, which describes how the House of Israel is finally united again with the House of Judah (the Jews). It is evident that this union will take place in the land of Israel, and at the same time as the First Resurrection described earlier in the chapter:

“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: 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. 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. 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. 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.” (Eze 37:21-25)

Regathering of Israel of the flesh or the “Israel of God” (all true Christians)?

The above mentioned prophecies obviously refer to the same event where God regathers His saints to the land of Israel. According to Ezekiel, it's Israel and Judah He will bring back, but according to the New Testament it's “the elect”. Will God only bring the Christian Israelites back to the land of Israel, or will He bring back Christians of all nations and colors?

In 1^st Thessalonians chap 4 Paul wrote to the congregation in Thessalonica, which consisted of both Jews and Greeks. Paul wrote that it's the “dead in Christ” which will be raised, and that it's “we which are alive” which will be taken up into the air to meet the Lord. No mentioning of Israelites only.

The reason that it is both Christian Israelites and Christians of all nations which will be gathered, is because Israel is a Covenant People. As Paul describes in Romans chap. 9, God's Covenant People Israel is like an olive tree, where those which reject Christ will be cut off, and those which do believe in Christ will be grafted into the Covenant People, whether they are descended from ancient Israel or not. Therefore people of all nations and colors are a part of God's Covenant People.

Revelation: The 2^nd Exodus, the 2^nd Coming and the 1^st Resurrection

The Book of Revelation is replete with similarities to the 1^st Exodus. God is telling His people, 144.000 Israelites and an innumerable multitude of all nations, to come out of Babylon, just like He told the Israelites of old to come out of Egypt, and a mixed multitude followed them out of Egypt. Prior to the 1^st Exodus God let 10 plagues come over Egypt. Likewise in Revelation, God will send a number of plagues and calamities over the world prior to chapter 18 where He tells His people to come out of Babylon: “Come out of her, my people” (Rev 18:4)

In the next chapter is the Second Coming of Christ (Rev 19), and in the following chapter the 1^st Resurrection of the dead in Christ:

“This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev 20:5-6)

“Israel” in Hebrew means “a prince with God” or “a ruler with God”. When it is said of the resurrected Christians of all nations that “they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him for a thousand years”, it is another way of saying that they shall are God's “Israel” = “a ruler with God” = “a ruler with Christ”.

Reunification of Israel and Judah

As we saw in Ezekiel chap. 37, the reunification of the House of Israel (the Lost 10 Tribes) and the House of Judah (the Jews) will take place after the 1^st Resurrection.

Since the Crucifixion, the Lost 10 Tribes have followed God by becoming Christians, while the Jews have rejected God by rejecting Christ. Zechariah prophesied that God would break the bond between Israel and Judah after the Jews rejected Christ, as we read in the prophecy about Judas Iscariot:

“And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD. Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.” (Zechariah 11:13-14)

The troublesome relationship which has existed between European Christians of the Lost 10 Tribes and Jews for the last 2.000 years was therefore prophesied. But the 2^nd Coming and the reunification of Judah and Israel will put an end to it, as Isaiah says:

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 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. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.” (Isaiah 11:11-13)

November 2022