The Rebirth of Israel
One of the signs of the end-times and Jesus' Second Coming is the rebirth of Israel as a nation, in itself a miracle considering the history of Jewry long-suffering and persecution. Besides the restoration of the nation of Israel, the Bible also foretells of the recovery of the use of the ancient language of Hebrew by the people who call themselves Jews.
The prophecies ~
Prooftexts: Matthew 24, Isaiah 66, Ezekiel 37
The Bible foretold a long time ago by the prophets and the Lord Jesus Christ that Israel would be scattered among the nations where she would be taken into captivity. Much later, the LORD would regather them from the four corners of the world and the nation would be reborn in a single day.
The prophet Ezekiel said:
“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” (Eze. 37:21).
In Isaiah 66:7 - 8 we read:
“Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the LORD repaying his enemies all they deserve. Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children.”
The fulfilment ~
First, the dispersal
As stated above, Scriptures prophesied that Israel would be dispersed among the nations. The Jewish Diaspora began with the Assyrian conquest (722 BC), which scattered the Hebrews throughout the Middle East.
Thereafter King Nebuchadnezzar exiled the Judaeans in 597 and 586 BC, to Babylon in which they were to remain for hundreds of years. A group of Judaeans fled to Egypt, where they settled in the Nile delta. From 597 BC, there were three distinct groups of Hebrews: one in Babylon and other parts of the Middle East, another in Judaea, and the last in Egypt. Although in exile in foreign lands, the Jews retained their religion, identity, and social customs, and even their own laws during the reign of the Medo-Persians and Greeks.
In 63 BC, Judaea became a protectorate of Rome. The Roman governors heavily taxed the inhabitants of Judaea and living under them was like wearing a yoke around the Hebrews' necks. Consequently, in 70 AD, the Jews revolted, but it was a desperate revolt that ended tragically. In 73 AD, the last of the revolutionaries were holed up in a mountain fort called Masada; the Romans had besieged the fort for two years, and the 1000 men, women, and children inside starved. The Romans successfully destroyed Jerusalem, annexed Judaea as a Roman province, and systematically drove the Jews from Palestine. From 73 AD, the Diaspora continued as the Jews settled in lands in various parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Next, the regathering and rebirth
Scriptures foretold that Israel would be dispersed as a nation but later brought out from among the nations of the world in a gradual process that would culminate in the establishment of Israel as a nation in a single day.
The prophet Isaiah foretold of the re-birth of Israel, which would happen in a single day. (Refer to prooftext from Isaiah provided above.) The woman giving birth before going into labor represents Israel. This accurately describes what happened on May 14, 1948, when the Jews declared independence for Israel as a united and sovereign nation for the first time in 2,900 years.
During that same day, the United States issued a statement recognising Israel's sovereignty. And, only hours beforehand, a United Nations mandate expired, ending British control of the land. Within 24 hours, foreign control of the land of Israel formally ceased, and Israel declared its independence, which was acknowledged by other nations. Modern Israel was literally born in a single day.
Isaiah said the birth would take place before there would be labor pains. And that too was fulfilled when a movement, called Zionism, commenced in the 1800s which resulted in the first wave of Jewish Aliyah into Israel.
Fulfilling every letter of the Word with precision, Israel's status as a sovereign nation was established and re-affirmed during the course of a single day*, and that it was born of a movement called Zionism, not as the result of a war but of the Zionist cause.
(*The Bible has also foretold the exact year in which this would happen.)
The restoration of the Hebrew language
Israel's rebirth is truly a miracle but equally miraculous is the restoration of the Hebrew language to everyday usage. Hebrew was considered a dead language, not a commonly spoken language and limited to study, prayer, communal observances or ritual purposes. That was until Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858 – 1922). Eliezer was one of the first Zionists and is credited with the revival of Hebrew as a modern tongue spoken by a renascent Jewish nation. After marrying his childhood sweetheart, Deborah Jonas, they established the first Hebrew-speaking home in Eretz Yisrael, and their son, Ben-Zion was the first child in modern times to be nurtured with Hebrew as his native language.
His was an apparent divine calling; as Eliezer described it in his own words: "Suddenly the sky seemed to open up, a bright light shone in my eyes, and a strong inner voice rang in my ears, 'Rebirth of Israel in the land of their forefathers.' After a soul searching inner struggle, a new idea took sway and the words which captured all my life were, "Israel in its land and its language.'"
Soon after his arrival in Jerusalem, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda accepted a teaching position at the Alliance School, which became the first school where some courses were taught in Hebrew, due to Eliezer's insistence that Hebrew be the official language of instruction for Jewish subjects.
Eliezer wrote for "Hakhavatzelet" (The Lily), a Hebrew literary periodical, and launched "Hatzvi" - The Deer - a weekly newspaper. "Hatzvi" was the first Hebrew paper to report what was happening throughout the land. For this paper Eliezer needed to coin new Hebrew words for objects and verbs that did not exist in the days of the last Hebrew commonwealth.
Through his newspaper and by other means, he persevered in his determination to make Hebrew a spoken language once again. Fortunately, he lived to see the day when the Palestine census was taken, and virtually every Jew in the land listed "Hebrew" as his language.
Eliezer travelled far and wide to gather materials and to research the world's libraries for lost Hebrew roots. He founded and presided over Va'ad Halashon, the forerunner of the Hebrew Language Academy, and worked 18 hours a day on his "Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew." In 1910 he published the first of six volumes and after his death in 1922 his widow and son Ehud continued publishing his manuscript, a task which was completed in 1959. The dictionary lists all the words used in Hebrew literature from the time of Abraham to modern times. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda was able to see his dream become reality: a modern nation speaking an ancient tongue - Yisrael be'artzo uvilshono.
All this happened in fulfillment of the prophecy written in Zephaniah 3:9:
"For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord."
What this means for the world
In Matthew 24:32 – 35, Jesus Himself, when His disciples asked Him when the end would come, attested to the fact that Israel's rebirth would be an important sign of the end of this age and His return:
"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Israel is symbolically referred to as a fig tree in Scripture. The Lord Jesus' own promises concerning Israel's restoration are a reiteration of the prophecies of Ezekiel and Isaiah, which foretell that Israel's restoration as a nation will point towards the coming of the Messiah, and this will be followed by the end of the age (as we know it). In Jesus' own words, the generation that witnesses the prophetic fulfillment of the rebirth and restoration of Israel as a nation will also witness His return.
A generation is about 70 years (opinions on this vary from 50 - 120 years). Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948. Ergo, many scholars believe that this is the millennium that will see the return of Jesus Christ and the culmination of history.
Maranatha!
