By Paul Phelps
Bible prophecy clearly indicates that Jews will be living in Jerusalem and the surrounding Judean region in the end-times (Zechariah Chapter 12 and 14:1-5), and as indicated in other Scriptures also. We must recognize that this endtime regathering before the Lord’s return is the regathering of the Roman captivity, descended from the generation of Judean people alive in New Testament times.From reading Zechariah’s prophecy it appears that the latter-day return of Jews to their land is a return to the same situation that existed when Jesus was there. In fundamental terms nothing changed for the Jews in the intervening centuries and the same question still remains: “When will you recognize your Messiah?” In God’s viewpoint this is the chief reason for the endtime regathering of Jews.
Despite the large controversy that surrounds political Zionism, good fruit has come from it, such as the rebirth and research of the Biblical Hebrew language and preservation of archaeological sites that otherwise could not have survived and the many archaeological discoveries by Israelis that confirm Bible history.
Israel has also become known for inventive genius. Many technical innovations used internationally are Israeli inventions, such as the Intel chip and cell-phone and many breakthrough advances in medicine and agriculture. The magnitude of these inventions is so large that the world now depends on them in daily life. Although these achievements are not the chief reason for regathering the Jews to their land, they are evidences of God’s providence in this portion of his plan.
At the time of this writing the dawn of God’s kingdom is not yet here, but his coming is soon. In principle the Kingdom cannot be here until the King is here. Nevertheless God is active among the nations in preparing the way for his soon return, and the present regathering of Jews to their land is part of this pre-dawn preparation. To keep our topic in perspective we should realize that all nations are in preparation for the Kingdom (Luke 29:29-31), for all nations are included.
The prophecies for Israel have special interest because so much space is given to that land and its people—serving as a sign to understand the times we are in. But we must know that after the Lord’s return, Israel is more than just the Jews, it is the entire worldwide Kingdom because all nations will eventually be in it. It will proceed from Jerusalem and it will begin with a regathered Israel, which will include twelve distinct tribes having natural descent from their father Jacob.
In view of Messianic prophecies, early Zionist settlers chose the name Israel as the name for their newly-established state. But there is controversy over that not only in Israel but also among Bible readers because the historic truth is that western Jews (descendants from the Roman Diaspora) are Judean Jews—which only included the tribes that returned under Cyrus: Judah, Benjamin, and Levy, (southern kingdom tribes; Ezra 1:2-5). But they are not all Israel, they are only Judeans of the House of Judah. A more correct name would have been “Judah.”
After the empire passed to Persia, King Cyrus issued an edict in 538 BCE that allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple (Ezra 1:1-5). The majority moved eastward in the Persian territories but those that returned were about 50,000 (Ezra 2:64-65). The Jews that remained in Babylon’s cities created the system of Babylonian Talmudic interpretation, laws, rabbis and synagogues that became the basis of Pharisaism in Jesus’ time, under the name of ‘Judaism.’ (Josephus was first to use the term ‘Judaism’ as a contrast to Greek ‘Hellenism.’)
The early history of Babylon’s returnee Jews is found in Ezra and Nehemiah; but Daniel foresaw and prophesied a later great tribulation for the Babylonian returnees (Daniel 11), the Syrian-Greek invasion under Antiochus Epiphanus. These later events are recorded in Jewish historical records and in the books of Maccabees. Much is said about the Judean victory over the Syrian-Greek army but less is known of events that came later, which profoundly affected the Jews. Under Hasmonean rule, Talmudic Rabbinic Judaism with the synagogue system was established in Israel; ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasmonean_dynasty).
After routing the Syrian-Greek invasion and re-establishing Temple sacrifice, the Maccabee family ruled Judea and also conquered the Edomites of the south. The Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, volume 6, p 378, and the New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia 1977, p 589 has this: “Judah Maccabee's son, John Hyrcanus, conquered the whole of Edom and undertook forced conversion of its inhabitants to Judaism.” And Josephus adds: “Hyrcanus took Medaba, Samega and neighboring places, and Shechem and Gerizzim, and also the Cutheans. Hyrcanus also took Dora and Marissa, Idumean cities and subdued all the Idumeans; and they submitted to circumcision and the rest of the Jewish ways of living at which time therefore they were thereafter no other than Jews." (Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, Book. 13, chapter 9, section I.)
During the five hundred years BCE, the Edom population gradually migrated into the Negev desert and south portion of Judea, (called Idumea in Mark 3:8). The Jewish Encyclopdia 1925 has this about Edom: "In 163 BC Judas Maccabeus conquered their territory for a time. In 125 BC, they were again subdued by John Hyrcanus, by whom they were forced to observe Jewish rites and laws. They were then incorporated with the Jewish nation and their country is called "Idumea" by the Greeks and Romans. Antipater began the Idumean dynasty that ruled Judea till its conquest by Rome. From then on, the Idumeans ceased to be a separate people." (‘Idumean’ is a different spelling of ‘Edomite.’) This explains how Herod’s Antipater Edomite dynasty ruled Judea in Christ’s time, and how they could gather so much popular support among the Judeans. In 37 BC, Herod the Great, of Edomite ancestry, became the undisputed ruler of Judea, (he died in 4 BC).
Herod’s wife Mariamne was from a Maccabean family. The Judean population had become largely Edomite in Jesus’ day, which may explain why Jesus chose his disciples from Galilee in the north instead of Judea. The doctrines of Talmudic Judaism made changes in the Judean culture, making Jewish identity to be a matter of religion rather than ancestry. Because of that, despite a corrupted history, Edomite converts gained entry into Jewish identity. During that time the word ‘Jew’ changed meaning from nationality into religion. The last historic mention of Edomites is from the era of Roman occupation, and from then till now Edom has disappeared out of history and public knowledge.
Bible prophecy says that Edom will ultimately be destroyed, and it may have been fulfilled by the conquest of John Hyrcanus. But if the cursed nature of the Edomites still exists—then it continues to operate in an unrecognized form and is active in unseen ways (which is Satan’s traditional style). This means that the contemporary Jewish community is not only a surviving Judean remnant, but is at the same time a surviving Edomite remnant—both identities being blended. This strange reality may be indicated in Amos 9:12, (11-12 quoted), v 11:
"On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; v 12 in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, says the LORD who does this."
This text says that the renewed Davidic Kingdom (called Israel in v 14) includes the ‘remnant of Edom.’ In view of Israel’s ancient history, this ‘remnant of Edom’ may in fact be referring to the surviving Jewish-Israeli remnant of the last days. (But that remnant will be only a small part of the new world Davidic Kingdom.) It is important to understand that the modern Israeli State of today is a return of the Roman captivity. Israel’s Jewish population is mainly descendants from the Roman captivity who have returned. More details of that history will be helpful.
The Romans depopulated Israel through two military campaigns: the siege of Jerusalem in 66-73 CE, and again in the Simon bar Kokhba rebellion in 135 CE. The captives were taken by ship to various places in the Mediterranean, mainly into North African and Adriatic ports and southern Italy. They gradually spread throughout the Roman Empire—finally congregating in large numbers in Spain, (called Sepharad by rabbis) where they stayed till they were forcibly expelled. Also Jewish colonists from Italy migrated to the Alsace-Loraine area of northern France and western Germany, which rabbis call Ashkenaz (where the Yiddish language developed). The origin of European Yiddish-speaking Jewry is there. After the Roman exile, Jewish populations remained settled in Mediterranean countries (now referred to as the Sephardic Jewish community).
Even as late as the 11th century CE, the Ashkenazi Yiddish-speaking population was accounted as only 3% of world Jewry, the rest being mostly Sephardic Jews. That changed dramatically however in the following centuries. By 1931, Ashkenazi Jews were accounted as 92% of the total because of an influx of Jews from Eastern Europe, which gradually assimilated into the west European Yiddish-Jewish culture; and even now after the Holocaust, Ashkenazi Jews are accounted as 80% of the total. DNA testing reveals considerable race mix in East European Jewish ancestry, which differs from Sephardic ancestry. It remains an area of ongoing research, but by now it is clear that a large part of the mitochondrial DNA (mother’s side) is from Slavic and Khazari ancestry. The Semitic genes are primarily from the father’s side of DNA and have above-average amounts of Levite genetics.
It is clear that East European Jews appeared in Europe at a time much later than the Roman exile and may not be connected to it. A more likely scenario is that Jews from the Babylonian community (Jews that stayed in Babylon) moved northward in the late 4th through 9th centuries and settled in Khazaria and southern Russia and took many wives from the local population. East European Jewry has been very connected to Talmudic Synagogue Judaism—and now we understand why; it is because Babylonian Jews were the ones who originated Talmudic Judaism.
The original Khazar home was the southern Ural region including the Crimea and a large part of the Ukraine. That region also had an ever-increasing Slavic population; (but the Khazars themselves were not Slavic but were related to the Uigur, Magyar and Hun central Asian tribes). The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. V, 1904, p 41, says that Khazars are people of Turkish origin whose life and history are interwoven with the very beginning of Russian Jewish history. We conclude that East European Ashkenazi Jewry began with Babylonian Jews and enlarged afterward through Slavic and Khazari conversion and assimilation. Karaites are another religious sect of Babylonian Jews that began in the mid-8th century and evidently then moved northward to the Crimea like the other Jews before them. (We encourage our readers to do further internet research on all these topics.)
These details of history give a clearer picture of the western Jewish Diaspora of the Sephardic and East European communities, and this helps us understand modern Israel’s population. But it disregards any consideration of the forgotten ten tribes from the Assyrian captivity, and also for the most part disregards the Judean majority that did not return to Jerusalem but stayed in eastern countries. This issue has large importance for the subject of Israel’s prophetic restoration because the Bible prophecies are mainly about restoring the former captivities of Assyria and Babylon. (The Roman captivity occurred several centuries later.)
If modern Israel’s Jewish identity is based only on a return of Roman-captivity Jews using Rabbinic Judaism as their identity, this restoration is very unfinished and can only be seen as preliminary to a future larger regathering yet to come. The main part of Jacob’s descendants unknown until now, still live in the East. This throng of people are generally unaware of their inner identity from Jacob, but God knows them—because His Name is in them through the destinies they inherited from past generations of Israelis that migrated into eastern countries.
Israel’s prophetic destinies in this world were from Jacob (Genesis 48:8–49:28); and further prophetic blessings were given by Moses (Deuteronomy 33), which are for the Messianic kingdom age (and starting to awaken now in this endtime). Because God’s Name is in these blessings, we need to look again at Amos 9:12, v 12 …in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, says the LORD who does this. This means that David’s renewed kingdom (Messianic Israel, v 14) will include all the peoples that have inherited God’s Name in their soul. This is far beyond the very limited regathering in present-day Israel (mainly western-world Jews).
Those nations “who are called by my name” (v 12) are Asian peoples who have inherited an ancestral destiny from one tribe or more tribes of Israel. And this regathering will be a call of God. It won’t be an earthly plan of human politics, and it won’t take the form of narrow nationalism but rather of Kingdom identity.
Modern Israel is the stage for many endtimes events. Jerusalem is the focus of power struggles in the final days. Zechariah 13:8 says this:
This is the remnant of Israel (and of Edom) that survives and acknowledges Yeshua as Lord and King at his coming; (Zechariah 12). After that, the second regathering of Israel will begin, which will be vastly larger than anything we’ve seen so far. Isaiah 11:11 says,
“In the whole land… two-thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one-third shall be left alive.”
This is the remnant of Israel (and of Edom) that survives and acknowledges Yeshua as Lord and King at his coming; (Zechariah 12). After that, the second regathering of Israel will begin, which will be vastly larger than anything we’ve seen so far. Isaiah 11:11 says,
“On that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people” (those with His Name in them).