The Restoration of Israel in the New Testament

[Guest shiloh357]

Here is a prophecy from Amos that reads like a portion from Ezekiel 36

Hear this! The days are coming--the LORD's declaration--when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the one who treads grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel. They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their produce. I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. Yahweh your God has spoken.

(Amos 9:13-15)

Now notice the similarity between Amos 9:13-15 and portions of Ezekiel 36:

I will fill you with people, with the whole house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will fill you with people and animals, and they will increase and be fruitful. I will make you inhabited as you once were and make you better off than you were before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

(Ezekiel 36:10-11)

I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and will not bring famine on you. I will also make the fruit of the trees and the produce of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer experience reproach among the nations on account of famine.

(Ezekiel 36:29-30)

"This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by. Then they will say: This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.

(Ezekiel 36:33-35)

I think it is clear that Amos and Ezekiel have the same time period in mind.

I think what really stands out in Amos

[nebula]

Smalcald -

Earlier, I posted Zechariah 12 here .

Notice the part I bolded.

Does that address your question?

[Guest shiloh357]

"Now therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said: It has been handed over to Babylon's king through sword, famine, and plague: I am about to gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in My wrath, rage, and great fury, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety. They will be My people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way so that for their good and for the good of their descendants after them, they will fear Me always. "I will make with them an everlasting covenant: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of Me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do what is good to them, and I will plant them faithfully in this land with all My mind and heart. "For this is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them. Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying: It's a desolation without man or beast; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans! Fields will be purchased with silver, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah's cities--the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev--because I will restore their fortunes." This is the LORD's declaration.

(Jeremiah 32:36-44)

Notice, that we have a prophecy again that speaks of God returning Israel to their Land, and changing their heart to serve and fear Him. Again, we have a peculiar description of Israel that does not apply to any time in history after the days of Jeremiah.

Connected with this return , God says that they shall be His people, and He shall be their God, they have shall one heart to fear Him and that He will make an everlasting covenant with them. This hearkens back to the

[Guest shiloh357]

For on My holy mountain, Israel's high mountain"--the declaration of the Lord GOD--"there the entire house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your contributions and choicest gifts, all your holy offerings. When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will demonstrate My holiness through you in the sight of the nations. When I lead you into the land of Israel, the land I swore to give your fathers, you will know that I am the LORD. There you will remember your ways and all your deeds you have defiled yourselves with, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil things you have done. You will know that I am the LORD, house of Israel, when I have dealt with you because of My name rather than according to your evil ways and corrupt acts." This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

(Ezekiel 20:40-44)

Now going back to Ezekiel, here is an interesting prophecy about Israel

[Guest shiloh357]

I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.

(Zephaniah 3:18-20)

Here is a rather obscure prophecy about the return of Israel to the Land. God says He will gather them that are

[Guest shiloh357]

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

(Zechariah 12:3-10)

Jerusalem shall become a burdensome stone!! This is an amazing prophecy. This occurs before Israel

[Guest shiloh357]

The Re-establishment of the Davidic Throne

I will continue with prophecies of Israel

[George]

When the land promise has been fulfilled as dispensational doctrine claims why must these unnecessary sacrifices be reinstated in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem?

There's a thread somewhere on the boards about the Mystery of Beit HaMikdash which I wrote concerning the Ezekiel Temple. But the quick gist of the sacrifices is this -- it's not a sacrifice of atonement but rather a sacrifice looking back to what Jesus did 2000 years ago. Just as the sacrifices that were a foreshadow of the atonement on the Cross -- these sacrifices are a memorial of what Jesus did 2000 years ago. The key word in the study is the word ALTAR used in Ezekiel is ARI-EL -- Lion of God!

Ezekeil 43:15-16 So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns. And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.

It's not looking towards the Lamb of God any longer, but rather the LION OF GOD!

Let's be sure to stay on topic though,

God bless,

George

[Guest shiloh357]

Now as we begin to develop the prophetic aspect of the re-establishment of the Davidic throne, I think it would be helpful to first look at the New Testament:

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

(Luke 1:30-35)

Here we have an unmistakable word from the angel that visited Mary to announce to her that she would bear the Messiah. It is clear from the passage that Mary had no problem understanding the angel's words about the Messiah and His eternal reign on David's throne. Mary was only confused about the avenue through which it would take place, seeing that she is virgin.

The same idea is communicated later on in the same chapter by Zechariah the father of John the Baptist after he regained his speech:

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he swore to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

(Luke 1:67-75)

Here is Zechariah is prophesying by the Holy Spirit of a future where the horn of salvation (Jesus) raised up in the House of David will save Israel from their enemies and those that hate them. He will also remember and fulfill the covenant made to Abraham and that upon their deliverance, they will serve the Lord without fear in holiness and righteousness all of their days. This is something that is yet future where Israel is concerned but has been prophesied, and we know it will be fulfilled.

[Guest shiloh357]

Following are two very similar Messianic Prophecies that pretty much address the same issue I will examine of them individually.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

(Jeremiah 23:5-8)

Here, Jesus is referred to as the righteous branch, or