The History and Destiny of the Jews:
A Biblical View

By Ann Miller

 

Many have asked, “Where did the Jews come from?” and “Why should I care?” This information is vital for anyone desiring to understand all parts of the Bible.

 

The first part of this document will consider the first question: “Where did the Jews come from?”

 

Beginning with Noah

Genesis 9:18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. ¹⁹These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

Genesis 11:10 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:¹¹ And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.¹² And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:¹³ And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.¹⁴ And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:¹⁵ And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.¹⁶ And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:¹⁷ And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.¹⁸ And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:¹⁹ And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.²⁰ And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:²¹ And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.²² And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:²³ And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.²⁴ And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:²⁵ And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.²⁶ And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.²⁷ Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

 

The above text gives a listing of the generations from Noah to Abram (Avram). Avram’s name was later changed to Avraham. Avraham’s son was Isaac, and Isaac’s son was Jacob whose name was later changed to Israel.

 

The Importance of Eber

The Name Eber is where Hebrew derives. The verb behind it means to cross over. The Jews/Israelis are called Eevreem in Israel from the Hebrew word Ever (‘Ever’ being the way ‘Eber’ is pronounced in the Hebrew language). Thus, all of Eber’s offspring were later called Hebrews. References in the Bible are only considering the offspring of Jacob, however, when they use the term Hebrew.

 

The Israelis crossed over the Red Sea, and are identified with various crossings in the Bible. A not-so-subtle theme in the Bible is crossing over. Anyone who uses a concordance to see how often some form of the verb or noun cross is used will be quite surprised. This theme is no different between the testaments.

 

Eber is the great, great, great, great grandfather of Avram.

 

Yehovah Chose Avram to be the Patriarch of the Israelis

Genesis 12:1 And Yehovah said unto Abram, “Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house unto a land that I will show thee.² And I will make a great nation of thee. And I will bless thee. And I will make thy name great. And thou shalt be a blessing. ³And I will bless them that bless thee. And curse him that lightly esteems thee. And shall all families of the earth be blessed in thee.” ⁴So Abram departed as Yehovah had spoken unto him. And Lot went with him. And Abram is seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. ⁵And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran. And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. And they came into the land of Canaan. ⁶And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite is then in the land. ⁷And Yehovah appeared unto Abram. And He said, “I will give this land unto thy seed.” And he built an altar there unto Yehovah Who appeared unto him.

 

A casual reader will miss what is being communicated by this text. When Yehovah spoke of Avram’s seed, He wasn’t referring to all Avram’s progeny, but instead to one person: Messiah.

Galatians 3:16 Now, the promises were made to Abraham and his seed. He doesn’t say, “and to seeds” as of many, but “and to thy seed” as of one, Who is Messiah.

 

All Israelis who live during the Millennium will have that land, but it is only promised for ownership to certain individuals (listed below).

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord Yehovah will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets.

 

Avraham is a prophet:

 

Genesis 20:7 “Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet.”

 

Yehovah told Avraham what he was going to do:

Genesis 15:13 And he said to Abram, “Know assuredly that thy seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs. And they shall serve them. And they shall afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴And also that race which they shall serve I will judge. And afterwards they shall come out with great property. ¹⁵ And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. Thou shalt be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶ And in the fourth generation they shall return here”.

 

Careful readers will see Yehovah’s plans in detail in the Bible if they take texts literally. (They will see a mirror of their own opinions if they spiritualize texts.)

 

Everlasting Covenant with Avraham

Genesis 17:7 “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.”

 

The word translated everlasting has a different meaning that indicates duration (and other things). This earth is not everlasting in the true sense, and the covenant is only valid while this earth lasts. This covenant will last as long as the earth exists. Once the Millennium (thousand-year reign of Messiah) has ended and all non-Saints have been judged, this planet will be annihilated with fire and the New Earth will be the new location of the Saints and the angels that did not rebel.

 

Jacob to Israel

Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast wrestled with God, and with men, and hast prevailed.

 

Yehovah changed Jacob’s name to Israel. It is important for readers to understand that when talking about the race Jacob, the Bible refers to Jacob’s son, his grandsons, his great grandsons and all those in his blood line. When it refers to Israel it includes all those in Jacob’s blood line and those who have joined themselves to Israel. Rahab and Ruth are examples.

 

Israel Goes to Egypt

Genesis 46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. ²And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night. And He said, “Jacob! Jacob!” And he said, Here am I. ³And He said, I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will make of thee a great nation there. ⁴I will go down with thee into Egypt. And I will also surely bring thee up. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.” ⁵And Jacob rose up from Beersheba. And the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father and their little ones and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶And they took their cattle and their goods that they had gotten in the land of Canaan. And they came into Egypt—Jacob and all his seed with him. ⁷And he brought all his seed with him into Egypt: his sons and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters and his sons’ daughters…

 

Yehovah told Jacob that He will make him a great nation. The Land of Egypt became the perfect environment for the rapid and large propagation of the Israelis. Their rate of increase would have been much smaller had they stayed in the relatively dry and dangerous region of Israel. Yehovah used the Egyptians and their society to increase the Israelis. This is one reason why Yehovah commanded the Israelis to view the Egyptians in a good light, and not as enemies. Joseph’s enslavement seems to be the beginning of Yehovah’s plan to temporarily move Israel to Egypt. The race commenced in Egypt (much to the distress of Egyptian leadership!).

 

From a Family to a Race

Exodus 1:5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls, for Joseph was in Egypt. ⁶And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. ⁷And the children of Israel were fruitful. And they increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceeding mighty. And the land was filled with them. ⁸Now there arose up a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph. ⁹And he said unto his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we! ¹⁰Come on! We shall deal wisely with them lest they multiply, and it come to pass that they join also unto our enemies when there falleth out any war, and they fight against us and get them up out of the land!” ¹¹Therefore they did set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built treasure cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. ¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. ¹³And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour. ¹⁴And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in brick and in all manner of service in the field. All their service wherein they made them serve is with rigour.

 

They multiplied from seventy to a large number. Even most of the seventy were not from Jacob! There were 600,000 men that left Egypt not counting the women and children.

Exodus 12:37And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, besides children.

 

An entire people (though small) were integrated into the family of Jacob through violence done by two sons of Jacob.

 

From a Race to a Kingdom of Priests

When he brought them out of Egypt in a great and mighty way, Yehovah told them that they will be a kingdom of priests.

Exodus 19:3 And Moses went up unto God. And Yehovah called unto him out of the mountain, saying, “Thou shalt say thus to the house of Jacob. And thou shalt tell the children of Israel, ⁴ ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians. And I bare you on eagles’ wings and brought you unto myself. ⁵Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be my own possession out of all the people of all the earth. For all the earth is mine. ⁶And ye shall be a kingdom of priests unto me and a holy nation.’ These are the words that thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”

 

The Israelis have not yet become a kingdom of priest, since they have not decided which gods they will follow. This text will be fulfilled toward the end of the Tribulation (a seven-year period during which Yehovah shows His wrath to Israel first, after which Israel turns, and then to the rest of the races). When they are a kingdom of priests, all males, females and children will be in the position of being priests for non-Jewish folks who desire to understand and communicate with Yehovah. (They can communicate directly, but some folks will desire a priest: a person who is an intermediary between a god—in this case, Yehovah, and man.)

 

Thus, a person who desires to understand Yehovah/Yeshua will go to any Jewish person, adults or children, to ask questions. Even a Jewish child will give infallibly correct answers, and will pray on behalf of the person if the person desires that. Adults and children will have Yehovah’s wisdom because the Torah will be written on the hearts of all Israelis.

 

This text states “I bare you on eagles wings”, this did not occur during the exodus from Egypt with Moses. This indicates there will be a future time when Israelis are in Egypt and will literally be brought out on wings of eagles.

 

Why Yehovah Used a Strong Arm to Remove Israelis from Egypt

Deuteronomy 4:34 Or hath God assayed to go take Him a nation from the midst of a nation by temptations, by signs and by wonders, and by war and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm and by great terrors according to all that Yehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵It was showed unto thee that thou mightest know that Yehovah he is God; none else is beside Him. ³⁶He made thee to hear his voice out of the heavens so that He might instruct thee. And he showed thee his great fire upon earth. And thou heard His words out of the midst of the fire. ³⁷And because he loved thy fathers, he therefore chose their seed after them. And He brought thee out in His sight with His mighty power out of Egypt ³⁸to drive out greater and mightier nations than thou from before thee, to bring thee in, to give thee their land an inheritance, as this day. ³⁹Know therefore this day and consider in thine heart that Yehovah—He is God in the heavens above and upon the earth beneath! None else is!

 

Do not miss that Yehovah chose Israel because of his love for the fathers, Avraham, Issac and Jacob.

 

Yehovah did these mighty works to show Israel and the surrounding races that He is God. His works terrified the races in Canaan and the surrounding races. Notice how Rahab described this terror.

Joshua 2:9 and Rahab said to the men, I know that Jehovah has given you the land, and that the dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.¹⁰For we have heard that Yehovah dried up the waters of the Red sea before you when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. ¹¹We heard of it, and our heart melted, and there remained no more spirit in any man because of you; for Yehovah your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

 

One race even feigned a lengthy trip to the Israelis to deceive them into forming a covenant so that they would not be exterminated. This deceit worked! (Yehovah was not pleased, but Israel had to honour that covenant made with that Canaanite race.)

 

In the book of Joshua we see Yehovah giving the land to the Israelis and the tribal allotments. Judges reports the decline of Israel and the cycle of the Israelis going after false gods, which leads to their enemies being victorious over them, and their crying out to Yehovah and his rescues, only to repeat the cycle. Much more information could be included in this paper. However this paper would become to large, unread and not beneficial.

 

Ten Tribes are Given to Jeroboam

1 Kings 11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take thee ten pieces. For thus saith Yehovah the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee. ³²But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city that I chose out of all the tribes of Israel. ³³For they have forsaken me and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do right in mine eyes, and my statutes and my judgments, as David his father. ³⁴And I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake whom I chose. For he kept my commandments and my statutes. ³⁵And I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it unto thee: ten tribes. ³⁶And I will give one tribe unto his son so that David my servant will always have a light before me in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen me to put my name there. ³⁷And I will take thee. And thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desires. And thou shalt be king over Israel.’”

1 Kings 15:30 …because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he made Israel sin by his provocation wherewith he provoked Yehovah God of Israel to anger…

 

The Israelis still didn’t believe the warnings and the events of Yehovah’s hand. Yehovah therefore took the next step:

2 Kings 23:27 And Yehovah said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem that I have chosen and the House of which I said, ‘My name shall be there’!”

 

This will occur a number of times in the future for the same reasons! We have been able to enjoy Israel being a state in our lifetimes, but that will not continue. The Israelis will alternately be in the land and thrust out of the land until the return of Messiah.

 

Captivity: Ten Tribes

2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon and Abel-Beth-Maachah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali. And he carried them captive to Assyria.

 

The following text explains how Shalmaneser dealt with the king of the Israeli ten tribes.

2 Kings 17:1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel for nine years. ²And he did evil in the sight of Yehovah, but not as the kings of Israel that had been before him. ³ Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him. And Hoshea became his servant, and tendered him presents. ⁴But the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt. And he sent up no present to the king of Assyria as he had done from year to year. And the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. ⁵And the king of Assyria overran the whole land. And he went up against Samaria and besieged it three years. ⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria. And he carried Israel away into Assyria and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes.

 

Yehovah became furious with Israel because they served other gods. The Israelis became no different than the people they were commanded to annihilate. Yehovah will not allow this to continue on his land for very long.

⁷And so it was, because the children of Israel had sinned against Yehovah their God Who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods. ⁸And they walked in the statutes of the nations that Yehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel and of the kings of Israel that they had made. ⁹And the children of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Yehovah their God. And they built them high places in all their cities from the watchmen’s tower to the fortified city. ¹⁰And they set them up columns and Asherahs on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹And there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did that Yehovah had carried away from before them. And they wrought wicked things to provoke Yehovah to anger. ¹²And they served idols, as to which Yehovah had said to them, “Ye shall not do this thing.”

 

Yehovah will not allow the Israelis to live on the land of Israel while serving other gods. He sent prophets to warn them.

¹³And Yehovah testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets, all the seers, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments, my statutes, according to all the law that I commanded your fathers and that I sent to you through my servants the prophets. ¹⁴But they would not hear. And they hardened their necks like to the neck of their fathers who did not believe in Yehovah their God.

 

The Israelis did not hearken to the prophets, they chose to continue with their perversions, discarding the Torah, therefore Yehovah threw removed them from the land.

¹⁵And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he had made with their fathers, and his testimonies that he had testified unto them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations that were round about them concerning whom Yehovah had charged them that they should not do like them. ¹⁶And they forsook all the commandments of Yehovah their God. And they made them molten images: two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of the heavens, and served Baal. ¹⁷And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire. And they used divination and enchantments. And they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of Yehovah, to provoke him to anger. ¹⁸Therefore Yehovah was very angry with Israel. And He removed them out of his sight. There remained but the tribe of Judah only.

 

When the ten Northern tribes were dispersed, two tribes and parts of the other tribes remained. The main tribes were Judah and Levi. Folks who remained part of this group were called Judeans (later shortened to Jew). Thus, the term Jew was given to those Israelis who remained in that part of Israel.

 

From Where Did the Name Jew Come?

Jew comes from the Hebrew Yehudah meaning He confessed Yah (an abbreviation of He confessed Yehovah).

 

The name Jew was initially seen in the book of Esther, but the people had existed for centuries. Any large group will be identified by its principle component. Europeans historically called citizens of the United States Yankees.

 

Folks will refer to large groups by the name given to one principle group out of that large group. We speak of the Russians without distinctions that the Russians themselves make among themselves. The use of Jew fits this pattern.

 

Judah’s Captivity

Judah did evil causing them also to be removed from the land of Israel and carried into captivity in Babylon.

2 Kings 24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city. And his servants besieged it. ¹²And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon—he and his mother and his servants and his princes and his officers. And the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of Yehovah and the treasures of the king’s house. And he cut all the vessels of gold that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Yehovah in pieces, as Yehovah had said. ¹⁴And he carried away all Jerusalem and all the princes and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land. ¹⁵And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officers and the mighty of the land—he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

 

The two sections of Judah and Israel both did wrong, but the ‘Israel’ section was far more ‘liberal’ in evildoing. Thus, Yehovah took that section first. When Judah became as evil, Yehovah made sure they also went into captivity. Thus, both groups ended up in the same place at the same time: unified in captivity!

Daniel 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto Jerusalem and besieged it. ²And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, and a part of the vessels of the House of God. And he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god. And he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god.

 

 

Israel’s Return to Jerusalem

Ezra 1:1 And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, Yehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia that the word of Yehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished. And he made a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also in writing, saying, ² “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: Yehovah the God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. And He has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem that is in Judah. ³Who in you are from all His people? His God shall be with him! And he shall go up to Jerusalem that is in Judah and build the House of Yehovah the God of Israel. He is God Who is at Jerusalem!”

 

Cyrus (his name being Coresh in Hebrew) was very unusual among leaders. He knew that Yehovah is God, and he knew that Yehovah had assigned him to send the Israelis to Jerusalem to build a House for Him!

Ezra 2:1 And these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city…

 

Some believe that the Jews/Israelis lost their identity in the Babylonian captivity. The above text indicates that they went everyone to his city. If they lost their identity in 70 years, how would they know to which city to return? Jews don’t forget anything in seventy years!

Ezra 2:64 The whole congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty ⁶⁵besides their servants and their maids of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred singing men and singing women.

 

This text gives the number of returners. The fraction of all Israel is quite small. The number continued to increase up to Messiah’s time. These Israelis were the first to return to Israel to prepare for the times of Messiah when Israel would be quite thickly populated. Tribal identities continued. Even Paul knew of which tribe he was.

 

Exactly How Much Land is in Israel?

Numbers 34:1 And Yehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ² “Command the children of Israel. And say unto them, ‘When ye come into the land of Canaan—this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance—the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof, ³then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward. ⁴And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin. And the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon. ⁵And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt. And the goings out of it shall be at the sea. ⁶And the western border: ye shall even have the great sea for a border. This shall be your west border. ⁷And this shall be your north border: ye shall point out for you mount Hor from the great sea. ⁸Ye shall point out from mount Hor unto the entrance of Hamath. And the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad. ⁹And the border shall go on to Ziphron. And the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan. This shall be your north border. ¹⁰And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham. ¹¹And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall descend and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. ¹²And the border shall go down to Jordan. And the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea. This shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.’”

 

If you take the time to map this using a good set of maps, you will see exactly what the borders will be. Keep in mind that the Bible describes land area changes during the Tribulation so that the Land of Israel will be larger, but with the very same borders.

 

Separating the People of Israel from the Land of Israel is not reasonable, though Yehovah will throw the Israelis off that land a number of times before they permanently possess it. Some have attempted to set up alternate ‘promised lands’ for Israel. These always fail.

 

Who Owns the Land?

Yehovah promised the land described above to Avraham. He later confirmed it to Isaac and then to Jacob.

Genesis 15:18 Yehovah made a covenant with Abram in the same day, saying, “I have given this land unto thy seed from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates—¹⁹The Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites ²⁰and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaims ²¹and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

 

Avraham only had claim to the cave of Machpelah and its field during his lifetime, a small portion he bought from the sons of Heth to bury his wife.

 

The promise of his owning the entire land has not yet been fulfilled; therefore it is a future event.

Isaiah 14:1 For Yehovah will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel. And He will set them in their own land. And the strangers shall be joined with them.

 

The land is

• Avraham’s land
• Isaac’s land
• Jacob’s land (the same as Israel’s land)
• Messiah’s land
• Yehovah’s land

The Israelis will be the permanent occupants of the land once they have become entirely and permanently righteous as the following text declares. Yehovah will gather them from all the countries and bring them to Israel.

Jeremiah 23:3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. ⁴And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith Yehovah. ⁵Behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch. And a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶Judah shall be saved in his days, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby he shall be called, YEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. ⁷Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, that they shall no more say, “Yehovah lives Who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” ⁸but “Yehovah lives Who brought up and Who 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.

 

 

Israel Permanently Gets the Land

Jeremiah 7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yehovah, saying, ² “Stand in the gate of Yehovah’s House and proclaim this word there. And say, ‘Hear the word of Yehovah, all Judah that enter in at these gates to worship Yehovah! ³Thus saith Yehovah of hosts the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. ⁴Trust ye not in lying words, saying, ‘The temple of Yehovah! The temple of Yehovah! The temple of Yehovah are these!’ ⁵For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour, ⁶oppress not the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and don’t walk after other gods to your hurt, ⁷then I will cause you to dwell in this place in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”’”

 

The conditions for permanently dwelling in the land should be obvious. If the Israelis are sinning while on the Land of Israel, they can only look forward to being evicted by violence.

Isaiah 60:18 (literally rendered) “Violence will not be further heard in thy land, devastation and breaking in thy borders. And thou shalt call Salvation [fem.] thy walls and thy gates, Psalm.¹⁹The sun will not further be to thee for a daily light. And the moon will not lighten to thee for her shining. And Yehovah will be to thee for light of Hider, and thy Gods for thy brightness. ²⁰Thy sun shall not further come [go down], and thy moon will not be gathered! For Yehovah will be for the light of Hider to thee, and the days of thy mourning shall be avenged [from peace]! ²¹And thy people—all of them are righteous to Hider! They shall inherit Land forever! His planting is the doing of my hands to-brighten-Self! ²²The little-[one] will be to a thousand. And the young-[one] to a powerful race. I, Yehovah, I will rush her in her time!”

 

Israelis will have far more benefits than being free from eviction! Yehovah will be the very light of that place. This text is describing the Millennium, though it may seem to be describing the New Earth. A reader could tell this because of verse 20 in which avenging is being described, and the word okug, olam being used that signifies Hider, a timing that does not go beyond this planet, and a potential description of Yehovah who Hides at the present time, but won’t hide on the New Earth. No avenging will be possible on the New Earth since all are Saints.

 

Israel Must be Righteous

Ezekiel 37:21 And say unto them, “Thus saith the Lord Yehovah, ‘Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the races whither they are gone. And I will gather them on every side. And I will bring them into their own land. ²²And 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 no more be two nations, neither shall they any more at all be divided into two kingdoms. ²³And they shall not any more defile themselves with their idols nor with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions. And I will save them out of all their dwelling places in which they have sinned. And I will cleanse them. So shall they be my people, and I will be their God. ²⁴And David my servant is king over them! And they all shall have one shepherd. And they shall walk in my judgments and observe my statutes, and do them. ²⁵And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, in which your fathers dwelt. And they shall dwell therein—they and their children and their children’s children forever. And my servant David is their prince forever. ²⁶And I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them. And I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. ²⁷And my Tabernacle shall be with them. Indeed I will be their God and they shall be my people. ²⁸And the races shall know that I Yehovah do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.”

 

Yehovah will raise King David from the dead and place him as King over Israel even while Messiah is King of all Kings of the earth. Israel will be righteous. The consequences of being unrighteous with a totally righteous King who is also God would be deadly.

 

Did the Law Save the Israelis?

ONE_AIM_LAW.html 

 

The above link is currently to a document that discusses the Torah (Teaching) and its goals. The Law (better rendered Teaching) cannot save anyone, and it did not save the Israelis. If anything could have saved the Israelis, Messiah’s sacrifice would have been in vain, a waste of innocent blood.

 

Was the Law Done Away With at the Cross?

Law_Done_Away.html 

 

The above link discusses this question in detail. If the Law consists of at least the first five books of the Bible (five books of Moses) and if it has been abolished, the Bible has been also abolished since the rest of the Bible depends on the continuance of the Truth of the first five books.

 

You say, “All this is well and good, but what does it have to do with me?”

While many preach that the kingdom is at hand today, they overlook or ignore many texts that give information about events that must take place before Messiah will set up his kingdom on earth.

 

That is not to say the rapture of Saints can not take place at any time. I see no text that must be fulfilled before this can take place. However texts give us information about many events that will take place before Messiah’s kingdom is on earth. These events will take many centuries. Israel and the Jews are always the central focus of these events.

Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem that kills the prophets and stones them who are sent unto thee! How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under wings, and ye would not! ³⁸Behold, 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 Who comes with the name Yehovah!’”

 

The Israelis who inhabit Jerusalem are the only ones who can call for Messiah’s return: “ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes with the name Yehovah!’” This must take place in its time. Many texts would be skipped, and thus violated if this were it to take place before its time. Yehovah has given us the information about these events in the Bible in order for us to know what will happen. By reading the text careful the timing of these events can be seen. No event described in the Bible will be skipped.

Luke 13:34 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem that kills the prophets and stones them who are sent unto thee! How often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen her brood under wings, and ye would not! ³⁵Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. And verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me until the time come when ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes with the name Yehovah!’”

 

There will be no second coming of Messiah until the Jews in Jerusalem call Him. There can be no resurrection, no setting up the kingdom and no Emmanuel on earth until the Jews of Jerusalem call Him back declaring Him to be the one with the Name Yehovah!

 

What does this have to do with you?

 

If you or anyone has a legitimate claim of faith in the Bible and its God and Messiah, you will recognize that the plan of God is anchored concretely in the Jews. Messiah setting up his kingdom, is contingent upon the Jews and only in the Jews of Jerusalem being born of God and recognizing that Messiah has the Name Yehovah.

 

Doing away with the Jews does away with the Hope, the resurrection, the return of Messiah and everlasting life on the New Earth.

Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he who hath part in the first resurrection. The second death hath no power on such, but they shall be priests of God and of Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

 

There can be no first resurrection of Saints (apart from Messiah’s resurrection) without Messiah’s return. Messiah’s return is hinged on the Jerusalem Jews calling Him as quoted above. The above text indicates that the resurrection of the dead Saints (first resurrection) occurs prior to the thousand-year reign of Messiah (the Millennium). Many are confused on this point and all other points of timing because they are sloppy readers of the Bible, or worse, because they desire to replace the Jews as central to the plan of the Biblical God.

 

Great and Terrible Day of Yehovah

Yehovah will set the Tribulation upon the Israelis because of Israel’s refusal to hearken to the Torah. That is how important the Torah will continue to be to the end of this planet. A theology that does away with the Torah does away with the plan of God, and therefore does away with Yehovah.

1 Peter 4:17 For the time is that judgment must begin at the House of God. And if first at us, what is the end of them who don’t obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸And if the righteous scarcely are saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

 

The Tribulation will then be placed upon the whole planet. All the races will see and experience that Tribulation of Yehovah because they will set themselves against Israel because of the Tribulation!

 

They will think that being rid of Yehovah and His followers is the only way to unify man and have peace on earth. Some from the races will be exceptions and will be or become friends of the Jews.

 

The following text demonstrates how the Tribulation will lead the nations of the world to one particular slaughter. The first part describes changes in the sun and moon:

Joel 2:31 The sun shall be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of Yehovah comes.

 

This next part describes that Salvation and deliverance will still be open and possible:

³²And it shall be that whosoever shall call upon the name of Yehovah shall be saved, for deliverance shall be in mount Zion and in Jerusalem as Yehovah hath said, and for the residue whom Yehovah shall call.

 

Next comes the gathering of all nations for judgment, and why:

^3:1For behold, in those days and in that time when I shall turn again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, ²I will also gather all the nations. And I will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of my people and mine inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations. And they have parted my land! ³And they have cast lots for my people! And they have given a boy for a harlot and sold a girl for wine, and have drunk it.

 

Yehovah then focuses on Tyre, Zidon and Phillistia (referring to the Palestinian territories) two cities of Lebanon and one in the area of Israel:

⁴Yea also, what have ye to do with me, Tyre and Zidon and all the districts of Philistia? Will ye render me a recompense? But if ye recompense me, I will swiftly and speedily bring your recompense upon your own head ⁵because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my beautiful pleasant things, ⁶and ye have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem unto the children of the Greeks that ye might remove them far from their border. ⁷Behold, I will raise them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will bring your recompense upon your own head! ⁸And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah. And they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off. For Yehovah hath spoken.

 

Yehovah prods the races (nations) to come to war against Him (so that He can slaughter them):

⁹Proclaim this among the nations! Prepare war! Arouse the mighty men! All the men of war shall draw near! They shall come up! ¹⁰Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-knives into spears! The weak shall say, ‘I am strong!’ ¹¹Haste ye and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together! Cause thy mighty ones to come down there, Yehovah! ¹²The nations shall rouse themselves and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat! For there will I sit to judge all the nations round about!

 

Yehovah then converses with an unnamed entity to ‘harvest’ (slaughter) these arrogant folks who came against Yehovah in His land:

¹³Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Come! Get you down, for the press is full, the vats overflow! For their wickedness is great. ¹⁴Multitudes! Multitudes are in the valley of decision! For the day of Yehovah is at hand in the valley of decision.

 

He again speaks of the changes in the sun and moon, and now the stars. The removal of light from the stars will give astrologers a bad day.

¹⁵The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

 

The next part explains the location from which Yehovah will speak, and what will result:

¹⁶And Yehovah will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem! And the heavens and the earth shall shake!

 

Yet Yehovah will be a shelter and refuge for a particular group:

And Yehovah will be a shelter for his people and the refuge of the children of Israel! ¹⁷And ye shall know that I, Yehovah, am your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain!

 

The next text explains the radical change in Jerusalem’s ownership:

And Jerusalem shall be holy!

 

Never again will foreigners with war intentions come through Jerusalem:

And no strangers shall pass through her any more.

 

These events will bring a change in crop productivity:

¹⁸And in that day it shall come to pass that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the water-courses of Judah shall flow with waters. And a fountain shall come forth from the house of Yehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

 

Egypt, on the other hand, will be a mess, and Edom will be empty:

¹⁹Egypt shall be a desolation. And Edom shall be a desolate wilderness for the violence against the children of Judah in that they have shed innocent blood in their land.

 

Judah and Jerusalem will last:

²⁰But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

 

Yehovah will prepare the Israelis so that He can dwell among them in Zion without harm to them.

²¹And I will purge them from the blood from which I had not purged them! For Yehovah dwells in Zion!

 

 

When will All Israel be Righteous

This text shows that Israel will recognize Who Messiah is at one point during the tribulation.

Zechariah 12: 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.¹⁰And 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.

 

All Israelis will become righteous at some point between the midpoint of the Tribulation and its end. All Israel will turn in faith to Messiah, and no Israeli will sin from that point to the end of the world.

Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written, “There shall come the Deliverer out of Zion. And He shall turn ungodliness away from Jacob.”

 

Since the teachings of Yehovah will be written in their minds, all Israelis will refuse to sin from that point onward. The tribulation will continue until the seven years are complete. After the Israelis recognize Messiah and turn to him they will be tested. At this time in the tribulation, Yehovah will turn his wrath toward the nations.

Isaiah 45:17 And Israel shall be saved in Yehovah with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end (literally, unto hiders of onward)!

 

Yehovah has promised a new Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah (both being mentioned because of the split in Israel that openly occurred after King Solomon’s reign).

Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days come,” saith Yehovah, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—³²not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they broke although I was an husband unto them,” saith Yehovah. ³³ “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” saith Yehovah. “I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And they shall no more teach every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yehovah!’ For they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them,” saith Yehovah. “For I will forgive their iniquity. And I will no more remember their sin.” ³⁵Thus saith Yehovah Who gives the sun for a light by day, the statutes of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, Who divides the sea when the waves thereof roar—Yehovah of hosts is His Name—³⁶ “If those statutes depart from before me,” saith Yehovah, “the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever!” ³⁷Thus saith Yehovah, “If heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done!” saith Yehovah.

 

Yehovah guarantees that all Israel will be righteous by writing His Teachings on their heart (mind). This writing will occur during the last part of the Tribulation. It will be permanent, and will also occur on every Jewish baby born during the Millennium. No Israeli will have to learn the Torah (Teaching of Yehovah) since it will be ‘built in’ from birth from that time!

Isaiah 60:21 “Thy people also shall all be righteous! They, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, shall inherit the land forever that I may be glorified!”

 

An entirely righteous people will be a very good thing! Since this is spoken of the people of Israel, non-Jews who are part of this people are fully included. (Some churches of today call Jews to join their congregations. How arrogant! Members of those churches should join themselves to the God of Israel! But that would ruin things…)

 

Millennial Reign of Messiah in Jerusalem

Messiah will return to Jerusalem with the saints to rule over all the earth. Those who were born of God who have died will return with Messiah in their immortal bodies. Those who survive the Tribulation will remain in their mortal bodies on earth during the thousand year reign. They include both Israelis and those who helped the Israelis during the Tribulation. All others will be killed at the end of the Tribulation before the kingdom is restored to Israel. (I have seen no text that speaks of non-Jewish Saints who have nothing to do with Israel during the Tribulation.) Saints in mortal bodies will receive their immortal bodies after the Millennium, before they are transferred to the new earth, (unless they are murdered during the Millennium, in which case their murderer will be terribly disappointed when they immediately obtain an immortal body.

 

The following text briefly describes Messiah’s takeover of the planet. He will intentionally make it a very bloody takeover:

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened. And behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him is called Faithful and True. And he doth judge and make war in righteousness. ¹²His eyes as a flame of fire. And many crowns are on his head. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. ¹³And he is clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. And his name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in white and clean fine linen. ¹⁵And a sharp sword goes out of his mouth so that he should smite the nations with it. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God! ¹⁶And he hath on the vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

 

 

Work During Millennial Reign

During the millennial reign of Messiah, King David will rule Jerusalem, and Messiah will rule the whole earth as King of Kings. Avraham will then own the land of Israel.

 

As they were called to be, the Israelis will at this time be a kingdom of priests. They will “go into all the world and preach the gospel” at that time, fulfilling their calling.

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, “Go ye into all the world! And preach the gospel to every creature.”

Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

 

 

Satan is Arrested

Satan will be bound during the millennial reign. He will be loosed at the end of the 1000-year reign for a time.

Revelation 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon—that old serpent who is the Devil and Satan. And He bound him a thousand years ³and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him so that he won’t deceive the nations any more until the thousand years shall be fulfilled. And he must be loosed a little season after that.

 

His arrest will prove that humans don’t need demons to sin. No one can say the devil made me do it. The Millennium will be a time of complete peace, but not a time of complete joy for sinners. They will have to ‘tow the line’ because any sin they commit will immediately be brought to light; they will immediately face that sin’s consequence. Thus, the large population of the planet, years into the Millennium will consist of avid feigners who can feign righteousness and joy while despising Messiah and His terrible totalitarian rule of righteousness!

Psalms 18:44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me. The strangers shall submit (literally, feign) themselves unto me.

Psalms 66:3 Say unto God, “How terrible art thou in thy works! Thine enemies shall submit (literally, feign) themselves unto thee through the greatness of thy power!”

 

Not one of those fakers will be Jewish.

 

The First and Second Resurrections

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones. And they sat upon them. And judgment was given unto them and the souls of them who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast or his image, nor had they received the mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah a thousand years.

 

The folks above obviously suffered during the Tribulation.

 

All the dead non-saints from the time of Adam to the end of the Millennium will participate in the following resurrection. (The first resurrection is of Saints; it is first in type, not in numerical order. The second resurrection is to everlasting damnation.)

⁵But the rest of the dead didn’t live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection! The second death hath no power on such. And they shall be priests of God and of Messiah, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

 

 

Satan’s Last Stand

Revelation 20:7 And Satan shall be loosed out of his prison when the thousand years are expired. ⁸And he shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four quarters of the earth—Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

 

Obviously, a number of folks born during this thousand year period will not like Messiah’s reign.

⁹And they went up on the breadth of the earth. And they compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

 

Obviously, Yehovah didn’t appreciate a number of folks. There is no final battle between Yehovah and Satan, only the final effort by Satan.

 

His efforts will not stand a chance against Yehovah. Yehovah will take swift action against him and any followers.

¹⁰And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.

 

Though the Lake of Fire and Sulfur was made for the Devil and his angels, some humans managed to get in before them!

 

Some religious groups deny an everlasting and burning Lake of Fire and Sulfur. Either they can’t read, they don’t read, or they just don’t believe what they read.

 

They will believe it means what is says when they feel the heat of their everlasting damnation.

 

Satan’s Final Abode

Satan, the archenemy of the Jews, will be loosed for a short time at the end of the Millennial reign. He will be thrown alive into the lake of fire that Yehovah prepared for the devil and his angels after losing one more attempt (shown in the text above). Those not born of God will accompany him into that Lake of Fire (shown below).

 

The Antichrist who is depicted by one of the two beasts of Revelation and the False Prophet depicted by the other beast will be first into the Lake of Fire and Sulfur. Their attempts to annihilate the Jews and the God of the Jews will bring this ‘reward’.

Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them who worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

 

Two fallen angels, Death and Sheol/Hades will also be cast into that damnation. Israel and all Saints will see death swallowed up in victory.

Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

 

New Heavens and New Earth

Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. And there was no more sea. ²And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

 

See the role that Jerusalem continues to play even after this planet is annihilated!

³And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men! And He will dwell with them! And they shall be His people! And God himself shall be with them, their God!

 

Yehovah has always determined to dwell with humans.

⁴ “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death or sorrow or crying. Nor shall there be any more pain. For the former things are passed away.” ⁵And he Who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new!” And He said unto me, “Write! For these words are true and faithful.”

 

John the writer is Jewish. He was given an advanced tour of the Tribulation, and his tour guide is a Jewish prophet. (See if you can detect how we discovered this using the text in Revelation.)

 

John’s reaction to the Tribulation is not like Daniel’s reaction, and for good reason. Daniel was sickened at the violence and bloodshed that Israel would sustain. The vengeance of Yehovah against Israel’s enemies that John saw made him glad. The Book of Revelation describes that vengeance.

⁶And he said unto me, “It is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end!

 

(I suspect that He spoke Hebrew, and said, “I am Alef and Tof, the beginning and the end!”)

I will freely give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the waters of life. ⁷He who overcomes shall inherit all things. And I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

 

That water is literal and wet. Folks will freely drink the water.

 

Holy Jerusalem

The following text describes the future Jerusalem in some detail. It is unlike anything that has been on this planet.

Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain. And he showed me that great city—the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God ¹¹having the glory of God. And her light is like unto a most precious stone—even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. ¹²And she had a great and high wall. She had twelve gates and twelve angels at the gates. And names written thereon are of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. ¹³On the east are three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates and on the west three gates.

 

Yehovah will not permit a diminishing of the centrality of His People Israel from His plan and construction even on the New Earth.

¹⁴And the wall of the city had twelve foundations. And the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are in them.

 

Which twelve?

¹⁵And he who talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city and her gates and her wall. ¹⁶And the city lies foursquare. And the length is as large as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

 

A furlong is 1/8 of a mile. 12,000 furlongs is 1500 miles. This city is a cube with 1500-mile sides.

¹⁷And he measured her wall, a hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man—that is, of the angel. ¹⁸And the building of the wall of it was jasper. And the city is pure gold like unto clear glass.

 

This text indicates that truly pure gold is clear like crystal.

¹⁹And the foundations of the wall of the city are garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation is jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; ²⁰the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

 

You will have difficulty if you attempt to positively identify the precious stones above. They seem to elude definite identification at this time. (Future discoveries may clarify this.)

²¹And the twelve gates are twelve pearls. Every several gate was of one pearl.

 

Those are twelve big pearls.

 

And the street of the city is pure gold as it were transparent glass. ²²And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are her Temple. ²³And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it.

 

Do not assume the lack of a sun and moon. The text only stated that there was no need because of the light from the glory of God in Jerusalem.

And the Lamb is her light. ²⁴And the nations of them who are saved shall walk in the light of it.

 

Those who think there will be no races haven’t believed this text. A nation is a race in the Bible.

 

And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

 

Kings besides Messiah will reign on the New earth and will live in their own lands outside of Jerusalem.

²⁵And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there.

 

Jerusalem will be a 24-hour lively city.

²⁶And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. ²⁷And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles or works abomination or is a lie, but they who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. ^22:1And he showed me a pure river of waters of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. ²In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river is the tree of life that bare twelve fruits, yielded her fruit every month.

 

That is one big tree! It’s trunk straddles the river! It has twelve different kinds of fruit and it bears that fruit year round. Even the leaves will be beneficial and will be used.

 

One can find a description that sounds very similar to this in Ezekiel 47:12:

Ezekiel 47:12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

 

This describes various fruit trees, however, and not the Tree of the Lives.

 

And the leaves of the tree are for the servicing of the nations. ³And there shall be no more curse. But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. And his servants shall serve him.

 

The New Earth will be a place to work. Yehovah designed humans and all His creation to work. (That does not eliminate rest.)

⁴And they shall see his face. And his name is in their foreheads. ⁵And there shall be no night there. And they need no candle, neither light of the sun. For the Lord God gives them light.

 

This ‘light’ issue is very important, shown by the amount of mention it receives.

 

And they shall reign forever and ever.

 

Eating of the Tree of Life

Revelation 22:10 And he saith unto me, “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book. For the time is at hand. ¹¹He who is unjust, he shall be unjust still. And he who is filthy, he shall be filthy still. And he who is righteous, he shall be righteous still. And he who is holy, he shall be holy still.

 

Just before Messiah returns, each person will remain in his or her own immorality or righteousness. Turning at the very last moment will not occur.

¹²And behold, I come quickly!

 

Messiah’s return to the Jews in Jerusalem on Mount Zion and to all Saints who will be gathered there will be at a very rapid speed.

 

And my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.

 

Rewards will be in the form of work assignments! That is confirmed in at least one of the parables.

¹³I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. ¹⁴Blessed are they who do His commandments so that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city.

 

Those who do His commandments (even if they didn’t know Him) will have the right to the tree of life and will enter into that New Jerusalem. The ‘Sheep-Goat Judgment’ articulates this.

 

Conclusion

While many know something about the Jews—usually how they messed up, not many know that Messiah will again offer the kingdom to the Israelis foreknowing that they will accept it and will be fully prepared for it. They will fulfill all that Yehovah called them to be: a righteous, holy nation, a royal priesthood. They will be Yehovah’s obedient people forever.

Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Isaiah 61:9 And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are a seed that Jehovah hath blessed.

 

There will be no doubt by anyone that Yehovah has blessed the Jews. When they fulfill their calling they will do great works and will amaze everyone with their knowledge and skills.

1 Peter 2:4 …to whom coming, a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God, precious. ⁵Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. ⁶Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay a chief, elect, precious corner stone in Zion. And he who believes on Him shall not be confounded”—⁷precious unto you who believe, therefore, but unto them who are disobedient: the stone that the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner ⁸and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence who stumble at the word, being disobedient (whereunto also they were appointed). ⁹But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a segregated people so that ye shall show forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light ¹⁰who are not a people in past times, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.