Is the 1948 Restoration of the State of Israel a Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy?
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I often find inspiration for a new article or Bible study when I see someone post something on social media that I consider to be in error. We should be lovers of truth. When we see something not according to the Scriptures, we should want to correct in love those that are in error.
One of my friends wrote on Facebook:
On May 14, 1948 Israel was reborn as a nation after 2,000 years. No one can deny that this was truly a unique event in human history. Never have a people who lost their statehood later become a nation after such a long period of time! Furthermore, this was the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy!
I commented on that Facebook post, “Please give us the reference of that prophecy.”
He gave me several scriptures, but the only ones that could possibly apply are,
Zechariah 1:12 “Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?”
Ezekiel 36:24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Zechariah 1:12 is clearly referring to the restoration of the Jews in the land of Israel a few years after the 70 years of captivity. Ezekiel was a contemporary of the prophet Daniel during their captivity in Babylon. Ezekiel 36:24 would clearly be referring to Israel’s restoration degreed by King Cyrus. The decree of Cyrus that the Jews can go back to Judah and Jerusalem and rebuild the temple was given about 537 BC. Israel was fully restored by the time of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Why then would someone take prophecies that were fulfilled by the time of Christ and say they were fulfilled 2000 years after Christ? This is one of the doctrines of John Nelson Darby’s dispensationalism! Dispensationalism makes a distinction between the Church and Israel. The Bible tells me the Church is a continuation of true Israel, the people of God.
The article “Was the Restoration of Israel in 1948 Prophetically Significant?” brings out a good point:
“…the implication of positing 1948 as the fulfillment of Bible prophecy: It means that Israel remains God’s covenant people. There is no way out of this. You cannot posit the events of 1948 as “prophetically significant” without thereby affirming that those events were in fulfillment of God’s covenant promises to Israel. If God’s covenant promises to Israel are / were being fulfilled, then, prima facie, Israel remains God’s covenant people. So, if the restoration of Israel in 1948 was prophetically significant, there is no question that Israel remains God’s covenant people today.”
I believe the Bible makes it abundantly clear that God’s covenant people today are only those who hold faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and their Lord Who died on the Roman cross for their sins to give them eternal life.
John 1:12-13 But as many as received him (Jesus, the Word), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: {13} Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The Book of Hebrews makes it clear that those in Christ Jesus are under a new covenant:
Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Did God give the children of Israel the Land of Canaan unconditionally?
NO! It was conditional on their obedience!
Leviticus 18:26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
Leviticus 20:22 Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.
I searched on the Internet for a meme that said the 1948 restoration of the state of Israel is not a fulfillment of prophecy. I couldn’t find any I liked as is, so I took one and modified it.
Did you know that the so-called Star of David is actually the symbol of the god Remphan?
Related posts:
How Israel-Based Prophetic Futurism Breeds Mass Misinterpretation Of Bible Prophecy
Israel is the Church & the Church is Israel
What Does the Bible Say About the Future of Israel?
Famous Preacher and American Politician, Chuck Baldwin, changes his position on the 70th Week of Daniel and the State of Israel
Preterism, Futurism, Historicism – Three Schools of Interpretation of Bible Prophecy
God’s Promise to Return Israel to Their Own Land Fulfilled Over 2000 Years Ago
Are The Church and Israel Two Different Peoples of God?