Divine Reclamation Project

April 3, 2002



We who live in this era have the privilege of witnessing a new phase in God's redemptive plan for history. The events of the last several decades, and indeed even the tragedies of last several days, are all integrated into an overall plan of Divine design. It is a plan with Israel at the focal point, and a plan that has been openly disclosed to us. As foretold by the prophets, the Jewish people have been brought back to the land He promised on oath to their forefathers. This return is the first step of their ultimate reconciliation and consolation under the rule of the Messiah, King of the Jews. Understanding this Divine reclamation project is a key to understanding the significance of events in the Middle East today.

"I will signal for them and gather them in. Surely I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as before. Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will return." (Zechariah 10:8-9 NIV)

The clarity with which this prophecy describes the historical details of the Diaspora and its aftermath is astonishing. Even after the centuries of Jewish exile, "they will remember Me, they will survive, they will return." No other peoples have been likewise scattered for so long among the nations and retained their national identity. But God kept his promise, and in the late 1800s began "signaling" for them to return. The Zionist movement, the phenomenon of aliyah, and the continual course of wars and violence with which the Arabs have unsuccessfully attempted to thwart this process all stand as a witness to the reliability of what God says.

Though the nation of Israel was officially formed in 1948, the reclamation of the land deeded to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has been a gradual, ongoing process. In 1967, before the Six Day War, Israel had no plans to capture new territory. But Syria, Egypt, and other Arab nations were threatening with unmistakably menacing maneuvers. Israel had to act, and hindsight has proven they were correct. Their initial intentions in launching the preemptive air strike against Egypt were only to thwart the deadly threat had been mounting. But God had better intentions, namely, that some of what was left undone in 1948 should be accomplished. The capture of Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and the Golan Heights was a further step in God's meticulously outlined plan for restoration of the land to Israel. But it is by no means the final step, territorially.

A funny thing happened on the way to that final step, however. Some leaders in Israel, listening to the incessant clamor of the nations maintaining that Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria is illegal and illegitimate, decided that they knew better than God how to deal with the issue of the land He had promised them. They agreed to the unsound principles of the Oslo accords, that most or all of that land should once again be relinquished.

Why do I insist that these Israeli leaders thought they knew more than God? It is because they have contravened his explicit instructions. But when we speak about God's intentions or instructions, are we being ridiculously presumptuous? After all, how could we know what's on His mind? We could not, of course, unless He decided to reveal some of His thoughts to us. The message of God, as Moses said in the Torah, is not hidden "up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us.... No, the word is very near you." (Deuteronomy 30:12) That word is as near as the Bible on your bookshelf.

Though many wish to relegate the Bible to status as a quaint historical document with no relevance to today's events, it does speak with amazing cogency and clarity about the dilemma that Israel now faces. The drama of the last 100 years, the unfolding of God's plan for the restoration and consolation of Israel, is a fascinating study for all who have a heart for God's oracles. For in this drama, we observe God's astonishing sagacity as presaged by the prophets.

If the Lord God of Israel has purposed, can anyone annul it? No. Long ago, He decided what would happen after Israel came back to the land in 1948. And He has declared that those plans include continued expansion of the territorial boundaries of Israel. Just as Israel expanded in 1948 from the boundaries prescribed by the UN partition plan of 1947, and just as Israel expanded in 1967, so also will Israel expand in the next war! Israel may not now understand this, but it is so. How do we know? God has said it:

"Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities." (Isaiah 54:2-3 NIV)

The first statement is a directive, the second a declaration of fact. In the first, God tells Israel to expand its boundaries. In the second, He reiterates that it will in fact occur that way. In light of the current circumstances, the distinction is significant. Israel is not now paying attention to the directive in the first sentence. Despite the Bible prophecies that indicate that Israel will shortly possess more land, Israel is not following through on it. Of course, if the leaders of Israel were to state that territorial expansion is among their objectives, it would upset some international sensibilities. No matter - it is going to happen.

Notice the use of the extremely politically incorrect word "dispossess". When this happens, the international community will be aghast at it. Let them scream in protest all they want -- God's proclamations will be carried out to the smallest detail. The current turmoil that we see in the Middle East is a part of this process. The Oslo accords were unnatural, unworkable, and ungodly in their conception. They are now being Divinely repudiated.

The unpleasantness now occurring in the so-called "occupied territories" is the beginning of the Divine repudiation of the Palestinian fabricated claims. It is true, after all, that the territories of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza are being occupied by those who have no right to be there. But it is the Arabs who are the illegal occupiers.

The Lord revealed this to Ezekiel in stunning detail. Addressing the Palestinians, He accuses them: "For you said, 'The lands of Israel and Judah will be ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care that the LORD is there!' 'Therefore, as surely as I live,' says the Sovereign LORD, 'I will pay back your angry deeds with mine. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. And I will bring honor to my name by what I do to you. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the mountains of Israel.'" (Ezekiel 35:10-12 NLT)

All of the essential elements of the current situation are described here: the hatred and contempt, the violent acts, the defiant and deceitful speech, and the illegal seizure of territory belonging to the Jews. But more than that, it is a deliberate provocation of the Lord God Himself. "You boasted against me and spoke against me without restraint, and I heard it." (Ezekiel 35:13 NIV)

What is God's conclusion and sentence pronounced upon the Palestinians who follow the terrorist Arafat? "I will make you desolate." In the next chapter, God provides a follow-up to this, explaining in detail what will happen to the "West Bank" (the mountains of Israel) after the usurpers have been expelled.

""'But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk upon you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children." (Ezekiel 36:8-12 NIV)

"You will never again deprive them of their children" -- this means that all terrorists will be eliminated from that land and never again use it as a base from which to bereave the mothers of Israel. We can see from that last quotation the level of concern which the Lord expresses about what is now happening in Judea and Samaria. We can also see the generous plans that He has for resettling that land with Jews and prospering those "settlers". But by the time this plan is completely enacted, they will no longer be called "settlers", but instead just "citizens of Eretz Israel."

After the Arab/Muslim opponents have once again been defeated and humiliated, and after Israel has captured yet even more territory (including large chunks of Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria), and after the Jewish people have witnessed how completely these prophecies have been enacted, "then they will know that He is the Lord." This will be yet another step in the wonderful process of their enlightenment, with the inevitable outcome of their acknowledgment of and reconciliation to their God and His Messiah.

Trumpet Sounds 4/3/02