In Psa. 22:30, we read: "A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation." And in Psa. 24:6: "This is the generation of them that seek Him.” In Prov. 30:11-14, the generation of the righteous and the generation of the wicked are clearly distinguished. Hence we conclude that the generation of the Israelites were not only to see the destruction of Jerusalem, but the COMING of Christ (at the revelation) and the end of the age. Mat. 24:3. And their wonderful preservation, as a distinct people, through all the persecutions, vicissitudes and wanderings of the past eighteen centuries down to the present moment, is a standing miracle, attesting the truth of God's word, and assuring us of His purposes in their future history. Said Frederick the Great to his chaplain: "Doctor, if your religion is a true one, it ought to be capable of very brief and simple proof. Will you give me an evidence of its truth in ONE WORD?" The good man answered, "Israel." Other nations come and go, but Israel remains. She passes not away. God says of her, "For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer." Isa. 54:7-8. eration? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows. Mat. 16:4. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. Luke 9:41. And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. Luke 11:49. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 50. That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51. From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Phil. 2:15. That ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world, Also Mark 8:38. Luke 7:31; 11:29, 30, 31, 32: 16:8; 17:25. Acts 2:40. CHAPTER XV. Israel Is to Be Restored. But, perhaps, you say: "I don't believe the Israelites are to be restored to Canaan, and Jerusalem rebuilt.” Dear reader! have you read the declarations of God's word about it? Surely nothing is more plainly stated in the Scriptures. We would that we had space to quote the passages, but we can only give you a portion of the references. We beg of you to read them thoughtfully. Divest yourself of prejudice and preconceived notions, and let the Holy Spirit show you, from His word, the glorious future of God's chosen people, "who are beloved" (Rom. 11:28), and dear unto Him as "the apple of His eye." Zech. 2:8. 1st. God calls Abraham. Gen. 12:1.1 2nd. God's promise to Abraham. Gen. 12:2-7. 12:1. (1) Gen. Now the Lord had 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 of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families' of the earth be blessed. 6. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and Gen. 13:14-17.2 Gen. 15:18. Gen. 17:8. Gen. 26:1-5. there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. (2) Gen. 13:14. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; 15. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17. Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 4th. The land partially possessed. 1 Kings 4:21. 5th. Punishment prophesied for disobedience. 39; Deut. 4:22; 28:15; 31:16. Lev. 26:14 6th. Israel's sins. Judges 2:11-19; 1 Sam. 8:6; 2 Kings 21: 11; 2 Kings 24:3; Jer. 15:4; and many others, ESPECIALLY Mat. 27:25. 7th. The promises to be remembered and restoration assured: Lev. 26:40-45, especially verses 42, 44, 45.3 (3) Lev. 26:44. And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God. 45. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that might be their God: I am the Lord. I (4) Deut. 4:30. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31. (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God ;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. (5) Deut. 30:1. And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, 2. And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice, according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 3. That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. 4. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 5. And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. 6. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. (6) 2 Sam. 7:10. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime. 10:20-23, especially verses 21, 22. 11:10-16, especially verse 11, SECOND TIME. 27:12-13.8 49:13-26, especially verses 22, 23. 60:1-22, especially verses 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 18, 21. 61:1-11. 62:1-12. 66 65:8-10. 44 65:17-25. 66 66:19-24. (7) Amos 9:11. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. 13. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. 14. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God. (8) Isa. 27:12. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. in 13. And it shall come to pass that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. (9) Jer. 16:14. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 15. But, the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Jer. 23:3-8, especially verses 3, 4, 6. 31:1-40, especially verses 8, 9, 10, 12, 28, 33, 38. 34:7-17, especially verses 7, 8, 14, 15, 16. 44:28. 46:27-28. 50:4-8. 50:17-20. Ezek. 6:8-10, especially verse 9. 20:36-44, especially verses 40, 41, 42, 43, 44.10 66 66 28:24-26, especially verses 25, 26. 66 66 34:11-31, especially verses 11, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 28. 37:1-28, especially verses 11, 12, 14, 16 to 28. 39:23-29, especially verses 25, 26, 27, 29. Chapters 40 to 48 the New Temple. See the order in which the tribes shall be settled, Ch. 48. Micah 4:1-7. 7:8-20, especially verses 12, 19, 20.11 16. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters. and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. (10) Ezek. 20:40. For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. 41. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. 42. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. 43. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. 44. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God. (11) Mich. 7:18. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. |