The great return

The Paris terror attacks have had a serious effect on Jewish people living in the UK.  Home Secretary, Theresa May, upon recognising that many Jewish people are afraid to stay in the UK in the light of recent events on our doorstep, remarked that we must redouble our efforts to wipe out Antisemitism amid fears in the Jewish community that they could be the next victims of a murderous attack by Islamist fanatics.

Lord Jonathan Sacks told Sky News:

After what happened in Paris you are beginning to get British Jews asking, Will I be safe going to synagogue or going to a Jewish shop.  Will my children be safe in a Jewish school? There can be no doubt that there is an anxiety now among British Jews which is pretty much at a high in my lifetime.

It’s inevitable that some of our Jewish neighbours will be prompted to return to Israel before they become possible victims of a similar attack here.  Secular Jews such as Melanie Phillips spend more time in Israel these days, which, she says, feels safer because Israel is confronting the threat it faces.

With an increase in the Muslim population of France, the number of Jewish people leaving France is increasing year by year; last year it was at a high of around 7,000 and 15,000 or even more are expected to emigrate this year.  Is it just a reaction to dangerous circumstances, or is there more to this increase in emigration? 

After nearly 2000 years of living scattered throughout the nations, without a homeland, the Jewish desire to return to the land from which their ancestors came was kindled largely by persecution.  The first Aliyah (return to the land) occurred in the late nineteenth century.  In 1882, according to the Jewish census records, there were only about 24,000 Jewish residents of ‘Palestine’ living in seventeen agricultural colonies at that time.

Theodor Herzl, a young secular Viennese Jew, sensed an urgency to establish a safe place for the Jewish people when he saw Europe’s growing hostile attitude towards them, and he established the Zionist movement in 1897.  In anticipation, at the first meeting, a national flag was selected for Israel, and so was the national anthem – Hatikvah (the hope).  A Jewish National Bank and a Land Bank were created with which to begin buying land in the area that would become Israel.  Herzl predicted (correctly, as it turned out) that Israel would be a nation within 50 years.

The next half century saw highs and lows as far as the future of Israel as a nation is concerned.  The Balfour Declaration in 1917, promising a homeland for the Jews was a high.  The delegation by the British to an Arab government over much of the land that had biblically been promised to Israel, and the Arab’s antagonistic attitude to the Jews, were a low.  During this time, several Aliyahs took place, and the number of Jews in Palestine increased dramatically, despite some serious setbacks.

The return to the land of their fathers was a God-given desire, a kindling of prophetic words spoken thousands of years previously.  The land was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Gen 15:1-20, 26:3, 35:12) and reiterated to Joshua (Jos 1:4).  The covenant was to be valid for a thousand generations (1 Chron 16:15-18).  It was God’s land, and living in it carried certain conditions.  The penalty for Israel’s unfaithfulness to God was being uprooted from the land, first by the Assyrians, then by the Babylonians.  Whilst some Jews returned to rebuild in the days of Cyrus of Persia, Palestine was occupied territory and was a Roman province by the time of Jesus.  Seventy years later, the Romans sacked Jerusalem and massacred the Jews.  They scattered over the face of the earth – aliens and strangers in the nations.

History is littered with atrocities against the Jews, which have accompanied them through the years, but it was largely the pogroms in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe at the end of the nineteenth century which provoked them to return to Israel and make a life there.  By so doing, they were beginning to fulfil the words of Ezekiel:

I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone.  I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.  I will make them one nation in the land (Ezek 37:21,22)

The return of the dispersed people of Israel was to be from the four quarters of the earth (Is 11:12).  The north was specifically pointed out as a land from which many immigrants would come.  Today, one out of every seven Israelis is Russian.

At the time the State of Israel was formed, Israel’s population was less than 1 million.  By 1973 it was still less than 3 million.  Today the total population has reached 6 million, of which approximately 5 million are Jewish.  In the 50 years of Israel’s history, her people have returned from over 100 nations and have endured six wars.

With a rise in Antisemitism coinciding with the push for a Palestinian state, we’re set to see many more Jews uprooting and returning to Israel.  Whatever the personal rationale for emigrating, God’s word is being fulfilled.

There are those who believe that an End Time sign will be the day when every Jew will return to the land of Israel.  Ezekiel speaks of a time when they will gather to their own land, not leaving any behind (Ezek 39:28).  Not long ago we would have thought French Jews were settled and secure in France, and we would have imagined that British Jews felt totally secure and settled here.  Now, that simply isn’t true.  Likewise, the day may soon dawn when American Jews, for example, are prompted to return to Israel.  America is probably the place where until now Jews have felt most ‘at home’ and therefore reluctant to think about uprooting.

God’s word is being fulfilled in our day.  Keep watch, for the days of the Gentiles are coming to an end and the scene is being set for the final days of history before Jesus returns to Jerusalem to be welcomed by the Jewish believers.  

Comments

There are currently no comments on this post

Post a Comment

Your comment will have to be approved by a site administrator before it is shown on the site so please be patient.