A Prophecy Described in Terms of the Past
by Pastor Robert Bruce Record
Taken from the September-October 1999 issue of
The National Message News and Comments
I would like for us to consider the fact that the prophets, in describing the future restoration of Israel, sometimes describe that future in terms of the past. And the reason is obvious. It was the Divine intent that Israel, upon her divorcement and captivity, be so swallowed up among the nations whither they were scattered as to be no longer known as Israel. They were to become the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” As the generations passed, and as they migrated ever westward, they took on other names and spoke other languages. And while unwittingly assuming these different nationalities, they would fulfill their national destiny and play the role that God had predestined them to play in these last days. While thinking themselves to be Gentiles, they would emerge from the region of the Caucasus Mountains to become the nations of western Europe. And from Western Europe they would be allured to migrate to the New World here on this North American Continent to become the greatest single nation of all time. All this was done in the providence of God preparatory to the Kingdom Age. It has all been accomplished without either Israel or the nations being aware of what was taking place. Had Israel known who she was, and had her enemies known who she was, it would have created problems that were in this way averted.
Now because it was the intent that Israel become lost to the knowledge of mankind and fulfill her national destiny under different names, it was necessary that God keep that identity hidden by speaking of her restoration in symbolic or figurative language. Thus it is that He caused the prophets to speak of Israel’s restoration in terms of the past. Take, for example, the prophecy in Jer. 31:4,5 where we find the LORD saying, “Once more I will build you, O maiden Israel; once more you shall take the tambourine and dance merrily; once more you shall plant vines on Samaria’s slopes, and those who plant them shall enjoy the grapes, with praise to the LORD.” One of the occupations that characterized Israel in the days of the past was that of planting vineyards in Samaria. And from the language of the prophets, what associations our fathers must have had with respect to the sunny, vine covered slopes and hills in that area! The planting of vineyards is thus a symbols of joy and happiness amidst prosperity, contentment and success. It therefore typifies the thriving of other industries that Israel might have when God would re-gather and restore His people. And what I would have us to see is, that God uses this ancient picture of prosperity and contentment to describe the day of Israel’s restoration. The promise of vineyards on the slopes of Samaria is but a type of symbols of the blessing that would come to Israel in a future day. Such a thing should not be thought strange, for when the prophets write of the war that will bring this age to a close, they speak of the use of horses, chariots, swords, spears, and bows and arrows– the instruments of ancient warfare. To imagine that in this day of atomic bombs, guided missiles, tanks and planes, that the nations would resort to such primitive weapons of war, is too absurd for words.
I point these things out because many of the clergy labor under the delusion that the Jews are Israel and that in these last days they are to be regathered back into little Palestine, and they quote certain scriptures dealing with Israel’s restoration which sem to point to old Palestine. But Palestine today is largely a desert waste, and it is inhabited for the most part by Arabs who have lived there for centuries. It is today in the hands of some Zionist Jews whose acts of terrorism are shocking and revolting. Hardly a place of national restoration.
It needs to be pointed out here, that National Israel was to have a new home, a place other than Palestine, for their great national development. And in II Sam. 7-10, once Israel arrived there, they would move no more. There would be no occasion to go ack to the cradle that housed them in their infancy. These are just some of the tings that make the return of Israel to little Palestine an utter absurdity.
To further muddy and confuse the issue before us, there are any number of Kingdom preachers who take the typical promises of Israel’s restoration to little Palestine literally. They would have you believe that a remnant of Israel will return to old Jerusalem, and from there they will rule God’s kingdom nation. But the old Jerusalem is not the new, nor is she in the process of going there. As history testifies, they have been regathered from England and Western Europe to this North American continent, chiefly in America, where they now constitute the beginning of the restoration of the Kingdom of God. Here is the New Promised Land of Milk and Honey. Here is the land with the blessing promised to the birthright house of Joseph. Here is the land to which most of Israel has already been regathered preparatory to their national repentance, and it is marvelous in our eyes if we have eyes to see.
One thing is certain. If national Israel is in “the appointed place” of II Sam. 7:10, and is established in the “top of the mountains” or chief among the nations, and if old Palestine has become the habitation of Arabs and Jews, then the place of Israel’s restoration has already been determined. Once Israel repents and gets back to God, and comes into an experiential knowledge of the redemption that was purchased for here on Calvary, she will then be called, “The city of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” Isa, 60:14. In Isa. 62:12, we read of Israel, “thou shalt be called, ‘Sought out’, ‘A city not forsaken’”. Here, then, is the New Jerusalem. This is where the Kingdom of God is to be set up. Here is where the throne of the Lord will hold sway. Here is the great kingdom nation to which the other nations will come to learn of our God and walk in His ways. Here is where God will bless and prosper His people, and where every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree, and none shall make him afraid. To therefore point to old Palestine as the place of Israel’s restoration is to look in the wrong place. In Jer. 19:10, 11 we are told in clear unmistakable language that God was going to break the city of Jerusalem and its people as you would break an earthen vessel that it could not be made whole again. This destruction took place in 70 AD, and henceforth the New Jerusalem which the old Jerusalem typified, would take its place. It is therefore an act of futility to conceive of old Jerusalem as being the new, or that old Palestine is to be the scene of Israel’s restoration. May God give us eyes to see and ears to hear.
by Pastor Robert Bruce Record
Taken from the September-October 1999 issue of
The National Message News and Comments
I would like for us to consider the fact that the prophets, in describing the future restoration of Israel, sometimes describe that future in terms of the past. And the reason is obvious. It was the Divine intent that Israel, upon her divorcement and captivity, be so swallowed up among the nations whither they were scattered as to be no longer known as Israel. They were to become the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” As the generations passed, and as they migrated ever westward, they took on other names and spoke other languages. And while unwittingly assuming these different nationalities, they would fulfill their national destiny and play the role that God had predestined them to play in these last days. While thinking themselves to be Gentiles, they would emerge from the region of the Caucasus Mountains to become the nations of western Europe. And from Western Europe they would be allured to migrate to the New World here on this North American Continent to become the greatest single nation of all time. All this was done in the providence of God preparatory to the Kingdom Age. It has all been accomplished without either Israel or the nations being aware of what was taking place. Had Israel known who she was, and had her enemies known who she was, it would have created problems that were in this way averted.
Now because it was the intent that Israel become lost to the knowledge of mankind and fulfill her national destiny under different names, it was necessary that God keep that identity hidden by speaking of her restoration in symbolic or figurative language. Thus it is that He caused the prophets to speak of Israel’s restoration in terms of the past. Take, for example, the prophecy in Jer. 31:4,5 where we find the LORD saying, “Once more I will build you, O maiden Israel; once more you shall take the tambourine and dance merrily; once more you shall plant vines on Samaria’s slopes, and those who plant them shall enjoy the grapes, with praise to the LORD.” One of the occupations that characterized Israel in the days of the past was that of planting vineyards in Samaria. And from the language of the prophets, what associations our fathers must have had with respect to the sunny, vine covered slopes and hills in that area! The planting of vineyards is thus a symbols of joy and happiness amidst prosperity, contentment and success. It therefore typifies the thriving of other industries that Israel might have when God would re-gather and restore His people. And what I would have us to see is, that God uses this ancient picture of prosperity and contentment to describe the day of Israel’s restoration. The promise of vineyards on the slopes of Samaria is but a type of symbols of the blessing that would come to Israel in a future day. Such a thing should not be thought strange, for when the prophets write of the war that will bring this age to a close, they speak of the use of horses, chariots, swords, spears, and bows and arrows– the instruments of ancient warfare. To imagine that in this day of atomic bombs, guided missiles, tanks and planes, that the nations would resort to such primitive weapons of war, is too absurd for words.
I point these things out because many of the clergy labor under the delusion that the Jews are Israel and that in these last days they are to be regathered back into little Palestine, and they quote certain scriptures dealing with Israel’s restoration which sem to point to old Palestine. But Palestine today is largely a desert waste, and it is inhabited for the most part by Arabs who have lived there for centuries. It is today in the hands of some Zionist Jews whose acts of terrorism are shocking and revolting. Hardly a place of national restoration.
It needs to be pointed out here, that National Israel was to have a new home, a place other than Palestine, for their great national development. And in II Sam. 7-10, once Israel arrived there, they would move no more. There would be no occasion to go ack to the cradle that housed them in their infancy. These are just some of the tings that make the return of Israel to little Palestine an utter absurdity.
To further muddy and confuse the issue before us, there are any number of Kingdom preachers who take the typical promises of Israel’s restoration to little Palestine literally. They would have you believe that a remnant of Israel will return to old Jerusalem, and from there they will rule God’s kingdom nation. But the old Jerusalem is not the new, nor is she in the process of going there. As history testifies, they have been regathered from England and Western Europe to this North American continent, chiefly in America, where they now constitute the beginning of the restoration of the Kingdom of God. Here is the New Promised Land of Milk and Honey. Here is the land with the blessing promised to the birthright house of Joseph. Here is the land to which most of Israel has already been regathered preparatory to their national repentance, and it is marvelous in our eyes if we have eyes to see.
One thing is certain. If national Israel is in “the appointed place” of II Sam. 7:10, and is established in the “top of the mountains” or chief among the nations, and if old Palestine has become the habitation of Arabs and Jews, then the place of Israel’s restoration has already been determined. Once Israel repents and gets back to God, and comes into an experiential knowledge of the redemption that was purchased for here on Calvary, she will then be called, “The city of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” Isa, 60:14. In Isa. 62:12, we read of Israel, “thou shalt be called, ‘Sought out’, ‘A city not forsaken’”. Here, then, is the New Jerusalem. This is where the Kingdom of God is to be set up. Here is where the throne of the Lord will hold sway. Here is the great kingdom nation to which the other nations will come to learn of our God and walk in His ways. Here is where God will bless and prosper His people, and where every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree, and none shall make him afraid. To therefore point to old Palestine as the place of Israel’s restoration is to look in the wrong place. In Jer. 19:10, 11 we are told in clear unmistakable language that God was going to break the city of Jerusalem and its people as you would break an earthen vessel that it could not be made whole again. This destruction took place in 70 AD, and henceforth the New Jerusalem which the old Jerusalem typified, would take its place. It is therefore an act of futility to conceive of old Jerusalem as being the new, or that old Palestine is to be the scene of Israel’s restoration. May God give us eyes to see and ears to hear.