Is the tiny nation of Israel the cause of the world’s ills? Of course not! But its existence is why religious murderers are leading unrest around the globe and blaming everything on the Jews.
Jeremiah 16:16 gives us the reason why. The prophet is denouncing his people for their idolatry, but his words extend prophetically far beyond his horizon (600 years BC) to include a remarkable event: the return of the Jews to their God-given country of origin. This has been taking place by degree over the past century.
In the lead-up to verse 16, Jeremiah predicts: “Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that it shall no more be said, ‘The LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt’; but ‘The LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, AND FROM ALL THE LANDS WHERE HE HAD DRIVEN THEM; and I will bring them back into their land that I gave to their fathers.'” This brings us to verse 16:
“Behold, I will send for many fishermen”, says the LORD, “and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them…”
The fishermen were those who, from just before the beginning of the 20th century, drew Jews from all over the world to the land of Israel. This resulted in the founding of the modern nation-state of Israel, and in its recognition as such by the United Nations in 1949.
Today there are about as many Jews outside Israel as there are inside it — many of them in New York City. We are now seeing the “hunters” at work. The jihadist plan is to eradicate the Jews from the face of the earth, but God’s plan is to use these haters to force His people out of the nations and back to the land of Israel.
When there is no hiding-place for them anywhere, they will all be in the one place where God wants them. They will be totally vulnerable to the military powers of the nations around them, and to pressure from every other nation until only the LORD will defend them.
Ezekiel prophesied regathering, reconnecting and reviving of “dry bones” (Ezekiel 37). This took place in the years leading up to the formation of the State of Israel. But in the very next chapter, we read of the End Time event that will follow: an army out of the far north will come “like a storm, covering the land like a cloud…”
Nations standing firm against terrorism will slow the exodus from them, and they will be “fished” rather than “hunted”. But when all regathered to Israel — whether “fished” for or “hunted” from — no nation on earth will defend them, leaving only the LORD to do so.
We may yet live to see the great finale of bible prophecy take place before our very eyes! Good News for those who love God and His exalted Son, Jesus Christ! Meantime, make sure that you find yourself on the right side when the dust settles.
It’s not that today’s Jews are better than any other ethnic group, just that the LORD chose them and promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would forever keep His covenant with them.
That God did so is summed up in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapters 9 to 11. It is also the cause of Paul’s statement in 11:20 that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” And for his inspired doxology — perhaps his greatest — in verses 33-36.