All the Israelites Will Come Back!

Completeness of Resettlement in the End Times?

by Alexander Zephyr

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Will all Israel return to the Holy Land?

Will there be enough room for all of them?

           This is a question that has received many controversial answers. Some scholars say that it will hardly be possible to accommodate a multi- hundred million people from the Ten Tribes of Israel in the 'tiny' territory of the ancient Promised Land. They accept the idea that many representatives of all twelve Tribes will settle in the Biblical Land of Israel in their tribal allotments in the Messianic Era, but not all Israelites will return to the Land of their fathers. Is the ancient Biblical Land of Israel really that small? We do not think so. The expanded Land of Greater Israel from Nile to Euphrates has enough territory to settle all the Israelites together with the strangers amongst them! There is an opinion that the entire population of the world could be placed in the State of Texas, which consist of 268,820 square miles or 696,200 square kilometers. By comparison, the Biblical Land of Israel is not 'tiny' at all. Its borders will include the Eastern part of Egypt, Sinai, Jordan, the Arabian Peninsula, parts of Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq and Turkey. It is estimated that the Promised Land is eight times the size of Texas. The total population of all the children of Israel is much less than that of the whole world. It would be no problem to accommodate all Israelites on their Land. Especially, as the prophets say, all  the Arab and Muslim enemy-nations surrounding Israel will have been defeated. Their lands will be repossessed by Israelites.

 'Those who laid you waste depart from you.
They that swallowed thee up shall be far away' (Isaiah 49:17, 19).

'They shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left' (Zechariah 12:6).

 'Those who harass Judah shall be cut off' (Isaiah 11:12).

        The proponents of the opposite idea put forward a few Biblical verses trying to prove that it was divinely foreseen that a huge portion of the Israelite population will remain in the countries of their present dwelling. They do not realize or ignore the fact that the prophecies, they rely on, are all about the past. They have been fulfilled at other times. They do not directly relate to the prophecies of final reunification, ingathering and redemption on Mountains of Israel.

          Here are some examples:

                'Thou shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south' (Genesis 28:14).

          Similarly, God said of Joseph: 'Joseph is a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall' (Genesis 49:22).

          These verses are quoted as confirmation of the theory that not all the Israelites will be resettled in the Promised Land; plus Genesis 48:19 where it is said that Ephraim will be greater than Manasseh, and his seed shall become a multitude (Commonwealth) of nations, whereas Manasseh will become the single most powerful nation on  earth. The revisionist "scholars" maintain that these prophecies pertain to the future, and, therefore, a large chunk of the Israelite population will continue to live in their various countries abroad even in the time of the Messianic Era.

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          The simple and plain truth of the above mentioned prophecies is the fact that all of them have been fulfilled precisely at various times in the past! Yes, the Twelve Tribes of Israel and Judah were sent by God into exile to the four corners of the World. Yes, the descendants of Joseph were world colonizing people: Manasseh did become that singular most powerful nation of America, and Ephraim- the very populous Commonwealth of Nations of Great Britain. So what? Where do you learn from this that even a single prophecy indicates that not all Israel will be returned to the Holy Land?

          On the contrary; after dispersion to the lands of their enemies, the Almighty on a quite a few occasions reassured His People that He will return them to the Holy Land at the appointed time, all of them.

          'Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places wither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this Land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of' (Genesis 28:15).

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Another so called 'proof', introduced by some theologians, that many Israelites will not return to the Promised Land and will continue live in their 'appointed places' outside the Land is found in the verse 2 Samuel 7:10:

          'I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. Evil nations will not oppress them as they have done in the past,'

          By adding a few key words such as 'new appointed place', Israel's 'future location', 'move no more', these scholars have argued that there is not enough space to accommodate the vast multitudes of the Twelve Tribes of Israel on the territory of the ancient Promised Land, therefore God appointed them  'new' places outside the borders of the Land of Israel, in the countries where the Ten Tribes in exile have been resident, so that they may live in the place of their own and 'move no more'.

          This interpretation of the Prophecy is wrong. Words were taken out of the contest with intention to change the meaning of the verse. If one were to continue to read the next verse, 2 Samuel 7:11, it will have become clear that the previous verse is a continuation of the present one: There is no such things as a 'new place' and 'new future location' for Israel. The intention of the Prophet's words are very different from this kind of understanding. The plain meaning of the Prophecy is that God was pleased with King David that he had in heart to build a house for Him. God therefore told David that He has it in His heart to make him a house and establish a place of his own.

          ''since the time I appointed Judges over My people Israel. And I will give rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord declares to you that He will make a house for you' (Verse 11).

          The difference between verses 10 and 11 is that in the times of the Judges the Israelites were greatly afflicted and suffered from the hands of the evil nations around them; but now, God declares, He will put an end of it. The land of Canaan will be entirely free of enemy-nations. The Israelites will possess it for themselves, a place of their own. God promises them quietness, peace, prosperity and independence in the Kingdom of Israel under the leadership of Kings David and his son Solomon. That is all.

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There are dozens upon dozens prophecies in the Hebrew Scripture that speak of this same theme of the  Ingathering of all Israel into the God-given Land.

          'Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own Land; and I will make them one nation upon the Mountains of Israel' (Ezekiel 37:21-22).

          If these quoted verses of the Bible still do not satisfy some of our readers that all the Twelve Tribes of Israel will return to the ancient Promised Land, then the following verses definitely nail it:

          'Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own Land, and have left none of them any more there' (Ezekiel 39:28).

              'I will multiply people on you [Mountains of Israel], all the house of Israel, all of it' (Ezekiel 36:10).

          It is just amazing how God repeatedly stresses the very point that not only the Ten Tribes of Israel alone will return to the Promised Land, but all the Twelve Tribes together, all of them will return! The Almighty knew precisely that there would be controversies about the Babylonian Captivity's return and the Last and Final Exodus. Make no mistake, said the Lord, I will gather all My people from their countries in exile, and will have left none of them any more there. End of discussion!

         In the beginning stage of the process of  Ingathering, it seems that there will not be enough room for all the newcomers: 'This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in' (Isaiah 49:20; Zechariah 10:10).

          God advises His People what to do: 'Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes' (Isaiah 54:2). In other words, go ahead, enlarge the curtains of your habitation, bring 'the fist of My Judgments' on the enemy-nations round about and establish the boundaries of the Promised Land, according to My Word.  Israel will have obeyed  perfectly the directives of God and will restore the borders of the Holy Land from the Nile to the Euphrates. As the Lubavitch Rabbi, M.M. Schneerson, said, these Biblical 'Occupied Territories' belong to Israel. There will be more than enough space for all the families of Israel together with the strangers living amongst them.

Regardless of how many nations and countries belonging to Israel exist in their places of exile and how many hundreds of million they may number, after the defeat of Gog and Magog, the Messiah, son of David, will complete the process of the total ingathering of all the Children of Israel to the Holy Land. This will proceed as part of the final redemption of the whole house of Jacob, and they will know their God, all of them. The Twelve Israelite Tribes will have become one nation again, a nation of priests, a light to the World. It will be their Divinely ordained task and destiny to teach and guide the nations by demonstrating righteousness, holiness, kindness, and love of the Almighty to all inhabitants of the earth.

          God will have left none of them any more there. No one member of the Israelite family will be left behind in the countries of their exile!  

 Alexander Zephyr.

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For more on this subject, See:

Debate: "Will All the Israelites Will Come Back?" Completeness of Resettlement in the End Times? http://www.britam.org/DebateComplete.html