Recovering the Remnant of Israel for the Second Time
Written by Darrell Genzlinger in August 2005Remnant of Israel brought back for the Second Time.
It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. Isaiah 11:11. (The passages quoted here are from NKJV.)
Questions:
What does this mean?Who is 'the remnant'? And who are ‘His people’?
Isaiah calls them His people. I am His (God’s) people, but so is Israel His people, or at the very least, the believing Jews. Isaiah was writing to the Jews of his day. I believe that Israel is the remnant of His people, and they are from the four corners of the earth (Is. 11:12). They are a remnant from all over the earth, not just from a certain geographical area.
What is meant by ‘that day’?
Isaiah starts out in verse 11, “It shall come to pass in that day …”. This is prophecy. "It shall come to pass ..." means it will happen in the future.
That day, or the day of trouble, or the day of revenge, or such references are another way of saying the end of this age in the Bible. There are over 135 references to ‘day’ in the Bible when referring to the end times. If you want to know where the references to the end time are in the Bible I have nearly 300 references listed. See <References to 'The Day'> for the many passages discussing day.
In fact, Isaiah is prophesying in all of Chapter 11. In the first two verses Isaiah is prophesying Jesus’ First Coming. This has happened. The rest of Chapter 11 is about the end of this age. This is yet to happen. You can find this out by reading the second part of verse 4. (Jesus) shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. And if you are still not convinced this is yet to happen then read verses 6 through 9. Hmm, this sounds like it could be when Christ rules on earth.
What is the significance of ‘the second time’ in Isaiah 11:11? When was the first time?
Isaiah was written between 740 and 700 B.C. The ten Northern Tribes were known as Israel. They were taken captive by Assyria in 723 to 721 B.C. The two Southern Tribes were known as Judah. Judah, and in particular, Jerusalem was spared from being captured by Assyria by God as a result of Isaiah and Hezekiah’s prayers. We have no scriptural references that the Northern Tribes returned to Israel. Maybe this was because the Assyrians never removed all of the Israelites from Israel. (The Assyrians that settled in Israel at that time became known as the Samaritans.) The question is when was the first time if this is not the first time? I will answer that.
First Jewish Diaspora
Nebuchadnezzar captured the land of Israel in 586 B.C., and he carried all of Israel off to Babylon.Cyrus, King of Persia, signed the release of Israel in c. 536 B.C. giving the Jews the right to go home.
Second Jewish Diaspora
Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, ordered all the Jews out of the land of Israel or be killed in A.D. 135. (Hadrian also changed the name of Jerusalem to Capitolina.)The United Nations voted to make Israel a nation in a day, May 14, 1948. This was another fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in verse 8 of chapter 66. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? Isaiah 66:8.
In summary, Israel is back in the land a second time and will never be pulled up from the land again.
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God. Amos 9:13-15. This prophecy is being fulfilled today. I believe that we are in the end times.
So, if you are one who believes that God is through with the Nation of Israel, which is what I was taught in confirmation instruction, that teaching is wrong.