The Lord promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that their descendants would receive the Promised Land and that it would be theirs eternally. In Genesis 13:14-15 we read: "And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are - northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever."

He then confirmed the promise to Isaac, "...to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father" (Gen. 26:3). To Jacob He said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants" (Gen. 28:13).

However, the Lord also told Abraham that his descendants would for many years not possess their inheritance: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And so the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions" (Gen. 15:13-14).

Not only were the people of Israel unfaithful to the Lord at that time, but they also became the slaves of a heathen people. It was in that time of misery and distress that they remembered the Lord again and started to pour out their needs to Him day and night. He then intervened in a mighty way to save them. The exodus from Egypt and the founding of the nation in Palestine should be viewed against this background.

After the people of Israel left Egypt, they spent forty years wandering in the desert before they finally entered the Promised Land. In that time the Lord again had to teach His backslidden people how to live faithful and obedient lives. They weren't ready to claim their inheritance, for the sins of their old life were still too deeply ingrained in them. God's people had become so faithless that they even refused to turn to Him in their time of need. Instead of praying to Him, they longed for the affluence they had once known in Egypt. Idol worship was still so important to them, that they soon forgot the way in which God had saved them, and worshipped a golden calf. Because of that, they had to wander in the desert for 40 years before entering Canaan. Everybody who had been older than 20 years when they left Egypt, died during that time. There were only two exceptions: Joshua and Caleb, the two men who had not rebelled against God. We read in Numbers 32:13 (KJV): "And the LORD's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed."

During their time of wandering, the Lord used Moses to help Israel understand what it meant to be His chosen people. Their relationship with Him would determine what kind of life they would have in Palestine. If they would only follow God, they would prosper - but should they again become unfaithful to Him, they would know misery upon misery.

In Deuteronomy 28:1-14, we see the spiritual and material blessings Israel would receive if only they would live in faith and obedience. They would become the most outstanding nation on earth. But they would have to remain true and faithful to God and not make any compromise whatsoever with the heathen nations.

In Deuteronomy 28:15-68, we see what terrible curses would befall them if they should forget the Lord and worship idols. Hunger, pestilence and natural disasters would plaque them. They wouldn't be safe anywhere and their enemies would conquer them. The vultures and predators would feast upon the slain on the battlefield, while the rest would try and escape to a place of safety. Ultimately, a great tragedy would befall them:

"The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies... a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favour to the young. And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed... They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you. You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you" (Deut. 28:49-53).

Finally, Israel would be dispersed and live as exiles and strangers in all the countries of the earth. During the Diaspora, spiritual decline and uncertainty would prevail among them. The hardships and suffering would serve as constant reminders of the blessings they forfeited due to disobedience to the Lord:

The Lord often reiterated that should the people of Israel continue to sin against Him, they will be scattered all over the earth, be persecuted and their country devastated:

"I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste" (Lev. 26:33).

No one could underestimate the seriousness of the punishment Israel would receive. Nevertheless, God's unconditional promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would never be implicated by any of these judgements. There will always be a faithful remnant of His people to ensure the fulfilment of His promises. That promise is given by God in Leviticus 26:44-45:

"Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord."

Deuteronomy 30:1-8 is also a confirmation that Israel will be restored and converted, even though it might seem impossible from a human point of view:

Israel knew the conditions God had set for them when they crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land 40 years after leaving Egypt. Under the leadership of Joshua they conquered one city after another, and in those early years became a prosperous and victorious nation. However, spiritual decline became the major characteristic of their history for the next 1 500 years until the Diaspora. There were a number of important spiritual revivals in this time but they were few and normally ended with the death of the godly king or prophet who initiated it. With the death of their spiritual leader, the people soon returned to their idols and sin. No trial or affliction, not even the Babylonian captivity, could cause a permanent change in the nation's spiritual life.

The lives of the prophets who warned Israel of the consequences of their sins and tried to bring them closer to God, were marked by trials and persecution. Not only were they rejected, but also severely persecuted and even killed. After the death of Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament, the people of Israel remained in spiritual darkness for four centuries! Because they persisted with their iniquities, God temporarily stopped speaking to them.

Jesus (Yahshua, meaning Yahweh Saves) was the Lamb sent by God to rescue His people from the bondage of sin. That is why John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus, said: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn. 1:29).

The coming of the Messiah (The Anointed One) would be the final test for Israel. If they responded to His message and turned to God, the curses He warned them about through the prophetic ministry of Moses would not come into effect. If they continued with the iniquities of their forefathers, they would become strangers in all the countries of the earth. The leaders of the nation chose to reject Jesus, as we see in the parable of the wicked husbandmen in Matthew 21. They certainly did not realise what the consequences of their choice would be when they forced Pilate to crucify Jesus. On that day Pilate washed his hands in front of the people and said: "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it." Then answered all the people, and said: "His blood be on us, and on our children" (Mt. 27:24-25).

Jesus spoke to the religious leaders about the fact that they would not accept Him or the prophets sent before Him:

Jesus explained that by rejecting Him, the Jews would "fill up the measure" of their forefathers' iniquities, and that this would lead to the fulfilment of all the prophesied curses. Jerusalem and the nation of Israel would be cursed, as the prophets had warned. Because they rejected Jesus, their home (Jerusalem and the temple) would be destroyed:

"Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them: Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (Mt. 24:1-2).

Jesus was deeply moved by the knowledge of the traumatic fulfilment of the prophecies regarding Israel and Jerusalem:

"Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying: If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation" (Lk. 19:41-44).

Jesus warned those listening to Him that these things would happen in their lifetime: "Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation" (Mt. 23:36). The destruction of Jerusalem would lead to the international dispersion of the nation:

The prophecies of Jesus about the fate of Jerusalem were literally fulfilled in the generation following His earthly ministry. The historians Eusebius and Josephus gave detailed accounts of the fear and anxiety that befell the Jews in that time. The years after Jesus' ascension marked the beginning of a turbulent period of rebellion and lawlessness in the Middle East. The violence eventually became uncontrollable and culminated in the killing of thousands of Jewish men, women and children during the dark and bloody decade of the sixties.

Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria, marched on Jerusalem in AD 66 with a large contingent of soldiers. The Messianic Jews remembered what Jesus had said about the fall of Jerusalem, and just waited for an opportunity to flee the city. The siege was effective. Most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem suffered from a low morale and considered surrendering to the enemy. At that moment, Cestius, for some inexplicable reason, called off the siege. This dramatic turn of events raised the hopes of the Jews of gaining victory and saving their city. They promptly chased their enemies and killed 5 300 of them. However, the Christians realised the seriousness of the situation and fled to Pella in Trans-Jordan while the other Jews pursued their enemies.

During the march of the Romans, a number of Jewish resistance groups also took refuge in Jerusalem. The ensuing power struggle between them finally led to civil war. They even set fire to the city's granaries to destroy the food supplies of opposition groups. In this way the people of Jerusalem turned upon one another and weakened their own position. Jerusalem became its own enemy.

The Romans were delighted about the internal strife. They decided not to launch an immediate attack on the city, as that would have united the dissident groups against the Roman army. Vespasian became the new emperor and returned to Rome. His son, Titus, remained as sole commander of his armies in Palestine. In the year 70 he besieged the city for four and a half months before finally breaking through the walls and conquering the city. During this time 1,1 million people died, most of them of hunger. The situation became so desperate and those who remained so weak, that they could no longer bury the dead. Corpses were simply left in the streets to rot. The stench later became so overpowering that the leaders of the rebel groups instructed their followers to throw the dead bodies into the ravines surrounding the city.

The sight of all the skeletal corpses in the valleys surrounding Jerusalem, so shocked Titus that he called upon God to witness that he had not been responsible for the tragedy. According to Josephus (Wars of the Jews) 600 000 corpses were thrown in the ravines between 1 May and 20 July. Amongst all the untold horrors of that time, are stories of mothers eating their own children to stay alive. Yes, Jerusalem truly was a city gripped by desperation and panic.

Those who managed to escape from the city were either killed by the Roman soldiers, or crucified on the trees outside the city. Refugees not caught by the Romans were waylaid and murdered by Arabian thugs who cut them open in their search for money. For by then everyone had heard the stories of desperate Jews selling everything they had and then swallowing the gold coins and escaping.

Jerusalem was destroyed and 97 000 of the survivors were taken captive. Many of them were sold as slaves. This was the beginning of the world-wide dispersion of the Jews. Despite this shattering defeat, they again tried to restore their country. A mere 60 years after the destruction of Jerusalem, from 132 to 135 AD, they staged the Bar Kochba revolt against their Roman oppressors. 580 000 Jews were killed in this revolt that lasted for three and a half years. Practically all the remaining survivors were driven away. The Romans even pulled a ploughshare over Mount Zion and so fulfilled the prophecy of Micah. He said that Zion would be ploughed like a field because of the iniquities of the Jewish leaders. He further prophesied that Jerusalem would become rubble and the temple mount a forest (Mic. 3:9-12).

After the revolt, the dispersed Jews lived in relative peace for many centuries in all their countries of refuge. Then a night of terror began that lasted for more than five centuries. It started with the Vatican's first Holy War in 1096 and spread through Germany, France, Spain and England with a great speed. The Roman Catholic Church declared Judaism to be heresy, leading to the persecution and execution of many Jews. Helpless people suddenly found themselves surrounded by fanatic soldiers of the Inquisition. In their terror some parents even killed their children to save them from these murderous fanatics. Women and girls jumped in rivers and tied stones to their bodies to ensure that they would drown immediately. The captives were murdered in the most savage ways after being forced to watch the destruction of their homes and the burning of their holy Scriptures.

King Edward I of England persecuted the Jews and seized their property. He expelled the 16 000 remaining Jews from British territory.

The persecutions in Spain were particularly violent. Spain became a living hell for any Jew who happened to be there at the time. The inquisition of Pope Gregory IX was intended to wipe out any existing form of Jewish 'heresy'. The Jews were called marianos (cursed ones) and thousands upon thousands were burnt to death at the stake. The bodies of people who had died as 'heretics' were dug up and burned, and whatever they had left behind was seized without further ado. One of the Jews of that time wrote: "The smoke of the stakes at which the martyrs are executed is blown heavenward all over Spain these days, and there is no end to it. One third of the cursed ones died in the flames, another third are homeless and trying to find somewhere to hide, and the remaining third live in fear of persecution." In 1492 the Jews in Spain were ordered to leave the country within four months. Many of them died of hunger and hardship after leaving their homes behind. Their biggest problem was finding a country where they would be allowed to stay. Most of them fled to Eastern Europe and Asia, where a considerable number settled in Russia. Small groups crossed the Mediterranean Sea and reached the coast of Africa.

Jesus said that Jerusalem would be destroyed and its people scattered, but He also said that their dispersion would not last forever. Jerusalem would be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Lk. 21:24). The prostration of Jerusalem was therefore to prevail for the duration of the present dispensation of the nations.

During this dispensation members of all the nations, including the dispersed Jews, have the opportunity to enter into the kingdom of heaven by accepting the Messiah as their Saviour. At the end of this period Israel will be restored as a nation. Paul clearly refers to Israel's spiritual restoration at the end of the church age after the harvest has been gathered among the Gentiles:

"For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob" (Rom. 11:25-26).

After God's harvest has been gathered among the Gentiles, Israel will be spiritually revived as a nation and Jerusalem established in glory.

The people of Israel will, after their physical and constitutional restoration, also be revived spiritually by accepting the Messiah. Jesus spoke of this wonderful day when He said: "I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD" (Mt. 23:39). After the long Diaspora and the trampling of Jerusalem, the Messiah will return to a restored people and a restored city. On that day His feet will rest on the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem.

Several of the Old Testament prophets refer to this joyous occasion. Jeremiah says:

The physical restoration of Israel is a necessary precondition for their spiritual purification in the land. In Ezekiel 22, God says:

"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me... Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you" (Ezek. 22:18-20).

The people of Israel will first be gathered in the land, and then put into the crucible of God. The remnant who survive the test, will be restored spiritually. In Ezekiel 37, Israel is compared to a valley of scattered, dry bones. They are brought together and receive sinews, flesh and skin again. Then, in the last phase, they will receive a living spirit. In yet another prophecy, God tells us clearly that the people of Israel will first return to their country, and then be spiritually restored.

"For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes" (Ezek. 36:24-27).

The spiritual revival of Israel will come at a very difficult time:

"Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it" (Jer 30:7).

During the time of tribulation and terror, spiritual polarisation will occur in Israel. The national leaders and many of their followers will accept the false messiah as their Saviour. In the first century Jesus warned the people that this will happen:

"I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive" (Jn. 5:43).

At that time there will be a genuine spiritual revival in Israel, from which 144 000 bold witnesses for Jesus will emerge. They will not be deterred by warnings and opposition, but proclaim that Jesus is the true Saviour of mankind. They will expose the false messiah as an evil deceiver and warn people against him. This campaign against him will give rise to tremendous tension, and the false messiah will openly and actively persecute his Christian adversaries.

From the prophecies of Daniel (Dan. 9:27), and Paul's letter to the Thessalonians (2 Thes. 2:3-4), we learn that this deceiver will enter the Holy of Holies in the rebuilt temple. From there he will announce that he is God and that he is henceforth to be worshipped by all people. This blasphemous act will intensify the differences between the two groups, and they will become even more polarised.

Jesus Christ will come to rescue His people during the battle of Armageddon. It will occur at a very critical moment when they will be at the point of abandoning all hope of survival:

"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south... And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour" (Zech. 14:4, 12-13 KJV). In their confusion the enemies of God will wipe out one another.

Israel's joy will know no bounds when their Messiah comes to save them so dramatically. When He lifts His hands to bless them, they will be shocked by the scars of the nails in His hands. They will ask Him where these marks come from. Then He will answer them: "Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends" (Zech. 13:6 KJV). The prophet describes these poignant moments in an unforgettable way:

"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadat Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo" (Zech. 12:10-11).

Then they will repent and the Lord Jesus will forgive all their sins. For Israel this will indeed be a Day of Atonement, as the whole nation will be reborn on that day. They will all receive new life in Yeshua Ha Mashiach.

However, Jews must not wait for this day to accept the true Messiah, as most of them won't survive the dark days that will precede His glorious appearing on the Mount of Olives. Now is the time to accept Him! Zechariah says that only a third of the Jews will survive the great tribulation: "And it shall come to pass in all the land, says the LORD, that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it" (Zech. 13:8).