God’s Covenant With Israel

The Judicial Captivities Of The Jewish People

There were two judicial captivities. God spoke to his people through the prophets and warned them time and time again that if they turned against him they would lose possession of their land.

The first time, in 586 BC the Babylonians attacked and conquered Jerusalem, destroyed their Temple, and carried away the captives to Babylon. God had said that this captivity was to last for 70 years. After 70 years, King Cyrus set them free to return to Israel, and to rebuild the city and the Temple.

The second time, many years later, the Lord was again sending many prophets to warn his people that they were turning from him again and that judgment would come. These were not simple warnings. The prophets of God pleaded with the people to come to repentance, but only after a very long time the patience of God had to come to an end, and judgment had to fall. This time it was Rome who brought the destruction upon them.

In 70 AD Titus and the Romans attacked Jerusalem, destroyed the city and the Temple, and dispersed the surviving Jews into every country on earth. This second judgment was called “the Diaspora,” and lasted this time for 2,000 years.

In the 19^th century, God began to draw the Jews back to their homeland, little by little. Finally, after the Holocaust in the 1940’s many survivors migrated to the land of their fathers, restoring the land which had languished those 2000 years. The new state of Israel was reborn on May 14, 1948.

While they were gone, no other ethnic people were able to work the land. In fact, it almost never rained all the time the Jews were gone. Only when they returned did the rains begin again and the restoration of the land was phenomenal. Today the Israelis thrive. Indeed, they export tulips to Holland!

Of special note:

Punishment does not make someone no longer part of the family. The Jewish people endured terrible sufferings, but never did it enter the mind of God that they were not his people. Throughout their banishments God spoke much concerning his promise to bring them back to the land of their fathers and be totally restored.

The Topics:

Was The Land Covenant Conditional?

When God made this covenant did he state that it is conditional?

The Judicial Captivities Of The Jewish People

Though the covenant is not conditional, possession depends on obedience.

The Restoration

Israel has endured two captivities but God is now in the process of restoring her.

The Miraculous Preservation Of Israel

How has Israel remained a people although spread across the whole world, in a diaspora of 2,000 years?