Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

The Gathering of Israel

NEVER do we find any other race than Israel being termed “God’s People”. These ALONE are brought (gathered) to Jerusalem. Once again, it is the House of Israel together with the House of Judah that are gathered (Zechariah 8:13 and 9:1). YEHOVAH God says He will then be as the dew to Israel (Hosea 14:5). But note, none of these things are said to anyone of any other race. Israel is scattered “among” the other nations, and is to be gathered from among them.

by Arnold Kennedy

Part of this doctrine may well be summarized by the following verse:

Ezekiel 37:21: “Thus saith the LORD GOD; 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 in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all”.

Both the Houses of Israel were removed from the Promised Land because of their iniquity, but the time will come when this prophecy will be fulfilled. Both Houses were scattered “among the heathen”, but they will come together as “one nation” upon “the mountains of Israel”. The “one king” indicates that the time of this is at the future appearance of the Messiah.

Today there are two totally wrong concepts about the “gathering” of Israel --

(a) That when Israel was evicted from Palestine their final destination was to be the United States of America, as the place referred to in 2 Samuel 7:10, “Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more”.

This idea seems to be based upon the teaching of the late Sheldon Emry. Further on in this article we will go through the Psalms, the Prophets and the New Testament showing just what each say about this subject.

(b) That the establishment of the modern Israeli state is the fulfillment of end-of-age prophecy concerning the gathering of Israel.

The latter is a false insistence because the bulk of the peoples being gathered to the Israeli state could not possibly be Israelites as a race of people, since even the Encyclopedia Judaica says that, on the one hand Judaism is multi-racial, and that on the other hand, the majority are descendants of Esau and not those of the child of the promise Isaac. Therefore they could never be Israelites! Thus Judaism is a race only in the sense of religious belief. On both counts the Israeli state could not be Israelite in the Biblical sense. Since the seed of Abraham is genetic, and since those going to Palestine are multi-racial, the only common “Jewish” connection can be by religion, sympathy, upbringing or some false pseudo-racial association. Prophecy declares Esau’s descendants will be brought together for destruction centered on Jerusalem. Many of the prophecies concerning the fate of Esau (also known as Edom, Idumea, Mt. Seir, Teman, etc.) are presented throughout the Bible.

Furthermore, the timing of the Israeli build-up is incorrect if it is to be portrayed as the re-gathering of Israel. When we consider other events associated with the return of the nation of Israel to “The Land”, we find the sequence does not fit the Israeli state. When writings from Evangelical, Christian-Zionist and Messianic Jewish sources are examined, a limited number of Scriptures quoted by these groups are repeated over and over again to support their views claiming that the Israeli state is a fulfillment of prophecy. So we will go on to see if these are valid, examining the timing factors involved, and just whom the Bible says is gathered and where they are gathered.

Who Are “Gathered"?

The very references that we find in the margins and footnotes of our popular Bibles, such as “Gathering” and “Jews Return”, suggest correctly that this all pertains to Israel only. However, the churches have mixed-up ideas about identities:

(a) All converted people of any race are “true Jews”.

(b) All converted people belong to “The Church”,

(c) All Jews are Israelites,

(d) “Jews” and “Israel”, “The Church” and “Christians” are effectively the same since “all are now one” according to popular teaching.

This is a consideration that is disproved easily on the basis that the Bible is a book about Israel and is addressed to Israel ONLY (including the so-called “Gentiles” of the dispersed Houses of Israel and Judah). We will see that the prophets were very precise in identifying who are gathered to “the land promised to the fathers”, and that this is on an Israelite-only racial basis.

What Saith the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets?

In considering this subject, we cannot ever move away from the foundation given by Scripture. This is, that the New Testament fulfils the Old Testament prophecy, as given in the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets. All through the Old Testament we find references to this promise of national gathering being made to the people of Israel only.

This selective aspect of the gathering is a fact of Scripture, even though this may be difficult to accept because of the sentimental objections that arise from our pre-conditioning and religious upbringing or education that suggest that Israel is now represented by “The Church”. There are Scriptures used to suggest that “all the families of the earth” are to be blessed in Abraham, to try to incorporate “believers” from other races. It might be well to ask how Israel could have been a blessing to all those nations YEHOVAH God told Israel to destroy! These could not be included. How all races could fit into the Twelve Tribes of Israel that are to be inside of the New Jerusalem is never explained!

The Gathering as Found in the Law

Addressed specifically to Israel as a people (and not to any other race), we read:

Deuteronomy 30:1-6: ".…and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,…That then will the LORD thy God turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God has scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee…And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed…and the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed…"

The phrase, “the land which thy fathers possessed” effectively eliminates the United States of America from the equation! This passage is the original promise made to Israel; this has not changed, and there are things that must be noted:

(1) The PEOPLE in this passage are Israelites -- NOT any others.

(2) YEHOVAH GOD is repeatedly presented as the LORD God of Israel -- NOT of others.

(3) YEHOVAH GOD does the gathering -- they do not come back unconverted under their own steam.

(4) It is FROM THENCE NOT OF all nations. “Whither” also speaks of place.

(5) The TIME is given as “when thou [Israel] “shalt call to mind” all the things presented at Mt. Sinai and set their mind to return to the LORD and to obey His voice. There is no evidence of this in the Israeli state today. Those who have been influenced to believe that the United States of America is Jerusalem or Zion, should note that the above verse indicates the gathering is from places outside of the Promised land and then back to the Promised Land. The place outside of the Promised Land is thus not the final destination of Israel, as the USA-Zion proponents want to say! This prophecy is to all of Israel -- not just to Judah.

(6) The PLACE is given as the “land which your fathers possessed”. (Note all the New Testament references to “The Fathers”). It is to a specific geographical place on Earth. It is the land where the fathers (of Israel) had lived.

(7) The FULFILLMENT is isolated to the children of “The Fathers”. It is NOT the mythical, spiritual children of Abraham in the sense that Galatians 3:7 is commonly taught, because “The Fathers” includes Isaac and Jacob as well as Abraham.

The above passage in Deuteronomy 30:1-6 gives us the time of this event and goes on to tell us that Israel’s enemies will be cursed and not be blessed. This racial separation is always present. Provision is also made for those of Israel who deny the LORD, to be cursed instead of being blessed. Being born an Israelite is no guarantee of eternal life. Each must come through The Door. The Messiah says, “I am The Door of the sheep” (John 10:7). The Messiah does NOT say that he is the door for races other than “the sheep”. The Messiah gave his Life for the sheep! But, it is NOT recorded that he gave his Life for goats or anyone else. Israel is often spoken of as being the “sheep of his pasture”, or “his Sheep”.

From here we can go on to consider that this is the very same message that the apostle Paul teaches in Romans 10:5-13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved”, that is so often quoted in religious gospel preaching. Paul is addressing Israelites ONLY who are stated to be “brethren” (kinsmen of the womb). These were of the same kin and of the House of Israel who Paul said also knew the Law (Romans 3:19 and 7:1-4). The Law was given to Israel only, as a covenant. So this “whosoever” refers to “whosoever of Israel” in the context.

Going back to the Old Testament, we read:

1 Chronicles 16:35-36: "And say ye, Save us, O God of our [Israels] salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name…Blessed be the LORD God of Israel for ever and ever…"

In all these verses, kindly take note of the separation or identification that is made by the pronouns. See just whom the “gather us” refers to and understand how this cannot ever be extended to include others. Note YEHOVAH God is always stated to be “The LORD God of Israel.

In this song of David, we find the prayer for Israel’s gathering together, prayed by David on behalf of Israel. This gathering has not yet happened. In the New Testament, the Messiah taught Israelites to pray, “Thy Kingdom come”. This is the hope of Israel, under both covenants. It is NEVER presented as being the hope of all races -- even in the New Testament!

Nehemiah 1:8-10: "Remember, I beseech you, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: But if ye turn unto Me, and keep My commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set My name there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand."

Some might like to argue that this refers only to those of the House of Judah who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. But, the original promise was made to the whole nation, and in this verse, the gathering is of “nations” in the plural, that is, it is inclusive of both Houses. Again, the action relates to the redemption of Israel. It is through the Redeemer OF ISRAEL, the Messiah, who came “to save his people [Israel] from their sins”. The PLACE is always a specified place; it is not a “condition” as many New Testament teachers suggest, but a physical place that YEHOVAH God has chosen on Earth. It is the “land which your fathers possessed”.

The Gathering in the Psalms

Psalm 102:21, 22: "To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem; when the people [of Israel] are gathered together, and the kingdoms [of Israel] to serve the LORD."

Psalm 106:47: "Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us [Israel], from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name,…"

Psalm 105:42, 43: "For He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant. And He brought forth His people [Israel] with joy, and His chosen with gladness."

This psalm is addressed to “O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen (verse 6). It speaks of the everlasting covenant made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Verses 8, 9-19) and includes reference to the land of Canaan.

Psalm 107:2, 3: "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north and the south."

In verse 7 of this Psalm, it is YEHOVAH God who leads Israel unto a “city of habitation”. This Psalm is about the gathering of the redeemed of the LORD from the East, West, North and South. These give the same descriptions of the same places that Israel went to when they were expelled from the Promised Land, and this is where they are gathered from. Thus it could not be a gathering “to” the United States of America, but rather it would be “from” the USA as one of the areas Israel was scattered to.

It is always about being gathered to a place. That place is centered upon Jerusalem. This Psalm ends with:

Psalm 107:43: "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the LORD."

What are “these things” that are to be taken note of? Are they not to do with Israel and her gathering? Would it be improper to suggest that if we do not observe these things we must therefore be lacking in understanding? The Messiah pointed out the same thing in John 3:12, “If I have told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things”? The Messiah was talking to Nicodemus, a Master in Israel about knowing these things. It is absolutely necessary to understand the earthly things about Israel as a racial entity before we can ever understand heavenly things. The facts concerning the gathering of Israel are most important!

The Gathering in Isaiah

Chapter ten of this Book, we are told about a day of completion (translated as “consummation”) --

Isaiah 10:20: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the LORD GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

Here we find that a “remnant” of Jacob will return “in that day” of completion. It is just a remnant that returns to the Land of Israel. What is a remnant? From the LXX, the word “kataleipo” is made up of two words. The prefix “kata” refers to something being broken down and the word “leipo” means “the remainder”. The “remnant” as in, “a remnant shall be saved” as found in Romans 9:27 is derived from the same word. The “remnant” is used as being in the future, throughout the New Testament and this in no way has any approach such as the present as used in the USA-Zion conception. The timing of this gathering of the remnant of Israel is “end of age” or Millennial. It occurs after the period of punishment of both the House of Judah and the House of Judah. The day is when what is in the next verse takes place:

Isaiah 11:9-13: "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall be for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles [nations] seek and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass, in that day, the LORD shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim."

The word “outcasts” is important, and it implies the temporary status of the Northern Kingdom. The “banished ones” are the members of the Southern Kingdom, and overall through language it can be determined that this passage is about uniting the two kingdoms into one under King David. The political and spiritual aspects are united again. The separation of these two aspects was the cause of the vexation between the two houses, because Judah contained the line of kings from David, and also the Temple. This vexation thus becomes ended.

Twice in this section there is the phrase, “in that day”. So it does not apply to other than the time specified. This is the day when the wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the kid, etc, and when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (v. 9). Some may say that the passage about the wolf and the lamb are all figures of speech, but they give no explanation as to how the “knowledge of the LORD” might be figurative. Isaiah is telling us a basic fact about the House of Israel who is at enmity against the House of Judah until the time of the gathering of all Israel (Isaiah 11). These two Houses (or parts of Israel) must exist today as specific entities.

The gathering is clearly spoken of as being of two parts that come from among (not of) all nations in ‘the four corners of the earth’. If Israel has now been “taken over” by the Church, how ever could this prophecy be fulfilled? We will see a lot more about this separation between Israel and Judah as we go along. What do the end-of-age teachers say about this matter? Nothing! If we take this literally, we see the route Israel is to take back to the Promised Land, as well as the timing. So far men do not go dry-shod over the Egyptian sea (verse 15). A highway expressed in verse 16, as being from Assyria is not presently manifested either. The time of “in that day” is the time of the latter days when the Messiah comes to smite the earth with “the rod of his mouth” (Isaiah 11:4).

Reading on in this passage we find that the time is when “the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1). The fact that the Israeli state has organized the watering of desert areas does not prove anything in itself. If the same was done in the interior of Australia that desert will also blossom as the rose. We must note here that those who promote the “USA-Zion” idea use this sort of “proof” of their theory. Some of the things they use as evidence could equally apply in say New Zealand or Australia. This is inadequate.

This chapter ends with, and the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. Those going to Palestine today are not returning this way! They do not make any claim of being ransomed. Likewise those arriving in the USA are not arriving this way.

But then, the translators have given us another meaning to “desert” and that is a “plain” (they are the same word in Hebrew):

Zechariah 14:10 tells us, “All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited”.

When is the Land of Israel safely inhabited? It is after the land is turned into a plain! How does this area become “turned as a plain”? Zechariah goes on to give us a description that describes nuclear war or some other weapons as being the agency that causes, “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”. This passage is not free standing, either! This has not happened to the USA that some claim is now Zion, but it will happen in the Land promised to Abraham before the remnant of both Houses return to that land, after it has been cleansed by fire. Probably this is the fire that destroys the tares. The cleansed land then is that which comes to “blossom as a rose”. (The LXX in Greek gives “lily”).

Isaiah 40:5: "And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it."

Isaiah 40:11: "He shall feed His flock [Israel] like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arms, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those with young."

Could this possibly refer to the past? All flesh has not yet seen the glory of YEHOVAH God, but when He returns, “every eye shall behold Him”. In context, this is every Israelite eye. In the Word of YEHOVAH God we do NOT see a multi-racial mix going back to Palestine at the gathering time. The glory of the LORD (YEHOVAH God) is revealed to all the flesh of Israel, when He gathers His lambs. Although there is no “in that day” in these passages, the times are the same. The expression, “in those days” or “in that day” refers to the time of the close of this age.

The Gathering in Jeremiah

There is so much in the book on this subject, that it is difficult to select quotations. In chapter three there is the same separation of Israel and Judah, with the same time feature as given by Isaiah. These two factors are so important, yet they are what the popular ministers have to omit to support their traditional teachings. The present Israeli state is a total misfit in terms of the timing given.

Jeremiah 3:18: "And in those days [the timing], the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers."

Here, as always, we find the gathering is to the same specific defined place, a place that could not be the USA since the USA was not in the Covenant. Here again is a repeat statement about the time of the gathering of Israel as being “in those days”. This is a time when Israel will no longer be walking after the imagination of their evil hearts. In this verse and in this chapter of Jeremiah we again find the same reference to the differentiation between Israel and Judah. They are separate parts of Israel, (for example see Jeremiah 3:11, 3:18, 5:11, 11:17, 30:3,31, 31:31, 33:14, 36:2, 50:4).

Again, it has to be pointed out very clearly that something is very wrong with the popular doctrines that do not allow for this. There are many Scriptures in this book of Jeremiah alone about this matter. Let us look further into Jeremiah for the gathering of these two Houses --

Jeremiah 23:3: "And I will gather in the remnant of My people in every land, whither I have driven them out, and will set them in their pasture; and they shall increase and be multiplied" (LXX)

Verse 5: "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and understand, and shall execute judgment and righteousness on the earth."

That the timing is the future appearance of the Messiah is clear from the reference to “The Branch”. Again, Israel is gathered from where they were scattered outside of the Promised Land. Some like to say that this applies to the Messiah’s time, but the Messiah did not reign and prosper as a King over Israel in the first century!

Verse 6: "In his [the Messiah's] days both Juda shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely: and this is his name, which the LORD [YEHOVAH God] shall call him, Josedec among the prophets."

Note the usual Israel and Judah separation, and again that it is in the day when the Messiah reigns over Israel (future appearance) and YEHOVAH God reigns over the entire earth. The next two verse are not found in the Septuagint (LXX):

Verse 7, 8: "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and there they shall dwell in their own land" (KJV).

It must be noted that the gathering is ONLY of the seed of Israel, that is, the Children (descendants) of Israel. Also, the return is from “the North Country” (singular) where Israel is to be found at present. (In some passages this has been translated as, “The land of the North”). The phrase, “North Country” is interesting as it carries the meaning of, “concealing something for a definite purpose” (Theological Word Book of the Old Testament). YEHOVAH God has a purpose in hiding His people outside of the Promised Land, before bringing them home again.

Do Our Modern Prophets Agree With Jeremiah?

Jeremiah goes on to say something sad and searching, yet most significant --

Jeremiah 23:9: "Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of His holiness."

Verse 11: "For both prophet and priest are profane, yea, in my house have I found wickedness, saith the LORD."

We can now examine the full passage above to see if today’s prophets and teachers are equally profane in not believing what YEHOVAH God says about the gathering of His people Israel. This gathering is the context in which Jeremiah is speaking. Should we feel as bad about it as Jeremiah did? These Pastors and Teachers with the universalist-all-races doctrines are the pastors who are said to be destroying the sheep of YEHOVAH’s pasture (verse 1). It is not only these who will be judged harshly, but it is also those who try to change the place where the gathering is to be to be the USA. It includes the “Christian Zionists” and a lot of organized Christianity.

These are hard words and YEHOVAH God pronounces woe on all and every one of these pastors who will not teach what Jeremiah is saying about the gathering of Israel and Judah. It is time for a personal check up on what we believe about this, to avoid this woe!

[a] Those gathered are a very small remnant of the two Houses (all Israel) ONLY (Zephaniah 2:9; Micah 2:2; Ezekiel 14:22; Jeremiah 6:9, 23:3, 31:7; Isaiah 1:9, 4:3, 11:16, 37:4; Romans 11:5, 9:27).

[b] They are ONLY from YEHOVAHs flock (Israel).

[c] The Remnant of Israel is gathered from both Houses from out of all countries where YEHOVAH God had driven them. But the State of Israel is NOT of the racial content of the races of those countries.

[d] The timing is in the days of the Righteous Branch. This is not first-century time, because the Messiah does not yet sit on David’s present throne on earth. He is yet to return to David’s throne (over Israel).

[e] Judah and Israel are separate entities until this gathering time. Their present enmity has been stated in Isaiah 11:11-13. Do we believe this?

[f] It is “in his days” that the two entities re-unite. The “middle wall of partition” that the apostle Paul talks of is then totally broken down under the New Testament that is made with Israel and Judah alone (Hebrews 8:8). And then, Paul concluded, “All Israel shall be saved”. (“All” here means Israelites from both Houses). In prophecy, the two parties are never other than Israel and Judah -- they are NEVER “Jews and Gentiles” in the way that is commonly presented. There is no line of Old Testament prophecy that the popular teachings could be shown to fulfill.

[g] The people concerned are always the “seed” (genetic) of the Children of Israel (verse 8).

[h] The “Land” is that which was given to their Fathers (genetic). There are NOT two promised lands, nor is this promised land a place to which “saints” are raptured to before the Millennium. Israel is to “dwell” in their own land; the same one that was given unto their fathers. They are gathered from out of nations on Earth, and not from some place outside of earth from where they supposedly might have been raptured!

Let us look at this passage from Jeremiah again, and examine our hearts:

(1) Are we those upon whom YEHOVAH God says He will bring evil (verse 12)?

(2) Are we those who cause My people Israel to err (verse 13)?

(3) Do we speak a vision out of our own heart and not out of the mouth of the LORD? (verse 16).

(4) Do we say to our people, or think, “no evil shall come upon you” (verse 17)?

(5) Have we yet “marked His word and heard it” (verse 18)? Indeed, look at the rest of this chapter of Jeremiah about teachers and pastors who carry on stealing “My words every one from his neighbour”.

(6) Is what we teach or believe just what we learned at Bible College, a church or from what we read in a book?

(7) Will we yet continue not to accept, or to ignore, what YEHOVAH God is saying through His prophets about the time and place of the gathering of Israel?

(8) Will we continue to ignore the present separation of Israel and Judah as prophetic identities, even if both may be found cohabiting?

(9) Will we continue to ignore the time when Israel is gathered and confess that this is NOT what is happening in the Israeli state?

Let us probe this subject further in Jeremiah --

Jeremiah 31:8-11: "Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child, together: a great company shall return thither. And they shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them:…He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob.…"

Who”? Yes, “Jacob”. We find again the place that Jacob come from, is the “North country”. Woman still are getting pregnant at that time and life on Earth continues. They were not raptured away anywhere, nor do they come from a place where they “neither marry or are given in marriage”. It is the returned YEHOVAH God who leads them back to the Land; this Scripture again shows the timing of this gathering! The flock is made up of two parts; remember how the Messiah said he had other sheep than the Judean fold? One is the House of Judah and the other is the House of Israel. The two add together to make up the Jacob we see in the verse above.

It is ONLY Jacob-Israel (both Israel and Judah) that is spoken of in Scripture as being redeemed. It is NEVER a multi-racial church. (Note again, ONLY Israel was given the Law as a covenant, and therefore ONLY Israel needs redeeming from that broken Law). In Jeremiah 31:2, it is Israel who finds grace in the wilderness; it does not include anyone else. Could all the factors in this chapter be spiritualized away?

Jeremiah 31:1: "At the same time, saith the LORD [YEHOVAH], will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people."

The “planting” in 2 Samuel 7:10 does not refer to “this Land”, but refers to the “place” Israelites are to occupy when expelled from the Promised Land.

YEHOVAH God is NEVER spoken of as the God of all races, and Israel is “My people”. As YEHOVAH says in verse 3 “of old I have loved thee [Israel] with an everlasting love”. Jeremiah 31:31 is the very chapter Paul repeats in the Book of Hebrews (Hebrews 8:8) telling of the New Covenant that is made with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. The New Testament is made with none others -- even in the New Testament pages!

Jeremiah 32:41: "Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, I will plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart and with My whole soul."

Who, and who only, are planted in “this land? Israel can never be spiritualized away as a “church” in the modern concept. Jeremiah 31:35-37 and 33:17 tells us that Israel will always be A PEOPLE in the same way Peter does in the New Testament. This is to be so as long as the stars are shining and the moon can be seen. So Israel is still an individual two-part racial entity today, consisting of the House of Israel and the House of Judah! Jeremiah also tells us about the House of Israel always having a monarch over them (Jeremiah 33:17), although not necessarily ruling as an autocrat, and so part of Israel of where Israel is must contain a monarchy today. The British College of Heralds have concluded that Queen Elizabeth is the 144th descendant of King David!

NB: There are no separate prophecies concerning any non-Israelite church.

Jeremiah 50:4, 5, 19: "In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: and they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherwood,…And I will bring Israel again to his habitation,…"

It is always Israel and Judah only! Again they are mentioned separately as seeking YEHOVAH God together. There is not one drop of a stream of prophecy to the contrary! This verse is certainly not being fulfilled in the Israeli state today, or in the USA! Some would say that “Zion” is a figure of speech, or that the prophecy concerns the return of Judah to the Land under Ezra and Nehemiah. But here it is BOTH houses, not just Judah, who are mentioned as separate entities making up “all Israel” as being brought to his habitation. Israel will be sanctified in the eyes of all the other races when YEHOVAH God gathers His people…then shall they dwell in THEIR LAND that I have given unto My servant JACOB…(Jeremiah 28:24-26). The word “Jacob” can never include other races, and of course, that place is pin-pointed precisely. This then could not refer to the USA!

The Gathering in Ezekiel

This book tells the same story. In chapters 37 and 38 in particular we find some verses are commonly extracted to support popular views. But these chapters also give a repeat of the timing factors, which immediately puts this subject in the right perspective. Ezekiel was told, “Behold I send you TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL” (Ezekiel 2:3 and 3:1). To extend this limitation beyond the Children of Israel is to deceive! We are told by the apostle James, who wrote to THE TWELVE TRIBES, that many deceivers are entered into the world. Our modern deceivers extend these twelve tribes to include every race on earth. They claim other races are joined to Israel by adoption. If this were so then other races and churches would have to come to belong to one of the Twelve Tribes! They would have to be in either one or the other of the Houses of Israel or Judah.

Ezekiel 11:17: "Thus saith the LORD God, I will even gather you [Israel] from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."

Ezekiel tells the same story as Jeremiah! He makes the same complaint about the pastors and prophets who ignore the national message of the Bible and who have not “made up the hedge for the House of Israel”. He says that their teaching is “prophecy out of their own hearts” (Ezekiel 13:1-16). The rest of this chapter tells how their teaching seduces Israel. Today the modern teachers “see visions of peace” for Jerusalem (verse 16) and they think that the Israeli state, or the USA, is the start of the fulfillment. But, there will be no peace in Jerusalem until Edom is destroyed there and YEHOVAH God brings the righteous remnant back to enjoy the abundance of peace they alone are promised. This gathering is after Esau’s descendants have been destroyed in ‘The Land’ by a complete and utter destruction.

YEHOVAH God says that these false prophets will have YEHOVAH’s hand against them, “and they shall bear their iniquity” (Ezekiel 14:9-11). They will be taken out from among Israel! It is YEHOVAH God who is saying these things, like it or not! We can see the severity of YEHOVAH God in this and just how seriously we must take heed to this message.

Although Israel is punished much for their abominations, YEHOVAH God says:

Ezekiel 16:60: "Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with thee [Israel]:and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant."

The next passage tells the same story about Israel being gathered, “out of the countries wherein ye are scattered”, and “bring you into the land of Israel”. There is never a conclusion that where Israel was scattered to might be a permanent destination, as the USA-Zion people say.

Ezekiel 20-34: "And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the LORD GOD. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against Me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the LORD GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye My holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols."

Verse 40: "For in Mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the LORD GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve Me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen."

Verse 42: "And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to your fathers."

Like all the prophets, what Ezekiel says could never “fit” the USA. The gathering of Israel, from among the countries “wherein you are scattered”, is with fury, purging and judgment. All flesh shall know that “I the LORD have drawn my sword” (Ezekiel 21:5). Can we perceive the sword sharpened as Ezekiel did (Ezekiel 21:8-17)? Or do we prophesy lies saying YEHOVAH God’s people shall be raptured away out of it? YEHOVAH’s principle is always, “the unrighteous shall be severed from among the just” (Matthew 13:49). How dare our teachers reverse what the Messiah says! They teach that the righteous are raptured away from wicked. These teachers must face their judgment! In the parable of the Tares and the Wheat, is it not the Tares who are FIRST burned? We must have a good think about this! Likewise, what happens to those who prophesy of another place, such as the USA?

Ezekiel 34 is too long to quote, but it is a mine of treasure on the subject of the gathering of Israel. It ends by saying:

Ezekiel 34:30, 31, 33: "Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the House of Israel are My people, saith the LORD God. And you My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men and I am your God…"

“Sheep” and “flock” are the people who personally belong to YEHOVAH God. Israel is bought back for a price and “found”. The “bring" (verse 13) and “seeketh out” (verse 12) parallel the “bought” and “found” through the New Testament parables. The “new heart” is a promise made to the House of Israel. You will look in vain for the “new heart” to be put in anyone else but Israel (Ezekiel 36:21-38).

Ezekiel 36:24: "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land."

What is the timing? We must look at this timing and see if what is commonly taught is right. And with this, note the desolation that is yet to come upon the land before Israel returns. Other prophets write about this too, but you will not find our modern teachers ever mentioning it. They are too busy prophesying smooth things about the Israeli state or the USA being Zion! These are the false prophets. These are the ones with the dangerous doctrines, every one of them. Of them Isaiah 8:20 says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them”. To seize upon a passage such as 2 Samuel 7:10 and ignore the story that all the prophets tell, is wrong! The weight of evidence shows that something must be wrong with the way 2 Samuel 7:10 is used by the USA-Zion advocates.

The Prophecies of the Dry Bones and the Two Sticks

Our end-time teachers and book writers use extracts from these chapters, but again they ignore the timing factors of the gathering, as well as exactly whom this prophet is addressing.

The dry bones

In the parable of the dry bones, we find:

Ezekiel 37:11: "Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole House OF ISRAEL."

They are expressly stated to be Israelites, so how could they be anyone else?

Ezekiel 37:14: "…and I shall place you in your own land…"

Just who, and who only are to be placed in their own land? It is Israel as a people who ALONE are being addressed. So we must again ask if this gives support for the present Israeli state. To support the Israeli state is to say, in effect, that the resurrection is past. The current teaching about the Israeli state is pure deception! Also, the same applies to those who say that “your own land” is the USA. Please note this -- if the USA was already Jerusalem or Zion, then Israel would have to be taken away from there to go back to “your own land”. This does not add up!

The two sticks

Even the Jehovah Witnesses have a play on this one. However, the Bible states the one stick represents Judah and the other represents Israel. They are companions…(verse 16)…or fellows…(verse 19). The sticks become joined together. This is a picture of the gathering together of all Israel. It includes no one else! It is not “Jews and Gentiles” in the popular conception.

The prophet goes on to say:

Ezekiel 37:21-23: "Thus saith the LORD God; 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 in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king unto them all; and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms anymore at all."

Anyone who denies that Israel is made up of just these two peoples has a serious problem.

If they are not prepared to believe this earthly thing, the Messiah says they cannot ever believe heavenly things (John 3:12). At present Israel could not possibly be a singular “church” as some teach. The two parties could not possibly be “Jews and Gentiles” as is commonly taught. All the kosmos (or order) of Israel that the Messiah is talking about is changed by our teachers to mean all the races on the Earth. THIS IS NOT TRUE!

Ezekiel 37:24: "And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one Shepherd…"

Religious denominations teach that the Messiah is the king of Christians of all races, but they fail to observe that the Messiah says he is gone away to a far country, AND WILL RETURN to the same place, to take his kingdom and be one Shepherd to Israel. Those falsely occupying the vineyard part, at present, will be destroyed “with the brightness of his coming”. The vineyard is not the whole earth; it is a specific area of the earth. The one shepherd will return them to the same place they left from, a place that could not possibly be the USA!

Ezekiel 37:25: "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servantand My servant David shall be their Prince, for ever."

This “land” is a defined area on earth, being that given to Jacob. There is both racial separation and place separation.

Ezekiel 37:28: "And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore."

In these verses we see two groups, the heathen and Israel; they are two completely separated identities.

Ezekiel 39:21: "And I will set My Glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see My judgment that I have executed, and My hand that I have laid upon them."

Verse 22, 23: "So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward…and the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity…"

Verse 25: "Thus saith the LORD God; Now I will bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for My holy name."

Verse 27: "and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;"

Verse 28: "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 [Israel] unto their own land…"

Verse 29: "Neither will I hide My face any more from them: for I have poured out My spirit unto the house of Israel."

Note here the segregation of Israel from the other nations. The mercy upon Israel is “in the sight of many nations”, so Israel and these many nations coexist, but are separate in YEHOVAH’s sight. On whom do the prophets say the spirit is poured out? Do the prophets say it is poured out upon all races? From Joel 2:28 (and from the New Testament) we have been wrongly taught that “all flesh” is not limited to Israel’s sons and daughters, even if Israel are the people being addressed. But all flesh” almost always means the “all flesh” of Israel.

The important thing to note in connection with the gathering of Israel, is that Israel is still a separate racial entity from the other nations, not only at this late stage of this present age, but into the next age. It is impossible that Israel has become a multi-racial “church”. There is no prophecy at all about any portion for anyone of any race other than the Twelve Tribes. YEHOVAH’s sanctuary is stated to be “in the midst of Israel” and NOT in the midst of the heathen nations or races.

At the end of Ezekiel, we find listed the apportioning of the land that is divided “according to the Tribes of Israel”. All those who want to continue to call the Tribes of Israel “The Church” will continue to blur what is on the pages of the Bible in black and white. The more this subject is examined, the more impossible the popular evangelical teachings become. And the more impossible becomes the teaching that the USA is Zion or the Daughter of Zion!

The Gathering in Daniel

Daniel 7:13, 14: "…one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before Him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve him:…and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."

Yet again, this kingdom is separate from other peoples and nations. The other peoples are servants to Israel. The LORD of Hosts, the LORD of the armies of Israel, has the whole Earth and all the other peoples in subjection. At the end of this book of Daniel, the archangel Michael “standeth for the children of thy [Daniel’s] people” (Daniel 12:1). Daniel’s people were Israel. The limitation is specific! Again, there is no suggestion of a “church” in the way it is presented today.

The Gathering in Hosea

Hosea says the Children of Israel will be known as “The sons of the living God”:

Hosea 1:10: "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head,…"

The “One Head” is Yeshua the Messiah, the King of Israel. This shows the time is during his future appearance. Here again we find that the separation of the two Houses must still exist today. Peter, in the New Testament quotes Hosea who does not say anything about Israel being other than “a (singular) nation”. He is writing to Israel.

Hosea 8:10: "Yea, though they [Israel] have hired among the nations, now I will gather them…"

YEHOVAH God says He will then be as the dew to Israel (Hosea 14:5). But note, none of these things are said to anyone of any other race. Israel is scattered “among” the other nations, and is to be gathered from among them. They will be gathered from where they are now.

The Gathering in Joel

In “those days” of the pouring out, the blood and fire, the pillars of smoke and the sun being turned into darkness with the moon into blood, Mount Zion and Jerusalem shall be delivered. This is the time when YEHOVAH God says He “will be jealous for His land and pity His people”. YEHOVAH’s people, expressed as being Israel, are still that same entity. The land is still the same area. The land is always, “His Land”. The other races are still separate.

Joel 3:1-2: "In those daysand will plead with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted My land."

YEHOVAH God says that His heritage is still the unchanged nation of Israel who is “My people”. It is NOT “The Church” in the common concept. “My land” is still parted today.

The remnant left of YEHOVAH’s people are NOT raptured away from this time of trouble. They are very much present. Joel points out that at that time, the LORD will be the hope “of His people” and the strength of “The Children of Israel” (Joel 3:16, 17). “The Children of Israel” are not multi-racial non-Israelites. No strangers (zuwr) will pass through Jerusalem any more (verse 17). Note this well. This means that such must be “passing through Jerusalem” up to this time! We can see that this passing through of strangers is not YEHOVAH’s intention and the effect of the mixed multitude within Israel is always to Israel’s detriment.

The Gathering in Amos

This prophet speaks about the grievous judgments upon Israel. He reminds us of the terror of these days and of the sun going down at noon and of the destruction in “The Land”. But of those of Israel who are left, he says:

Amos 9:11-15: "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom…And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel, and they shall rebuild the waste citiesAnd I will plant them upon their own land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God."

Amos did not prophesy about any rapture! The territory of Edom was part of that land promised to Abraham. The “waste cities” are those desolated by nuclear fire, or something worse. “Their own land” means just that, and from this point in time, Israel will not be taken into captivity again.

Our modern teachers like to take an expression like “rebuild the waste cities” and misapply this to say this is what is happening in the Israeli state today. Cities are being rebuilt, but the tabernacle of David is not raised up. There are some who say this tabernacle was raised up in the 11th century and that it has to do with worship, but when we examine the use of the word we see it refers to where something happens and not what happens in it. Isaiah 16:5 connects the establishment of the Throne with the tabernacle of David, and the Messiah has not yet appeared to sit upon that throne.

To date, neither has “the sun gone down at noon-day”, and so the “plant them upon their own land” could not apply to the Israeli state or the USA. The cities of the Land have never been devastated so much that there is not a person, a blade of grass or even a fish (Zephaniah 1:2, 3). What else than atomic fire, or something worse, would be likely to destroy every fish? This makes the idea that the USA is Zion and that the phrase, “daughter of Zion” means Washington City, not only foolish imagination, but impossible.

This destruction must come to pass before the notable day of the LORD, and before Israel returns to the Land. This level of destruction has never happened yet to what is commonly called the “Holy Land”. The wasted cities will then be rebuilt by Israel, but not before this time. That which is being built now in Palestine, must be something other than what the prophets are talking about concerning Israel. It is Edom that is presently doing the building, not Israel!

We will see that the reference to the remnant of Edom in verse 12 is confirmed when we quote from Obadiah. These peoples falsely calling themselves “Jews” will be exterminated and:

Obadiah 1:17: “…and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions”.

This is the time when Israel displaces Edom (see our article entitled, Could the Modern Jews Be Israel?). The “House of Jacob” NEVER means all races. Neither did Obadiah prophesy of a multi-racial church!

The Gathering in Micah

By now the consistency of the message about the gathering together of Israel to that land promised to the fathers of Israel has to be apparent to anyone with half a mind to evaluate the evidence objectively. Not one of the prophets of Israel is an universalist! Not one! Not one suggests that the USA is that Land promised “to the fathers”.

This continues throughout the minor prophets --

Micah 2:12: "I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold…"

Micah agrees with all the other prophets that the gathering only involves Israelites. As the other prophets say, the time is the future appearance of YEHOVAH God and the Messiah, “and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them” (verse 13).

When Israel is gathered, Micah tells the position of the other nations:

Micah 4:2: "And many nations shall come, and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD [YEHOVAH] from Jerusalem."

This is the time when YEHOVAH God rules the world with "a rod of iron" and the Messiah rules over Israel. The “nations shall see and be confounded at thy [YEHOVAH's] might” (Micah 7:16). Metaphorically, the other nations are, “to lick the dust” (Micah 7:17).

For the duration of the millennium, there is no more war among the nations, all of whom are still separate from Israel. Israel is described as a “nation”, as are the others. Other nations and Israel are always separate peoples in Scripture. All the prophets agree without exception.

Micah 5:7, 8: "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORDAnd the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles [nations] in the midst of many peoples as a lion among the beasts of the forest."

Micah goes on to remind us of the Doctrine of Balaam and that to walk humbly with her God, Israel must avoid the idolatry that comes through racial intermarriage. Idolatry always is a reason, throughout Scripture, for judgment upon Israel. Balaam prophesied blessing upon Israel when Israel dwelt as a separate people. Moabite intermarriage with Israel destroyed this separation leading to idol worship. As with the other prophets, Micah concludes with the usual message:

Micah 7:20: "Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old."

Ask yourself what, “from the days of old” means. Despite what all the prophets have to say about this subject, it is ignored, or spiritualized, by almost all of today’s teachers. What they fail to study is the original covenant that involved a particular covenant land as well as a covenant people!

The Gathering in Nahum

This prophet’s message on this subject is easily missed because the word for “gather” is translated here as “turned away” (KJV) or “restore” (NIV).

Nahum 2:2: "For the LORD hath turned away [gathered] the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel:"

But Nahum is just as exclusive about Israel as are all the other prophets. This prophet mentions other peoples only as they relate to Israel.

The Gathering in Habakkuk

Habakkuk is the prophet who declares that the vision is for an appointed time and that it will surely come (Habakkuk 2:3 and Habakkuk 3:13 -- "You went forth for the salvation of Thy people, the salvation of Thy anointed.") To call Israel as a people “God’s anointed” is almost never taught today. It could not possibly be taught together with popular concepts. When we consider the timing factor of chapter three when the YEHOVAH God goes forth for the salvation of His people, this is at the time of the beginning of the Millennium (Habakkuk 3:3-6). It is at a time of judgment (verse 9-12).

Habakkuk 3:18: "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

This is the message Habakkuk gave to the Chief Singer about the salvation of the anointed people Israel. It must be a very important message!

The Gathering in Zephaniah

This prophet speaks about the terrible judgments upon Israel and then he speaks of the remnant of Israel with YEHOVAH God in the midst of them:

Zephaniah 3:17, 18, 20: "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy;…I will gather them that are sorrowful…At that time I will gather you again…for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes,…"

As usual, the word “gather” is associated with the ending of Israel’s “captivity”. In this passage the word “gather” is found twice. Although Zephaniah was a prophet to Judah, the last chapter speaks of the remnant of Israel (verse 13) and of a fulfillment beyond the return of Judah from Babylon.

Israel is still found to be separate among “all the peoples of the earth” (verse 20). We do not find reference to such captivity of any other nation but Israel. Israel is the only people exclusively gathered together from among the other nations! When prophecy is about Israel being taken into captivity, it is made clear that this involves being taken out of their land. Thus nationally, Israel is in captivity today. So now we can understand a little more about the Messiah “setting the captives free” in “the acceptable day of the LORD”.

The Gathering in Haggai

Haggai also speaks about the anointed people -- the Children of Israel:

Haggai 2:5: "According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so My spirit remaineth among you:…"

This latter phrase definitely is not taught in our churches. Israel is the people of the covenant that are mentioned above. They are children of those YEHOVAH God brought out of Egypt. This identifies them as Israelites. These are whom YEHOVAHs spirit remains upon, so the prophet says. Haggai goes on to speak of the heaven and the earth shaking and then of the glory of the new Temple. This Temple is in the place Israel is gathered to. This refers to the New Jerusalem, and speaks of the time surrounding the end of this age. Haggai is addressing the people about, “The word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt”. That was to give Israel the Promised Land.

The Gathering in Zechariah

This prophet tells of the scattering of both Israel and Judah, but he goes on to say:

Zechariah 2:5: "For I, saith the LORD, I will be unto her a wall of fire round about [Jerusalem], and [I, YEHOVAH] will be the glory in the midst of her."

Israel is then, “the apple of Mine eye” and the other nations are a “spoil”. No one can say these are the same things. YEHOVAH God will “yet choose Jerusalem again” (Zechariah 2:12). This will be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of Israel (Zechariah 8:6).

Zechariah 8:7, 8: "…Behold I will save My people…and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be My people…"

NEVER do we find any other race than Israel being termed “God’s People”. These ALONE are brought (gathered) to Jerusalem. Once again, it is the House of Israel together with the House of Judah that are gathered (Zechariah 8:13 and 9:1), as is also shown in the verse below. The word “Joseph” indicates the leadership of the House of Israel.

Zechariah 10:6: "And I will strengthen the house of Judah and will save the house of Joseph, and will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off…"

Ask yourself where was Israel before they were cast off? Were they in the USA? The following chapters of this book tell of the continuing separation of all Israel from other races. Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives feature in a geographical way. Once again, the non-Israel nations come up to Jerusalem, from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts (YEHOVAH God). This is not optional because there is punishment for those nations who will not come (Zechariah 14:12-21). And again, the non-Israel nations cannot reside inside the New Jerusalem.

The very last verse of this book says, “and there shall be no more the Canaanite in the House of the LORD of Hosts”. This means that the Canaanite must presently be in the House of the LORD. It is the doctrine of those with Canaanite blood that this article is opposing. The Messiah says, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees”. These people always are among YEHOVAH’s people during Israel’s captivity!

The Gathering in Malachi

Malachi’s burden of the Word of YEHOVAH God was to Israel (not to others). Here we find the expression, “Yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau”. This our universalists cannot accept with their interpretation of “go into all the world”, making this phrase mean the inhabited earth (oikoumene) whereas it is kosmos which means the kosmos of Israel, in that context.

Racial admixture is expressed as “hath married the daughter of a strange god” and we see that, “The LORD will cut off the man that does this…both the master and the scholar out of the tabernacles of Jacob”. It seems that most of our masters and scholars will be cut off because of what they are teaching. We have seen how other prophets say the same thing about the false teachers. “Who will be able to abide the day of His coming?” (Malachi 3:2). The “great and dreadful day of the LORD” is at hand.

There will be a message before that day that few will accept, notice!

Malachi 4:4-6: "Remember the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers unto the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

This last book of the Old Testament tells of the gathering and who will be entered in the Book of Remembrance. Again it is a remnant of the sons of Jacob (Malachi 3:6):

Malachi 3:17: "And they shall be Mine, saith the LORD of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."

Those who are serving YEHOVAH God, as sons, “shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth not (Malachi 3:18). This day, “will burn like an oven; and all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of Hosts, that it leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:1, 2).

Let us not be too proud to admit what the YEHOVAH God says about the gathering of the remnant of the exclusive SONS OF JACOB. This subject of the gathering of Israel and the “Gospel of the Kingdom” have much in common. The people involved have the same racial identity. It is essential that we believe the right gospel, applying it to the same people that Scripture does. We will now go to the New Testament where we find NO CHANGE from what we find in the Old Testament about the “gathering” of Israel.

The Gathering of Israel -- New Testament

We have seen a consistent prophetical stream presented to show that the gathering of Israel is:

(1) To be fulfilled in only one people, Israel, as all the prophets specify.

(2) To involve a specific place, that is, to the “land which I gave to your fathers”.

(3) Brought about by YEHOVAH God who does the gathering.

(4) For a people, Israel, who are gathered are “out of” all nations, NOT “of” all nations. (Not one of the prophets is a racial universalist).

(5) For a nation, Israel, who remain racially separate from the other races, even after the beginning of the Millennium. (Jewry, commonly called “Jews” is NOT Israel).

(6) For two houses, the House of Israel and the House of Judah, who remain two separate parts of Israel, until the present enmity between them is broken, at the given time, under the New Covenant.

(7) Not completed in this present age. The gathering is either concurrent with the return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah, or after the beginning of the Millennium. (This is directly contrary to most of the current popular teachings).

(8) Israel is always shown as being gathered from where they were dispersed. Yes, they are gathered back to the Promised Land!

At the end of this article we will briefly look at the common misconception that the Messiah is the epitome of the Seed of Abraham and if the Abrahamic Covenant has thus been fulfilled. Now we will go through the New Testament and show that the presentation about the gathering of Israel is exactly THE SAME as it is in the Old Testament. The sequence of events and the time factors have a great bearing on whether or not the present Israeli state, or the USA, could be the fulfillment of prophecy about the gathering of Israel. We will see that neither could possibly be.

The Gathering in Matthew

It is well to remind ourselves how the gospel writers tell us the purpose for which the Messiah was commissioned. The gospels make it clear that the Messiah was anointed and commissioned to save and rule his Father's people. These are whom YEHOVAH God selected as His People before they were saved.

Matthew 1:21: "Thou shall call his name JESUS [Hebrew: YESHUA] : for he shall save his people from their sins."

Matthew 2:6: "That shall rule My people Israel."

The expression, “His people” and “My people” are specific. Throughout the Old Testament, the expression, “His People,” describes Israel only. John the Baptist declares that “this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah” and John the Baptist goes on to the first New Testament mention of a “gathering” of YEHOVAH’s people. In many verses below, look for the word “gather” and verify for yourself who is being gathered, and where they are gathered from and the place where they are taken to.

Matthew 3:12: "he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

That something is gathered and something is burnt shows that there are differences between people in the eyes of YEHOVAH God. All men are not created equal, each being conceived and born the way they are. Wheat seed cannot grow into tares, and sheep born as sheep cannot turn into goats. Election takes place before people have done good or evil (Romans 9:11). John 5:29: “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation”, applies to the elect. So what are gathered is “His wheat”. Wheat is gathered into the “garner”, a word that signifies to a place.

Later the Messiah takes up the theme of the wheat in the parable of the tares and the wheat. If one thing bears repeating, it is the statement that the tares are gathered and burned BEFORE the wheat is gathered. The chaff is burned after the harvest. What we are looking at in particular is the time frame, or the order of events, of the gatherings. The Messiah gives the time as being “in the time of harvest” and this is given as being “at the end of the age”. It is at that time when YEHOVAH God sends forth His angels to remove from of His kingdom, “all things that offend and them which do iniquity”. This might be termed, “The Rapture of the wicked”! (Note: the resurrection occurs before YEHOVAH God sets foot on the Mount of Olives.)

As was seen to be the case through the Old Testament, the bad are removed from out of the kingdom. It is never the good that are raptured away leaving the bad behind. The wicked are ever to be separated from among the just. The parables the Messiah gave give this same sequence:

Matthew 13:49: "So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just."

It is this principle that our popular teachers deny.

Matthew 23:37: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not."

The people gathered are “your children”. They are still the descendants of the same people to whom the prophets were sent. No other peoples are ever indicated.

Matthew 24

When it comes to the word “gather”, Matthew 24:29 refers to happenings that are forecast through the Old Testament. We have "Jacob's trouble" before the gathering, so the elect have not been raptured away. There is again the sun being darkened and the moon not giving her light. If these things are literal, then these things have not yet happened.

Matthew 24:29-31: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels, and they [as agents of YEHOVAH God] shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

The language is similar to that seen in the Old Testament where the prophets say Israel will be gathered out of the other nations where they had been scattered. This is from the four winds.

Once again, we see that the gathering of YEHOVAH's elect nation is before YEHOVAH God descends upon the Mount of Olives, thus confirming what all the prophets say. We can again see the consistency of the message through both Testaments that contradicts the popular teaching that says the Israeli state represents the fulfillment of prophecy. Some of the above things that have to happen before the gathering of Israel simply just have not yet happened. So much for the Israeli state! So much for the USA as the place!

Matthew 25

Here again we find the matter of the gathering and the separating of the good and from the bad. In this case it is the sheep and the goats.

Matthew 25:34: "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

It is the King (the Messiah) who does the separating, so the King must have appeared at this time to take up the Kingdom and this separation concerns only the potential occupants of the Kingdom. (The separation of the Tares from the Wheat is before this time.)

In this verse we have mention of the inheritance. Through the Old Testament, the inheritance is shown to be an area of land (on this earth), which was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants. This is no, “pie in the sky” stuff!

The Gathering in the Other Gospels

In Johns gospel there is an interesting prophecy made by Caiaphas in his capacity as High Priest. It is recorded that he spoke not of himself:

John 11:50-52: "Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish notand not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad."

The traditionalists would like to say that this “gathering in one” refers to “Jews and Gentiles” (supposedly meaning Israelites and non-Israelites) being gathered together. But Caiaphas isolated “the whole nation” and their position, “as children of God”. In this passage we see that the Messiah would not die for the House of Judah only, but for “the children of God”, inclusive of the House of Israel, who were then scattered abroad. This confirms what the prophets say about the gathering together of Israel and Judah.

The Gathering in the Book of Acts

In the first chapter of Acts the question about the kingdom being restored to Israel was asked. The Greek word for “restore” means, “to make it like it was before, or to heal it”. Therefore it cannot refer to the Church in the popular concept. Nor could it refer even vaguely to the USA!

Acts 1:6, 7: "When they, [the apostles] were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, will thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."

The Messiah did not deny the restoration; he told them it was not for them to know the timing. The key point is that the subject is the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel. No other peoples are included.

The witness “unto Me” is to be taken to “the uttermost” part of the earth where Israel had been scattered among the nations. The racial universalists try to say that the uttermost part of the earth means the inclusion of every race upon earth. But the Messiah says, “You shall not have gone over ‘THE CITIES OF ISRAEL’ before the Son of Man be come” (Matthew 10:23). They were to go only to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Matthew 10:6). It can be demonstrated that the instruction to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” was to go unto all the kosmos of Israel and proclaim it in every ktizo or place where Israelites dwelt.

The question was asked, “Wilt thou, at this time, restore the Kingdom to Israel?” In this restoration time the apostles were told that they would sit on twelve thrones “judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). No mention is ever made of other peoples. There is no suggestion of a multi-racial church ever taking the place of Israel as a people. This message of the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel is a message that is not proclaimed any more. If there were a multi-racial “church”, it would not be a case of restoration to something that was manifest previously, but something altogether new. This we do not find.

What is the New Testament's Gathering Time?

Through the New Testament, the gathering time is connected with the future appearance of the Messiah. It can be studied from this aspect. Going back to Matthew 24 we find:

Matthew 24:31: "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

At this trump of YEHOVAH God, the dead in “christ” (in an anointed people) are raised (1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16). This refers to the elect in the era of the beginning of the Millennium. Therefore, it is a bit hard to imagine that this trumpet’s reverberation has already happened -- especially if any want to continue to say that the Israeli state today represents this gathering together of Israel. It is too hard to imagine that the last trump has already occurred in regard to those migrating into the USA!

Matthew says that this is “immediately after the tribulation of those days” (Matthew 24:29), and so it cannot be pre-tribulation.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-17: "Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him."

The subject people are “brethren” (kinsmen of the womb). These are the kin of the ones who are gathered together. Again, no others are mentioned. The time is at the future appearance of the Messiah (the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”), as this verse says. What we find today is a great falling away from this doctrine about the gathering together of Israel. This is the context of this chapter in which Paul speaks of “the mystery of iniquity” (verse 7). The source of this iniquity is Rome (Jew-Jesuit controlled) and the doctrines that originate from that source.

In the context of Israel, Paul says,

Hebrews 9:28: "unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

The present Israeli state was formed through Zionist political determination together with political alliances, military might, violence and United States money. Here we see the USA-State of Israel connection.

Because this is contrary to the weight of prophecy showing repentance, trust in YEHOVAH God alone, and a totally different manner and attitude at the time of the gathering, the Israeli state has NO “Divine right” as claimed to the inheritance land. Yet, this is the common assumption of most denominational churches. They have been fooled by those calling themselves “Jews”, but who are not Jews, through their misappropriation of the name “Israel”. It is this Israeli state who “call themselves Jews” (see Revelation 2:9). These are abiding in hatred towards the Redeemer of Israel. The Messiah says that these wicked husbandmen will be destroyed when he comes to the same “vineyard” to take his Kingdom over Israel. (The USA never was that “vineyard”)!

Has the Abrahamic Covenant Been Fulfilled?

There are those who teach that the Abrahamic Covenant has been completely fulfilled, declaring:

(1) That the promise to Abraham concerning territory was fulfilled when David established his dominion from the Euphrates to the Nile (1 Chronicles 18:3, 2 Samuel 8:3) and that this was confirmed with Solomon (1 Kings 8:65, 2 Chronicles 7:8).

(2) That statements like, “and hast given them this land which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them” (Jeremiah 32:21-23), show that the seed of Abraham was fulfilled in the Messiah, who is “the true seed of Abraham” and “the covenant’s objective reality”.

Both statements completely ignore what YEHOVAH God said concerning the amount of land Israel would inhabit during that period (Exodus 23:20-33) and the statement to David concerning the fact that Israel was not going to remain in the Promised Land (2 Samuel 7:10). They also ignore what is said by the post-Solomon prophets together with what is said in the New Testament about the gathering to the land that was given to the fathers of Israel. Neither David nor Solomon possessed the land “forever” as provided for in the original covenant statement. The House of Israel and the House of Judah will re-unite and return to the land under the Messiah as King, when he appears to take up his Kingdom. This is the “forever” time.

The second statement generally ignores the fact that Jeremiah observes that the disobedience of the people (verse 23) was the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 4:25-27, Deuteronomy 28:64 and other passages. The argument about the “seed of Abraham” has raged for centuries, but the conclusion presented here is the straight-forward answer to what has been made into a complex matter. Israel remains exclusive; and what “all the nations being blessed in Abraham” means is far removed from what is commonly taught. The Messiah will appear and he will take his Kingdom with its territory (the covenant land) and the “forever” of the Abrahamic Covenant will be fulfilled by the Messiah in the Promised Land. Those elect “overcomers”, the Sons of YEHOVAH God, resurrected at the beginning of the Millennium, will reign with the Messiah and YEHOVAH God on Earth -- together with those who are “alive and remain until the coming of the LORD”.

Revelation 11:15: "The Kingdoms [singular in Greek] of this world [kosmos: order] are become (the kingdoms) of our LORD [YEHOVAH God], and of His Christ, and He [YEHOVAH God] shall reign for ever and ever."

And who is gathered to reign with Him?

Isaiah 11:12: "And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

There is no possible way that those gathered could include other than the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Throughout this article, we have seen exactly to where Israel is gathered. The place is always given as being from where the people of Israel were scattered. The remnant is brought back to “again” to their folds”.

Jeremiah 23:3: “And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase”.

Jeremiah 23:8: “The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land”.

 

-- Edited by John D. Keyser.

 

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Preparing the Way for the Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah!

Hope of Israel Ministries
P.O. Box 853
Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A.
www.hope-of-israel.org

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