May 10, 2006

A Sign of the Times

“For the first time since the first century” began an article in the Jerusalem Post last week.  Another article in UPI started: “For the first time in almost 2000 years.”  What actually did happen for the first time in nearly two millennia?  For the first time in their 2,000- year history, more Jews lived in Israel than in any other nation on earth.  The central bureau of statistics announced that the number of Jews living in Israel stands now at 5.64 million.  Israel eclipsed the number of Jews living in America, which used to be the largest community of Jews in the world.  The bureau said that if present trends continue, there will be an absolute majority of world Jewry living within Israel within 25 to 30 years.

The announcement by the central bureau of statistics might sound matter of fact, just a simple matter of arithmetic.  But behind the numbers lies what seems to be a significant prophetic milestone.  It verifies what the Old Testament prophets proclaimed thousands of years ago, that the God of Abraham would bring his people from all over the world back to the land of Israel.  

This return to the land – called “Aliya” in Hebrew – is a modern day miracle with ancient roots. 

The prophet Jeremiah cried: Hear the word of the Lord, o nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands; ‘He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’ Jeremiah 31:10

Isaiah proclaimed: Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring
your children from the east and gather you from the west.  I will say to the north, 'give them up!' and to the south, 'do not hold them back.'  Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 43: 5, 6

Ezekiel prophesied: “I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their own land.”

This modern day miracle began in earnest more than 100 years ago in the late 1800s.  Since then the process of “aliyah” has been sometimes quiet, often tumultuous, but always a steady migration of Jews back to the Promised Land.  About two years ago, CBN News sailed by ship with Russian immigrants from Odessa (the land of the north) back to the port of Haifa.  It was a three day journey, but it was a promise 3,000 years in the making.  Whether it’s by sea, land or by air, Jews continue to make this trek back to their ancestral homeland.    

For many Christians this return is one more validation of the truthfulness of God’s word and another signpost to the return of Jesus Christ. 

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