Israel Resurrected, Israel Restored

by Dan Baxley

The Division – Understanding Israel and Judah as a separate people

Israel is to be restored as well as the tribe of Judah.  The world at large sees the modern state of Israel as the Jews that now occupy what some refer to as Israel.  It is taught by most Christian Churches that the Israel of today, in the news almost daily, is the Israel of Bible prophecy, this is only partly right.  The fact is most of the Israelite people in modern Israel today are of the tribes that made up the southern portion of the Kingdom of Israel, Judah, or the Jews as they are known today.  What is it that makes up a nation of Jews?   Basically the nation of Judah (today modern Israel) is composed of three of the tribes of the House of Israel. The House of Israel is all of the tribes, all of the people that entered the promise land, all twelve tribes. 

Twelve tribes?  With the tribe of Joseph receiving a double portion through his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh there are actually thirteen tribes, and you could count even higher than that if you count in the division of the Priesthood (more on that later).  The nation of Israel eventually divided, north and nouth.  The Northern Kingdom called “Israel” and the Southern Kingdom, Judah.  Judah, at the time of separation, amounted to four tribes:  The Levites, a priestly family in service to the Temple at Jerusalem, although they possessed no land as such, were given thirteen towns and adjoining pasture land in the southern province (Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon). Then there is the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe that always seemed to be at odds with the other tribes, finding sanctuary around Jerusalem and being joined more toward Judah than Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, Benjamin’s tribal nephews, located to his immediate North (Remembering Joseph and Benjamin were natural brothers he obviously did not get along with his brother’s sons becoming the dividing line between North and South Israel).  Next is the Tribe of Simeon positioned to the southern boundary, and of course, Judah the dominate figure of these people occupying the area that housed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the Kingdom throne.  Judah is seen as a composite of these four tribes, or clans, while the remainder occupy the Northern terrritory.  These clans of the North became know as Israel, the "Lost Ten Tribes", as they came to be known. 

The division of the tribes is complicated by the fact that the tribe of Levi had not been given a particular land area or estate of their own.  Add to this, Levi was not the only Priestly line, there is also the line of the Kohathites.  Apparently this is a people from the sons of Levi while Levi is a descendant of Aaron, the brother of Moses, after the original priestly line – that is to say -- the blood descendants of Levi, son of Abraham and Leah, became the order of Priests in service to the Temple after the order of Aaron.  The Kohathites being blood descendants of Levi where given, in addition to the thirteen cities, ten cities to the north, in the northern part of the Kingdom (Joshua 21:1-5; Genesis 29:34).  When the split between North and South came the priestly line pretty much split also, the Kohathites to the north and the rest of the Levites to the South. At any rate, the “lost ten tribes” are numbered as “ten” only if you include the tribe of Joseph as two tribes (seen in the double blessing Joseph was given through his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh - Genesis 48:17-20).  Israel to the north and Judah to the south each being formed by tribes or families descendant from the twelve children of Jacob.  Again, something to keep in mind, all twelve sons originate from one father but they are children of four different women, Leah and Rachel, and their hand maids, Bilhah and Zilpah (slaves, not of Abraham’s line). Jacob, the father is later named Israel -- twelve son’s, twelve families cimbined become the Israelites.  When the nation of Israel split the greater number kept the name of Israel even though the four divisions to the south could lay claim to the Patriarch name also.  An interesting point here is that the Jew, children of Judah, seem quite satisfied to let the nothrern tirbes take the name Israel while they maintained their father's name, Judah (YaHu-dah).  The name of this tribe blends nicely with the name of the City Jerusalem (YaHu-shalom, or City of Yahushua's Peace, and that is exactly what it will become when our Savior YaHushua, or Yahshua returns)  Looking at the following verses this should make sense -- Neh 1:9, Zec 1:17, Zec 2:12. 

You see, all Jews are Israelites but not all Israelites are Jews – the total “House of Israel” is all of the people, all of the tribes, the northern and the southern tribes combined.  Judah (the four tribe composite) does contain a small mixture of Israelite (Northern 10 tribes) people having defected from the North preferring to stay with the original Temple Order located in Jerusalem, but this was a very small minority.  Eventually the Northern Tribes were over run by the Assyrians, taken capitve, removed from the land into slavery by the Assyrians and their cities turned over to another people.  The rise Babylonian Empire replacing and displacing the Assyrians, ultimately leading to the dispersion of the Northern Tribes, along with the Assyrians, into the uncharted parts of the world, mostly the area we call Europe, their identity, for the most part, becoming lost to history.  There some seem to be some historical evidence for the mysterious appearance of those called Celts with the Israelite people. 

The Jews, the three-tribe union (four if you count the split division of Levi), however, has always maintained its identity and are the composite of what we see as the state of Modern Israel.  It is no accident that the territory Modern Israel occupies today is basically the same land area the tribe of Judah, along with Simeon and Benjamin, occupied before they were taken captive by the Babylonian Empire and later dispersed by the Roman Empire many, many years later. The tribe of Levi possessed no claim to any territory as did the other tribes and were obviously assimilated into the other three tribes, as were a branch of their descendants with the Northern Tribes (some Levi and their kin the Kohathites), when taken by the Assyrians (Salmaneser V pretty much putting an end to the Isralite Northern Tribes around 725 B.C.).  Another point might be made too, the Assyrians seemed to disappear around this same time, right long with the Northern Tribes.  One might assume that some intermixing with Assyrian blood would only be natural as both groups escape the oppression of the new power of Babylon. The Assyrians were a fierce people and ejoyed being masters of the Fertile Cresent, an area that swept from Persia (We call Iran today) over Babylon (the Area we know as Iraq today) up inot the north (Turkey of today) falling south over the eastern end of the Mediterrrean Sea to engulf Egypt.  One small hold out in the middle of the Assyrian Empire, Jerusalem and the immeidate area around Jerusalem amounting to the state of Judah.  Not for lack of trying, at this time in histroy, but by a miraculous defeat (2 Kings 19:32-37) Jerusalem and Judah are saved. 

The next Super Power to rise up and displace Assyria is Babylon King Nebuchadnezzar II and around 597 B.C. Jerusalem is taken and the Temple.  By this time no one is speaking of Israel, the Northern Tribes, they are gone and seem to dissapear from history.  The Babylonian Empire defeats the Assyrians and the Eyptians and over a period of about 20 years pulled the people of Judah out of their home land.  Daniel and some other young men of Jerusalem were taken to Babylon in 605 b.C, the Temple sacked in 597 B.C. then a mini revolt by Zedekiah causing the Babylonians to return putting an end to their Jewish problem in 586 B.C.  

Israel Today

Okay, enough of a history lesson, not my strong suit, but it needs to be understood, even in a minor way, in order to understand the prophetic future of Israel and Judah apart from one another.  Especially today when everyone is calling the Jewish nation, Modern Israel, as though this is the “House of Israel” and it is not, it is but a small portion of the “Greater Israel”.  There is a recognized division, however, a division that one day will be brought back into union but not by men.

(Jer 23:3-8)  I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.  I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the LORD.

The days are coming, declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD (YHWH) Our Righteousness.

So then, the days are coming, declares the LORD(YHWH), "when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD (YHWH) lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,'  but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD (YHWH)lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' Then they will live in their own land." MKJV

 Do we see this today?  Some say we do but look, this speaks of the whole of Israel not some little patch work of a secular population pulled from different parts of the World.  This is speaking of a pepople that will call on Him, and will see Him as their God, not like today where 90% of the Jewish populaiton in Modern Israel claim no god at all.

The House of David

We see from the above quoted verses a “Righteous Branch” is raised up from the Line of King David.  This is, of course, recognized as out Savior, but not only Our Savior but the Savior of Judah also.  The context is certainly speaking of when the Messiah has returned to rule and to save not only Judah but Israel as well.  Israel, all of Israel united and “raised back to life” to meet our Lord Yahshua, not only our Savior but theirs also.

King David and all his house will again sit as a ruler over Israel, a “resurrected Israel and Judah”. 

As strange as it may sound to some -- all of the House of Israel, and this includes Judah, are to be raised back to life, in the flesh, and to live in the restored land given to them by the creator.  This astonishing truth is made plain within the pages of the Holy Bible.  This truth is virtually ignored by everyone.  Don’t take my word for it, open your Bible and read it for yourself.

“My servant David will be king over them (Israel), and they will all have one shepherd (the Messiah).  They will follow my Laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived.  They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.  I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant.  I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever.  My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.  Then the nations will know that I YHWH (the LORD) make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.”  (Ezekiel 37:24-28; Revelation 21- 22 NIV)

This is an astounding quote from the pages of the Bible especially when you consider this was written over four hundred years after King David’s death.  The timing of the above quote can be placed at the time of our Messiah’s return to this Earth.   Notice, “… I will put my sanctuary among them forever”. 

“I did not see a temple in the city because the Lord God Almighty (The Father) and the Lamb (The Messiah, Yahshua) are its temple.”  (Revelation 21:22, NIV)

This verse goes with a full description found in Chapter twenty-two of the new heaven and new earth and it can be seen that the “sanctuary” is the Father and the Son.  There is to be a restoring of the Israel and it will not come by the acts of men but by the power of the Living God. 

“The LORD (YHWH) will be king over the whole earth, on that day there will be one LORD (YHWH), and His name the only name.”  (Zechariah 14:8)

“It will be inhabited (Jerusalem); never again will it be destroyed.  Jerusalem will be secure.  This is the plague with which the LORD (YHWH) will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem.   (verses 11-12)

Read this whole chapter it is fascinating.  The Mighty YHWH is going to strike the nations with a plague of horror and fear and Judah is not going to escape this event. “…Judah too will fight at Jerusalem”.  This makes it plain that descendants of Judah are to be located at Jerusalem, as they are to this day.  This would have been a word of prophecy had you read it prior to the Jews returning to their home land.  Who would have thought, before World War II, that the Jews would be able to get back to the Land of Palestine, let alone establish for themselves a modern nation?  This is a small word of prophecy fulfilled.  Still, the modern Israel of today is not the Israel that is to live at peace under the protection of the Almighty. 

“The survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD (YHWH) Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.”  (Zechariah 14:16, NIV) 

“The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.” (Revelation 22:24, NIV)

“If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD (YHWH) Almighty, they will have no rain.  If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain.  The LORD (YHWH) will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.”  (Zechariah 14:17-18)

When the Kingdom of David and the Sanctuary of the Father and Lamb is established in Jerusalem the “nations” will be required to come up to worship the King of Kings and to and pay tribute.  The Feast of Tabernacles is the time of recognizing the Millennium rule of the Messiah and a time of bring to him a monetary tribute of your gain.  The Feast begins at the end of the harvest of the crops and lasts for a week.  These verses leave no wiggle room for their timing and place – this will be at the very time the Messiah, YaHshua rules from Jerusalem – a time when the people of Israel (all of the people) will be raised in the “flesh” and be “restored” as proof to all of the Word of the Living God.

Whole House of Israel

Make no mistake, Israel, the “whole House”, meaning Judah too, are going to be brought back to life in the flesh.  While the Saints of the Messiah, that would be believers in YaHshua as Messiah, are looking forward to the resurrection not of flesh but the “quickening” into a spiritual beings and eternal life.  The house of Israel, however, will be raised back into the flesh and be given a new attitude, a new heart.  You see, YaHshua, their creator wants them to succeed.  His plan has never been to destroy the House of Israel, but to save them.

Ezekiel was privileged with a vision of Israel’s resurrection.  He is taken by the spirit into a valley full of bones and then watched as these bones had the flesh restored to them.  YaHWeH, the Creator God, “gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” (Romans 4:17, so much for evolution)).  In other words, He can call things into being that did not exist before as well as raise the dead back to life.      

Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.  They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.  (Ezekiel 38:11) 

Yes indeed, things look hopeless for the House of Israel.  Their history is filled with rebellion against their Creator.  They are a supreme example of misplaced righteousness and rebellion against the only true, Living God (Romans 10:1-3).  Israel’s failures are an example for us to learn from (1 Corinthians 10:5-11).  YHWH did not allow Israel and Judah’s rebellion to go unchecked and for nothing.  He is not through with them, He is determined to make something out of their failure that will point to the only true God – so there can be no doubt -- YH and His Son, YaHshua are the only true and Living God.  Israel is coming back to life, back to the flesh to face their Savior whom they crucified.

“There fore prophecy and say to them:  ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD (YHWH) says:  O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. (verse 12)

This verse demonstrates that the valley of bones is not just about the Israelites that have died in the land of Israel but the world over.  The “bringing” back to the land would indicate this.  The people of the House of Israel, this includes the people of Judah that we call the “Jews”, are going to have the opportunity to meet the glorified Messiah and come face to face with their sin.

“Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD (YHWH), when I open your graves and bring you up from them.  I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your land.  Then you will know that I the YHWH (LORD) have spoken, and I have done it, declares the YHWH (LORD).  (verses 13-14)

Wow, how wonderful is that?  If you will read your bible with this knowledge tucked into your head you will see scriptures in nearly every book pertaining to the return of Israel to the land “given” them by the YHWH.  Believe me, this land is not the small Modern Israel seen in today’s news.  Certainly the people of Judah had to be in Jerusalem for certain prophecies to begin to reveal themselves, but Modern Israel is not the “House of Israel” that the Great Creator God is going to bring back to the Land.  Modern Israel is mainly the work of men and with the help of other nations the Jews were delivered back to a small area of the land given to the children of Abraham, the land of Jacob. The Jews are a small representation of the whole House of Israel.  The modern Jews are mainly of three tribes of the House of Israel, the other ten tribes have lost their identity but the Creator God knows who they are.  Also, there is no dispute that thousands upon thousands of the House of Israel have died and turned to bones and dust in the “land”.  While Jerusalem (Yerusalayim, or YH’s peace) is destined to be the capitol of the whole earth the “land of Israel”, as given to Abraham, will encompass a far greater area of real estate than is seen today.

Note: The name “Jerusalem” was originally seen as “Urusalim” and it is suggested it meant “the foundation of the god, Salem”  It is seen from the earliest writings (2400 BC) as Salim and later, around the 19^th century BC in Egyptian texts as “Rushalimum”.  Genesis 14:18 mentions the King of Salem and Hebrews 7:1 mentions the King of Salem, so we can see that this name is a very old name indeed.  Understanding that the “J” in Jerusalem should be the Hebrew “Y” we can see the Name of YHWH added to the front of this ancient name – Y’ rusalem, or Y’ Urusalim or Y’ Rushalimum.  It wasn’t until after the Bible had pretty much been finished when Rabbinic and Christian writings began to refer to this name as meaning “City of Peace”.  (1 king 11:36 the place He choose to put His Name).  Further information on this can be found in Harper’s Bible Dictionary and Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible.  (The Problem with the teachings of these and other Biblical sources is that they do not always agree with the Scriputre.  Consider Paul's writing to the Hebrews in the Book of Hebrews 7:2 where Paul makes reference of the "king of Salem" and translated "King of Peace".  By this remarkable statement from Paul, well before the authorities of knowledge are given credit for making this translation into the meaning of the name of the City Jerusalem, we see a truth being made know hundereds of years before its acceptance).

Greater Israel

Genesis 15:18-21  In the same day the LORD (YHWH) made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,  And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Break out a map and have a look at this area – it is nothing like the area, the land mass, Israel occupies today.  Modern Israel is but a speck of what it is to be.  The restored, “resurrected” Israel will have plenty of room and all under the protection of their “Redeemer”.  Nations will marvel at this and wonder at how this all comes about.  Many will say, “let’s go up to the Jews and have them teach us about their God”.  The people of Israel will be “restored” to a position of honor and praise among the Nations.

Micah 4:1-2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's (YHWH’s) temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 

Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 

Zephaniah 2:20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes," says the LORD (YHWH).

The declaration to Abraham concerning the land is repeated for Jacob, the father of the Israelites.  There is no mistaking the wording:

Gen 35:12  And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and to your seed after you I will give the land.

Ezekiel 37:26-28 And I will cut a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.  And My tabernacle shall be with them. Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And the nations shall know that I Jehovah sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in their midst forever.

 Israel has a wonderful future ahead of her but she will have a lot to go through, as will the Nations around her and any Nation that comes against her. 

Jeremiah 31:31  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD (YHWH), that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD (YHWH): But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD (YHWH), I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Israel is not the only Nation to enjoy the protection of YHWH when the “restoration” begins.  The enemies of Israel will have been crushed and then an event will take place that will truly demonstrate the will of our Savior.

Isaiah 19:22-25 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:  Whom the LORD (YHWH) of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

Isaiah 49:26  And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Isaiah 49:14-16  But Zion said, Jehovah (YHWH) has forsaken me, and my LORD has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have carved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are forever before Me. MKHV

The Redeemer and Holy One of Israel has not and will not forget Israel.  (Isaiah 49:7; 48:17; 47:4)  He is not only our Savior and theirs but He has a special relationship with them, a relationship He is going to recognize again:

(Isaiah 54:5)  For your Maker is your husband; Jehovah (YHWH) of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called. For the LORD (YHWH) has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were rejected, says your God. For a little moment I have left you; but with great mercies I will gather you. MKJV

And again:

Isaiah 54:5-7  For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD (YHWH the) Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.The LORD (YHWH) will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit-- a wife who married young, only to be rejected," says your God.  For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.  NIV

Isaiah 54:5 For your (Israel’s) Maker is your husband-- the LORD (YHWH) Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. NIV

Israel has a future, a great and wonderful future, once again being taken as the wife of their Redeemer.  And just whom do you think their “Redeemer’ is?  Good guess, YaHshua, “and they will look on Him whom they pierced”

John 19:37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced

Zechariah 12:10  And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

He is the Way and the Future of us All

Isaiah 53:5-7 But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and LORD (YHWH) has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.

He is the reason we can be forgiven all our sins – imagined and real.  He is the way and the solution to all of the problems we see on this Earth.  He is going to raise Israel back to life as His Wife once again.  Israel will be given a fleshly heart and see their Savior and their vow with their God will be renewed.  Israel will be restored.

We see the Bride of the Messiah coming down out of Heaven, prepared to receive those once abandoned.  How do we know it is Israel that John see in his vision in the Book of Revelation?  Because the Bride is identified a city whose foundation is built upon the Apostles (all Jews) and whose gates are named after the tribes of Israel.

Revelation 21:9-14  One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.  There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. NIV

What about us?  What about the Christians of the New Covenant?  Where are we in all of this if Israel is the bride and wife then who are we?  Oh, we will be there, but we must not make the mistake of taking that which belongs to Israel for ourselves.  The truth is, will have been resurrected and our mortal shells quickened into pure Spirit.  The people of Israel, from the first of their creation, will be in a flesh and blood resurrection and given the opportunity to see and learn from our Savior, their Messiah.  Our hope is in the resurrection of as with the “first fruits” with our Savior, YaHshua and being in the first resurrection to “eternal life” the second death will have no power over us. 

Revelation 20:4-6  I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Yes, those in the first “resurrection” will rule with the Messiah for the 1000 years.  Our future is set, as is Israel’s. 

Our Savior’s plan and that of our Father in Heaven has always been to save Israel.  Why else would Satan be trying so hard to rid the world of the Jews?  There is a curious thing about the Heavenly City, that Heavenly Jerusalem, coming down to this Earth – it has no Temple because the Father and the Son are its Temple (verse 22) and we see that the timing of this Heavenly City is after the 1000 years (Verses 1-3).  This proves without a doubt that it is the pleasure of our Savior and our Heavenly Father to restore the people of Israel – why else would the names of the Israelite families and that of the Apostles be found on this City coming out of Heaven to this Earth?  Israel has a great future in helping the world to learn about their God and the world will seek them out as teachers, and we have a future to be co-rulers with the Messiah

There is so much more that could be written on this but then why should I have all the fun.  I have given you enough verses to do a research of your own.  Go to you own bible and read the verses associated with the verses I have given and make you own chin of events involving the people of Israel.  You will see right away that the majority of the prophecy concerning Israel is not past but future and you will see that much of it concerns an Israel not yet seen.  Certainly an Israel had to be in place for event to begin but the prophetic statements concerning Israel’s protection and deliverance by the hand of YHWH and of the returning of Israel from all lands is yet future.  Modern Israel is but the tip of the events yet to come.  Be prepared for much of prophecy is not understood until after it happens.  It is then the Bible student will be able to see the full truth of the Word of the Living God, the God of Israel, YHWH. 

Peace to you and yours.  servant@yahshuaservant.com

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