The
tragic dispersion of the House of Israel is also a message of love. It stands
as a monument of God's infinite mercy towards His children and his undying love
for even the vilest sinner who He longs to see return to Him. Even though the
Kingdom of Judah got what it deserved, they are not forever abandoned for the
Lord made them a promise through Jeremiah that He will visit them after seventy
years of bondage and cause them to return to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
This
promise was fulfilled by Cyrus, the Great….the King of
Persia, who conquered Babylon in 539 B.C., and inherited the exiled Jews. He
was raised for such a purpose by Jehovah himself, who called him ‘my shepherd’
and ‘my anointed’ (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4).
The God of
Israel worked with this man to ensure he fulfilled his purpose and this was
it….not to free the captive Israel for the sake of freedom but to send them
back to Jerusalem to build His temple (Isaiah 44:28). Jehovah was calling His people to return to
Him….it is in the temple that they would once again raise their right hand to
the covenant they had forsaken and would receive a second chance (Isaiah
44:20).
That second
chance didn’t last. The second temple was built and lasted until 70 A.D. when
Titus, the Roman Emperor, sacked Jerusalem and dispersed Judah into all the
nations of the earth. But before that tragedy, the Messiah himself appeared and
prophesied of this fall in his Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:1-2; Mark 13:1-2;
Luke 21:20-21). Yet another chance for salvation in vain. But Messiah’s mercy
endures forever….
On 22
February 1879, Elder Wilford Woodruff, issued an epistle to the world and
addressed himself to the dispersed of Judah in this dispensation:
“For the
fulness of the Gentiles has come in, and the Lord has decreed that the Jews
should be gathered from all the Gentile nations where they have been driven,
into their own land, in fulfilment of the words of Moses their lawgiver. And
this is the will of our great Eloheim, O house of Judah, and whenever you shall
be called upon to perform this work, the God of Israel will help you.
“You have a
great future and destiny before you and you cannot avoid fulfilling it; you are
the royal chosen seed, and the God of your father’s house has kept you distinct
as a nation for eighteen hundred years, under all the oppression of the whole
Gentile world. You may not wait until you believe on Jesus of Nazareth, but
when you meet with Shiloh your king, you will know him; your destiny is marked
out, you cannot avoid it.
“It is true
that after you return and gather your nation home, and rebuild your City and
Temple, that the Gentiles may gather together their armies to go against you to
battle, to take you a prey and to take you as a spoil, which they will do, for
the words of your prophets must be fulfilled, but when this affliction comes,
the living God, that led Moses through the wilderness, will deliver you, and
your Shiloh will come and stand in your midst and will fight your battles; and
you will know him, and the afflictions of the Jews will be at an end…..and all
will be fulfilled, according to the sayings of Ezekiel, Zechariah, and other
prophets. Though the heavens and the earth pass away, not one jot or tittle
will fall unfulfilled.” (in Matthias F.
Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, pp 509-10)
The
gathering of Israel has begun in earnest and the mighty promise by Ezekiel is
being fulfilled. The fulfilment of this promise began when the Saviour saw His
people with compassion ‘because they were as sheep not having a shepherd’ and
He fed them with loaves and fishes in symbolism of their return to the
mountains of Israel where they will be fed forevermore:
“For thus
saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them
out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep
that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of
all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
“And I will
bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will
bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the
rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
“I will
feel them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their
fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they
feed upon the mountains of Israel…..I will seek that which was lost and bring
again that which was driven away….” (Ezekiel 34:11-16)
Compassion rent His godly heart
When He saw His scattered sheep,
Upon the high mountains of Israel
Running to His shelter,
His promise for Him to keep.
A promise He would honour
That His lost sheep He would find,
Upon the high mountains of Israel
That heartless shepherds left behind.
So His promise He valiantly fulfilled
As His sheep sat hungry on Bethsaida’s
hill,
And fed upon the loaves and fishes
That multiplied upon His will.
(Mark 6:33-44)
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CATHRYNE ALLEN
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