“I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God” (Amos 9:15, ASV).

For 3900 years, the Jewish people have been at the heart of God’s redemptive plan (Genesis 12:3). From Abraham’s calling to the giving of the Law at Sinai, to the rise and fall of Israel’s kingdoms, to the dispersion of Jews throughout the world, the story of Israel is both miraculous and prophetic. Central to this story is the promise of return ‑‑ the divine assurance that God would gather His people back to their ancestral homeland. Today that promise has been fulfilled and continues to unfold.

The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh is saturated with prophecies foretelling the scattering and regathering of Israel. Among the most significant:

• Deuteronomy 30:5, “He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it.”
• Ezekiel 37, The Valley of Dry Bones.
• Jeremiah 31, “He who scattered Israel will gather them.”
• Zechariah 8:4‑6, The Miracle of Normal Life in Jerusalem.
• Isaiah 11:11, 12, Gathering Exiles and Raising a Banner for the Nations.

Many prophecies might be examined regarding Israel’s regathering. Here we consider two, one from Ezekiel 11, and another from Ezekiel 37.

EZEKIEL 11

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even (1) gather you from the people, and (2) assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and (3) I will give you the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 11:17).

This prophecy is about retrieving Israel from its exile. The first promise is about gathering Israelites from other peoples (with foreign cultures), and the second promise is about retrieving them from foreign lands. Over many centuries, Jews became part of the nations where they lived. They were sometimes persecuted and denied full rights, but for most of the time they lived in relative peace. Even today, millions of Jews who live in the United States identify as American Jews. They are culturally American, often patriotic, and feel more at home in American society than they would in Israel. The same has been true for Jews from other countries in past centuries.

The end of the exile means the end of national identification of Jews with their host countries. There is a popular expression, “it’s easier to take a Jew out of exile, than it is to take the exile out of a Jew.” Ezekiel describes the process of the Jewish people securing a national identity, rather than connecting with people of other lands.

Israel is a state again since 1948.

The second phrase in the scripture refers to the physical return, or Aliyah (Jewish immigration) to Israel from the land of their exile. In the past two years Aliyah has surged from Russia and Ukraine due to the war, and from France. Factors driving Aliyah include economic uncertainty, political instability, and rising antisemitism.

Over time, millions of Jews have left their host nations and forged a national identity in Israel. However, there are still millions who choose to remain where they are, not considering it to be exile. We pray for the awakening of all Jews to discover their identity as members of the nation of Israel, leading them back to the only Jewish homeland. The current rise in antisemitism is resulting in many more making the Aliyah decision.

EZEKIEL 37

There is another step of the gathering going further than just returning. Ezekiel 37:21 indicates another prerequisite in the “gathering” process before the land is fully taken. “Behold, (1) I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and (2) will gather them on every side, and (3) bring them into their own land.”

The word translated “will gather” here is the Hebrew word qabats, Strong’s 6908. This is a common word indicating gathering in unity, as in Judges 20:11, “all the men of Israel gathered together against the city, united as one man.” This expresses a cohesive force of solidarity. The continuous cry since October 7, 2023, “Am Israel Chai,” means “The people of Israel live,” expressing the unity of the nation more strongly than before.

An example of this unity occurred in response to the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Australia formally recognizing a Palestinian state. Prime Minister Netanyahu released a video statement on September 21, 2025, declaring “No Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River.”

The prophet Ezekiel

The third step described in Ezekiel 11 and 37 is: “I will give you the land of Israel” and “bring them into their own land.” God promised Israel the land long ago, and the “deed” is the Bible. But God wants them to learn, through the process of securing the land, to rely on Him.

God has gathered His people back to the Land, not because of anything they have done, but to be a witness to Gentiles and to vindicate His name (Ezekiel 28:25, Isaiah 43:5‑7). The timing was up to Him (Psalm 102:13). He would do it (Jeremiah 23:3), and He would even use Gentiles to make it happen (Isaiah 49:22‑26, 60:8‑12).

Thus God vindicates His name that has been profaned before nations through the disobedience and exile of His people. He will demonstrate His holiness and His faithfulness, whether His children are deserving or not (Ezekiel 36:22‑23). Israel’s regathering reflects God’s love and mercy to them (Isaiah 60:8‑10), as well as toward the world He plans to redeem and bless with truth and glory for eternity (Psalm 102:16‑22).

TIME PROPHECIES

Based on the “seven times” prophecies in Daniel and Leviticus, Bible Students predicted the end of Gentile dominion over Jerusalem beginning in 1914. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 was a notable result of World War I. The “Great Tribulation” (Matthew 24:21) manifested in two World Wars, led to the horrors of the holocaust. This was certainly an attempt by Satan to annihilate the Jewish people. The birth of the nation was the incredible result.

It appears that 1948, 1967, 1978, and 2023 may be prophetic signposts marking Israel’s journey, heading toward the kingdom. In recent years, a possible dual fulfillment for natural Israel of the 2300, 1260, 1290, and 1335 days of Daniel came to light.

These 4 important time periods during the regathering process were concealed in the book of Daniel until 1825, when Adam Clark predicted the fulfillment of the 2300 days of Daniel 8 coming to fruition in 1967. This prediction was brought to our attention in a Bible study at Biblical Tamar Park conducted by Dr. James Tabor in 2017. The 1967 Six Day War was a brief but significant conflict fought between Israel and Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Israel achieved a decisive victory, capturing substantial territories, including East Jerusalem, the Sinai, the Golan Heights, and most notably, Judea and Samaria. The world refers to this as the “West Bank” or “occupied territory,” but Ezekiel terms it “the mountains of Israel” (eight times in Ezekiel chapters 36-39).

2300 YEARS

There are three empires referred to in Daniel 8 — Persia (Ram), Greece (Goat) and Rome (the horn that “waxed great,” verse 10). It is common for brethren to begin the 2300 years in the days of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, and extend them to the mid 1800s in the days of the Adventist Movement. In this case, these 2300 years have a beginning point in the time of the Persian Empire, the Ram. This is a correct application.

In 334 BC, Alexander began the conquest of the vast Persian Empire at the Battle of Granicus. Alexander is represented by the “notable horn” of Daniel 8:5. In this context the Ram (Persian empire) was smitten by the Goat (Greece). Is this also a feasible beginning for the 2300 years mentioned in Daniel 8:14? That would take us to 1967, when Old Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount, were restored to natural Israel.

A third option concerns the rise of Rome, the “Great” horn. Polybius, Histories, begins his account of the Roman Empire with the release of Rome from the Gauls in 387 BC, recounting from then forward the increase of Roman power, leading to an empire. 2300 years further end in 1914, the year the “ten toes” of the Roman Empire were smitten by the rock in 1914 (Daniel 2:34).[1][2]

Thus, as this chapter refers to three kingdoms — Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome — there may be a meaning to the 2300 years beginning in each kingdom.

THE TEMPLE MOUNT

We know the spiritual applications made in the harvest message of the days of the “abomination of desolation” (Daniel 11:31). What about respecting Natural Israel? Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, is credited with the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, dedicated in 335 AD. This church was built on the site believed to be where Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. It is reported that the Temple mount was used mostly as a rubbish dump during this time, but historical sources also suggest that Helena built a small church on the Temple Mount. Later a Byzantine church was built there in the 6th century. Still later, it became an Islamic sanctuary with the construction of the Dome of the Rock and the Al‑Aqsa Mosque.

Jerusalem seized by Romans, Christendom, and Muslims certainly is an abomination desecrating the holiest site for Judaism. The seven front war waged against Israel from 2023 to 2025 is called “Operation Al‑Aqsa Flood.” Al‑Aqsa is the name Muslims call the Temple Mount.

The Dome of the Rock was originally built between 688 and 692 AD under the Umayyad Caliph Abd al‑Malik. This sanctuary holds importance as the site where Muslims suppose Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven (a fabrication of Islam respecting their claim to Jerusalem).

1260, 1290, 1335 YEARS

Respecting Spiritual Israel, these prophecies take us from 539 AD to the years 1799, 1829, and 1874. These three dates take us to the following. (1) The end of Papacy’s 3½ prophetic times dominating Christendom.

(2) The time “the wise shall understand” the time prophecies, and God’s Plan, more clearly (Daniel 12:10, 11).[3] (3) The Return of Christ, when those that “waiteth” are “blessed” (Daniel 12:12, compare Luke 12:36, 37 where the same terms apply to the return of Christ).

The prophet Elijah at the close of the 3½ years of drought

The same three points are referred to in the experiences of Elijah the Prophet, in 1 Kings 18, 19. There, after 3½ years of drought (Luke 4:25, James 5:17), the rain commenced again, representing the refreshing outpouring of Scripture again (Revelation 10:10, 11), after 1799.

Following this Elijah had occasion to flee again, and was fed twice by an angel — a picture of the two blessed feedings of spiritual truth after 1829, and after 1874. Then, after 40 days further, Elijah arrived at Mt. Horeb where he saw the wind, earthquake, and fire, three stages of the Time of Trouble, which commenced in 1914, forty years after 1874.

NATURAL ISRAEL

These three periods — 1260, 1290, 1335 years — commenced with the “Abomination of Desolation” (Daniel 11:31, 12:11). The declaration of Justinian (533) setting Papacy in charge of Christendom, became effective with the fall of Ravenna, the then capital of Italy, in 539).

However, as with the 2300 years of Daniel 8, which had a secondary application to Natural Israel in 1967, there may also be applications of the 1260, 1290, and 1335 year periods to Natural Israel, dating from 688 AD, the year the Dome of the Rock, another abomination, was established in literal Jerusalem.

The “Dome of the Rock” was built to memorialize the rock on which it was supposed that Abraham offered his son in sacrifice. However, rather than recognizing it as the offering of Isaac, who represents Christ, Islam supposes it to be the offering of Ishmael. This of course sets aside the testimony of Scripture, and in this respect is an “abomination.” In this case, it discounts the symbolic sacrifice of Jesus, and also discounts the selection of Israel (descended from Isaac) as a chosen people.

If we take 1260, 1290, 1335 years from the beginning of this Abomination in 688, it takes us to 1948, 1978, and 2023. The first date is immediately engaging. It is the year Israel was restored as an independent nation, preparatory for the Kingdom. On May 14, 1948, David Ben‑Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel, three years after the Holocaust in which six million Jews had perished.

David Ben-Gurion

As with Elijah, where there were three parts to the Time of Trouble — Wind, Earthquake, and Fire — so with natural Israel, there appear to be three parts to their recovery as a national entity. (1) A series of Arab wars in 1948, 1967, and 1973. (2) Subsequently a process of establishing peace with their Arab neighbors. This began in 1978 with the Camp David Accords between Israel and the Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat. In 1994 Jordan made peace with Israel, and others were added with the Abraham Accords formalized in early 2021. (3) Another lengthy process commenced in 2023, with the October 7 invasion, which may be the beginning of restoring to Israel portions of the Promised Land that they have not as yet regained. Joshua 13:3, for example, makes it clear that Gaza is part of the land of promise — and the so-called “West Bank,” actually Judea and Samaria, is clearly part of historic Israel.

WHAT MIGHT WE ANTICIPATE?

We watch and wait, of course. It will take time, just as even a cold peace with Israel’s Arab neighboring countries took years to achieve. Here are some suggestions.

• Israel will eliminate the threat of Islamic terror in their homeland.
• The elimination of Iran’s nuclear threat.
• Better unity among most factions of Israeli society.
• Sovereignty over Gaza, Judea, and Samaria.
• Religious revival in Israel.
• Increased opportunity for Bible Students to proclaim to Zion, “Thy God Reigneth” (Isaiah 52:7).

RECOGNIZE THE TIMES

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for not recognizing the signs of the times (Matthew 16:3). In light of fulfilled prophecy, especially visible events like Israel’s restoration, let us appreciate the progress of events, moving toward the Kingdom. The Restoration of Israel is one of the clearest indicators that we are in the prophetic “last days” (Micah 4:1). We witness prophecy fulfilled before our eyes — not metaphorically, but literally. “When you see all these things, you know that it [the kingdom] is near, right at the door” (Matthew 24:33 NIV).

PERSONAL TESTIMONY

Uncle August Tornquist traveled to Israel many times, visiting and serving brethren, doing research, witnessing and comforting through the Third Temple Program, as well as visiting with many Israeli friends and dignitaries, including Prime Minister David Ben‑Gurion.

Bible Students are perhaps the only group still in existence who have been ardent Christian Zionists — preaching since 1876 the fact that the Jewish people would return as a nation. Jews have written about Pastor Russell’s Zionist predictions and advocacy. Examples are David Horowitz’s book, Early Christian Zionist, endorsed by Benjamin Netanyahu in the 1980s, and the 2018 article published in Haaretz Israel News, “Before Herzl, There Was Pastor Russell: A Neglected Chapter of Zionism.”

C. T. Russell’s remarkable example of encouraging Jews to immigrate to Israel was followed by many brethren in their witness work. The most recent large work supported widely by brethren around the world encouraging Aliyah is the movie “Israel Appointment with Destiny” produced by Br. Ken Rawson. The Christian version, “Israel Fulfilling Prophecy,” also had an impact on many Christians, encouraging them to support Israel from a Biblical perspective.

It is interesting to note that opponents of Pastor John Hagee, the founder of the largest Christian Zionist organization, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), link Br. Russell’s ministry with the “Story of Christian Zionism’s Rise to Power in US^”

— Br. Paul Lagno

 

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[1] See also the RVIC, Daniel 8:9, footnote 87.

[2] A parallel case of three applications is in Daniel 11:31, and its “abomination of desolation.” That refers to the establishment of Papacy in 539, as the beginning of the 1260, 1290, 1335 days of Daniel chapter 12. Following that application, the remainder of Daniel 11 takes us to the Second Advent in Daniel 12:1, when Michael (Jesus) exerts authority.

But two other applications are feasible here as well. Respecting natural Israel, the abomination may refer to Antiochus Epiphanes who brought gross violations to the temple worship of Israel. Following this approach through the remainder of Daniel 11 takes us to the First Advent in Daniel 12:1.

Another application is Pagan Rome that desolated Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. Matthew 24:15, 16, as applied to Israel in 70 AD, suggests this application. Following this approach through the remainder of Daniel 11 takes us to the triumph of Michael in Revelation 12:7-9, referring to the triumph of Christianity over Paganism in the Roman Empire.

Thus in both Daniel 8 and Daniel 11, three applications are at hand. The chief one for Spiritual Israel, another respecting Natural Israel, a third respecting the Roman Empire.

 

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