The Palestinian Covenant continued
Deut. 30:2
We
introduced this covenant last time with emphasis on the background and the fact
of Israel's chastising
dispersion. The second thing we notice
in this passage is the prophecy of Israel's
repentance.
Let us
examine that for a few minutes. It is
noted in verse 2. God speaks of
returning to obedience by the Hebrew people.
He says, "And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey
his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children,
with all thine heart, and with all thy soul." This cannot be speaking of the return
from the Babylonian Captivity. It is not
talking about the return of Israel from the
Assyrian Captivity. This has never
happened, and the Bible does not say it will until the time when Israel and Judah will be
raised out the grave of history to become one nation again under God. Of this we shall write later.
For now
we are considering the repentance of Israel as
recorded in Deut. 30:2. “And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and
shalt obey his voice according to all that I commanded thee this day, thou and
thy children with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.” It is
stated again in Hosea 3:5, "Afterward
shall the children of Israel return,
and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and
his goodness in the latter days." Hosea had
predicted that Israel would
abide many days without a king, prince, sacrifice, image, ephod, or
teraphim. This is a description of the
nation in this dispersion among the nations of which we have been writing. God is not through with Israel. It is after this long dispersion has run its
course that Israel will
return unto the Lord. It is a return to
their land. Deut. 30:3 states that God
will turn their captivity and have compassion on them. It is not conditional; it is prophesied by
God through Moses. The return, of which
Hosea speaks, is the same, and it is accompanied by Israel's seeking
after God as well as seeking after David their king. They will fear the Lord and His goodness in
the latter days. The time then of this
repentance is when the dispersion has run its course, and the Jews have
returned to their land, which is here referred to as the latter days.
It is
described also in Zech. 12:10, "And I will pour upon the house of
David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of
supplications: and they shall look upon
me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for
his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn." It clearly Israel, who is here,
called the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The picture is very vivid. They shall look on the One they pierced,
beholding the scars of His crucifixion.
This is of course when He returns to this earth when they can actually
look on and see Him. That is why it is
referred to as the latter days.
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