`For I will set Mine eyes upon them (Israel) for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build

them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to

know Me, that I am the LORD (Jehovah): and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall

return unto Me with their whole heart' (Jer. 24:6,7).

`I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the

countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen (Gentiles). And ye

shall know that I am the LORD (Jehovah), when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the

which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to your fathers' (Ezek. 20:41,42).

Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are

scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen (Gentiles), then shall they dwell in their land

that I have given to My servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein ... they shall dwell with confidence ...

and they shall know that I am the LORD their God' (Ezek. 28:25,26).

`Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes

him that soweth seed ... And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel, and they shall build the waste

cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens,

and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their

land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God' (Amos 9:13-15).

The whole of Micah 4:1-8 should be read. We quote verses 6-8 in the N.I.V.:

`... "I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame a

remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and for

`Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee (Israel) and I will ... gather her that was driven out; and I will

get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again,

turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD' (Zeph. 3:19,20).

There can be no doubt whatever that the regathering of the people of Israel takes an important part in the witness of

the Old Testament prophets and they forecast a time which has never taken place in past history of this nation. A

preparation for the fulfilment of these Scriptures has already occurred in the establishment of the state of Israel in

1948 and a representative number of them are now in Palestine. But let no one think that this fulfils the divine

promises given above. The Jew only occupies a small portion of Palestine (Canaan), and as we have seen, the

original unconditional gift to Abraham and his seed extends from the Nile to the Euphrates (Gen. 15:18) and then

there are still millions of Israelites scattered all over the earth. The final regathering, as before pointed out, will be

after the Second Coming of Christ to the earth as He predicted in Matthew 24:

`Immediately after the tribulation of those days (the great tribulation verses 21 and 22) ... they shall see the Son

of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great

sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the

other' (verses 29-31).

The spiritual regeneration of Israel, so essential if they are ever to be a kingdom of priests as God intended, we

have already dealt with when dealing with the New Covenant of grace. It is summed up by the Apostle Paul in

Romans 11:25-29:

`... Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be

saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob

(Israel): for this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins ... For the gifts and calling of God

are without repentance' (Change of mind on His part).

Not till then will Israel be ready to take the knowledge of the Lord to the ends of the earth, so that `the

knowledge of the LORD shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea' and the Lord's kingdom purpose for the

world reaches its fulfilment. It is clear that, in the millennial age, not only will restored and converted Israel be the