For the Lord Jehovah does nothing unless he reveals his secrets to his servants the prophets (Amo 3:7)
When we pause to reflect the importance of the above Bible verse, we realize the message to all of us is that all Jehovah our God has done or will do, is pre-announced to the prophets, which in accordance with the command have delivered these words of God to us.
In 70 AD the temple of Jerusalem was broken up to earth, and the people of Israel were carried out all over the world. This diaspora has lasted nearly 2,000 years. The Jews have returned to the promised land since the late 19th century and established their own state. Israel’s coming into the diaspora and returning to one’s own country is an important omen of the Bible. Old prophets announced the punishment of God hundreds of years before their fulfillment, and Jesus told his disciples the emblem of fig tree describing the end of the diaspora almost two thousand years ago. It is, therefore, appropriate to study these Bible verses.
The main themes of these predictions are therefore:
– The Jews break their covenant with God
– The Lord punishes and scatters his people around the world – The Lord will bring his people back to the promised land – The punishment continues and heavy incidents occur in Israel until the last residue is rescued.
The Jews break their covenant with God: Jos 23:15 And it shall be, as every good thing which Jehovah your God has spoken to you comes to you, so shall Jehovah bring on you every evil thing, until He destroys you from off this good land which Jehovah your God has given to you,
The Lord punishes and scatters his people around the world: Jer 29:17 o says Jehovah of Hosts, Behold, I am sending on them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and will make them like worthless figs which cannot be eaten from badness.
The Lord will bring his people back to the promised land
Jer 3:14 Return, O apostate sons, declares Jehovah; for I am Lord over you. And I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Jer 12:15 And it shall be, after I have torn them out, I will return and have pity on them and will bring them again, each man to his inheritance and each man to his land.
Jer 23:7 Behold, so the days come, says Jehovah, that they shall no more say, As Jehovah lives, who brought the sons of Israel up out of the land of Egypt; 8 but, As Jehovah lives, who brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the north, and from all the lands where I have driven them there. And they shall dwell on their own land.
Jer 30:3 For, lo, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will turn the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, says Jehovah; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
Jer 29:14 And I will be found by you, says Jehovah. And I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Jehovah. And I will bring you again into the place from which I sent you into exile, from there.
Isa 27:12 And it shall be in that day, Jehovah shall thresh from the channel of the River to the torrent of Egypt; and you shall be gathered one by one, sons of Israel.
27:13 and it shall be in that day, the great ram’s horn shall be blown; and those perishing in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt shall come and shall worship Jehovah in the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
41:18 I will open rivers in bare places, and fountains in the midst of valleys; I will make the desert for a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
Isa 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel. For you are my servant; I have formed you; you are my servant, O Israel; you shall not be forgotten of me.
22 I have blotted out your transgressions like a thick cloud; and your sins like a cloud. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
Zep 3:14 Shout for joy, daughter of Zion; shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all the heart, daughter of Jerusalem!
3:15 Jehovah has turned off your judgments; He has turned away your enemy. Jehovah, the King of Israel, is in your midst; you shall not fear evil any more.
3:19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you. And I will save her who is lame, and gather her who was thrust out. And I will give them for a praise and for a name in all the land of their shame.
3:20 In that time I will bring you, even in the time I gather you. For I will give you for a name and for a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, says Jehovah.
Eze 20:34 And I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you are scattered among them with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out.
41 I will accept you with a soothing aroma when I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you have been scattered in them. And I will be sanctified among you in the eyes of the nations.
44 And you shall know that I am Jehovah when I have worked with you for my name’s sake, and not by your evil ways, nor by your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord Jehovah.
Isa 51:11 Yea, the ransomed of Jehovah shall return and come to Zion with singing, and everlasting joy shall be on their head; gladness and joy shall overtake them; sorrow and sighing shall flee.
Eze 34:12 As a shepherd seeks his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep and will deliver them from all the places where they were scattered in a day of cloud and thick cloud. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the lands, and I will bring them to their land and feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the dwelling places of the land.
Eze 36:7 So the Lord Jehovah says this: I have lifted up my hand, surely the nations that surround you, they shall bear their shame.
36:10 And I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it, and the cities shall be inhabited…
37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one King shall be for a king to all of them. And they shall not be two nations still. And they will not be split into two kingdoms anymore.
37:24 nd My Servant, David, shall be King over them. And there shall be one Shepherd to all of them. And they shall walk in My judgments and keep my statutes, and do them.
37:25 And they shall dwell on the land that I have given to my servant, to Jacob, there where your fathers dwelt in it. And they shall dwell on it, they and their sons, and the sons of their sons, forever. And my Servant David shall be a ruler to them forever.
39:28 then they shall know that I am Jehovah their God who exiled them among the nations. But I have gathered them to their own land and have not left any of them there.
The punishment continues and heavy incidents occur in Israel until the last residue is rescued:
Jer 29:18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and a terror, and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations, there where I have driven them.
Jer 30:10 And you, O my servant Jacob, do not fear, says Jehovah. Do not be terrified, O Israel. For, lo, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return, and have quiet, and be untroubled, and no one will make him afraid.
11 For I am with you, says Jehovah, to save you. Though I make a full end among all nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a full end with you. But I will correct you justly, and I will not leave you unpunished.
Jer 30:22 And you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 23 Behold, the tempest of Jehovah: fury goes forth, a sweeping tempest; it shall swirl on the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not turn back until He has finished, and until He has fulfilled the intentions of His heart. In latter days you will understand it.
Isa 14:1 For Jehovah will have pity on Jacob, and will yet choose among Israel, and set them in their own land. And the stranger shall be joined to them; and they shall cling to the house of Jacob.
Eze 12:16 But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the nations whither they shall come; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
Hos 6:2 After two days He will bring us to life. In the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him.
Mal 4:1 For, behold, the day is coming, burning like a fire pot; and all the proud and every doer of wickedness shall be chaff. And the coming day will set them ablaze, says Jehovah of hosts, which will not leave root or branches to them.
Luk 21:29 And He spoke a parable to them: You see the fig tree and all the trees. 30 As soon as they produce leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things taking place, you will know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not disappear until all these things take place.
Israel is portrayed figuratively with fig tree. What does ‘this generation’ mean in this context? It is, therefore, a generation in Israel. The state of Israel was founded in 1948, but establishing Israel has passed already over a generation. What other time than the establishment of the State could come into question? One could be the year 1967, when the Israeli forces in the war invaded all of Jerusalem, and it (the eastern part) was no longer trampled underfoot by the Gentiles. We can read from Jerusalem how Jerusalem is to be trampled by the Gentiles:
Luk 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off as captives among all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The Fig Tree parable describes the evolution of time. The ripening of figs can, therefore, be interpreted as signifying the birth of Israel; the diaspora has partially disbanded, but the return of Jews has not yet ended. There are different interpretations of the times of the Gentiles and their ending. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses have interpreted that the times of the Gentiles, which lasted 2520 years, ended in 1914. From this year they began to calculate the “end of this generation”, which ends with the reign of God. The interpretation is obviously erroneous since more than a hundred years have passed since 1914 without the Kingdom of God coming to earth. Nor is there any consensus on the duration of generation; Most often, 70 or 80 years of length of the generation is announced.
Amo 3:7 For the Lord Jehovah will do nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
– The secret is often given as a metaphor. The fig tree is a clear symbol of Israel. God, however, also speaks more clearly in words, such as, for example, Eze 36:24 For I will take you from the nations and gather you out of all the lands and bring you into your land. – This has already happened since the 1880s, after which millions of Jews from many countries have returned from their diaspora to their promised land, built cities and got the country to flourish. However, Israel is a small country and its people is negligible in relation to the surrounding land of the enemy.
From the above verses, it is apparent that God announces many, many times through different prophets and at different times, about future events. The purpose of the repetition is to emphasize the certainty of the announcement; this is what will happen for both Israel and the rest of the world.
