History Predicted in the Bible

Israel have not only had a varied and chequered history, but astonishingly the history of the nation has been predicted in the Bible with amazing accuracy. The following table shows just some of the many prophecies about Israel and Jews and their fulfilment.

	Prophecy	Bible Reference	Date of Prediction	Fulfilment
1	Israel’s national birth was predicted by God to Abraham.	Genesis 15:13-16	2000 BC	Abraham’s descendants went into Egypt and came out hundreds of years later as the Nation of Israel
2	Israel’s disobedience, scattering, preservation and revival was predicted by Moses.	Scattering: Deut 28:36-37,62-67,Return: Deut 30:1-3	1500BC	Israel taken captive to Babylon in 600 B.C., returned to land in 538 B.C., then cast out of Palestine by the Romans in AD70.  Return to the land in 20th Century.
3	Israel is a continuing witness to God’s existence	Isaiah 43:1-2, 10-12	700BC	The Jews continue to exist despite severe persecutions
4	Though scattered throughout the world, Israel would be preserved.	Jeremiah 30:10-11; 31:10	600BC	The Jews exist now in virtually every country in the world.  Their existence is despite persecutions such as the Spanish inquisition, the Russian pogroms, the Nazi holocaust, and many other attempts to destroy them, God has preserved a remnant of his people.
5	They would return to the land and regain control of Jerusalem.	Luke 21:24-31	AD30	The nation reborn 1948, Jerusalem recaptured 1967.

The Rebirth of Israel

Is the emphasis given here to the prophecies about Israel just because the rebirth of the nation of Israel has occurred in 1948? No. These prophecies were understood well before Israel became a modern nation.

“Testimony and reason thereupon show, that there must be a resettlement of the land by the Jews to a limited extent before the Battle of Armageddon . . . that will speak in unmistakable and infallible terms to the believer. It will be a sure and certain sign of a speedy appearing of the Son of Man in power and glory. No-one need expect that appearing to be manifested until a Jewish colony be lifted up “as an ensign upon a hill”.
J Thomas, Herald of the Coming Age, vol 2 (1852) p.138.

It is also important to note that the re-birth of the nation of Israel is a prophecy come true against amazing odds. The rebirth of Israel is a miracle.

In 1897 at the first Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland, a Jew named Theodore Herzl espoused his view of the necessity of a homeland for the Jew in the land know at that time as Palestine. It was in the control of Turkey and formed part of the Ottoman empire. At that time, there were only a handful of Jews living in what was then known as Palestine. With the Turks in control, Jews weren’t welcome.

Just 20 years later, in the concluding months of World War I, the British evicted Turkey from Palestine and liberated Jerusalem. For the next 20 years, Britain clung tenaciously to the mandate over Palestine given it by the League of Nations. (the forerunner to the United Nations) .

Slowly, Jews began to move back to the land of their ancestors. The pace of immigration increased rapidly after World War II and the atrocities of Nazi Germany, and many surviving Jews returned to Palestine. The enormity of Jewish suffering in what was to become known as the Holocaust, and the concern and guilt of many nations, led to the establishment of the State of Israel, proclaimed on 15 May 1948. This new State of Israel was established nearly 1900 years after the Jews had been exiled by the Romans.

The nation has survived against incredible odds with its hostile neighbours seeking to destroy it on numerous occasions. The most notable of these wars occurred in 1967 when an extraordinary event took place. The city of Jerusalem, divided since partition of the State in 1948, and out of Jewish control for nearly 2000 years, was once again united and brought under sovereign Jewish control.

Why has Israel survived? Because God said it would. Consistently through the prophets, God repeated his intention that despite their wickedness and despite his punishment of them, ultimately he would remember the promises which he made to their faithful ancestors, and bring them again to their own land.

Consider these examples:
Deuteronomy 30:1-5
Jeremiah 30:11
Jeremiah 31:10
None of the promises contained in these verses were conditional on Israel’s obedience! God promised to fulfil them despite Israel’s behaviour and because of his relationship with their faithful father, Abraham.

Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones

 

Vision	Meaning
bones	house of Israel
dried bones	hope gone, cut off
bones come together	Jews return to the land of Israel
breath in them	God’s spirit in his people

The prophecy is unambiguous and clearly explained. The Jews were to be gathered out of many nations around the world and become one nation in the land their ancestors originally lived in, the land of Israel. This is precisely what has happened over the past century.
No other nation has maintained a national identity after 2000 years of exile. But no other nation has had these prophecies made concerning their history. Other nations which have been dispossessed of their land have lost their identity within a few years. What has happened to Israel is extraordinary. The fact that it was predicted shows the Bible is God’s book.

We have only seen the first stage of Ezekiel’s prophecy fulfilled. Israel has returned to their land as predicted, but they remain a secular nation uncommitted to God. God’s spirit does not yet dwell in them. These prophecies indicate they are yet to become a religious nation relying on God and obeying him.