Israel today is a remarkable country. Though small and threatened on all sides, it is nonetheless making major contributions to the world, such as in hi-tech and biomedical advances. Many of the world’s largest companies are investing billions of dollars in Israeli start-ups and setting up Research & Development (R&D) offices here, which is crucial to their future success in the global marketplace.
Israel is also leading the way in agricultural innovations and water conservation. For example, it pioneered drip irrigation and currently recycles over 90 percent of its wastewater, far outstripping any other nation. And although more than half its land is still arid desert, Israel exports high-quality farm produce in all seasons, even while its neighbors must import food to feed their populations.
The Israeli people are also blessed with one of the most nutritious food supplies in the world. In a recent global survey by the Bloomberg news agency of the world’s healthiest countries, Israel ranked an impressive sixth, a full seven spots ahead of the legendary food-producing nation of France and far ahead of the United States at number 33.
A few years ago, I heard one of Israel’s chief rabbis share a fascinating story about a group of Russian farmers who had come to Israel to learn how this nation’s farmers were able to produce such high-volume and high-quality yields. When they asked how many kilos of apples Israeli orchards produce per acre, they were shocked when their Israeli counterparts said it was best to speak in terms of tonnage, and not just kilos. Incredibly, the Israeli orchards were producing 10 times as many apples as those in Russia.
Yet the Land of Israel was not always so fruitful. … In fact, the land lay desolate for all the centuries of Jewish exile, and in both Christian and Muslim lands where the Jews were dispersed, they were largely forbidden from owning land. This meant they had basically lost the ability to farm and had to rely on the gentiles to feed themselves. This was true even up to some 100 years ago when Jews first began to return to the Land of Israel and try to scratch out a living in the barren fields.
The Law and the Prophets had warned the ancient Israelites that this would be their fate if they turned their backs on God. The land itself would “vomit out” those inhabitants who turned to wickedness (Leviticus 18:28), and the fields would lie desolate in their absence (Jeremiah 18:15–17).
Meantime, the Jewish people were also told they would be scattered among the nations and would never find a place to rest their feet (Leviticus 26:26–39; Deuteronomy 28:64–67). The sword would follow after them (Jeremiah 24:10), and they would bear the reproach of famine while in exile (Jeremiah 14; Ezekiel 5).
But God also promised that one day He would come and find His people, no matter how far they had been scattered, and return them to the land promised to Abraham and his descendants as an “everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). This promise of a future restoration is spoken of by all the Hebrew prophets and is affirmed by all the great covenants of the Bible.
The Promise of Restoration
Throughout Scripture, Israel is promised a last-day restoration in the land. This promise rests on the faithful character of God—that He can be trusted to carry out His promises because He cannot lie. This is especially true if it is a covenant promise sworn by divine oath.
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