I. Introduction

The role of Israel in God’s redemptive plan is a central, enduring theme throughout Scripture. Far from being sidelined or replaced, Israel remains the focal point of God’s covenantal dealings with humanity, particularly in the unfolding drama of the last days. This narrative we’ll be exploring seeks to trace the theological arc from the Abrahamic Covenant to the eschatological regathering of Israel, engaging with both biblical text (ESV) and scholarly analysis to argue that Israel is not merely a shadow in salvific history but the very axis upon which prophetic fulfillment turns.

II. The Abrahamic Covenant: The Genesis of Election

God’s redemptive agenda begins with a call and a promise:

Let’s take a look at that promise now, in Genesis 12 – verses 2 and 3:  “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3).

The promise is reiterated and expanded in Genesis 15 and 17, with particular emphasis on land and seed (Gen. 15:18–21; 17:7–8). While the covenant includes conditional aspects (“walk before me and be blameless,” Gen. 17:1), its core components are guaranteed by God, even ratified by a theophanic (a visible manifestation to humankind of God) act in Genesis 15:12–21.

This theophanic act, where God alone passes through the divided animal pieces as a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch, signifies that the responsibility for fulfilling the covenant ultimately rests on Him alone (Gen. 15:17–18). Ancient covenant rituals of this nature often implied a self-imposed curse for breaking the agreement. By passing through alone, God declares the inviolability of His promise to Abraham—regardless of Abraham’s descendants’ future faithfulness.

Scholars such as Walter C. Kaiser emphasize the unilateral nature of the Abrahamic Covenant, arguing that while obedience affects Israel’s enjoyment of the blessings (e.g., land occupation, crop growth, etc), it does not annul the covenant itself. The apostle Paul similarly underscores in Galatians 3:17–18 that the covenant was not nullified by the Law, which came later, but remains grounded in God’s gracious election and promise.  (Gal 3:17-18 reads, “This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.  For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.”

Paul’s argument here is theological and chronological: God made a promise to Abraham that predates and supersedes the Mosaic Law. The inheritance—meaning the blessings of the covenant, including justification and ultimately land and kingdom—is not contingent upon the Sinai legislation but upon God’s unwavering commitment to His covenant.

By highlighting this, Paul dismantles any belief that legal obedience is the path to securing God’s covenantal blessings. Instead, he insists that these blessings are accessed through faith, just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Gal. 3:6). The promise, then, is not subject to nullification by human failure or by the institution of the Law; it remains intact because it is rooted in divine initiative and grace.

III. Israel’s Election and Conditional Occupation

Deuteronomy 11 and Leviticus 26 make clear that the blessings tied to the land are contingent upon covenantal obedience:

“If you will be careful to do all this commandment… then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you” (Deut. 11:22-23).

Failure to obey results in exile:

“And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation” (Lev. 26:33).

Yet even in discipline, God promises restoration:

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the motif of restoration follows judgment. God’s discipline is never arbitrary but serves the purpose of refinement and eventual reconciliation. In Deuteronomy 30:1–5, God assures Israel that after the curse and dispersion come repentance and regathering: “Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you… and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.” Similarly, Jeremiah 31:10 proclaims, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

The prophets continually hold out this hope of restoration as a future certainty rooted in God’s covenant faithfulness. Ezekiel 36:24–28 speaks not only of a regathering to the land but of inner transformation: “I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries… I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.” This restoration is holistic—geographical, national, and spiritual—and it anticipates the fullness of God’s redemptive plan that culminates in the reign of the Messiah in Zion (Isa. 2:2–4).

“Yet for all that… I will not spurn them… I will remember my covenant with Jacob… Isaac… and Abraham” (Lev. 26:44-45).

IV. The First Exodus as Typology

The Exodus from Egypt becomes the defining moment of Israel’s identity as God’s people (Exod. 19:4-6). This event not only reveals God’s power and deliverance but also foreshadows a greater, eschatological regathering:

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’” (Jer. 23:7-8)

This striking declaration in Jeremiah 23:7–8 speaks of a future act of deliverance so momentous that it will overshadow even the Exodus from Egypt, the foundational redemptive event in Israel’s history. The “north country” most immediately alludes to Babylon, from which Judah was exiled, but the broader scope of “all the countries” makes clear that this is an eschatological regathering, not merely a return from Babylonian captivity. It points to a global in-gathering of Jews from across the earth—a restoration yet to be fulfilled in its entirety.

This prophecy aligns with others such as Isaiah 11:11–12 and Ezekiel 39:25–29, all of which anticipate a time when God will act decisively to bring His people back to the land and renew His covenantal relationship with them. Theologically, this “second exodus” is not only geographical but spiritual in nature, resulting in national repentance and renewed faithfulness. In Ezekiel 36:24–27, God promises not only to regather Israel but also to give them a new heart and spirit. In this way, the second exodus culminates in full covenant restoration—preparing Israel to recognize her Messiah and welcome His return (Zech. 12:10).

V. The First Scattering and Partial Fulfillment

Israel’s repeated covenant violations led to the Assyrian (722 BC) and Babylonian (586 BC) exiles. Yet these judgments served to preserve a remnant (Isa. 10:20-22) and prepared the soil for Messianic expectation. The return from Babylonian exile, as recounted in Ezra and Nehemiah, while significant, was only a partial fulfillment of the restoration promises made by the prophets. Though a portion of the Jewish people returned to the land and the Second Temple was rebuilt, the prophetic expectations of national repentance, spiritual renewal, and global recognition of Israel’s God (cf. Isa. 2:2–4; Ezek. 36:24–28) were not fully realized.

Moreover, the language of global regathering—”from all the countries where the Lord your God has scattered you” (Deut. 30:3)—extends far beyond the Babylonian context. The scope of these promises anticipates a future, worldwide restoration involving both physical return and spiritual transformation. As such, the initial returns serve as typological foreshadowing of a greater eschatological fulfillment that remains future, to be ultimately completed in the Messianic age when Israel as a nation embraces her Redeemer (Zech. 12:10; Rom. 11:26).

VI. The Messiah and the Inauguration of the Church

Jesus, born under the Law (Gal. 4:4), fulfills the promises made to the patriarchs (Rom. 15:8). Through His death and resurrection, the door opens to Gentile inclusion: a fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3; cf. Acts 3:25). This fulfillment is further echoed in Isaiah 49:6, where the Servant of the Lord is commissioned to be “a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Jesus’ redemptive work confirms the enduring validity of God’s covenant with Abraham, extending its blessings to Gentiles without nullifying its application to Israel (cf. Rom. 4:16-17).

Moreover, the inclusion of Gentiles through faith confirms God’s faithfulness to the promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations (Gen. 17:4-5). Paul draws a direct line between these promises and their fulfillment in Christ (Gal. 3:8, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’”). The grafting in of Gentiles is not the cancellation of God’s plan for Israel but its expansion, preparing the stage for the full restoration of the Jewish people (Rom. 11:12, 15).

“…a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:32).

Yet the Church is not a replacement of Israel but a temporary vehicle:

“Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom. 11:25). This verse not only refutes any notion of Replacement Theology, but it reinforces that Israel’s current spiritual condition is part of God’s sovereign plan—not evidence of abandonment. The use of the phrase ‘partial hardening’ implies temporariness, and Paul goes on to state that ‘all Israel will be saved’ (Rom. 11:26). Additional passages such as Romans 11:1—”Has God rejected his people? By no means!”—and Jeremiah 31:35–36, where God declares that Israel will never cease to be a nation before Him, further confirm that Israel retains a unique role in God’s redemptive history. These scriptures affirm continuity and future fulfillment rather than replacement, highlighting the eventual re-grafting of ethnic Israel back into God’s salvific plan.

Paul’s olive tree metaphor (Rom. 11:17-24) is explicit: Gentile believers are grafted in, but natural branches (ethnic Israel) will be grafted back in.

“And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob” (Rom. 11:26). This declaration, drawn from Isaiah 59:20, points to a future moment when the national turning of Israel to their Messiah will take place. The phrase “all Israel” is often debated, but within context, Paul appears to be referring to ethnic Israel, not merely a spiritualized or allegorical Israel. The structure of Romans 9–11, especially 11:1 and 11:28–29, reinforces this reading by consistently distinguishing Israel from the Gentiles and affirming God’s irrevocable calling.

Moreover, Paul connects this salvation with the coming of the Deliverer—Jesus Christ—and with a divine act of removing sin from Jacob, language that is consistent with the promises of the New Covenant (cf. Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:25–27). This reinforces that Israel’s future salvation will not be apart from Christ, but in receiving Him as their Redeemer. Importantly, it confirms that God’s plan for Israel’s national and spiritual restoration remains active and unbroken.

VII. The Second Regathering and Second Exodus

Isaiah 11:11-12 speaks of a second, worldwide regathering:

“In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people… He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

This verse draws a direct typological line to the first exodus, when God delivered Israel from Egypt with great signs and wonders. That deliverance was a foundational act of redemption that established Israel as God’s covenant people (Exodus 19:4-6). However, Isaiah envisions something even greater—a second exodus that is more expansive in both scope and spiritual significance. Unlike the first, which involved a localized rescue from slavery in Egypt, the second exodus involves a global regathering of Jewish exiles from every nation (cf. Jeremiah 16:14–15).

The second exodus will not only exceed the first in magnitude, but also in redemptive impact. Whereas the first exodus delivered Israel from physical bondage, the second includes spiritual renewal (Ezekiel 36:25–27), national repentance (Zechariah 12:10), and ultimately recognition of the Messiah. This is why Jeremiah 23:7–8 says the second exodus will be so momentous that it will eclipse the memory of the first: “They shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’” This climactic deliverance will culminate in the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, bringing history to its divine consummation.

This cannot refer to the Babylonian return, which was localized and limited in scope, involving only a fraction of the Jewish population returning under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. In contrast, Isaiah 11:11–12 envisions a second regathering that is worldwide in scale—”from the four corners of the earth.” This terminology indicates a global diaspora and an equally global return, something that history has not yet seen in full. The language of “a second time” strongly suggests that this is not a mere reiteration of the first exodus from Egypt or the Babylonian return but a unique eschatological event.

Furthermore, this regathering cannot be fulfilled by the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948. While the rebirth of Israel as a nation is remarkable and may be seen as a precursor or partial fulfillment, the regathering described in Isaiah encompasses all Jewish people from every nation and results in not only physical return but also spiritual transformation. As passages like Ezekiel 36:25–27 and Zechariah 12:10 indicate, the end-time restoration includes repentance, cleansing, and recognition of the Messiah—elements not yet realized on a national scale.

Thus, Isaiah 11’s prophecy remains only partially fulfilled. The true and complete regathering awaits a future act of God that unites the dispersed Jewish people, renews them spiritually, and restores them to the land in preparation for the Messianic kingdom. It is this eschatological hope that ties together the Abrahamic promise, prophetic expectation, and New Testament affirmation of Israel’s future salvation.

This global regathering is echoed in other prophetic passages such as Ezekiel 39:27–28, where God declares, “When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore.” Such language goes beyond historical returns and affirms a future fulfillment that will vindicate God’s covenant and glorify His name among the nations.

Now, I need to switch our focus a little bit and talk about the start of the Tribulation, or “the Time of Jacobs Trouble”. 

VIII. The Abomination of Desolation and the Great Tribulation

Jesus refers explicitly to Daniel in Matthew 24:15:

“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel… then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. “

This directive is specifically aimed at those in Judea, not a general call to all Christians around the world to flee, though it is a call to Christians to be prepared. The geographic specificity suggests that Jesus is addressing Jewish believers in the land of Israel at the time of the Tribulation, particularly those in proximity to the Temple where this desecration occurs (cf. 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 11:1–2). While believers globally will experience persecution during the Tribulation (Rev. 13:7, 10), the command to flee is localized.

The context of Matthew 24 further confirms that all the events listed by Jesus are physical, observable phenomena, reinforcing the physicality of the abomination of desolation. Jesus speaks of false messiahs (v. 5), wars and rumors of wars (v. 6), famines and earthquakes (v. 7), persecutions and martyrdoms (v. 9), apostasy and betrayal (v. 10), and the global proclamation of the gospel (v. 14). These are not spiritual metaphors but concrete, world-shaking events that can be seen and experienced.

In this list of literal events, verse 15 continues naturally in the same tone and context. The abomination of desolation is to be “seen,” and it triggers a visible and immediate response by those in the region—fleeing to the mountains. This is consistent with the pattern in prophetic scripture that emphasizes signs which are not ambiguous but clear enough to prompt urgent action. Thus, this visible desecration marks the start of the final 3.5-year countdown and is pivotal for interpreting the chronology of the end times. Believers watching the prophetic signs will not rely on spiritual allegory but on physical fulfillment that signals the nearness of Christ’s return.

Jesus’ reference echoes prophetic patterns from Zechariah 14:5, where the people of Jerusalem flee to the mountains when the Lord comes. It also draws from Daniel 11:31 and 12:11, where the abomination of desolation desecrates the sanctuary and initiates a countdown of days. Christians, though part of the broader eschatological timeline, are not the immediate subjects of this specific warning. Rather, it is a covenantal call to Israel—particularly those in Judea—to respond in obedience and flight, preserving a remnant from coming tribulation. The specificity of “those who are in Judea” in Matthew 24:16 confirms that this event is directed toward those in the land of Israel and not toward all believers globally.

Furthermore, the nature of the abomination of desolation is consistently described in physical and visible terms throughout Scripture. Daniel 11:31 and 12:11 describe a literal cessation of temple sacrifices and a defiling of the sanctuary. Paul also references a man of lawlessness who “takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thess. 2:4), which implies a tangible act occurring in a rebuilt temple. Jesus’ instruction to flee upon seeing this event necessitates that it be observable, unmistakable, and urgent. It is not a hidden or purely spiritual defilement, but a physical act of desecration that catalyzes the final 3.5-year countdown of tribulation, referred to as “a time, times, and half a time” (Dan. 7:25; Rev. 12:14).  It’s also a reminder of the Passover night – where the people had no time to bake risen bread – because they had to flee so quickly in the morning.  Once again, a reflection of the first Exodus.

This underscores why the prophetic focus returns to Jerusalem and the Jewish people during this climactic phase of history. It also highlights God’s continued covenantal dealings with Israel, distinguishing their role and prophetic timeline from that of the broader Church age.”

This marks the beginning of a definable period:

“…they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time” (Dan. 7:25; cf. Rev. 13:5-7).

This climactic event targets Israel, requiring a literal, physical temple and pointing to Israel as the epicenter of the end-time conflict.

IX. Joel 3 and Final Judgment

Finally, before we close – it’s important to discuss Joel 3.

Joel 3 depicts a global judgment focused in Israel:

“I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel” (Joel 3:2).

God’s language is possessive:

• “my people”
• “my heritage”
• “my land”

This again affirms that Israel is not simply a placeholder in history but God’s enduring covenant partner. From the patriarchal promises given to Abraham to the prophetic declarations of Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah, Israel is consistently portrayed as the centerpiece of God’s redemptive strategy. God’s faithfulness to Israel is not contingent upon the nation’s performance, but upon His immutable promise. Jeremiah 31:35–36 affirms this: “Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night… If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” This enduring commitment affirms that Israel will never be replaced but will always remain in God’s sovereign plan.

Throughout history, this commitment has been evident—from the exodus, through exile, restoration, and even into the Church Age. While a partial hardening has come upon Israel (Rom. 11:25), the promise remains that “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). The eschatological vision in Zechariah 12:10 and Ezekiel 36:26–28 demonstrates a future mass turning of Israel to their Messiah. These events confirm that Israel is both a vessel of God’s past revelation and a recipient of future fulfillment. Thus, in the unfolding of redemptive history, Israel is not merely included but is integral to the consummation of all things.

X. Conclusion

The Church is not the climax of redemptive history but the means by which the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, thereby paving the way for Israel’s full restoration and the return of the King (Rom. 11:25-27).  Israel will be grafted back into the olive tree, of which they were an original branch.  Gentiles were grafted in when Jesus died on the cross.

Israel’s restoration will not only vindicate God’s promises to Abraham but also mark the consummation of history. God’s covenant is not revoked, but is yet unfolding. The prophets, apostles, and Jesus Himself all affirm that the day will come when Israel will say:

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:39).

Then shall Zion rejoice, the nations be judged, and the King reign from Jerusalem.