Nov. 19, 2023

The Rebirth of Israel

November 18 & 19, 2023

Primary Text: Ezekiel 11:16-17           

Last Week’s Teaching: Regathering 

1)  Diaspora

Deuteronomy 4:27:  The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. 

DQ 1 ) What European country had the largest population of Jews before 1939?

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2)  Dispersed Among the Nations

Deuteronomy 30:1-5:  When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.  Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.  He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it.  He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.

DQ 2) What were the effects of the Holocaust on the worldwide Jewish population?

DQ 3) How did the Holocaust affect the worldwide distribution of the surviving Jews?

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This Week’s Teaching:

1)  Their Own Land

Jeremiah 23:3, 7-8:  "I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number…."  "So then, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.'  Then they will live in their own land."

DQ 1) What was the Balfour Declaration?

DQ 2) What critical events led to the reformation of the nation of Israel in 1948?

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2)  The Land of Israel

Ezekiel 11:16-17:  "Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.'  Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.'" 

DQ 3) What have been the major threats to the modern existence of the nation of Israel?

DQ 4) What are some explanations for the long history of anti-Semitism in the world?

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3)  The Sovereign Shepherd

Ezekiel 34:11-15:  “’For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.  As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.  I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.  I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.  I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land.  There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”

DQ 5) How difficult has it been for Israel to remain an intact nation since 1948?

DQ 6) What was the outcome of the Six Days War of 1967?

DQ 7) What is the Jewish population of Israel today?

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