The Fall and Rise of Israel, Part 1 - The Desolation, the Foreigner, and the Surveyor

I love discovering patterns in scripture. And there are oh so many to find. The patterns remind me just how precise and wise our God is. There is no way man could have come up with the many underlying  patterns on his own.

Some of of my favorite sources that help me to identify scriptural patterns are Chuck Missler of Koinonia House, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s many writings, and the work of Tim Mackie and his Bible Project team.

Cahn has written a book that highlights the patterns of the restoration of Israel, called The Oracle. His book has many storytelling elements, but I would like to recap the patterns clearly and concisely in a short series of blog posts.

One of the most astounding biblical prophecies is the restoration of Israel, and it is being fulfilled right under our noses.  For me, this is a huge faith builder, especially after realizing that it was predicted over and over again in the scriptures.

Let’s jump in.

Moses’ words of warning in Deuteronomy 28:64 to Israel told them that they would be scattered from one end of the earth to the other. History has shown this to be true. 

But Moses didn’t stop with his warning in Deuteronomy 28. In chapter 30, you can read his prophecy that they would return. This is a near/far prophecy, meaning that it would have multiple fulfillments.

The Jews were kicked out of their land in 586 BC for their apostasy and rejection of the Sinai covenant. In His mercy, YHVH brought them back seventy years later, so that they would be present in the land when He sent His son to make a new covenant with them.

Once again, the Jews (most of them, anyway - but don’t forget that the first followers of Yeshua were all Jewish) rejected this new covenant, and they were once again kicked out of the land... this time for much longer.

Here we are, nearly two thousand years later, watching their long-awaited return to the Promised Land.  The return of the Jews to their ancestral homeland would be a sign of the last days.

In Deuteronomy 29:22-23, Moses describes the condition of the land of Israel after the Jews are scattered:

And the next generation, your children who rise about you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which YHVH has made it sick- The whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, or no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah...

I think you get the picture. 

But what about that comment nestled in Moses’ prophecy about the foreigner? What is that about?

In the middle of the 19th century, Mark Twain visited the land of Israel. He came home and wrote the book, Innocents Abroad. In it, he described the desolation of the land of Israel. Here are some of his comments: 

Rags, wretchedness, poverty and dirt, lepers, cripples, the blind… To see the numbers of maimed, malformed, and diseased humanity that throng the holy places… 

He colorfully continues on:

The whole land is brimstone, salt… 

All desolate and unpeopled... 

miles of desolate country, the far-reaching desolation, the waste of a limitless desolation... 

it is a scorching, arid, repulsive solitude. Such roasting heat, such oppressive solitude, and such a dismal desolation cannot surely exist elsewhere on earth. 

Nowhere in all the waste around with a foot of shade, and we were scorching to death. 

Valleys are unsightly deserts fringed with a feeble vegetation. A desert, paved with loose stones, vid of vegetation, laying in the fierce sun.

No spring of grass is visible.

Illustration from Twain's book,
Innocents Abroad

The words of Moses were declared by Mark Twain and sent throughout the world via the book he published.

Deuteronomy states that stranger must come before the return of the Jewish people, and he must come when the land is desolate and hopeless. Twain’s tour and subsequent declarations set the stage for God’s modern day miracle... the rebirth of Israel.

The year of his visit was 1867.

Twain's journey began in June of 1867.  His last day in Jerusalem was September 28, which happened to be the Sabbath.  The Torah portion that was read in synagogues all over the world that day included Deuteronomy 29:22-23 (see above).  As Twain walked through the streets of Jerusalem, perhaps he heard this scripture being read.  The very day the stranger finished his journey in the land, the prophecy regarding the stranger was read in Jerusalem and around the world.

Another portion of scripture that was appointed for that day was Isaiah 62:4, which says,
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.

Mark Twain's real name was Samuel, which is a Hebrew name meaning YHVH has heard.  For two thousand years, the children of Israel have prayed for God to have mercy and bring them back to their land.  Samuel's last name was Clemens, which means merciful.  

Samuel - God has heard their prayers

Clemens - He was about to show them mercy

Mark Twain departed the land having no idea the part he was to play in the restoration of Israel.

The prophet Zechariah made his own last days prophetic declaration in chapter 2:1-2.  He says,  Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. So I said, “where are you going?” And he said to me, “to measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”  

In scripture, the original owner would return to his land in a jubilee year.   The jubilee years happened every 50 years.  Before this can happen, a title, deed, and survey would be needed. The land needed to be defined. And if there was no existing survey, then one had to be made.

Enter Charles Warren. He was sent to Israel by Britain, on a mission to survey and map out Jerusalem, to measure the holy city. Warren's work ushered in a new age of biblical archaeology.

In order to measure the holy city, Warren had to first dig it up.  He uncovered ancient gates, ancient walls, and ancient chambers.  But his most dramatic discovery was when he stumbled onto a water shaft.  

It was through Jerusalem's ancient water system that King David's soldiers first entered the city.  Warren's discovery renewed that ancient connection.

Warren's water shaft 

The year of the water shaft discovery was 1867.  Fall of that year, to be more specific.

The name Warren means a habitation, often used of rabbits (which are known for multiplying).  Jerusalem was being prepared to become a habitation of Jewish people returning to the land.

Look what Zechariah says in 8:4-5...

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.

And here’s the kicker… Mark Twain and Charles Warren had no idea that the other existed. But the two of them would dwell inside walls of the aged city at the same time, the same month, the same week, the same days, and in the very same lodging place - the  Mediterranean Hotel.

Stay tuned!  We've only begun this journey.  If you would like more details set in a story format, I recommend reading The Oracle, which can be purchased here.

Part 2 is has been posted.  You can click here to read it.