Israel’s restoration is how the nations come to know who Elohim is.
The Word, Israel, the Nations, and the Fullness
The opening of John does not begin with Bethlehem, Nazareth, or even the creation of humanity. It begins before creation itself:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim.”
John 1:1 | יוחנן א׳ 1:1
Yeshua is not introduced merely as a teacher, prophet, or moral example. He is revealed as the eternal Word, the Logos, existing with Elohim and sharing the divine nature.
John continues:
“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
John 1:3 | יוחנן א׳ 1:3
The universe did not come into existence by accident or through meaningless chaos. Creation was brought forth through the living Word of Elohim. Light, order, life, purpose, and meaning all proceed from Him.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
John 1:4 | יוחנן א׳ 1:4
This light is not fragile:
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:5 | יוחנן א׳ 1:5
Darkness may resist the light, but it cannot extinguish it. This is true in creation, in Israel’s history, among the nations, and within the personal life of every believer. The Word who spoke light into creation still brings light into confusion, fear, sin, and death.
Hebrews confirms this mystery:
“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of Elohim.”
Hebrews 11:3 | אל העברים 11:3
Yet Scripture goes even further. The Word through whom the universe was made is not distant from us. Paul writes:
“Let the word of Messiah dwell in you richly.”
Colossians 3:16 | אל הקולוסים 3:16
The Word who created the universe now dwells within believers through His Spirit.
This does not mean believers become independent creators or possess divine authority apart from Elohim. It means His truth, His life, His character, and His purposes are being placed within us. We become vessels of His presence. The Word that formed creation now reforms the human heart. The light that shone in the beginning now shines through a people who walk in obedience.
John the Immerser Prepares the Way
John the Immerser understood that he was a witness, not the light itself. His calling was to prepare Israel to recognise Yeshua.
John 1:6–8, 19–28 | יוחנן א׳ 1:6–8, 19–28
Every genuine ministry must understand the same principle. We do not exist to draw attention to ourselves. We point toward the One who speaks, heals, restores, redeems, and reigns.
Hosting the presence of Elohim begins by moving ourselves out of the centre. Like John, we prepare the way for Yeshua.
Then the Nations Will Know
This theme of divine revelation continues in Ezekiel:
“I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the nations… and the nations shall know that I am Adonai, when I am sanctified in you before their eyes.”
Ezekiel 36:23 | יחזקאל ל״ו 23
The Hebrew begins:
וְקִדַּשְׁתִּי אֶת־שְׁמִי הַגָּדוֹל
“I will sanctify My great name.”
When will the nations know? They will know when Elohim publicly demonstrates His covenant faithfulness concerning Israel.
He gathers Israel from the nations:
Ezekiel 36:24 | יחזקאל ל״ו 24
He cleanses His people and gives them a new heart and a new spirit:
Ezekiel 36:25–27 | יחזקאל ל״ו 25–27
He restores the ruined Land until the nations recognise that the desolate places have become like the Garden of Eden:
Ezekiel 36:33–36 | יחזקאל ל״ו 33–36
He places His sanctuary among Israel forever:
Ezekiel 37:27–28 | יחזקאל ל״ז 27–28
He judges those who rise against His purposes:
Ezekiel 38:22–23 | יחזקאל ל״ח 22–23
Finally, He gathers Israel and pours out His Spirit upon the house of Israel:
Ezekiel 39:27–29 | יחזקאל ל״ט 27–29
“Then the nations will know that I am Adonai who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
Ezekiel 37:28 | יחזקאל ל״ז 28
The nations learn who Elohim is by watching Him keep covenant. Israel’s restoration is not merely a political development. It is a public testimony to the holiness, mercy, justice, and faithfulness of Elohim.
The Land Will No Longer Bereave Israel
The promise is spoken directly to the Land:
“I will cause men to walk on you, My people Israel; they shall possess you… and you shall no longer bereave them of children.”
Ezekiel 36:12 | יחזקאל ל״ו 12
Elohim continues:
“You shall devour men no more, nor bereave your nation anymore.”
Ezekiel 36:14 | יחזקאל ל״ו 14
For generations, the Land was associated with war, exile, famine, danger, and death. Yet Elohim promises a reversal. Israel will return, ruined cities will be rebuilt, the Land will flourish, and the people will multiply.
The Land that seemed to consume its inhabitants will become a place of inheritance, fruitfulness, and life.
A Great Light in Galilee
Isaiah connects restoration with the appearance of a great light in Galilee:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”
Isaiah 9:1–2 | ישעיהו ט׳ 1–2
הָעָם הַהֹלְכִים בַּחֹשֶׁךְ רָאוּ אוֹר גָּדוֹל
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”
Matthew identifies the fulfilment of this prophecy in the ministry of Yeshua. After leaving Nazareth, Yeshua lived in Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
Matthew 4:13–16 | מתי ד׳ 13–16
Then Yeshua proclaimed:
“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 4:17 | מתי ד׳ 17
He called Simon Peter and Andrew beside the Sea of Galilee and began forming disciples who would carry the light outward.
Galilee of the nations became a launching place for the Kingdom. A region marked by invasion and darkness became the place where the light of Messiah appeared. Elohim often begins in places people consider peripheral. He turns forgotten regions into centres of revelation and ordinary fishermen into messengers of the Kingdom.
Long Term Vision
I once thought planning five years ahead was unrealistic and too difficult. Now I see that long-term vision is essential.
We may not know every detail of the journey, but we must know the direction in which Elohim is leading us. A five-year plan is not an attempt to control the future. It is a disciplined way of preparing, building, training leaders, and remaining faithful to an assignment larger than one event or season.
The prophetic promises of Ezekiel did not unfold in a day. They involve generations, nations, spiritual awakening, physical restoration, conflict, mercy, and the fulfilment of Elohim’s covenant purposes. Those who participate in such purposes must learn to build beyond themselves.
None Left Among the Nations
Ezekiel 39:24–29 brings the Gog prophecy to its conclusion. Elohim explains that Israel’s exile came because of uncleanness and transgression:
“According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them.”
Ezekiel 39:24 | יחזקאל ל״ט 24
But judgment is not the final word:
“Now I will bring back the captivity of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel.”
Ezekiel 39:25 | יחזקאל ל״ט 25
Elohim gathers His people, reveals His holiness through them, and causes Israel to know that He is Adonai.
The promise reaches a striking climax:
“I gathered them to their own Land, and left none of them there anymore.”
Ezekiel 39:28 | יחזקאל ל״ט 28
None left. Israel’s scattering does not cancel Elohim’s covenant. His purpose moves toward gathering, mercy, revelation, and spiritual renewal.
“I will no longer hide My face from them, for I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel.”
Ezekiel 39:29 | יחזקאל ל״ט 29
Physical restoration is not the end. The gathering leads toward the revelation of Elohim’s face and the outpouring of His Spirit.
The Responsibility of the Kehilah
The Kehilah must not sit as a spectator studying prophecy like a timetable. It must participate faithfully in Elohim’s purposes.
Paul asks:
“Has Elohim rejected His people? By no means!”
Romans 11:1 | אל הרומים 11:1
Believers from the nations are grafted into Israel’s cultivated olive tree. They do not replace the natural branches and must not boast over them.
“It is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.”
Romans 11:18 | אל הרומים 11:18
The Kehilah must reject replacement theology and recognise that Elohim remains faithful to Israel.
The Fullness of the Gentiles
Paul writes:
“A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
Romans 11:25 | אל הרומים 11:25
Israel’s hardening is partial, not total, and temporary, not final. During this period, Elohim is gathering people from every tribe, tongue, and nation into His Kingdom through faith in Yeshua.
Yet Paul does not finish with the nations:
“And so all Israel will be saved.”
Romans 11:26 | אל הרומים 11:26
He also declares:
“If their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean?”
Romans 11:12 | אל הרומים 11:12
The fullness of the Gentiles and the fullness of Israel are not competing purposes. They belong to one redemptive plan.
The Kehilah should therefore proclaim the Kingdom among the nations, pray for Israel’s salvation, resist antisemitism, assist Aliyah, strengthen believers in Israel, comfort the Jewish people, and prepare future leaders.
Breakthroughs in Israel’s National Life
Biblical Israel revealed that the presence of Elohim was meant to affect every area of society.
In the military realm, warfare was placed under moral restraint:
Deuteronomy 20:1–20 | דברים כ׳ 1–20
In the political realm, the king was placed under Torah rather than above it:
Deuteronomy 17:14–20 | דברים י״ז 14–20
In the judicial realm, judges were commanded to reject partiality and bribery, while serious matters required multiple witnesses:
Deuteronomy 16:18–20; 19:15 | דברים ט״ז 18–20; י״ט 15
In the personal and social realm, Israel was commanded to love the neighbour, protect the stranger, care for the vulnerable, practise rest, and live in holiness:
Leviticus 19:9–18 | ויקרא י״ט 9–18
These realms were never intended to be separated. Military strength without righteousness becomes oppression. Politics without Torah becomes self-exaltation. Courts without truth become instruments of power. Personal spirituality without practical love becomes empty speech.
Love in Deed and Truth
John writes:
“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”
1 John 3:18–19 | יוחנן א׳ ג׳ 18–19
Love must become visible. It must feed, serve, protect, welcome, teach, build, restore, and stand faithfully with others.
Hosting the presence is not merely creating an emotional atmosphere. It is becoming a dwelling place for the Word of Messiah. It is allowing His life to shape our worship, plans, relationships, institutions, leadership, and national responsibilities.
The Word created the universe.
The Word became flesh in Yeshua.
The Word now dwells richly within believers.
The light appeared in Galilee and continues outward to the nations.
Israel is being gathered, the Land is being restored, and the Spirit will be poured out.
The Kehilah must prepare, participate, build for the future, and love in deed and truth.
Then the nations will know that He is Adonai.
Continue in this series with The Fear of Elohim and the Love of Elohim and The Time of Visitation, or browse everything on our Resources page. You can read Ezekiel 36 in full at Sefaria.
