People like you thought the promises in the passage of Deuteronomy chapter 30 are the scriptural basis for Israel's re-gathering. The question is, are they? I agree that it is sometimes used as some sort of basis wherein Dispensationalists "claim" there must be a regathering or restoration of a political nation, but a closer look reveals no such prophesy.
Deuteronomy 30:1-3
- "And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
- And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
- That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee."
Dispensationalists generally see everything as a prophesy pertaining to the nation of Israel, when it is in fact pertaining to a spiritual nation, a spiritual compassion, a spiritual people in captivity who have been set free. Spiritually brought home to be reconciled with God. Moreover, the qualifier is that the prophesy is that when they return, they would
obey God's voice according to all that He commanded them and their children, with all their heart and soul." To think that this occurred with God in 1948 is to dabble in absurdity. Clearly, a necessary condition for the re-gathering of Israel (according to the prophesy) was their returning to the Lord. That has not occurred in the nation. But it has occurred in the Israel of God because the restoration prophesied as coming from the Messiah, the freeing of the captivity, the building again of the tabernacle, the establishment of the kingdom, the returning unto the Lord, etc., etc., all took place at the time of the cross, not in 1948. And it pertains to the Covenant with Israel wherein Gentiles are also included in that Olive Tree, fulfilling such prophesies--as it is written. And when completed, thus (
in this way) all Israel shall be saved.
Acts 15:14-17
- "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
- And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
- After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
- That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things."
You think that prophesy of Amos of returning the Captivity pertains to Israel in 1948, but
Here God's word in Acts declares unambiguously that this prophesy of Amos was fulfilled
at the time of the cross. Dispensationalism does this time and time again. Taking prophesies fulfilled and alleging that they pertain to some future event, some future kingdom, some future Messiah's coming, some future physical captivity set free by Christ.
Amos 9:9-15
- "For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
- All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
- In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
- That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.
- Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
- And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
- And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God."
Like Dispensationalists, the Jewish people would not believe that the evil would overtake or prevent them as a nation, and like Israel, they are wrong, and the prophesy declares it. Even though they would not believe that Israel would be destroyed, according to God, it was. The Kingdom was taken from them, and it wasn't returned in 1948. Clearly, according to Acts, Christ the Messiah only has one Kingdom. And the prophesy pertained to it. So was the prophesy fulfilled at the time of the cross
as the text in Acts tells us, or is the return of the captivity in 1948 or even a future return? God or man, the question never changes on who we choose to believe. It's the choice between the sound hermeneutic of receiving God's word as the ultimate authority, or of receiving man's fallible private and personal interpretations.
The truth is, Israel (the nation) wasn't any closer to Christ in 1948 (or today for that matter) than they were in Christ's day when the Kingdom was taken from them. So how can we possible conclude that they returned to the Lord
fulfilling that prophesy? As I say, it's absurd to think this passage confirms the
nation of Israel's restoration to God, when they again became a nation. Only a professing Christian ignorant of the Biblical facts or predisposed and brainwashed into believing that, would even say this "remotely" qualifies.
Indeed, when did the Lord God reconcile or return His people to him? Was it not at the cross? And when did they start to obey His voice according to all that He commands, with all their heart and soul (as per the prophesy)? It was in Christ, through the obedience of faith. Because they were born again from the dead unto it.
1st Peter 1:22-23
- "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
- Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
Romans 16:25-26
- "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
- But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:"
The obedience of faith in Christ, and the secret now made manifest or revealed is that the Gentiles also were to be part of the Covenant with Israel. And in Christ would all the Israel (of God) be reconcile or returned to Him. In Christ would they start to obey His voice according to all that He commands with all their heart and soul. It was in Christ, through the obedience of faith.
That is when the prophesied obedience of Israel took place and when the prophesied
"return of the captivity" was fulfilled. As we were in bondage, in captivity to Satan. And Christ came to set us free. That is when He had the prophesied compassion upon Israel. That is when He gathered "His People" from all the nations as His lost sheep returning home. The prophesies have nothing to do with 1948 or the physical nation of Israel being repopulated by Jewish people. But as Christ was wont to say, "...if ye will receive it."