Israel as the prodigal son

[Jericho]

Israel is often compared in the Bible to the unfaithful wife who cheats on her husband, in their case, God. However, another comparison can be made in the parable of the prodigal son (Luk 15:11-32). In the parable, a man had two sons. The younger son took his inherence, traveled to a faraway country, and wasted his money on wild living and prostitutes. The young man became destitute but eventually came to his senses. He returned to his father and repented of his sins. The father forgave him and welcomed him back into the fold with a celebration. However, the older son was not pleased and rebuked his father. The father simply told him that everything he had was already his, but his younger brother was lost, and now he is found.

The parable of the prodigal son is a narrative about forgiveness, repentance, and restoration. As with all parables, it can have more than one application. I believe the prodigal son can also represent Israel. Israel too wasted their inherence (their land and covenant relationship with God) by prostituting themselves with other gods and was forced to travel to faraway places (i.e., scattered among the nations). This was prophesied about in Leviticus 26:14–46. For their disobedience, their enemies would occupy their land, the land would become desolate, and they would be scattered among the nations. Hosea 3:4 expounds on this period, saying, “Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!” However, just as the prodigal son repented and was accepted back, I believe that Israel will too repent and be welcomed back into the fold. Leviticus 26 ends by declaring God will not utterly reject Israel but will remember the covenant He had with their ancestors and be their God again.

A repeated pattern can be found in scripture. Time and time again, God calls on Israel to repent and promises that if they do, they will be forgiven:

Isaiah 44:22 I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
Hos 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sins have brought you down.
Hos 14:2 Bring your confessions, and return to the LORD. Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises.
Zec 1:3 Therefore, say to the people, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.’
Other supporting scriptures: Jer 3:12-14, Jer 31:34, Eze 18:21-22, Isa 43:25, Joel 2:12-13

Moreover, it’s prophesied that not only can God forgive Israel, but that he would restore them:

Hos 3:5 But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the LORD their God and to David’s descendant, their king. In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the LORD and of his goodness.
Isaiah 10:21 A remnant will return; yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. (Remember the remnant, it will become relevant soon)
Deu 30:1 “In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the LORD your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions.
Deu 30:2 If at that time you and your children return to the LORD your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today,
Deu 30:3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you.
Isa 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back.
Other supporting scriptures: Jer 3:22, Jer 50:4-5, Eze 11:17-20, Eze 36:24-28, Eze 16:60–62, Isa 11:11–12, Hos 6:1-3, Hos 14:4–7

If there are any doubts about whether the above verses are to be interpreted as literal or figurative, Romans 11 should clear up any confusion:

Rom 11:1- 4 Paul clearly states that God is not done with the nation of Israel, making a distinction between the Church and Israel.
Rom 11:5-10 God chose a remnant from Israel; the rest he hardened their hearts and blinded them for a time (Otherwise, Christianity would have remained an insular Jewish sect.)
Rom 11:11 God brought salvation to the gentiles in part to provoke Israel to jealousy.
Rom 11:12-16 Israel will eventually accept God’s salvation, and their descendants will be holy.
Rom 11:17-22 Israel is the olive tree, and the gentiles are the branches. The gentiles were grated into the olive tree but does not replace it. The branches are not the root. For this reason, we shouldn’t become haughty because God can just as easily break us off.
Rom 11:23-24 God declares that if Israel turns from their unbelief, He has the power to graft them back into the tree.
Rom 11:25-36 Israel’s heart is hardened until the full number of Gentiles come to Christ. Ultimately, God, in his mercy, will take away their sins, and all Israel will be saved.

 

[Jericho]

Is there more scriptural support that Israel will turn from their unbelief? Yes, and it happens during the Great Tribulation. Let’s examine the end-time sequence of events. Zechariah 14 is very prophetic. It says of those days that the nations of the world will fight against Jerusalem and it will be captured (Zec 14:1-2). Half the population is captured; the rest flee the city. Zechariah gets more into the details and says two-thirds will die, but one-third will be left. This remnant will go through the fire (i.e., the Great Tribulation) and be refined. They will call on the Lord, and He will answer them. That’s when Jesus will intervene to fight against those nations attacking Israel (Zec 14:3). He will set his foot on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, but that's not where He goes first.

This Jewish remnant will flee to Jordan, likely the rock city of Petra. How do we know this? Because of Micah 2:12: I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

The Hebrews knew it as Bozrah, which means "sheepfold" or "fortress," but most people today know it by its Greek name, Petra. There is another clue in Daniel that tells us this is the right location. Daniel 11:14 says there are three ancient nations that will escape the Antichrist’s grasp: Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Those ancient nations no longer exist, but the geographical locations they once occupied do. Those three nations encompass the territory of what is today modern-day Jordan, where Petra is located.

Why Petra? Well, aside from the fact that it appears to be supernaturally protected during this period, it’s the perfect place of refuge. Petra is literally a rock city surrounded by mountains and cliffs. The primary entrance is a very narrow gorge only accessible by foot or horseback, making it easy to defend. Water is also not a problem because the city has hundreds of underground cisterns and aqueducts. This is the woman who flees to the wilderness (desert) for one thousand two hundred and sixty days or 3.5 years in Revelation 12:6. Jeremiah 49:13-14 suggests the Antichrist forces will prepare to invade Bozrah (Petra), likely near the end of the 3.5 years: "For I have sworn by Myself,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be perpetual wastes. I have heard a message from the Lord, and an ambassador has been sent to the nations: 'Gather together, come against her, and rise up to battle!'"

This will be a Red Sea moment for the Jewish remnant. They will be surrounded by their enemies with nowhere to run. God will allow them to be put in a position where they have no other recourse but to turn back to Him and call upon His name. In fact, this appears to be a precondition for Jesus’ return:

Mat 23:39 “for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”
Hos 5:15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

The “offense” mentioned by Hosea is outlined in the Book of Daniel 9:24: “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." Daniel says the purpose of the Great Tribulation, among other things, is to “finish the transgression." What has been the Jews main transgression as a people? It's their corporate rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. Once they acknowledge their offense and accept Jesus as the Messiah, their transgression will be finished, and that’s when Jesus will intervene and save them:

Zec 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Rev 19:13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.
Rev 19:14 The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses.

Why is Jesus’ robe dipped in blood? Because he had just come from destroying the Antichrist forces at Bozrah. Isaiah expounds on this:

Isa 63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, from the city of Bozrah, with his clothing stained red? Who is this in royal robes, marching in his great strength? “It is I, the LORD, announcing your salvation! It is I, the LORD, who has the power to save!”
Isa 63:2 Why are your clothes so red, as if you have been treading out grapes?
Isa 63:3 “I have been treading the winepress alone; no one was there to help me. In my anger I have trampled my enemies as if they were grapes. In my fury I have trampled my foes. Their blood has stained my clothes.
Isa 63:4 For the time has come for me to avenge my people, to ransom them from their oppressors.

The tribulation is, in part, about dealing with Satan, the anti-Christ, and a Christ-rejecting world. But the other part is God dealing with Israel. That’s why the Great Tribulation is called Jacob’s Trouble (Jer 30:7). It's not a coincidence that Revelation centers around Jerusalem or the Two Witnesses are from Jerusalem (Rev 11:8) or the sealed 144,000 are all from the tribe of Israel (Rev 7:4-8) or the Battle of Armageddon takes place in modern-day northern Israel. Why? Because God is taking care of some unfinished business. The only way to get around it would be to allegorize it.

 

[Truth7t7]

Is there more scriptural support that Israel will turn from their unbelief? Yes, and it happens during the Great Tribulation.

Scripture teaches that "Only" the "Remnant Elect Jew" will be saved, National Israel Will Be blinded to salvation

Yes the Remnant elect Jew that will be added to the Church on earth, the chosen elect, those whom God foreknew

Romans 11:1-8KJV
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying,
3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

 

[Galgal]

Everything is much simpler. When the leaders of Israel regain their sight, they will turn to the "inhabitants of Jerusalem", that is, to the inhabitants of the Heavenly Jerusalem, who rejoice at the approach of the Second Coming of Christ. Then the Third Temple will be built in accordance with the prophecy of Ezekiel. The Temple will be built in the Judean Desert, in a free place. The "elect the four winds", the messengers of Christ, the saints from all nations, "the full number of the Gentiles" will enter the eastern gate of the Temple. In Revelation, they are shown as the Philadelphia Church. At the moment of closing the eastern gate, "in the twinkling of an eye", the status of the people who entered the eastern gate will change: they will become the incarnation of Jesus Christ at the Second Coming.

By accepting the prophet in the name of the prophet, the Jews will receive the reward of the prophet: Israel will become the incarnation of Jesus Christ at the Second Coming. No one will stand against Israel, he will shepherd the nations with a rod of iron.