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THE EARTHLY INHERITANCE SERIES of BIBLE SUBJECTS
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Various Bible study guides in subjects pertaining to
New Earth prophecy, as taught by Paul Phelps.
For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD,
they shall inherit the earth. Psalm 37:9
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The REGATHERING of NEW WORLD ISRAEL
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Bible quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version
except for my own translations or as otherwise indicated.
A prophetic study about the people of New Earth, within
the Bible prophecies for the future regathering of Israel.
A Bible study project by Paul Phelps.
After several years of study this writing was completed in 2000.
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The regathering of Israel is a prophetic plan that starts to fulfil at the end of
this age and continues in the Messianic age. It has several aspects and the first
are happening now. The present ingathering of Jews is in preparation for their
acceptance of Jesus Christ as LORD at his return in the latter days. Hosea 3:5,Afterwards the Israelites shall return and seek the LORD their God, and
David their king; they shall come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness
in the latter days.
The present ingathering of Jews to their ancient homeland is the first fulfilment
of Israel’s regathering. Eze. 36:24,28,v 24, I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries,
and bring you into your own land.
v 28, Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors …
The present ingathering of Jews to their ancestral homeland is in fact a return
to their ancient circumstances before the Roman captivity. These circumstances
are intended so that people who first rejected Jesus will accept him at his return!
Messiah's return is prophesied in Zech. 14:4 (see context) and Jews will again be
in Jerusalem and Judea when he returns. Zech. 12:10,And I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication
on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
so that, when they look on me whom they have pierced,
they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child,
and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
Matthew 23:38-39,
See, your house is left to you, desolate.
For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
This first portion of God’s plan can't go further until the sin of Matthew 27:25-26
is repented of. But when regathered Israel finally comes to national repentance,
restoration will continue to fulfilment. Rom. 11:26-27,And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written,*
‘Out of Zion will come the Deliverer;
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.’
‘And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’
*(Psalm 14:7; Isaiah 59:20-21; 27:9)
The present Jewish regathering is primarily for western Roman-Diaspora Jews
both Ashkenazi and Sephardic, whose ancestors were under the authority of the
Jerusalem Sanhedrin. God regathers these Jews first, for their rejection of Jesus
is the first Israeli problem to be settled. Western Diaspora Jews, descendants of
Roman captivity, are still in obligation to Jerusalem’s Sanhedrin.
The ingathering of Western-world Jews to their homeland shall continue until
the antichrist empire of the end time (Dan. 7:19-25; 9:27; Matt. 24:15-22), a time
of distress for Jacob (Jer. 30:7). The LORD's soon return to Jerusalem (Zech. 14:4)
prepares for the next part of Israel’s regathering—the resurrection of the dead.
(The essay entitled, “The resurrection of the righteous,” deals with this subject.)
Rom. 11:15,For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world,
what will their acceptance be but life from the dead!
The resurrection of the world will bring back past generations fallen in death,
represented by Lazarus. John 11:24,Martha said to him,
‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’
This resurrection hope of Israel is prophesied in Ezekiel’s ‘dry bones’ vision.
Eze. 37:12-13,‘Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD:
I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves,
O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves,
and bring you up from your graves, O my people.’
Ezekiel’s vision shows resurrection. David’s return is as Israel’s king—and as
a man in the flesh after thirty centuries in the grave. Eze. 37:24-25,My servant David shall be king over them;
and they shall all have one shepherd.
They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes.
They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob,
in which your ancestors lived; and they shall dwell therein,
they and their children and their children’s children for ever;
and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
After Christ returns, King David will resurrect, together with all the righteous;
(Jn. 5:28-29). The prophecy of King David’s resurrection will then fulfil; Jer. 30:9,But they shall serve the LORD their God
and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
Jerusalem's church elders declared in Acts 15:15-17 that God is now choosing
Gentiles—quoting the Septuagint text of Amos 9:11 (with v 12). The spiritualised
application for the Church is true, but the earthly kingdom prophesies remain.
When the dynasty of David is rebuilt it will include King David. Hosea 3:5,Afterwards the Israelites shall return and seek the LORD their God,
and David their king; they shall come in awe to the LORD
and to his goodness in the latter days.
Eze. 34:23-24,
I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David,
and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David
shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
God views New World Israel as a continuation of King David’s dynasty that has
been falling for almost three thousand years. Amos 9:11,On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen,
and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins,
and rebuild it as in the days of old ...
The earthly resurrection returns people to their human flesh nature for David
will be fathering children to successive generations forever. Jer. 33:17,22,v 17, For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man
to sit on the throne of the house of Israel…
v 22, Just as the host of heaven cannot be numbered
and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will increase
the offspring of my servant David, and the Levites who minister to me.
In these Davidic texts we have proof that earthly resurrection is a central part
of God’s kingdom. The kingdom of David is an earthly inheritance. This is true
of the Law covenant generally. Peter said that David is not in heaven (Acts 2:34),
so his resurrection will be on earth. The ‘Transfiguration’ vision of the Kingdom
(Mark 9:1-4) shows that Moses and Elijah are in heaven, but David evidently will
inherit earth—which probably is also true for many other Old Testament saints.
The earthly resurrection shall be “as the sand of the sea,” and life will continue
in earth forever, children being born generations without end; Psalm 103:17-19.
The expanding population of the new world will require ever-increasing space,
but in this infinitely expanding universe God has big plans. Isaiah 9:7,His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David
and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice
and with righteousness from this time onwards and for evermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
All the nations of the world including Israel are not yet in the New covenant,
but they will all enter it through the New covenant resurrection. Isaiah 26:19,
Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. O dwellers in the dust,
awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a radiant dew, and
the earth will give birth to those long dead.
In prophecy, Zion is God’s kingdom. She is also a mother of children. At the
end of this age Zion groans in birth pangs, preparing to give birth (resurrection)
to the people of earth. Romans 8:21-22,... the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and
will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know
that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now…
God is coming to dwell among the people of earth in his Kingdom (Rev. 21:3).
These are the people of Zion, all that are joined to the LORD. Zech. 2:10-11,Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your
midst, says the LORD. Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD
on that day and shall be my people; and I will dwell in your midst.
And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
Born again Christians, the elect for heaven are Zion’s firstborn (Heb. 12:22-23;
Rev. 12:1-2,5; 1 Thes. 4:16-17; Isa. 66:7); afterward the resurrected elect for earth
will be revealed, Zion’s last-born children. Isaiah 66:8-9,v 8, Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be delivered in one moment?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labour she delivered her children.
v 9, Shall I open the womb and not deliver? says the LORD;
shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb? says your God.
Hosea 1:10-11,
v 10, Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea,
which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place
where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people’,
it shall be said to them, ‘Children of the living God.’
v 11, The people of Judah and the people of Israel shall be gathered
together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head; and they
shall take possession of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel!
The full reunion of the two nations Judah and Joseph comes after resurrection.
David, dead three millennia, will be the returning king of Israel (Eze. 37:24-25).
The Jewish people (“stick of Judah,” Eze. 37:15-22) is the only part of Israel with
a 'Jewish-tradition identity.' But the ten tribes (“stick of Joseph”) will also return.
The reunion as Ezekiel foresaw cannot happen until the ten tribes are identified,
but the resurrection will identify all the tribes and reunite them wherever they are.
Hosea said that Ephraim would not stay the usual time in Israel’s homeland, that
his birth would be painful, but that one day God would rescue them from Death.
Hosea 13:12-14,v 12, Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up; his sin is kept in store.
v 13, The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son; for at
the proper time he does not present himself at the mouth of the womb.
v 14, Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them
from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is
your destruction?* Compassion is hidden from my eyes.*(referring to resurrection; 1 Cor. 15:55)
Hosea 13:14 applies spiritually to Christians and in principle for the world, but
as literal prophecy it is for the ten tribes led by Ephraim; they are Israel’s dead
from the past. This resurrection will be in the Jezreel valley of the lower Galilee,
(Hosea 1:10-11) because that is where they were conquered. The name “Jezreel”
means ‘God will sow’ (from the word ‘seed’). God sowed Israel's people as seed
(Jezreel; Hosea 2:21-23), but they will rise again as grain. John 12:24-25,Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those
who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world
will keep it for eternal life.
1 Cor. 15:35-38,
But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of
body do they come? Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless
it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow that body that is to be,
but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God
gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
In olden times Israel was a twelve-tribe nation. The tribes are a central part of
God’s plan for his future earthly kingdom. Jacob’s twelve sons were the start of
the tribes (Gen. 35:23-26). They have Moses’ new world prophecies (Deut. 33).
Israel’s regathering will ultimately include all the tribes and the blessings from it
will ultimately include all the nations, for when Christ restores the twelve tribes
all nationalities everywhere will come in. Israel will then be a world kingdom.
Isaiah 49:6,… he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’
In the Kingdom age, all nations will come to Zion to learn of God (Isaiah 2:2-3);
then everyone on earth will have a place in Israel's various tribes; Eze. 47:21-23,
So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel.
You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens
who reside among you and have begotten children among you.
They shall be to you as citizens of Israel; with you they shall be
allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel ...
Israel's territory defined by Moses is only for this world; but in the next world
it will be more than a nation; it will be a kingdom extending throughout the earth!
The Kingdom will have no limitations. In this age, Israel's land is from the desert
of Egypt unto the Euphrates River (Deut. 11:24). But in the age to come the tribal
inheritances of new world Israel will extend worldwide to include all. Israel will
be a worldwide kingdom “from the River to the ends of the earth” (Psalms 72:8)
and the dominion could expand farther as needed to other worlds beyond earth.
Isaiah 33:17,Your eyes will see the king in his beauty;
they will behold a land that stretches far away.
Isaiah 49:19-20,Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land—
surely now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children
born in the time of your bereavement will yet say in your hearing:
‘The place is too crowded for me; make room for me to settle.’
God’s new world kingdom will be infinite in size, but in a symbolic sense can
be defined as it was earlier, from the desert of Egypt unto the Euphrates River.
Egypt figuratively represents this present evil world (which will end soon). The
original Euphrates River was in Eden and it represents eternal paradise. Hence
the typology meaning of 'from the desert of Egypt unto the Euphrates River' is that
the Kingdom will extend from this wilderness world to God’s eternal paradise.
At the end of this age, Jerusalem will be under the control of antichrist armies
(Zech. 14:1-2; Matt. 24:15-21) but Christ's return shall put an end to that trouble.
Resurrection of the fallen dead is the miracle that will satisfy hope. Isaiah 49:21,Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has borne me these? I was
bereaved and barren, exiled and put away—so who has reared these?
I was left all alone—where then have these come from?
The Bible says many nations will come and join with Israel but it does not say
they will leave. Everyone coming to Zion to learn of God belong in his Kingdom,
which continually expands and eventually becomes world-wide. Isaiah 2:3,… Many peoples shall come and say,"Come, let us go up
to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths."
Isaiah 56:6-7,
And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him,
to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the
Sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant—these I will
bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
Isaiah 26:15,
But you have increased the nation, O LORD, you have increased the
nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land.
Isaiah 54:2-3,
Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be
stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen
your stakes; for you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your
descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns.
The New covenant is first made with restored Israel (Jer. 31:31-34; Eze. 20:37),
and is then open to all. Apostle Paul says that Abraham's wives, Sarah and Hagar
represent covenants (Gal. 4:21-31). Sarah signifies the New covenant for heaven
(the Church, Heb 8:6-13) and Hagar signified the Old covenant given to Israel by
Moses. But the New covenant for earth is not symbolised by Sarah nor by Hagar
(Jer. 31:31-34 and Isaiah 59:21), so we ask: Who represents the New covenant for
the people of New Earth? Apostle Paul's teaching was for the heavenly call, and
he went no further. But now the New covenant's earthly provision must be taught.
When the Church age is over, Keturah then typifies the New covenant for earth.
Gen. 25:1, 1 Chron. 1:32,Abraham again took another wife, whose name was Keturah.
The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine:
She bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
Her six sons were born as children of concubinage while she wa a legal mistress
to Abraham (before his marriage to her, Gen. 25:6; 1 Chron. 1:32). On Keturah’s
wedding day her sons became adopted as Abraham’s sons, with all normal rights
as his sons! Abraham was their natural father, but they could not be his sons until
he married Keturah, after Sarah’s death. (Keturah was waiting for an honourable
marriage—and her sons waited for honourable rights even while living together
in Abraham’s home.) People of the New Earth will gain normal honour as sons.
There is a beautiful symbolism here. Abraham represents God, as husband of
the covenants and as Father of children born to them. His life reveals God's plan
for man. Sarah’s death typifies the end of the Church age. Keturah signifies the
New covenant for earth with life rights for the world, to be inaugurated when the
Church age is over. All those accepted into the earthly Kingdom are typified in
Keturah’s sons. Her marriage to Abraham signifies the start of the New covenant
for earth, and the recognition of her sons as his sons typifies world resurrection.
Matthew 3:9, "God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham."
The New covenant is God’s kingdom for heaven and earth; there are two parts
because the Kingdom has two saved groups, those in heaven and those in earth.
Each group is different because their inheritances are different.1 Cor. 15:40,
There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but
the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another.
During the Church age the New covenant is calling people to heaven, a calling
typified by Sarah. But after the Church call has been fulfilled, the 'Kingdom age
New covenant' will be bringing people into their earthly inheritance. Even now
in the endtime, people of faith are choosing the New covenant’s New Earth hope
typified by Keturah; this is God’s plan in our time. God is increasingly informing
people of their earthly inheritance as his return draws near. They are becoming
“the elect” of the last days (Mark 13:20-27). Many believers now living will live
through the tribulation and into the Kingdom.
The New covenant offers soul and spirit renewal (Eze. 36:26), and a new body
(Eze. 37:4-14; Jn. 5:25-29). God’s law will be written in people’s heart and mind
(Jer. 31:33-34; Is. 59:21), and people shall be made righteous forever.Isaiah 60:21,
Your people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land for ever. They are the shoot that I planted,
the work of my hands, so that I might be glorified.
Jesus Christ is Lord of the New covenant. The saved nations of Rev. 21:24, will
inherit life in the New covenant. All those in the New covenant of earth are the
‘other sheep’ of John 10:16; (Eze. 34:11-23 and 36:37-38). All the sheep—both in
heaven and earth bow to the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every
family in heaven and on earth takes its name” (Eph. 3:14-15).Eze. 20:37-38,
I will make you pass under the staff, and I will bring you within
the bond of the covenant. I will purge out the rebels among you,
and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land
where they reside as aliens, but they shall not enter the land of Israel.
Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
The purpose of Israel is to bless the world (see Gen. 12:2-3), but the blessing is
in the New covenant; them that refuse the New covenant will not be regathered.
The Kingdom standard is the New covenant, and the chosen instrument is Israel.
We should all pray for Jerusalem’s peace— “For there the thrones for judgment
were set up, the thrones of the house of David” (Psalm 122:5-6).