Israel’s Sovereignty Restored Prophetically
- Michael E.B. Maher
- Apr 4
- 4 min read
Ezekiel 37:19-22 “say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand." ‘(20) And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. (21) "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; (22) and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.”
The next prophetic event we will discuss is the restoration of Israel's sovereignty. In the Old Testament there are many accounts of God warning the Jews that, because of their sinfulness, He would eventually send the nation into exile. In other words the nation would lose its sovereignty. Israel refused to repent and so God eventually sent them into exile. The northern kingdom of Israel lost its sovereignty when its last king was deposed in the year 722 BC, and the southern kingdom of Judah lost their sovereignty when their last king was deposed in the year 609 BC.
Just as there were many prophecies in the Old Testament where God warned the Jews that He would send them into exile, there were also many prophecies where God informed the Jews that a time would come when He would finally bring them back from their exile and restore their sovereignty once again. The above-quoted passage of scripture is just one example of said prophecies; delivered in this instance by the prophet Ezekiel in approximately the year 585 BC[1]. In this passage we see that the Lord is addressing this prophecy to the whole nation of Israel; we know that because the Lord specifically mentions restoring the two nations (Israel and Judah) from among the nations to which they were exiled, and making them one nation again. The Lord went on in this passage to say that one king would reign over them all and they would no longer be two nations. In other words the Lord was saying that He would restore Israel’s sovereignty once again.
In this section we want to discuss the historical account of the fulfilment of this prophetic end time event. The path to Israeli independence was complex and marked by significant conflict. It began with the 1917 Balfour Declaration, when Britain publicly supported establishing a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, which was then under Ottoman control.
After World War I Britain received a mandate from the League of Nations to govern Palestine. During this period, Jewish immigration increased significantly, particularly in the 1930s as Jews fled Nazi persecution in Europe. This led to growing tensions between Jewish and Arab communities in Palestine.
Following World War II and the Holocaust, pressure grew for a Jewish state. In 1947, the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, which called for partitioning Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The Jewish leadership accepted the partition plan, while Arab leaders rejected it. As the British Mandate ended on May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. The following day, armies from neighbouring Arab states invaded, beginning Israel's War of Independence (known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe). During this period, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes.
The war ended in 1949 with Israel signing armistice agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. Israel had expanded beyond the original UN partition borders, while Jordan took control of the West Bank and Egypt occupied Gaza. The new state of Israel began absorbing large numbers of Jewish immigrants, particularly from Europe and Arab countries. Below is a map showing the proposed Palestine borders in 1947 and the final Palestine borders in 1949.
Map of Palestine’s borders in 1947 & 1949
Hosea 3:4-5 “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. (5) Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”
In the above-quoted passage of scripture the Lord prophesied that Israel would be without a king or prince for many days. Nevertheless, in the same passage the Lord implied that Israel’s king (sovereignty) would be restored in the latter days. It was only in 1948 that Israel was finally able to declare its independence, thus restoring their sovereignty once again. And so we see that Hosea’s prophecy proved to be accurate, for between the years 609 BC and 1948 AD (2,557 years) Israel lost its sovereignty, i.e. they had no king for many days[2].
And so we see from this section that the third prophetic event that must take place before the Lord returns has been fulfilled; i.e. the Lord has finally restored Israel’s sovereignty. And so the question is asked, why has the Lord restored Israel's sovereignty now after 2,557 years? The Lord answers that question for us in the above-quoted passage of scripture, for in this passage the Lord states that in the latter days Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God. And so we can see that we have entered into the time of the latter days; otherwise the Lord would not have restored Israel’s sovereignty at this time.
As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Lord used World War 1 as the catalyst for international acceptance of the need for a sovereign Jewish State. In the same manner, the Lord used World War 2 as the catalyst for international recognition of the newly created state of Israel. And so in following the same pattern, it is quite possible that the Lord will use World War 3 as the catalyst for Israel’s final restoration.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments