Israel’s 6 Steps of Redemption
Here is the pattern of events that will take place regarding Israel’s redemption:
1. RECOGNITION OF GOD
Ezekiel said, “So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward” (39:22). Israel will understand that God Himself preserved the nation from annihilation at the hands of Gog and Magog. Israel will not have to lift a single weapon in its defense. Many Jewish people will recognize that God, and God’s grace alone, saved them.
2. REVELATION OF SINS
In the past, God hid His face from Israel and gave the nation over to its enemies because of the people’s idolatry, iniquity, and unfaithfulness to Him. He allowed Israel’s cities to be destroyed and its people taken into captivity all because of their gross sin and ungodliness (vv. 23–24; cf. Dt. 28—29). They had forsaken the Lord their God.
3. RESTORATION OF NATION
God tells Israel and the world, “Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob” (Ezek. 39:25). After Israel has been judged for its sin and repented of its ungodliness, the Lord will regather and restore the Jewish people from their captivity. This will take place in the latter years.
4. REMOVAL OF NATION’S SIN AND SHAME
At the time of Israel’s redemption, the Jewish people will be dwelling safely in their own land; and the memory of their sin and shame over their unfaithfulness to God will have been removed forever (34:28–30).
5. RESCUE OF NATION
In Ezekiel 39:27–29, God reviews the process He is using to bring redemption to Israel and sanctify the nation as His people once again. In that day, God will remind Israel and the Gentile world of His grace, greatness, and holiness to all the redeemed, but especially His mercy and love for the redeemed of Israel.
6. RENEWAL OF RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Through the prophet Ezekiel, Jehovah God says, “I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, says the LORD GOD” (39:29). This promise will ultimately be fulfilled when Israel is delivered from the Antichrist during the coming Great Tribulation. This will be when Israel’s Messiah brings His Chosen People final deliverance and preservation (cf. Mt. 24:1–44). In that day, Israel will live forever in peace under the Messiah’s rule in the Millennial Kingdom of David.
