God’s Promises to Israel Upon Jesus’ Return
The betrothal of the Bridegroom and the Bride, the final deliverance of Israel, God’s Day of Vengeance, His glorious coming, and the Messiah’s millennial reign are not New Testament concepts. They are deeply connected to God’s promises to the Jewish people and to the restoration of Israel as a kingdom—spiritually, physically, and politically.
Scripture states that the Lord Jesus will come a second time as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (because He first came to die as the Lamb of God). He will come to reclaim the Jews who have survived the Great Tribulation. He will come and gather them from all the surrounding nations where many will have fled because of great persecution (Isaiah 11:11).
During the time of Jacob’s Trouble, many Jews will flee from Israel to the wilderness of the Gentile nations located in the Middle East and throughout all the earth where they have been scattered. There the Lord will hide and protect a surviving remnant. In the wilderness of the nations, He will prepare a table for them in the midst of their enemies in order to nourish them and sustain them for 1,260 days (Revelation 12:6).
At that time, a remnant of His people will experience the mercy and love of Jesus, and many will encounter Him personally. They will see and experience the love of the Messiah manifested through His own body, the Church. Many believers will die by the sword simply for helping the Jews, just as it happened during the Holocaust. Through this act of love and self-sacrifice toward the Jewish people, the Church will make fully known the wisdom of God to the principalities and powers of the air. At that time, all principalities will be spiritually defeated, especially the great principality of unbelief over the Jewish heart. The veil over their eyes will be torn. On that day, many will be saved and will cry out to Christ the Messiah: Hosanna! Lord, save us!
It will be through the mature love of the Church that Israel will experience Christ’s love. For God’s intent was that, through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3:10).
As Israel cries out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” Christ will return as a warrior King and will fight for them, destroying all who stood against Israel with the sword that comes out of His mouth. On that day, He will descend in the same way He ascended into heaven. When His feet touch the Mount of Olives, the mountain will split in two (Zechariah 14:4).
He will come on a white horse with all the armies of heaven, and every eye will see Him (Revelation 19).
As the greater Joshua, He will reach out His hand to reclaim all the exiles of His people—from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath, and from the islands of the Mediterranean—and He will bring them back to the land He gave to their ancestors (Isaiah 11:11).
In that day, He will marry them, together with all who have been grafted into His family by placing their trust in the Messiah. They will partake of the wedding supper of the Lamb. They will call the Lord “my husband,” and they will no longer call Him “my master.” He will remove the names of the Baals from their lips; no longer will their names be invoked (Hosea 2:16–17).
Jesus will tabernacle with them forever. He will establish His millennial reign and rule all the nations from His throne in Jerusalem. He will be their God, and they will be His holy priesthood. They will never again depart from Him (Ezekiel 37:15–22).