Isaiah 11:11,12

The Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people

The restoration of the Jews to their own land, and conversion to the faith of Christ

I. THE PAST AND PRESENT STATE AND CHARACTER OF THE JEWS. The past history of the Jews has been very remarkable, more so than that of any other nation. They have been remarkable in their origin; in the miraculous events which befell them; in their separation; in their preservation; and in their punishment.

II. WHAT IS TO BECOME OF THESE MEN FOR THE FUTURE?

1. Every part of their history is wonderful. This would lead us to expect that their future history should be remarkable also. We generally find this to be the rule of Providence. The restoration and Christianisation of the Jews would be thus remarkable, and of a piece with His other dispensations towards them. It would not be so wonderful that they should continue to be punished as they are at present; but that they should be restored and converted, in spite of so many obstacles in the way of both, how singular!--that they should be honoured in those respects in which they have beenmost dishonoured, how remarkable and how worthy of the other wonderful events of the Jewish history!

2. We have to remember, and it strengthens the foregoing consideration, that the Jews are capable, by the events supposed, of adding much to the illustration of God’s glory. In accomplishing these events there would be a mighty manifestation of power and wisdom, forbearance and compassion, not to speak of truth. The very length of time that the Jews have lain under the curse of God, and the severity of their punishment, and the mystery which overhangs their condition and prospects, would render their deliverance, and consequently the manifestation of Divine glory, more illustrious when it came.

3. With God the past is a pledge of the future; and how large is the honour and goodness of which He has made the Jews partakers in former times!

4. The actual circumstances of the Jews, at present, betoken a propitious change. There are circumstances in their feelings and condition which intimate that, at least, their temporal state shall be improved. The Jews themselves expect that one day they shall be restored; and this expectation is not the vague idea of a few individuals, got up as a refuge from present pain--it is the prevailing idea of the Jewish nation in every age, and it is persevered in, in spite of the hardest experience which should damp and destroy it. So strong is the impression, that many Jews, when dying, make provision that their bodies, and those of their friends, shall be buried in the land of their fathers; and some repair thither in the decline of life, that they may lay their bones within the borders of Canaan, in the full expectation that one day that land is to be inhabited by, and to form the sepulchre of, their children.

5. The Jews are visibly separated from all other nations. This was predicted of them, and it has been strikingly realised. Now, what is the object and use of this remarkable separation? Possibly to make the punishment fall more heavily upon the sin of the Jews; but this will not explain the whole. It will not explain the continued distinction, now that the punishment is becoming less severe. There seems to be no way of explaining it, but by believing that some great and wonderful event awaits them in the future; and what can that be but their restoration and conversion? It cannot be their amalgamation with other nations, for this would not be very wonderful. It would not be worthy of so singular and protracted a separation; and besides, were this what was contemplated, we would expect that there should be some approach to amalgamation now.

6. In their pursuits and mode of life the Jews are eminently a movable people. They count no country their home. It is their business to travel from country to country. They are not tied down to fixed pursuits, such as those of agriculture, which cannot be readily parted with. Even in Poland, where they are most numerous and stationary, they are chiefly engaged in trade and commerce, and cannot be prevailed upon to engage in anything else. As a whole, they are most remarkable as dealers and exchangers in money--their property is convertible in the easiest manner. They are, so to speak, upon the wing--they could change their abode at a moment’s warning.

7. And if, from the Jews themselves, we turn co the land of their fathers, we find it in a condition above all others most apt and likely to change masters. It is very partially inhabited--inhabited, where there are a people, only by the wandering Arab, almost as migratory as the Jew. The government is fast hastening to dissolution. It is the interest, humanly speaking, of no great or powerful nation to hinder the establishment of the Jews in Palestine. It is rather for their advantage to promote it. The Jews are sufficiently able to purchase the land with money, were this the stipulation.

8. We must now betake ourselves to the Scriptures, and see what they declare upon the subject. (J. G. Lorimer.)

Restoration of the Jews--obstacles to be overcome

All obstacles, even the most formidable, to the restoration of God’s people, shall be overcome or taken away by His almighty power. This idea is naturally expressed by the dividing of the Red Sea and Euphrates, because Egypt and Assyria are the two great powers from which Israel had suffered and was yet to be delivered. (J. A. Alexander.)