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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 TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL
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Bible quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version
except for my own translations or as otherwise indicated.
Israel’s twelve tribes are historically real
and they have prophetic reality as well.
A Bible study project by Paul Phelps.
After several years of study this writing was completed in 2000.
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The
Israeli nation is an Asian race, Shem’s descendants in the lineage of Eber
(1
Chron.
1:24-28,34). Israel is Semitic (of Shem), and
Hebrew
(of Eber). Jacob
was renamed Israel and his twelve sons begat all twelve tribes. The successive
generations inherited special destinies (Gen. 35:23-26; 49:1-28; 1
Chron.
2:1-2).
When Moses took the Israelis out of Egypt they came forth as tribes
(Num. 1).
Ancient
Israel is not understandable unless the tribes are taken into account,
and Israel of the future also is not understandable unless the same twelve
tribes
are recognised; the tribes are eternal. Jesus told his twelve
disciples that they
will rule Israel’s twelve tribes when he returns to earth as King. Matt.
19:28,
Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things,
when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory,
you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’
In the time of renewal to come, Israel’s tribes will be restored; 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
time of kings Israel was divided and fell victim to Assyria and Babylon.
Some Jews returned to rebuild Jerusalem but most of the tribes are isolated and
lost to Jewish tradition. The tribes are not lost however; God knows about them
and he will return them to their heritage. Isaiah 63:16-17,
v 16, For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our father;
our Redeemer from of old is your name. Why, O LORD, do you make us
stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you?
v 17, Turn back for the sake of your servants,
for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.
The
tribal blessings from Moses (Deuteronomy 33) are for the Messianic age.
Prophecies of Israel’s restoration are for the last day and for the Messianic
age.
Even now Israel’s twelve tribes exist somewhere on earth, though they may not
know God nor yet are acknowledged as part of Israel. This subject is essential
to know what God is doing in the end times to fulfil prophecy. God is revealing
himself to the hidden tribes and awakening in them awareness of who they are.
The blessings from Moses are awakening in the tribes to prepare them for their
New Earth inheritance.
Most of
Israel’s tribes are lost to history but with God’s help we will find them
if we know where to search. The Bible says that, three millennia ago, Israel
was
conquered and led captive to Assyria and Babylon, two nations in the Euphrates
river region (now Iraq). The conquest was easy because the twelve tribes were
split in two nations in the time of kings. We need to know about both kingdoms
of ancient Israel to better understand what happened later.
After
Joshua’s conquest the Israelis occupied Canaan as a single nation, until
King Solomon’s death in 931
BCE.
The northern tribes then broke from the rule
of Jerusalem to make a separate kingdom, called
Israel,
with Jeroboam as king
(1 Kings 12). The southern tribes set up a separate kingdom, called Judah,
with
Jerusalem the capital and Rehoboam as king (2 Chron. 11:1,12-14). Since then,
the people of the Judean kingdom were called Judeans or Jews, as
it is now. But
the ten northern tribes in the House of Israel were never called Jews because—
“What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.”
“To your tents, O Israel!” So Israel departed to their tents. (1 Kings 12:16)
The
kingdoms divided by tribes. And if anyone left one tribe to join another,
tribal loyalties were left behind. Both nations had people from all the tribes
but
each nation only recognised accepted tribes. Both nations were called
houses.
The
House of Judah
had Judah, Benjamin, Levi, and the priests (Ezra 1:5). This
nation was led by Judah, a large tribe that included David’s family and the
tribe
of Simeon. The
House of
Israel
was also called the
House of
Joseph,
for it was
led by the tribe of Joseph. Joseph was the largest tribe, and thought of as
royal,
because Joseph had been a monarch in Egypt. And the House of Israel had the
remaining tribes, which together counted as ten.
In 722
BCE
the northern ten-tribe nation, the House of Israel was captured to
eastern Assyria (2 Kg. 15:29; 17:6,23; 18:11; 1
Chron.
5:26). They did not return.
They migrated east on the only accessible trade route, the Silk Road into
China.
Moving eastward they could escape from the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.
Later, Jews from the Judean captivity in Babylon and Persia also went to China;
they were called Judeans or Jews. So the
House of Judah
also went to the
orient.
That is how Israel’s tribes and destinies were transferred to the Asian Far
East.
Zech. 8:7-8,
Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Behold, I will save my people from
the land of the sunrise and from the land where the sun enters in*.
And when I have brought them, and we have dwelt inside Jerusalem,
then they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and
in righteousness.’
(translation mine)
*(Heb. M’VO, ‘entering in’ or ‘enters in’)
The
destiny blessings given Israel’s tribes are a central factor in God’s plan
for his earthly Kingdom. The peoples that have these destiny blessings in their
soul-ancestry are scattered throughout the world (mostly in Asia) and their true
identity is lost from human knowledge. But God did not forget them. He knows
who they are and he is preparing the Kingdom for them.
Amos 9:8b-9,
… I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the LORD.
For lo, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all nations,
as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the ground.
In the last
days there is a restoring of Israel’s twelve tribes, Israel and Judah,
in a new covenant. Jeremiah 31:27-28,31,
v 27... The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the
house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans
and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to
pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil,
so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.
v 31, The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
This
restoration will be complete when all the dead are raised (Eze. 37:1-14),
but the restoration starts earlier—to serve as a start for the Kingdom. Even
now
in the East, many servants of God are being called. Apostle John saw an angel
ascending from the rising of the sun. He has authority to give a
protective seal
to God’s servants in the East. Rev. 7:2-3,
I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun,
having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice
to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea,
saying, ‘Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until
we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.
The
number of each restored tribe is seen as twelve thousand but it may not
be literal.
The symbolism of twelve thousand is that
twelve
apostles
will rule the
twelve tribes for a thousand years (Matthew 19:28). Rev. 7:4-8,
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred
and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of Israel: …Judah...
Reuben... Gad... Asher... Naphtali... Manasseh... Simeon... Levi...
Issachar... Zebulun... Joseph... Benjamin... twelve thousand sealed.
Isaiah 63:17,
Turn back for the sake of your servants,
for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.
Isaiah 24:14-16a,
They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; they shout from the west
over the majesty of the LORD. Therefore in the east give glory to
the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea glorify the name of the LORD,
the God of Israel. From the ends of the earth we hear
songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One!
but Isaiah then talks about the other aspect of the end times… 24:16b-17,
But I say, I pine away, I pine away. Woe is me! For the treacherous
deal treacherously, the treacherous deal very treacherously. Terror,
and the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
The
catastrophes of Isaiah 24:18-22 are divine judgments to fall on earth after
the Asian tribes of New Israel are sealed; but Goshen, the world’s eastern
front,
is under protection because New Israel’s twelve tribes are there. Ex.
8:22-23,
But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen,
where my people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there,
that you may know that I the LORD am in this land.
Thus I will make a distinction between my people and your people.
In the Exodus
story, Egypt represents this present evil world ruled by Satan;
and the people signify world humanity including Hebrews. The Hebrews dwelt
in Goshen, the eastern front of Egypt. This is prophetic of the last days
because
today the world’s eastern front people are again Hebrew, like the Exodus story.
Oriental nations are Hebrew (of Eber’s lineage) through Joktan; Gen. 10:25-31.
The
plagues in Egypt symbolise last day plagues. The fall of Pharaoh typifies
the fall of Satan and his antichrist empire when this age ends. God puts his
seal
on his people to protect them in the last-day distress, and in our time Goshen
is
East Asia. In the Exodus story plagues attacked only Egyptians (Ex. 9:3-4).
Also
now: the plagues are only for people that do not have God’s seal.
Rev. 9:3-4,
Then from the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and they were given
authority like the authority of scorpions of the earth. They were told
not to harm the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but
only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
God wants
to protect his people in the east during the last-day plagues. The
tribes that migrated eastward were idolaters but they will return to God at
last.
Hosea 3:4-5,
For the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince,
without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
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 House
of Israel has the promise of return. The former generations return
in the resurrection, but those living may return to God through acclamation and
repentance. Their security is already prepared. Hosea 14:1-2,
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Take words with you and return to the LORD; say to him,
‘Take away all guilt; accept that which is good,
and we will offer the fruit of our lips.’
The world
will be amazed and afraid when God’s favour is returning to Jacob
because that is when Israel’s lost tribes will be revealed. Is. 59:19-20,
So those in the west shall fear the name of the LORD,
and those in the east, his glory;
for he will come like a pent-up stream that the
wind of the LORD drives on. And he will come to Zion as Redeemer,
and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the LORD.
Before a
person can return to God he must know who he is. This knowledge
brings understanding of the future inheritance and the present
responsibilities.
God is
awakening Israel’s tribes from their centuries of sleep, removing idols
and restoring tribal identities for the last-day generation; they must be ready
to
accept Jesus at his return. The sealing of Israel’s tribes by the angel of the
east
establishes their Israeli tribe identities and confirms their election as
survivors,
elected for God’s seal of protection (Rev. 7:3).
The Asian
tribes need to know that their heritage is from Abraham and Sarah,
their spiritual father and mother; they will then discover their intended
destiny.
Isaiah 51:1-2,
Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the LORD.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from
which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah
who bore you; for he was but one when I called him,
but I blessed him and made him many.
Isaiah 45:5-6,
I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides me there is no God.
I arm you, though you do not know me, so that they may know,
from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one
besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Resurrection is a main part of restoration but God wants his kingdom in effect
earlier; all of Israel’s tribes need to be in the New covenant before
resurrection
so that the dead will awaken into a kingdom that already is in operation.
Isaiah 49:8-9,
Thus says the LORD: In a time of favour I have answered you,
on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you
as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion
the desolate heritages; saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,
to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
(the prisoners of darkness are the dead)
The
last-day ministry is to natural Israel, the priority people elected to inherit
earth. But the call to natural Israel is not the same as the Church call to
heaven.
Israel’s tribes are spiritual in a sense—but for an earthly hope. Rom.
11:25-27,
v 25, So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brethren,
I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon
part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles* has come in.
v 26, And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, ‘Out of Zion
will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.’
v 27, ‘And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’
*(Gentiles: nationalities)
Apostle
Paul is talking to born again Christians; but when talking about Israel
he is
talking about
Israel in the
flesh
(still in unbelief). This is a mystery. Many
people do not know how a nation can be saved, nor understand of whom Paul is
speaking when he says “all Israel.” The twelve tribes are lost from history but
God recognises them as part of Israel. Jewish believers of New Testament time
also acknowledged that Israel’s twelve tribes still exist (Acts 26:6-7; James
1:1).
The
salvation of all Israel is not for only a few tribes; it must include
all
tribes.
Jeremiah 31:1,
At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all
the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
The
northern tribes taken to Assyria were the first Israelis to enter the orient
but many Persian Jews came later; at least 90% of Israelis went into the
Far East
and other parts of Asia. Many eastern populations have gained Israeli ancestry
and God knows all the descendants, where they are.
Western world
Jews are descendants of the House of Judah taken captive by
the Romans. This western House of Judah began with Jews that
returned from
Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 1‑2). Most of the Judeans stayed in Persia however.
We read about these Persian Jews in the Book of Esther (written long after the
return to Judea). These Persian Jews became the eastern House of
Judah. This
group is lost from history except for those few still clinging to Jewish
traditions.
With no Jewish tradition or outside contact, they joined Israel’s unknown
tribes.
God has
planted his blessing in the East. The Garden of Eden was there, and
Semites that migrated eastward planted Shem’s destiny there. That is why Jews
and other Semites were accepted in the East. The blessings inherent within the
Israeli tribes expanded through assimilation absorbing the Chinese people and
others. Destinies in the soul never get weaker, they keep expanding forever.
God said
that Israel will inherit Canaan at first, and eventually entire nations,
and ultimately the whole world. The first heritage was a land of milk and honey
(Josh. 5:6), but it was also called a devastated land. God also says it is so
small
that it will be too crowded for the future multitudes.
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.’
The
inheritance of Canaan is eternal but there is more; when Israel multiplies
“as the dust of the earth” more space is needed. God provides for Israel as the
apple of His eye (Deut. 32:10; Zech. 2:8). He indeed has a larger land for
Israel,
which has now become a reality. Israel’s captivity was not a final abandonment
nor was it unforeseen. Israel’s eastward migration was a pre-ordained destiny.
God wants
Israel to increase in size. Regarding the Semitic nature, God sees
Eastern and Western Hebrews the same. Israel’s tribes brought more blessing
through assimilation; thus Eastern Hebrews obtained Israel’s Kingdom destiny.
In God’s view the people of the orient are the main part of the nation of
Israel
including all twelve of Jacob’s tribes; this includes both the House of Israel
and
the House of Judah. Both houses with all twelve tribes are now in the orient.
Coming
out of Assyria, the ten tribes entered China before any Jews arrived.
China began as a Semitic Hebrew nation, and then became the House of Israel.
The Han people have tribal destinies that till now were hidden. The destiny for
the China mainland region is being determined by the blessings in the souls of
the House of Israel.
But what
about Jews of the western world: who are they? Western Jews are
the descendants of Babylonian Jews that returned to Jerusalem and Judea with
Zerubbabel in 536
BCE,
and during the century following. Ezra 2:1,
Now these were the people of the province who came from
those captive exiles whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
had carried captive to Babylonia;
they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, all to their own towns.
The House of
Judah comprises Benjamin, Levi, Judah and Simeon. Simeon is
with Judah as partners in Judah’s territorial conquest. Simeon’s cities are
inside
Judah’s land portion (Judges 1:3,17; Josh. 19:1-9; 1
Chron.
4:24-33) which is why
he is not named in Deut. 33. The land stretched “from Dan to Beersheba,” and
Simeon took Beersheba; Josh. 19:2. All twelve were brothers—but Simeon and
Levi are called ‘brothers’ (Gen. 49:5) because both are in
the House of Judah.
The House
of Judah went eastward and most of them remained there, but the
return of Babylon’s exiles to Jerusalem divided the Jews in two groups. There is
now an eastern house and a western house. Some Jews remained in Persia and
central Asian regions, and some went to south Asia. But eventually many of the
Persian Jews followed the Silk Road to China, as the ten tribes had done
earlier,
and these newcomers were known as Jews. Marco Polo’s writings indicate
that
in his time China’s Jews were still recognisable as Jews. Some families in
China
still possess their Jewish ancestry records even after such a long time.
Jacob
took two wives in formal marriage. They both had serving maids who
became Jacob’s wives by adoption so that Jacob became husband of four wives
(as happens with Moslems today). The House of Judah has descent from Rachel
and Leah but the House of Israel is descended from all four. The Judean tribes
in their dispersion kept more of Jewish tradition than other tribes, which is
how
Jews kept their identity. In olden time the House of Israel and the Judean
House
were separated, but now in China all the tribes are joined through
assimilation.
Joseph’s two tribes pushed the whole House of Israel from Assyria to the east.
His horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he gores the peoples, driving
them to the ends of the earth; such are the myriads of Ephraim, such are the
thousands of Manasseh.” (Deut. 33:16-17).
The House
of Israel was ten tribes: Gad,
Naphtali,
Zebulun,
Issachar,
Asher,
Reuben,
Ephraim,
Manasseh West,
Manasseh East
and Dan. They
all entered
China by the Silk Road trade route through the Taklimakan desert and into the
Yellow River plain, China’s most populated area. Israel’s tribes began merging
with China’s people from the sixth century BCE
and continuously from then on.
Only
eight of Jacob’s sons are in the House of Israel, but they are counted as
ten tribes because of the enlargement of Joseph. Joseph had two sons and both
were tribe heads; Joseph at first was two tribes, “For the people of Joseph were
two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim;” (Josh. 14:4).
Genesis 48:19-20,
...'he (Manasseh) also shall become a people, and he also shall be great.
Nevertheless, his younger brother (Ephraim) shall be greater than he,
and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.'
So he blessed them that day, saying, ‘By you Israel will invoke
blessings, saying, “God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”’
But
Manasseh ultimately doubled into two tribes, so Joseph was then counted
as three tribes. Manasseh’s eastern half tribe became the tenth
tribe.
Joshua 13:7, and 14:2,
Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance
to the nine tribes
and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
Manasseh’s
eastern half-tribe took land east of Galilee, in the Golan Heights;
Joshua 13:29-31,
Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh;
it was allotted to the half-tribe of the Manassites according to
their families. Their territory extended from Mahanaim,
through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of King Og of Bashan,
and all the settlements of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty towns,
and half of Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei ...
Ephraim’s
tribe and Manasseh’s tribes together made Joseph the largest part
of Israel, and that continues to be true as they are scattered among the
nations.
Gen. 48:16,
... and in them let my name be perpetrated,
and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude on the earth.
Gen. 49:22,
Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
Deut. 33:17,
... such are the myriads of Ephraim, such are the thousands of Manasseh.
God gave
Joseph wide and fertile lands (Deut. 33:13-17), big enough for big
populations, with rich resources “from the chief mountain ranges of the
orient”
(Heb. ME-ROSH HAR’REI KEDEM; Deut. 33:15, translation mine).
Joseph’s
jewel is spinach jade—the green nephrite jade of China’s traditional
stone carving. The Divine Appearance is as the jewel stones of Levi and Joseph
(Rev. 4:3),
red sard
and green jade—the first and last
jewels in the breastpiece
(Ex. 39:10,13). These two stones typify both national houses: Judah
and Israel.
The main
population of New Earth will be Joseph, (his name means addition).
That is why Joseph’s tribe stone was chosen for the city walls of New Jerusalem;
(Rev. 21:18). The radiance of green jade illumines the heavenly city and earth;
(Rev. 21:11,23,24; Is. 60:19,20). With firstborn rights Joseph has the
inheritance
(Gen. 48:5; 1
Chron.
5:1). In Deut. 33:17, the wild ox represents Joseph, and the
two horns are his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh means forgetting
(sorrow will be forgotten in the new world), and Ephraim means twice fruitful.
Zech. 10:7-8,
Then the people of Ephraim shall become like warriors, and their heart
shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and rejoice,
their hearts shall exult in the LORD. I will signal for them
and gather them in, for I have redeemed them,
and they shall be as numerous as they were before.
Zion is God’s kingdom in heaven and earth (Rev. 14:1; Is. 52:1,7; 60:14;
62:1).
The “one hundred forty-four thousand” (of Rev. 7:1-8) are Israel’s twelve tribes
from the rising of the sun; these are the earthly
people of Zion, Psalm 50:1-2,
The Mighty God the LORD has spoken, and he will summon the earth
from the rising of the sun unto his entering in.
From Zion the perfection of beauty, God has shined forth.
(the Hebrew word M’VO is
‘enters in’
or
‘entering in’)
(translation mine)
If Kingdom-age
Zion is in the east, then Messiah’s Kingdom starts in the east.
It is the dawn of a new day, a sunrise in the east—and Jesus is the rising
sun.
Malachi 4:2,
But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise…
Malachi 1:11,
Therefore from the rising of the sun and unto his entering in,
my name shall be great among the nations. And in every place
incense will be offered to my name, and pure sacrifices;
for my name shall be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.
Psalm 113:3, (translation mine)
From the rising of the sun unto his entering in,
praised be the name of the LORD. (translation mine)
The
Levite blessing of Deut. 33:8-11 means that the Kingdom will have priests
and teachers of the law. Priests will serve as judges (Eze. 44-46). Kingdom
law
will be enforced by the Davidic princes and by the Levites. Jer. 33:17-21,
For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit
on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests
shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt-offerings,
to make grain-offerings, and to make sacrifices for all times.
The Kingdom will extend far beyond Canaan, it will be world-wide. Is. 33:17,
Your eyes will see the king in his beauty;
they will behold a land that stretches far away.
Is. 26:15, (Heb. the land of far distances)
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.
Zion is
God’s kingdom everywhere it rules and it begins in the East. Mt. Zion
is God’s special mountain in the East. God will have two cities for his
Kingdom,
Zion in east Asia—and Jerusalem in west Asia. Jerusalem shall again be
rebuilt.
There will be two cities for the two houses of
Judah; Isaiah 40:9,
(A) Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings;
(B) lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
(C) say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’
… for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion/ /and in Jerusalem,
and before his elders he will manifest his glory. (Isaiah 24:23)
The
Messianic age is a world-wide kingdom of God. And the nation of Israel
east and west is God’s chosen elect (Is. 41:8-9) to bless all nations. Micah
4:1-2,
In days to come the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established
as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it, and many nations 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.’ For out of Zion
shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.