GOD WILL NEVER FORGET THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
Bible prophecy: Isaiah 49:13-17
Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: Throughout history
In Isaiah 49:13-17, the Lord makes it clear that even though the people of Israel are to be exiled from their land, the Lord will never forget them, and the Lord would eventually bring the exiles back to their homeland.
Isaiah lived about 2700 years ago. At about that time, the Assyrians invaded the northern part of the land of Israel and had forced many of the people into exile. More than a century later, the Babylonians conquered the southern part of the land of Israel, bringing an end to sovereignty, destroying Jerusalem and the Temple, and forcing people into exile.
13 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me."
15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
17 Your sons hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you.
THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WILL NEVER BE COMPLETELY DESTROYED
Bible prophecy: Leviticus 26:44
Prophecy written: As early as 1400 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: Throughout history
In Leviticus 26:44, the Bible said that God would never allow the people of Israel to be completely destroyed.
During ancient times, 10 of the 12 Tribes of Israel were decimated by the Assyrians. And the Babylonians later persecuted what was left of the people of Israel. But, instead of assimilating or perishing, some of the people eventually returned to their homeland and recover their way of life.
Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the Lord their God.
THE JEWS WOULD SURVIVE BABYLONIA AND RETURN HOME
Bible prophecy: Jeremiah 32:36-37
Prophecy written: Sometime between 626-586 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: 536 BC
Jeremiah was one of the prophets who warned the people of Judah that they would be forced into exile by the Babylonians. In Jeremiah 32:36-37, he prophesies to the people that they will survive that their exile in Babylon and return home.
Babylon had defeated the Assyrians in a decisive battle, ending in 612 B.C., at Nineveh. And then, in 609 B.C., the Babylonians captured the last Assyrian king. The Assyrians had an empire that had included the land of Judah but now the Babylonians had seized control of the empire.
In an effort to show the people of Judah that Babylon was now their new master, they began a process of forcing key residents into exile, as early as 605 B.C. More deportations took place in later years, culminating with the wholesale destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 B.C.
36 "You are saying about this city, 'By the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon'; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.
The people of Israel would return to "their own land"
Bible prophecy: Ezekiel 34:13
Prophecy written: Between 593-571 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 2600 years ago
I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.
ENEMIES WOULD MOVE TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL
Bible prophecy: Leviticus 26:32-33
Prophecy written: As early as 1400 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: Beginning in about 721 BC
In Leviticus 26:32-33, as well as in other prophecies of the Bible, we learn that the people of Israel would be persecuted in the nations to which they would be driven during their exile, and that the land of Israel would be in ruins.
Here, though, we also learn that enemies would reside in the land of Israel during and after the time of exile (Leviticus 26:32).
This fulfillment of this prophecy began about 2500 years ago when Jews began returning from their Babylonian exile.
As explained in the Bible's book of Nehemiah, the returning Jews were met with hostility from foreigners who were residing in and around Jerusalem. In the early chapters within the book of Nehemiah, the foreigners taunt the Jews as the Jews seek to rebuild Jerusalem, which had been destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.
Nehemiah confronts the foreigners, telling them that the Jews will be successful in rebuilding their fallen city:
I answered them by saying, "The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it" (Nehemiah 2:20, NIV translation).
Nehemiah organized an effort to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem and the project was completed in 52 days, as explained in Nehemiah 6:15-16.