The Land
One essential of the redemptive vision of the Hebrew Prophets is that all the tribes of Israel, not just those identified as Judah or the Jewish people, will return en mass to the Land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the borders of which are clearly laid out: “In that day YHVH made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18). Beginning with the Christian apostle Paul, and echoed in
other New Testament texts, such as the book of Hebrews, there is an attempt to interpret the “Land” promises as “heavenly.” Israel becomes the Church and the Land becomes a promise of Heaven. Even the city of Jerusalem is projected into “heaven.” Nothing could be more foreign to a simple reading of the texts of the Hebrew Bible where the language is unequivocal and crystal clear. Notice the following texts, clear without any commentary or interpretation:
Jeremiah 32:41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
THE VISION: Isaiah 2:2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of YHVH shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of YHVH, 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 the Torah, and the word of YHVH from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
The Plan: Jeremiah 30:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from YHVH: 2 “Thus says YHVH, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 For behold, days are coming, declares YHVH, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says YHVH, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”
Jeremiah 3:14 Return, O faithless children, declares YHVH; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion 15 “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding [in Zion?]. 16 And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, declares YHVH, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of YHVH.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of YHVH, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of YHVH in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
Jeremiah 16:14 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares YHVH, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As YHVH lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but ‘As YHVH lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers. 16 “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares YHVH, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.
Jeremiah 23:3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares YHVH. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares YHVH, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘YHVH is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares YHVH, when they shall no longer say, ‘As YHVH lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As YHVH lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
Jeremiah 31: 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. 9 With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 10 “Hear the word of YHVH, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares YHVH, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares YHVH. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares YHVH: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know YHVH,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares YHVH. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

