Jews who Left Behind the Exodus
There were Jews who left behind the Exodus from Egypt. They did not want to leave Egypt and perished in the plagues. There were however those who actually left behind Egypt and followed Mosheh to the Promised Land but wanted to return back to slavery. They left Egypt not for love of YHVH, but for the fear of anti-Semitism of the gentiles. As there were Jews who were left behind in the Exodus, there are Jews who are already left behind in the Second Exodus, because they do not want to return home despite the new waves of anti-Semitism in the world. Yet, Jews should return home not for fear of anti-Semitism of the gentiles, but for love of YHVH who declares in His Torah that Israel must reside in the Promised Land.
In the preceding article The Greater and Second Exodus of Israel, we studied that there will be a second Exodus unseen and unheard before, which will be so great that the first one from Egypt will not be remembered any longer. The parallelism between the first and second Exodus of Israel is not coincidental: neither in the fact that the plagues in the former will be re-enacted in the latter, nor in the time of its fulfillment. But in the fact that there are Jews who have already been left behind in the coming Second Exodus like the fathers in the first. Or we may put it this way: they are not left behind, but they have left behind the Exodus.
YHVH has never left behind His people
The first month of Creator’s calendar is known as the month of our Redemption, in which Israel was redeemed from Egypt. And it will be in the first month in the year of the Redemption, in which we will be redeemed once again from today’s “Egypt”. This redemption will begin with the gathering of His people out of the nations and bringing them back in the Land, as YHVH promised,
Although I have sent them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them among the lands, yet I was for them a small* sanctuary in the lands to which they came. Therefore say, ‘Thus said the Lord Yehovah. And I shall gather you from the peoples, and I shall assemble you from the lands where you have been scattered, and I shall give you the land of Israel‘. (Eze 11:16-17). *or for a little while
In His promise, YHVH here declares to Israel that even though He has scattered them among the gentiles, He will be their sanctuary even in the lands of their exile. We should recall that YHVH told our father Ya’akov-Israel to go down in the land of Egypt to save his family from the famine in the land of Kanaan. But He also assured him that he would not be alone in the foreign land, because He would come down to Egypt with him and be with him all the time.
Likewise, every time the nation was exiled because of its transgressions before YHVH, He was with them constantly. The thought of the Sages is that when Israel went into the longest exile—that of Rome—the Messiah went with them too, to suffer as many times as they would suffer. This controversial for many subject, we studied in the articles Did Israel reject the Messiah? and The name of Yeshua secretly guarded by the Rabbis.
Unquestionably, YHVH scattered Israel among the nations as a punishment for its transgressions, but He has never cast His people off. Moreover, YHVH assured His people that although they would be sent among the nations, He would be like a sanctuary to them, like the Temple in Jerusalem was His dwelling place for them. Therefore, we deduce that just because Israel was exiled and lost the Temple and Jerusalem, by no means it would mean that YHVH has abandoned them.
On the contrary, YHVH affirms here in the prophecy that He Himself has become their dwelling place by His presence. This assurance is given to the exile as a pledge that one day He will bring them back in the Land. The prophecy further implies that the exile is only probationary, and is only to last for a while, because Israel will not remain scattered abroad forever, but will inherit the Land even though among its enemies.
The restoration of Israel
The fulfilment of this promise through the prophet Ezekiel has indeed begun with the return of the first wave of the exile and the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948 with which the longest exile officially ended. This came as fulfillment of the prophecy that the nation will be born in one day (Isa 66:8). Furthermore, YHVH assured Israel that they will indeed return to rebuild the Land and make it like a garden again, and they will never be uprooted again. This process once began is irreversible. We read,
And I shall turn back the captivity of My people Israel and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them. And they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them and shall make gardens and eat their fruit. And I shall plant them on their own soil, and not uproot them any more from their own soil I have given them, said YHVH your Elohim! (Amo 9:14-15)
Therefore, YHVH says,
The days are coming when it is no longer said, ‘YHVH lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt’, but ‘YHVH lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them’. For I shall bring them back into their land I gave to their fathers. (Jer 16:14-15)
The prophecy opens to a view of ultimate and final redemption from the Roman exile where Israel has been dispersed for almost 1,900 years. Here in Jeremiah, we are given a key phrase to understand the vast scale of this redemption, namely, that the people will no longer say YHVH who redeemed them out of Egypt, but YHVH who has brought them from all the land they were scattered. In a descriptive statement it is implied that this second and final redemption will outshine the former one from Egypt.
But, as we concluded in the study, this is also true: that just as the final redemption will exceed the former one, so much will greater the affliction of Israel in Rome be than the affliction in the Egyptian exile. The Roman exile is the longest and the cruelest one Israel has ever been through, and sadly it still continues. The State of Israel was established with Declaration of Independence in 1948, and since then all exile has been brought to make the decision either to return in the Land or stay in “Egypt”. We studied, however, in the article The Exodus from Israel’s whoring in Egypt, that not all Israel left Egypt with Mosheh, but many decided to stay in exile and were left behind. Later, for the refusal to take the Land promised to the fathers, Israel was exiled in Arabia, and that generation did not enter the Land with Yehoshua. They decided to stay in the foreign land, and these were the Israelites that were left behind in Arabia.
For the transgression against the law of the land to give its due rests in the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, Judah was exiled in Babylon, and many did not return with Zerubavel after the end of the exile, and they too were left behind; their descendants still live in Iran as loyal citizens under the regime of the ayatollahs. Sadly, many Jews today decide to stay in “Rome”, and they risk being left behind again in the Exodus, perish or be assimilated, as the fathers in Egypt, Arabia, and Babylon.
But the time has come to see on which side of prophecy one has chosen to be. In the longest exile from the Land of Israel, the land laid fallow and uninhabitable for eighteen centuries. But in the past 72 years, since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Land has been transformed from a waste land into a blooming garden to become a prosperous country not only in the region but in the world. With pride Israel is called today a “Start-Up Nation”, a leading power in innovations, technology, and science. But this success of Israel could not have been done without the people who returned home.
But only a part of the Roman exile returned home since 1948. The majority of the Jews are still in exile, not because they could not leave, but because they choose not to leave. Those Jews simply left behind the Exodus and chose to be more German, French, and Americans than being Jews. And while their brothers and sisters are turning the desert into garden, making it fruitful, while they are protecting it from the enemies, the other left behind “Jews” feeling self-content live their content lives in Paris, Berlin, London, Miami, and New York. But this may soon change. As a matter of fact, it is already changing before our eyes.
The old Europe is dying
The good old Europe is being transformed into something foreign. The wars in Syria and North Africa have produced million refugees who are heading to Europe. What is being seen now is the immigrants are taking over Europe by the agency of a massive and uncontrollable migration which has caught many Eurocrats unprepared. The truth the Europeans pretend they do not see is that the very demographic and cultural fabric of “the Good Old Europe” is being changed from bad to worse. The aging Old Lady Evropa is plagued by new people who could not care less of the European culture. And thus, the Europe of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Verdi, and Puccini is already gone. Instead, a “new Europe” is being raised: the Europe of Islam and Sharia law: Eurostan.
Today, the massive migration and high birthrate of the foreign people are conquering the Old Continent from within. All in Europe know the truth that these people are not coming into Europe to embrace the European culture and traditions cultivated for thousands of years and be assimilated, but to bring their own culture and assimilate. The painful truth reminds of itself: history repeats itself and those who do not learn from it are destined to repeat it. And the old Europe is not learning at all. The European Jewry that left behind the Exodus from Rome is not learning at all, either. They do not see that the Old Europe is dying and they with her, as Islam and rampant anti-Semitism conquer the continent from within.
The guilt of the misguided Rabbis left behind in the Exodus
The so-called New World follows suit dragging foot just behind the Old Lady. The North American Jewry feels that they live safely and securely in a “promised land”, but this “promised land” is just another Babylon. The Jews there believe they are safe, because they see themselves as a part of the political and social life in America, unlike the Jews in Europe. They even believe that the term “exile” is a just concept, not a geographical place. For them “exile” refers to any land where Jews cannot maintain their existence, religion, and culture freely and securely, and therefore, any country in the world in which Jews can live freely and securely cannot be considered “exile”. The worst thing is that the State of Israel is seen more of an “exile”, because of the Iranian threat and Palestinian terrorism, than America and Europe are.
Some of the most extreme and self-righteous ultra-orthodox Rabbis even claim that the State of Israel was born in sin and has no right to exist. And if this is not bad enough, and they would even welcome the return of the Arabs to rule over the land, but they would not welcome their brothers. What is even worse is that they condemn every effort of their brothers in Israel to protect and decide their own destiny in the Land, as if they have the right to condemn.
The new anti-Semitism
For such “Jews” is the prophecy concerning the punishment for their sin against YHVH, and it is equally in force concerning the Jews who are still in exile today. To illustrate this, the prophecy in Jeremiah uses in contrast two figures of their oppressors: fishermen and hunters. We read thus,
Behold, I shall send for many fishermen, declares Yehovah, and they shall fish them. And after that I shall send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. (Jer 16:16)
The figures of the fishermen and hunters here do not indicate the gathering again and restoration of Israel from exile, but the carrying of the disobedient Jews captive. The two figures signify two kinds of subjugation of the exile at the hands of enemies. As a fisherman gathers the catch in the net for the purpose of eating it, the figure of the fishermen expresses the persecution of the children of Israel scattered among the heathens. Thus, the fishermen represent the enemies that gather the inhabitants of the land, as in a fishing net, and carry them into captivity like what we see in Amo 4:2 and Hab 1:15. And where it is said in the prophecy “and after that” YHVH will send the hunters, we need to ask the question “after that” of what?
After the fishermen have done their job to gather the catch and carry it away, the hunters will come to hunt those the net did not catch. Because the hunters are those who drive out the game from their hiding-places like “out of the holes of the rocks”, and slay the animal hunted for food or sport. For unlike the fisherman the hunter does not gather the animals together but kills them. Thus, the hunters represent the enemies that persecute the Jews in exile to carry captive those who have escaped the fishing net and have taken refuge in hidden places. In the prophecy, the idea is visibly set forth that none shall escape the enemy, and the reference of the verses is put beyond a doubt by the following verses 17 and 18, where it is said that the exile will be repaid double: by the fishermen and by the hunters,
For My eyes are on all their ways; they have not been hidden from My face, nor has their crookedness been hidden from My eyes. And first I shall repay double for their crookedness and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the dead bodies of their disgusting things and have filled My inheritance with their abominations. (Jer 16:17-18)
The punishment foretold is a double retribution for their sins by the fishermen and by the hunters. But the double reason for the punishment is much enigmatic, because the prophecy continues: (1) they have defiled His land “with the dead bodies of their disgusting things”, and (2) they “have filled My inheritance with their abominations”. What great sins had His people in exile done to deserve a double repay, except that they have left behind the exodus? Unfortunately, the concise wording of the prophecy does not help much to answer this question.
In other occasions, we studied that the Bible prophecies may be viewed on multiple layers of fulfillment: once in the past and then in the future, if the next generations continue to walk in the steps of their fathers. At the time of writing the prophecy in Jeremiah, that generation was exiled in Babylon because they indeed defiled the land with sacrifices to idols and with abominations. This layer of the prophecy was fulfilled in the Babylonian exile. But we should note that in Jer 16:14-19, the prophecy refers to the last days, since the greater and second exodus foretold here has not been yet fulfilled. That this is still in the future is evident in the next verse, as we read that the nations will come to YHVH with the confessions that they have inherited nothing but lies from their fathers. No gentiles have ever come to such repentance that whatever they have believed in is nothing but lies and emptiness.
The gentiles have been lied to
We read,
O Yehovah, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress nations shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited only falsehood, futility, and there is no value in them”. (Jer 16:19) See also Isa 60:2-3.
These two events of the Second Exodus and the coming of the gentiles with confession of inherited lies are still in the future. But Jer 16:19 is begging us to read it in the broader context of Isa 2:1-4 and Zec 8:22-23,
Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Yehovah, to the House of the Elohim of Ya’akov, and let Him teach us His ways, and let us walk in His paths, for out of Tsiyon comes forth the Torah, and the Word of Yehovah from Yerushalayim. (Isa 2:1-4) See also Mic 4:1-4.
And many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Yehovah of hosts in Yerushalayim, and to pray before Yehovah. Thus said Yehovah of hosts, “In those days ten men from all languages of the nations take hold, yes, they shall take hold of the edge of the garment of a man, a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you”. (Zec 8:22-23)
The coming tribulation, or as it is known in the Scripture “Jacob’s trouble”, will result not only in the case of the left behind Jews in the future Exodus, but also in that of the nations, so that they will come to the realization that they have inherited from their fathers nothing but lies. We should notice that this moment of truth will come “in the day of distress”. And when the distress comes and the gentiles see the Jews persecuted in the hands of their oppressors, their guilty consciousness will accuse them, and they will come to YHVH with the confession of inherited lies. How exactly this knowledge is to be awakened in the gentiles, the prophecy does not tell, but it may be gathered from verse 16. In this distress not only will the gentiles flow to Jerusalem to seek the Elohim of Israel, but they will crowd together to Israel to be received into fellowship with them as one nation.
The prophecy further foretells that ten men from the gentiles will take hold of the fringes of one Jew and will beg him to teach them the Torah of YHVH, because they have come to the realization of the falsehood they have inherited from their fathers. The prophecy also testifies that they have heard that YHVH’s Ways are the ways of the Torah—the Word that comes from Jerusalem—and that Elohim has always been with Israel contrary to what they have been lied to. This is how great the pressure of the gentiles will be on the Jews to be received into the commonwealth of Israel: “Let us go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you”.
What urges the nations to become one with Israel is the desire for salvation and more knowledge of Him expressed in the object of their journey to YHVH and His Temple in Jerusalem: to teach them “His ways”. This desire for salvation and true knowledge of the Creator will lead the gentiles to the realization that the “Ways of Yehovah” are the ways which He Himself takes, and by which men are led by Him: the laws of His Torah. But the nations will not only wish to learn the Torah of YHVH, but also to act accordingly as expressed in “let us walk in His paths”.
The prophecy then adds the reason of the desire for salvation and the unexpected gathering of the gentiles in Jerusalem: “For Torah will go out from Zion, and the Word of Yehovah from Jerusalem” to fulfill the words of the Messiah that “salvation is of the Jews”,
Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Yerushalayim, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because the salvation is of the Yehudim. (Joh 4:20-22) (see also Rom 9:4)
That these nations (gentiles) are not the heathens, but Christians is very evident not only from their desire for salvation and the context of these prophecies, but also from the historical context of the Christian religion and doctrine.
The chastisement of the left behind Church
The main doctrine in the religion of Christianity is expressed in the three pillars: (1) God rejected Israel and replaced it with the Church, because “the Jews killed Jesus”, (2) the Torah (aka the Law of God) is abolished, and (3) the Trinity: three Gods in one.
Note: For comprehensive knowledge of how paganism entered the Christianity, and how faith did not change Rome, but Rome changed the faith, the reader is encouraged to read the book The Two Babylons by Rev. Alexander Hislop and series of Time of Reckoning Ministry The Oneness of the Creator. But it suffices to say for now that in his monumental work Reverend Hislop revealed the pagan practice of Babylon in the false doctrines of Rome.
This triad of the man-made religion is just brought one by one to naught by the three prophecies in Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Zechariah above, when read in the context of the very words of Yeshua the Messiah that (1) that no one can take His own life, and (2) even the least command in the Law has not been abolished in Mat 5:17-20.
As we stated above, the coming tribulation will result not only in the case of the Israelites, but also in that of the nations. The prophecy continues by confirming what the nations have said in their confession that they have inherited lies, which leads us to (3) third pillar of Christendom,
Would a man make gods for himself, and they are not gods? Therefore behold, I will cause them to know, this time I will cause them to know My hand and My might, and they shall know that My Name is Yehovah! (Jer 16:20-21)
Can a man make gods for himself that are not even gods? Yes, men can do that, and since the nations were so blind to see the vain teachings of men and not the living Word of YHVH, the Torah, He will so show them the might of His hand and the chastisement on them, that they may come to the truth that the Christian triad is just another lie and futility in which there is no value. Then, by this chastisement on them the nations will be made aware both of the true Elohim and His Torah and of the nothingness of their own religion. By coming to this moment of truth, the gentiles will turn to YHVH with the confession inherited from their former religion. And then He will cause them to know His Name, which they have never known, and that He YHVH alone is Elohim and there is none other but Him.
Listen up, O Israel! Yehovah our Elohim, Yehovah is one! (Deu 6:4)
The sin of the golden calf for creating an image of Elohim was forgiven, but the sin of the ten spies for rejecting the land was not. Thus, the sin of the Trinity for creating “gods that are not gods” can be forgiven, but the sin of the Church for replacing Israel may not be. This is why.
The boasting Church left behind in the Exodus
While the gentiles in Rome were embracing the faith, they started boasting that they were better than the Jews, even though the apostle testifies that the Jews are the “root” of their faith.
And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, have been grafted in among them, and came to share the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. And if you boast, remember you do not bear the root, but the root bears you! (Rom 11:17-18)
At this turning point of their confession, the Christians will realize that Israel, not the Church, is the root of the olive tree in which they have been grafted contrary to nature; that if the Christians being the wild branches start boasting in their arrogance against the natural branches, they will be rejected forever. The following verses in Rom 11 have no need for explanation,
You shall say then, “The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in”. Good! By faith they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear. For if Elohim did not spare the natural branches, He might not spare you either. See then the kindness and sharpness of Elohim: on those who fell sharpness, but toward your kindness, if you continue in His kindness, otherwise you also shall be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, shall be grafted in, for Elohim is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these who are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Rom 11:19-24)
No wonder Romans 11 is not read in the churches! The deceiver does not want the gentiles to come to this fundamental knowledge of the entire Scripture that the non-natives are to come to Israel and become one nation: like what the Egyptian princes did; like Ruth and Uriah, Luke and many other gentiles who joined the Olive Tree of Israel. Romans 11, along with chapters 9 and 10, is the crossroad for the Church. It is up to the Christians to decide on which side of the prophecy they want to stay: to leave behind the lies or be left behind.
Yet not all of the Christians will come at the crossroad. Jer 16:19 says that nations (goyim) will come to YHVH in the day of distress. It does not say kol hagoyim “all the nations”, as if all Christian gentiles will come to repentance, but goyim, as an unspecified number of gentiles. If “all the nations”, that is to say all the heathens, were meant in our prophecy, (1) there is no proof in the Scripture that the heathens would ever come to massive repentance and desire to come to Jerusalem and be one nation with Israel, but (2) they, all the nations, will have the desire to gather for a war against Israel, the War of Gog of Magog, as in Eze 39:21 and Joe 3:2.
But where do we find the chastisement and even rejection of the Church other than in Jeremiah 16 and Romans 11? Where else but in the most prophetic book in the Scripture: The Book of Revelation and more particularly in the five of the seven letters to the seven churches. But for more insight on this inconvenient truth, refer to the series The Revelation from YHVH.
How many of the left behind will find the Exodus?
In conclusion, the Presence of YHVH has already left the countries of exile and there is no protection for the Jews there any longer. These Jews who decided not to come back home but stay in exile are left behind in the second Exodus. Sadly, the truth of the matter is that the Jews are not left behind in the Exodus, but they left behind the Exodus, and this is their choice. In the day of distress, Elohim will force them to make one more choice to return home or be left behind, but it will come with much suffering. The Land of YHVH is the protected place to be in days of troubles, and the place to meet His Mashiach, but how many will return home?
Navah
May we merit seeing the coming of our Mashiach speedily in our days.