What role will the nation of Israel play in God’s kingdom?

Prophecy foretells a time at the end of this time period when all the nations will gather against Israel to battle, the city will be captured, and the LORD will deliver Israel from that sure destruction.

“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens [through Jesus and the spiritual class of faithful Christians – See Galatians 3:29] and as the sand which is on the seashore; [the Heroes of faith, See Hebrews 11 and the nation of Israel, Zechariah 13:8  see below]…And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”  Genesis 22:17-18

Zechariah 14:1: “Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.” 

Zechariah 14:3: “The people will live in it [Jerusalem], and there will be no more curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.”

Israel will undergo a complete change of heart after this deliverance, as they recognize Christ as their Savior.

Zechariah 12:10-11: “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on me [“him” according to Eastern Hb mss.] whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.” 

The New Covenant with its promises of blessing and character growth will be made first with the nation of Israel, and then all the families of the earth will also have this opportunity. (And the faithful nation of Israel will be a strong influence to assist all the families of the earth to be blessed, as discussed below.)

“Behold, day are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the LORD.  But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD, I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God and they shall be My people….” 

Jeremiah 31:31-33

The Jewish people will be some of the first among the nations to walk up the highway of holiness by active participation in changing the old ways according to principles of holiness. (Isaiah 35:8)

  “…I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.  Do not fear!  These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates.  And let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate, declares the LORD.”  Zechariah 8:15-16

One way Israel will be used of the Lord in God’s kingdom on earth is recorded in Zechariah 14:16. The transformed and believing nation of Israel will be used as a center of worship and an example of faith and devotion to God.

“It shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.” (Jewish Publication Society Old Testament)

The Feast of Tabernacles, also referred to as the Feast of Booths, was a celebration of how the Lord delivered Israel through the 40-year wilderness journey and brought them to the promised land.  (Leviticus 23:39-43) Israel will lead the world to celebrate the deliverance of all the human family through the wilderness of sin to the promised blessing of the kingdom on earth.

The nation of Israel will be used to be a blessing to the rest of the resurrected mankind on earth, and they will be an example of the Lord’s favor.  We expect the LORD will work through Israel as a seat of His government.

“And it will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing…”

Zechariah 8:13  

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. And the inhabitants of one will go to another saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go.’ So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'” Zechariah 8:20-23: “And many peoples will 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 concerning His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:3

To learn more about Israel in prophecy, listen to, “Is Israel a Thorn in the Side of the World?”