by Glen Penton
In the Book of Jeremiah, written some 26 centuries ago, God gives four specific, unambiguous prophecies concerning the Jews of the former Soviet Union.
In Jeremiah 16:14-15 He writes,"'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when people will no longer say, "As surely as the Lord lives, Who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt...", but they will say, "As surely as the Lord lives, Who brought the Israelites up out of the Land of the North, and out of all the other countries where He had banished them." For I will restore them to the Land I gave their forefathers.'"
Here He tells us that His rescue of the Russian-speaking Jews will be far greater, more dramatic, and more miraculous than the Exodus from Egypt in the time of Moses. I take it from this verse that democracy there will fail, that the Russian doors (and presumably also the Ukrainian, Byelorussian, and Prebaltic ones as well) will slam shut tighter than before, but that God will bring greater glory to Himself by breaking down the iron doors to save the Jews there. As I write in mid-1997, it appears that those doors may already be getting ready to close, trapping a million or so Jews who (for whatever reason) are still there. The prophecy probably also includes the millions from other ethnic groups in those lands who know the God of Israel through the Jewish Messiah. Israel's current leadership does not consider them Jewish, naturally.
Jews have been scattered to many northern lands besides the former Soviet Union, of course, and some have returned, but this prophecy predicts a far more impressive return than any that has ever happened yet. The area of the former Soviet Union is the only land to the north from Israel that has a significant Jewish population today.
He gives this prophecy twice to make sure we don't miss it, neglect it, or explain it away. He gives the message in the context of prophecies about Israel being scattered, and about the sins of their forbears, so no one would get confused about which Land or which Israel He meant. The same Israel that did worse than their evil ancestors and were scattered in Jeremiah's day, is the same Israel to be restored to that ancestral homeland.
In Jeremiah 23:7-8, He words it,"'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when people will no longer say, "As surely as the Lord lives, Who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt...", but they will say, "As surely as the Lord lives, Who brought the Israelites up out of the Land of the North, and out of all the other countries where He had banished them..." then they will live in their own Land'."
Clearly His Plan for the Russian-speaking Jews is to bring them home to Israel, not to leave them in America and the other lands where they have now been scattered.
Why, you might ask, is the alternative wording used in the last line of Jeremiah's two recordings of this message? Why not just say it the same way both times? What is the difference between restoration to the Land God gave the forefathers and living in their own Land?
A clue to the answer may be found in the context. Jeremiah 23 is a prophecy against Israel's evil leadership. God carefully distinguishes between the wicked shepherds and their confused, helpless, scattered sheep. He will take the Land away from those shepherds, and make it an appropriate pastureland in which to heal and satisfy His sheep, who have been homeless wanderers for so long.
"Then they will live in their own Land."