Part I of this article can be found here.
Part II of this article can be found here.

May 14, 1948 was the day of birth of the new state: the Jewish Democratic State of Israel.

The return of the Jews to the Promised Land, the establishment of the State of Israel, and the capture of Jerusalem in 1967 is a fulfillment of Biblical prophecies. The UN General Assembly Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947 is in accordance with the prophecy seen in Zephaniah: “And the sea coast…shall be for the remnants of Judah…for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity” (2:6-7).

“Remnants of Judah”-what a precise definition!-are the Jews in the aftermath of the Holocaust and WWII (which were the marks of the end of the Exile for Judah). “The sea coast of Canaan”: exactly the territory the UN allotted to the Jews in its decision.

The Almighty fulfills His promise that Judah will restore the kingdom of David: “And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem” (Micah 4:8).

On quite a few occasions Scripture has indicated that Judah would be the first among the house of Israel to immigrate to the Promise Land because they have a task to perform. That task is to prepare the Land for a massive return of hundreds of millions of Israelites: their brothers and sisters from the ‘Lost’ Ten Tribes of Israel. “O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel; for they are at hand to come” (Ezekiel 38:8). They must organize the State, cultivate the land to produce enough bread and produce that “the wilderness will be a fruitful field” (Isaiah 32:15) and “land becomes like the garden of Eden” (Ezekiel 36:35). They have to create a Western style economy; build communications and infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and universities. Finally, they must maintain an army to protect their freedom and security. The Jewish people have to do everything possible to accommodate the return of the rest of the House of Israel.

This is a monumental task God has imposed on Judah: “Also, O Judah, He hath set a harvest for thee, when I return the captivity of My people” (Hosea 6:11). True Zionism is based on Torah and justified by it!

The return of Judah to the Promised Land is the first stage of the final restoration of all families of Israel. This return was partial because not all of Israel was involved and not all the Land of Israel was taken. The first physical return of the Jews to the Land does not require repentance and perfect spiritual belief in God. It is well known fact that the Zionists, in general, were not religious people; their movement was political, motivated by rising nationalism among the Jewish people. In the opinion of the sages, these actions of the Jewish people would accelerate the coming of the Messiah.

The second stage of the redemption is the return of the “Lost” Ten Tribes. Their return to the Holy Land, which is the final redemption, however, does require national repentance and a perfect spiritual belief in the God of Israel and His Divine Torah.

The greatest prophecy of the Bible (there are more than forty prophecies devoted to this subject) is the prediction of the final ingathering and redemption of the nations of Israel and Judah in the latter years with the advent of Messiah son of David (Ezekiel 37:22). This ‘Great Exodus’ of all Twelve Tribes of Israel will be a grandiose spectacle of a huge magnitude such as the world has never experienced and will be much greater that the miraculous return of the Jews in 1948, and even greater than the Exodus from Egypt in circa 1300 BCE under Moses (Jeremiah 23:7-8).

Since the Three Oaths of Aggadic Midrash Ketubot 111a are not obligatory according to Jewish law and not a part of the Mishneh Torah, but a simple reflection of obscure and controversial prophetic disputes of the rabbis, they have no Scriptural legitimacy as divine prohibitions for Judah against ending the exile, returning to the Promised Land, and establishing the Jewish State of Israel.

The restoration of the exiles i.e. the return of the Twelve Tribes to the Promised Land, is a foundational cornerstone of Messianic Judaism. With the redemption of the whole House of Israel and the world and establishing of the Kingdom of God, the divine mission of Israel on planet Earth will have been successfully completed.