"THE friendship of Jehovah is with those who fear Him and love Him" (Ps. 25:14). Since the Lord loves Israel with an everlasting love, and since He has entered into covenant relationship with Abraham and his seed, He has made known His plans and purposes and at the same time has warned her of the consequences of disobedience. He laid before her an outline of the course of her wanderings through the centuries. Thus her world-wide dispersion was not the result of chance or of fortune, but was the carrying out of His afore-announced plan of dealing with the disobedient nation.

In Leviticus 26, verses 3-16, the Lord promised every material and spiritual blessing to Israel if she would only be faithful to Him. Following these promises is a definite warning (vss.14-16) that, if she should be disobedient, He would spew her out of His mouth and disperse her among the nations.

"14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; 15 and if ye shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhor mine ordinances, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant; 16 I also will do this unto you: I will appoint terror upon you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it."

In verses 40 and 41 Moses by inspiration told that Israel would confess her iniquity and the iniquity of her fathers in their trespass which they trespassed against Him.

"40 And they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they have trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary unto me, 41 I also walked contrary unto them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; 42 then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land."

This passage presupposes that the people of Israel as a race at sometime in their history will commit a national sin, and that the descendants of those guilty of this crime will confess their share in it and that of their forefathers. Furthermore, they will also confess that, because their fathers walked contrary to God, He likewise has walked contrary to them and has dispersed them among the nations. When they, however, make this confession, God will regather them, and, as He promised, restore them to their land. Just before his death Moses foretold the fact that Israel would disobey God, and that He would scatter them among the nations but that in the latter days He would regather them. See a concise statement of this prediction in Deuteronomy 4:25-31. An elaboration of this prediction is also found in Deuteronomy 28:47-68.

From time to time the prophets called their fellow-countrymen's attention to these predictions and warned them that God would positively carry out the threats contained therein. Since the Hebrew people have been scattered throughout the world for approximately 1900 years, being without temple or sacrifice (Hosea 3:4,5), we can come to no other conclusion than that their dispersion is nothing but the fulfilment of these threats of judgment. But the time of their exile among the nations is drawing to a close. In volume VI of this series I hope to prove this fact conclusively by "the signs of the times."