This great scattering of the children of Israel came to be known as, "The Diaspora", or as it is commonly referred to, "the great dispersion". It is this long span of time outside of the land, and amongst the Gentile nations, that is prophetically implicated for the nation of Israel by all of the Old Testament prophets. For instance; check some of these:

      Deuteronomy 4:27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye ( Israel ) shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.

      Deuteronomy 28:64 And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other;

      Ezekiel 12:15 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.

      Ezekiel 11:17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye ( Israel ) have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

      This great scattering did not take place during the Babylonian Captivity. The children of Israel only went to Babylon and Persia during that "first exile" from the land. It was only after the "first recovery" and the "2nd possession of the Promised Land that Israel was utterly scattered to the ends of the earth as described in Deuteronomy and Ezekiel; as well as many other scripture references.

      Okay, hang in here with me now. This is really not very complex. Please don't get bored reviewing the history aspects of our simple formula which will prove that we are most certainly, without even the slightest shadow of a doubt living in the days that shall see Jesus return!

      Israel lost its precious promised land because of its national sin and disobedience. God cannot bless and prosper a nation that dwells in unrighteousness. Thus it has been the history of Israel to be scattered away from its heritage, to serve as a witness to every other nation of God's judgement. Israel has been a byword, and an astonishing paradox to all nations. But, make no mistake about this matter; God has not abandoned the children of Israel, nor will he ever forget to once and for all salvage Israel from its worldly dilemma!     

Israel has groped about in spiritual blindness since the days of her rejection of Jesus. But God says that in the day when he has regathered, or recovered his chosen nation, and replanted them back into the promised land, he also will breathe spiritual life into that restored national body!

      Many of Israel's ancient prophets testified that God would someday re-gather the dispersed children of the house of Israel. They each utilized language which was clothed in eloquent articlulation, conveying a sense of mournful, yet glorious hopeful yearning for that great day. The usage of the phrase; "In That Day"; contained within so many of their poignant writings pointed to that great and wonderful day when God would remember his covenant with Jacob; and begin to once again re-gather the remnant of Israel!

      Leviticus 26:42 Then will I ( God ) remember my covenant with Jacob, ( Israel ) and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I (God) will remember the LAND.

      Ezekiel 11:16-17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, etc. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye ( Israel ) have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

      You will notice in these verses that God says that the day will come that he will remember his covenant with Jacob; (not Esau), and also that he will re-gather Israel into their Promised Land; and GIVE it back to them. This very prophetic scenario is described in exquisite detail in Ezekiel's vision of "The Valley of Dry Bones". In that prophecy, Israel is re-gathered to the land in the physical sense; but doesn't experience the spiritual rebirth of God, until God literally works the miracle of rescue during Jacobs "time of trouble". ( The great Tribulation, or the 70th week of Daniel )

      There are literally hundreds of verses in the Bible which depict and extoll the scattering and re-gathering of the remnant of Israel; but for the sake of trying to keep this article brief and simple in form, I won't go into any further detail on that subject. Now; lets move forward to finally answering those questions. We have sufficeint background information now to begin the process of performing the addition for our simple calculation.

How do we know that Israel will not simply fade away and disappear into the ash heap of history?

      Jeremiah 30:11 For I ( God ) am with thee ( Israel ); saith the Lord, to SAVE thee: though I make a Full End of all nations whither I have scattered thee; yet will I (God) not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee ( Israel ) in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

      Amos 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I ( God ) will not utterly destroy the House of Jacob; saith the Lord.     

God even imparts in Jeremiah 31:31-37 that as long as the ordinances of the solar system and the dynamics of the universe remain intact that he will never cast off the seed of Jacob! Therefore; we may rightfully deduce that a remnant of Israel has always been providentially preserved by God himself; and furthermore we can deduce that Israel shall never disappear from history.

      Now then; our second question was; “How do we know that today's particular assemblage of the children of Israel shall witness all the events of the last days?”

      This is where we get to add one plus one. Please pay close attention. You will be amazed if you truly believe the Bible is the in-errant word of God.

      In our review of Jewish history we have found that Israel has occupied the Promised Land on two occasions. The first uprooting from the land was known as the "Babylonian Captivity". The "Diaspora" was the great second scattering to the four corners of the world. That makes "two possessions, and "two scatterings"; does it not?

      That leaves us with only one more item to add into our equation. "The RE-GATHERINGS"

      First of all, lets establish the meaning of the word "Re-gathered". Re-gather means to cause to come back together. Recover is the actual appropriate term for the re-assemblage of something back into its original position. The re-gathering of something can only take place after it has first been removed from its original place; in this instance; "the Promised Land"!

      So with that in mind let me turn your attention to the Bible, keeping in mind the two possessions of the Promised Land by Israel.

Isaiah 11:11 And it shall come to pass "In That Day"; that the Lord shall set his hand the "SECOND" time to "RECOVER" the remnant of his people; etc....