The Bible prophesies a great and glorious regathering of the nation of Israel. Just a few passages of the Scriptures will suffice to show that this future event is indeed to be a reality: Ezekiel 20:34, 35; 36:22-24, 28, 34, 35; Isaiah 11:11-16; Zechariah 10:9, 10.
That there is to be a regathering of Israel suggests the historical fact of the dispersion ("diaspora") of the people. Both under the Assyrians and the Babylonians, Israel was carried away captive. The nation has never recovered from those early scatterings. In Esther’s day, the wicked Haman recognized that in Persia there was "a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed" who were "diverse from all people" (Esther 3:8). Ezekiel spoke of God’s judgment upon Israel as having "scattered them among the heathen (Gentiles)," and that "they were dispersed through the countries" (Ezekiel 36:19). This "diaspora" was even recognized by the Jews themselves in the time of Jesus when they asked, "Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles?" (John 7:35) Later, the apostles James and Peter addressed epistles to the Jewish people who were "scattered abroad."
Not only is the scattering a Scriptural and historical fact, it is also realized when considered geographically. Scattered! Indeed they are! The Psalmist calls them God’s "hidden ones" (Psalm 83:3). Ezekiel says they are tucked away in the "wilderness of the people" (Ezekiel 20:35). Zechariah states that they have been "sown among the people" (Zechariah 10:9).
The fact of Israel’s dispersion will, hopefully, bring the born-again Gentile believer to a very practical consideration of his responsibility to be a witness to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." Because of their dispersion the Jews are not an isolated people as is the case with so many of the world’s population. It is often necessary to send special emissaries, missionaries, to far-distant lands to reach people with peculiar cultures. But when one considers the matter of reaching the American Jewish people for Christ, he must recognize that he needs in many cases only to go next door! God has scattered them among us. We work with them. We buy from them. We are friends with them. Why should we not all accept our responsibility to witness to them?
The emergence of the State of Israel in 1948 has prompted two very important trends:
The Gospel is the "power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." But if that Gospel is not shared with those who need to receive Christ as their Messiah-Savior, that tremendous life-giving power goes unused. You can and should be a witness--a "missionary" to Israel. You can be that witnessing missionary by merely taking the Gospel message to the beloved Jewish person who has been dispersed by God right into your neighborhood.
Make this your prayer and priority: "Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved" (Romans 10:1).