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What the Bible says about Diaspora
(From Forerunner Commentary)

2 Kings 17:5-8

God was thorough. He just wiped them all out of the land of Canaan and sent them into the cities of the Medes and into Assyria—exiled. And in a way, they are still in exile. God has led them to the lands that He was holding for them.

The descendants of Israel who went into exile do not know that their homeland is back in Canaan. They have never gone back. That is a detail of how thorough God's exile of Israel was—they forgot everything. Just as He prophesied in Deuteronomy 28, the Israelites went into other lands and took gods of wood and stone and completely forgot their past.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
How to Survive Exile

Psalm 89:25

The psalmist Ethan prophesies that God "will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand over the rivers." So, Israel was to be scattered somewhere over oceans and rivers.

Charles Whitaker
Searching for Israel (Part Eight): The Scattering of Ten-Tribed Israel

Ecclesiastes 3:5

“Gather” and “scatter” make a couple frequently encountered in the Scriptures. In Matthew 12:30, Christ clarifies that, from His viewpoint, gathering and scattering are opposites and are therefore mutually exclusive: “Anyone who is not for Me is really against Me; anyone who does not help Me gather is really scattering” (Good News Translation [GNT]; see also Luke 11:23). You cannot do both at once.

However, as Ecclesiastes 3:5 avers, it is possible to scatter and gather at different times. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God announces that He does just that—scatters today and gathers tomorrow: “I scattered My people, but I will gather them and guard them as a shepherd guards his flock” (Jeremiah 31:10, GNT). God “scattered over the whole earth” the descendants of Ham, Japheth, and Shem (Genesis 9:19, New International Version [NIV]). Later, He scattered the House of Israel, using the Assyrian as His agent (II Kings 17:7-18). Still later, He employed the Babylonian to scatter the folk of Judah—all but the “poorest of the land” (II Kings 25:12), a pitiful remnant.

Finally, He hired the Romans to disperse the Jews from Jerusalem and surrounding territories. In doing so, they “destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matthew 22:7). They carried at least some of the accouterments of the Temple service to Rome. Someone disassembled the altar. The blood sacrifices ceased. The diaspora commenced in earnest. Yes, indeed, yesterday, God did plenty of scattering.

Charles Whitaker
Scattering and Gathering: Images of History and Prophecy (Part One)

Jeremiah 29:4

God's message here applies to the entire church, the greater church of God, the scattered ekklesia, the ones who have been dispersed from our former church home into the wilds of this world to fend for ourselves. Some of us have banded together into church groups, some larger, some smaller. Others are remaining by themselves, and many of these will likely melt back into the world. Nevertheless, what He says is directed at us—at all of us—who have been sent away, and it is excellent advice.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
How to Survive Exile

James 1:1

In New Testament times, the house of Israel was still scattered—still in a state of punishment. Therefore, Israel was still in exile as late as the generation of James, still punished more than 750 years after Assyria conquered it.

Charles Whitaker
Searching for Israel (Part Seven): Seven Years' Punishment


 




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