Note: When God's people rejected God's Word and relied on idols and or their own strength, God withdrew His blessings and allowed enemy forces to conquer their holy city. But -- through the generations -- whenever they turned back to Him with "all their heart," He restored them and led them in His victory.  See Chart: Old Testament Cycle

God's prophecies and promises to Israel

The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples..." Deuteronomy 7:7

'“Return, O backsliding children,' says the Lord; 'or I am married to you. ...At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, 0000to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers." Jeremiah 3:14, 17-19

"I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God." Ezekiel 36:24-28

"...the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you. ...your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.... And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant....Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”  Genesis 17:1-2, 5, 7-8

"I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  (God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 with reference to those who receive salvation through Jesus Christ, Abraham's descendant) Genesis 12:3

"For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah,
That they may dwell there and possess it.
Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it,
And those who love His name shall dwell in it." Psalm 69:35-36

"I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle." Zechariah 14:2

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me [Jesus],
Because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives....
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3

"...He [Jesus] commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, 'you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.' Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'
     "And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and  Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:4-8

Ancient Israel's sin and idolatry

"Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return.
I listened and heard, but they do not speak aright.
No man repented of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turned to his own course, as the horse rushes into the battle.
Even the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times;
And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow observe the time of their coming.
But My people do not know the judgment of the Lord." Jeremiah 8:5-7

"Everyone deals falsely.  They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’  when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed;  nor did they know how to blush." Jeremiah 6:13-15

"'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed..." Revelation 7:3-8

God's judgment

"My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies...." Psalm 81:11-14“O Jerusalem,

"Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!" Luke 13:34

"Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding,
Who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not:
Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Will you not tremble at My presence...? ...
But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;
They have revolted and departed.
They do not say in their heart, 'let us now fear the Lord our God,
Who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season...
our iniquities have turned these things away,
And your sins have withheld good from you." Jeremiah 5:18-25

"...behold, I begin to bring calamity on the city which is called by My name [Jerusalem], and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished...." Jeremiah 25:1-29

“...they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." Luke 21:24

Hope and Restoration -- Old Testament promises

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord." Jeremiah 31:27-28

"For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart." Jeremiah 24:6-7

"When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 39:27-29

"Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.…

       "...in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn." Zechariah 12:2-3, 9-10

“At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts." Jeremiah 3:17

"So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
I, even I, am He who comforts you." Isaiah 51:11-12

“I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls." Joel 2:30-32

“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,

I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land. They have cast lots for My people..." Joel 3:1-3

"...the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness.
The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem;
The heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel.
“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.” Joel 3:14-17

"Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! ...
Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!" Isaiah 52:1-2

Hope and Restoration -- New Testament promises (after the Cross and the rise of His Church)

"I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law,  the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all..." Romans 9:2-5

"...they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, 'In lsaac your seed
shall be called.' That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed." Romans 9:6-8

"Isaiah also cries out concern Israel: 'Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved.'" Romans 9:27

"...consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, who are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?" Romans 11:22-24

"For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel [the true Israel -- see Rom. 9:8] will be saved..." Romans 11:25-27

---

   “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.

      “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.

      “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” Daniel 9:16-19

---

The heavenly Jerusalem

“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God." Revelation 3:12

"I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.'
      "Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'" Revelation 21:1-5