Question: We can see from Scripture that God removed His people from the land of Israel when they ...

Question [edited]: We can see from Scripture that God removed His people from the land of Israel when they sinned, and He scattered them. In the Old Testament, the Jews were brought back to their land after they repented. It was then that their enemies were defeated.

I do not see any such repentance by the Jews—not even after the Holocaust. The vast majority have never accepted their Messiah. It seems to me that their “return” could simply have been the British after World War II settling the Jews in “their own land” and thereby breaking their treaties with the Arabs. Since the Jews had not repented, how do you know that God put the Jews back there after the war? How can we know the timeframe in which He was going to do it? Didn’t the Jews always have to repent before they were allowed to return to Palestine?

Response: We have often shown that “Palestine” isn’t a legitimate name for what God calls “the land of Israel” (see “Israel and Prophetic Proof, Part 1” [July ’09], also May ’03 Q&A, and January ’04). Deuteronomy 28 gives the awesome penalty for Israel’s disobedience, including giving up their temporal residence in the land, but never the loss of ownership of the land. As Dave Hunt often pointed out, historically and as the scriptures (Ezk 36:21-28) bear out, the Jews have maintained a continual presence in the land ever since Moses led them out of Egypt and Joshua led them into the land. There is always a remnant.

Furthermore, it would be incorrect to state that modern Israel’s presence is not in God’s timing, as numerous scriptures testify that the Lord will bring them back into the land before their ultimate end-time national repentance (Jer:5:10Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD's.
See All..., 18; 30:11; 46:28; Ezk 11:13, etc.).

In Matthew:23:39For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
See All..., the Lord prophesied to Israel that, “Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” In Zechariah:12:9-10 [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. [10] And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
See All... we read, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” Clearly, these verses show that the Jews are already in the land and are then repenting.

Zechariah:14:1-3 [1] Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. [3] Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
See All... tells us. “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.”

As Zechariah clearly shows, the Lord’s return to save Israel occurs before their prophesied repentance, and the Scriptures reveal that the Jews are in Israel when the Lord returns to the earth. They therefore must return to the land and it is a legitimate conclusion that today’s occupancy is a part of that.

In past dispersals from the land, there is no national repentance seen when Israel was brought back to the land (for example) following 70 years of captivity. Indeed, the Lord had prophesied 70 years in Babylon and then they would be returned, with no indication of a national repentance.

God has never cast away Israel. Though He prophesied that they would be scattered throughout all nations, He also said they would be gathered again (Dt. 30:3). Furthermore, the Lord distinctly said that “...though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished” (Jer:30:11For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
See All...).

As to their importance as “signs of the times,” the prophet Joel recorded that “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land” (Jl 3:2; see also Zec 7,8, etc.).