alienated Gentiles that became a part of the “Israel of God”. Then with these Gentiles grafted in, Paul adds, “In this manner all Israel will be saved.” Further showing the grounds on which natural Jews were ousted from being any part of the seed of Abraham and the “Israel of God”, Jesus disowned rebellious ones by saying: “If you are Abraham’s children, do the works of Abraham. . . . You are from your father the Devil.”—John 8:37-44, NW.

Now it follows that God is not dealing with two Israels today, one fleshly and one spiritual. Which of the two, then, does Jehovah assemble to bestow his restoration blessings upon? Is it the republic of Israel which is now ruling Palestine’s population of 1,400,000, or is it spiritual Israel composed of only 144,000? The facts presented in the following article fully answer these very important questions.

True Israel Now Restored

THE true Israel of God has been fully identified in the previous article, but some weighty questions still remain untouched. It is an important point, so often overlooked, the fact that neither of the two greatest Jewish prophets, Moses and Jesus, held out any hope of restoration to natural Israel. That nation was given the choice, either faithfulness and life or unfaithfulness and death. They chose the latter, and their house was abandoned. (Deut. 11:26-28; 30:15-19; Matt. 23:38, NW) The restoration promises so often quoted are found in the writings of such prophets as Ezekiel, Jeremiah and others. (Ezek. 34:1-31; 36:1-38; Jer. 32:27-42) But what were the circumstances under which these promises were made?

This is the special point to be noted. The promises that Jehovah would gather together and restore his covenant people Israel to their land were set forth prior to their going into captivity to Babylon in 607 B.C. Exactly on time, after the land of Judah had lain desolate for 70 years, a remnant of Israel returned to the task of rebuilding the temple and walls, and once more engaging in the pure worship of Jehovah.—Ezra 1:1-8; 3:1-13.

That return, however, was only a miniature fulfillment of the prophecies, only a picture or type or shadow of a much greater and more important return to follow. (1 Cor. 10:6, 11, NW, margin) So the question is: Was it a pattern or picture of the colonizing developments of natural Jews in Palestine today, or did it picture the restoration of spiritual Israel today?

Back there Jehovah God overthrew wicked Babylon and raised up Cyrus the Persian who promoted the return of the Jews. But the British Empire, exercising authority over Palestine