If the Jewish Community in Cork Grows Again to Enough Jews for Anew Temple What Will Happen Then

"The Persian Empire, the Return of the Jews, and the Diaspora," Old Testament Student Manual Kings-Malachi (1982), 311–16

(J-ane) New Masters for the Business firm of Israel

When the Northern Kingdom of Israel was taken captive by Assyria in 721B.C., Assyria ruled most of the known world. However, within a few short decades, the Assyrian Empire had crumbled earlier the onslaught of the Babylonians. Under Nebuchadnezzar Babylonia became a world empire, inheriting for the most part territories and peoples conquered by Assyria. If these peoples resisted their new masters, Nebuchadnezzar responded swiftly and savagely. Then fell Judah in 586B.C. Though the Lord used the conquering empires as scourges in His hand to punish rebellious and backsliding State of israel and Judah, in one case they had fulfilled their purpose they too came to a swift end.

Nebuchadnezzar's vigorous rule in Babylon was finished in 562B.C. He was the concluding slap-up Chaldean ruler, and at his expiry the empire's decline was rapid. The Babylonians' own wickedness brought swift decline. Nebuchadnezzar was followed past Amil-Marduk (called Evil-merodach in ii Kings 25:27), who ruled for less than two years. Neriglissar, a brother-in-constabulary to Evil-merodach, ruled for only iv years. Labashi-Murduk, son of Neriglissar, was deposed later nine months. Nabonidus, a leader of the priestly party, ruled for sixteen years, from 555 to 539B.C., but he spent nigh of his fourth dimension at the Oasis of Teima in Arabia. Affairs of state in Babylon were left in the hands of Belshazzar, the son of Nabonidus. Nether Belshazzar, fifty-fifty the people of Babylon became disgusted with their corrupt nation.

As long every bit the mighty stag in the forest is erect and strong, its enemies are held at bay. But at the slightest sign of weakness, the wolves motion in for the kill. So information technology is with empires, and Babylon was reeling. The predators were waiting. East and north of the Persian Gulf, two nations were coming to ability: the Medes and the Persians. Uniting under the direction of Cyrus, the Median-Western farsi alliance turned toward Babylon. Cyrus was to accept a profound effect on the history of the firm of Israel and the world. Ane historian noted the significance of this man:

"Cyrus the Peachy emerged in history in 559B.C. as ruler of the little province of Anshan, a district in northwestern Elam just south of Media and east of the Zagros Mountains. Anshan was and so nether the overlordship of Media. When Cyrus revolted confronting his overlord Astyages, the Median army went over to him in a body, surrendering Astyages as prisoner. Cyrus plain was the voluntary choice of the Medes as their king. The empire's capital, Ecbatana, with all its treasure, came into possession of Cyrus practically without a blow. Thus inside x years Cyrus made himself principal of the Median empire comprising modern Persia, northern Assyria, Armenia, and Asia Minor as far due west every bit the river Halys.

"After two years spent in organizing the empire Cyrus moved w, aptitude on conquest. After conquering northern Mesopotamia he attacked and defeated the fabulously rich Croesus, king of Lydia, whose kingdom extended from the river Halys [in Turkey] to the Aegean Bounding main [in Greece]. …

"Returning in 539B.C., Cyrus advanced against Babylon, which opened its gates to him without a boxing. [Co-ordinate to Daniel, Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall telling him of the autumn of Babylon the very dark earlier Cyrus entered the metropolis and brought an stop to the Babylonian empire (see Daniel 5).] Indeed, [Cyrus] seems to take been welcomed past the populace equally a friend and distributor. Thus Cyrus became master of all western Asia.

"The fall of Babylon marked the end of Semitic world power. With the triumph of Cyrus, a new race, the Indo-European, came into world rule and the political destiny of the earth was thenceforth in the easily of that race. This, therefore, marks a new and very of import watershed in Biblical history.

"Cyrus was a built-in ruler of men. He inaugurated a new policy in the treatment of conquered peoples. Instead of tyrannizing over them and holding them in subjection past brute force, he treated his subjects with consideration and won them every bit his friends. He was particularly considerate of the religions of conquered peoples. The consequence of this policy was to weld his subjects to him in a loyalty which fabricated his reign an era of peace." (Elmer W. Thou. Mould, Essentials of Bible History, pp. 348–49.)

This revolution in policy was to accept a profound effect on the history of the world and especially on Jewish history, for when Cyrus marched into Babylon, the Jews were nevertheless in exile there.

(J-2) Cyrus Was Raised Up by the Lord to Free the Jews

Babylon fell to Cyrus in 539B.C. Shortly thereafter, every bit recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:22–23and Ezra 1:one–11, Cyrus decreed throughout his empire that whatever captive Jews in Babylonia who desired to could return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Cyrus even allowed the vessels of gold and silver stolen by Nebuchadnezzar's troops to be returned.

What motivated Cyrus to brand such a liberal annunciation? While Cyrus may take been influenced by the religion of his gods (see Ezra 1:7), including the emerging Zoroastrianism, to have respect for the God of Judah, information technology appears that Cyrus was motivated by the Spirit of the Lord to ship the Jews dorsum to their homeland. Josephus wrote:

"In the first twelvemonth of the reign of Cyrus, which was the seventieth from the day that our people were removed out of their own land into Babylon, God commiserated [mourned] the captivity and cataclysm of these poor people, according every bit he had foretold to them by Jeremiah the prophet, before the destruction of the city, that later they had served Nebuchadnezzar and his posterity, and after they had undergone that servitude seventy years, he would restore them again to the state of their fathers, and they should build their temple, and savour their ancient prosperity. And these things God did afford them; for he stirred up the heed of Cyrus, and fabricated him write this throughout all Asia: 'Thus saith Cyrus the rex: Since God Omnipotent hath appointed me to be king of the habitable world, I believe that he is that God which the nation of the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a firm at Jerusalem, in the country of Judea.'

"This was known to Cyrus by his reading the volume which Isaiah left backside him of his prophecies; for this prophet said that God had spoken thus to him in a cloak-and-dagger vision: 'My will is, that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be king over many and keen nations, send dorsum my people to their own land, and build my temple.' This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished. Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the Divine ability, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfil what was then written; so he called for the about eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and said to them, that he gave them exit to go back to their own country, and to rebuild their metropolis Jerusalem, and the temple of God, for that he would be their banana, and that he would write to the rulers and governors that were in the neighbourhood of their state of Judea, that they should contribute to them gold and argent for the building of the temple, and besides that, beasts for their sacrifices." (Antiquities of the Jews, bk. 11, chap. 1, pars. i–ii.)

The prophecy of Isaiah alluded to by Josephus and implied in Ezra 1:2is found in Isaiah 44:28–45:1.

Adam Clarke suggested: "It is very probable that when Cyrus took Babylon he constitute Daniel there, who had been long famed every bit one of the wisest ministers of state in all the East; and it is nigh likely that information technology was this person who pointed out to him the prophecy of Isaiah, and gave him those farther intimations relative to the Divine volition which were revealed to himself" (The Holy Bible … with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 2:730).

Elder Ezra Taft Benson

Elderberry Ezra Taft Benson spoke of the contributions of Cyrus:

"Rex Cyrus lived more than five hundred years before Christ and figured in prophecies of the Erstwhile Testament mentioned in 2 Chronicles and the volume of Ezra, and by the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Daniel. The Bible states how 'the Lord stirred upwards the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia.' (ii Chron. 36:22.) Cyrus restored certain political and social rights to the convict Hebrews, gave them permission to return to Jerusalem, and directed that Jehovah's temple should exist rebuilt.

"Parley P. Pratt, in describing the Prophet Joseph Smith, said that he had 'the disrespect, courage, temperance, perseverance and generosity of a Cyrus.' (Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt [Deseret Book Company, 1938], p. 46.)

"President Wilford Woodruff said:

"'At present I have idea many times that some of those aboriginal kings that were raised up, had in some respects more regard for the carrying out of some of these principles and laws, than even the Latter-day Saints have in our day. I will take equally an ensample Cyrus. … To trace the life of Cyrus from his nativity to his decease, whether he knew it or non, information technology looked every bit though he lived by inspiration in all his movements. He began with that temperance and virtue which would sustain any Christian country or any Christian king. … Many of these principles followed him, and I take thought many of them were worthy, in many respects, the attending of men who have the Gospel of Jesus Christ.' (Journal of Discourses, vol. 22, p. 207.)

"God, the Father of u.s.a. all, uses the men of the earth, especially good men, to achieve his purposes. It has been true in the past, information technology is true today, it will be true in the future." (In Conference Report, April. 1972, pp. 48–49.)

(J-3) The First Return of the Jews

How did the Jews react to Cyrus's edict? One author noted that "not many Jewish exiles proved eager to rush dorsum to Palestine. A half century in Babylonia had led the majority to sink their roots deeply in the land of their enforced adoption. Most of them had go bound to the new land by ties of marriage and friendship and by stiff business connections. Moreover at that place had grown upwardly in Babylonia a generation which knew non Palestine and for such Jews Judea, no longer an attractive place to live in, had no entreatment. The pull of a powerful sentimental attachment was needed to induce whatever of them to render to Palestine and few felt this. Appropriately, the greatest difficulty was encountered in arousing enough enthusiasm to make up a party for the first returning group." (Mould, Essentials of Bible History, p. 350.)

The first group of returning exiles arrived in Judea erstwhile afterward 536B.C. under the leadership of Zerubbabel or (Zorobabel), a member of the royal Davidic line (see i Chronicles three:19), and Joshua (or Jeshua), a priest of the lineage of Zadok. (Zadok was the high priest at the dedication of Solomon's temple.) The outset render somewhat resembled a religious crusade. Information technology consisted of forty to fifty thousand people. Small-scale groups of exiles continued to come for the next century from Babylonia, but the majority of Jews did not return, and for centuries there was a greater number of Jews in Babylon than in the Holy Land.

A person known in the volume of Ezra equally Sheshbazzar (run into Ezra i:8, 11; five:14, 16) was designated as the governor of this Holy Land colony. Scholars dispute whether Sheshbazzar was the same person as Zerubbabel. If Sheshbazzar was another person, as indicated in 1 Esdras vi:18 of the Apocrypha, then he mysteriously vanished, since Zerubbabel soon took center stage in Jerusalem.

When the Jews returned to Israel, they found the state inhabited by Samaritans, a people whose proper noun came from the city of Samaria, which had been the capital of the Northern Kingdom. When the Northern Kingdom cruel to Assyria in 721B.C., only a few of the poorest class of Israelites were left in the land. The Assyrians brought other peoples to inhabit the land, and they intermarried with the remaining Israelites. They adopted some forms of the worship of Jehovah, but they mixed them with pagan ideas. The Jews in the Southern Kingdom viewed these Samaritans as being not but impure Israelites simply pagans too.

The Jews returning from Babylonia were eager to reinstitute the official worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem. Their starting time human activity was to repair the altar of burnt offering and to renew the regular morning and evening sacrifices. They then observed the feast of Tabernacles and other feasts in routine succession. (see Ezra iii:1–6.)

Under the direction of Zerubbabel, the Jews repaired the altar and began to rebuild the temple. The Samaritans asked to bring together in the project, saying that they had been offer sacrifice to Jehovah since the days of the Assyrian conquest (see Ezra 4:1–ii). The Jews flatly refused their help, and the Samaritans in anger openly opposed the project (meet Ezra four:3–5). Because of this interference from the Samaritans and considering of indifference that arose amongst the Jews (see Haggai 1:ii–6), the temple building was put off until the 2nd year of the reign of Darius I, virtually 520B.C.

(J-4) The Second Temple

The resumption of the temple structure was inspired by two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah (see Ezra 5:one), whose cursory writings are preserved in the Old Testament. The local governor and the leaders of Samaria attempted to obstruct the projection. The Jews appealed to Darius, eventually proving that they were doing only what Cyrus had granted them permission to do. So they were immune to go along their project (meet Ezra 5–6). The temple was finished in 515B.C. This temple is known either equally the 2nd temple (Solomon'south was the outset) or the temple of Zerubbabel. The second temple did not compare in splendor to the temple of Solomon, for the people were very poor at the time they built it.

There is no mention of Zerubbabel subsequently the temple was completed. Later on his time, the leadership of the community was held by the priests. This theocratic government was permitted by the Persians and for a time past Alexander the Nifty.

Persia savage to Alexander the Dandy.

(J-5) The Return of the Jews under Ezra and Nehemiah

Non much is known of the land of Jewish diplomacy between the completion of the temple in 515B.C. and the appearance in Jerusalem of Ezra and Nehemiah and the colonies that came with them. Nehemiah's appearance at Jerusalem can exist firmly dated at 445B.C. The appointment of Ezra'south mission is disputed. Some scholars date Ezra's journey earlier that of Nehemiah, some later. The scriptures seem to point that Ezra's group came to Jerusalem before Nehemiah. Another source states that Ezra came in 458B.C. (meet J. D. Douglas, ed., The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, s.five. "Persia," p. 1199).

In any issue, there is a bridge of about 3 generations between the outset return and the return of Ezra and Nehemiah. During this period, Farsi civilisation reached its greatest pinnacle, every bit evidenced by the impressive ruins standing at Persepolis, the capital letter of the Persian Empire. The luxury of the Persian court is described in the book of Esther.

Picayune is known about Jewish life during this period. Politically the Jews were ruled past Persian officers, just from their own indicate of view, and in general practice, they maintained a theocracy ruled by God'southward all-powerful loftier priest. In view of the reforms initiated afterward by Ezra and Nehemiah, a strict adherence to the laws of Moses was patently not observed. The priests intermarried with their not-Israelite neighbors, and the metropolis of Jerusalem was allowed to farther deteriorate.

Under Artaxerxes I (465–424B.C.), Jewish officers had official representation at the Persian court. Ezra seems to accept held some kind of of import court function, and he was accredited every bit a special envoy to reorganize the temple services at Jerusalem. The eager Jews were led on by the encouragement they had received from the Persian court to exceed the terms of Ezra's commission, and they rebuilt the city wall.

Nehemiah was a royal cupbearer in the Farsi court (meet Nehemiah 2:1). Since bump-off was an ever-present danger for kings aforetime, and poison was oftentimes employed, the cupbearer held a highly trusted position in the court. His calling was to ensure that the rex's food and drink were safe. (See Samuel Fallows, ed., The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia and Scriptural Dictionary, s.5. "Cupbearer.") Nehemiah succeeded in using his favored position to have himself named governor of Judah.

Nehemiah's energy, ability, unselfish patriotism, and personal integrity brought a new, exuberant Judah into existence in one case again. The restoration of Jerusalem, which had lain in ruins for a century and a half, was begun. Ezra, a righteous, dedicated priest, joined Nehemiah in the work, and together they succeeded in restoring a Jewish community in Jerusalem once once more. Psalm 48is a song jubilant the restoration of Jerusalem. It shows how Jewish confidence was and then revived. Judah developed a semiautonomous government and gradually enlarged their commune's borders to become approximately half the size of the kingdom of Judah when it vicious in 581B.C. Judah remained in peace throughout the duration of the Persian Empire.

When Alexander the Cracking conquered the Persian Empire in 331B.C., the Jews simply transferred their allegiance from one monarch to another. Jewish tradition relates how Alexander was met by the high priest in Jerusalem and was read the prophecies of Daniel that 1 of the Greeks would destroy the Persians (see Daniel 7:six; 8:iii, 20–22; 11:3). Alexander, supposing this meant himself, rejoiced and accepted the Jewish nation without going to war against them.

(J-vi) The Diaspora

Diaspora is a Greek word meaning "dispersion." According to the Jews, there is a difference between a forced exile and a voluntary dispersion. The forced exile is usually referred to by the Hebrew give-and-take galut, meaning "exile." Diaspora is by and large used by the Jews to refer to their voluntary dispersion. According to present-day Jews, Diaspora is a correct designation for all Jews yet living outside of Eretz Israel (state of State of israel).

The term Diaspora refers to the scattering of the house of State of israel into countries other than the Holy Land. Latter-solar day Saints know that the entire house of Israel was scattered, merely, every bit used past most scholars, the word Diaspora is applied principally to the dispersion of the Jews throughout all the world.

The Lord through His prophets long ago foretold the scattering or dispersion of Judah and all of Israel throughout the world. (meet Deuteronomy 28:64; Jeremiah 29:18; Ezekiel 12:15; Amos 9:9; Zechariah 10:9.)

The first major dispersion of State of israel began with the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which resulted in the captivity of that nation in 722B.C. (See Enrichment D.)

Although the first significant Jewish Diaspora resulted from the Babylonian exile, small-scale colonies of Jews fabricated their way to Arab republic of egypt before this exile. I of these exiles is the subject of some of Jeremiah's dire prophecies (meet Jeremiah 43–44). The Jews spoken of by Jeremiah settled about the delta of the Nile. They repudiated Jehovah completely, impudently asserting that information technology was worship of Him that had caused all their misery and disaster. Other groups of Jews who came to Egypt shortly before and during the Babylonian sieges of Jerusalem were hospitably received, and they prospered. They established Jewish quarters in several of the larger cities there. Many of them attempted to transplant to this new home the pattern of their religious life. Such was the case at Elephantine, where archeological discoveries reveal that a Jewish colony constructed a temple similar to the one in Jerusalem.

Nebuchadnezzar deported to Babylon large groups of Jewish exiles between 605B.C. and 587B.C. Despite Cyrus's edict, most of the exiles chose to stay in Babylon because of favorable economic and agricultural conditions. Gradually, in the centuries from 400B.C. to A.D. 200 and even subsequently, the Jews dispersed themselves to all parts of the known world and set up enduring colonies.

An eminent historian discussed the existence of dispersed Jews in other parts of the Roman Empire at the time of the Christian era:

"Josephus describes Syria as the state with the highest pct of Jewish inhabitants, which is very probably on account of its proximity to Eretz Israel. In that location were especially important Jewish centers in the capital Antioch, in Damascus, and in Apamea. Co-ordinate to Philo, numerous Jews lived in Syria and in Asia Minor, where the settlement of Jews was greatly promoted by the policy of the Seleucid kings, whose rule extended over large areas of Asia Minor. Thus it is known that Antiochus Iii (223–187B.C.E.) settled 2,000 Babylonian Jewish families in Phrygia and Lydia. From the period of the Roman rule at the end of the commonwealth and the beginning of the Julio-Claudian principate there is articulate testify of the existence of Jews in most of the important cities of Asia Minor, in Adramyttium, Pergamum, Sardis, Ephesus, Tralles, Miletus, Iasus, Halicarnassus, Laodicea, Tarsus, and very many others, too as in the regions of Bithynia, Pontus, and Cappadocia. … In that location were many Jews, too, in the various islands of the eastern Mediterranean. … Many Jews also lived in Crete, Delos, Paros, Melos, Euboea, and in other islands.

"… There were Jews in all the important urban centers of Greece and Macedonia. … According to the Acts of the Apostles, at that place were Jewish communities in Thessalonica, in the Macedonian cities of Philippi and Beroea, and in the famed Greek cities of Athens and Corinth. Inscriptions also attest to Jewish settlements in various places in the Peloponnesus (the district of Laconia, the urban center of Patrae, Tegea), in Athens, and in Thessaly. From Greece the Jewish settlements spread northward to the Balkan peninsula (Stobi) and reached Pannonia [present-day Europe]." (Encyclopaedia Judaica, s.5. "Diaspora," vi:10–11.)

The dispersed people of Judah are frequently referred to in the New Attestation. The Jews in the temple spoke of them when questioning Jesus at the feast of Tabernacles (see John 7:35). At the feast of Pentecost, xv locations other than Judea were represented past Jewish pilgrims (see Acts 2:9–11). Luke, in the book of Acts, spoke of Jewish synagogues in the Roman Empire that were of peachy service in the spreading of Christianity (see Acts half-dozen:9; xiii:43–45; 14:1–ii, xix; 16:3; 17:i, 4, 10–13; 18:2, 12, nineteen; 19:13–17, 33; 28:17–29).

(J-7) The Jewish Faith in the Diaspora

"In general, the Jews of the Dispersion were sincerely loyal to the religion of their ancestors. They recognized Jerusalem as the Holy Urban center, paid their annual taxes to the temple and whenever possible made pilgrimages to Zion to gloat the holy days. Nevertheless, in many synagogues outside Judea services were being conducted in Greek, mixed marriages were condign a familiar practise once again and the rite of circumcision was increasingly ignored. Among the many Hellenistic ideas that gained basis with the dispersed Jews was the popular belief that different peoples simply worshiped the same God past different names. This doctrine was anathema to the priests and scholars of Jerusalem, for information technology blurred the differences between Jew and Gentile." (Great People of the Bible and How They Lived, p. 253.)

Devout Jews visited Jerusalem for the groovy feasts when possible (come across Acts 2:5–xi; 8:27). Paul, raised as a Jew of the Diaspora in Tarsus, was true-blue to the law and to the nation (see Philippians 3:5–half dozen). Apollos, a Christian convert, was a Jew of the Diaspora from Alexandria and was "mighty in the scriptures" (Acts 18:24).

What effect did the Jewish religion of the Diaspora have upon their gentile neighbors? 1 author describes how the Jews made proselytes:

"The Jews are frequently unjustly charged with a rigid exclusivism. In fact, specially amid the Dispersion, they recognized their mission to the Gentiles, and there was a sincere attempt to win converts. To accept the Jewish organized religion was no light affair for a Gentile. He must have circumcision and baptism, and agree to go on the whole police of Moses, including such ritual prescriptions as the sabbath and the laws about unclean food. He must in fact renounce his ain nationality. At that place were a considerable number who took this desperate stride, and it is to them that the term 'proselyte' applies.

"Many more were attracted by the monotheistic organized religion and the strict morality of Judaism in dissimilarity with the decadent polytheism of Rome. They were prepared to identify themselves with the faith and ideals of the Jews, only stopped short of the proselyte's full commitment. These fellow-travellers, many of them rich and influential officials, are known in the New Testament equally 'those who fear God' or 'the devout' (Acts 13:26, 43, 50; 17:4)." (David Alexander and Pat Alexander, eds., Eerdmans' Handbook to the Bible, p. 497.) The proselytes were a rich source of converts to early on Christianity, for in the Church they found the moral police force without the burdens of the Mosaic code.

(J-8) Life in the Diaspora

During the first centuries of the dispersion, "the occupations of the Jews in the countries of the Hellenistic-Roman Diaspora were varied, and certainly they were not confined to but a few specified occupations, as was the case in the Middle Ages, and no restrictions were placed on them. In Judea, the Jews had been farmers from the earliest days, and while the cultivation of the soil remained an important occupation of the Jews in the countries of the Diaspora, they also engaged in other pursuits. Numerous papyri in item replenish considerable prove of the function played by the Jews in the agriculture of Egypt. Among the Jewish agriculturists in Ptolemaic Arab republic of egypt were 'purple farmers,' tenant farmers, military settlers, and agricultural workers. There were likewise Jewish peasants and shepherds. Other documents show that in that location was a Jewish family of potters in 'a Syrian village' in the Fayyum district, and also a Jewish weaver in Upper Arab republic of egypt in the 2nd century B.C.E. Jewish officials were prominent in government service, occupying positions in the police strength, in the assistants of the authorities banks, and peculiarly in the collection of taxes.

"A similar diverseness characterized the economic life of the Jews in Roman Egypt. In Roman Alexandria there were wealthy Jews, bankers with interterritorial connections, important merchants, and shipowners who filled a notable office in the Egyptian, and in the unabridged Mediterranean, economy. However, alongside these, Jewish artisans and poor Jews were no less prominent. The Jewish artisans in Roman Alexandria engaged in various trades, and even occupied places in the large synagogue according to their occupations. Amid the Alexandrian Jews, some owned land in various places whereas others had difficulty in making a livelihood, equally tin can exist seen from the papyri of Abusir el Meleq. This picture is confirmed by documents relating to the provincial towns. Thus in Roman Egypt some Jews owned land, some engaged in cultivating the soil and in rearing sheep, some in transport on land or forth the Nile where they loaded cargo for diverse parts of Arab republic of egypt, while others were artisans. … More or less the same state of diplomacy existed in the other countries of the Mediterranean world. …

"[Under Roman law the Jews were granted the right] to organize themselves in their own institutions and to establish an autonomous system of internal administration and justice, to refrain from taking role in what they regarded as idolatry, and to be exempt from duties involving a transgression of Jewish religious precepts. The permission to refrain from idolatry also included the right to abstain from taking role in emperor worship, the main expression of the loyalty of the peoples of the empire, abstention from which was generally regarded as treason." (Encyclopaedia Judaica, southward.v. "Diaspora," 6:11–thirteen.)

In the yr 2000, of the estimated 13 million Jews in the world, about v,800,000 million resided in the U.s., 4,800,000 in Israel; 600,000 in French republic; and 400,000 in Russia, with other sizeable groups in Europe, the Americas, and effectually the world.

(J-ix) The Gathering of Dispersed Israel

The Lord never intended for Israel and Judah to remain scattered. Isaiah prophesied that "the Lord shall set his hand again the second fourth dimension to recover the remnant of his people … and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and get together together the dispersed of Judah from the 4 corners of the earth" (Isaiah eleven:eleven–12). Psalm 147:2reads: "The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts [diasporai in the Greek version of the Old Attestation] of State of israel." Nephi added this significant idea to the teachings of the restoration of the Jews: "After [the Jews] have been scattered … even down from generation to generation, … they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement" (ii Nephi 25:sixteen). Isaiah described how in big measure the Jews would be restored: "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their [the Gentiles'] queens thy nursing mothers" (Isaiah 49:23).

Elder Wilford Woodruff, and then a fellow member of the Quorum of the Twelve, issued an epistle to the world on 22 February 1879 and, in part, addressed himself to the dispersed of Judah: "For the fulness of the Gentiles has come up in, and the Lord has decreed that the Jews should be gathered from all the Gentile nations where they have been driven, into their own land, in fulfillment of the words of Moses their lawgiver. And this is the volition of your great Eloheim, O house of Judah, and whenever yous shall be called upon to perform this work, the God of Israel will assist you. You have a bang-up time to come and destiny before you and yous cannot avert fulfilling it; you are the royal chosen seed, and the God of your father's house has kept you distinct as a nation for xviii hundred years, nether all the oppression of the whole Gentile world. You may non wait until you believe on Jesus of Nazareth, but when you encounter with Shiloh your male monarch, you will know him; your destiny is marked out, you cannot avoid it. Information technology is true that after y'all return and get together your nation home, and rebuild your Urban center and Temple, that the Gentiles may gather together their armies to go against you lot to battle, to take you a casualty and to take you as a spoil, which they volition practise, for the words of your prophets must be fulfilled; simply when this affliction comes, the living God, that led Moses through the wilderness, volition deliver you, and your Shiloh will come and stand up in your midst and volition fight your battles; and you lot will know him, and the afflictions of the Jews will be at an end, while the destruction of the Gentiles will exist so cracking that it volition have the whole house of Israel who are gathered about Jerusalem, seven months to bury the dead of their enemies, and the weapons of state of war will last them seven years for fuel, and then that they need not go to any forest for forest. These are tremendous sayings—who tin bear them? Nevertheless they are true, and will be fulfilled, according to the sayings of Ezekiel, Zechariah, and other prophets. Though the heavens and the world laissez passer away, non one jot or tittle will fall unfulfilled." (In Matthias F. Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, pp. 509–10.)

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Source: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-student-manual-kings-malachi/enrichment-j?lang=eng

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