What did God promise to do for Israel after their centuries-long scattering?
After Israel was dispersed for centuries, God promised to turn their captivity, show compassion, and gather them back from every nation where He had scattered them. He also promised they would return to the LORD and obey His voice with all their heart and soul.
Les explains that God knew Israel would become the wandering Jew, without a homeland, persecuted, and driven from place to place. Yet the promise in verse 3 is that after they had been dispersed for centuries, the LORD their God would turn their captivity, have compassion on them, return, and gather them from all the nations where He had scattered them. Les points out that many Jews lost sight of that promise, but God's Word is true. In our own generation, He is bringing them back from every nation under heaven. It was documented that Jews living in Israel had come from 133 different sovereign nations. They have been driven everywhere and are coming home all the time. Some nations no longer have a Jewish population—Albania is cited as one, with only a few hundred left in Syria—while Russia and America still have large numbers.