What is the covenant promise in verse 3 about Israel's regathering?
The covenant promise in verse 3 declares that after Israel has been dispersed for centuries, the LORD thy God will turn their captivity, have compassion on them, and gather them from all the nations where He scattered them. It assures Israel's regathering from worldwide exile, and the context says this is being fulfilled in our generation.
Les explains that God knew Israel would become the wandering Jew, without a homeland, persecuted, and driven from place to place. But verse 2 shows they would return to the LORD and obey His voice, and then verse 3 gives the covenant promise. Les calls verse 3 the promise: after they have been dispersed for centuries, the LORD will turn their captivity, have compassion, and gather them from all the nations where He scattered them. Les notes that many Jews lost sight of this promise, though some did not, and he points to our own generation as evidence that God's Word is true. He says God is bringing them back from every nation under heaven, with Jews in Israel documented as coming from 133 different sovereign nations. They have been driven everywhere and are coming home; some nations, like Albania, have no Jews left, Syria has only a few hundred, while Russia and America still have large numbers.
That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
More Questions
When will God remember Israel and restore them from the nations?
When Israel has finally gone through the whole gamut of all the blessings and all the curses, then God will finally remember them, turn their captivity, have compassion on them, and bring them back from all the nations where he scattered them.