Yes — Israel became a wasteland as God's discipline after the nation rejected the Messiah, but He promised and is now bringing restoration.
Les teaches that when Israel rejected Christ, God scattered them through the Roman army in A.D. 70, leaving the land wasted and nearly empty for almost 1,900 years. The dry bones of Ezekiel picture this long condition. Since around the turn of the century and especially 1948, Jews have been returning and the land has become productive again, which Les connects to Hosea's promise of revival after 'two days.'
Hosea 6:1 — Shows the God who tore and smote Israel also promises to heal and bind them up, framing the wasteland and restoration.
Ezekiel 37:2 — Describes Israel's long, lifeless condition outside the land as very dry bones.
The Bible does not explain the wasteland in a single verse, but it clearly reveals God as the One who both disciplines and heals Israel. In Hosea 6:1, the prophet calls the nation to return to the LORD, acknowledging that He has torn and smitten them, yet He will heal them and bind them up. Hosea continues in verse 2 with the promise, 'After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.' Ezekiel 37:2 gives a graphic picture of Israel's condition: 'And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.' These dry bones represent a people who have been out of their land and bereft of life for a very long time. Scripture therefore shows that God sovereignly brought Israel into this state, but it also promises that He will revive and restore them.
Les teaches that Israel became a wasteland because of God's disciplinary judgment. Israel rejected her Messiah, and in about A.D. 70 God used the Roman army under Titus to destroy Jerusalem and the temple and to scatter the Jewish people into every nation. That left the land of Palestine as a 'no man's land' — with no production, no farming, and almost no inhabitants — for roughly 1,900 years. Les connects this long dispersion to Ezekiel's dry bones, noting that Israel was 'without a land, without an altar, without a priesthood.' Yet he also teaches that God has not abandoned Israel. Around the turn of the century, Jews began returning and establishing kibbutzim, and in 1948 the nation became a sovereign state again. Les sees today's revived agriculture and productive farms as evidence that God is fulfilling His promises, including the 'after two days' revival of Hosea. The healing is both physical — the land producing again — and national, as Israel is 'coming back to life' even though the nation is not yet spiritually alive.
Les Feldick traces the wasteland to Israel's rejection of Christ. In about A.D. 70, God brought the Roman army under Titus to besiege Jerusalem, destroy the temple, and break the city apart. The Jewish people were dispersed into every nation. Les describes this as discipline: God had torn and smitten His people. Because of this national judgment, the land of Palestine became essentially empty and unproductive — only a few nomadic Bedouins and Arabs remained.
Les says Israel was out of the land for over 1,900 years. He applies Ezekiel's dry bones to that period: the bones became 'very dry' because Israel had been outside the place of blessing for so long. They were without a land, without an altar, and without a priesthood. He also notes that the land of Palestine, before the modern return, was a no man's land with nothing but a few nomads and Arabs.
Les says yes. He points to the return of Jews from almost every nation under heaven, the establishment of kibbutzim, and the 1948 independence of Israel. He recalls visiting Israel and seeing unbelievable farm and agricultural production — dairy farms, fruit farms, and much more — compared to the empty land decades earlier. He connects this to Hosea 6:1-2, where God promises to heal and revive the nation. In Les's teaching, the physical revival of the land is a sign that God is preparing Israel for His soon return.
Hosea's Promise of Revival
Les teaches that Hosea's 'after two days' refers to roughly 2,000 years, and he sees God now reviving the nation of Israel after the long period of tearing and smiting.
From Wasteland to Productivity
Les contrasts the old Palestine wasteland with today's Israel, which now has astonishing agricultural production, dairy farms, and fruit farms as Jews return from every nation.
From Genesis to Exodus: Understanding the Biblical Timeline of Israel
Israel has now been in the land over 200 years, and they're multiplying. And God is about ready to fulfill these promises that he had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's going to now take them into the land that he had delineated in that Abrahamic covenant. But let's start in chapter 1, verse 1. This is, of course, a book of redemption. I think I mentioned that last week.
Dry Bones: Dispersion and Length
Les teaches that Ezekiel's very dry bones picture Israel's nearly 1,900 years outside the land, without a land, altar, or priesthood.
Physical Return, Spiritual Deadness
Les says the nation of Israel is coming back to life physically — muscle and skin on the bones — but still has no spiritual life, which is the same analogy Paul uses in Romans 11.
Rejection and Dispersion
Les teaches that Israel rejected Christ and was dispersed in about A.D. 70 back into the mainstream of humanity, under spiritual blindness and scattered among every nation.
Roman Army and 1948 Restoration
Les teaches that God used the Roman army under Titus in A.D. 70 to destroy Jerusalem and scatter Israel, and that the return began about the turn of the century with 1948 making Israel a sovereign state once again.
Dead Nation Coming Back
Les says Israel among the nations is dead — not a viable entity — but her continual presence in world news is miraculous because God is getting her ready for His soon return.
Hosea 6:1: Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
This verse establishes that Israel's discipline came from God, and that the same God promises future healing.
Hosea 6:2: After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
Les applies this 'after two days' to the 2,000-year period after Israel's scattering, now being followed by revival.
Ezekiel 37:2: And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
The extremely dry bones picture Israel's long and lifeless condition outside the land.
God disciplined the nation after they rejected the Messiah. In A.D. 70 the Roman army, brought by God according to Les, destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the Jews, leaving the land empty and unproductive for centuries. It was not the end of Israel, because God promised to heal and revive her.
Les says Israel was out of the land for over 1,900 years — without a land, altar, or priesthood — and the land of Palestine was a no man's land before the modern return. He dates the beginning of the return to about the turn of the century.
Yes. Les points to the modern state of Israel (1948) and the Jews coming back from every nation. He describes today's agriculture and production as 'unbelievable' compared to the empty land decades ago.
Watch the Teaching: The Gifts & Calling of God Without Repentance — Romans 11:29 Explained