This Thursday, Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to establish 13 new illegal settlements in the Binyamin regional council, which is in the centre of the mountains of Israel. This will involves millions of shekels of investment and will focus on two strategic corridors. The “mountain route”, which links Jerusalem to central Israel and the eastern areas overlooking the Jordan Valley. This is the largest community building moves that have been made in this regional counsel in decades. It is also designed to counter the Palestinian Authority’s “Fayyad Plan” which seeks to expand Palestinian territorial control in Judea and Samaria.

The Bible case for latter-day settlements on the mountains

In 1852: “Before Messiah returns, there must be a lifting up of an ensign upon the mountains of Judea”. He also talks about “the colonisation of Judea by Jews”. He famously also calls this gathering on the mountains the “nucleus” of the kingdom of God. The place from which future operations under the Messiah will grow into the kingdom of Israel. He wrote this in a time when the mountains of Israel were completely desolate, with hardly a soul in sight. It’s hard to imagine, how unlikely a return to the mountains must have seemed at that time. How could anyone even visualise settlements really beginning to thrive when the mountains stood so bare, rocky and windswept. The building of the settlements on the mountains of Israel is something that is presented throughout the prophets so clearly. In the latter days, the children of Israel must return to the mountains to build. These are famous passages, but we can demonstrate this:

1. Ezekiel 36:8-10 “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown”.
   This is explicit, latter day language - the mountains of Israel will be tilled and sown and men will be multiplied on them, and they will build the ancient cities.
   Notice also, that God says, “I am for you”. This is the opposite statement to ch 38:1 - God is against Gog. Its also opposite to Ch 35:2 where Ezekiel is told to set his face against the mountain of Edom. These are prophecies for our times. What can we learn from them about the Bible perspective in our times? God is against the Mountains of Edom, he is against Gog. But he is “for” the mountains of Israel. What does it mean to be “for” them? It means to allow its people to return, to let them build and allow the land to be fruitful again.
   And, crucially, in this latter day context, we are told that those Jewish families building on the mountains, are explicitly called “my people, Israel”. 
2. Eze 39:9 This is after Gog and his army have been destroyed on the mountains of Israel. Men come out of the cities of Israel to burn the weapons and take spoil. But for those men to be there, it also means those cities must have been built BEFORE Gog invades - thats the only possible explanation! Gog is slain on the mountains of Israel so it makes sense that the rebuilt cities being referred to here must be in the same place! Building the settlements today, even with all the anger this is bringing to the nations of the world and the international community, is setting the scene for this verse to be fulfilled. 
3. Isaiah 40 - describes the glory of God returning along the highway. The way is prepared by the voice crying in the wilderness (v3). Then verse 4, the glory of Yahweh is revealed. But it appears as a shepherd, gently caring for his sheep (v11). We know this passage is talking about Christ, because the gospels apply it to his first coming. But if it was speaking about his first coming, surely it has a latter day application as well!
   V9 - Before Christ appears, good tidings are preached to the cities of Judah. Where is Judah? This is speaking about the mountains of Israel that are south of Jerusalem. There have to be cities, in the mountains of Judah, before Jesus returns. We are witnessing those cities and those communities being built. We are watching the old wastes being builded again as the exiles return home. 
4. Finally Zech 12. This is a prophecy about the time when all nations gather against Jerusalem to battle. The city is described as a burdensome stone. This has to be a picture of the latter days - speaking of the time, as in the passage we saw earlier, when Gog will invade the land. When this invasion comes, there will be two different groups of People. For e.g. verse 5 The inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the days leading up to Armageddon, there must be a Jewish presence in the city of Jerusalem. But the verse also refers to the governors of Judah. Again, Judah is the area south of Jerusalem, on the mountains of Israel. If there are governors in Judah at this time, there must also be population in Judah. Who else could this population be, other than the Jews who have returned to the mountains of Israel in the latter days. This is further evidence that the Bible requires the resettling of the mountains before Armageddon. 

Whichever way we look at these prophecies, it just seems that there has to be settlements on the mountains of Israel in the latter days.

“Where is our Hebron?” - An important speech

Before the six day war, the whole of Judea and Samaria was part of Jordan. There was no way that the settlement movement could begin while this was the case. In fact, a few days before the Six Day War - on independence day, a famous Rabbi called Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook said in his speech: “Nineteen years ago, on that famous night, when the decision of the establishment of the State of Israel was made by the governors of the nations of the world, when all the people flocked to the streets to publicly celebrate, I could not take part in the joy.."In those first hours, I could not make peace with what was done, with the horrible news, that God's words from the prophecy in the Twelve Prophets: "My land was divided" was coming true. Where is our Hebron? Are we forgetting it? And where is our Nablus? Are we forgetting it? And where is our Jericho? Are we forgetting it?” Even before the six day war began, this was one of key moments that founded the settlement movement that we still see today. Its about returning the ancient cradle of Jewish civilisation, as described in the Bible. And those words still echo today - currently, Jews are not allowed into the city of Nablus (shechem) or Jericho for that matter). They are completely Jew-free areas of the Shomron (Samaria). But for years now, all of my lifetime, this settlement movement has been growing, as more and more religious zionists take up the call to settle the ancient hilltops of Judea. If anything, October 7th and the war in Gaza has only strengthened this resolved and encouraged more to join. The momentum that we are witnessing is fulfilling Bible Prophecy. Only this Thursday, Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to establish 13 new illegal settlements in the Binyamin regional council, which is in the centre of the mountains of Israel. This will involves millions of shekels of investment and will focus on two strategic corridors. The “mountain route”, which links Jerusalem to central Israel and the eastern areas overlooking the Jordan Valley. This is the largest community building moves that have been made in this regional counsel in decades. It is also designed to counter the Palestinian Authority’s “Fayyad Plan” which seeks to expand Palestinian territorial control in Judea and Samaria. 
God has brought back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem. The mountains that lay desolate and empty for centuries are being resettled again. And in recent years, this growth has only accelerated. We are living in the era of the redemption. The exciting events in Judea and Samaria should help us to realise the times and seasons that we are living in. In the words of Christ - we should recognise the signs of the times and see our redemption drawing nigh.

This has been Daniel Blackburn joining you for this week’s edition of Bible in the News.