When the Zionist movement began near the end of the Nineteenth Century, Jews emigrated from all quarters of the world. Providentially, a modern Hebrew language was reconstructed by Eliezer Ben Yehuda. That language provided a bonding and unifying effect on Jews coming from different countries. Strong ties of blood identity found in the wonderful promises of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) drew many back to the Land promised to their fathers. First, God sent Zionist “fishers” to bring them back. God desired that the Jews respond to the “fishers,” and if enough had returned, the “hunters” would have been unnecessary. However, God foreknew that the “fishers” alone would not be able to accomplish His intended purpose.

Landscape Modern Jerusalem

“But the LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them ” (Jeremiah 16:15,16)

In the late 1800s “hunters” persecuted Jews in Russia and Russian-ruled lands. Pogroms (organized massacres) of that era awakened more Jews to the bait of the “fishers.” Those who responded became the early settlers who laid the foundation for the State of Israel. But the response of the majority of Jews in Diaspora was feeble at best. God foresaw this lack of enthusiasm to return to the Land of Israel. The time became ripe for more “hunters.”

Immigration Camp in Palestine

“Flight from a Pogrom”, Zalman Kleinman, 2001

“After will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.” (Jeremiah 16:16)

Thus, the Czarist era “pogroms” in Russia awakened in Jews a desire to return to their ancestral Holy Land. Then the Nazi persecutions of the 1930s further drove many Jews out of Europe to migrate to the Holy Land. However, with the British controlling the Land—in cooperation with their Arab oil partners —no open door was allowed for the Jews to immigrate.

Nazi anti-Semitism ignited latent hatred of Jews across Europe. As WW II engulfed European countries, accelerated persecution progressed into a horrific genocide—the Holocaust. Just as in the days when the ancient Chaldeans afflicted the Israelites, the evil of the “hunters” intensified the “disaster.” The Prophet Zechariah explained how God was very angry with those nations who went beyond His intended designs to chasten His people.

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.” Zechariah 1:14,15 NAS)