Aliyah: The Return to Zion
Aliyah means the physical return of the Jews to their Land, the restoration of that Land, and the rebuilding of the Jewish nation in the Land of Israel.
The prophet Jeremiah talked about this day when he said,
"Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, "that it shall no more be said, 'The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' 15but, 'The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.' For I will bring them back into their own land which I gave to their fathers." (Jer. 16:14-15 NKJV)
The modern movement of Aliyah began in 1881, accelerated with the First Zionist Congress in 1897, and the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It started to realize its full pouring out of God's Spirit on Israel and on the potential when the nation of Israel was reborn in 1948, and Jerusalem was reunited under Jewish control in 1967.
It is the ultimate form of identification with one's people, the Jewish people, whose life and destiny are inextricably tied to the Land of Israel.
"5Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; 6I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 43:5-6 NKJV)<< PREVIOUS NEXT >>