Catholic Position on restoration of Israel repecting judgment day

[Hibernian]

**Does the Catholic Church believe that all, or most Jews have to return to Israel to Usher in, or to “bring about” The Parousia (judgment day), as Fundamentalist groups do? **
After observing my in-laws literature, their remarks about American foreign policy towards Israel, and Internet sites of Evangelical/Fundamentalist groups, I am finding they are recently (since 1947) obsessed with Israel. Many of these groups are currying much favor to Jews, Israel, and even in some cases paying for many of them (e,g, John Hagee Ministries) to leave Europe, Russia, Ethiopia or other places with Jewish populations, in my opinion in an attempt to “speed up” what they believe is a necessary element in their new-age theology of “raptural/millennialism.” This to me seems ridiculous as I: 1) Don’t believe in the rapture, and 2) Don’t think mankind would be able to “speed up” God’s plan even if it was true.
Here is the crux of the question: Does the Catholic Church believe the Jews have to return to Israel for judgment day to happen (I have heard some Catholic apologists elude to this, without any defined doctrine), and where would this be in sacred scripture?

 While I certainly to not condone any of radical Islam's militant actions, and I do believe in the necessity of a Jewish homeland, and that it should be Israel (if they can keep it), I absolutely do see a dangerous Evangelical/Fundamentalist-Protestant blind eye turned toward any inhumane actions done by the state of Israel. I have heard several conservative Jewish talk radio hosts speaking about their Evangelical brethren as if they are a tight-fisted team now. It strikes me as odd that we are certainly fighting all of Israel's enemies. I have heard my father in-law state that "Bush is not doing enough to bring about securing Israel, as he is supposed to according to scripture". - WHOA!

 

[GAssisi]

Zionism is informally rejected by the Catholic Church. Generally speaking, the return of the Jewish people is a spiritual exodus. FYI, there are Orthodox Jews who also reject Zionism.

God bless,

Greg

 

[Fidelis]

Does the Catholic Church believe that all, or most Jews have to return to Israel to Usher in, or to “bring about” The Parousia (judgment day), as Fundamentalist groups do? …Here is the crux of the question: Does the Catholic Church believe the Jews have to return to Israel for judgment day to happen (I have heard some Catholic apologists elude to this, without any defined doctrine), and where would this be in sacred scripture?

For the basis of the Church’s teaching on this, read Romans chapters 9–11.

usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans9.htm

Here is what the Catechism says:

674 The glorious Messiah’s coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by “all Israel”, for “a hardening has come upon part of Israel” in their “unbelief” toward Jesus. St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.” St. Paul echoes him: “For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” The “full inclusion” of the Jews in the Messiah’s salvation, in the wake of “the full number of the Gentiles”,will enable the People of God to achieve “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”, in which “God may be all in all”.

840 And when one considers the future, God’s People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.

58 The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel. The Bible venerates several great figures among the Gentiles: Abel the just, the king-priest Melchisedek - a figure of Christ - and the upright “Noah, Daniel, and Job”. Scripture thus expresses the heights of sanctity that can be reached by those who live according to the covenant of Noah, waiting for Christ to “gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad”.

Basically, it is as GAssisi stated: “Generally speaking, the return of the Jewish people is a spiritual exodus.”

 

[Steven_Merten]

Hello Hibernian,

What scripture are the fundimentalists talking about? Do you have some verses? God will bring His people Israel Home, yes, into paradice. The fundimentalists are not confusing this with a worldly reunification of Israel, are they?

NAB REV 21:9 The New Jerusalem.

One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the woman who is the bride of the Lamb.” He carried me away in spirit to the top of a very high mountain and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. The city had the radiance of a precious jewel that sparkled like a diamond. Its wall, massive and high, had twelve gates at which twelve angles were stationed. Twelve names were written on the gates, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The one who spoke to me held a rod of gold for measuring the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is perfectly square, its length and its width being the same. He measured the city with the rod and found it twelve thousand furlongs in length, in width, and in height. Its wall measured a hundred and forty-four cubits in height by the unit of measurement the angel used. The wall was constructed of jasper; the city was of pure gold, crystal clear. The foundation of the city wall was ornate with precious stones of every sort: the first course of stones was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh hyacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each made of a single pearl; and the streets of the city were of pure gold, transparent as glass.

I saw no temple in the city, The Lord God the Almighty, is its temple he and the Lamb. The city had no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb. The nations shall walk by its light; to it the kings of the earth shall bring their treasures. During the day its gates shall never be shut, and there shall be no night. The treasures and wealth of the nations shall be brought there, but nothing profane shall enter it, nor anyone who is a liar or has done a detestable act. Only those shall enter whose names are inscribed in the book of the living kept by the Lamb.**NAB ZEC 9:16 **

And the Lord, their God, shall save them on that day, his people, like a flock. For they are the jewels in a crown raised aloft over his land. For what wealth is theirs, and what beauty! **NAB ISA 62 **

For** Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, Until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch. Nations shall behold your vindication, and all kings your glory; You shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the LORD. You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem held by your God. No more shall men call you “Forsaken,” or your land “Desolate,” But you shall be called “My Delight,” and your land “Espoused.” For the LORD delights in you, and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you. Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have stationed watchmen; Never, by day or by night, shall they be silent. O you who are to remind the LORD, take no rest And give no rest to him, until he re-establishes Jerusalem And makes of it the pride of the earth. The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm**: No more will I give your grain as food to your enemies; Nor shall foreigners drink your wine, for which you toiled. But you who harvest the grain shall eat it, and you shall praise the LORD; You who gather the grapes shall drink the wine in the courts of my sanctuary. Pass through, pass through the gates, prepare the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, raise up a standard over the nations. See, the LORD proclaims to the ends of the earth: Say to daughter Zion, your savior comes! Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. They shall be called the holy people, the redeemed of the LORD, And you shall be called “Frequented,” a city that is not forsaken.

Peace in Christ,
Steven Merten
www.ILOVEYOUGOD.com

 

[Steven_Merten]

Hello Hibernian,

Can you see how people on earth and under free will are described as people in a strange land. If they choose life, by loving God and obeying His commandments, God will bring them back to the land He swore He would give to Abraham. Can you see the implication of the New Jerusalem which is paradice? The life that God is talking about in Deuteronomy is eternal life.

NAB 1 PETER 1:17
In prayer you call upon the Father who judges one justly on the basis of his actions. Since this is so, conduct yourselves reverently during your sojourn in a strange land.

NAB DEUTERONOMY 30
**"When all these things which I have set before you, the blessings and the curses, are fulfilled in you, and from among whatever nations the LORD, your God, may have dispersed you, you ponder them in your heart: then, provided that you and your children return to the LORD, your God, and heed his voice with all your heart and all your soul, just as I now command you, the LORD, your God, will change your lot; and taking pity on you, he will again gather you from all the nations wherein he has scattered you. Though you may have been driven to the farthest corner of the world, even from there will the LORD, your God, gather you; even from there will he bring you back.
**The LORD, your God, will then bring you into the land which your fathers once occupied, that you too may occupy it, and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.
**The LORD, your God, will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, that you may love the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and so may live.
**But all those curses the LORD, your God, will assign to your enemies and the foes who persecuted you.
You, however, must again heed the LORD’S voice and carry out all his commandments which I now enjoin on you.
Then the LORD, your God, will increase in more than goodly measure the returns from all your labors, the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil; for the LORD, your God, will again take delight in your prosperity, even as he took delight in your fathers’,
**if only you heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when you return to the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul.
**"For this command which I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you.
It is not up in the sky, that you should say, ‘Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?’
Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?’
No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.
"Here, then, I have today set before you life and prosperity, death and doom.
**If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
**If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not have a long life on the land which you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy. I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land which the LORD swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

**NAB LUKE 13:28

And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.

**
NAB 1 PETER 2:11
Beloved, you are strangers and in exile; hence I urge you not to indulge your carnal desires. By their nature they wage war on the soul.

Peace in Christ,
Steven Merten
www.ILOVEYOUGOD.com