THE REBIRTH OF ISRAEL --------------------- 70 years of captivity in Babylon - due to not keeping the Sabbath. Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Jeremiah 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. 2 Chronicles 36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. 30 * 20 + 10 = 70 (threescore and ten years). Leviticus 26:13-18 I the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright. {14} But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; {15} And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, that ye break my covenant: {16} I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. {17} And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. {18} And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. Now according to Leviticus 26:13-18, we learn that if the Jews do not learn from their punishments, God will increase their punishment seven fold (see verse 18). Back to the seventy years of captivity where the land rested due to the Jews not keeping the Sabbath... 606 B.C. Start of the captivity; Daniel carried away. 587 B.C. Ezekial carried away --- walls broken down. 586 B.C. Desolation of the temple. 536 B.C. Jews are freed from captivity; exactly 70 years from the start of their captivity. Now if we look at Ezekiel 4:1-8 we learn that God had 430 years of punishment (separation from the land) in store for the Jews. Ezekiel 4 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, Jerusalem: {2} And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set rams against it round about. {3} Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This a sign to the house of Israel. {4} Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. {5} For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. {6} And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. {7} Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. {8} And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege. 390 days on his left side + 40 days on his right side = 430 days. For each day equals one year of punishment (see verse 4 & 5). We know God judged Israel for 70 years, and then brought them back. Now that leaves us with (430 - 70) 360 years that don't fit into the picture anywhere. But... if we look at the events that took place after the return from captivity, you'll see that the Jews did not hearken unto God's punishment of the 70 years of captivity; read Haggai to see how the heart of the Jews where not in place. So let's use Leviticus 26:18... 360 years (of punishment remaining) * 7 = 2,520 years. Now the Jews during that time period were using 360-day years (also see Revalations 11 to note how John uses that calendar). So if we convert 2,520 years into days in order to convert to our calendar (Julian calendar). 2520 360-day years = 2,483 years 9 months 21 days in 365.25 days. Now if you take the start of captivity date (606 B.C.) and subtract the 70 years of punishment (536 B.C.). Then multiply the 360 years that are left (430 years of judgement from Ezekial - 70 years served) by 7 (Leviticus 26:18) and you get 2,483 years 9 months and 21 days (Julian calendar)... you come out to May 14, 1948 --- The rebirth of Israel as a nation. Now if you move ahead to 586 B.C., when the desolation of the temple took place and subtract the 70 years of judgement and add in the 2,483 years 9 months and 21 days... you come out to June 7, 1967 --- The day the six day war started, and Israel recaptured Jerusalem. According to the Bible, Israel shall remain a nation and shall not be split asunder any more. Ezekiel 36:15 Neither will I cause to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 36:28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.