So taking your interpretation at it's word, I have three questions:
1) What did Israel do just prior to 70AD that was so bad that God would scatter them for nearly two millennia....
2) What did Israel start doing differently just prior to 1948AD, that God should bring them back into the land and promise never to scatter them again?
Consider that 80% of Israel's population is Jewish, two-thirds of those are native-born, and less than 25% consider themselves religious or Orthodox in beliefs. Only 40% of the world's current Jewish population live inside Israel. Roughly the same number of Jews live in the United States, as live in Israel.
3) Why did God choose to leave so many Jews scattered in the world, even after reestablishing their homeland? What was special about the first half a million or so religious Jews (who were among those first "new Israelites" in 1948), that God relocated them to Israel to never lose their homeland - while God left all others to rot outside her borders?
Questions and Answers:
1) What did Israel do just prior to 70AD that was so bad that God would scatter them for nearly two millennia....
Israel as a nation lost its sovereignty to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., not 70 A.D. 70 A.D. is when the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus and his Roman Generals. Israel (in 586 B.C.) offended God because of her idol worship, it’s embracing of Pagan practices, and the fact that they did not listen to the prophets when God warned them. They lost their freedom as a nation due to it. Henceforth why they were in exile under the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Now, this is interesting. Jesus prophesied that the Temple would be destroyed. In A.D. 33, he said....
Matthew 24:1-2 (NIV)
1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2”Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
That happened in 70 A.D. It doesn’t explain how and why. But like I said in another post, God’s vision of the future of Israel was so broad that one step could have taken hundreds of years before the step mentioned in the next verse, or even perhaps in the same verse took place. In our time period, we can say that Israel lost her sovereignty and she was scattered among many nations. It happened just as the Bible said it would. That’s all that really matters.
2) What did Israel start doing differently just prior to 1948AD, that God should bring them back into the land and promise never to scatter them again?
God showed his love and grace for them. After all, he still made them a promise. God does not go back on his promises. If he did, he would be a liar, and he would be insane. How? Because if he broke his covenant with the Jews because they did it to him, then he would not be God. He would in no way see it coming, and he would not be aware of their fallible nature. In reality, God is well aware of our fallible nature. He is not going to abandon a promise because the other end (a fallible one) is not going to honor their end of the deal. I have a man in my church who thinks that, and it bothers me because a promise is a promise. The establishment of the modern nation of Israel is in preparation for Daniel’s 70th week.
3) Why did God choose to leave so many Jews scattered in the world, even after reestablishing their homeland? What was special about the first half a million or so religious Jews (who were among those first “new Israelites” in 1948), that God relocated them to Israel to never lose their homeland - while God left all others to rot outside her borders?
A fire always begins with a spark. Once the fire spreads, it has the ability to consume materials on a relatively large and eventually massive scale. As such, this can be applied to the Jews.
Pertaining to the Jews, the year 1897 was the spark that led the new Zionist movement. On August 30, 1897, the first Zionist Congress was established. By 1900, 50,000 Jews began migrating to Israel. But it didn’t end there.
By...
1922: 84,000 began returning to Israel.
1931: 175,000
During the reign of the holocaust, most Jews were still dispersed among the many nations. After all, 6 million Jews were destroyed in the holocaust and still within the Europe nations for which Adolph Hitler was invading. By...
1948: 650,000 Jews were in Israel.
1952: 1,421,000
2001: 3.5 million’
2006: 5,313,800 (From the site you provided)
The nation of Israel is predominantly inhabited by the Jewish people. Some Jews decide not to live there. There is such thing as free will. Not every single solitary Jew is going to be “locked” within the borders of Israel, but it is a Jewish nation, a nation that was not around until the end times. Regardless of the details, God’s will still occurred. Also consider, the way things are going now. If America fell as a nation (a strong possibility), and Jews somehow survived, then I believe they would return to their homeland as well. The Jews are not restricted to be within the confines of the borders of Israel. The bible doesn’t say that. But he would plant his people back in their land (by placing the idea within their hearts), and they chose to migrate there. Choice still has to be regarded when it comes to God. God is not going to force them. Either way, the desert didn’t bloom in 1948 as it does today. That is in reference to the parable of the fig tree told by Jesus.
Either way you slice and dice it, I did not overwhelm and bombard my article with these marginal details. The point I made was the prediction and the end result. Aside from a brief description that may have led to the end result, that’s all that was needed. The point was made. God made a promise. God made good on that promise, and now that promise is becoming exactly what the Bible says it would in the last days. It’s as simple and straightforward as that.