God's work encompasses the restoration of all things, a critical effort spoken of by His holy prophets since the world began. This includes the regathering and restoration of Israel, a process integral to His plan of salvation. After Christ's return, God will search out the lands of Israel's enemies to find and return scattered Israelites to the Land of Promise, defined from the river of Egypt to the River Euphrates. This regathering is a determined action by God to bring His people back, not to their lands of exile, but to their rightful inheritance. Restoration, distinct yet closely linked to regathering, involves actions God takes to return Israel to His favor. This includes a single act of forgiveness on the Day of Atonement, removing the iniquity of the land in one day, as well as a gradual process of increasing Israel's wealth and prestige among the nations, positioning them as the head of the world's nations. Restoration follows punishment for Israel's sins, which God administers in full before renewing His people. This punishment arises from the multitude of Israel's iniquities, as their sins have increased over time, necessitating divine correction to reverse the acceleration of sin. In the time of Jacob's trouble, a period of tribulation for Israel due to her sins, God promises to regather and restore His people, punishing gentile nations in the process. This restoration is set in the latter days, highlighting God's determined purpose to renew national Israel. During their captivity, Israelites will reflect on both the blessings of liberty and prosperity they once enjoyed and the curses of disease, deprivation, and scattering they endure, prompting a return to God. God's commitment to regather and restore Israel is evident in His covenantal faithfulness, fulfilling both blessings and curses with righteousness. He will prosper and multiply Israel more than their fathers, adding value to the restored nation. This value includes circumcising their hearts, enabling them to love and serve God completely through a new heart and spirit, ensuring faithfulness under the New Covenant. This covenant of peace will remain with Israel forever, preventing future backsliding and incurring God's wrath no longer. As part of this restoration, God will curtail the influence of gentile nations while increasing Israel's wealth, power, and prestige, preparing them for a significant role in His worldwide plan of salvation. Christ, as a shepherd, will lead restored Israelites out of the Land of Promise to preach the gospel to Gentiles and minister to Israelites residing outside the land, mirroring the New Testament model of going out to the people. These preachers, trained and unhindered, will operate in assigned territories corresponding to the twelve tribes, ensuring the gospel reaches all nations and peoples. God's restoration of Israel is central to His purpose of bringing salvation to the entire earth. Restored Israel, under the New Covenant, will carry the gospel of the Kingdom of God, the power of God to salvation, to all who have ever lived, fulfilling His promise that through Abraham all families of the earth will be blessed. This immense undertaking, driven by zeal for the gospel, will be the foundation of Israelite civilization in the World Tomorrow, culminating in the end as Christ promised when the gospel has been preached in all the world.

The restoration of Israel is a central theme in the unfolding of God's plan for a new age following the tumultuous times of wrath and judgment. After the Day of the Lord and the great tribulations, Jesus Christ will return as a mighty warrior and conquering King to tear down the old order and build anew with a humbled remnant. He will start with Israel, showing compassion, teaching, and helping them rebuild not just their cities but their lives. As foretold in Isaiah 2, the nations will eventually flow into Jerusalem to participate in the peace and prosperity that Israelites experience under God's government. In Zephaniah 3, the progression of restoration begins with God's wrath against Judah, representing all Israel, and the wicked nations. Then Christ begins to restore the remnant, teaching them in kindness and offering grace. He addresses a small, humble remnant of Israel, advising them to be patient and endure through the terrible times of Tribulation and the Day of the Lord until His indignation has passed. Once this is accomplished, He will reverse the confusion of Babel by giving the peoples a pure language, aiding them in calling upon God's name, learning the truth, and following it. The scattered people of Israel will return to Jerusalem, resuming proper worship as commanded by God, offering sin and burnt offerings to learn His ways as intended from the beginning. Finally, God will have a people who obey His voice, a remnant purged of the proud and rebellious, transformed into a humble people willing to serve Him. No longer deceitful or living in fear, they will rejoice as God dwells in their midst, bringing salvation, joy, quiet, comfort, and peace through His boundless love. God Himself will exert His power to restore Israel, turning their fortunes around, leading them back to Him, and bestowing renown and glory upon them. His determination ensures that His purposes will come to pass, uniting Him with His people in a renewed and glorious relationship.

God employs a rigorous process of refinement in preparing people for the roles He desires them to fulfill, focusing on spiritual qualities such as love, faith, humility, and obedience. Soon, He will initiate this character development process with the people of Israel, beginning with a severe punishment due to their mounting sins, which have become a heavy burden even to Him. However, this punishment is only the starting point. A crucial subsequent step involves paying for and carrying away the sins of a humble remnant, providing redemption and forgiveness to those who are humbled, ensuring the process continues. God voices His exasperation with Israel for their persistent rebellion and lack of understanding, despite His constant provision and nourishment as a loving father. Their sin, a heavy burden, stifles their growth and leads to regression, necessitating a lifting of this burden. The result of their evils is prophetically described as desolation, with cities and countryside burned and ruined, leaving only a small remnant in fear and desperation. Without this remnant, the nation would face annihilation. Israel's behavior, contrary to God's intentions despite His strict instructions, justifies His wrath, bringing famine, disease, war, captivity, slavery, and death as direct consequences of their sin and unfruitfulness. God emphasizes the connection between sin and punishment, underscoring that His wrath is a lawful response to Israel's spectacular breaking of the covenant. Yet, as His beloved, He will save a remnant and try again. A change occurs with this small remnant, who will no longer depend on their oppressors but will turn to God in truth, showing faith in Him. This remnant will return to God, achieving what He has sought for millennia, and the destruction He decrees will ultimately overflow with righteousness, causing the people to change. In the future, a few from the houses of Israel and Judah will come to their senses, mourn, and be humbled, recognizing their guilt in rejecting the Messiah, leading to God's grace, forgiveness, and the offer of His Holy Spirit. God will gather this remnant, the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah, from all over the world in a Second Exodus, more significant than the first, aimed at the salvation of Israel. One of the initial actions with this gathered remnant is forging peace between Israel and Judah, ending centuries of division and uniting them into one nation under Christ and David, their prince. This uniting, symbolized as one stick in God's hand, will enable Him to use Israel as a tool for various purposes in the Millennium, supported by their God, King Jesus Christ. Israel, now converted, will fulfill their original promise to be an example nation before the world, complying with God's direction under David's leadership. God promises a covenant of peace, an everlasting agreement of fellowship, allowing Him to live among them, drawing other nations to desire Israel's special relationship with Him. Through grace in the wilderness, despite wars, captivity, and distress, God provides real salvation to the humbled remnant, wooing them back, redeeming and ransoming them as they respond with repentance, shame, and love for Him. At the return of Christ, He will make a New Covenant with this gathered remnant, superior to the first, inscribing His law on their open hearts and minds as they accept their place as His people. This includes a cleansing of sin, forgiveness, and His Holy Spirit within them, marking a national conversion of the remnant emerging from great tribulation. This spiritual salvation and reconciliation between God and His people are symbolized by the Day of Atonement, focusing on the covering and cleansing of human sins through the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, whose precious blood alone atones for sin. The remnant returns mourning and afflicted of soul, mirroring the commanded fasting on the Day of Atonement, symbolizing their humbled state. They w