The Reversal of Fortunes

The biblical Gospel about the coming Kingdom of God on a restored earth includes a remnant from all nations, not just Israel. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the prophets reveal a much wider purpose, reflected in the Hebrew idiom commonly understood as a “reversal of fortunes.”

What’s in a Name?

Some ancient versions, including the Septuagint (LXX), Vulgate, Targums, and Peshitta, often interpret the idiom in terms of captivity and release from captivity, following the Hebrew noun. But this interpretation is limited in scope, since in several passages the expression refers not merely to geographical relocation but to a dramatic reversal of circumstances and the restoration of a former condition.

The NET Bible footnote on Job 42:10 explains that the expression traditionally rendered “he returned the captivity of Job” is used elsewhere in the Bible concerning Israel (see, e.g., Ps. 126). Here, however, it must refer to Job’s restored fortunes—that is, what he had lost. Job was never taken into exile, yet God “restored the fortunes of Job” following his terrible suffering. Similarly, Hosea 6:11–7:1 and Jeremiah 33:11 employ restoration language that encompasses far more than the physical return of captives from slavery. Moreover, the expression is sometimes followed by separate words meaning “regather” or “bring back,” as in Jeremiah 29:14 and 30:3. This suggests that the restoration of fortunes and the regathering of exiles, though closely related, are not identical.

The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT, p. 1386, s.v. שׁוּב, 3.c) gives additional senses of the Hebrew expression, including “to turn someone’s fortune, bring about change” and “to reestablish as it was.” The latter is particularly striking in Ezekiel 16:53–55, where the restoration of fortunes is paralleled by language describing a return to a former condition. This amounts to what is known as restitutio in integrum (restoration to a previous state), which certainly applies to the circumstances surrounding Israel’s return from exile but is by no means restricted to them.

There is also important extrabiblical evidence providing context for the related ancient Semitic and biblical languages. An eighth-century BC Old Aramaic inscription contains a close parallel to the biblical idiom: the gods are said to have “restored the fortunes” of a royal house (Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire, pp. 100–101, 119–120). The expression concerns the reversal of a family’s or dynasty’s circumstances rather than necessarily the liberation of prisoners.

The Widescreen Gospel

In the Old Testament, the prophets employ this restoration language not only for God’s chosen people, Israel and Judah (Jer. 29:14; 30:3), but also for other nations, including some of Israel’s longstanding enemies. Following devastating pronouncements of judgment, God declares that He will restore the fortunes of Moab (Jer. 48:47), Ammon (Jer. 49:6), and Elam (Jer. 49:39). Related promises of restoration and blessing extend to Egypt and Assyria (Isa. 19; cf. Isa. 45:14). These prophecies contribute to the vision of the future Day of Yahweh and His Kingdom, even though some individual passages have their own historical settings. Together, they make up what I have termed the Widescreen Gospel vision of the future Kingdom of God.

The vision is strikingly hopeful: nations previously condemned for their arrogance, idolatry, and wicked unbelief are nevertheless promised restoration. Yet this does not mean that God overlooks their wickedness. Judgment comes before healing, as Isaiah 19:22 makes clear concerning Egypt. The nations must turn from their former ways and acknowledge Yahweh, the one God of Israel, as their God too. He will then respond to their prayers. The example of Sodom is even more extraordinary.

In Ezekiel 16:53–55, God promises the restoration of Sodom and Samaria alongside Jerusalem. Sodom, the prototypical example of deep moral depravity, decay, and corruption that ends in divine destruction, is included in the same extraordinary declaration of restoration as God’s own covenant city! Whatever the precise nature and timing of this restoration, the passage cannot simply be reduced to the return of Babylonian captives.

The same broader theme runs throughout Isaiah 19, revealing an astonishing future in which God calls Egypt “My people,” Assyria “the work of My hands,” and Israel “My inheritance.” Thus two of Israel’s greatest historical mortal enemy-oppressors are incorporated into God’s united Kingdom plan of international reconciliation. This is consistent with Isaiah 2:2–4, where the nations learn Yahweh’s ways and abandon warfare, and Zephaniah 3:9, which foresees peoples calling upon Yahweh together.

Immortality Plan

An important distinction, however, must be made between the reversal of fortunes and the ultimate salvation of individuals from these nations. As we have seen, the Hebrew expression concerns a reversal of circumstances, recovery from devastation, or the reestablishment of a former condition, whether national, material, or, where the context indicates, spiritual. But this does not, in itself, mean ultimate salvation, i.e., immortal life for every individual from those nations or their descendants. The precise nature and extent of each promise must be determined by its surrounding context. Individual responses to God’s mercy must also be considered, including the obedience of faith to Jesus and his saints and “the obedience of faith” throughout mortal life in the Kingdom.

The restoration of Sodom is particularly remarkable, but even here Ezekiel does not explicitly explain how the promise will be fulfilled, much less guarantee the resurrection and salvation of every former inhabitant. What the passage does establish is that God’s declared purposes of restoration extend beyond Israel, even to peoples and places associated with divine destruction and judgment.

Simply put, the reversal of fortunes is not synonymous with ultimate salvation, but neither is the imagery of judgment necessarily God’s final plan for the nations.

One thing is clear, however: this Widescreen Gospel vision takes us beyond the restored remnant of Israel. The prophecies show not merely political rehabilitation but a future transformation in the nations’ relationship with the one true God of Israel. God’s great Kingdom purpose was never confined to the rescue of His chosen nation, Israel, or the church today.

From the promise to Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3), through the prophets’ extraordinary visions of international restoration, to the Gospel of the coming Kingdom proclaimed by Jesus the Messiah, the biblical story reveals God’s ultimate Widescreen Gospel for all nations.

Jesus and His Apostles

The New Testament does not change this prophetic vision but continues and reinforces it.

The restoration of Old Testament Israel and the calling of the church are not the limits of the Gospel but core elements of something far wider. Jesus and his Apostles preached and practiced the faith of Abraham. Israel was called to be a light to the nations, and the Messiah appoints his faithful followers to share in his coming Kingdom and reign (Matt. 19:28; Rev. 5:10). For them the Christian endgame is not merely the preservation of an elect remnant but [the inclusion of people] from all other nations. God’s appointed Messiah, His own Son Jesus, proclaimed the coming Kingdom in which the meek will inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5), the faithful will rule the nations (Matt. 19:28; 25:31–46), and God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10).

Jesus identifies the proclamation of the Kingdom as his purpose-driven life in Luke 4:43, a message that remains central to the church’s preaching in Acts 8:12. The Jewish-Christian hope, therefore, is not going to heaven at death, but the coming of God’s Kingdom where they will rule the nations with the Messiah. Finally, the righteousness of God will prevail and creation itself will be liberated from its present corruption (Rom. 8:19–21).

Paul makes this Widescreen Gospel program a central part of his preaching, declaring that the Gospel was announced beforehand to Abraham in the promise that all nations would be blessed (Gal. 3:8). In Romans 9–11, he describes God’s continuing purpose for national, ethnic Israel (“the Israelites,” aka “according to the flesh,” 1 Cor. 10:18) alongside the inclusion of believing Gentiles, culminating in the declaration that God has enclosed all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all (Rom. 11:32).

Paul illustrates this through his olive-tree metaphor, foreseeing converted Gentiles grafted into the same tree, sharing in the nourishing root of the faith of Abraham, alongside converted Israelites. This provides a unique picture of the new-covenant people of God, what Paul also terms “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16) and the “true circumcision,” defined by the obedience of faith to the law of the Spirit (Phil. 3:3), “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor. 3:3b). At the same time, Paul in Romans 9–11 does not thereby erase his continuing distinction between ethnic Israel and the church, the new international Israel of God.

Summary

The Hebrew idiom “reversal of fortunes” thus helps widen our understanding of the scope, character, and purpose of the Gospel of God. For the God who judges and strikes the nations is also the God who promises their restoration. The God who elected Israel never abandoned His original promise to bless the nations through Abraham and his offspring, the Messiah.

Yet we need not confuse national restoration with ultimate individual salvation to rejoice in the Kingdom as Gospel. The prophetic testimony is sufficiently remarkable on its own: nations once condemned and judged are nevertheless included in the Widescreen Gospel of God, the Kingdom Jesus will establish over the earth at his parousia, his second coming. At that time, his promise to the faithful will be fulfilled:

“To the one who overcomes and continues in my works until the end, I will give authority over the nations. He will govern them with a rod of iron and shatter them like clay pots, just as I have received the right to rule from my Father; and I will give him the morning star. Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev. 2:26–29)

References

• Koehler, Ludwig, Walter Baumgartner, and Johann Jakob Stamm. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT), p. 1386, s.v. שׁוּב, 3.c.

• Fitzmyer, Joseph A. The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire, pp. 100–101, 119–120.

• NET Bible, translation notes on Job 42:10 and Jeremiah 29:14.

• Sir Anthony Buzzard, The Coming Kingdom of the Messiah. Restoration Fellowship.

• Sir Anthony Buzzard, The Amazing Aims and Claims of Jesus. Restoration Fellowship.

• Principal biblical passages: Genesis 12:3; Job 42:10; Psalm 126; Isaiah 2:2–4; 19:22–25; 45:14; Jeremiah 29:14; 30:3; 33:11; 48:47; 49:6, 39; Ezekiel 16:53–55; Hosea 6:11–7:1; Zephaniah 3:9; Matthew 5:5; 6:10; 19:28; Galatians 3:8; Romans 8:19–21; 11:25–32; Revelation 5:10.