Will Jesus return to the Israelites?
Jesus will not return to ethnic Israel. In the parable of the householder and husbandmen (Matthew 21:33-43), he taught that the vineyard would be given to other husbandmen bearing fruit. As Israel and then Judah lost their qualification, Christians, heirs of Abraham's faith, became the Second Israel preparing for Christ's return.
When Christians speak of Jesus' return, a natural question arises: Will he come back to the Jewish people, the nation of Israel, where he first appeared? Some expect a literal return to Jerusalem and the restoration of ethnic Israel. The Bible and the Divine Principle together give a clearer picture: God's chosen people are defined not by bloodline but by faith and fulfilled responsibility, and the returning Christ comes to whichever people are prepared to receive him.
The Biblical Foundation
Some Bible verses seem to say that Christ will come back to Israel. Revelation records, "And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel" (Revelation 7:4). Jesus said, "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come" (Matthew 10:23), and again, "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (Matthew 16:28). Many believers therefore think Christ will appear in the first Israel. However, to interpret these verses in this way is to misunderstand God's providence as Jesus himself taught it, for he told us that the messianic role would depart from the first Israel.
Scripture is emphatic that God's covenant people are those who receive and obey Him. John the Baptist warned the crowds, "Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to be our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Matthew 3:9). Paul explains, "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel" (Romans 9:6), and "he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit" (Romans 2:29). This teaches us that true identity in God's eyes transcends mere physical lineage.
Most decisively, Jesus told the religious leaders who rejected him the parable of the householder and the husbandmen: "There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matthew 21:33-43).
In this parable, the householder represents God, and the vineyard represents God's work on the earth. The husbandmen entrusted with the work represent the first Israel, the servants represent the prophets, and the householder's son represents Jesus. The other husbandmen who render the fruits represent the successor of the first Israel, which accepts Jesus and awaits Christ at the Second Advent. Jesus was conveying that he would not come again to the people who persecuted him; God would take away the mission previously entrusted to them and give it to another people who could produce its fruits upon Christ's return. This is one of the clearest statements in Scripture that the position of chosen people is transferable—forfeited through unbelief, granted to those who bear fruit. Peter applies the language of Israel directly to Christian believers: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9). Indeed, "For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance" (Deuteronomy 32:9).
Yet Scripture also insists that God has not cast away the Jewish people (Romans 11:1-2); a remnant remains, and Paul foresees their eventual reconciliation (Romans 11:25-26). Both truths hold: the chosen position moved, and God's love for Israel endures.
The Divine Principle Perspective: The Second Israel and Beyond
The Divine Principle explains this transfer through the pattern of restoration. Israel was chosen as the nation to prepare for and receive the Messiah. When Jesus was rejected and crucified, the national foundation to receive him was lost, and the mission of the chosen people passed to Christianity—the Second Israel—which carried the providence forward on a worldwide scale for two thousand years.
This follows a pattern seen throughout the Bible: whenever the chosen people failed to believe in God and turned against Him, they lost their qualification as His chosen people. The ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, who transgressed against God, perished after being conquered by the Assyrian Empire. Only the Southern Kingdom of Judah remained as the chosen people who could eventually receive Jesus, yet when they led Jesus to the cross, they too lost the qualification to receive the Messiah. The new Israel after the crucifixion was the Christians, who inherited the faith of Abraham and took on the mission of Abraham's descendants. Paul wrote, "through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy" (Romans 11:11). Therefore, the chosen people who should lay the foundation for Christ at the Second Advent are not the lineal descendants of Abraham, but the Christians who inherited Abraham's faith.
Therefore, the returning Christ does not come to establish an ethnic or geographic kingdom. He comes to a people prepared in heart, to fulfill what was left unfinished: the establishment of God's kingdom on earth through true families and a restored world. The nation that receives him is defined by faith, preparation, and readiness to fulfill responsibility—a "Third Israel" gathered from every people, tribe, and tongue (Revelation 7:9).
This also means the same warning that applied to first-century Israel applies to Christianity today. Just as the religious leaders who most expected the Messiah rejected him because he did not match their expectations, Christians can miss the Second Coming by clinging to a literal reading of clouds and trumpets rather than discerning God's actual work. Jesus' parable of the ten virgins and the warning that the Son of Man comes "as a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2) exist precisely because the prepared are those who watch with open hearts.
God's ultimate goal was never one nation's glory but one global family under God—a world in which the barriers of race, religion, and nationality are dissolved in true parental love. Israel's calling was always to serve as the doorway through which the blessing could flow to all peoples, fulfilling the promise to Abraham: "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). The Second Coming completes this by extending the chosen position to all who receive God's word and live for the sake of others.
Living the Principle
Rather than watching a single nation or waiting for a spectacular sign, prepare your own heart to belong to the people who receive Christ. Hold your expectations loosely, examining Scripture with humility rather than assuming God must act as you imagine. Cultivate the fruits of the kingdom—love, sacrifice, faithful family life, and service across every boundary of race and religion—for it is to those bearing such fruit that the kingdom is given.
These answers explain the Bible in the light of the Divine Principle, the teachings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Read about the author, Sun Myung Moon.
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Sources and further reading
- The Holy Bible, King James Version — Scripture quoted and referenced throughout the answers.
- The Divine Principle (full text) — The complete text of the Divine Principle, the teaching of Reverend Sun Myung Moon that these answers explain.
- Unification texts library (tparents.org) — Large online library of Unification texts, sermons and collected speeches, including the Cheon Seong Gyeong.
- Short video lectures in English — Playlist of short English video lectures presenting these same principles.