Return of the Ethiopian Jews
Zeph 3:10 with Is 43:6

Last night, at the Monday night class, Pastor was teaching us the Validity of the bible through three aspects, Manuscript evidence, scientific support and through the proof of the prophecy in the bible. One point  that pastor brought up in prophetical truth was the return of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel. 

How and when did Jews get to Ethiopia in the fist place?

During the First Temple period, around 700 BCE, the Jewish kingdom in Israel split into two, threatening the spiritual life of the nation. Some Jews from the tribe of Dan decided to escape the resulting corruption and fled to Africa, where they would spend the next 2,000 years in virtual isolation from the rest of world Jewry. Calling themselves Beta Israel, the House of Israel, Ethiopian Jewry would eventually reach half a million strong. In Ethiopia, the Jews spoke Tigri, an Ethiopian dialect. They studied a holy text called Orit, consisting of the Five Books of Moses and the prophets. But they knew nothing of the later rabbinic injunctions codified in the Talmud; they were unaware of the holidays of Hanukkah and Purim; they never heard of Maimonides, and never saw a copy of the Code of Jewish Law. (Today in Israel, they have adopted these laws and practices.) In the meantime, they developed a unique set of customs, like the wintertime Siged festival, signifying the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai and including prayers for the return to Jerusalem. (It is still celebrated today, with the Ethiopian community gathering in Jerusalem.)

The separation was so complete that Beta Israel thought they were the only remaining Jews in the world. (http://www.mirabilis.ca/archives/001130.html)

However, God was faithful to the promises he made. 

Soon Ethiopia instituted a policy of “villagization,” relocating millions of peasant farmers onto state-run cooperatives which greatly harmed the Beta Israel by forcing them to “share” their villages—though they were denied the right to own the land—with non-Jewish farmers, resulting in increased levels of anti-Semitism throughout the Gondar Province. According to the Ethiopian government, over 30% of the population had been moved from privately owned farms to cooperatives as of 1989. After taking office in 1977, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was eager to facilitate the rescue of Ethiopia's Jews , and so Israel entered into a period of selling arms to the Mariam government in hopes that Ethiopia would allow Jews to leave for Israel. In 1977, Begin asked President Mengistu to allow 200 Ethiopian Jews to leave for Israel aboard an Israeli military jet that had emptied its military cargo and was returning to Israel. Mariam agreed, and that may have been the precursor to the mass exodus of Operation Moses began.

In the early 1980's, Ethiopia forbade the practice of Judaism and the teaching of Hebrew. Numerous members of the Beta Israel were imprisoned on fabricated charges of being “Zionist spies,” and Jewish religious leaders, Kesim, (sing. Kes ) were harassed and monitored by the government. The situation remained exceedingly bleak through the early 1980's. Forced conscription at age 12 took many Jewish boys away from their parents, some never to be heard from again. Additionally, with the constant threat of war, famine, and horrendous health conditions (Ethiopia has one of the world's worst infant mortality rates and doctor to patient ratios), the Beta Israel's position became more precarious as time progressed. Over 8,000 Beta Israel came to Israel between 1977 and 1984. But these efforts pale in comparison with the modern exodus that took place during 1984's Operation Moses. Under a news blackout for security reasons, Operation Moses began on November 18, 1984, and ended six weeks later on January 5, 1985. In that time, almost 8,000 Jews were rescued and brought to Israel.

But the mission was not without problems. Because of news leaks (blamed primarily on a December 6 article in the Washington Jewish Week and full page advertisements placed by the United Jewish Appeal), the mission ended prematurely as Arab nations pressured the Sudanese government to prevent any more Jews from using Sudan to go to Israel. Almost 15,0000 Jews were left behind in Ethiopia.(http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ejhist.html)

Even though God had separated his church, he was still able to fulfill the prophecy that the Jews in Ethiopia would return.Somehow, these Jews felt the call to return, even after being separated so long that they thought they were the last Jews on earth. 

Moral of the story?

God is faithful to fulfill that which he has promised, and he shall restore that which has been forgotten