Psalm 14:7 “Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.”
What is it about the tiny nation of Israel that causes so much consternation?
There are horrible events happening throughout the world, from ethnic cleansing in Nigeria, religious persecution, war, bloodshed, and people groups attacked by warlords and gangs of assassins. For the past 75 years the nation of Israel, risen from the ashes to become a nation once again has thrived. Israel has always been present, scattered among foreign nations, hidden in the cities of Europe, America, and many other countries, and yet today they lay claim to their land once again.
Why does the United Nations single out Israel on a constant basis and label them with all sorts of condemning claims? Why are the leaders of so many countries attacking their sovereign right to exist and siding with terrorists bent to destroy them?
I would give you one reason…..because God chose that tiny nation to bring forth His Son into the world and satan still hates it.
The Savior of the world is Jesus and He took the keys of Hell and death from satan and released the captives. The little bit of power that satan once controlled was removed at the Cross.
The King of kings has come, He has established His rule and authority and He has called forth His people to follow.
The People of God
Israel is still relevant today because God chooses to fulfill His promise given through Abraham so long ago.
The promise God made was and is fulfilled today(Gen.12)….
- To be a Great nation: God promised to make Abraham a great nation, with his descendants becoming numerous, like the stars in the sky and dust of the earth. This was a remarkable promise considering Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were childless and elderly at the time.
- Promised land: God pledged to give Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession.
- Universal blessing: God promised that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham and his descendants. This promise ultimately points toward Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who would come through Abraham’s line and bring salvation to all who believe.
- Protection: God vowed to bless those who blessed Abraham and curse those who cursed him.
Abraham made a covenant with God and through circumcision consecrated Israel as separate from the world.
Today, the lineage of faith continues through Abraham to the spiritual heirs of God’s kingdom.
Galatians 3:7-9 “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
To confirm His promise, God performed a ceremony known as the “Covenant of the Pieces”(Gen. 15)….
- Following a common practice for solemn agreements in the ancient Near East, God commanded Abraham to cut several animals in half.
- After Abraham fell into a deep sleep, God’s presence, symbolized by a smoking firepot and a flaming torch, passed between the animal pieces.
- This act was highly significant because only God passed between the pieces, indicating that he alone was responsible for upholding the covenant. This underscored that the promise was unconditional and depended entirely on God’s faithfulness, not Abraham’s.
The effectual keeping of the promise was done by God through Jesus Christ. Jesus gave His life as a result of sin the world committed against God’s holiness.
Romans 4:9-12 “Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
As Abraham circumcised himself and his servants as a way to demonstrate separation from the people of Canaan, today God’s people are circumcised in their hearts.
The sin and death that once reigned has now been overcome by the blood of the Lamb. The people of God are separated from the world as evidenced by the Spirit who dwells within them.
A Broken Land
Every country in the world experiences some form of corruption. Sinful wicked leaders bring shame upon their people. America is no different. The legacy of evil democratic leaders have left a legacy of shame, by pushing abortion on demand, affirming deviant lifestyles as normal, and driving agendas that lead to the destruction of the home, there is no end to the ways they have corrupted morality.
Israel has witnessed a secularizing of society as well. October 7th, 2023 brought one of the most horrific modern day disasters in Israeli history. Was it coincidence that the first place attacked was a pagan festival in the desert by group of young idolatrous people?
The warnings God gave the people of Israel reflected the holiness of God. He will not put up with the blatant disregard of open sin. Judgement falls upon rebellious people and without righteousness, there remains little hope.
But God gave a way…
2 Chronicles 7:14 “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
For a society to be transformed, it must begin with God’s people. It begins with humility, it continues in prayer, and then action applied to faith shows itself in righteousness.
When God sees His people walking in faith and calling to Him in righteousness, He hears them.
Israel has not been replaced by the church. Israel as a nation continues to demonstrate the protection and blessings of God before all of the Islamic nations surrounding them. The Church is composed of the people of God. They come from every country, every tribe and nation and tongue, they are holy before the Lord and declare His glory.
If you are filled with the Spirit, you are part of God’s church. You have the promise of the Messiah and you must reveal His glory. The world will continue to grow darker, therefore the people of God must shine brighter.
Let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.
U.T. 