For two weeks now, Israel has been plagued by rioting and unrest. A week ago Monday things escalated as Hamas led terrorists out of the Gaza Strip and began firing rockets into Israel. These rockets were not a few; over 3000 have fallen. Financed and backed by Iran, this hatred for Israel and its existence continues still today. Many call for peace, but it is hard to have peace when there are people who believe you have no right to exist. Peace is only possible if Israel submits to the Palestinian demands, relinquishes all its land, and comes under complete Muslim rule. This will then be followed by a call for their complete annihilation.
Israel has full rights to defend itself, yet this has also been challenged. We stand in a place constantly as these attacks continue. We, as Christians, hold a very powerful responsibility to pray for the defense and protection of that nation. Israel stands as the greatest ally of the United States, and as long as we stay heirs, we stand in the place to continue to ask God to bless America. The reason for the attacks is always the same: Israel exists. As a God-ordained people and nation that goes back over 3 thousand years, the nation and the city of Jerusalem have always been the center of biblical prophecy. God set it in motion with Abraham long before the nation came into being.
[1] God said it
In Genesis 12:1-3, the Bible says, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those that bless you, and curse those that curse you, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The very foundation as to why Israel had the right to exist is found right here. God said it, God declared it, and it was God who would have to fulfill it. For three generations, God would remind them of His promise. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would wander from the North to the South, from the East to the West in the Promised Land without ever seeing the fulfillment. Yet all three knew that God would someday perform all that He had said, and they proved it by staying the course all the way through.
[2] God prepared them
For four hundred years, a tiny group of people of just seventy or so grew under a large and oppressive regime. That regime was Egypt. Here we see those few grow to over 2.5 million. What God has said, He will perform. They were becoming as vast as the sand on the sea. So vast, that their sheer size terrified and threatened Egypt. Yet under great persecution, God said it was time to fulfill what He has promised. By a mighty hand and outstretched arm, God used a man named Moses to crush the very strength of Egypt. Ten mighty plagues would decimate the very power of Egypt, and with an act of sheer demonstration of the fact that God can do all things to bring His promises to the past, He split the Red Sea, and let the now huge nation out. By a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night God would lead them to a land that He had promised them over four hundred years earlier. At Mount Sinai, God would make a covenant with them. It was there that He prepared them to be a nation to Himself, and it was there that He changed them from a people of slavery into a nation with calling, purpose, and strength. The purpose was the most important part; it was there that purpose was fully revealed. They as a nation would hold the very standards of God. This nation would possess the covenants that would be for all nations and the salvation of multitudes. It was from this nation that a redeemer would emerge. Not just for a few, but all.
[3] God brought them in
Joshua was a mighty warrior and a powerful leader before the Lord. Having been Moses’s right hand, He was also the captain of his army. Forty years from the start of their journey, it was time to enter the land of promise. A people prepared to win had become a nation. They were the people that possessed the standards of God. Nations mightier than they were terrified as they saw the Jordan River suddenly part. They knew what was coming, and great fear was in every heart. God was fulfilling what He had said. We must realize that God is mighty, and His promises are sure. Israel is the prime example of His ability to perform His word. It was God who parted the Jordan River as He did the Red Sea. It was God who crushed the walls of Jericho flat supernaturally, and it was God who brought them in.
[4] Today
The continuing battle for the land that God gave them will never cease until Jesus returns. Remember, Israel’s very existence constantly declares God’s plan and God’s purpose. Hell has hated this nation from its inception. The nation of Israel forever speaks of Satan’s demise and shouts redemption of mankind. The fact that for over two thousand years, hell has used every means from war to attempted annihilation to destroy them speaks volumes as to the hatred hell has for them. Israel represents God’s forever love and mercy. It speaks of His great plan for redemption and always declares God’s great victory over the powers of darkness. You and I get to see the forever promise of God every time He brings them back. You and I constantly see that what God calls and ordains, no man can put under. Let’s shout God’s victory over hell, death, and the grave. Let’s stand together for the greatest nation on earth, and let’s never stop praying for what God has declared is blessed.
God bless and protect Israel.
