Chapter Seventy-eight:
As we watch current cultural and political issues play out, especially here in the United States, many will have noticed an ever-increasing chasm developing within the Church. Sadly, this is over the topic of anti-semitism. Many believers are confused as to what to think and believe about the Nation of Israel. I believe Satan's strategy has always been to drive a wedge between Christians and the Nation of Israel by vilifying the Jewish people. He's currently using social media and those who have a limited understanding of the Bible, and Biblical prophecy, to bring it about.
As a Bible-believing Christian, I decided to look into what the Bible has to say about Israel's beginnings, and what it says about Israel's role in history, past and future. While loud voices on both sides are speaking their opinion, the Bible is where we need to go to get clarity. We will look at the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, to see what it says about the Nation of Israel and the Jewish people.
The first place that records the beginnings of the Nation of Israel occurs in Genesis 17:5-8. This is where God tells Abram to leave his home, the Ur of Chaldees, which is located in current day Iraq, in order to follow Him. The Scripture reads, “No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you, for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you”. God went on to tell Abram that “the whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” I believe this establishes the fact that God declared it to be an everlasting covenant, that would entail every descendant that Abram would have. I believe this covenant (promise) extends from Abram to the current day, and yet to be born, Jewish people.
In Genesis 15:18-21 we read of the size of the land God was declaring would belong to Abram and his many descendants. From reading the boundaries God laid out, you can see that it is much bigger than what is currently known as the Nation of Israel. These verses read “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” To many Bible scholars, this encompasses an area that extends North to the town of Damascus in Syria, from the border of Egypt to the South, to the Euphrates River in modern day Iraq on the East, and West to the Mediterranean Sea.
Given Israel’s perpetual habit of following after other gods and idols, and not worshiping the one and only true God (I and II Kings), He allowed them to be overrun, captured and taken away to various parts of the world. But remembering His covenant, God declared that He would someday bring the Jewish people back to their own land. Isaiah 11: 11,12 reads, “In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean”.
Jeremiah 31:10 is another proclamation telling us of God’s promise to bring Israel back to their land. It reads, “Hear the word of the Lord, you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd’ ”.
Nehemiah, who was allowed to return to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the city's broken-down walls knew of his great mission to restore to the Jews that which they had lost. Nehemiah 1:8,9 recounts what was told to Moses by God, "If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commandments, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name."
Another Scriptural reference is found in Ezekiel 36:24. It reads “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land”. Many believe, as I do, that this occurred in 1948 when the Jews were brought back and given the land that is current day Israel.
God has returned His people to their homeland of Israel, however Scripture goes on to warn of a coming future battle, where all nations will go up against the tiny Nation of Israel. Zecheriah 12:2-4 reads, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness”.
It is during this time, when Israel is totally surrounded by the nations of the world, that the Jewish people will finally call out to God for His help, and He will answer them. Luke 13:35 reads, “ Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”. This is referring to Israel having ignored Jesus Christ, their Messiah, when he came, died on the cross, rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. When they finally cry out to God, in repentance for their not accepting Christ’s sacrifice and atonement, and pleading for His help, God will answer them and come to their rescue in such a way that all will know that it was God who rescued Israel from their enemies.
Joel 3:1-3 goes on to tell about the aftermath of this future battle, and how it will end with God judging all the nations that rose up against His covenant nation, Israel. It reads, “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink”.
According to Scripture, the only conclusion a Bible-believing Christian can reach is that the Jewish people have always had an everlasting covenant with God, and that up until the end, He honors that by saving a remant and restoring to them the land that was promised to Abram and his many descendants.
