1 The Israel Connection
THE ISRAEL CONNECTION
(Taken from the book "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON" by David Jeremiah)
MAY 19, 1948 WAS A PIVOTAL DAY IN HUMAN HISTORY.
I WAS A YEAR AND A HALF OLD WHEN DAVID BEN-GURION STEPPED UP TO THE PODIUM AND READ THESE HISTORIC WORDS.
This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State. Accordingly, we....are here assembled.... and by virtue of our natural and historic right, and on the strength of the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, hereby declare the establishment of the Jewish State in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.
SIX THOUSAND MILES AWAY, WHILE PRESIDENT TRUMAN SAT IN THE OVAL OFFICE.
THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY READ A RELEASE TO THE WORLD RECOGNIZING THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN NATION OF ISRAEL.
740 YEARS AGO ISAIAH PROPHESIED IN
ISAIAH 66:8 "WHO HAS HEARD OF SUCH THINGS? SHALL THE EARTH BE MADE TO GIVE BIRTH IN ONE DAY? OR SHALL A NATION BE BORN AT ONCE?"
AND SO FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ALMOST NINETEEN CENTURIES, ISRAEL WAS A NATION AGAIN.
OVER THE PAST SIX DECADES, THIS TINY NATION WHOSE LAND AREA IS SMALLER THAN THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY,
HAS BECOME THE GEOPOLITICAL CENTER OF THE WORLD.
THE AWESOME TRUTH IS THAT ISRAEL IS MENTIONED ON THE NIGHTLY NEWS MORE OFTEN THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, EXCEPT FOR THE UNITED STATES.
WHY IS ISRAEL SO IMPORTANT?
WHAT MAKES THIS LITTLE COUNTRY SO CONTROVERSIAL?
THE STORY OF ISRAEL BEGINS AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE BIBLE.
EVEN THE COVERAGE THAT THE BIBLE GIVES ISRAEL
TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT IT'S IMPORTANCE.
1. ONLY TWO CHAPTERS ARE GIVEN TO THE WHOLE STORY OF CREATION.
2. ONLY ONE CHAPTER RECORDS THE FALL OF MAN.
3. ONLY EIGHT CHAPTERS COVER THE THOUSANDS OF YEARS FROM CREATION TO THE TIME OF ABRAHAM.
4. AND THEN A FULL THIRTY EIGHT CHAPTERS DEAL WITH THE LIFE STORIES OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB -- THE PROGENITORS OF THE JEWISH RACE.
IN Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV)
WE READ THAT GOD MADE A COVENANT WITH ABRAM;
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
IN THESE THREE VERSES,
GOD MADE FOUR PROMISES TO ABRAHAM.
GOD'S FIRST PROMISE; GOD PROMISED TO BLESS ABRAHAM
DID YOU KNOW THAT ABRAHAM IS REVERED BY THE JEWS, BY THE CHRISTIANS, AND BY THE MUSLIMS.
THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION.
ALSO ABRAHAM HAS BEEN BLESSED BY THE GIFTS
GOD HAS GIVEN TO ABRAHAMS DESCENDANTS.
THE JEWS MAKE UP ONLY ABOUT 2/3rds OF ONE PERCENT
OF THE WORLDS POPULATION,
AND YET OUT OF THE 777 NOBEL PRIZES AWARDED FROM 1901 TO 2007,
176 HAVE BEEN AWARDED TO JEWS.
LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF THE POPULATION HAVE RECEIVED 22.6 PERCENT OF THE NOBEL PRIZES GIVEN OUT.
GOD'S SECOND PROMISE: GOD PROMISED TO BRING OUT OF ABRAHAM A GREAT NATION
RIGHT NOW 5.4 MILLION JEWS LIVE IN ISRAEL
ANOTHER 5 MILLION LIVE IN AMERICA,
AND THERE ARE STILL A LARGE NUMBER OF JEWS SCATTERED AROUND THE WORLD.
NOT TO MENTION ALL THE JEWS THAT HAVE LIVED AND DIED SINCE ABRAHAM'S DAY.
THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE.
GOD'S THIRD PROMISE: GOD PROMISED TO MAKE ABRAHAM A BLESSING TO MANY.
CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THE BIBLE COMES FROM THE JEWS.
THAT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WERE GIVEN TO THE JEWS.
THAT JESUS WAS BORN A JEW
AND THAT SALVATION COMES TO THE WHOLE WORLD THROUGH THE JEWS.
TRULY, GOD HAS BLESSED MANY PEOPLE THROUGH THE JEWS.
GOD'S FOURTH PROMISE: GOD PROMISED TO BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS ISRAEL AND CURSE THOSE WHO CURSE HER.
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A NATION THAT HAS BEEN BLESSED LIKE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HAS.
I BELIEVE THAT ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS GOD HAS SMILED ON US IS BECAUSE WE HAVE STOOD
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH ISRAEL
AGAINST MOST OF THE REST OF THE WORLD.
BUT I'M AFRAID OF THE POLITICAL SHIFT THAT I AM SEEING HAPPEN IN OUR NATION TODAY.
WE SEEM TO BE TRYING TO BE FRIENDS WITH ISRAEL'S ENEMIES.
WE SEEM TO BE TRYING GO GET ISRAEL TO KNUCKLE UNDER TO THE DEMANDS OF THEIR ENEMIES.
IT JUST KILLS ME TO THINK THAT WE MIGHT SOMEDAY BETRAY GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, BUT WE SEEM TO BE MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY.
I CAN SEE THE DAY COMING WHEN WE WILL FALL IN STEP WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD AGAINST TINY ISRAEL.
GOD CERTAINLY HAS KEPT HIS PROMISES TO ABRAHAM.
OF ALL GOD'S PROMISES TO ABRAHAM, I BELIEVE THE MOST AMAZING IS HIS PROMISE CONCERNING THE LAND.
IN Genesis 12:1 (NIV) GOD TOLD ABRAHAM TO...
The Call of Abram
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
AND GOD LED ABRAHAM TO THE LAND THAT WOULD BELONG TO HIS DESCENDANTS FOREVER.
GOD, THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD PROMISED THIS LAND TO THE PROPLE OF ISRAEL.
AND IT'S BY THE VIRTUE OF THIS PROMISE THAT THEY LIVE IN HAIFA, IN TEL AVIV, IN SHILO AND IN HEBRON TODAY.
THE ISSUE OF WHO CONTROLS THE PROMISED LAND IS
THE MOST VOLITILE ITEM IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS TODAY.
ACTUALLY THE AMOUNT OF LAND GIVEN TO THE JEWS IN THE BIBLE IS A WHOLE LOT LARGER THAN
THE SMALL AMOUNT OF LAND THAT ISRAEL HOLDS TODAY.
BUT THERE IS GOING TO BE A DAY WHEN ISRAEL WILL RECEIVE EVERY BIT OF LAND THAT GOD HAS GIVEN TO THEM.
NOW LET'S LOOK AT...
THE RELOCATION OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL
THE SCATTERING OF THE JEWS
MOSES HIMSELF WARNED THE ISRAELITES THAT GOD WOULD SCATTER THEM AMONG THE NATIONS IF THEY TURNED THEIR BACKS ON HIM AND WORSHIPED IDOLS.
Deuteronomy 4:27 (NIV)
27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you.
THEN LATER IN Ezekiel 12:15-16 (NIV) WE READ
15 “They will know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. 16 But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
AND IN
Hosea 9:17 (NIV)
17 My God will reject them
because they have not obeyed him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.
GOD TOLD THEM THAT HE WAS A JEALOUS GOD. HE WOULD NOT TOLERATE HIS PEOPLE WORSHIPING FALSE GODS.
Exodus 34:14 (NIV)
14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
GOD IS STILL A JEALOUS GOD. HE WANT'S ALL OF US. HE DOESN'T WANT TO SHARE US WITH ANY OTHER 'god' THAT WE MIGHT PUT AHEAD OF HIM.
HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR WIFE WOULD FEEL IF YOU WANTED TO BRING ANOTHER WIFE INTO THE HOUSE.
OR HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR HUSBAND WOULD FEEL IF YOU WIFE, WERE TO BRING ANOTHER HUSBAND INTO THE HOME.
GOD WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY OTHER 'god' BEING A PART OF YOUR LIFE.
MANY CENTURIES BEFORE TITUS DESTROYED JERUSALEM IN 70AD
THERE WERE ALREADY JEWS DISPERSED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
AND AFTER 70AD THIS DISPERSION INTENSIFIED.
THE SUFFERINGS OF THE DISPERSED JEWISH PEOPLE HAS BEEN PARTIALLY CAPTURED IN THE MOVIE THE FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.
TEVYE, THE JEWISH MILK MAN IN RUSSIA, IS A VIVID PICTURE OF THE JEWISH CONDITION ALMOST EVERYWHERE.
MOSES TOLD THE ISRAELITES IN Deuteronomy 28:64-67 (NIV)
64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.
AND THEN THERE WAS HITLER.
WITH TREBLINKA, AND AUSCHWITZ AND DACHAU.
AND THE HORRIBLE MURDERING OF MILLIONS OF JEWS.
BUT EVEN THIS HORRIBLE CRIME AGAINST GOD'S PEOPLE.
LED TO WORLDWIDE SYMPATHY FOR THE JEWS TO HAVE THEIR OWN LAND TO LIVE IN.
GOD SAID IN...
Isaiah 11:11-12 (NIV)
11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left 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 sea.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations
and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.
Ezekiel 36:24 (NIV)
24 “ ‘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.
IT IS A TOTAL MIRACLE THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THEIR NATIONALITY FOR ALMOST TWO THOUSAND YEARS.
NEVER BEFORE HAD A DECIMATED ANCHIENT PEOPLE EVER MANAGED TO RETAIN THEIR INDIVIDUALITY THROUGH ALMOST TWENTY CENTURIES.
HAVE YOU EVER MET A MOABITE?
DO YOU KNOW ANY HITTITES?
ARE THERE ANY TOURS TO VISIT THE AMMONITES?
CAN YOU FIND A POSTAL CODE FOR AN EDOMITE?
THE RETURN OF THE JEWS TO ISRAEL IS A TOTAL GOD THING.
IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT PROVES, GOD IS REAL.
THERE IS SO MUCH EVIDENCE ALL AROUND US THAT PROVES GOD IS; AND THAT HE CARES FOR US.
ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS BELIEVE.
AFTER WW1, ENGLAND LAID THE GROUND WORK FOR THE NATION OF ISRAEL TO BECOME A NATION BY ISSUING
THE BALFOUR DECLARATION OF 1917
IT SAID;
HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT VIEWS WITH FAVOR THE ESTABLISHMENT IN PALESTINE OF A NATIONAL HOME FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE, AND WILL USE THEIR BEST ENDEAVORS TO FACILITATE THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THIS OBJECT.
AT THAT TIME ENGLAND HELD CONTROL OF THE HOLY LAND.
ANOTHER INFLUENCIAL EVENT WAS THE WORLDWIDE SHOCK AT THE GROSSLY IMHUMANE TREATMENT INFLICTED BY THE NAZIS.
THIS GENERATED SYMPATHY THAT DREW JEWISH WEALTH FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND ENABLED THE RELOCATION OF MORE THAN A MILLION DISPLACED JEWS BACK TO PALESTINE.
AND SO BEGAN THE RETURN OF THE JEWS TO THEIR HOMELAND, ISRAEL.
BUT THIS IS ONLY A SECULAR RETURN OF THE JEWS.
THE PROPHESY IN EZEKIEL GOES ON TO TELL OF A SPIRITUAL RETURN THAT HASN'T HAPPENED YET.
Ezekiel 36:24-28 (NIV)
24 “ ‘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. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
THE RETURN OF THE JEWS TO THE REFOUNDED NATION OF ISRAEL IS ONLY THE FIRST STAGE OF THAT REGATHERING.
RIGHT NOW, THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING ISRAEL'S TOTAL POSSESSION AND BLESSING IN THE LAND ARE STILL UNFULFILLED.
MOSTOF THE JEWS IN ISRAEL TODAY ARE SECULAR JEWS. THEY DON'T REALLY HAVE A HEART FOR GOD.
THEY ARE MUCH LIKE AMERICA TODAY.
THEY WANT TO DO WHATEVER THEY WANT TO DO.
FOR OVER SIXTY YEARS NOW, ISRAEL HAS BEEN UNDER ATTACK. EITHER IN AN ALL OUT WAR
OR BY THE TERRIORISTS THAT SURROUND THEM.
THE JEWISH PEOPLE LONG FOR PEACE.
AND THERE IS GOING TO BE A FUTURE LEADER WHO WILL COME ON THE SCEEN
AND BE ABLE TO BROKER A SEVEN YEAR PEACE DEAL
WITH ISRAEL'S ENEMIES.
BUT BEFORE THE SEVEN YEARS END, THE PEACE WILL BE BROKEN AND ISRAEL WILL BE ATTACKED LIKE NEVER BEFORE.
ONLY THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST, HIS JUDGMENT, AND HIS REIGN WILL BRING TRUE PEACE TO ISRAEL.
Jeremiah 32:37-41 (NIV)
37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
Ezekiel 39:27-29 (NIV)
27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
TONIGHT WE'VE LOOKED AT ISRAEL FROM THE TIME THAT GOD CALLED ABRAHAM OUT OF UR OF THE CALDEAN'S
TO THE TIME AFTER THE SEVEN YEAR TRIBULATION.
WHEN ALL OF GOD'S PROMISSES TO ISRAEL HAVE BEEN FULFILLED.
NEXT WEEK WE WILL LOOK AT THE PART THAT OIL IS PLAYING IN THESE 'LAST DAYS'.