What in the World is Going On?: The Israel Connection

"What In The World Is Going On?"

"The Israel Connection"

Genesis 12:1–9 NIV

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household 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.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Video - New Israel Nation

Introduction. Just a few minutes before 4:00 P.M. on May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion drove down Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Israel… he stepped lively into the modern two-story building which housed an art museum. Some 400 individuals, comprised of Jewish religious and political leaders, as well as press representatives from all over the world, waited anxiously. Precisely at 4:00 P.M. local time, Ben Gurion called the meeting to order and read these historic words:

"It is the self-evident right of the Jewish people to be a nation as all other nations, its own sovereign state. Accordingly, we meet in solemn assembly today. Thus, by virtue of the natural and historic right of the Jewish people and the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, we hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine to be called the state of Israel." The words of the prophet Isaiah had finally come to pass. Seven hundred and forty years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah spoke these words:

Isaiah 66:8a – “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once?”

Isaiah 66:8a NKJV

8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children.

On May 14, 1948, God made good on His promise to Israel and her restoration to the Promised Land. [Gary Frazier, Signs of the Coming of Christ, (Arlington, TX: Discovery Ministries, 1998), pp. 51-52.]

Incredible as it sounds, the existence of Israel today is the number one evidence for the fact that the Bible's prophecies about the future will be fulfilled literally.

According to biblical prophecy, Israel's rebirth as a nation sets in motion the rest of the end-time prophecies. Israel's national revival was a necessary prerequisite to the final act of man's history.

To understand what happened on that day in 1948, what is happening today in Israel, and how it is affecting the entire world, we must go all the way back to the book of Gen..

Two chapters in Gen. are given to the whole story of creation. One chapter is given to the record of the fall of man. Eight chapters cover the whole history from creation to the time of Abram. Then thirty-eight chapters deal with the life stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To God, Abraham and his descendants are of great importance.

The Abrahamic Covenant – Gen. 12:1-3 – Now the Lord said to Abram: "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 who bless you. And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Genesis 12:1–3 NKJV

1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Note the things that God promised to Abram that day.

! He promised to bless Abram. Today, the name of Abraham is revered alike by Jew, Christian and Muslim.

! God promised to make out of Abram a great nation and to multiply Abram's seed. On April 24, 2007, there were five-and-a-half million Jews living in Israel alone. Another five million live in the United States with the rest is scattered throughout the world. God gave Abraham so many descendants that, like dust on the ground or the stars in the sky, they could not be counted. (Gen. 13:16; Gen. 15:5)

! God promised to make Abraham a blessing to many. Through Abraham, God gave both the written Word and the Living Word to the world.

! God promised to bless those who blessed Israel and curse those who cursed Israel. The judgments of God have fallen upon Israel's oppressors: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Rome and, in more modern times, Spain, Germany and Russia.

But of all those things that God promised to Abram, the most amazing promise was the promise concerning the land. It is here that we begin to understand the miracle of May 14, 1948.

I. The Record of Israel's Land - Gen. 12:1, 15:17-21; 17:7-8

Even today, the issue of who controls the Promised Land is the most volatile issue in international politics. But the ownership of the Promised Land has already been determined by the only One who has the authority to make that designation. The land is called “Holy” because it belongs to God. And in His covenant with Abraham, God designated the Holy Land to the people of Israel.

A. God's Choice of Israel - Deut. 7:6

Deuteronomy 7:6 NKJV

6 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

"For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth."

1. Everyone who has studied prophecy has heard the little quip about Israel. "How odd of God...to choose the Jews."

2. He did not choose Israel based on. . .

a. Quantity Deut 7:7

! It is not because Israel is more in number than other nations: Deut. 7:7 – “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples...”

Deuteronomy 7:7 NKJV

7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;

b. Loyalty Isaiah 45:4

! It is not because Israel is more sensitive to God than other nations: Isaiah 45:4 - “. . . I have named you, though you have not known Me.”

Isaiah 45:4 NKJV

4 For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me.

c. Merit Deut 9:6-7

! It is not because Israel was more righteous than other nations. When God was confirming His promise of land to the Jews, He said: Deut. 9:6-7 - “. . .God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Deuteronomy 9:6–7 NKJV

6 Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7 “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.

3. God has blessed Israel because it was His sovereign purpose to do so. And to this day, God remains vigilant about Israel. Deut 11:12

Listen to this: Deut. 11:12 - "... the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it (Israel), from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year."

Deuteronomy 11:12 NKJV

12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

If you do not believe Israel is special, listen to this fact. Keeping in mind that Israel was re-established as a nation in 1948. No consider this. Abraham was chosen by God to produce this nation of Israel and timelines show that Abraham was born 1,948 years after Adam. Isn’t that an interesting fact? God is so detailed when we study His word.

B. God's Covenant with Israel - Gen. 15:18

1. God's Covenant was an Exact Covenant - Gen. 15:18

Genesis 15:18 NKJV

18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—

“On the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river...the River Euphrates..."

In this passage, the land is described in definite terms with clear geographical boundaries not the promise of heaven. Dr. John Walvoord writes: "The term ‘land,’ however used in the Bible, means exactly what it says. It is not talking about heaven. It is talking about a piece of real estate in the Middle East." [John Walvoord in Charles Lee Feinberg, American Board of Missions to the Jews, ed., Jesus the King is Coming, (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1975) p. 28.]

The land promised to Abraham is more than what we know Israel to be today. It takes in all the land from the Mediterranean Sea as the western boundary to the Euphrates River as the eastern boundary. Then Ezekiel fixes the northern boundary of Palestine at Hamath, 100 miles north of Damascus (Ezekiel 48:1) and the southern boundary at Kadesh, about 100 miles south of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 48:28).

2. God's Covenant was an Eternal Covenant (Genesis 17:7-8)

Genesis 17:7–8 NIV

7 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. 8 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.”

God promised Abraham and his seed the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. It is evident that Israel does not now, nor has she ever, fully occupied the land that was described to Abram in his covenant promise. If Israel were currently occupying all the land which God gave to her, she would control all the holdings of present day Israel, Lebanon and the West Bank of Jordan, plus substantial portions of Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Not until the Millennium will Israel occupy all the land which the Lord gave her in His promise to Abraham.

II. The Relocation of People of Israel - Deut. 4:27

A. Many Bible passages describe the Scattering of the Jewish People - (Deut. 4:27; Ezekiel 12:15; Hosea 9:17)

Let me read just one from Deut. 4:27 – “And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.”

Deuteronomy 4:27 NKJV

27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

1. God prophesied that the nation of Israel would be dispersed among the nations. Israel had been told again and again that God was a jealous God and would not tolerate His people worshiping false gods.

2. In 70 A.D. Titus, the Roman emperor, destroyed Jerusalem and the Jews were scattered to the four corners of the earth.

Describing the magnitude of the dispersion of the Jews, geographer Strabo wrote: "This people has already made its way into every city, and it is not easy to find any place in the habitable world which has not received this nation and in which it has not made its power felt." [Quoted by Josephus,"The Dispersion," The New Bible Dictionary, (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman's Pub. Co., 1962) pp. 313-319.]

B. The Suffering of the Jewish People - Deut. 28:65

Deuteronomy 28:65 NKJV

65 And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.

– “And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.”

III. The Rebirth of the Nation of Israel - Isaiah 11:11-12

Would this covenant to possess the land, a land with clear geographic boundaries promised as an everlasting possession, be kept?

Isaiah 11:11-12 – “And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcast of Israel...” Ezekiel continues in 36:24 – “For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.

Isaiah 11:11–12 NKJV

11 It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea. 12 He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.

A. Both the Old and New Testaments point to a final return to the land promised.

This hope of restoration has sustained the Jews through 1,900 years of struggle.

"What an incredible act of God this is. You cannot find the ancient neighbors of the Jews anywhere. . . These ancient peoples disappeared from history and from the face of the earth. Yet the Jews, just as God promised, returned to their land." [Gary Frazier, Signs Of The Coming Of Christ, (Arlington,TX; Discovery Ministries, 1998) p. 67.]

B. God used events in both WW I and WW II to bring home the Jews and illustrate the miraculous nature of the birth of the nation of Israel.

1. First of all, World War I wasn't going well for England.

The UK was desperate to find a method of manufacturing TNT quickly in order to repel the advancements of the Germans. A brilliant Jew named Chaim Weizmann invented a formula that made rapid production possible. In return, the prime minister of England told Dr. Weizmann to name his reward. Rejecting personal recompense, Weizmann requested that Palestine be declared as the national homeland for the Jewish people. As a result, the Balfour Declaration was subsequently drafted and signed on November 2, 1917. It read in part: "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..."

2. Secondly, when Germany collapsed at the end of World War II, the Allies liberated the Jewish prisoners from Auschwitz, Dachau and other concentration camps.

Worldwide shock and sympathy, and Jewish wealth from around the world, encouraged the relocation of more than a million displaced Jews to Palestine.

This brings us all the way back to May 14, 1948. On this day, the United Nations officially recognized the state of Israel. U.S. President Harry Truman determined the deciding vote. The Israeli government established the state of Israel, thus fulfilling the 2,500-year-old prophecy recorded in the Bible.

IV. The Return to the God of Israel - Ezekiel 36:24-28

Ezekiel 36:24–28 NKJV

24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

The most dramatic events are still ahead.

A. Israel today is an island of a few million immigrants surrounded by a sea of 300 million enemies.

It would seem inevitable that, sooner of later, this tiny nation would be destroyed.

1. According to the Bible, a future leader will broker a seven-year peace deal, fulfilling Israel's longing for peace.

But Scripture also says this peace plan will be broken, and Israel will be attacked once again. Countless armies will amass against them with no human hope of victory. Only Christ's return, judgment and reign will finally bring true peace to Israel.

2. The Bible speaks of this time of (spiritual and national) peace as the “Millennium.” Ezekiel 36”24-28

Ezekiel wrote about a spiritual return of God's people, the Jews: Ezekiel 36:24-28 – “For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God.”

Ezekiel 36:24–28 NKJV

24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel's prophecy makes it clear that this means the return of every single living Jew: Ezekiel 39:28 - "…Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God ... and left none of them captive any longer.”

3. In 2006, Israel became home to the largest Jewish community in the world, surpassing the Jewish population in the United States.

From 650,000 in 1948, the population of returned Jews has swelled to 5.3 million, and it is expected to reach six million by 2020.

Conclusion.

The significance of Israel's emergence in her ancient homeland is that this had to occur in order to set the stage for the final fulfillment of biblical prophecies about the future. Israel must be a nation in her own land in order to experience all that God has predicted about her future. Without the existence of the nation of Israel, we would not be able to say with certainty that we are in the last days. This single event, more than any other, is the most prominent sign that we are living in the final moments before the coming of Jesus!

If this is true, what does it mean to us today? First of all, as Christians, we should remember that the cause of evangelism is urgent. The one message for this generation, is that time and opportunity are short. Impending world conditions soon may close the door for further witness in many areas. The prophetic timetable serves to emphasize the importance of the present task of spreading the gospel, beginning at Jerusalem and to the uttermost parts of the world.

Finally, for those of you who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, the prophetic clock is ticking. The opportunity for you to accept Christ is now. Time is running out! One day soon, Jesus will be coming. Here is the question: Is he coming for you?