WHAT IS ISRAEL’S BEST DEFENSE
Main stream Christian leaders and government officials in the United States have held a belief over the past few decades that the Western World especially the United States has to protect Israel because of some Bible thing that (they say) Israel has to remain a nation because they are God’s chosen people and this is the end times etc.. I see things differently.
Main stream Christian leaders and government officials in the United States have held a belief over the past few decades that the Western World especially the United States has to protect Israel because of some Bible thing that (they say) Israel has to remain a nation because they are God’s chosen people and this is the end times etc.. I see things differently.
Israel was and is chosen and instituted of God. You know, the God of Heaven and Earth.
Genesis 17:5-9 “Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and Kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee. And I will give unto thee, and thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan , for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, thou shall keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.”
Do you see where it says God is going to make Abraham and his seed fruitful and gave them all of Canaan? In Exodus 32:13 Moses is talking with God in an effort to persuade God not to destroy Israel because of their disobedience and Moses said “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants to whom thou swearest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto you seed, and they shall inherit it forever.”
Deuteronomy 9:5 “Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” The word that God sware unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is making them fruitful, making them nations and kings AND giving them all the land of Canaan. This promise is throughout the Bible so, what happened? Why isn’t God fulfilling His promise to Israel? Perhaps God is a liar. Perhaps the Bible is just a bunch of nice stories and is not THE WORD OF GOD. Perhaps God is dead.
I started thinking about this whole thing after I read an article that mentioned that a lot of Jews were agnostic. Agnostic?? Like, don’t know whether there is a God or not? Wow! My reading that article was followed by a conversation with a man and his wife that are leaders in the Jewish community in my area. What they had to say was even more shocking to me.
They said that Judaism today is made up of a myriad of people that include agnostics and atheists. Wow Wow! Also, during our conversation this couple said Judaism questioned God’s existence because of what happened to the Jews in Germany during World War II.
I can see (understand) that.
The Jews have been getting their butts kicked around for over 2000 years. Hitler was just one in a line of many. So why if God promised all of this good stuff to Israel has Israel been getting the worst end of the stick? Hhhmmm?
If you want the answer then you have to go to the source that tells you (and the Jews) that the Jews are God’s chosen people.
To start let’s look at Leviticus chapter 26:1-13. Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am the Lord thy God. Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. If ye walk in my statutes , and keep my commandments, and do them; then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: And shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase a hundred, and an hundred of you will put ten thousand to flight; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set my tabernacle among you; and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the Lord thy God which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be bondmen, and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.” It’s all good up to hear but the rest is the kicker, are you ready? Exodus 26:14-24 “ But if ye will not harken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you : I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of the heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it.And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron and your earth as brass: And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. And if ye walk contrary to me and and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues on you upon you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy you cattle, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate. And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
The list of curses (bad things a happenin’) continues until verse thirty nine. The point here, not my point but God’s point, is that if the children of Israel observe to do the commandments and statutes of God GOD Will cause them to prosper. BUT if they abhor God by not observing God’s laws then a lot of bad things are going to happen to them.
I want to divert to the subject of Jews and Christians for a second because of the confusion as to timelines for Judaism and Christianity. Everything that I read about Israel is that God’s promise, God’s covenant and God’s desire is to bless Israel throughout all time. His promise to them is the prosperity in the land that He gave them. I see no interruption or break in God’s promise. There is confusion on this because a thing
(administration) came about with Jesus Christ’s fulfilling the law and being raised from the dead and ascending into heaven and being seated on the right hand of God. From the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41) until Christ’s return for his church in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 there is a new body taken both out of Jews and Gentiles (Romans 9:4-30, I Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 2:13- 3:6). The things given to and promised to Christians by God are so much better than the Law that Israel is to live under that I cannot understand why anyone would want to put themselves under the Law or more to the point why anyone would not want to be a Christian. Ok, ok I understand the blindness of Romans 11:25 but still…
So back to Israel and the blessings and cursings thing. Remember what the Bible said? It is Israel’s choice how they are going to walk and if they turn their back on God they are going to get the consequences. The Bible says that God would bring this about but the Bible also, says that God is light and in Him is no darkness nor shadow of turning. In other words God doesn’t do bad things. So, how do we reconcile these two truths? God sets up immutable laws like gravity. If you throw something into the air 100 out of 100 times that object will fall back to earth. It is the same thing in the spiritual realm. God set up immutable laws that when you go against them you receive the consequences of your actions. That is what God is saying in Leviticus.
When will Israel become the nation that God promised? And don’t tell me that they are there now because Israel is being bombed with bombs and missiles as I write this. For the answer look at Deuteronomy 30:1-10 And it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shall call them to mind among all the nations, wither the Lord thy God has driven thee, and shall return unto the Lord thy God , and shalt obey His voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart and with all thy soul; that then the Lord thy God shall turn thy captivity, and have compassion on thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations wither the Lord thy God Scattered thee.If any of thine be driven out unto the outermost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee; and from thence will He fetch thee: and the Lord thy god will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and them that hate thee, which persecute thee. And thou shall return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all His commandments which I command thee this day. And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thy hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good; for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in the book of the Law, and if thou return unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
Does a nation and a people that are agnostic and atheist etc. sound anything like what God talks about returning “ unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul”???? Perhaps you are saying well that is not all of Israel, it is just a portion of Israel. Everybody else in Israel is doing what God says to do. Are they? I’m not a Bible scholar but I can and have read the Bible quite a bit but I have yet to see where the Bible says it’s ok not to sacrifice sheep, oxen, doves, the lamb of the first year. I see it in reference to Jesus Christ and Christians, we are no longer under the law, but not for Jews. Wasn’t the Passover suppose to be eaten standing up with shoes on and staff in hand? When did that change? It didn’t. He who is guilty of one small rule out of the Law is guilty of the whole Law.
When will Israel be the nation that God promised? When they (Israel) chooses to. When they (Israel) returns unto the Lord with all their heart and with all their soul, not before.
So if Jews are reading this, GREAT! If you want God’s blessing promised to Israel do what God commands, that includes sacrifices. Or if you would like something better do Romans 10:9&10 and become a Christian. But as for Europe and the United States having to protect Israel – Hogwash. I can see the strategical importance of Israel but to think that we are doing God’s work you are wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I want Israel to survive . I want Israel to dominate the region, so does God. But, there is only one that can bring Israel into the Promised Land and prosper them and protect them that is God and that will only happen when Israel returns to God with all their heart and with all their soul! Until that time the Jews will continue to be kicked around.
