HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY – APRIL16, 2013 – 65 YEARS FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL!
by David Hocking (Hope for Today Ministries)
WHY SHOULD WE SUPPORT ISRAEL?
Psalm 105:8-11 – “O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is the LORD our God: His judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.”
We receive many questions concerning our support of the Nation of Israel. From time to time we try to deal with this from the standpoint of what the Bible says, and not just the political issues of our day. Israel does not do everything right, and the nation suffers greatly from the lack of repentance and faith in the LORD GOD of ISRAEL just as North America does.
Not every person in the Nation of Israel is comfortable or appreciative of Christian support. Many Jewish people remember all too well the so-called “support” of Christians in Europe and the tragedies of the Holocaust under Adolf Hitler. It is difficult for them to forget the horrors of the Inquisition and the terrible atrocities of the so-called “Christian Crusaders” in the Middle Ages.
There is a great deal of confusion among Jewish people today over the differences among Christians. There are Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, traditional Protestant denominations, evangelicals, and fundamentalists, and now many Messianic Jewish congregations, etc. There are also the beliefs of those committed to “Replacement Theology” who believe that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s prophetic plans. No wonder the Jewish people are suspicious of so-called “Christian support.” But, what does the Bible teach? Here are twelve reasons that are crucial to the argument and belief that Bible-believing Christians should support the Nation of Israel:
1. BECAUSE ISRAEL IS THE MOST FREQUENTLY-MENTIONED SUBJECT IN THE BIBLE NEXT TO THE LORD HIMSELF!
It is amazing how few “Christians” read the Bible’s account and teachings concerning the Nation of Israel. The word “Israel” appears 2566 times in the Bible!
2. BECAUSE GOD HAS PROMISED TO BLESS ALL THOSE WHO DO!
Genesis 12:3 – “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.”
Psalm 122:6 – “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee”
3. BECAUSE GOD HAS CHOSEN ISRAEL OUT OF ALL NATIONS!
You may not like this fact, but make sure you understand it before you criticize it! Deuteronomy 7:6 states very clearly: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”
Isaiah 41:8 – “But thou, Israel, art My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend.”
Isaiah 43:1 – “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.”
Isaiah 44:1 – “Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen.”
4. BECAUSE GOD HAS IDENTIFIED HIMSELF WITH ISRAEL!
The Bible refers to the “LORD God of Israel” 108 times; to the words “the God of Israel” 203 times; to the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” 31 times (25 in Isaiah alone!). The Bible never identifies God with any other nation except Israel!
5. BECAUSE GOD HAS TOLD US NOT TO HARM THEM!
Psalm 105:13-15 – “When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, He reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.’
6. BECAUSE GOD HAS A SPECIAL LOVE FOR ISRAEL!
Deuteronomy 7:8 speaks about the chosen nation of Israel and says “because the LORD loved you.”
Isaiah 63:7 says: “I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He hath bestowed on them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.”
In a classic passage of God’s love for Israel in Jeremiah 31:1-3 we read: “At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Make no mistake about it – God has a special love for Israel!
7. BECAUSE GOD HAS GIVEN HER LAND THAT HE CALLS HIS OWN LAND!
With all the political arguments about the Land of Israel, it is often ignored, forgotten, or purposely denied, that the LORD GOD of Israel has given to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a special land, whose dimensions were laid out in Genesis 15:18 and a land that God calls His own in Leviticus 25:2, 23. Genesis 17:7-8 speaks of this gift of land as an “everlasting covenant” and that it includes “all the land of Canaan.” It is reemphasized in Psalm 105:8-11 at the time of King David – over 1000 years after Abraham!
8. BECAUSE GOD WILL NEVER FORSAKE ISRAEL!
The nations of the world may turn their backs away from Israel, but the LORD GOD of Israel has promised that He will NEVER forsake them – no matter what! This clear promise of God is NOT dependent upon their performance; It is based clearly on the immutability of His promise – He will be faithful to them even though they are unfaithful to Him!
Isaiah 41:17 – “I the God of Israel will not forsake them.”
Isaiah 49:13-16 – “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted His people, and will have mercy upon His afflicted. But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me.”
Isaiah 54:7-8 – “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.”
Psalm 89:30-37 – “If His children forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments; If they break My statutes, and keep not My commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless My lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips. Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.”
9. BECAUSE GOD WILL DESTROY ALL NATIONS WHO ATTACK ISRAEL!
If there was ever a reason why the nations of the world should support Israel this is it!
Isaiah 41:11-12 – “Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.”
Isaiah 66:15-16 – “For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the LORD plead with all flesh and the slain of the LORD shall be many.”
Zechariah 12:9 – “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”
Zechariah 14:3 – “Then shall the LORD go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.”
The Battle of Armageddon, the final battle of human history as we now know it, will bring the Messiah of Israel to destroy all the nations of the world that have gathered to attack Israel.
10. BECAUSE GOD WILL RESTORE ISRAEL TO HER PROMISED LAND!
God is not done with Israel!
Deuteronomy 30:4-5 – “If any of thine be drive out unto the utmost 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.”
Isaiah 35:10 – “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
Isaiah 43:5-7 – “Fear not: for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory; I have formed him; yea, I have made him.”
Jeremiah 32:37-38 – “Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in Mine anger, and in My fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”
Ezekiel 36:24 – “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.”
Amos 9:15 – “And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.”
The Jewish people will return to the land in the end times and become a nation in one day (May 15, 1948) and retake the old city of Jerusalem (June, 1967), experience spectacular agricultural development (trees, fruit, flowers, etc.), and be hated and pressured by all nations of the world. God is fulfilling His Word, and nothing we say or do will stop it!
11. BECAUSE GOD WILL COME AND DWELL IN THE MIDST OF ISRAEL!
One of the unique passages about the end times is found in the visions of the future that Zechariah the prophet gave us – Zechariah 2:10-12: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent Me unto thee. And the LORD shall inherit Judah His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.”
And, the twelfth and final reason why we should support Israel!
12. BECAUSE GOD WILL BRING SALVATION TO THE WHOLE WORLD THROUGH THE MESSIAH OF ISRAEL!
Isaiah 11:10 – “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek; and His rest shall be glorious.”
Isaiah 42:1 – “Behold My servant, Whom I uphold; Mine elect, in Whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.”
Isaiah 42:6 – “I the LORD have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will keep Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.”
Isaiah 43:25 – “I, even I, am He that blotteth our thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”
Isaiah 44:21-22 – “Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art My servant; I have formed thee; thou art My servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.”
Isaiah 45:17 – “But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation.”
Isaiah 45:22-23 – “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongues shall swear.”
Isaiah 52:10 – “The LORD hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”
Isaiah 53:6 – “All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Isaiah 62:11 – “Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.”
Yeshua said that salvation is “of the Jews.” Christian faith and belief is rooted in the promises of God given to the Nation of Israel. Christianity is not a pagan religion nor did its original ideas come from the idolatrous beliefs of past empires! Christianity is based on Jewish roots and the promises of God to Israel!
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This message was given at all three morning services at Calvary Chapel of Chino Hills, CA, on April 14, 2013 – for a CD copy, call 1-800-75-BIBLE)
