Read this if you want to understand how the:

Land of Israel

Jewish people

... are at the heart of God's plan for mankind

1. Why all the fuss about Israel?

Israel is a TINY country with a:

A.    Land area only 10% of the size of the UK - Israel is a similar size to:

• Wales

• Burundi

• New Jersey

B.     Population of only 9.8 million people - equivalent to:

• 0.12% of the world’s population of 8.1 billion (8,100,000,000).

• 15% the size of the UK’s population of 67.7 million.

Q - So why is such a tiny country so often in the news?

A - Because it plays a KEY PART in God’s plans for mankind.

Q - Which country is most of the Bible set in?

A - Israel. 

Q - Which group of people is most of the Bible about?

A - The Hebrews / Israelites / Jews:

• Jesus, Paul  & all 12 disciples were Jewish.      

• Without the Jews - there would be no Christians!

Illustration

For Christians to not understand about Israel & the Jews is like starting to watch a film halfway through.

We’ll never fully understand it.

Much of the Bible doesn’t make sense, UNLESS we know about: 

1. The land of Israel.

2. The people of Israel.

3. God’s plans for both of them.

They’re giant visual aids to show to the world:

#1 - The Sovereignty of God:

a. That His plans are best for everyone.

b. But we all need to accept and obey His plans.

#2 - That God is a covenant-making and a covenant-keeping God.

2. Israel and the Church

It’s important to understand the differences & relationship between:

a. Israel and the Church.

b. Jews and Christians.

Israel in the Bible does NOT = the Church.

That’s an absurd idea:

• It would be like God talking to Charles - but calling him William.

• God means what He says, and He says what He means!

Some people think that the Church has replaced Israel in God's plans - but that’s DAFT & UNTRUE:

• At Pentecost (the beginning of the Christian church) - the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jews  (Acts 1:12-2:5).

• Revelation 5:5 - talks about the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

• Revelation 7:4-8 & 21:12 - talks about the twelve tribes of Israel.

So even AFTER the

• Crucifixion

• Resurrection

... of Jesus - Israel & the Israelites / Jews STILL PLAY A KEY PART in God’s plan for mankind.

'Replacement thinking’ (= the daft belief that the Church has replaced Israel in God's plans) has led to Christians:

• Persecuting Jews.

• Not being able to understand many passages in the Bible.

Q - Why do some Christians follow replacement thinking?

A - Because they’ve never bothered to study & learn what the Bible says on this vital topic!

In God's plans, the Church has ENLARGED Israel - NOT REPLACED them.

(Romans 11:11-24)

3. God's special relationship

Because God created the Jews / Israel as a giant visual aid for mankind - He has a special relationship with them:

Deuteronomy 6:3-4 

3Hear therefore, O Israel …

4Hear, O Israel …

...

Deuteronomy 7:6-7

 6For 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.

7The LORD did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people.

--> God did not choose Israel because they were anything special.

--> But because God chose them - it then made them special.

Illustration

It's like a TV reporter interviewing passers-by on the street:

• The people aren’t stopped because they’re special.

• But because the reporter has chosen them - millions of other people then see them on TV.

The Bible MAINLY records & prophesies about the 3 J’s:

• Jesus

• Jews

• Jerusalem

So UNLESS WE UNDERSTAND that God has a special relationship with Israel & the Jews - we’ll never fully understand:

• The Bible.

• What’s going on in the Middle East today.

Numbers 22:12 ~ And God said unto Balaam, 'thou shalt not go with them (= with the elders of Moab & Midian); thou shalt not curse the people: for they (= the Israelites) are blessed.'

Jews are only 0.2% of the world’s population - but because God has BLESSED them:

• They’ve won over 22% of all the Nobel prizes!

• That's more than any other people-group.

Further reading

Zephaniah 3:19-20

However, most Jews don’t regard being God's chosen people as a source of pride - but ask questions such as:

• Why us?

• Couldn’t You have chosen someone else?

… because of centuries of vicious persecution (which we’ll look at later).

To understand these feelings better - watch the film: ‘Fiddler on the Roof’.

Further reading about God’s special relationship with Israel 

Exodus 6:7, 19:5-6, 29:45, 33:16

Leviticus 20:26, 25:55

Numbers 35:34

Deuteronomy 4:7-8 & 20, 9:29, 10:15, 11:12, 14:2, 26:18-19, 27:9, 29:13, 32:9

1 Samuel 9:16-17, 12:22

2 Samuel 7:23-24, 23:3

1 Kings 8:51, 53, 56 & 59-60

1 Chronicles 16:13, 17:21-22

2 Chronicles 9:8

Psalms 102:16, 132:13-14, 135:4, 147:19-20, 148:14

Isaiah 41:8-9, 43:1, 4 & 21, 44:1 & 21, 48:12,  49:3 & 14-16, 51:2 & 4

Jeremiah 30:2 & 4 then 22, 31:1, 9 & 35-36

Ezekiel 34:30

Daniel 9:19

Hosea 11:1

Joel 1:6, 2:18, 3:2

Amos 3:1-2

Zechariah 1:14, 8:8 & 23, 10:3

Malachi 1:1-2

Matthew 2:1-2, 27:37 / Mark 15:26 / Luke 23:38 / John 19:19

Luke 2:32

Acts 13:16-17

Romans 9:4-5

4. Salvation of the Jews

(To understand why we ALL need to be saved - read ‘The Cross’ message on WholeCounselofGod.com)

ROMANS 10

Verse 1

1Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

--> People are not saved just because they’re born Jewish.

--> Jesus told Nicodemus (a Jew) in John 3:3 ~

“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” 

Further reading

Matthew 8:8-12, 21:23 then 43

Luke 1:16, 3:7-8

Acts 13:46, 18:8

Romans 9:6

Verses 2-4

2For I bear them record that they (= the Jews) have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

3For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.

• Judaism = Attempting to be righteous by ourselves - by trying to keep God's laws.

• Christianity = Made righteous - by taking on Jesus’ righteousness.   

(Because no-one except Jesus has ever managed to keep all of God's laws.)

Further reading - ‘Grace’ message on WholeCounselofGod.com

ROMANS 11

Verses 1-2

1I say then, Hath God cast away His people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 

2God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew.

--> Paul made it clear: God did not finish with the Jews when Jesus died on the cross.

Verse 5

5Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

• God saved some Jews - not via Judaism / keeping His laws - but by His grace.

• For example: Paul on the Damascus road (Acts 9:3-15 & 22:6-16) and Jews today who believe in Jesus.

Verse 7

7What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election (= those whom God chose) hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

• Most Jews are blind to the truth about Jesus. Further reading: 2 Corinthians 3:14-16

• How long will this blindness last?

Verse 25

25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits;

that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness (= the full number) of the Gentiles be come in.

--> Unbelieving Jews will understand that Jesus is their Messiah when the church completes the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

It’s like a game of tennis where the ball (= knowledge & stewardship of the truth about God) crosses the net twice:

--> Jews (Old Testament times)

--> Gentiles (now) 

--> Jews

Further reading - Acts 28:27-28

The Jews are still in the game - but at the moment, the ball’s on OUR side of the court!

The word ‘Christian’ has an evil image for Jews - because they associate it with being persecuted by so-called Christians - during the:

• Crusades

• Spanish Inquisition

• Pogroms (= massacres of Jews in Russia)

• Holocaust

So Jewish believers in Jesus usually call themselves: ‘Messianic believers’.

But the salvation of large numbers of Jews HAS now started!

More Jews have been saved in the past 20 years than in the previous 2,000 years:

A. In Israel

Since independence in 1948:

• Israel’s population has increased by 10-fold.

• The number of Messianic believers in the land has increased by 100-fold!

In 1948 there were about 150 Messianic Jews.

(Most of these left after the state of Israel was founded, because they feared persecution - leaving only twelve known Jewish believers in Israel.)

But there are now approximately 15,000 believing Jews in over 250 Messianic fellowships, with an average congregation size of 100 adults.

B. There are now approximately:

• 250,000 Messianic Jews worldwide.

• 300 Messianic congregations in the USA.

ROMANS 11 (cont.)

Verses 26-27

26And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written (in Isaiah 59:20-21), There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

• All Jews can be saved - via the New Covenant.

• But they need to accept that only Jesus the Redeemer can pay the penalty for their sins.

Verse 28

28As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

--> Jews can be enemies of the gospel:

• The Sanhedrin opposed Jesus & Paul.

• Today in Israel, some ultra-orthodox Jews use violence & intimidation to oppose Messianic Jews. 

• In Judaism - the Talmud takes precedence over what the Bible says, and most Jews have never read the whole Old Testament (which they call the Tanakh), although many will have heard or read the first five books: from Genesis to Deuteronomy (which they call the Torah).

For information - the Talmud:

• Is an 18 volume religious guidebook, produced by Rabbis.

• Contains the type of unhelpful, un-Biblical traditions which Jesus spoke against in Mark 7:7-13.

• Blocks the Jews from direct access to God and His Word.

Further reading - Deuteronomy 4:2, Revelation 22:18-19

Further reading about Jewish opposition to the gospel

John 7:13, 9:22, 11:57, 19:38, 20:19

Acts 9:1-2, 13-14, 23-24; 13:50, 14:4, 17:5 & 13, 18:12, 20:19, 26:10-11, 28:19

Galatians 4:17 & 29

1 Thessalonians 2:14-16

--> But God STILL LOVES the Jews / Israelites - because of those who DID love & obey Him e.g. Abraham & David.

Verse 29

29For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance

(= God doesn't change His mind about His relationship with the Jews).

• God made a covenant with Abraham - the father of the Israelites / Jewish people.

• God has kept that covenant.

The key lesson we can learn from the history of Israel & the Jews is that God is a COVENANT-MAKING and a COVENANT-KEEPING God.

Which is great news for all of us!

5. History of Israel

The Jewish civilisation was 'old' when the Roman civilisation was 'still young':

• Unlike Western cities - Jerusalem has been a thriving, civilised city for 3,000 years.

• From the Western Wall tunnels in Jerusalem, you can look down and see paving stones dating from the time of Solomon’s Temple (approximately 950 BC)

There is nothing comparable in London, Paris or New York!

KEY DATES

538 BC: Jews return to Judea from exile in Babylon.

332 BC: Greek Empire, under Alexander the Great, conquer Judea.

  63 BC: Roman Empire, under Pompey, conquer Judea.

 33 AD: Most Jews fail to recognise Jesus as their Messiah, after His three years of ministry to them:

Luke 13:6-9

6He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.

7Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?

8And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:

9And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

TWO JEWISH REBELLIONS

First rebellion: 66-70 AD

Following the death of King Herod the Great in 4 AD, a series of brutal & corrupt Roman governors ruled Jerusalem.

For example:  Florus - the Procurator of Judea - stole from the Temple treasury in Jerusalem ‘for the Emperor’.

In 66 AD: a  political / religious group - the Zealots - started a rebellion against the Roman forces, believing that God would intervene and send their Messiah. 

In retaliation, the Romans:

• Killed 1.1 million Jews.

(Jerusalem’s population was swollen by pilgrims for the feast of Passover & by refugees fleeing from the advancing Roman army.)

• Destroyed the Temple.

(Maybe God allowed the Temple to be destroyed because it was now obsolete, as Jesus had replaced it - see Hebrews chapters 8-10)

Further reading about what happened in 70 AD

'Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21' section in the 'Return of Jesus to the Earth' message on WholeCounselofGod.com

Second rebellion: 132-135 AD

The Roman Emperor Hadrian (who also built the great wall in Britain) visited Jerusalem and tried to impose the Roman way of life on the Jews:

• Banned circumcision & other key aspects of Judaism.

• Forbade Jews from going to the Temple Mount, and built a temple there to the ‘Roman god Jupiter’.

(The Roman Emperor Constantine - a Christian - demolished Jupiter's temple in 325 AD)

• Renamed Jerusalem ‘Aelia Capitolina’:

Aelia = Hadrian’s family name.

Capitolina = the name for hilltop temples built to 'Roman gods'.

In response - Simon Bar Kokbah (whom many Jews falsely thought was their Messiah) led a second Jewish revolt.

The Roman Emperor Hadrian suppressed this rebellion, killed 500,000 Jews and punished the remaining Jews:

1. Renamed the land ‘Syria Palaestina’:

• This was to insult the Jews, by using the name of their old enemies - the Philistines.

• The land was not called Palestine during the time of Jesus’ ministry there, 100 years earlier.

(Map titles in the back of some Bibles make this mistake).

• Palaestina described the land - not a people-group: the Philistines had disappeared 600 years earlier!

2. Expelled most Jews from the land:

• The Romans paid their soldiers in three ways: cash, land & slaves.

• After finishing their military service, Roman soldiers took many Jewish slaves to work on their newly acquired land around the Roman Empire.

Which is how the Jews initially came to be so dispersed.

This expulsion & scattering of the Jews fulfilled these Biblical prophecies:

Hosea 9:17 ~ My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto Him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Luke 21:24 ~ And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations:

and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Further reading

Isaiah 66:19

Zechariah 7:13-14

Luke 13:34-35

Gentile (= non-Jewish) Empires then ruled the land from their own capital cities, until 1948:

• Byzantine Empire - from Constantinople.

• Mamluke Empire - from Cairo.

• Turkish Ottoman Empire - from Istanbul: 1517-1917

• British Empire - from London (under the League of Nations' mandate): 1917-1948

So the LAND was called Palestine from 135 - 1948 AD.

But there has NEVER been a self-governing NATION called Palestine.

6. Jews in the land

During the rule by these Gentile empires - some Jews were living in the land, for example:

• The Jewish site at Susya (in the hills south of Hebron) - dates from 4th-7th century AD.

• 9th century - large Jewish communities re-established in Jerusalem & Tiberias.

• 11th century - Jewish communities grow in: Caesarea, Jaffa, Ashkelon & Gaza.

• Early 19th century - more than 10,000 Jews live in Israel, with Jews making up the largest single people-group in Jerusalem.

7. More Jews return to the land

Q - What was the main impetus for Jewish population growth in Palestine during the 19th & 20th centuries?

A - Zionism = The movement to re-establish & support a Jewish homeland in the historic land of Israel.

Being against Zionism = Denying Jews their basic human right to a homeland.

How would WE FEEL if we were persecuted because of our ethnic group, and had NO HOMELAND to flee to?

CHRISTIANS & Zionism

Evangelical Christians read in their Bibles about God's plan for the Jews to return to their homeland - and so these Christians embraced Zionism  before most Jews did!

1754 - John Wesley wrote about the resurrection of Israel: “So many prophecies refer to this grand event that it is surprising any Christian can doubt of it.”

1840 - The Times of London called for the Jews to return to the land.

1864 - C H Spurgeon preached on Ezekiel 37, saying that it: “… must be evident that both the two and the ten tribes of Israel are to be restored to their own land …”

JEWS & Zionism

1897 - Theodore Herzl (a Jewish journalist from Budapest & Vienna) organised the first Zionist congress in Basel, Switzerland after witnessing Anti-Semitism in Paris (the Dreyfus Affair).

Herzl understood that to avoid such persecution, the Jews must have their own land:

“We need a home. We need a state.”

“Give the land without a people to the people without a land.”

Herzl was helped by William Hechler - an English clergyman, who knew from his Bible that the Jews would return to Israel.

Year of Jubilee

In Leviticus 25:10-13, God says that the Israelites return to their own land after 50 years - in the year of Jubilee.

In 1947 - 50 years after the first Zionist congress of 1897 - the United Nations voted to re-establish a Jewish state in Palestine.

8. Conditions for a Jewish homeland

World War One + Zionism created suitable conditions for a Jewish homeland:

Fighting in the Middle East

Allied forces abandoned their unsuccessful campaign in Gallipoli, and retreated to Egypt.

To protect the Suez Canal (Britain’s route for oil supplies from the Persian Gulf; and between Britain and India / the Far East)

- these Allied soldiers then attacked & defeated the Turkish Ottoman Empire army in the adjoining Sinai Desert.

The Allies then continued their campaign northward - with the aim of capturing:

• Jerusalem - the British Prime Minister Lloyd George specified this goal.

• An oil pipeline running from Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) to the Mediterranean coast (in modern day Syria).

The Allied Commander (General Allenby) captured Jerusalem in 1917: 

400 years (= 8 x 50 years or Eight Jubilees) after the Ottoman Turks captured the city in 1517.

Development in France

The French government issued a letter (‘The Cambon declaration’) to the World Zionist Organisation on 4 June 1917

- sympathising with the prospect of a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine.

Developments in Britain

Chaim Weizmann:

• Was a leading figure in the early Zionist movement.

• Was also Professor of Chemistry at Manchester University.

• Invented a new method of making Acetone (needed for artillery shells) from maize. This invention played a key role in helping the Allies to win WW1.

• Later became the First President of Israel: from 1949 until his death in 1952.

The British government:

• Was grateful for Weizmann’s Acetone invention.

• Sympathised with his Zionist plan (because they knew it was in line with the Bible).

The British Foreign Minister - James Balfour - believed that the UK should help Jews to re-establish their homeland in the Middle East,

partly in repayment for Christianity’s great debt to the Jews for safeguarding the Scriptures over many centuries.

(Jewish Scribes copy the Old Testament meticulously by hand - which takes up to 18 months for one copy!)

The British War Cabinet agreed to Balfour’s proposal on 31 October (the same day that General Allenby defeated the Turkish Army, at the critical battle of Beersheba)

and this Balfour Declaration was signed on 2 November 1917:

================================

Dear Lord Rothschild (who was a leader of the British Jewish community)

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s government,

the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish People,

and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, 

it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine,

or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country”.

I should be grateful if you will bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours Arthur James Balfour

================================

9. 1919 - 1947

After WW1 - the Allied powers, followed by the League of Nations (predecessor of the United Nations) gave:

1. Britain a mandate (= an official order / authority) to administer the former Turkish Ottoman Empire areas of:

• Palestine (which later became Israel) 

• Mesopotamia (which later became Iraq)

2. France a mandate to administer the former Turkish Ottoman Empire areas of:

• Lebanon

• Syria

It’s important to realise that the land which later became Israel wasn’t created in isolation

- it formed part of a wider plan to deal with the land formerly occupied by the Ottoman Empire, after the defeat of the Turkish forces in WW1.

Mandates (which were not colonies) were established, because these areas were not yet ready for full independence.

Part of the British mandate for Palestine was to fulfil the Balfour declaration, and so provide a Jewish homeland - sovereignty was vested in the Jewish people, because of their historical connection to the land.

Opposition to the Jewish homeland led to violence & murder by some Arabs. The British government:

• Were concerned about their oil supplies from the Arab countries.

• Wanted to stop Arabs from siding with the Nazis in the event of a future war.

So the British government made two changes to appease the Arabs - which would later create big problems:

A. Gave away 77% of the Jewish homeland area to Arabs:

• Most of this land (on the East Bank of the river Jordan) later became the new State of Jordan.

• Transferred the Golan Heights to Syria.

B. Stopped many Jews - who were trying to flee Nazi persecution - from entering Palestine: by capping Jewish immigration to a total of 75,000 over a five-year period.

The League of Nations Mandates Commission therefore accused Britain of ‘a flagrant breach of its mandate’.

To ease tensions, in 1936 the British Peel Commission proposed dividing the land into two parts - Jewish and Arab (the initial ‘two state solution’):

• The Jews were keen on this.

• But the Arabs rejected the division:

Q - Why?

A - Because the Arabs wanted all the land.

The Arab rejection of a ‘two state solution’ became a consistent theme over the following decades.

The Jews returning to the land were farmers, and didn’t know how to defend themselves:

• So a Christian British Army Officer - Orde Wingate - trained the Jewish communities in self-defence, using ‘Special Night Squads’.

• The Israeli Army still uses Wingate’s fighting techniques.

1932: Another British Army Officer - Bernard Montgomery - ministered at Christ Church, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

1942: Montgomery - by then a General - masterminded the defeat of German & Italian forces at the second battle of El Alamein.

This Allied victory saved the Jews in Palestine from being massacred by the advancing Nazi death squads.

Interestingly - Montgomery’s signalman in WW2 was interviewed by our local newspaper (on the signalman’s 100th birthday) and he recalled:

‘I remember Monty had a glass of milk every day before breakfast and always used to say his prayers.’

10. 1947 - 1967

Luke 21:9 ~ But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by (= will not come immediately).

WW1 - Released the land for the Jews.

1920 - 1939: half a million Jews moved to Palestine - but this was less than 5% of the world's Jewish population.

WW2 - Released the Jews for the land.

Further reading

Jeremiah 31:15-17

Matthew 24:6

Mark 13:7

The Holocaust:

1. Showed most Jewish people that they must have a homeland of their own.

2. Created sympathy for the Jews from much of the world’s population.

On 29 November 1947 the United Nations (including the Soviet Union) recommended the establishment of two states:

• Jewish state (with much less land than in the 1936 proposal).

• Arab state.

… with Jerusalem as a separate city under international control - because of its importance to (in historical order):

• Judaism

• Christianity

• Islam

The Jews agreed with this plan - better to have a small slice of land than none.

The Arabs again rejected the plan - because they wanted all the land! The 1947 United Nations plan therefore has no legal validity, and the legal boundaries remain those from the British mandate period.

1948  Founding of the State of Israel

Isaiah 66:7 ~ Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man Child.

Q - Who’s the man (= male) Child?

A - Jesus:

Revelation 12:5 ~ And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.

Just as Isaiah prophesied - the FIRST COMING of Jesus was FOLLOWED BY PAIN for the Jews:

1. The Romans destroyed the Temple in AD 70.

2. The Romans expelled & scattered the Jews from their homeland after AD 135.

3. The Jews were then persecuted for centuries - culminating in the Holocaust which killed two-thirds of European Jews.

Q - But what did Isaiah prophesy would happen NEXT?

Isaiah 66:8 ~ Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day?

Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

The State of Israel was founded in a single day - on 14 May 1948 - in accordance with the United Nations resolution.

The very next day - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya & Syria attacked Israel, and tried to destroy her:

• The war lasted for nearly a year.

• The ceasefire-lines of 1949 remained until 1967.

Jerusalem was unnaturally divided into two parts - controlled by:

1. Israel (West Jerusalem).

2. The Jordanian army which occupied East Jerusalem:

• East Jerusalem had never been part of Jordan’s territory.

• Only one country - Pakistan - recognised the subsequent Jordanian annexation of East Jerusalem.

1967 June 5-10   The six-day war

50 years (= one Jubilee) after General Allenby freed Jerusalem from Turkish control in 1917:

• Egypt, Syria & Jordan mobilised their forces to attack Israel.

• It was crystal-clear that these countries were about to attack Israel

- because Egypt expelled the United Nations forces from Gaza & the Sinai Peninsula, and flew warplanes through Israeli airspace

(including over the Dimona nuclear reactor).

• The Arab world was calling this: 'The final battle'.

President Nasser of Egypt declared to the Arab forces: “Our basic objective will be to destroy Israel”.

Only after exhausting the non-violent means of resolving this threat, did Israel make a pre-emptive strike against Egypt & Syria and captured the:

• Gaza strip from Egypt.

• Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.

(Returned to Egypt in 1977, as part of the Camp David agreement - the Sinai peninsula is outside God’s boundaries for Israel.)

• Golan Heights from Syria.

Further reading about the Golan Heights

Psalm 135:10-12, 136:17-22

('Bashan' in the Bible coincides with the Golan Heights)

Israel asked Jordan to stay out of the war - but JORDAN rejected this, and STARTED an aggressive war: by extensively bombing & shelling West Jerusalem.

Israel counter-attacked and captured:

• East Jerusalem - including the Mount of Olives.

• The Old City of Jerusalem - including the Western Wall & Temple Mount.

• Judea & Samaria.

Israel's status in: East Jerusalem, the Old City and Judea & Samaria is therefore entirely legitimate under the International Law of Armed Conflict.

(Which says that if a country is attacked - it keeps any land it subsequently captures from the aggressor nation.)

Further reading

Isaiah 11:13-14

11. Keeping the Jewish identity

Numbers 23:9 ~ For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him (= the Israelites): lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

It’s astonishing how the Jewish people stayed as a distinct people-group - while exiled from their historic homeland for 2,000 years.

Contrast this with ethnic groups such as the:

• Anglo-Saxons.

• Vikings.

• Former Europeans in: America, Australia & New Zealand.

… who all lost their original identity, within only a few generations of moving from their homelands.

Q - HOW did the Jews keep their separate identity for 2,000 years?

A - In two ways:

1. Religious observances:

• Keeping the Sabbath (on Saturdays) - “More than the Jewish people have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jewish people.”

• Eating kosher food (based on eating 'clean’, and not eating 'unclean’ food - as listed in Leviticus 11 & Deuteronomy 14).

• Keeping the Feasts (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles etc.).

2. Every four or five generations - just as they were about to be absorbed into other nations - the Jews were persecuted / forced into ghettos.

Further reading

Genesis 34:1-29

Numbers 25

12. Zionism was not a religious movement

The Jews just wanted somewhere safe to live, without being persecuted:

• They considered a homeland in Argentina.

• The British government offered the Jews a homeland in Uganda.

• But these other countries were not God’s plan - so they did not happen.

RELIGIOUS Jews were mainly OPPOSED to creating a Jewish state:

1. Reformed Jews preferred to be absorbed into their host countries - because they:

• Were comfortable where they lived.

• Feared a Jewish state becoming a ghetto.

2. Ultra-orthodox Jews only wanted a Jewish state ruled over by the Messiah:

• Whom they expected to be a powerful military & political leader - like King David.

• Which is why some ultra-orthodox Jews still reject the State of Israel - even if they live there!

But what’s important is what God said - which we'll now see.

13. God's promise that Jews would return to the land

Isaiah 43:5-6

5Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

6I 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.

--> Jews have returned to Israel from the: north, south,  east & west.

--> So God is not speaking here about the return of Jews from their exile in Babylon - if He was, He would only have said: from the  east.

Jeremiah 16

Verses 14-15

14Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

15But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them:

and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. 

--> From the land of the north: Moscow and Ukraine are due north of Israel - many Jews have returned / are returning from these areas, to Israel.

--> From all the lands: as this miracle happens, it helps people understand that God always keeps His promises!

Q - Who’s in charge of what happens in the Middle East?

A - God. Not politicians!

Verse 16

16Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them;

and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

Fishers

In 1950 the Israeli government passed the ‘Law of return’ which gives  all Jews the right to:

• Live in Israel.

• Obtain Israeli citizenship.

God has raised up ‘Fishing organisations’ to help Jews move to Israel - for example:

• Ezra International

• Ebenezer Operation Exodus

• The Jewish Agency

Hunters

But Jews who stubbornly refuse to obey God’s plan for them to move to Israel - can then expect ‘Hunters’.

So we shouldn’t be surprised at the increase in anti-semitism - which pushes Jews to emigrate from their current location to Israel.

Further reading about Jews returning to the land

Genesis 28:13-15

Deuteronomy 30:3-5

Isaiah 11:11-12 & 16,  27:12-13, 49:12

Jeremiah 12:14-15, 23:8, 30:3, 31:8 & 10

Ezekiel 11:16-17, 36:24 & 28, 37:11-14 & 21

Micah 2:12, 4:6-7

Zephaniah 3:19-20

Zechariah 8:7-8

14. Alijah & Olim

In Hebrew:

A. The return of Jews to the land of Israel is called Alijah.

• Alijah = ‘Going up’ or ‘Stepping up’ - as in ‘Fulfilling a destiny’.

• Alijah is rooted in the unbreakable bond between the Jews and their Promised Land.

B. The Jews who return are called:

• Oleh (singular)

• Olim (plural)

15. History of Alijah

Before 1880

Wealthy Jews such as Rothschild & Montefiore invested in setting up Jewish communities in Palestine - but this didn't really work.

Since 1880

 Olim have returned from more than 145 countries - this happened in a number of distinct waves, triggered by various push or pull factors:

PUSH FACTORS

From Russia - in the late 19th & early 20th centuries, because of violent pogroms e.g. the 1903 Kishinev pogrom (in Moldova).

From Muslim countries - because of persecution:

• Physical attacks.

• Treated as 2nd class citizens.

• Forced to pay the jizya submission tax (which was also imposed on other ‘dhimmis’ / non-Muslims).

From Ethiopia - because of:

• Anti-Israel / Anti-Jewish policy of the 1980’s communist government.

• Economic problems & famine.

From harsh conditions in the former Soviet Union / Eastern Europe.  Alijah was:

• Forbidden under communist rule before 1989.

• Allowed after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dismantling of the ‘Iron Curtain’.

From Argentina & Uruguay - because of their financial problems in the 21st century.

PULL FACTORS

• A desire to live in the Jewish homeland - no persecution just for being Jewish.

• Easy to be a Jew - buy kosher food, keep Jewish holidays & wear Jewish clothing. 

• Financial - strong Israeli economy / better jobs available (if moving from a poorer country).

• Better physical environment - warm weather, sandy beaches & beautiful scenery!

So there are different push & pull factors - but they’ve all had the same effect of encouraging 3.5 million Jews to immigrate to Israel since 1948:

• In 1948 there were 11.5 million Jews in the world - only 6% lived in Israel.

• Today there are 15.2 million Jews in the world - 46% live in Israel:

--> This is a massive shift.

--> But there are still many more Jews to make Alijah.

16. God promised the land to the Jews

Let's look again at Jeremiah 16:15 ~

But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them:

and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

• God promised the land of Israel to the Israelites - that's why the phrase: 'Promised Land' is so widely used.

• God ALWAYS keeps His Word.

• Going against God’s plan for the land of Israel

= Fighting against God

= Not a good idea!

Genesis 17:8 ~ And I will give unto thee (= to Abraham), and to thy seed after thee  (= to Abraham’s descendants),

the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

--> When God says EVERLASTING - HE MEANS IT.

Genesis 35:10 & 12

10And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and He called his name Israel. 

...

12And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

--> God gave the land specifically to the descendants of Jacob - the Israelites (= the Jews).

--> He did not give the land to the descendants of Ishmael & Esau (= the Arabs).

Further reading

Genesis 12:7, 13:14-15 & 17, 26:1-3, 28:1-4 & 10-13, 48:3-4

Exodus 12:25

Numbers 13:1-2

Deuteronomy 4:21, 11:31, 12:1 & 10, 15:4 & 7, 26:1, 9 & 15, 32:49

Joshua 1:2-4 & 13-15, 2:9

2 Chronicles 6:27 & 31, 20:7

Nehemiah 9:23

Psalms 105:42-45, 135:4-6 then 10-12, 135:10-12, 136:17-22

Isaiah 14:1, 60:21-22

Jeremiah 3:18, 23:8, 25:5, 30:3

Ezekiel 28:25-26

17. In a covenant - forever

Psalm 105:8-11

8He hath remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations.

9Which covenant He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac;

10And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:

11Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:

• God made a COVENANT / swore an oath to give the land to the Jews forever.

• God NEVER breaks His covenants.

Further reading - ‘Covenant’ message on WholeCounselofGod.com

No-one can fight God’s covenants & win - not even the most powerful politicians & armed forces in the world.

It's a lost cause trying to disagree with God’s covenants - however much sympathy we may feel for the Arabs in the land.

But God also has a good outcome for Arabs in the land who follow His covenant plans - as we’ll see later.

Further reading

Exodus 6:4 then 8, 13:5 & 11, 33:1

Deuteronomy 1:8, 6:10 & 23, 9:5, 10:11, 11:9, 26:3, 30:20, 31:7 & 21, 34:4

Joshua 1:6

1 Chronicles 16:15-18

Nehemiah 9:7-8

Jeremiah 32:22

18. The Jews are in Israel to stay

Amos 9

Verse 9

9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations  ...

--> God scattered the Jews to all nations in 135 AD.

Verse 14

14And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel (= I will bring back My exiled people Israel), and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them;

and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

--> That’s exactly what happened when the Jews came back to Israel:

• Vibrant and fast-growing cities.

• Flourishing vineyards.

• Growing fruit which is amongst the finest in the world - including the original Jaffa oranges.

Verse 15

15And 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 Jews WON'T be forced off their land again.

--> No matter who threatens to ‘Drive them into the sea’!

Jeremiah 32:37-38 & 41

37Behold, 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.

38And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

…

41Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart and with My whole soul.

--> This is the only time in the Bible where God says He will do something: 'With His whole heart and with His whole soul'.

19. The Jews' connection to their land

A. Religious Jews pray towards Jerusalem / the site of the Temple three times a day:

• ‘To Jerusalem, Thy city, shall we return with joy.’

• Even in the aircraft aisle during flights!

For centuries - Jews have declared at the end of their Passover meal & Yom Kippur (= Day of Atonement) service: ‘Next year in Jerusalem’.

B. The Biblical feasts are based around the agricultural seasons in the land of Israel

... which are different from the seasons in: Europe, America etc.

C. Jerusalem has only ever been the Capital City of a JEWISH state:

• Since the time of King David - when most countries on the modern map didn’t even exist, let alone have a Capital City!

• Jerusalem has never been the Capital City of any other people-group.

As Sir Winston Churchill said: “It was the Jews who made Jerusalem famous”.

20. The Jews have four claims on the land

A. God promised them the land via a covenant - as we saw earlier.

B. They settled and developed the land:

• Just like happened in: Argentina, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA etc.

• During the first half of the 20th century, the Jewish National Fund bought huge areas of land from Arab landowners (often at exorbitant prices) - it was not stolen!

C. They were granted the land by the international community - via the:

1. Balfour Declaration.

2. League of Nations’ ratification of the San Remo agreement (see later).

3. United Nations.

(Article 80 of the United Nations’ charter charges it with administering the mandates established by its predecessor - the League of Nations.)

D. They captured land in DEFENSIVE wars.

 Which under international law means: ‘They own it’.

21. Important points about the boundaries

A. Judea & Samaria (= the West Bank) belong to Israel

Jews are called Jews because they’re the people of Judea!

God laid down the boundaries for Israel - which include Judea & Samaria - in Joshua chapters 13-20.

When God speaks about the ‘Mountains of Israel’ - He's talking about Judea & Samaria.

Q - What does GOD say about this part of Israel?

Ezekiel 36:1-2 & 8-12

1Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD: 

2Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:

…

8But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to My people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.

9For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:

10And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:

11And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit:

and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

12Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even My people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave  them of men.

Jeremiah 31:5 ~ Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.

--> The first time Jews planted vineyards in Samaria - since Jeremiah's prophecy - was in 1968!

• From the time of Jeremiah until AD 135 - Jews didn’t live in Samaria, because they wouldn’t associate with the Samaritans.

(2 Kings 17:24 & 29, Ezra 4:10, John 4:9)

• AD 135 - 1967: Jews were exiled from Judea & Samaria.

How did GOD FULFILL the prophecies He had given via Ezekiel & Jeremiah?

1917 - The Balfour Declaration assigns land both east & west of the River Jordan as a Jewish homeland.

1920 - At San Remo (Italy), the Allied victors of WW1 (Britain, France, Italy & Japan):

• Create the Arab nations of: Iraq, Lebanon & Syria.

• Assign the area west of the River Jordan - including the West Bank / Judea & Samaria - to the Jews.

1922 - The 51 members of the League of Nations meet in London, and unanimously ratify the San Remo agreement. 

This international legal commitment gives the Jewish people their right to the land, which cannot legally be revoked unless the people of Israel decide to give up their title.

1947 - The United Nations propose a two-state solution (Arab / Jewish) - the proposal was passed by 33 votes to 13:

• A Jewish state - a tiny slice of land along the Mediterranean coast + Galilee + the Negev Desert.

• An Arab state - including Judea & Samaria.

The Jews accept this plan.

The Arabs reject the plan - because they again want the whole land.

1948 - The Jordanian army attack Israel the day after its foundation, and capture the West Bank.

A year later there was a ceasefire - but the ‘1949 / pre-1967’ lines:

• Were NOT BOUNDARIES.

• Just marked where the opposing armies were, when they stopped fighting.

Only Iraq and the United Kingdom (not the United Nations) recognised Jordan’s annexation of the West Bank.

1967 - Israel asked Jordan to stay out of their war against Egypt & Syria:

• But the Jordanian army & air force attacked Israel.

• Israel then captured Judea & Samaria in a defensive war against Jordan - under international law, this means that Israel KEEPS the land.

• The Jewish state was taking back control of land they already owned (under the terms of the San Remo agreement, ratified by the League of Nations).

B. God promised Gaza to the Jews

Joshua 15:20 & 47

20This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families.

…

47Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea (= the Mediterranean), and the border thereof.

The ‘river of Egypt’ probably isn’t the River Nile - but the Wadi El Arish which flows into the  Mediterranean Sea about 50 miles south-west of Gaza.

The Hebrew word here is 'Nachal' which means 'stream'.

Recent history of Gaza

1920 / 22 - Gaza included as part of the Jewish homeland (San Remo agreement / League of Nations / British Mandate).

1948/49 - Egypt attacks Israel and occupies Gaza.

1967 war - Israel captures Gaza, and establishes prosperous agricultural settlements.

2005 - Israel withdraws from Gaza, owing to international pressure and the high cost of  defending the settlements, but does not pass control to any other state.

• Since this withdrawal - terrorists have used Gaza as a base for attacking Israel.

• Things never go well when the Israeli government listens to the ‘wisdom of men’ and goes against God’s plans.

One day Israel will fully own Gaza, and the land down to El Arish - in accordance with God’s allocation of land.

Further reading

Genesis 15:18

Numbers 34:5

Judges 1:18

Ezekiel 25:15-17

C. To the Euphrates River

Genesis 15:18 ~ In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates.

--> God promised the land up to the River Euphrates to Israel:

• This includes much of modern-day Syria!

• This promise was initially fulfilled by King David:

1 Chronicles 18:3 ~ And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the River Euphrates.

--> God promised it - so ONE DAY Israel will AGAIN own the land up to the River Euphrates:

• This may seem impossible today.

• But 150 years ago, so did the return of Jews to their Promised Land & the establishment of the State of Israel.

• What seems impossible to man, is completely possible for God, as He fulfils what He told us in the Bible!

Further reading

Exodus 23:31

Deuteronomy 1:7-8, 11:24

Joshua 1:1-4

1 Chronicles 5:1 then 9

2 Chronicles 9:25-26

D. God also specified the land He gave to the Arabs - which does NOT belong to the Jews

Deuteronomy 2:5 ~ Meddle not with them; for I (= God) will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.

Deuteronomy 2:9 ~ And the LORD said unto me (= Moses), Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.

Deuteronomy 2:19 ~ And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I (= God)  will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.

Further reading

Deuteronomy 2:37

22. When will Israel turn back to God / recognise Jesus as their Messiah?

EZEKIEL 20

Verse 41

41I will accept you with your sweet savour (= as sweet-smelling incense), when I bring you out from the people,

and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.

--> God is talking about the Jews being gathered from countries = plural.

--> So He's talking about their current return from being scattered around the world.

--> Not from their exile thousands of years ago in Babylon.

Verse 42

42And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to your fathers.

--> There’s a clear link between:

1. Alijah.

2. Jews understanding about God.

--> So it’s important that we support the return of exiled Jews to Israel.

EZEKIEL 39

(Ezekiel 38:16 explains that this prophecy is about the latter days.)

Verses 27-28

27When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; 

28Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen:

but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them anymore there. 

--> ALL Jews will move to Israel.

Verse 29

29Neither will I hide My face any more from them: for I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

--> God will then take away the spiritual blindness, which is affecting most Jews.

ZECHARIAH 12

Verse 9

9And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

--> Some nations will attack Jerusalem, but God will then destroy them.

Verse 10

10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications:

and they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son,

and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Q - What will happen when nations attack Jerusalem?

A - God will pour out His grace on the Jews:

1. He’ll open their hearts.

2. They’ll mourn for Jesus - Whom they pierced / crucified - and recognise Him as their Messiah.

Remember how God saved all the Israelites physically in one day - by bringing them out of Egypt?

So it’s easy for Him to save them all spiritually in one day - by opening their eyes to the good news about Jesus.

RECAP of the overall sequence:

A.  All Jews will move to Israel - probably because of anti-Semitism / persecution in their current countries.

7.1 million Jews currently  live in Israel, but there are still more than 8.6 million Jews living outside of Israel - including:

• USA     6,300,000

• France   440,000

• Canada  398,000

• UK   312,000

• Argentina 171,000

• Russia 132,000

• Germany 125,000

• Australia 117,000

They will all make Alijah.

B. Some nations will attack Jerusalem.

C. God will then open the eyes of the Jews, and they’ll then understand the truth about Jesus.

Further reading

Isaiah 43:8 (context in verses 5-7)

Jeremiah 30:1-10, 30:24-31:1, 32:37-41

Ezekiel 20:40, 28:25-26, 34:27-28, 36:19-28

Hosea 3:5

23. Jerusalem

Ezekiel 5:5 ~ Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.

God placed Jerusalem in the centre of the world's land masses - the meeting place of:

• Europe

• Asia

• Africa

--> Which means that it’s relatively easy to reach by land.

--> Israel also has sea ports on the:

• Mediterranean Sea (and so linked to the Black Sea & Atlantic Ocean).

• Red Sea (and so linked to the Indian & Pacific Oceans).

Jerusalem is a special place to God

Mentioned 814 times in the Bible (plus many times under its other names:  Ariel / Sion / Zion).

Let’s look at two of these passages:

Matthew 5:34-35

34But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by Heaven; for it is God’s throne:

35Nor by the earth; for it is His footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the Great King.

--> Jesus said: ‘Jerusalem is the city of the Great King’.

1 Kings 14:21

And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign,

and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His Name there ...

--> God chose to put His Name there.

--> So Jerusalem declares to the world that GOD EXISTS.

We can visit Jerusalem and see sites such as:

• The ancient City of King David.

• The Temple Mount.

• Where Jesus died & rose again.

But Satan contests everything which God says - which is why more battles have been fought over Jerusalem, than over any other city in the world!

Further reading

Deuteronomy 12:5 & 10-11, 16:2,6 & 11, 26:1-2

1 Kings 11:13, 32 & 36

2 Kings 20:6

2 Chronicles 6:6 & 34-35

Ezra 4:4-24, 6:12, 7:15

Nehemiah 2:19-20, 4:7-8

Psalms 132:13-14, 135:21, 137:1-6, 147:2 & 12-13

Isaiah 14:32, 22:11, 24:23, 31:5 & 8-9, 52:1

Ezekiel 48:35

Daniel 9:16-19

Joel 3:16-17 & 20-21

Amos 1:2

Micah 4:2

Zechariah 1:17, 2:12, 3:2, 8:3-8 & 22, 12:6

Hebrews 12:22-23

Revelation 21:10

24. Israel has come back to life

Just as God promised in Ezekiel chapters 36 & 37.

So we can be sure that God's promises to us will also come to pass in our lives!

A. Hebrew language

Hebrew was a 'dead' language for 1,700 years - used only by: the Rabbis, in Synagogues and in religious ceremonies.

Then the Jewish journalist Eliezer Ben Yehuda moved to Palestine in the 1880’s and restored the language - as he later explained (my underlining):

==========

“In those days it was as if the heavens had suddenly opened and a clear incandescent light flashed before my eyes, and a mighty inner voice suddenly sounded in my ears

- the renaissance of Israel on its own ancestral soil.

I have decided that in order to have our own land and political life, it is also necessary that we have a language to hold us together. 

That language is Hebrew, but not the Hebrew of the rabbis and scholars.

We must have a Hebrew language in which we can conduct the business of life.

It will not be easy to revive a language dead for so long a time.”

==========

Eliezer Ben Yehuda was very determined - he:

• Even forbade his own family from speaking any language except Hebrew.

• Founded the Hebrew Language Committee (now the Academy of the Hebrew Language).

• Created new Hebrew words to suit modern life.

• Wrote a comprehensive dictionary of the Hebrew language.

• Produced a weekly Hebrew newspaper, and wrote in it:

"The Hebrew language will go from the synagogue to the house of study, and from the house of study to the school, and from the school it will come into the home and

... become a living language."

Which is exactly what happened.

When Eliezer's first son started to speak at three years old - he spoke perfect Hebrew! The first child to do so in almost 2,000 years.

Hebrew is now the first language for millions of Jews:

• It’s the only language in the world to be restored. 

• The restoration worked - because it was part of God’s plan to bring Israel back to life.

• The Hebrew language unites the citizens of Israel, and plays a major role in helping immigrants to become part of Israeli society.

B. Ecology

Israel is the only national ecology (plants & animals) to be restored.

When Murray McCheyne (in 1839) and Mark Twain (in 1867) visited Palestine - they recorded that:

• The Ottomans had plundered their declining empire, had lost interest in the land and so didn’t invest in development.

• The result was an  empty (apart from weeds), waterless & desolate land.

• The coastal plain had many swamps - resulting in mosquitoes & malaria.

This fulfilled Zechariah 7:14 ~ 

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. 

Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

Q - But what happened when the Jews made Alijah?

A - The land came back to life, as the returning Jews:

• Drained the swamps.

• Turned wasteland into fertile farmland.

• Cultivated the desert, by inventing & then installing new irrigation techniques.

This fulfilled Isaiah 35:1 ~

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

Fruit

Isaiah 27:6 ~ He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

This prophecy was fulfilled as the Jews:

• Grew & exported Jaffa fruit - from the port of Jaffa (called Joppa in the Bible).

• Developed & exported cherry tomatoes.

Trees

The Ottoman Empire taxed trees - so people understandably cut them down.

But as the Jews returned - they planted millions of trees:

• In 1947 - there were 4 million trees in Israel.

• Now - there are more than 230 million trees.

Israel is the only country in the world which had more trees at the end of the 20th century than at the beginning!

Birds

Birds such as Pelicans no longer migrate through, but stay in Israel - they must like it there!

C. Economy & Science

Deuteronomy 15:4 ~ Save when there shall be no poor (= there need be no poor people) among you;

for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it.

The Israeli economy is one of the fastest growing in the developed world.

Growth in income per person since the 1950's:

• Jordan:     640%

• Egypt:     800%

• Israel: 2,400%

The teamwork which young Israeli’s learn during their compulsory military service, contributes to the country’s strong economic performance.

Only Silicon Valley in California has a higher concentration of hi-tech companies.

Apple, Google, Intel & Microsoft all have major design facilities in Israel.

Israel is a world centre of expertise for:

• Hardware e.g. microchips, memory sticks & pillcam.

• Software e.g. digital printing, firewalls & messaging.

• Technology for self-driving cars.

Per head of population - Israel is #1 in the world for:

• Scientific papers & patents.

• % Employed as scientists & engineers.

• % of GNP invested in R&D.

TEVA pharmaceuticals:

• Is the largest generic drug company in the world.

• Provides low cost medicines to the UK’s National Health Service, and to many other nations.

Further reading

Jeremiah 31:12 & 27-28

Micah 4:7

Zechariah 8:12

25. God also has a good plan for Arabs

Loving Israel does not mean being anti-Arab.

God has a good plan for all people-groups - Jesus died on the cross for everyone, including Arabs.

But we must ALL ACCEPT HIS PLAN - He is the  LORD.

The Israel issue is all about accepting that God’s in charge.

He’s Sovereign - so we must all bow the knee to Him.

(Romans 14:11 & Philippians 2:10)

So when Arabs FOLLOW GOD'S PLAN - they prosper, because God BLESSES them.

The largest Arab church in the land is in Bethlehem (First Baptist Church) - this church strongly supports Israel.

The Muslim Arabs of Abu Ghosh (a few miles west of Jerusalem) decided in the early 20th century not to fight against the Jews, 

and have kept to that policy - they live in peace & prosperity.

Interestingly - the Gibeonites also decided not to fight the returning Israelites, during the time of Joshua.

One of the Gibeonite cities was Kirjath Jearim - in the same location as modern Abu Ghosh. (Joshua 9:17)

In contrast - when Arabs go AGAINST God’s plan.

They then do badly - as in Gaza.

Despite the residents of Gaza receiving more aid per person than any other people-group in the world (enough to turn Gaza into ‘another Dubai’).

… because God takes away His blessing.

The Jews in the land should treat their Arab cousins well.

Leviticus 19:34 ~ But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt …

Ezekiel 47:21-23 

21So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.

22And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you:

and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 

23And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.

The best peace process in the Middle East - is when Arabs & Jews are saved & then love one another.

I’ve visited Israel many times and one of the most moving scenes is when Arab & Jewish believers in Jesus embrace each other

- forgetting their differences, as they focus on building the Kingdom of God together.

The best thing we can do, is to pray & work towards the salvation of both Arabs & Jews - such that they become ‘One new man’:

Ephesians 2:13-16

13But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh (= near) by the blood of Christ. 

14For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

15Having abolished in His flesh the enmity (= opposition / hatred), even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;

for to make in Himself of twain one new man (= make one new man from two), so making peace;

16And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 

Further reading

Genesis 16:10-12, 21:13 & 17-20

Exodus 22:21, 23:9

Deuteronomy 10:19, 23:7, 24:17-18

Matthew 5:44

John 10:16

26. Opposition to Israel & the Jews

Is the LONGEST in history - it’s been going on for more than 3,000 years!

In Biblical times, the following tried to massacre the Israelites / Jews:

• Pharaoh   Exodus 1:22

• Amalekites   Deuteronomy 25:17-18

• Haman   Esther 3:5-13

Is the MOST VICIOUS in history.

Jews are taught not to believe in Christianity, because of how 'Christian nations' have persecuted them:

1. The Crusaders massacred Jews the same way in Germany & Jerusalem (by locking them inside a synagogue and then setting it on fire).

2. During the Spanish inquisition (1478).

3. During the pogroms in 19th & early 20th century Russia.

4. In the holocaust during WW2.

Opposition to Israel & the Jews continues today from:

• The extreme-right

• The extreme-left

• Universities

• The United Nations

• Even from some churches

Many Christians blamed Jews for the death of Jesus - calling them ‘Christ killers’.

But it was GOD'S PLAN for Jesus to die on the cross - otherwise we couldn’t be saved!

Further reading

‘The Cross’ message on WholeCounselofGod.com

Jews were expelled from many European countries including:

• England  (all 3,000 Jews in 1290)

• France  (1391)

• Austria  (1421)

• Spain  (1492)

• Portugal  (1498)

• Germany  (1499)

For centuries (until reforms in 1975), Jews (who were black-skinned like their neighbours) were the ONLY Ethiopians forbidden from owning land.

Hitler’s holocaust

The Nazis & their collaborators murdered six million Jews = one third of the world’s Jewish population.

At the end of WW2, the Nazis gave top priority to trains taking Jews to the death camps - even putting them ahead of trains taking arms & ammunition to the German army!

Palestinian attacks

Although some Palestinian leaders speak to the West of peace, their talks in Arabic often speak of destroying the State of Israel and taking over the whole land

- which is not reported by the western media.

(For more information visit the Palestinian Media Watch’s website: Palwatch.org )

Psalm 120:6-7

6My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.

7I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

During the early years of the 21st century, Israel was forced to erect a security fence to stop the terrible suicide bomb attacks from the Palestinian Authority controlled areas.

Only a small % of this barrier is a wall (where it’s needed to protect Jewish civilians from the sniper-fire which was previously happening).

Iran

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the government of Iran has threatened many times to destroy Israel - in contravention of Chapter One of the United Nations Charter.

United Nations

Q - Why are there so many UN resolutions against Israel (rather than all the evil regimes in the world)?

A - Because there are many Islamic countries, but only one Jewish nation: so Israel is always outvoted.

Very few of these Islamic countries are true democracies - so even their own citizens don't have a free vote!

In contrast, Israel is a true democracy - with:

•  A free press.

• Equal rights for women. 

• Freedom of worship for all religions.

27. Three reasons for opposition to Israel & the Jews

A. Satan is behind the human hatred

Revelation 12:13 ~ And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the Man Child.

Q - Who’s the 'Man Child'?

A - Jesus (Revelation 12:5)

Q - Who’s the 'woman’ who delivered Jesus to the earth?

A - Israel / the Jews.

As Jesus said in John 4:22 ~

… salvation is of the Jews. 

SO SATAN HATES THE JEWS - for their part in his downfall:

a. PAST

1. God used the Jews to bring us the Bible. Further reading - Romans 3:1-2

2. Jesus, Paul & the initial disciples were Jewish - and they showed the world how to defeat Satan & to be saved.

Further reading

Genesis 22:18, 26:4, 28:14

b. PRESENT

People are only saved from going to hell (= Satan's destination) by believing that Jesus (who came to earth in the form of a Jew) is their Saviour.

c. FUTURE

When Jesus returns to earth - He’ll destroy Satan.

So Satan tries to prevent / delay this happening by fighting the:

1. Return of Jews to the land of Israel.

2. Nation of Israel.

3. Salvation of the Jews.

Anti-semitism =

• Working for Satan.

• A visible & physical manifestation of being anti-God.

B. Islamic theology

a. The Koran describes Jews as: ‘swine, pigs & apes’.

b. Islam teaches that any land under their control, should never be given away or lost in battle:

• This is a major cause of the conflict over the land of Israel.

• But many Western politicians / media don’t understand, or they ignore this key point.

c. Muslims feel ashamed when defeated by Israel - because it shows that Allah’s not the true God.

C. Envy

Some Jews are financially poor (e.g. most Jews living in the ghettoes of Eastern Europe were poverty-stricken).

But others are wealthy (e.g. the Rothschild banking family) - which can lead to envy by non-Jews.

But the Bible says we should expect some Jews to be wealthy:

Genesis 26:12-14 

12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

13And the man waxed great (= became wealthy), and went forward (= gained more), and grew until he became very great:

14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

Deuteronomy 15:6 

For the LORD thy God blesseth thee (= the Israelites), as He promised thee:

and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; 

and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

-->  We shouldn’t be like the Philistines (in Genesis 26 above) and envy the Jews.

--> God is just faithfully keeping His Word to bless them!

Further reading

Deuteronomy 8:18

28. God protects Israel

Psalm 121:4 ~ Behold, He that keepeth (= guards / protects) Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

--> God looks after Israel:

• Israel has needed to fight many defensive wars since 1948.

• Israel did not start any of these wars, but has had to finish them all.

• Some of these wars should have destroyed Israel (by the relative size of the armies) - but Israel won them.

1948-49 war of independence

Fulfilled this prophecy in Psalm 83:

Verses 1-3

1Keep not Thou silence, O God: hold not Thy peace, and be not still, O God.

2For, lo, Thine enemies make a tumult (= loud noise / rage): and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head.

3They have taken crafty counsel against Thy people, and consulted against Thy hidden (= protected) ones.

--> God’s enemies take out their hatred for Him, on His chosen people - the Jews.

--> Understanding  this is the key to understanding anti-Semitism & anti-Israelism.

Verse 4

4They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance (= be remembered no more).

--> As soon as Israel declared independence in 1948, the forces of: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon & Libya attacked and tried to destroy her.

Verses 5-8

5For they have consulted together with one consent (= with one mind): they are confederate against Thee (= they have made an alliance against You):

6The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

7Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek (= Jordan); the Philistines (= Gaza) with the inhabitants of Tyre (= Lebanon);

8Assur (= ‘Assyria’ = Iraq + Syria) also is joined with them: they have holpen (= helped) the children of Lot.

• More than 6,000 Israelis were killed during the 1948-49 war of independence.

• But against all odds - God protected Israel, who survived a year of fighting.

• Despite being vastly outnumbered - Israel ended up with more land at the end of the war, than at the beginning!

Isaiah 41:8-13

8But thou, Israel, art My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend.

9Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee,

Thou art My servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

10Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. 

11Behold, all they that were incensed (= enraged) against thee shall be ashamed and confounded (= put to confusion): they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.

12Thou 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.

13For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

I heard a retired Israeli Brigadier describe his experience in the 1948 war:

• He commanded 200 soldiers.

• But his force was reduced to 20 men - everyone else had been killed or injured.

• They were surrounded on three sides by thousands of Egyptian soldiers.

• But in the morning - the Egyptian army had fled.

--> God did it!

1973 'Yom Kippur' war

The forces which attacked Israel were the same size as the huge German army which invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

Q - But who won this war?

A - Tiny Israel.

2024

On 13 April, Iran attacked Israel with over 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones:

• Over 99% were destroyed.

• Experts were astonished at this unprecedented high rate of interception.

As seen in Isaiah 41 above - GOD HELPED ISRAEL to win battles against their enemies:

• To fight against Israel = To fight against God.

• The Jews have outlived every nation & empire which persecuted them.

• So we should align ourselves with God’s plans - not those of anti-Israel politicians & media pundits.

Further reading

Genesis 24:60

Exodus 4:22-23, 33:2

Joshua 10:14 & 42

1 Samuel 17:1 then 45-52

2 Samuel 7:10

1 Chronicles 16:19-22

2 Chronicles 20:7, 22 & 29

Isaiah 29:7-8, 49:25, 54:17, 60:12-14, 66:22

Jeremiah 31:35-36, 50:33-34

Ezekiel 36:5

Joel 3:16 & 19-20

Micah 4:11-13

Zechariah 2:3-5, 8:13, 10:5-6, 14:3 & 12

29. How God judges nations & leaders

Zechariah 2:8 ~ … for he that toucheth you (= Zion / Israel from v.7) toucheth the apple of His eye (= the pupil of God’s eye / His focus).

--> God is very sensitive to how: nations, leaders & empires treat Israel - and then deals with them accordingly.

Further reading

Esther 8:7, 9:23-25

Psalm 129:5-6

Isaiah 49:26

Jeremiah 2:3, 30:20

Ezekiel chapter 25

A. Spain

Was the dominant European nation in the 15th & 16th centuries - with a powerful: empire, army & navy.

Within 100 years of expelling its Jews - Spain had declined to a struggling, second-rate European power.

B. The Ottoman Empire

Refused to accept a Jewish homeland on its land, and was then:

• Defeated in WW1.

• Dismantled by the Allies.

C. USA

Is generally supportive of Israel - so God has prospered her, to become the world’s leading superpower.

But when the US government goes against God’s plans for Israel - God acts. Here are a few examples:

1992

Negotiations started in Washington to create a Palestinian state - on the land which God had promised to the Jews.

The same day - Hurricane Andrew hit southern Florida.

2003

President George W Bush declared a commitment to break up Israel into two states: Israel and Palestine - against God’s plans.

The next day the space shuttle Columbia broke up over the East Texan town called Palestine (where some of the debris landed).

2005

The US government encouraged Israel to withdraw from Gaza - which is land God gave to the Jews. 

Five days after the Israeli withdrawal - Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

The damage in the USA mirrored that in Israel:

• The same % of the population lost their homes & businesses.

• People were uprooted from southern, coastal areas.

2011

A few days after President Obama declared that Israel’s boundaries should be based on the 1949 ceasefire lines (which are not God’s boundaries for Israel):

• The largest, costliest & second most deadly outbreak of tornadoes in US history hit 21 states from Texas to New York.

• Known as the ‘2011 Super Outbreak’.

• These tornadoes killed 348 people and caused damage of $11 billion.

2024

The USA failed to support Israel in a UN Security Council resolution concerning the Gaza war.

The next day a cargo ship collided with a major bridge in Baltimore, leading to: the bridge's collapse, loss of life, the blocking of the harbour, supply chain disruption & huge financial costs.

D. Israeli Prime Ministers

Yitzhak Rabin

Gave the Palestinian Authority partial control of: Judea, Samaria & most of Gaza.

But God had promised this land to the Jews.

Was later assassinated.

Ariel Sharon

Was an Israeli war hero.

But evicted Israelis from Gaza in August 2005.

Suffered a serious stroke & coma on 4 January 2006 - then stayed in a coma until his death in 2014.

Yitzhak Shamir

Refused to give away Israel’s land.

Lived to age 96 - God blessed him, because he followed God's plan for the land.

E. Zambia

1973 - President Kaunda broke off diplomatic ties with Israel, and ordered an Israeli company to stop building the University of Zambia. 

Zambia then went into a severe economic depression & famine.

1992 - President Chiluba (a born again Christian) came to power (until 2002).

He believed that the famine which hit the country was caused by:

• Breaking off the diplomatic ties with Israel in 1973.

• Support of a UN resolution condemning Israel at that time.

President Chiluba stated at a church meeting near Kituwa in northern Zambia:

“We need to have a close bond with Israel, so that the blessings God pours out over Israel will drip down upon us as well.

 Although Israel is a small country, one should never doubt the promises of God.”

He travelled to Israel to tour the land & pray, and re-established diplomatic ties with Israel.

“Then things began to grow again” President Chiluba said, “We had our portions in the blessings of Abraham.” 

(I’ve had the privilege of preaching in a church pastored by one of President Chiluba’s cousins.)

30. God blesses people who help Israel

For example - John Buchan (Scottish Author of ‘The 39 Steps’):

• Chaired a committee of pro-Zionist Members of Parliament in the 1930’s, and received a certificate of appreciation from the Jewish National Fund.

• Went from very humble beginnings (the son of a Free Church minister in Perth, then Kirkcaldy, then the notorious Gorbals area of Glasgow)

... to become Governor General of Canada.

Someone we know found that their business ‘took off’, after they started helping with a Christian charity which supports Israel.

My personal experience has been that unusual, good things happen when I support Israel (and vice versa!).

Further reading

Ezra 1:1-3 then Isaiah 45:1-4

31. Q - How can we help Israel? A - In three main ways

A. Pray

Isaiah 62:6-7 

6I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, 

7 And give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 

--> God gives believers a heart to pray for Israel:

• Christian organisations (e.g. Christian Friends of Israel, Intercessors for Israel & Prayer for Israel) issue bulletins listing prayer topics.

• He’s established four 24/7 prayer-houses around Jerusalem - North, South, East & West - where believers from all over the world gather to pray for Israel.

Further reading

Romans 10:1

Psalm 122:6 ~ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

--> A bonus is that when we love & pray for Israel - God prospers us.

--> Prosperity doesn’t just mean financial blessings - but God helps us in different areas of our life.

B. Help Jews to make Alijah (= emigrate to Israel)

Isaiah 49:22 ~ Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up Mine hand (= beckon) to the Gentiles (= non-Jews), and set up My standard to the people:

and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 

Just like King Cyrus helped the Jews to return from Babylon to Jerusalem in Ezra 1:1-3

1Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, 

the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

2Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3Who is there among you of all His people (= the Jews)?

His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (He is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

Further reading

Isaiah 66:20

Christian organisations such as:

• Ezra International

• Ebenezer Operation Exodus

... help Jews to make Alijah - by helping them OVERCOME the FIVE main obstacles:

1. Bureaucracy - Jews need to obtain various permissions to immigrate to Israel,  involving lots of paperwork.

2. Ignorance - People may not know:

• They’re Jewish (Jewish ancestry was often concealed, to avoid anti-Semitism - as in Esther 2:5-7, 10 & 20).

• About Israel - what it's like to live there.

• About the ‘Israeli law of return’ (which allows  any Jew to immigrate).

3. Fear - Of starting again in a new country.

4. Finances - Many Jews in countries such as Ethiopia & the former Soviet Union, can’t afford to emigrate without financial help.

5. Family ties:

• Caring for elderly relatives.

• Family members who can’t / won’t make Alijah.

• Looking after family gravestones (important in Jewish culture).

C. Bless & align ourselves with Israel

Numbers 24:1-2, 5 & 9

1And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

2And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

…

5How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! 

...

9… Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

--> God’s pleased when we bless Israel.

--> So God then blesses us!

Q - Who did Jesus mainly minister to, during His time on earth?

A - The Jews.

(Matthew 10:5-6 & 15:24)

But Jesus DID heal the ROMAN CENTURION'S servant in Luke 7:2-5

2And a certain Centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

3And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto Him the elders of the Jews, beseeching (= earnestly asking) Him that He would come and heal his servant.

4And when they came to Jesus, they besought Him instantly, saying, That he (= the Centurion) was worthy for whom He should do this: 

5For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.