Israel is the one nation in human history that the Creator of all things chose to be “a people unto himself”:
“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” (Deuteronomy 7:6).
Jehovah made promises to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that are staggering in their implications. He promised to bless those who bless the nation that would spring from the loins of these men, and warned about His curse for those who cursed those people. God said to Abraham, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
Certainly, this promise can easily be verified as coming true throughout recorded history. The modern record, as a matter of fact, is contemporary proof of the veracity of the Almighty and His prophetic promises. Historians –except those blinded by the great deceiver, Lucifer—concede, sometime reluctantly, that Israel’s history in ancient times was a record of greatness. David’s and Solomon’s exploits and accomplishments are legendary, but built upon archaeological facts. Israel has achieved greatness among the nations of this earthly sphere.
One point over which secularist historians at the minimum raise eyebrows of skepticism is that man received laws and moral codes through Moses, the son of Abraham. Most give Hamarabi’s Code that honor. But, those who believe that God is who He is know the great human deliverer of the chosen people came down from Sinai with rules for living life, given by the God of Heaven to His creation called man. Particularly, the Ten Commandments were meant for Israel to follow as fealty to their God, and as example to the rest of the world.
God’s promise to make Israel a great nation and to bless all other nations through His chosen people has come true. The United States, for example, has the Ten Commandments upon its walls within government buildings–including the Supreme Court. America, despite the anti-God forces who want to destroy the nation’s moral underpinnings, continues to lead the world in most areas of improvement of the human condition. This is due to the Ten Commandments’ influence upon American ethics and achievement. But, it goes profoundly deeper.
Much of America’s successes in technological, medical, and every other category of progress has been contributed by members of the Jewish race. We don’t have to look far to find them. I’ll just mention the most obvious: Albert Einstein, the German-born, genius-physicist who became an American citizen. No more than a cursory study will show, indelibly, that God’s Word is true, when He followed through on the promise to make the people of the book the head of all peoples:
“And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do [them]” (Deuteronomy 28:13).
Then what about the maltreatment, the genocide against the Jewish race down through the millennia, particularly during the 20thcentury? This doesn't appear to be God making Israel the head of all nations. Here is where God placed some conditions upon the people He chose as destined to become the head of all others. Note the last of the above promise: “…if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do [them].”
God will make Israel the head of all nations, if that people will listen to His instructions and commandments. Not only is that where the nation Israel has strayed; this is where those who say that God is through with Israel–that the Jewish race is no longer God’s chosen—have also strayed. God’s Word says that ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All have strayed–both Jews AND Gentiles.
Israel’s detractors within Christianity say the Jews rejected their Messiah in His first visitation. Therefore, they say, Jehovah has written off the Jews and the nation Israel. The Israel in the land surrounding Jerusalem since May 14, 1948 is not the Israel of the promises, the detractors say. Modern Israel is but an impostor, and God considers it no more within His prophecy for future national or racial greatness than He considers any of modern Israel’s blood-vowed enemies.
Absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. It is true that the Israel of Jesus Christ’s day rejected Him as Messiah. It is equally true that those of His own race, the Jews, cried “Crucify him!” the hierarchy of which convinced the Romans to crucify Jesus. But God’s Word says that every person is a sinner. We are born into sin–thus because Adam, the physical father of mankind, disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Again, God’s Word says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
The Jews, as a race, are no guiltier than my race, which is Gentile. We all, as the human race, put Jesus Christ to death on the cruel Roman cross. He came to earth, sent by His Father, the God of Heaven, to offer himself as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Jesus the Christ –the Jews’ Messiah—came to fulfill all Mosaic Law –the Ten Commandments. In Christ we can now believe, and our sins are cleansed, washed away by Christ’s sacrifice for all eternity. Through His shed blood, we ALL–Jew and Gentile–are in the family of God forever.
But, each individual human being must accept this grace gift that replaced the sacrificial system of blood from innocent lambs of the physical sort. We must accept Christ as Savior, as Lord one-on-one with God, because He gives each person the free will to accept or reject His grace offer of salvation.
Now, I must come to the sad part–the tragic part of this essay, really–in which I have to address Israel’s prophetic destiny. I will do in part 2.
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