The Glory of all Lands |
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica of 1905: 'The dream of some Zionists for the revival of Hebrew as a living language has even less possibility of being fulfilled than the revival of a Jewish state in Palestine.'
During the last century we saw the State of Israel come into being, Hebrew revived as a living language and the Jewish people returning to the land from the north, south, east and west. Now, in 2008, the State of Israel is celebrating her sixtieth anniversary.
Israel is a land of sharp contrasts. Much of this small country (about the size of Wales) is mountainous. Mount Hermon in the north rises to 9,232ft. Yet there are also deep valleys with the Jordan valley being 656ft below sea level at the Lake of Galilee and dropping to 1,312ft at the Dead Sea - the lowest point on earth. To the west of the country the coastal plains border the Mediterranean Sea.
Early in 2008 the city of Jerusalem saw six inches of snow, something which brought the city to a standstill and closed the schools. Israel is situated between two oceans and on the boundary between desert and fertile plain. The rainy season makes Israel a riot of flowers during February and March and the land is filled with colour and scent. However, in 2007, only half the expected rainfall fell, bringing the Sea of Galilee to within less than two feet from the bottom red line.
Lying at the crossroads of three continents-Africa, Asia and Europe, Israel has been at the centre of events both literally and politically throughout her long existence.
The land itself is remarkable in its diversity. Its people are even more extraordinary. In Genesis 12 Abraham, elderly (seventy-five), childless and with a barren wife, was promised that God would make him a great nation and give him a land. This pledge was fulfilled many years later when the children of Israel, now a great nation, returned to the land of Canaan-the land 'flowing with milk and honey'.
The history of the Jewish people is unique. No other group of people has survived so much. They have been scattered from their land (twice) and yet have returned. They are to be found all over the world and yet are still a distinctive race. Today, the nation of Israel is comprised of nearly one hundred different nationalities.
Their very language is itself an amazing achievement. Never before in all history has a language which ceased to be spoken been re-born after centuries of disuse. Now Hebrew is the language of the street, the market and the Knesset (parliament).
Its revival is thanks to one man - Eliezer Ben-Yehuda. In 1880 he wrote: '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.'
It took him the rest of his life but he lived to see General Allenby publish a proclamation in Hebrew and to hear the language spoken throughout the land. This is in fulfilment of Jeremiah 31:23, Once again they will use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes.
For many, the events relating to both the land and people of Israel at best have no great significance, and at worst are merely an accident of history. However, we would contend that these are no accident but the fulfilment of Bible prophecies. Let us look at ten aspects of God's over-riding hand in the destiny of Israel.
- The Jewish people have been scattered to all nations in fulfilment of Bible prophecy. (Deuteronomy 28:58-68; Luke 21:20-24)
- The reason for the first captivity in Babylon was idolatry and disobedience to the Torah. (2 Chronicles 36:12-19)
The reason for the much greater worldwide dispersion, which began after the failed Jewish uprisings against the Romans of 70AD and 135AD, was because of the failure of the majority and particularly the religious leadership to recognise Jesus as Messiah. (Luke 19:41-44)
- While the dispersion of the Jewish people is a sign of God's judgment, God also judges those nations, organisations (including churches) and people who persecute them; and blesses those who bless them and protect them. (Genesis 12:1-3; Zechariah 1:14-15; Romans 11:11-36)
- God clearly promises that the Jewish people will remain an identifiable people until the end of time.
- He also promises that he will gather the Jewish people to the land he gave to their fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). The only land which this can be is Israel. (Genesis 15; 17:6-8; 26:1-5; 28:13-15; Isaiah 11:10-12; Jeremiah 30-31; Ezekiel 36-37) For Jesus' prophecy of the signs of his return to be literally fulfilled, the Jewish people have to be back in the land of Israel.
- Several passages indicate that this regathering will be in unbelief and will precede a time of great trouble for the nation, which would not survive without divine intervention. (Jeremiah 30, Ezekiel 38-39, Daniel 12, Zechariah 12-14, Matthew 24:15-31)
- If Israel is regathered in unbelief it, therefore, follows that her political and religious leaders and her people will be doing things which are not pleasing to the Lord (Hebrews 11:6). At the same time there will be clear signs that God is behind the restoration (e.g. the doors of former 'closed' countries opening for the Jews to go back to Israel, divine protection in wars aimed at eliminating Israel, the land blossoming and ancient cities being rebuilt - Isaiah 43, Jeremiah 16 and Ezekiel 36).
- Our position as Bible-believing Christians, therefore, is:
(a) That we stand by Israel's right to exist and defend her against those whose aim is her destruction.
(b) We call Israel to repentance and faith in the only Messiah God has sent, Yeshua ha Mashiach, Jesus Christ, who came once to fulfil the prophecies of the suffering servant (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Daniel 9:25-26) and who is coming back to fulfil the prophecies of the reigning King (Isaiah 2:1-4; Psalm 72; Zechariah 14).
- Our attitude towards the Arabs, particularly the Palestinian Arabs, is one of love, believing that Jesus is the Messiah who died for them too and wants to break down the wall of hostility between all the peoples of the land (Ephesians 2). At the same time we oppose all programmes, covenants and warlike ambitions which seek the destruction of Israel.
1- While we pray for peace, we recognise that true peace can only come to Israel and the Middle East and the whole world when the Messiah Jesus returns in power and glory to take up his rule from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:1-4; Revelation 19-20)
What then is the secret of the Jewish people and their longevity? It is their God. At the end of the Tanakh the Lord says, For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6)
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