PROPHECY UPDATE

NOVEMBER 5, 2023

WHY SUPPORT THE NATION OF ISRAEL?

1. God made a covenant with Israel through Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3).
   1. Land – To the land which I will show you; …Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession” (Gen. 12:1; 15:7; 17:7-8;18).   
   2. People – and I will make you a great nation (Gen. 12:2; 17:4-6; 18:18).
   3. Blessing – And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed (12:3; 26:4; 28:14).
      1. God was speaking of Gentiles He would justify by faith in Christ (Gal. 3:8-9).
      2. This includes every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Rev. 5:9).

2. God’s covenant is unilateral and unconditional.  On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18).
   1. God passed through the halved animals without Abraham (Gen. 15:17).  The certainty of His covenant does not depend on Abraham or his offspring. 
   2. The very existence of Israel as a nation today more than 4,000 years after Abraham is an universal reminder God is keeping His promise. The late conservative Jewish commentator Charles Krauthammer – The Weekly Standard, May 11, 1998:  “Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago.

3. God promised to bless those who bless and curse those who curse Israel (Gen. 12:1-3).

1. Every nation that has been a blessing to Israel has been blessed.   
2. Every nation that has been a curse to Israel has suffered God’s judgment (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome, Spain, Poland, Germany, Russia). 
3. What is true for the nations is true for the Church as well. We cannot go defy God and expect His blessing. 

4. Does this mean we support all that Israel stands for? NO. We do not endorse all Israel does. Rather, supporting Israel issupporting God’s plan for mankind.   

5. Is God finished with Israel?
   1. The Apostle Paul asks: I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew … a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:1-2; 25-6).
   2. God asks in Isaiah 66:8 Can a land be born in a day? Yet, Israel was reborn politically May 14, 1948 (Jer. 16:15; Ezek. 36:11) In a single day, she will also be born spiritually (Isa. 66:10-14; Zech. 12:8-10). 

6. Why is there so much hatred around the world for Israel?
   1. God said Israel will be hated in the last days.  It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it (Zechariah 12:3). 
   2. The sadistic cruelty and vitriolic hatred for Israel is ultimately spiritual not political or logical. 

7. What is Israel’s future?
   1. The nation of Israel will neither be destroyed nor displaced due to God’s covenant promise.
   2. Russia and Iran will continue to ally against Israel leading up to Gog and Magog (Ezek. 38). 
   3. We need to both support Israel and pray for the salvation of her people and all people.