What Does The Bible Say About Standing With Israel

What Is The Old Testament Support

Now this is where we need to look at Pauls Old Testament support for this. But first remember that we have seen three different statements of Paul as to why the word of God to Israel has not failed.

That is why the word of God has not failed even though so many Israelites are accursed and cut off from Christ. They were not true Israelites. They were not true children of Abraham. They were children of the flesh but not children of promise, that is, children of God.

Now where does Paul see this idea of a people within a people in the Old Testament? Where does he find the idea that the promise of God is not simply for every Israelite, but for those who are children of promise? And what does that mean children of promise?

The Case For Supporting Israel Today Turns On The Immutability Of The Abrahamic Promise

Said inversely, if the Abrahamic promises are now nullified, then one is correct to reason that there is no biblical basis for America to support Israel. If Israels rejection of Jesus voids the Abrahamic Promise of Genesis 12, then it stands to reason that Israel has no future in Gods economy. If God is done with Israel, then why shouldnt others be also? The truth is God has not replaced Israel forever with the Church, and He has a huge future plan ahead for the Jews, even if for now they are on the sidetrack as God grafts in the Gentiles during the Church Age of biblical history in which we live. His promises to Israel are not nullified as will be seen in the following redundantly plentiful NT passages.7

IV. ROMANS 11

This passage is tremendously informative in light of the subject matter. In the context of Pauls epistle to the Gentile Church at Rome, he inserts what is commonly referred to as the parenthetical chapters of 9 through 11 in his long letter.8 These three chapters reveal Gods big plan for Israela plan that validates the veracity of specific words God chose to use through His mouthpiece, Moses, as He penned the book of Genesis: specifically the words forever and everlasting. All of Romans 911 needs to be read as a whole to capture the total impact but, having stated that, I have copied some of the pertinent portions to underscore this portion of our Bible study: God has a bright future for Israel! Note Romans 11:1, 2, and 11:

V. REVELATION 7

NOTES:

Recent Examples Of Gods Protection

There are recent examples of Gods miraculous protection of Israel:

1948-49: When the Jewish State was born in May 1948, five Arab armies immediately invaded Israel. Arab rulers thought they were heading towards an easy victory they had no difficulty obtaining all the arms they needed and even British RAF planes flew with Egyptian squadrons over the Israel-Egypt border, link. Israel was thought to be virtually defenseless, link. But they were wrong. The Arab armies suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a combination of Jewish militias . Reasons have been advanced for the Arab defeat, such as inter-Arab political rivalries:

The rivalries were a major problem because they resulted in poor command, lack of transparency, and ultimately, failure

It is claimed Arab leaders fought against each other for land and glory. Was this the hand of God? A similar scenario will occur in the imminent Gog-Magog War. The God of Israel says:

I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains, says the Lord God. Every mans sword will be against his brother

1967: In the Six-Day War of June 510, 1967, the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon again attacked Israel. Their goal was to wipe Israel off the map. The Arab armies had huge superiority in armour, aircraft and troops. For instance, Egypt had around 100,000 troops and 900950 tanks in the Sinai, and the Israeli Air Force could pit only two hundred aircraft against six hundred Arab planes .

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Half Of Evangelicals Support Israel Because They Believe It Is Important For Fulfilling End

Well before he was asked to offer a prayer at Mondays ceremony marking the U.S. Embassys move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, earning the enmity of Mitt Romney, Pastor Robert Jeffress offered tangential insight into why he and many evangelicals think the move was so important.

Jerusalem has been the object of the affection of both Jews and Christians down through history and the touchstone of prophecy, Jeffress told CNN last year. But, most importantly, God gave Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land to the Jewish people.

The latter half of that quote hints at the deep religious meaning of the existence of Israel for Jeffress and other Christians. As University of North Texas professor Elizabeth Oldmixon told Vox last year, the issue of recognizing Jerusalem is inextricable from that belief.

The tenet of Christian Zionism is that Gods promise of the Holy Land to the Jews is eternal. Its not just something in antiquity, Oldmixon said. When we talk about the Holy Land, Gods promise of the Holy Land, were talking about real estate on both sides of the Jordan River. So the sense of a greater Israel and expansionism is really important to this community. Jerusalem is just central to that. Its viewed as a historical and biblical capital.

What kick-starts the end times into motion is Israels political boundaries being reestablished to what God promised the Israelites according to the Bible, Pastor Nate Pyle told Newsweek in January.

Scripture About Standing With Israel

God chose the Israelites to be the vessels for four overarching things:

i. The Adoption

Gods divine choice of the seed of Abraham as a people .

ii. The Glory

The manifest presence of God revealing Himself.

iii. The Covenants

The commitments that God makes. These are evident in three forms through Scripture:

• The Abrahamic Covenant. In this foundational covenant, God essentially told Abraham, I will give you a people and a land, and through this seed the nations of the earth will be blessed .
• The Mosaic Covenant. Through Moses, God offered the revelation of the Law, given as a teaching means to lead us to Christ: redemption through the blood of the Lamb .
• The New Covenant. In Jeremiah and Ezekiel, God says in words almost parallel: For the time will come that I will take My Law and I will make a new covenant with you, and I will put My Spirit within you .

iv. The Greatest Gift

The wonder of the gift of Jesus to mankind. John 3:16 explains that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. He gave Him through the Jews, and He came as a Jew. Jesus Himself, speaking to the woman of Samaria, said, Salvation is of the Jews .

So Scripture speaks to us very clearly: Were dealing with the root of everything that has to do with the revelation of God to humankind. Todays proof exists today in the Jews as a people and in the fact of their national recovery .

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All Descendants Of Abraham And The Children Of Abraham

Second, in verse 7a he says it a little differently, but makes the same point: Nor are they all children because they are Abrahams descendants. In other words, he is distinguishing here between two kinds of children there are all of Abrahams descendants, and there is a narrower group in that number whom he calls here the children, or we could say, the true children since the others are physical children also. The assumption is that the promises of God hold true for the true children of Abraham but not for all the descendants of Abraham. So in verse 6 he says that not all Israel is Israel, and in verse 7 he says that not all the children of Abraham are children. There is a true Israel and there are true children. The word of God has not failed, because it was meant for the true Israel, the true children, and it has never failed any of them.

What Does This Mean To Us

I believe we can sum Daniels example up in three points:

First, we should devote ourselves to study Gods Word and receive instruction from Him. In other words, we should use our heads! The Bible says, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth . The Word of God is our manual, and we should devote ourselves to studying it as a good soldier studies his commanding officer. We need to understand our commander, the Lord. Lets find out what He has to say, learn His strategies, find out what He cares about, and discover His way of way of thinking. It doesnt take long to see that Israel is near to Gods heart. At Bridges for Peace, we are committed to supplying you with the tools you need to study and understand Gods Word concerning Israel. This Israel Teaching Letter is only one of the tools.

So we need to devote ourselves to study, but if we only concentrate on study, we will become unbalanced. I know some Christians like that. They can discuss minute details about the Scriptures, but they dont seem to have a lot of heart. In fact, I have been in some academic circles where intense arguments over points of eschatology have threatened fellowship between believers. How sad!

We need to find out what Gods will is and cooperate with Him. Daniel understood that. He knew what Gods plan was and set himself in a place of intercession to cooperate with God in prayer.

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What Does He Mean By Saved

Lets start with the easiest part. By saved Paul means rescued or delivered from Gods judgment on sin. We could say morePaul does. But thats the basic gist.

Paul confirms this for us in the next verses when he writes, The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins . The Deliverer is Jesus, and the rescued are those who believe in him .

Gods Purpose For Israel

So God had a plan for Israel. But what was that plan? What was his purpose in taking this slave people and making a nation out of them? And continuing to put up with their rebellious nature for hundreds of years?

I believe that if you go back to Gods encounter with Israel at Mt Sinai you will find an answer to that question. In Exodus 19:5-6 is found Gods invitation to Israel to join him: Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Gods purpose, if Israel agreed, was to make Israel into a kingdom of priests a holy nation. As a kingdom of priests they would have the task of representing the nations to God. And God to the nations. They were a people that God intended to use to further his work in the redemption of humanity.

In general Israel failed as Gods representative to the world. They even failed in keeping Gods covenant. As a result God destroyed them as a nation, sending them into exile, before bringing some of them back to the land and seemingly starting over. Israel was a demonstration that no matter what God does for people, we will rebel against him.

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Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. I am going to ask you something, the king said to Jeremiah. Do not hide anything from me.

15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.

16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down you and your family will live.18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians and they will burn it down you yourself will not escape from them.

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.

They misled you and overcame you those trusted friends of yours.Your feet are sunk in the mud your friends have deserted you.

Footnotes

What Is The Meaning Of Israel

So what does Israel mean in the Bible? It really depends on the context.

• It could refer to an individual Abrahams grandson.
• It could mean the descendants of Israel the children of Israel.
• Frequently it refers to the nation of Israel either the united kingdom or the northern kingdom.
• Probably the most common usage is to refer to Gods people those that he established a covenant with at Sinai and their descendants.
• And, finally, we see it pointing toward the new humanity created in Christ citizens of the kingdom of God.

But always the name points back to God and his purposes. Those identified with that name are Gods people, chosen for a purpose. And that is what Israel ultimately means: Gods people.

Ed Jarrettis a long time follower of Jesus and a member of Sylvan Way Baptist Church. He has been a Bible teacher for over 40 years and regularly blogs at A Clay Jar. You can also follow him on or . Ed is married, the father of two, and grandfather of two lovely girls. He is retired and currently enjoys his gardens and backpacking.

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Gods Promises Over The Land

When we talk about Israel, we are dealing with two aspects of it. It is a piece of property that God has made pronouncements about. This is Gods people, and He gave the land to them.

God has made unique declarations regarding the land of Israel:

• Leviticus 25:23The land is the Lords land, and it is His to assign and dispose of.
• Deuteronomy 32:43Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people He will provide atonement for His land and His people.
• 2 Chronicles 7:20God says, , I will uproot them from My land which I have given them.
• Psalm 85:1-2 The Psalmist says the Lord has been favorable to Israels land, He has forgiven the iniquity of the people and covered all their sin.
• Isaiah 8:8This land belongs to Father God, and it is the land of His Messiah.
• Jeremiah 2:7The Lord tells the people there will come the lossthe destructionof Jerusalem, because the people defiled the land and made Gods heritage an abomination.
• Ezekiel 38:16God is speaking to people in the end times who rise up against Israel, and He is speaking of a confrontation that will take place in His land.
• Joel 1:6 2:18 3:2Three times in this book, the land is referred to as belonging to the Lord.
• Hosea 9:3The prophet speaks of the scattering of Israel.
• Zechariah 9:16God promises to save them in that day.

The Antichrist Makes Peace With Israel

The signs of the times indicate that we are on the threshold of the Tribulation a time of unparalleled carnage that will befall the earth. The earth will plunge into a period of time that the Bible describes will be the most horrific in all of human history.

How do we know the covenant the Antichrist signs will provide Israel with a time of peace?

For the answers to these questions and many others concerning the Tribulation, Dr. David Reagan and Nathan E. Jones address these important end times questions. The full discussion can be found on a special television episode of Christ in Prophecy.

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What Did God Say About The Land Of Israel

Ezekiel appears to be the story of two prophecies for Israel. The first part tells the Jewish people that the land entrusted to them will forever remain unbuilt as long as they remain in exile, as long as the land is occupied by strangers. Therefor, by the end of its first century, it had become a barren, grim and desolate place.

Standing With Israel Is Standing With God

Israel is in the news every day. You can pick up any newspaper or news-magazine or watch the television news, and there will usually be something about Israel. You will hear about many of the problems, issues, and conflicts Israel faces, both on an individual and a corporate level. You will hear about suicide bombers, terror attacks, and war. But, as strange as it may sound, these are only symptoms of a bigger problem. That problem is spiritual.

The world is at war against God. You can see evidence of the spiritual struggle from Genesis to Revelation. The evils of earthly war, violence, and hatred are all by-products of the war raging in the spiritual realm. The first time we read of this conflict is in Genesis when the serpent comes to Eve and tells her that God is a liar and not to be trusted: Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil .

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