And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD. Ezek 25:14
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. Ezekiel 11:17
With all the storms brewing in the Middle East over Iran and Israel, my thoughts have been turning to the question, "Is Israel still blessed of God". For awhile it seemed that I had an indifference set in or even an apathy to what was happening in the Middle East in relation to Israel. I was more worried about how the oil prices due to threats of conflict was going to affect my billfold.
Lately in my personal life I have had a growing desire as a Christian to turn to the promises of God in fighting my battle to live victoriously for God. He has so many promises for the Christian and he never goes back on His Word! As I was doing this it also brought my mind back to the current state of affairs in Israel. How can a small sliver of land ---I think less then 1 % of the land mass of the Middle East---cause such a stir on the world scene? How can it exist when so many of the surrounding millions around it hate it religiously? Through all this it has one of the highest standards of living, education, and technological development. It has the biggest air force after China and United States. In all this it is wanting to threaten a attack on a larger country with millions more people whether or not the world will help it. Then I have to think of the End of the world and what roll is going to be played by the "Physical nation of Israel". Are there not many Jews that are to be brought to believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah? I do not have definite conclusions on how this is all going to come to place, but I am interested to see a revival of people interested in what the Bible has to say in regards to the Promises of God and what effect they can have on the scene today. I really doubt Iran is going to succeed to nuke Israel off the face of the map and I hope Israel will not have to attack Iran. I love all Jewish and Arabs and as a Christian can only wish peace to them alike instead of war.
In my weekend studies here are some scripture in the Bible and also some stats about Israel that I found very interesting.
Some of the Stats:
Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S, Russia and China), including an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16′s.
Israel has the 24th largest economy in the world
Israel’s US $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.
Israel has been at the forefront of some of the major technological advances in recent years, including: some of the development for the very first cell phone
Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce with 145 per
10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over
25% of its workforce employed in technical professions, Israel places first in this category as
well
Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number
of trees, a remarkable feat because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.
Think desert: Israel is one of the world's leading greenhouse-food-exporting countries.
God to Isaac:
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
4And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Genesis 26:3-4
Isaac's Blessing on Jacob:
Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
29Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee. Genesis 27:28-29
In studying the Promises of God toward Israel as a nation blessed by God read the two passages. Though we know God used the Israel nation as the vessel that brought about our redemption through Jesus Christ, we still wonder about the phenomena we see surrounding the Jewish state today. Take the time to read these two passages in Psalms and Jeremiah:
If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
31If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
32Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
33Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
34My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
36His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
37It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. Psalms 89:30-37
35Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Jeremiah 31:35-36
Do you have any links to Messianic Jews?
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