Israel : The Blessings & Biblical Relationship

Before you can even attempt to understand Bible prophecy; you need to fully understand the relationship between the church and the land of Israel. Israel and the church have had a short but poor relationship. Whilst there are many churches that deplore Israel's return to the land promised to them by God in the Old Testament, there are churches that realize and teach their congregation the importance of the Jews' returning to their land - Israel.

So who is right? A person can either be "for" Israel or "against" Israel. Fortunately, if we are to look into the Bible, one can easily find the answer.

The book of Romans provides interesting insights into the relationship between the Jews/Israel and the Christians/church. Paul, the apostle tells us that as Christians we should not be ignorant of a puzzle or mystery that appears to many. Paul goes on to explain that Israeli's have hardened hearts and they cannot understand that Jesus was and still is their Messiah. However, he assures us that when the full number of Gentiles (Christians) have come before the Lord (The rapture), this is the time that Jesus will go forth to deliver Israeli's from their enemies' clutches.

Any arguments against Israel from a biblical perspective are quickly dismissed when Paul says, that although they are enemies to the Gospel, they are to be loved by Christians as they were the first one's elected by God. Since Gods' calling and gifts cannot be taken away, Israel still remains in Gods' ultimate plan and they should be encouraged and not persecuted by the Christians or its churches. Unfortunately, as many of Gods' children suffer because of lack of knowledge, churches lead many astray, day by day.

Before you can understand Israel's significance in future prophecy, we have to accept that we cannot call ourselves obedient Christians and passionately hate the Jews. You either believe the Bible and Christianity or you choose to reject it, but being selective, cannot be an option.

The Old Testament details how God revealed himself to a group of people, that later became known as the Jews. God made it known through a covenant with Moses, that if the Jews obeyed his commandments, they would become a great and powerful nation throughout the world.

Israel, although at brief times in history, obeyed Gods' laws and commandments, they quickly fell into disbelief. Many Jews that were later taken captive as a result of their disobedience to God, turned away from God rather than towards Him in repentance. The many books of the Old Testament detail the journey that the Jews walked with God, as well as the promise that a Messiah will come from the Jews, that will not only save them, but also the Gentile nations. Finally, when Jesus came to earth and fulfilled many of the ancient prophecies, the Jews still did not turn to God. As they had long awaited a conquering Messiah that would restore them to a powerful nation; they did not realize that according to their own scriptures, the Messiah would first come as a lamb and be lead to the slaughter by his own people. God had long warned Israel, that if they failed to obey his commandments, he would turn away from them and make them a sight for sore eyes amongst the nations of the world. A scriptural reference in the book of Chronicles sums up the reason for Israel's persecution over the years.

These constant warnings culminated in the scriptures of the Prophet Jeremiah. We read in the book of Jeremiah, which was written between 626 BC and 586 BC, what was prophesied to happen to Israel as they had constantly disobeyed Gods' commandments. Some highlights of these prophecies were ...
God will send the enemy of the North to conquer Israel. (Jer 25 : 9 - 10)
Israel will be a desolate land and shall serve the kings of Babylon for "seventy years. “ (Jer 25 : 11)
God will make the city a curse to all nations of the earth (Jer 26:6)
And when you seek me, I will turn away your captivity and will gather you from all nations and places that have driven you out and bring you back to Israel (Jer 29 : 12 - 14 ; Jer 30 : 2)

As predicted above and in many other scriptures, the army of the North was first represented by the Assyrian army and then by the Babylonian army which conquered Israel and destroyed its temple in 586 BC. After the conquests of the Babylonian army, Israel returned to their homeland for short intervals as prophesied by many other scriptures. However, shortly after Jesus was crucified, Israel's rebuilt temple was once again destroyed by the armies of the Roman Empire and the Jews were cast out to all nations. This lasted for a period in excess of 1850 years - The Jews refer to this period as the Great Diaspora.
During this period, many wars were fought over Jerusalem; and many countries temporarily occupied this area. It was only after the Nazi Holocaust of World War 2 that the Jews returned to their homeland; thereby fulfilling the prophecy that in the last days they will be gathered from all nations and re-establish their homeland. As further prophesied, today, Israel is a thorn in the side of many nations.
We are also warned, that if we harm Israel or turn against her, we will be subject to punishment.

We have already seen from the Bible, that God cannot change what He has decreed.
This should serve as a warning to all those that are against Israel.
So there should be no doubt in our minds, that the Jews being restored to their homeland, is a significant step towards fulfilling the prophecies that relate to the end of human rule, so why is this the case?

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