"Nero fiddled while Rome burned" That expression seems to me an apt description of the state of our nation and indeed the entire world in these perilous times. God's Word speaks to a time when Russia will launch a military campaign that will find it's end in the land of Israel. It also speaks to the reaction of other nations as being one of protest but with no substantive reaction. I doubt that is what is taking place now, but is this a runup or a conditioning of the world to accept such atrocity when the real enchilada unfolds?
At any rate...
Matthew 24:35 (NASB) 35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
Let me make something crystal clear. The Cross is open to all. No one is shunned from Jesus' saving blood. Republican, Democrat, black, white and everything in between. Jew and Gentile, Israeli and Palestinian, you and me. Anyone can kneel at the foot of Calvary and receive forgiveness and eternal life. That being said allow me to ascend to my soapbox this week and give my take on some recent headlines. I viewed a recent interview that a well known CNN correspondent had with a member of the Israeli Security Cabinet. While the correspondent stood behind a veneer of objectivity, it was patently clear that he was trying to cast Israel in a bad light. It irritated me as I watched his attempts to bait the cabinet member into saying something that could be used against him. With that background, God's Word, I believe speaks to the Jewish state of Israel. If we take a literal view of Old Testament prophecies then we are compelled to acknowledge that Israel is God's idea. From Genesis to Malachi, God provides for, rebukes, corrects, fights for, and promises a future restoration for the nation of Israel.
Genesis 13:14-15 (NASB) 14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.
Genesis 15:18 (NASB) 18 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:
God also has some rather blunt words for the nations of the world as to how they should treat this nation Israel.
Genesis 12:1-3 (NASB) 1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
There is even a New Testament reference to this treatment of the Jews. Jesus the Lord had this to say about a judgment that He will carry out when He returns.
Matthew 25:31-40 (NASB) 31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
39 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40 "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
As this nation and the world in general turns a blind eye and a deaf ear to the atrocities that are committed against that tiny nation, God's Word all the more, assures us that they have His attention: not only do they have His ear, they have His promise of a future restoration where all His covenant promises will be fulfilled.
Amos 9:11-15 (NASB) 11 "In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, And wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom And all the nations who are called by My name," Declares the LORD who does this.
13 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; When the mountains will drip sweet wine And all the hills will be dissolved.
14 "Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 "I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them," Says the LORD your God.
It would seem that while this prophecy awaits complete fulfillment, Israel today is enjoying some of this scripture's benefit. It would, in my opinion, behoove us all to focus on the last part of the above Scripture.
Amos 9:14-15 (NASB) 14 "Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 "I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them," Says the LORD your God.
The Apostle Paul thought Israel so significant that right in the middle of his great theological discourse known as the Book of Romans, he turned on a dime and devoted three chapters(9-11) to explaining about their future salvation. I won't belabor it here, go, read it, and make up your own mind. My point is manifest isn't it? If we as a people, if we as a nation go the way of the world and turn our backs on the nation of Israel...we do it at our own peril. We need to seriously consider what God has to say about His people.
Psalm 126:1-2 (NASB) 1
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter And our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."
God Bless
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