Israel: The Land and the People
A Biblical View on Israel
The Israel-Hamas war has brought a lot of focus upon Jewish and Palestinian people over the last several weeks. As a local church, Calvary Chapel Palos Verdes has taken a stand to pray for Israel in this ongoing conflict. The reason we stand with Israel is because God does. The Jews are God’s people who were promised a geographical land as their inheritance. Israel has a moral duty to defend their children and the land that God has promised to them.
To stand with Israel and the Jewish people, does not mean that we don’t pray for peace loving Palestinians who are suffering from the devastations of war. We are to pray for all people, especially the vulnerable, because God loves the whole world. But not all Palestinians seek peace - specifically those who are involved with Islamic terrorist groups, such as Hamas. Hamas and it’s supporters do not want peace with Israel - they want to see Israel taken off the map and the Jewish people annihilated.
Israel did not start the war, Hamas started the war. Psalm 120:7 says, “I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!” Wars have been fought, and Israel has had plenty. This is nothing new in history, but we want to be on the right side of history, which has always been to stand with the Jewish people. Winston Churchill once said, “The Lord deals with the nations as the nations deal with the Jews.”
Pastor Daniel said a few Sundays ago, “Have the news about Israel in one hand, and have the Bible in the other hand” Therefore, in an effort to equip the saints with the Word of God we are providing this scriptural guide for people to gain an understanding from the Bible about God’s heart for Israel. We believe that a simple look into God’s Word will show that God has specific plans and purposes for the Jews that are still being worked out.
So please, take some time to read your Bible, observe God’s promises for the Jews, and then pray for Israel.
From Genesis 12:1-3, we see the following:
God created the 1st Jewish person, by calling Abram from the land of Ur & renaming him Abraham.
God unconditionally promised to bless Abraham and chose Him & his offspring to be a blessing to the rest of the world.
Through them, the world was blessed with the moral law of the Old Testament
Through them, the world was blessed by the coming of Messiah.
Through them, the world has been blessed with many significant contributors to the fields of science & medicine. In fact, it has been an outsized number relative to their population.
God unconditionally promised to bless those who bless Abraham & his offspring, and to curse those who curse Abraham.
The continued existence of the Jewish people, despite ongoing efforts to eliminate them, for approx. 4000 years is proof of the existence of God.
From Genesis 12: 6-7, we see the following:
Abraham passes into the land of Canaan, which is part of what becomes Israel.
God appears to Abraham at the City of Shechem, which is now part of the West Bank.
Even though the Canaanites were living in the land God unconditionally promised that He was giving it to Abraham’s offspring.
The Hebrew word used for “land” is “erets” and it refers to actual land, as in earth/dirt.
The gift of the land to Abraham’s offspring was repeated by God in Genesis 13:14-15.
In Genesis 14, the kings of the surrounding area take Lot captive.
Abraham forms the 1st Jewish army consisting of 318 men.
They chase down the kings to an area north of Damascus and rescue Lot, his people, & his possessions.
Shortly after that, Abraham is shown love, care & support by God.
In that God brings Melchizedek, a type of Christ, to comfort & bless Abraham.
In Genesis 15:1, God tells Abraham to not fear and says that He will be Abraham’s shield and that His reward will be very great.
In Genesis 15:7-16, God confirms the promise of the land and seals it as a blood covenant.
In Genesis 15:17-21, God describes the land that He will give to Abraham’s offspring.
The land ranged from the Nile river, which is in Egypt, all the way to the Euphrates river, which is in modern day Iraq, and God describes the area of the land being given as encompassing the areas occupied by many other people groups: the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.
In Genesis 17:1-8, the promise of the land is repeated again by God.
He says that it will be an everlasting possession.
Deuteronomy 32:8 tells us that God divided up the lands of the earth amongst mankind, and fixed the borders they were to occupy, and that this land was their inheritance.
Deuteronomy 32:9 says that God’s portion of the land/His inheritance is His people/Jacob.
Deuteronomy 32:10 referrs to Israel the apple of God’s eye
Deuteronomy 7:6 tells us that God chose the Jewish people, out of all the peoples of the earth to be holy and to be His treasured possession.
The word “Holy” there does not mean perfect, but rather set apart for a specific purpose.
In Romans 3:2, we see that part of that purpose was to bring us the Word of God which reveals His nature, character, and laws to us.
The Bible also shows that through the Jewish people a Savior was given to the entire world.
Our Savior, Jesus, is Jewish.
Deuteronomy 7:7-8 says that God did not choose the Jewish people because they were numerous or by implication because of anything about them.
Rather, it says that He chose them because He loved them.
And wanted to keep the promises He had made to their forefathers, like Abraham.
So, part of why they were chosen was to show that God is a promise keeping God.
And that He makes covenants & will not break them.
Or, in other words, that He is faithful an trustworthy, speaking specifically of God’s promises to the Jewish people.
Romans 11:28 says that despite initially rejecting the Gospel they are still loved by God for the sake of their forefathers.
Romans 11:29 reminds us that the gifts & the calling of God are irrevocable.
In Zechariah 2:7-8, speaking of the people of Israel, God says that they are His people, and that he who touches them, touches the apple of His eye.
The apple of the eye is basically the center of one’s eye.
If someone were to be touched there, they would most certainly react in a very protective way.
God will do the same when the people of Israel are attacked.
Isaiah 40-43 contain many promises to Israel.
God will tend them as His flock, like a shepherd & carry them in His bosom; Is. 40:11.
He has chosen the offspring of Abraham; Is. 41:9.
He will be with them, strengthen, help & uphold them; Is. 41:10.
All those against them shall be put to shame & perish; Is. 41:11.
God will be their Redeemer; Is. 41:14.
He will turn them into a threshing sledge, & they will crush their enemies; Is. 41:15.
He will be with them through all their difficulties; Is. 43:2.
He will give up other nations for them; Is. 43:3.
They are precious in His eyes; Is. 43:4.
He will gather them together from afar; Is. 43:5-7.
In Isaiah 43: 15, God says that He is the Creator of Israel.
God’s chastisement of Israel for its sin of turning from Him is talked about in Isaiah 43-44.
But, God then says in Is. 44:3-5 that He will bring them back to Himself and will pour out His Spirit on them and will redeem & forgive them; Is. 44:22.
God’s chastisement of Israel for its sin is not a sign that He has forsaken them, but rather shows that He loves them, because God disciplines & chastises those whom He loves; Heb. 12:6.
Ezekiel 37:14 tells us that God will one day bring Israel back to the land.
Ezekiel 37:22 says that He will do this by gathering them up from the nations to which they have gone and will bring them to “their own land.” Again, reiterating God’s will that this be their land.
This is precisely what God has done in the last 75 years.
And Ezekiel 37:14 then says that He will then pour out His Spirit on them, which means that they will soon come to life spiritually.
So the people of Israel come back to the land physically first, which is pictured by the dry bones in the land that Ezekiel speaks off, and then, after that, they will come spiritually alive.
Ezekiel 36:22 says that it is not for the sake of the people of Israel that God will do all of this, but rather for the sake of God’s Holy name, and as a way to show all the world that He is Lord.
Along with all of this, God will make the land which was desolate, which Israel was for hundreds of years, come alive & be restored.
Ezekiel 36:37-38 says that part of the restoration will be that it will be filled with flocks of Jewish people.
The blessing of the land coming alive and being restored is not for the benefit of the land, but for God’s people who will be in the land.
This is seen clearly in Ezekiel 36:8 which says. “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield fruit to My people Israel, for they will soon come home.”
Psalm 51:18 encourages those with a repentant heart to pray that God would do good to Zion and build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Psalm 69:35 says that God will save Zion and build up the cities of Jerusalem.
Psalm 69:36 promises that the offspring of God’s servants shall inherit Zion & dwell in it.
God’s love, care, & concern for Zion is expressed all through the Psalms and the Prophets of the Hebrew Bible.
Messiah will come from Zion (Is. 59:20, Rom. 11:26).
And will come back to Zion upon His 2nd coming; Rev. 14:1.
God is exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem & Zion; Zech. 1:14, 8:2.
Those who hate Zion will be put to shame; Ps. 129:5.
Ps. 122:6 tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem
In Psalm 147, we see that it is God:
Who builds up Jerusalem; Vs. 2.
And gathers the outcasts of Israel; Vs. 2.
And that He deals with Israel like no other nation; Vs. 20.
Jeremiah 29:11 is a promise made specifically to the Jewish people, but which is available to all who come to God by faith. It says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, and not for evil, and to give you a future and a hope.”
In Jeremiah 31:35-37, we see that God’s unwavering love for Israel is likened to the reliability of His natural laws and the order He has built into the universe.
Since our God has such an enduring and protective love for Israel & the Jewish people.
We, as Christians, of all people, should also have a great love for them, because as our hearts love them, we reflect God’s heart & His covenant keeping nature.
This heart is reflected in Romans 9:1-5, where Paul says that he wishes that if he could, he would forfeit his own salvation for their sake, so that they would come to Christ.
Romans 10:1 tells us to desire & pray for the salvation of Jewish people.
And Romans 11:1-5 reminds us that God has not rejected them, but will save a remnant of them, and that He will do so by grace, which again, will reveal His character.
Although, as 2 Corinthians 3:12-15 says, there is a veil over their hearts & minds with respect to Christ.
Verse 16 assures us that will be lifted simply by turning to Him.
Indeed, Zechariah 12:10 says that God will give them a spirit of grace & mercy.
So that they will one day look on Him whom they have pierced, & weep.
The day will come when all Israel will be saved by looking to Jesus. Right now we look to Israel, the apple of God’s eye, and we pray for the Jewish people. We pray for their God given right to live in their land. And we pray for peace, knowing completely well, that perfect peace will not come until Jesus comes again. So, Lord Jesus come!
People and organizations we have relationships who are bringing support to Israel:
www.chosenpeople.com - our friend Mitch Glaser works with Chosen people International to bring spiritual guidance to Jewish people in Israel.
www.naamat.org - our friend Marcy McKenzie works with NA’AMAT to bring material aid to women, youth, and families in Israel.