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It seems that whenever you look or listen to the world news, Israel is always depicted as the "bad guy". They are depicted as the fault of most of the problems in the Middle East. And instead of diminishing, the threats and accusations are increasing.
Let's go back to the beginning of the Bible and look at a few things.
We begin with God making the universe. He made the world, He made the animals and He made man and woman. What did He tell Adam?
- "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."
(Genesis 2:16-17 NIV)
So at this point, Adam was obedient to the Lord. I would assume that he was somewhat content, but the Lord saw that it was not good for him to be alone so He made a woman for him - Eve (Genesis 2:21-25). Adam was still obedient to the Lord and passed on to Eve the "rules" that the Lord had given him.
Sometime before the following, Satan (assumed to have been the angel Lucifer) had a falling out with the Lord. He wanted to place himself above the Lord God Almighty (see Isaiah 14:12-21). So he was cast out of heaven to the Earth. He was angry with God. He became a murderer and the father of lies (see John 8:44). And because God loves his creations (us) and Satan does not like God, one way to get back at God is to go after those that God loves - God's creations that have the power to reason and make up their own minds - people - us - humans.
In the Garden of Eden Satan took the form of a serpent and tempted Eve to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden (the tree of knowledge of good and evil). God had told them that they would die if they ate it, but the serpent told them they would not die, but would know good and evil. So Eve took a bite of the "forbidden fruit". She then talked Adam into trying it. That was not a wise decision.
So Adam and Eve’s bodies did not die at that point. They did gain the knowledge of good and evil. But their bodies started to age. This is something that they never knew in the Garden of Eden. They also lost something else - the communion with God that they had in the Garden. This is what God was talking about when He told them they would die if they ate from that tree. This is what we call spiritual death – separation from God.
But the Lord wasn't through with mankind because of what Adam and Eve did. The Lord made a provision where mankind could regain the communion with God that we once had. When God reprimanded the serpent, He said the woman's seed would bruise the serpent's head, even though the serpent would bruise the heel of the woman's seed (Genesis 4:14-15). Jesus Christ (the seed from the woman) would be hurt by the serpent (Satan) but the serpent’s head would be hurt by the woman’s seed (by Jesus the Christ).
Because of their disobedience Adam and Eve were ushered out of the Garden of Eden and had to work for a living. They would also die - that is their bodies would die. This is something that they had no knowledge of before except when God told them that they would die if they ate of the tree in the middle of the garden.
But even as the Lord drove them from the Garden, He still loved them and made provisions for them to be cleansed from the sin of disobedience to the Lord. Satan would be punished for what he had done.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.
Genesis 3:15
But down through the ages, there have been people who have tried to be obedient to the Lord: Noah, Moses, Abraham, Esther, David, various prophets and many others.
One of the greatest was Abram, who the Lord later called Abraham. Abram was obedient to the Lord. (see Genesis 12:1 to 25:1-11).
The blessings that the Lord gave Abraham and his descendants are found throughout the Old Testament.
Abraham was faithful to the Lord. The Lord told Abram (before his name was changed to Abraham) to leave the country where he was living and go with his family to a place that the Lord would show him. The Lord didn't even tell him where it was at the time. The Lord also told him that He would make a great nation of Abram and that he would be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-5).
So Abram just took off because the Lord told him too. He didn't know where he was going - just that he was going because the Lord told him to. But he was obedient to the Lord.
Later, the Lord gave Abram a promise where He told him he would be heir to many many people; as many as the stars in the sky.
- 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
- 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:5-6
The Lord also gave him a prophecy about his seed (his people).
- 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Genesis 15:13-16
Then the Lord made a covenant with Abram telling him the borders of the land that the Lord will give his seed.
- 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” Genesis 15:18-21
Abrams son Ishmael was born. However, Ishmael was not the offspring of Abram and Sarai, he was the offspring of Abram and their handmade Hagar.
The Lord changed Abram’s name to Abraham (Genesis 17:5) and Sarai’s name to Sarah (Genesis 17:15).
The Lord told Abraham that His covenant was to be made through Isaac, Sarah and Abraham's future child. Sarah was 90 years old at this time and Abraham was 99 years old (Genesis 17:17,24). Now when Abraham was told that he and Sarah would have a child, he laughed at the thought of a 99 year old man and a 90 year old woman having a child. But he eventually believed the Lord. Isaac was not even conceived at this time, but was born about a year later (Genesis 17:21).
So the covenant was to be through Isaac, not Ishmael. However, the Lord did bless Ishmael (Genesis 17:20) because of Abraham.
This promise given to Abraham was repeated to his son Isaac in Genesis 26:3-5. The reason the Lord gave for giving him the promise was
- 5because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions. (Genesis 26:5)
The Lord also told this promise to Abraham's grandson, Jacob in Genesis 28:13b-14.
The provision that the Lord made to us humans to restore communion with God was to be through Jesus Christ, God's only Son. Up to the time that Jesus Christ was born and a little after, Satan tried his best to destroy the blood-line leading up to Jesus' birth.
Can you imagine how Satan must feel when he sees the Lord blessing these people? Satan can see all the blessings and prophesies for Israel and the Jewish people and it drives him nuts. So he tries to either wipe them out as described in the book of Esther or the 2nd World War or the present time in the Middle East or he tries to discredit them. The Muslim countries are saying that they want to wipe Israel off the face of the map. In fact, the PLO maps do not even show Israel on them.
Through Abraham, the Jews were blessed and became His chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6-7). Because they were His chosen people, Satan has tried very hard to eliminate them from the living. After Jesus was crucified and ascended into Heaven, Satan has continued to try to eliminate them, but now he is also going after the Christians. This is especially true today because time is so very short before Jesus comes again. So Satan is on the "warpath".
Down through the ages there have been those who have believed in the Lord and obeyed His word. The whole world was blessed when Jesus came through the Jews to teach us more clearly how we should adhere to the Word. Some listened and some didn't. So there were believers who believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah that was foretold (these were later called Christians) and there were those who didn't (the Jews who were not Christians).
Jesus was born into a Jewish family. He came to the Jews first. His ministry was to the Jews (Matthew 15:24). But the Jews (as a whole) rejected Him and crucified Him. Many of the Jews did accept Jesus, however not enough to sway all of the Jewish people. So some of Jesus' disciples took the gospel to the non-Jews who, later, became known as Christians.
This is pretty much as it is today. The Christians believe in the one God - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Christians believe that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man. He was God living among men for a short time. In other words, Jesus Christ is our Messiah. The Jews are still awaiting for the Messiah. So they do not believe that Jesus Christ is their Messiah.
So because Christians do believe that Jesus Christ is their Messiah, they have a way to regain full communion with God the Father. Jesus Christ said that He and the Father are one (John 10:30). Jesus also said that there is only one way to the Father and that is through Him.
- 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
So because there is only one way to the Father (through Jesus Christ) and the Christians know about it, then an enemy of God (Satan) would want to keep others from knowing about Jesus and what He did for us. To do it Satan would want to keep the promise from being fulfilled. It was made to the chosen people. If he could keep the promise from being fulfilled then God would be a failure in their eyes. Keep in mind that Satan wants to hurt God in any way he can. He would try to discredit Christians or eliminate them. So Satan will try to sway all Christians away from belief in Jesus as their Savior or sway the rest of the world to not believe the Christians because he knows this will hurt God the Father. The Jews believe in the same God that the Christians believe in and they will eventually come to realize that they crucified their Savior (Zechariah 12:10-14). At this time they will come, as a whole nation, to realize that they crucified the Savior that they had been looking for all this years. (Zechariah 12:10)
After Jesus ascended up to Heaven, the Christians were left to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ to the rest of the world. This is pretty much the way it is today. The Christians are sending missionaries throughout the world to tell the good news to those who have not heard it yet.
So what does this have to do with the Jews?
If we look at Israel now, it's a small country, only slightly larger than the size of the state of New Jersey. What land they still have they are being told to give away. How could this be a fulfillment of God's promise?
But . . .
God did NOT forget His promise that He made to Abraham - for it was an everlasting promise. It was made to Abraham and his offspring through Isaac. (Genesis 17:7-8 & Genesis 17:19)
So today, the Jews are being persecuted and so are the Christians. Why?
Are the Jews perfect? No.
Are those in Israel all doing the right thing? No.
Are the Christians all perfect and doing the right things? No.
So what is the constant here?
God made a covenant with Abraham many many years ago. Why?
Because Abraham was obedient to the Lord.
- 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he [God] credited it to him as righteousness. (see Genesis 15:5-6 NIV)
The promise was again affirmed to Isaac.
- 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions. (Genesis 26:4-5)
The key word here is obedient or obedience. The whole world has been blessed by the fact that Abram/Abraham was obedient to the Lord and believed Him. Wow! The Lord still honors His promise from thousands of years ago. Now that's really something!
Let's take a look at the promise that the Lord gave Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.
The Lord had said to Abram,
- 1The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:1-3)
The promise says:
- The Lord will make Abraham into a great nation (v2)
- The Lord will bless Abraham. (v2)
- The Lord will make Abraham's name great and he will be a blessing. (v2)
- The Lord will bless those who bless Abraham (v3)
- The Lord will curse those who curse Abraham (v3)
- All the people on earth will be blessed through Abraham. (v3)
- Genesis 15:5-6 says: 5 He [God] took him outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars - ”if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be.
- The promise in Genesis 15:5-6 says:
Abraham's offspring would be as many as the stars in the sky.
- Again to Abraham's son, Isaac, in Genesis 26:3b-5: 3bFor to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, g 5 because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.
The promise says:
- The Lord gave all the lands that He told Abraham about to Isaac and his descendants. (v3)
- The Lord confirmed His oath that He swore to Abraham. (v3)
- The Lord will make Isaac's descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. (v4)
- Isaac's descendants will be given all the lands told about. (v4)
- All the nations of the earth will be blessed through Isaac's offspring. (v4)
- Again to Abraham's grandson Jacob in Genesis 28:13b-14: 13bI will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
- The promise to Jacob says:
- Jacob and his descendants would get the land where he was (v13)
- Jacob's descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth (v14)
- Jacob's descendants would cover the whole earth (v14)
- All peoples on the earth would be blessed through Jacob and his offspring. (v14)
- Wow! Now that's a lot of promises for the Lord to keep. They're not all completed yet either. Just look at the promises that the Lord made. Why did the Lord pick a really small nation like Israel?
- 6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. 7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. (Deuteronomy 7:6-7 NIV)
We must keep in mind that the Jews are God’s chosen people. Jesus was sent to the Jews. Christians came from the Jews. The first Christians were Jews – and they spread Christianity throughout the world. So Christians shouldn’t get too “high and mighty” and think that we are better than the Jews (or anyone else).
Let’s look at the promises again:
God gave much land to Abraham’s seed (Genesis 15:18-21)
This was reaffirmed to Isaac, Abrahams son. (Genesis 26:3b-5)
This was reaffirmed to Jacob, Abrahams grandson. (Genesis 28:13b-14)
The Lord also told them that their descendants would be numerous.
All people would be blessed through Jacob and his offspring (Genesis 28:14)
These promises haven’t all happened yet.
But Satan still wants to get back at God. The only way to hurt the Lord is to hurt what God loves. If Satan can keep God’s promises from coming to fruition, then he may discredit God in the eyes of the world.
BUT
God loves His creations – people. He CHOSE the Jewish people. They are His chosen people, and as such, Satan wants to hurt them because he knows it hurts God. Satan is going after all Christians and if he can keep the Jews from believing that Jesus is the Messiah they’ve been waiting for he will be hurting God.
The rest of the world reaps the blessings that were originally given to the Jewish people. Jesus, our Saviour came to the Jewish people. The rest of the world reaps the blessing that Jesus brought and gave to us.
Satan wants to keep people from reaping the blessings from His promise. Satan has tried this several times in the past and even the present. Since the promise comes through the Jews, then getting rid of the Jews would get rid of the promise. Keep in mind that the promise is to ALL the people on earth. So understanding what Jesus did for each one of us is important to be able to tell others. If we die before accepting Jesus as our Savior then we will not take part in the blessings.
So the 3 major components in being “saved” are:
- Maintaining the Jews to maintain the blessings that were given to Abraham thousands of years ago.
- Maintaining the Christians who are distributing the blessing of the Good News to others throughout the world.
- Of course the third is believing that Jesus IS the Son of God and that He paid the penalty for all of our sins. He is our savior. All we have to do is believe.
- Getting rid of either the Jews or Christians entirely is a losing situation for us because no one would receive the blessings from the Lord. But we know that won't happen. God said what the boundaries of Israel would be and that the Jews would be much more numerous than they are now. So the promise has not been completely fulfilled.
It's hard to believe that the Israelites will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. But that's what the Lord said.
Presently Israel is only a tiny country a little larger than the size of the state of New Jersey. They are being told to give up much of their land - to give up the land they seized in the 1967 war. So they won the land fair and square. Never before has a nation that has won land in a war situation been told to give back the land that was won. This is just unheard of.
But Satan will continue to try to eradicate the Jews and Christians until he is taken out of the picture. He knows scripture better than most of us and can twist it around to sound like what he want us to believe. He has deceived many people and will deceive many more before the end. But those who keep their eyes on the Lord will not believe the lies that Satan will use to try to deceive us
So let's get back to the original question: Why are Jews and Christians at odds with the rest of the world? It's very simple. Jews and Christians believe in the same God. Christians have come to the knowledge of what Jesus Christ has done for them. Jesus was obedient to the Father and paid the penalty for our sins. Christians accept this fact. Jews believe in the same God and will eventually come to realize that He is the Messiah that they have been waiting for all these years.(Zechariah 12:10-14)
- 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father, whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. (I John 2:22-23)
- So the turmoil in the world today is a Spiritual battle between Satan and God the Father. Satan is doing all he can do to keep us from reaping the blessing from God the Father – which is Jesus Christ our savior. This blessing came through the Jews to the Gentiles (us). Keeping the conflicts between the Jews/Israelies and the rest of the world is Satans aim and is coming out in AntiSemitism. This is seen in many forms today. So since Satan cannot hurt God directly, he will try to hurt Him by hurting those He loves and by trying to nullify the promise that God made to Abraham so long ago. Satan is doing all he can to pull people away from the one true God.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and what He said in the Bible.
Jesus is the only way to get to heaven!
I added this following which tells what and why Satan is going after the believers in Jesus Christ.
The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon (Revelation 12:1-17)
12 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head
a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns,
and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.
And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was
born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to
God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God,
that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his
angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the
great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world;
he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God,
and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God
day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word
of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you
who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you,
having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
The Woman Persecuted
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
(Revelation 12:1-17)
So what is it that so enrages Satan about the Jewish people?
God gave His promise to them. If Satan can get the promise broken, then he wouild promote the idea that God can’t keep His promise.
But we know otherwise. God WILL always keep His promises.
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