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SEVEN REASONS TO SUPPORT ISRAEL "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (Rom. 11:26-29) In a nutshell, that passage is saying that it's wrong to have a bitter attitude towards Israel due to her rejection of Christ, because God is not done with Israel, and when he is done, Israel will be saved. So, praying for and supporting Israel and the Jews is the right thing to do. There are many ways in which one can support the nation of Israel. Spiritually, we support Israel when we pray for her and when we support missionaries who preach the gospel to the nearly 10,000,000 people living there. Politically, we support Israel when we side with her as a nation and when we speak out against leftist policies that usually go against Israel. One can also show support for Israel by helping to send food and needed supplies though the various outreaches that are available, especially the ones to Israeli soldiers and their families. But I'm not going to address that subject today, the subject of HOW to support Israel. Instead, I want to deal with the issue of WHY support Israel? I was reading some online comments recently from secular contributors who really just didn't have a clue about the importance of Israel and why so many Christians favor Israel. One even said, "I just don't get it!" I thought to myself, "That's exactly right. You just don't get it!" You know, there are many things in life that you'll never get until you learn to respect and read and obey God's word. Until then, you'll just be cluelessly wandering through this crazy world, getting your viewpoints and talking points from the likes of CNN, ABC, NPR, CBS, FOX, or maybe even your local newspaper or college professor. We can do better than that, a LOT better than that, if only we'll open our Bibles and see what God has to say. Bear with me for a while as I pass on to you seven reasons for supporting Israel and the Jewish people. WE SUPPORT ISRAEL BECAUSE . . . I. GOD SUPPORTS ISRAEL God himself is the first one to ever utter the name "Israel" when he renamed Jacob in Genesis 32:28. Then his word uses that name 2,300 times by the time we finish the book of Revelation. That's an average of nearly two times per chapter. God calls Israel his firstborn son in Exodus 4:22-23, the apple of his eye in Zechariah 2:8, and his wife in Isaiah 54:6. We're told to bless Israel (Gen. 12:1-3), to pray for and love Israel (Psa. 122:6), and to let Jerusalem come into our minds (Jer. 51:50). Whether we fully understand it or not, it's not that hard to just read and respect the fact that God has a special relationship with Israel. Israel is an enemy of the gospel, yes, but she is also beloved for the fathers' sakes. That is, she is beloved because God made promises to the patriarchal fathers, and those promises are still in effect. Even in heaven, God has a city that he likes to call "Jerusalem," and he says she is the mother of us all (Gal. 4:26). He could call that city Christianville, Lambsland, Kingsland, Gloryland, or anything else, but he likes that word "Jerusalem." Well then, we ought to like it too. II. SATAN HATES ISRAEL The record of history shows emphatically that Satan declared war against the Jewish people about 4,000 years ago and that he isn't going to stop until Jesus Christ stops him in Revelation 20:10. After all, the Jews didn't get the nickname "the wandering Jew" because Satan loves them. He hates Israel with a passion, so his war against the Jew has continued fervently for the past 4,000 years. He started by giving Abraham trouble in Genesis 12-14, then he keeps it up clear through the book of Revelation. He had the Egyptians enslave Israel for 400 years. Then he tried to get Balaam to curse Israel. Then he afflicted Israel with heathen like the Moabites, the Canaanites, the Midianites, the Philistines, the Amalekites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes and Persians, and the Greeks. Then after Calvary he used the ancient Romans, the Catholics, Spain, England, the Protestant Reformers, Russia, Germany, the Arab nations, the United Nations, and probably the United States before it's all over. In the great tribulation, as soon as Satan is cast down to earth, he goes immediately to make war with Israel (Rev. 12:13). Then, after being released from a 1,000 year confinement to the bottomless pit, he goes up to attack ONE CITY: JERUSALEM (Rev. 20:7-8)!Well, if the devil hates Israel that much, then we ought to line up with the Lord on the other side and love Israel. III. WE WANT TO BE BLESSED, NOT CURSED Genesis 12:1-3 is pretty clear: "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." If you want God to bless you, then bless Israel. If you curse Israel, then God will curse you just as he has cursed Israel's enemies for thousands of years. I prefer God's blessings, so I'll support Israel. IV. SALVATION CAME FROM ISRAEL If for no other reason, I would support Israel for the simple reason that she birthed Jesus Christ into this world, without whom we would all be headed for a burning hell! Jesus himself said, "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). Every Christian on earth ought to have a special, warm place in his heart for the Jewish people, and those who don't are messed up in the head, in the heart, or both. The nation of Israel is part of our spiritual family, and true families care for one another and look out for one another. V. THE BIBLE CAME FROM ISRAEL Paul said in Romans 3:1-2, "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." The Bible is a Jewish book from start to finish. Even the book of Job has Jewish connections, being written in Hebrew by Elihu, who was a Buzite related to Abraham (Job 32:2; Gen. 22:20-21). Just think about that. Without Israel, we have no Bible! No Genesis, no Psalms, no Isaiah 53, no gospels, no Pauline epistles and no book of Revelation! Man, this crazy world is messed up enough WITH the Bible. Who knows what things would be like without it! We ought to love and support Israel, because our Bible came from Israel. VI. WORLD PEACE COMES FROM ISRAEL The Bible record is that there will be no world peace until Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, returns, destroys the wicked, and then establishes his glorious kingdom on earth. When he does this, his peaceful kingdom will not be headquartered in Washington, Moscow, London, Rome, Peking, Beijing or Babylon. Take your Bible and turn to Psalms 76:1-3: "In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah." When Jesus sits as King in Israel, war will cease from the earth! Let me show you a couple more. Get Psalms 46:9: "He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire." He says that right after talking about "the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High" in verse 4. That sure ain't Rome or Babylon! Let's see what it is . . . Get Matthew 5:34-35: "But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King." You know what "Jerusalem" means, don't you? That "salem" means PEACE, and the world will know nothing of it until the Prince of Peace returns and rules from JERUSALEM. Okay, one more. Isaiah 2:1-4: "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." That's clear enough, is it not? The world will have peace when Israel has peace, so if you like peace and stability and tranquility, then support Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. VII. ETERNITY HONORS ISRAEL Finally, turn to Revelation 21, verses 10-12: "And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel." Well, well! How about that! After the devil and all the wicked are in hell and we are all in eternity with all things made new, THERE IS ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM! America is gone! England, Russia, Germany, China and Korea are gone! Iraq and Iran are gone! Rome, Babylon, New York and LA are gone! But there stands Jerusalem with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on her gates! Hey, we might as well support Israel, because we're going to be spending a LONG TIME with her! Wouldn't it be terrible to be all wrong about Israel and never support or pray for Israel, and then in eternity you get reminded of your indifference every time you see New Jerusalem and her twelve gates? I think I'd much rather be a friend of Israel today so that when I come and go from New Jerusalem in eternity I feel like I'm visiting an old friend that I've known and loved for a long time. We'd better be friends of Israel, because we're going spend eternity with her.