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Can A Nation Be Born In A
Day?
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Wednesday
and Thursday are two very significant days for Israel - a day of mourning
followed by a day of rejoicing. Wednesday is the annual Memorial Day for all
those who have died in Israel's struggle to exist, either in the armed forces
or as a result of terrorism. It is a day of solemn recognition that there have
been many casualties in the birth and continued existence of the State of
Israel.
As
it often seems to be in the Jewish way of life, the bitter and the sweet are
juxtaposed - almost without time to catch a breath. Thursday is Israel's
Independence Day, when the nation breaks out into a huge party to celebrate its
reestablishment after a 2000 year exile.
The
Sound of Sirens
The
Jewish day starts the evening of the day before... so Memorial Day officially
begins tomorrow night, Tuesday evening at 20:00, with a siren that lasts for
one minute, and a ceremony at the Western Wall. On Wednesday morning at 11:00,
a siren will wail throughout the land for two minutes, and everybody will stop
what they are doing and stand in silence. Even people driving on highways will
get pull over and get out of their car in memory of all those who have
perished.
23,447
soldiers have been killed in the line of duty leaving many thousands of
families bereaved, and well over 3500 have died as a result of terror attacks
since 1948. There are services to commemorate those who have fallen and to
honour their memory.
Then
later that evening, the mood shifts 180 degrees, and celebration erupts on the
streets for Independence day.
Miracle
Birth
The
British began to remove their troops towards the end of April 1948, 67 years
ago. On May 14 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for
Palestine, announced the formation of the new state of Israel. He said, "The Nazi Holocaust, which engulfed
millions of Jews in Europe, proved anew the urgency of the reestablishment of
the Jewish State, which would solve the problem of Jewish homelessness by
opening the gates to all Jews and lifting the Jewish people to equality in the
family of nations."
Ben
Gurion saw the horrors of the Holocaust as paving the way to the birth of a
Jewish State, and he was not alone in making such a suggestion. Would the
miracle of the recreation of Israel ever have happened without such an atrocity
on a scale that we can still barely comprehend? These questions are impossible
for earth-bound humanity to answer, but again, we see the closely bound bitter
and sweet, almost too close for comfort.
And
what was a day of astonishing joy for the Jewish people was also a day of
sorrow and anguish for the Arabs who suddenly no longer owned the land they had
been living in for generations. Again, joy and pain uncomfortably closely
together. Whilst we can rejoice in God's fulfilled promises and a new start for
Israel, we also know that this day is not an easy one for all of her
inhabitants.
God
still cares deeply for the Palestinians and seeks to give them their blessing,
hope and salvation. Whilst many Arab Christians will struggle with celebrating this
day, there are numbers of Arab believers who truly rejoice in God's physical
restoration of Israel, and seek her spiritual restoration promised in the
scripture. This too, is a miracle, and the handiwork of an awesome God.
For
God had determined that he would regather His people and plant them back in the
land he had chosen for them. And He promised that it would happen in one day
flat:
"Who has ever heard of such
things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day, or
a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she
gives birth to her children. Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give
delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over
her." Isaiah 66:8-10
The
Amplified Bible notes about this verse give this comment: "Never in
the history of the world had such a thing happened before--but God keeps His
word. As definitely foretold here and in Ezekiel 37:21, 22, Israel became a
recognized nation, actually "born in
one day."
After
being away from their homeland for almost 2,000 years, the Jews were given a
national homeland in Palestine by the Balfour Declaration in November, 1917. In
1922, the League of Nations gave Great Britain the mandate over Palestine. On
May 14, 1948, Great Britain withdrew her mandate, and immediately Israel was
declared a sovereign state, and her growth and importance among nations became
astonishing.
Worth
The Wait
"For the revelation awaits an
appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." Habakkuk 2:3
Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." Habakkuk 2:3
The
church fathers struggled to know how to interpret the numerous references to
Israel after hundreds of years had gone by, and the nation of Israel was
apparently no more. After the destruction of the temple, the Jewish people were
scattered far and wide, and with every passing century it seemed less and less
likely that the situation would, or could, ever change.
How
to make sense of those promises for this nation that seemed to have disappeared
for good? The solution they landed upon was to claim all the references and
promises should be transferred to the church. Israel had rejected the Messiah,
so God had rejected them, and now the church must surely be the true Israel.
"I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no
means!" Paul strongly rejects this way of thinking in Romans 11,
but it's easy to see why it did look like a forlorn situation. You and I have
the privilege denied to millions of believers who have lived and died before us
- we know that this prophecy has indeed finally come to pass. We can know that
God's promises to Israel still stand.
God
promised to regather the exiles from the four corners of the earth and he
promised to reestablish Israel. It just took an awfully long time. People gave
up and got confused during the wait. What a great reminder this is for us to
hold on to God's promises and not give up! Though it linger, wait for it; it
will certainly come. Even though the spiritual awakening of the Jewish people
seems to be like waking the dead, we must intercede with faith, and not give
up.
God
has promised that revival will come on a huge scale among the Jewish people.
One day they will welcome their Messiah, Yeshua, and say "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!"
Though
it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come. And what a day of celebration that
will be!
Would you want to have a
deeper relationship with God?
God has made it possible
for you to know Him and experience an amazing change in
your own life by receiving His Son, Jesus Christ, and have eternal life.
Say the following
prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins have
separated me from you.
I am truly sorry. I
now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live a new life pleasing to
you.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was
resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and
reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank you that according to your Word,
I am now born again.
Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do
Your will for the rest of my life.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.”
“He
Leadeth Me” Joseph H.
Gilmore
lyrics
1 He leadeth me:
O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate'er I do, where'er I be,
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate'er I do, where'er I be,
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.
Refrain:
He leadeth me, he leadeth me;
by his own hand he leadeth me:
his faithful follower I would be,
for by his hand he leadeth me.
He leadeth me, he leadeth me;
by his own hand he leadeth me:
his faithful follower I would be,
for by his hand he leadeth me.
2 Sometimes mid
scenes of deepest gloom,
sometimes where Eden's flowers bloom,
by waters calm, o'er troubled sea,
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. Refrain
sometimes where Eden's flowers bloom,
by waters calm, o'er troubled sea,
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. Refrain
3 Lord, I would
clasp thy hand in mine,
nor ever murmur nor repine;
content, whatever lot I see,
since 'tis my God that leadeth me. Refrain
nor ever murmur nor repine;
content, whatever lot I see,
since 'tis my God that leadeth me. Refrain
4 And when my
task on earth is done,
when, by thy grace, the victory's won,
e'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
since God through Jordan leadeth me. Refrain
when, by thy grace, the victory's won,
e'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
since God through Jordan leadeth me. Refrain
http://www.oneforisrael.org/blog/145-can-a-nation-be-born-in-a-day
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