"Israel (Part 2)"

Victory Can Be Yours!

Article #48 – “Israel (Part 2)”

            Why is Israel so important?  We left off last week with Genesis chapter 12 where God chose a man to father a new nation.   At the beginning of chapter 12, Abraham’s name is Abram and his wife’s name is Sarai who later becomes Sarah. “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; 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, 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.’” (Gen. 12:1-3)  There is enough in these three verses to convince most people of the need to treat Israel not only as an ally but as our very best friends.

            On a casual reading it does not seem as though there is much in those three verses but, let us analyze them a bit and see if we can find the answer to what should influence believers.  God said for Abram to leave his country, his relatives, and his father’s house and go.  He did go and did almost all that God told him but he disobeyed in one aspect, he took his nephew Lot with him.  That seems a bit trivial, however, that would come back to bite him just as all of our disobedience to God does.  There are definite consequences when we fail to obey God.  God told him to go and Abram went.  What tremendous faith that would have taken.  It is obvious that he believed in God, which makes it somewhat obvious why God chose Abram to father the nation of Israel.

            God told Abram that He would bless him and make his name great.  That means, for one thing, that God will give him many descendants.  Portions of Scripture state that his descendants will number as many as the dust of the earth, stars in the sky or, the sand of the sea shore.  That would be a great family when we consider that his wife Sarai is barren at the age of seventy five.  God said he would show him a land that as far as he could see in any direction, “for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.” (Gen. 13:15)  You would probably agree that forever is a long, long time.

            The part that we should be most concerned about is where God says, “and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.” (Gen. 12:3a)  Do you want to be one of those who bless Israel or one who curses Israel?  This is a covenant made to Abram from God some 6000 years ago and is as valid today as it was the day it was made for God does not change and He certainly will not break His promise.  The promise is not only good for Abram and his descendants but also includes you and me, “and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3b) For me, even though Israel, for the most part, is a secular nation, I will be supportive of them as I would much rather be blessed than cursed by God. 

            You, too, can have victory in Jesus!  More to follow, how are all the families of the earth to be blessed?

Lowell Parrish