Posted by
James Burns on Monday, January 12, 2009 9:42:52 AM
In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem
I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There, I will enter into judgement against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel
For they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land . Joel 3:1,2
“Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The enemy said of you, “Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession.”Therefore prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Because they ravaged and hounded you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s malicious talk and slander, therefore O mountains of Israel hear the word of the Sovereign Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you—this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all of Edom, for with glee and with malice to their hearts they made my land their land their own possession so that they might plunder the pastureland.’ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and ravines, to the ravines and valleys: “This is what the sovereign Lord says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn. Ezekiel 36:1-7
There are many places in the bible that talk about the judgement of the nations who stand against Israel. I wrote in my last post about the disasters that have befallen the United States when our foreign policy towards them was not supportive. Read
The Lord Says " I Will Bless Those Who Bless Israel" . Here I want to discuss what will befall those who come up against Israel and steal their land and try to destroy them.
Every major empire and nation has had a hatred of the Jews. From the Phillistines, Babylonians to modern day Arab states such as Iran. I believe this is due to the fact that the Jewish people are the apple of God's eye. Scripture teaches this fact. So in their jealousy they have come up against them in every way. In their hayday the Jewish people and Israel were a wealthy, prosperous nation. The kings of Israel were given military strength and vast wealth. While God himself has punished His people through out history for their sin, He has never broken His covenant with them.
In the years after the death of Christ we see that the Romans struck down Israel for their insurrection against Rome. The Temple was destroyed and many of the Jews fled the land. During this times the land was passed through many empires and occupations. The Jewish population in Israel was low, most were scattered around the globe. This is were history treats the Jews terriblely.
As the Jews settled in the different countries they were welcomed for their skills and abilities. Many of the countries that the Jews fled to flourished. But as jealousy and fear of being taken over by the Jews bred anti-semitism in many of these countries causing the Jews to flee. That is why today we see Jews as lawyers, doctors etc. because they started taking occupations that use the mind rather than require a home base to practice. In many places Jews were not allowed to own property or businesses. Plus when it came time to flee knowledge is easier to carry than tools. But something happened in our life time.
In 1948 the British gave sovereignty to the land of Israel. Since the Romans for 2000 years the nation did not exist. But during the early twentith century Jews started to migrate back to Israel, as if called by God. As we see the bible states this, that God will call His people home to their land. The problem lies in that people with no claim to the land are trying to take it from them. Stating that they were their first. But in reality as the bible shows the Jews were given this land and inhabited it for thousands of years. No nation of Palestine ever existed. In fact it was the Romans who started calling Israel by that name. The Romans did this to insult the Jews, to take away their nationality. The Romans knew that a great enemy of the Jewish past were the Philistines. So to name the land after them would be an insult. The word is derived from the latin Palestinia, which means Philistia. The Arabic word for Palestinian is Filastin. Which the Arabs say are decended from them, but in actualitiy they are actually decendants of ancient Greeks.
Since it's recognition by the world ,as a nation, Israel has had to fight for everything they have. They have never lost a war with an invader or aggresor since their rebirth in 1948. In the Six Day War Israel fought off three nations Eygpt, Jordan and Syria. In six days the Israeli forces defeated the three armies and had victory. Talk about having God's hand on you, surrounded by three countries bent on your destruction and defying the odds defeating them all.
To this end we as a nation need to take the warning that have been given to us. We have had the natural and man made disasters mentioned in my earlier post as signs of warning. The last thing we need is to be called out on the carpet by God for our actions and have judgement passed on us for our actions against Israel. Rather the Lord should look on us with favor for our treatment of His people. We know what has happened through out history to the ones who did come up against His people. The wrath of God was poured out upon them and it will happen again.