Israel, the True Oppressor in the Middle East, Really?

     The world seems to be turning against Israel more and more every day.  I keep seeing different statistics regarding anti-Semitism being on the rise all over the world.  Even in America, the recent outrageousness that came from long time White House reporter Helen Thomas, proves that people are becoming more bold in their opinions that Israel is the true oppressor in the Middle East.

     Watch the ridiculous statements from Helen Thomas here:

     What these opinions reveal to me is that the world is not only rejecting Israel, but God Himself.  I'm not saying that we need to bow down and obey to everything Israel wishes, but we do need to bow down before our God and give Him our love and respect.  One of the ways in which we honor God is simply by believing His word.

     Here are just a couple of passages that deal with who really owns the land, and how we are to treat Israel:

I will make you a great nation;

     I will bless you
     And make your name great;
     And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
     And I will curse him who curses you;
     And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Genesis 12:2, 3 (NKJV).

On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying:

“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.”

Genesis 15:18 (NKJV).

     Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.’”  

Ezekiel 36:22—26 (NKJV).

Thus says the LORD of hosts:

          “Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east
     And from the land of the west;
          I will bring them back,
     And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
     They shall be My people
     And I will be their God,
     In truth and righteousness.”

Zechariah 8:7, 8 (NKJV).

     The bottom line is that from the very beginning of human history, we rejected God. God then created the nation of Israel so that His word and plan for salvation would be known to the entire world. However, because that nation rejected God and His Messiah, who Himself was God in human flesh, God turned His back on Israel for a time.  

     Regardless of Israel’s disobedience, the above passages from Ezekiel and Zechariah guaranteed that God would one day bring the Jews back into their land. They also guarantee that God will one day restore Israel as a Holy nation. See also Zechariah 12:10.

     This brings us back to the question of who owns the land of Israel. God made it clear to Abraham in the passage from Genesis 15 above. It belongs to Israel. Israel’s neighbors however, hate Israel. Our nation in fact seems to be joining them. We can’t do much about what our nation’s policies are, but we can control what our individual beliefs are.

     Let me urge you to bless the nation of Israel, and pray for their salvation. The fact of what God had said to the Prophet Ezekiel over 2,500 years ago should make you speechless! This is the only nation in the history of the world that has been completely dispersed and destroyed, partially regathered almost 100 hundred years later, dispersed and completely destroyed again 400 more years later, and then regathered again nearly 2,000 years after that!

     It just doesn't happen! But the fact that a man named Ezekiel said this would happen, and that God Himself had told him, we have no choice but to recognize that God’s hand is at work in Israel.

     Take a look at the following video, and if you really believe that Israel is the oppressor, please be open to the fact that you just might be wrong.

     Heed the warning that God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12 above. God keeps His promises. Do not doubt that He will in fact curse those who curse Israel. Know also that the day is coming when much of the world will be cursing Israel to the point of seeking another Holocaust of the Jews, and all those who have rejected God will join in, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:2 (NKJV).

     The existence of Israel, and the hatred of Israel should convince you that the Bible is true. There is no other explanation for their continued existence. Believe that God is real and is actively at work in our world. Moreover, believe that He sent His Messiah, Jesus Christ, to save all those who would repent from sin and put their trust for salvation in Him alone. So most importantly, heed the command Jesus gave when He said, “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15b (NKJV). 

Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?

Chicken-and-Egg Mystery Finally Cracked
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/07/14/chicken-egg-mystery-finally-cracked/?test=latestnews

     Why this is even something to discuss is beyond my comprehension. Once again, science proves what the Bible has been saying all along. Someone had to make the chicken first! 

     To a rational mind, this finding would beg the question, who then made the chicken? I mean, if the egg didn’t make itself, then someone or something had to make it, right? However, the above article indicates (last line in the article) that the big question arising from this discovery is, “It is hoped the discovery leads to the invention of new materials.” 

     The Bible made it very clear who created the first chicken:

So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

Genesis 1:21, 22 (NKJV).

     The Bible also made it very clear that one day people would give up rational thought in favor of whatever their minds would prefer over God:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

2 Timothy 4:3, 4 (NKJV).

     Do you believe that the chickens, and even you, were made through a cosmic collision of space particles? Do you believe that you are an accident, a freak of nature? I personally don’t have enough faith to be an atheist. There is way too much evidence that a Holy and Awesome God made all these creatures and all this stuff around us.

     If you believe there is no God, and that as complex as you are, you were made through the fable of evolution, please reconsider. You don’t  believe that the watch on your wrist came into being all by itself, why would you believe that you did?

     Genesis is not a fable, evolution is.  Here are two excellent websites if you are interested in learning more on the folly of evolution:

Answers In Genesis

http://www.answersingenesis.org/

Institute for Creation Research

http://www.icr.org/    

     Know this too, there will come a day when you will stand before your Creator. His word promises that in this life, you can receive the reward of eternal life by repenting from your sins and trusting that Jesus Christ took the penalty you deserve because of your sins. If you do not, the Bible promises that the day is coming when “the dead [will be] judged according to their works.” Revelation 20:12b (NKJV).

     Before you dismiss this silly article about who came first, consider what works you will be judged for. Have you ever lied? Taken anything that didn’t belong to you, regardless of it’s value? Looked with lust at someone not your spouse? Jesus calls that adultery of the heart. See Matthew 5:27, 28. Have you ever been unrighteously angry? Road rage maybe? Or foolishly angry at your brother or sister? Jesus calls that murder in the heart. See Matthew 5:21, 22.

     Those are just four of the Ten Commandments. The good that you have done might mitigate your sentence on Judgment Day, but it will not erase your guilt for breaking the Law of God. The reason you feel guilty when you do these things is that God put a conscience in your heart to alert you to His law, for the purpose of driving you towards repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

     You are guilty, and you will still be guilty on Judgment Day, no matter how much good you do before you die. But you don't have to be guilty, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (NKJV). Reject the foolishness of this world. Repent from your foolish way and believe in the One who died in your place, then your sins and your guilt will be removed, “As far as the east is from the west.” Psalm 103:12a (NKJV).