Israel: The Apple of God’s Eye
“For the LORD’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.” Deuteronomy 32:9-10
Sometimes when I hear news on television or read it online about Israel, I am not sure if it is a current newscast or something that I read in the Old Testament. All one has to do is to change a few names, and the situations and events are about the same. Israel has a very long history of battles, wars, and destruction from their beginning as God chose Jacob, renaming him Israel, to be the father of twelve sons who would become the twelve tribes of Israel some 2,000 years prior to the birth of Christ. Even before that, God chose Abraham, a Gentile, to leave his home in the region of Babylon and go to a place that God had chosen for His own people who would descend from Abraham and Sarah, his wife.
God told Abraham that He would bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. All families of the earth would be blessed because of Abraham’s obedience. Everyone who is familiar with the Old Testament knows that Israel, even being God’s chosen, was not without troubles and heartaches. There were multitudes of enemies who fought them, and some of them dominated Israel for years. They still have enemies. For several years, Israel has been in relative peace with their neighbors, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and other middle eastern nations, but there has always been an underlying suspicion of them because all the other nations are mostly worshipers of false gods. That is the same as it was 2,000 years ago. The Philistines, who some scholars believe are the ancestors of the current day Palestinians, were one of Israel’s major enemies, particularly during the time of King David. All the countries who identify as Moslem hate Israel. Many want to see them destroyed.
We have heard today how that Hamas, a terrorist organization of the Palestinians, has attacked Israel, and many on both sides have been killed. We know that there is another war between Russia and Ukraine which has been going on for over a year and a half, and thousands have been killed. Jesus told us that when the end times draw near that there would be wars and rumors of wars, however, we know that there have been wars since man was created. But, with all the other things that have been happening in our nation and in the world, particularly the turning away from God like never before, these wars could be the very ones of which Jesus was speaking in the 24th chapter of Matthew.
No matter how hard the politicians and leaders try, there will never be a lasting peace upon the earth until Jesus returns. It is commendable to strive for peace, and God tells us that peacemakers are blessed by Him (Matthew 5:9). The only real and lasting peace comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. God has not abandoned Israel. They are still God’s chosen people, the “apple of His eye”. That has not changed. Because they abandoned Him 2,000 years ago, the Gentiles, that’s you and me, were given the gospel and allowed to become His children. It seems that the world is on a trajectory toward a showdown with Satan, and things are moving swiftly. We are not going back to the “good old days”. Israel will eventually recognize Jesus as their Messiah. But for now, times will get tougher, wars will expand, and people, Jews and Gentiles, will suffer, but one day all evil will be banished, and those who believe in Christ will experience a peace that has never been known by mankind.