An overwhelming reason to respect Israel.

I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back because I have compassion on them, and they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them.

Zechariah 10:6

Politics aside, there is a spiritual reason for protecting and supporting the interests of the Jewish people, particularly the state of Israel. What they have become is God’s purpose and design. When He regathered them to the Promised Land after the exile, He made it clear that this was all His work, and it would not fail. Read all 12 verses of this chapter carefully. God means to do something special and permanent in Israel (Zechariah 10:1-12). Respect God. Respect His work. Respect Israel.

I know that Israel and the Middle East conflicts radiating from there have been a political hotspot for generations now. That is probably as it should be. The place has been a political and religious volcano for millennia. That is not going to stop by the work of any kind of human diplomacy. God is strengthening and building the place. His plan is to jam more people in there than the land can hold. Really (Zechariah 10:10). It is only going to get more volatile.

I am disheartened when politicians diss Israel. I feel like they are striking at the root of the Abrahamic Covenant, where God said that He would curse those who curse Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:3). I will choose to respect and honor Israel in my thinking. I know God is doing something with His people Israel still. Romans 9 – 11 make it clear that although the perspective has changed with the work of the church, God is still clearly working among the Jews for His glory and purposes. Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews, and the Savior of the world. He is a shared Savior to all who will acknowledge Him. Proclaiming the Messiah, praying for the peace of Jerusalem, and respecting Israel are important when we look at biblical “Israelology”.

Technorati Tags: Zechariah,Providence,Israel

God’s ongoing love for His people

Thus says the LORD of hosts: behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.

Zechariah 8:7-8

This promise began to be fulfilled with the return of the Jews from Babylon and the slow resettling of Jerusalem. But God saw something much bigger than they were experiencing. He saw a city that was bustling with activity… a true metropolis filled with Jews who feared and followed Him. The Jerusalem of Zechariah and his contemporaries was more like a small frontier town. It had not fully re-established itself. That is why this promise came.

Of course, by the time of Jesus, Jerusalem was again an urban crossroads. It was so strategic that the Romans stationed troops there and administered its affairs. After Christ’s ascension, during the Feast of Pentecost, it was a world crossroads so cosmopolitan that the apostles were able to reach a cross-section of the entire Roman World and Near East with just one sermon in Acts 2. And despite two millennia of ups and downs, wars, occupations, and day-to-day life, Jerusalem is still at the center of attention for many in my world. It is a city holy to three major world religions. And it is still loved by God.

I pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The scriptures call us to do so. But I know that one day the Prince of Peace will fully rule from there. It remains a holy city, though with all the conflict and bombing, I’ll hold off my visit until Jesus takes over (see Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 20:4).  Until then, and I mean this, you gotta love the Jews! God does!

Technorati Tags: Zechariah,Israel,Prophecy

A New Name | A True Name

Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."

Genesis 32:2

This chapter marks a key turning point in the story of Jacob. His has been a most disappointing spiritual journey to date. He has been the most materialistically consumed of all the patriarchs. And now, with his return to the Promised Land, we see him encountering God in life changing ways.

This episode puzzles me, and I am not real sure if I can answer all the questions I have in this passage. I accept it as a real historical account though. God comes to Jacob when he is alone. He has sent his family behind him. He has divided his home like a military encampment, sending a gift to appease Esau ahead of him, his family in clearly favorited groupings behind him, and himself, alone in the middle. It is during that alone time that God comes to him in a sleepless night and in the form of a wrestling man, God jousts with Jacob until the break of day. A lifetime of outdoor shepherding must have made a strong man of the former mama’s favorite tentboy chef, because Jacob is in a draw match with God until finally God just touches him in the hip. With that touch God wins the bout and renames Jacob.

From this moment on, Jacob the deceiver becomes Israel the wrestler because he has prevailed against the Lord. His reward for the battle is a permanent limp. But the new name gives him a chance to forge a new spiritual identity with a personal relationship with God, which is exactly what was needed at this juncture. It adds spiritual drama to the personal drama already enfolding in the text, and shows us what God is accomplishing in this story.

Like Jacob, there are times when I need to be wrestled to my senses. I need the clean break, the new name, and the fresh start. And just like Jacob, I find such refreshing in the touch of God, even if God makes me wrestle to get it, and a limp is left to remind me of God’s touch. That is the way God works. And the crutch I need in order to move along again becomes a precious thing.

Technorati Tags: Genesis,Jacob,Israel