Thursday, April 22: Happy Anniversary! Yom Ha'atzmaut, the Day of Independence!

On this 90th blog entry of daily devotionals, we have reached one fourth of the year on the Hebrew calendar. And speaking of the Hebrew calendar, Israel is celebrating an amazing anniversary. Sixty-two years ago, Israel became a nation, (based on the Hebrew calendar on the fifth of Ayar)! Throughout the Bible, prophets told us of events that would occur to the Jews in Israel in the latter days. Yet when Israel disappeared from existence in A.D. 70 at the hands of the Romans, and the Jews were spread to the four corners of the earth, even Bible scholars lost sight of God’s plan. Many of those “scholars” began to apply God’s promises made to Israel to His church, instead. What they thought was, because Israel did not exist anymore, those prophecies couldn’t really mean “Israel.”


Fifty years before Israel became a nation, Theodore Herzl wrote a book entitled, “Der Judenstaat,” which means the Jewish state. In that book, Herzl laid out the plan to bring the Jews back into the land they once had occupied. Fifty years later, Herzl’s book and idea became a reality. With 6 million Jews murdered in the death camps of Nazi Germany, the Jews wanted to ensure that they would never be subject to an Adolf Hitler, or similar despot, again. On May 14, 1948, the United Nations announced that the resolution had passed and Israel was a nation! The photo above shows Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, beneath a photo of Herzl, making the announcement that the U.N. resolution had passed.


Can you imagine the excitement in each of the Jews in Israel at the time? Additionally, there was enormous excitement in many Jews around the world, who immediately began to make plans to relocate to a nation where they would be the majority, instead of the hated minority. Within days, the Arabs attacked. Though the Jews had inhabited the land almost 2,000 years before Islam even began as a religion, the Muslims felt the land was theirs. Wars have continued to this day, and sadly, this nation the size of New Jersey has continued to receive the animosity of the world, though with God’s hand, Israel has flourished. This tiny nation has more medical doctors per capita than anywhere in the world; Israel has more people with Ph.D’s per capita than anywhere else; the technology of Israel rivals the Silicon Valley! Fruits and vegetables flourish there, too; Israel has truly become a land flowing with milk and honey!


Where does this leave us? As Christians, Israel is the greatest reminder that God says what He means and means what He says, exactly! Additionally, though we know that the Jews are God’s chosen people, we should keep in mind that Israel and the Jews are a great example of God’s grace. That grace enabled God to forgive each of us for our many sins. He doesn’t love the Jews any more, or less, than He loves each of us! Yet we are reminded by His Word that Israel is the apple of His eye, and that we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The world is coming against Israel in regards to the Palestinians. Yet we know from God’s Word, what will occur:


14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
15 I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says the LORD your God.
 Amos 9:14-15

A day is coming when God will open the eyes of the Jews to see Jesus. Remember, Jesus was a descendant of David from both Mary’s side of the family (blood) and Joseph’s side of the family (legal), and David is the son or root of Jesse!


10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”
11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the islands of the sea.
 Isaiah 11:10-11


Many wrongly believe the above verses refer to the return from the Babylonian captivity, but notice that it says “a second time.” Additionally, Shinar refers to Babylon, but the other places refer to many other locations. “Islands of the sea” is a Hebrew colloquialism for distant places. This refers to the four corners of the earth.


So today, let’s honor the Jews, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and praise God for being a God of grace! How can He continue to love us when we are dirty sinners? Be thankful for His forgiveness in your life. Be thankful for His Word! It is perfect and He will never break a promise! That gives us so much to be excited about for if He loved the Jews enough to bring back Israel, He will fulfill His promises to us, too! Have you read all those promises? They are amazing! If you haven’t done it yet, read the whole Bible! Praise You, Lord!