Blessing For The Nations
By Rev Willem J.J. Glashouwer.. The presence of the Jews among the nations of the world over the last 2000 years has been a blessing for these nations. Before Gentiles came to Christ, they were even without God, Paul says in Ephesians 2:11-12: “…Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world…” Although the Jews are less than one percent of world-population, about 20% – 25% of all Nobel-price winners are Jewish. Their accomplishments in various areas of human culture and science have been and continue to be a blessing for the world. And their role has not been finished yet.
One-day peace shall flow forth from Jerusalem and will cover the earth. And the nations shall train for war no more. To be prepared for that glorious future the Lord is bringing His Jewish people back to the Promised Land. National restoration first, but it will be followed by spiritual restoration. Ezekiel 36:24-28 says: …” For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God…”
And Isaiah 66:19-24 adds to that, finalizing his prophecies: “…I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. They will proclaim My glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to My holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD -on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the LORD. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the Temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says the LORD. “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the LORD, “so will your name and descendants endure.
From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before Me,” says the LORD. “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against Me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind…”
So the Lord still has great plans for the Jewish people, for Israel and for Jerusalem. Maybe the powers of darkness know this better than many theologians and they are trying every trick in the book to prevent God from making this happen, understanding that their role will be finished if God succeeds. That should make us very careful – to say the least – in the way we relate to Israel and the Jewish people, also in our criticisms and attitudes.
They are His people living in His Land that He promised and gave to them, as the beginning of His process of redemption leading towards His goals with them.
And one-day Jesus will sit on the throne of His father David and He will rule as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and the Messiah of Israel, among Jacob (= Israel) and of His Kingdom there shall be no end, the angel Gabriel promised His Jewish mother Mary, Luke 1:31-33: “…the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end…”
So actually Israel and Jerusalem are a sign of hope, pointing towards the Coming of the Lord. This world will not finish in total pollution or in total destruction and annihilation by A(tomic), B(acteriological) or C(hemical) weapons, but is moving forward towards the Kingdom and the Coming of the King of the Kingdom and the renewal of all things. We are not there yet. But the Lord is acting in history and we have passed points of no return. Darkness may lie ahead of us, but the Sun of Righteous one-day will shine in all His glory. One-day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Rev. Willem J. J. Glashouwer
President Christians for Israel International
