The Love for Israel – Part 2
Israel is God’s firstborn son. Even literally so. Israel’s very existence is miraculous, for Abraham was too old and Sarah past childbearing years when Isaac was born. Isaac was a miracle-baby. God Himself gave His firstborn son life.
“Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
Genesis 17:15-17 “…Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?…”
Genesis 18:9-15 “…Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh…”
Genesis 21:1-3 “…Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So, Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac…” Isaac means: laughter, or: he who laughs!
Genesis 21:5-7 “…Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age…”
“Israel was created, formed, made and chosen by God.”
Abraham laughed and Sara laughed. And yet Isaac was born, the same time next year. A biological miracle. God’s firstborn son. In Isaiah 43:5-7 God says by mouth of the prophet to Israel: “…Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by My Name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made…” Israel was created, formed, made and chosen by God.
In our days He is bringing them back from the four corners of the earth to the Promised Land of Israel. From the north and the south, the east and the west. Put your feet in Israel, and then look on the map of the world to the north and the south, the east and the west. We see God in action. Bringing His people back from the whole world to Israel and Jerusalem. This is not politics. This is God in action. Israel is returning to the land that God swore by an eternal Covenant to give to them, the land of Canaan.
Israel shouts for joy in Psalm 105:7-11 “…He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His Covenant forever, the promise He made for a thousand generations, the Covenant He made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting Covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit…”
God has created a people for His name among all the nations of the world. God’s own people—through whom He would make Himself known to the whole world. To bless the world. To bless the nations. Many times, they were disciplined throughout their history, but abandoned and rejected? Never!
God truly loves Israel. Deuteronomy 7:6-9 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors… Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His Covenant of Love to a thousand generations…”
The number of years in the Bible for 1 generation is most of the time 40 years, sometimes 70 years and in one or two occasions 100 years. So, a Covenant for 1,000 generations is a Covenant for at least 40,000 years, or 70,000 years, or 100,000 years. And it means, of course, forever.
