The Love for Israel – Part 3
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 loves Israel and gave them the Promised Land. On the basis of His love and the Covenants He made with them. He swore by His own Name, when He made these Covenants and Promises with Israel.
“God loves Israel and gave them the Promised Land”
Hebrews 6:13-17 “…When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath…”
God will never break an oath. He cannot lie. Numbers 23:19 “…God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?…” He did and does fulfill what He promised. He pledged a solemn oath to do it.
Psalm 44:1-3 “…We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what You did in their days, in days long ago. With Your hand you drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; You crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish. It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, for You loved them…”
God loves Israel as a father loves his son. Israel knows that. The prophets of Israel testify about that.
“…But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is Your Name…” Isaiah 63:16 “…Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, You are the potter…” Isaiah 64:8. “…As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem…” Isaiah 66:13. “…Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!…” Isaiah 49:15
“God loves Israel as a father loves his son”
“…Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God Create us? Why do we profane the Covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?…” Malachi 2:10
“…Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the Lord our God…” Jeremiah 3:22.
“…The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again you will take up your timbrels and go out to dance with the joyful. Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit. There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’”
This is what the Lord says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, ‘Lord, save Your people, the remnant of Israel.’
See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return.
They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is My firstborn son…” Jeremiah 31:1-9.
When Jesus teaches His Jewish friends how to pray, He says this: “… “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name…” Matthew 6:9-15. He is Israel’s Father.
God guarantees Israel’s everlasting existence.
“…This is what the Lord says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is His Name:
“Only if these decrees vanish from My sight,” declares the Lord, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before Me…” As long as the Universe is in existence, as long as the rhythm of day and night is there, as long as the laws of nature (the institutions of Creation) are functioning: there will be Israel.
“…This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord…” Not even because of all their backsliding will the LORD forever reject His firstborn son that He loves.
The nations around Israel knew about God’s everlasting love for Israel.
The Queen of Sheba says in 2 Chronicles 9:1-8: “… When the Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. When the Queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at the Temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.
She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as King to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and His desire to uphold them forever, He has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness…”
And Hiram, who provided the materials for the building of the Temple of Solomon said in 2 Chronicles 2:11-12 “…Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon: “Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you their king.” And Hiram added: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, Who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a Temple for the Lord and a palace for himself…”
Because God loves Israel – and the nations are aware of that – the nations around them hate Israel. A man in Israel cries out to the Lord in Psalm 83:1-8 “…O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones.
They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
For they have conspired together with one mind; Against You they make a covenant: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have become a help to the children of Lot…”
He hopes that by a big blow, a terrible defeat when they together attack Israel, they will come to their senses and realize that there is only One God: the God of Israel.
“God married Israel, and He loves her as a husband loves his wife”
Psalm 83:13-18 “… O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like chaff before the wind. Like fire that burns the forest And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire, So pursue them with Your tempest And terrify them with Your storm. Fill their faces with dishonour, That they may seek Your name, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, And let them be humiliated and perish, That they may know that You alone, whose Name is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth…”
God married Israel, and He loves her as a husband loves his wife.
“…For your husband is your Maker, Whose Name is the Lord of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth…” Isaiah 54:5 The children of Israel are His children.
“I Myself said, “‘How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following Me. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to Me,” O house of Israel,” declares the Lord…” Jeremiah 3:19-20
Yet, he brings His sons and daughters back to the Promised Land. Because He promised to do so. He is faithful to Himself. Even in their state of blindness and deafness.
“…But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine! “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you. “For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. “Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring 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 have formed, even whom I have made.” Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf…”
Ezekiel 36:22-29 “…Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of My holy Name… “‘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. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be My people, and I will be your God…”
Jeremiah 31:3 “…“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you…”
