The Need To Support Israel
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(1) The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. (2) I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”’ (Genesis 12:1-3)
Israel has long been a nation, and a people, who are either loved or hated. It is one of the only people groups that suffers generational discrimination, a pariah nation and people who historically has been in conflict and the subject of conquest for roughly three millennia, even before it had its own land to call home. In a secular viewpoint, it is an overachieving underdog of a nation; it is small, surrounded by its enemies, yet has held its own despite internal strife and external threats. Its people have been held as a scapegoat for issues not of their own doing, painted by antagonists providing a perception of Jews being greedy and domineering, and in some cases, stereotypes are held up in great esteem to prove those points, in Hollywood and business.
Genesis 12:1-2 is a promise made by God to Abram (later Abraham) to live and found a nation in the land known as Canaan, where modern-day Israel is today. This promise to Abram was not just for Abram but for his descendants as well; those who left in the Diaspora (or one of the waves several diasporas) God calls the Jews to come back, and be whole. Abram was ‘pre-Jewish’, but from his lineage came his son Issac, whose son Jacob became the patriarch of the nation of Israel and the Hebrew people.
In a sense, the first diaspora was when Joseph invited father Jacob and his brothers to leave Canaan for Egypt, to avoid the effects of famine. 430 years later, the Exodus of the Hebrews, led by Moses, from Egypt back to Canaan (by way of wandering in the wilderness for 40 years). Joshua and the ‘next gen’ Hebrews were the ones to re-establish the Jewish nation of Israel in Canaan.
The history of Israel (and in its division after Solomon, Judah) can be summarized as tumultuous. Civil wars, wars with neighbors, and eventually conquests by outside interests. The population of the Jews fluctuated as many left Israel/Judah after several conquests, leaving the Jews as a minority in their own land. Theodor Herzl was a late 19th-century Jew from Austria-Hungary who began the Zionist movement, which sought to bring together the Jewish populations which left Israel during the Assyrian, Babylon, Greek and Romans occupations. Ater the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the ‘diaspora’ or evacuation of the Promised Land by Jews to smaller, minority communities throughout Europe and the Middle East (and later, North America and Russia) greatly increased.
Herzl sought to stem and reverse the diaspora, driven by the rise of anti-Semitism in France and Germany, which continued to rise through the first half of the 20th century, exploding into the Holocaust by Nazi Germany prior to and during World War II in the 1930s and 1940s. After the Holocaust, Jewish remnants moved away from Europe to British ‘Palestine’ and the Jewish Partition, and on 11 May 1948 declared the reconstitution of the nation of Israel, in conflict with both the British and the Arab nations.
Since then, several wars and conflicts between Israel and it Arab neighbors took place, most cementing Israeli resolve and determination to survive. Though great efforts have been made to secure peace with Israel by many of its neighbors in US-led accords, today there are conflicts within Israel with Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank, and externally with Iran and factions in Syria and Lebanon.
The call of Jews to go back to Israel has been answered by many who have returned to live in the Promised Land, despite the dangers. For a small country, Israel is known for its military might and tenacity. Though it unfortunately is very secular and woke in modernity, God has kept His promise that if the Jews left the land of their settlements to go back to the land promised them, He would provide for them to become a great nation, and bless them. They have been blessed and have been given the ability to thrive even though the land is harsh.
God provides for other nations the chance of a blessing and the threat of a curse; Genesis 12:3 tells others who are not Jewish that He will reward those who support Israel, and curse those who do not or stand opposed to it. Though the US is often in turmoil, up until recently the US has always been a staunch supporter of Israel, providing it the ability to defend itself and in some cases directly assisting in its defense. The US has supplied aid to Israel which has helped it develop and grow into becoming more independent on its own resources. In turn, many Israeli products and inventions, including medical breakthroughs, have benefitted the world – a prognostication given by God in the latter half of Genesis 12:3.
If we want the US to be blessed by God, we need stay steadfast and resolute to remain Israel’s ally. If we turn away from Israel, we turn away from the Lord. This does not mean we need to always agree with what Israel does, but we can show brotherly love and provide criticism and disapproval of wrongful actions while continuing to defend it. We can help Israel defeat Hamas and provide food and goods to the Gazans displaced by the war while preventing them to harm Israel – both are necessary and honorable. If we want to see America turn around, we must continue to also support Israel from its enemies.
