PART I
Do you like to read about first-class, against-all-odds, grade-A, incredible, David vs. Goliath type MIRACLES? Please read the story that follows that tells about the Jews who waited thousands of years to return to Israel. That event has and continues to taken place in my lifetime and in yours as well.
On May 14, 2018, Israel celebrates its 70th birthday as a new nation. On that date in 1948 the country of Israel, which had not existed for thousands of years but whose re-emergence was prophesied in the Bible, was recognized as a nation by the United Nations. The blue and white flag was raised over this small country. The Star of David in its center is a widely acknowledged symbol of the Jewish people and of Judaism.
He will raise a flag among the nations and assemble the exiles of Israel. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth. Isaiah 11:12 NLT
This is one of the most frequently prophesied events in the Bible. This prophecy was told dozens of times and written about in the Bible by multiple authors — Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea.
Within minutes of the time the UN proclaimed Israel as an independent nation, President Truman of the United States officially recognized this new country. This fulfilled another prophecy: that Israel would be birthed in one day.
Has a nation ever been born in a single day? Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment? Isaiah 66:8 NLT
The Arab nations of Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria had resisted the recognition and continued their attacks against the new nation during the Arab-Israeli War 1948-1950. Yet, Israel miraculously survived their resistance and formed a provisional government. Today 161 of the 192 United Nations member states recognize Israel, though continuing conflict still exists between Israelis and Palestinians.
Not only were the Jews scattered around the world, but over the centuries many countries have tried to annihilate them.
Because of almost seething hatred and anti-semitism, Egyptians, Babylonians, Philistines, Persians, Greeks, Romans, the Spanish inquisition, the Crusaders, the Byzantine Empire, Russian rulers and most recently the Nazis through the German holocaust, have all tried to exterminate the Jewish race.
The population of the entire world today is estimated to be between six and seven billion people. Of this number, Jews world-wide comprise about 0.2 percent, or about 14 million people of this total. Yet, they wield influence around the world far beyond their numbers.
During the past few decades these Jews, who had been scattered in pockets all around the world, have been emigrating back into Israel for all kinds of reasons.
On Thursday in Part II we will discuss why the Jews are returning and some of the ways God is orchestrating this return.
IN THE MEANTIME, WISH “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to the state of ISRAEL!