This morning I was praying for our country that God would provide guidance to our leaders and guide them back to the Constitution as our Founders intended. God put into my mind a comparison between the United States and Israel which I want to share with you all.
Israel (the land) was given to the Israelites by God and God told them to go take the land and drive out those currently living there. The Jews did as God said (sort of). They failed to complete the task which caused them much trouble as history unfolded.
Israel was established as a theocracy and God promised the Israelites that they would always own the land but they may not always be in the land. Their presence in the land was tied to their faithfulness to God. God did care for Israel providing for all their needs but as time went by they went through periods of faithfulness frequently followed by unfaithfulness followed by punishments from God followed by repentance and periods of faithfulness and on and on. As are all humans, the Israelites were fickle people.
Theocracy didn't follow the patterns of the world and the nations/tribes around Israel had human kings. So, the Jews decided they wanted a human king so they would be no different than their neighbors. Their faith was truly fickle. They had the best possible ruler - God. Yet, they chose to have a human king.
As kings came and went, some were good and did right in the eyes of the Lord but many more did bad and set up idols and worshiped them and led the entire country in unfaithfulness.
God is patient and good and full of lovingkindness but he would only stand for so much. Finally, he took the Jews out of Israel, the land, and took the Northern Kingdom (Israel) to Assyria and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) to Babylon.
About 70 years later, the Jews were allowed to return to their land but their newfound faithfulness didn't last long. They continued in their pattern of faithfulness, unfaithfulness, punishment, repentance, faithfulness and so on. Eventually, they were again removed from their land and scattered across the world. Although in 1948 an official state of Israel was again established, it does not include all the land that God gave to Israel and many many Jews are still scattered around the world. It is in the end times of Jesus second coming that Israel will again have all its land and Jerusalem will be the shining star and there will be peace in the world.
Phew, I felt a need to include this very brief overview before I got to the main point as it relates to Israel.
In the July/August 2010 issue of the Israel My Glory magazine an article titled "Turning Their Backs on a Jewish Israel" by Steve Herzig made me sad but also made me think about the Jews wanting a human king many centuries ago. Mr. Herzig quotes Meyrav Wurmser, who was the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Ms. Wurmser talks about a cultural civil war in Israel where one side (Zionists) would like to see the country continue as a Jewish state (the founding idea of the state) while the other side (post-Zionists) believe Zionism is winding down. The post-Zionists believe Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish state and many post-Zionists are Jews! They want to be more like their neighbors just like olden days when they wanted a human king! They see the Jewish state as destructive, objectionable, and outdated. They want to do away with the Jewish flag, the menorah, the Hebrew language, and the Sabbath and dietary laws. Interestingly, Mr. Herzig points out that post Zionism was born in the halls of left-wing academia having first been seen in university classrooms, research journals, and coffee shops.
This all sounds kind of familiar to me. Look at the history of America. While we can't claim as close a relationship with God as the Jews have, many of our founding fathers came to this country to escape religious persecution. Our founding documents and constitution were based on a Judeo-Christian principles. We grew and prospered. Then along the way, we had presidents and congresses who were less than faithful to our constitution and the country suffered. Other presidents and congresses repented and turned us back to our constitution and we prospered.
In my lifetime, I have not seen an administration that has done more than the current one to destroy all that our country has stood for since its inception.The current administration is supported by a section of our society and a set of wealthy and influential people. If you replace the Jewish-specific words in the highlighted sentences above and replace them with America-specific words, you have the very same situation in America today. In my opinion, that is very very sad both for Israel and America. Is it any wonder that the current administration would like nothing better than to dump Israel and side with the Muslim world against the State of Israel.
"And, I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." --Genesis 12:3 (NASB)
God is not finished with Israel nor the remainder of the world. Think of the geography in the Middle East. Israel, as it stands today, is one very small Jewish nation, surrounded almost entirely by countries who have either loudly or quietly vowed to destroy Israel. Could they not have done so already if they wanted to? What stops them? I believe, although God is not happy with Israel, He still has his hand over Israel keeping it safe for the most part. I think He is using the United States for that purpose. I firmly believe if the United States dumps Israel, God will curse us as he promised in the above quote from Genesis. God is serious. He does what he says He will do.
I think both Israel and the United States are in big trouble right now. We are both being totally unfaithful and we will both be punished. But, on the bright side, God has big plans for Israel, maybe not in our lifetime, but I'm excited about the eventual future when Jesus Christ comes again and makes it all right.
Blessings,
Mary
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