“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.” Jeremiah 31:35-36.
Israel has been in the news lately with another mini-war with the Palestinians. It seems like there is never peace in the region, terrorists building tunnels under the Israeli border, guided missiles, iron domes and many types of warfare are “hot off the press” news. Countries have been trying to annihilate the nation of Israel since Abraham’s time. God used ungodly nations to discipline Israel, then God destroyed those nations!
God sent Jacob’s sons to Egypt for a period of 400 years, they flourished in the land and became so plentiful the Pharaoh was afraid of them and tried to destroy them. He let them leave Egypt, then sent his army after them and were destroyed in the Red Sea. After them, the Amalekites, the Philistines, the Assyrians and the Babylonians were determined to wipe Israel off the earth, but God preserved His people! Alexander the Great tried to force the worship of Zeus on the Jewish people, but they refused. Then came the Romans who wanted to control the land. The people revolted and Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. Much later in 1099 AD, the Crusaders came to Israel. They killed both the Jewish people and the Muslims and to this day, are hated by both! In modern times, Hitler tried to destroy the Jews, and six million were killed. Has there ever been a people who have been so persecuted, yet have survived? God has preserved Israel!
On Yom Kippur in 1973, there was warfare in the region. Egypt and Syria mounted a surprise attack against Israel – so large it was the equivalent of all the NATO forces in Europe! Egypt in the south and Syria in the north mobilized on Israel’s borders. Along the Suez Canal, fewer than 500 Israeli defenders with 3 tanks were attacked by 600,000 Egyptian soldiers with 2000 tanks!
At 3 am, Prime Minister Golda Meir telephoned President Nixon and told him. “If you are not going to help us, we will not survive 24 hours.” Nixon responded, “Golda, every night when I was a boy, my mother read me stories from the Bible. She said, ‘Richard, I want you to promise me, if you ever have a chance to help the Jewish people, you must help them.’ Now, I understand why I became President!” This mother understood the role of a Christian to support Israel!
Within 24 hours, Nixon ordered the mobilization of all US forces in Europe to prepare for war. Thus began the largest airlift of supplies since World War II. Against the advice of his Secretary of State and his European allies, Nixon ordered, “Get the stuff to Israel NOW!” Within days, 22,000 tons of supplies were airlifted from the US with an additional 90,000 tons of war material delivered by sea. Since Russia was backing the Arab nations, the Europeans were afraid to help fearing it would start World War III. They refused to let the American planes refuel in their countries. Finally, Portugal allowed them to refuel on a tiny island in the Atlantic ocean. Israeli troops advanced and crossed the Suez Canal. The Russians had not counted on the Israeli advances and began to talk about peace, they realized the Arab states would lose. President Nixon provided the means, but God did the work! He is the Protector of His chosen ones! “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not!” Romans 11:1. “Only if the sun, moon and stars vanish from my sight will Israel cease being a nation before Me!” Jeremiah 31:36.
Shalom, my dear friends, Jean