ISRAEL: THE LAND THAT GOD LOVES

I don’t know why I even thought about the topic.

Perhaps because my wife, and I were talking last night about our mutual distinction of being conceived in 1948; the year in which the Jewish Diaspora returned to the land of their ancient heritage, and was once again reconstituted as a nation.

Interestingly enough, (at least to me) I have a ‘smidgen’ of Jewish heritage myself. Long story short, I am related to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; through his mother’s line, the Delano’s. It is thought that both the Roosevelt’s (Rosenfelt’s) and Delano’s were originally Jewish, but at some point decided to identify themselves as Gentiles.

At any rate, a question occurred to me in the past hour.

“What is the geographical size of Israel?”

I kinda played with that thought in my mind for a couple of minutes before looking on the internet, and I decided Israel must be in the neighborhood of 5,000 square miles, (or almost three times the size of the county in which I live). As it fell together, I wasn’t too far off. Having done a Google search, I saw the nation of Israel was just over 8,000 square miles, (or about 4x the size of Rhode Island).

And while I am not surprised at the relative smallness of this famous country, the relative importance of this biblical land in the geo-political-spiritual scheme of things is nothing less than astounding.

Pt. 2

I mean in my own lifetime, Israel fought a “Six Day War,” simultaneously against numerous Arab countries, … and won! This particular conflict is especially memorable to me since it occurred within a couple of weeks of my graduation, and during the same week in June, 1967 that I “walked the sawdust trail” and gave my life to Jesus Christ.

Of course, Israel has been engaged in conflict ever since its inception, most often against the descendants of another son of Abraham; the Arab nations.

During the presidency of Jimmy Carter, a Mideast peace deal was reached between Israel and Egypt. However, a state of unrest continues between Israel and the unofficial nation of Palestine; which is currently under the domination of the former. Of course, the United States has, at one time or another, been involved in an attempt to establish and maintain a state of peace between the two.

And speaking of the relationship between the United States and Israel, it seems apparent to me that in spite of its flaws God has blessed America for its financial, political, and moral support of Israel; over the course of many decades.

However, when considering the significance of the nation of Israel, as “there there” as the things I have previously recounted, these variables pale in weightiness to the existence and import of the Judeo-Christian religions, and the Old and New Testaments which inspired them.

Of course, the primary ‘object’ of the 39 books of the Old Testament, (and of which each and every one of these volumes in some way allude) is the promised Messiah. And, of course, the primary personage of the 27 books of the New Testament happens to be the very same individual… Jesus Christ; the First and the Last, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world, and our soon coming heavenly Bridegroom.

by William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending

The LORD had said to Abram,

“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 

“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. 

“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

(Gen. 12:1-3)