[Darris McNeely] I'm concluding today a series that we've been talking about the importance of the State of Israel, why it matters, in light of the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War in Jerusalem where Israel fought its Arab states, expanded its borders, united the city of Jerusalem in 1967. A very important event in the modern world and a very important event to Bible prophecy as well as the entire State of Israel being there what we're talking about here in Beyond Today.

I want to talk about the existence of the State of Israel in that land today as a marker of God's faithfulness and His promises to all nations. I fully recognize I run the risk with some of our audience of being pro-Israeli, pro-Jewish, anti-Arab, etc by this particular series. I appreciate that, and we have focused on the Arab part of the story in other Beyond Today productions, and there was a time to do that. But it is not necessarily against the Arabs and just for the State of Israel that we talk about this as we understand what God is doing in the modern world.

Based on His Word, His promises, Bible prophecy, we should appreciate the presence of the State of Israel there in the land, not always what has happened, the problems between people, nations, the wars, the injustice that has existed at various times, and yes, there is a need to address the issues of the Arab world and Palestinian issues as well. But frankly, until it is addressed at the level of the Word of God, based on the promises that God has made and what God says about that land and the promises He's made about it and the peoples that are there, there will be no solution and there will be no justice for everyone. But when we understand God's Word, that we can appreciate that there is a presence of the Jewish state, the State of Israel in that land, and its importance to Bible prophecy as we've been showing, then we have an appreciation for God and His faithfulness to His promises. 

There is a scripture in the book of Amos 9:11 that I want to quote. It's representative of many of the promises that God has made toward the land, toward the city of Jerusalem, toward His people, and ultimately toward all nations. It is this, it says that, "He," meaning God, "will raise up the tabernacle of David which has fallen down and repair its damages and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as the days of old." 

Now with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, there has been a rebuilding of sorts in that land. Not anywhere near what this prophecy and others actually describe will take place at the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and the fulfillment of all of those prophesies in that land. However, that we have the State of Israel there today is an important marker. It has been a beleaguered state and there have been many wars that have been fought over the presence of the Jewish state there, and there will be more conflict before Christ returns, it's not over yet. But, the Bible tells us that the Jewish state will endure because there are key critical biblical prophesies that must be fulfilled leading up to the return of Christ that require the presence of the Jewish state there and all that those prophesies talk about, so it will endure.

And because it will, it is not necessarily because of the prowess and the abilities of the Jewish state or its allies. It is because of the will of God, the purpose, and the plan of God, and when we understand that, then we can at least appreciate the presence of the state there. Again, we don't have to endorse all of its policies, all of its politics, every one of its leaders to appreciate that. We appreciate what God has promised, what God is doing, and God's ultimate word and His faithfulness to all nations.

But whether you're Jewish, Arab, or any other ethnicity or nationality or religious faith, the presence of the State of Israel in that land is a marker of God's righteousness and of God's intention to fulfill the ultimate promises that He made to Abraham, the spiritual promises of salvation through his son, Jesus Christ, to all nations and to all peoples, He will do it. And that there is a Jewish state, the presence of a remnant of the people that God covenanted with in the Bible in that land today is a measure of God's faith and intent for us to mark and to understand today that will take place. All nations will ultimately have that promise. 

About 50 years ago, in the wake of that 6-Day War, an American philosopher by the name of Eric Hoffer made a comment about the State of Israel that I've long understood and referred to many times in my writing and in my teaching, and he said this about the State of Israel, and this was back in 1967. He said, "As it goes with Israel, so it will go with all of us." Meaning America, Britain, really all other nations. And he said, "Should Israel perish, the holocaust will be upon us." That was said in 1967 in the wake of that significant war. And of course, taken into context, all the other persecutions and holocausts against the Jewish people, most notably World War II and the Nazi Holocaust.

But really, what he's saying is that should Israel perish, then the promises of God are something that we might not be able to always count on. Israel is not going to perish, and the presence of the Jewish state there today is a marker of God's faithfulness in that land for all nations to know and to understand.

Appreciate that, look at it in the context of the world today, and it helps us to discern our times and appreciate that God is a god of history, moving His purpose and His plan to its end.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.