Genesis 25:23 And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”
Romans 9:11-12 …though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad-in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of Him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
God chose Israel as His people. Romans 9:11-12 tells us that God chose Jacob (Israel) over Esau in order that His purpose might stand. It was His choice. He chose Israel not because they are better than other nations; or not because they are larger or smaller. It was not because they (Israel) are good. Israel did not earn their selection. It was His choice and purpose.
Israel is not a perfect people and neither are any of us. They use their free will just like we do. And free will choices are not always for the greater good as God would see it. As human’s, we elevate our free will as equivalent or greater than God. Really??? Go look at the stars on a clear night and ponder.
Over twenty times in the book of Genesis alone, God stated His covenant with the offspring of Abram is an eternal and everlasting promise. He made the claim to Abram (later Abraham), Isaac, Jacob (later Israel) and his descendants.
In the book Toward an Old Testament Theology, Walter Kaiser commented, “Sixty-nine times the writer of Deuteronomy repeated the pledge that Israel would one day ‘possess’ and ‘inherit’ the land promised to her.” (p. 124-5).
Genesis 32:28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
The verse above has proven to be prophetic for nation Israel. The country struggled against Egypt and was held captive for 400 years. God delivered His people out of slavery and bondage in Exodus.
God’s chosen people were taken captive by Tiglath-Pileser and the Assyrian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar led the Babylonians and plundered Jerusalem. Those who survived were taken back to Babylon. Israel was under Persian rule after they conquered Babylon.
They were dispersed throughout the world in the first century at the hands of the Roman Empire. They survived the Spanish Inquisition in the late 1400’s. Hitler attempted to exterminate the Jewish people during the middle of the 20th century in World War II.
Israel was reborn as a country in a day in 1948. The rebirth of Israel in one day was prophesied in Isaiah 66:8-9.
Isaiah 66:8-9 “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.
The same promise of Ezekiel 37 and the vision of the valley of dry bones was fulfilled. Israel is a nation again.
The fact Israel is a nation again defies history. Name one other country who disappeared for about 2,000 years and resurrected into being from the past.
UNESCO voted the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Hebron’s Old City as a Palestinian World Heritage Site. Jews refer to the site as the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs. Muslims call the location the Ibrahimi Mosque. The location was also deemed an “endangered Palestinian site” by UNESCO.
