The miracle nation
By Paul Bawden
This was the title of a recent article written by Joel Rosenberg for All-Israel News.
What nation was he referring to? The nation of Israel, for the nation of Israel recently celebrated its 75th birthday. But why is Israel called the miracle nation? To understand why Israel is called a miracle nation a brief history is necessary.
The nation of Israel had its beginning (around 2000 B.C.), when the biblical God called Abram (named changed to Abraham) to follow Him out of the land of Ur of the Chaldeans, modern day Iraq, making an unconditional covenant with Abraham that he would have a land, a seed, and be a blessing – those who blessed him and his seed would be blessed, those who cursed Abraham and his seed would be cursed – all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham (Genesis 12:1-5).
That call of God to Abraham started the development of the nation of Israel, which is set forth in the Old Testament Scriptures. Names like Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon along with Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah are a vital part of the Israel’s national history. God also raised up prophets to announce judgment upon the nation when the people disobeyed their Lord, and to bring hope about Israel’s future, the future of the world, and the coming of their Messiah and the Savior of the world.
By New Testament times, the Romans were the ruling power over Israel, and Herod was appointed by Rome (37 B. C.) to rule over Palestine (Israel) where the Israelites were living. Herod was a ruthless man, although he tried to be on the good side of the Jews, as seen in his rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem (20 B.C.).
But the Jewish people had no country to call their own, no state government although they had the Sanhedrin, basically their religious ruling body. Eventually the Jews revolted against Rome, and Titus captured and ransacked Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Still the Jewish people survived.
Moving through history quickly, when Hitler was in power in the early 1940’s, his hatred for the Jewish people caused him to exterminate some 6 million Jewish men, women, children – the barbaric and evil holocaust. Again, the Jewish people survived. Sad to say there is still an anti-Jewish attitude in our world today. An example of the extreme of this is, at the time of this writing, a man is on trial for killing 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
But something miraculously happened on May 14, 1948. Israel became a recognized state. Who would have thought that Israel would become an independent democratic state after all the Jewish people had been through as others tried to annihilate and destroy them.
A lot is happening in Israel today. Internally the nation is trying to work through some legislative issues. Some are protesting changes suggested. There are other issues as well. Israel is attacked from without by rockets and a nuclear threat from Iran.
Regardless of what is taking place in Israel today, God’s covenant with Abraham in 2000 B. C. still stands. Israel now has some of the land God promised them. The nation will receive their full allotment when Christ returns, as the nation accepts their Messiah (Zechariah 12-14). The seed promised to Abraham is Israel’s Messiah and the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. The blessing through Abraham to all peoples is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is available to anyone who will accept Him as personal Savior. I trust you have made that decision for Christ and are living for Him.
The biblical God chose a people through whom He would bless the world (Romans 9:1-5), ultimately sending the Savior through the seed of Abraham, so all could hear the life changing message of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Israel’s national existence is also proof that God’s word is true and completely dependable!
Paul Bawden is married and served in the full-time pastoral ministry for 45 years, retiring in 2011, after which he and his wife served in four interims, three in Wisconsin and one in Iowa. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.A. in Speech and attended Dallas Theological Seminary, receiving a Master of Theology. He has taken counseling courses at Trinity Evangelical Seminary in Deerfield, Illinois. Paul is a lifetime member of the Evangelical Free Church of America, as well as being a member of Interim Pastor Ministries (IPM), which serves churches during their time of transition in searching for a new pastor. He is also a volunteer writer for GotQuestions.org. Paul likes to write, read, and work in the yard. The Bawdens have had the privilege to travel to Mexico and Romania on mission trips and visited various countries in Europe. They have three daughters and five grandchildren.