Greg's Blog

Israel Still Matters (one year since Hamas attack)

by Greg Laurie on Oct 11, 2024

 

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israel. 1,200 Jewish men, women, and children were brutally murdered by the terrorist organization, funded by the nation Iran.

And just recently, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at the nation. Almost 200 ballistic missiles were launched toward Israel. 

Bible students know what’s been happening can have prophetic significance. 

Israel Is the Key to Understanding Bible Prophecy

The key to understanding Bible prophecy is Israel and the Jewish people. This is one of the most controversial topics.

When the Jews formed their nation on May 14, 1948, a modern-day miracle occurred. More specifically, a prophecy was fulfilled, and the prophetic time clock began to tick. It wasn’t just a sign, it was a super sign, because it was all predicted by the Jewish prophets, like Ezekiel 37. 

Ezekiel 37 talks about a valley of dry bones—effectively a graveyard—and all of a sudden, these bones start coming together and flesh is put on them and they come alive. He says this is a symbol of the nation Israel, they will be dead, gone, and they’ll come to life again in their land in the last days. We saw that happen before our very eyes.

God Gave Jewish People Their Land

God gave the land to the Jewish people. He said, “See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them” (Deuteronomy 1:8 NKJV). 

People will say the Israelis are occupiers who have taken land that belonged to someone else, but the Jews are indigenous to this region. This is their land that God gave to them. They haven’t even occupied all the land that God gave them. They are not the occupiers or colonizers as some like to accuse them of being.

There are protests that will probably be going on today on the anniversary of October 7. There will be signs that say, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” when the person holding it doesn’t know what they’re talking about. 

And you may also see signs that say things like “death to the Jews.” There is a surge of anti-Semitism sweeping the world. You would have thought that after this horrible attack, there would be an outpour of public sympathy for the innocent victims in Israel. Instead, Jew-hatred has been expressed. And it comes from the devil.

Why Is There Jewish Hatred?

Why is there this hatred for the Jews in particular? The simple answer is Satan hates what God loves. This goes way back to Genesis when God told Satan there is coming one who “will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15 NLT). The battle lines were drawn and the conflict began. 

Fast forward to Exodus where Pharaoh gave the order to drown all the Jewish baby boys. And in Esther, we have the order of Haman to kill all the Jewish people. The point is that Satan hates what God loves because the Jews are the chosen people. They are, as described in Scripture, the apple of God’s eye. 

God made this promise to Abraham and his descendants, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you” (Genesis 12:3 NKJV). I believe one of the reasons God has blessed the United States is because we have stood by our ally Israel, and we need to keep doing that. When you cast your vote for the next president, make sure you factor that in. I am looking for a president who will stand by Israel and the Jewish people.

God Is Not Done with the Jewish People

God is not done with the Jewish people: “​​I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ” (Romans 11:25 NLT).

The Jews will receive a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit on their people in general and even on their nation Israel.

Jewish people have a spiritual blindness, meaning they are not open to embracing Jesus as the Messiah, but that’s beginning to change. There are now 30,000 messianic Jews in Israel. And Joel Rosenberg estimates there are 1 million messianic Jews around the world, Jews who have put their faith in Jesus as their Messiah. 

God is at work.

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