Israel.
At first glance, this small, seemingly innocuous county may not look like much to talk about. Its population totals in at about 9.2 million. When it comes to size, it is about two hundred square miles smaller than the state of New Jersey, clocking in at 8550. Externally, there is nothing grandiose or awe-inspiring about it.
And yet…this small country is not only one of the most prosperous nations in the world, one of the most technologically advanced civilizations on planet earth, and the subject of much international conversation/conflict—it is also a powerful example of God’s loving faithfulness and his determination to carry his plans for the New Heaven and New Earth out completely.
Israel’s Roots
To understand where God is taking Israel in the future, however, we must first understand what has happened in the past.
Israel got its start much earlier than many people might realize. You can trace its beginnings back as early as Genesis 12—only 12 chapters into the Bible’s first book!
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “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. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Genesis 12:1-3
To clarify what’s happening here, this takes place long before God establishes Israel as a nation. It is a conversation between the man who will one day be called Abraham and his Creator. This man doesn’t have establishing the nation of God’s chosen people on his mind. What he wants is a son. Someone to carry on his name.
That’s where God steps in, though, and boy does he give Abram more than he bargained for. God doesn’t just inform him that he will indeed have offspring (that would have been miraculous enough already). He tells him that he will be the father of a great nation—one through which all the nations of the world will be blessed. And indeed, all nations have been blessed through Israel. That is where our Messiah Jesus Christ came from!
Abram probably didn’t know it, but this covenant, known as the Abrahamic Covenant, was God’s promise to restore the brokenness of the world through his chosen nation Israel (thus explaining why Israel will be a “blessing” to all nations). Before Israel even really existed, God had a plan for it. He had his hand over it.
Israel’s Growing Pains
The more you read the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Old Testament), the more it becomes clear that when God makes a covenant, he will be faithful in keeping it. Always. Indeed, if it were not for God’s fiercely devoted faithfulness to Israel in the past, it would not be here in the now, and it certainly would not be a major player in biblical end-times prophecy.
God was faithful to provide for and ultimately rescue the Israelites when they found themselves under Egyptian rule. Fast-forwarding a little bit, even though there was much rebellion, grumbling, and sin on the part of the Israelites, God was faithful in delivering them to their new homeland (Joshua 3). Israel is then established as a light to the rest of the world, and other countries take notice of its great and powerful God of love.
When Israel insulted him by asking for a human king, he saved them from the dysfunctional rule of King Saul with King David (2 Samuel 5:1-4). This is just the beginning of God’s loving faithfulness towards Israel.
During the timeframe of the books First and Second Kings and Chronicles, Israel enters into a pattern of repetitive sin—it continually seeks after pagan gods, repents for a little while, and then goes back to the detestable practices of false idols. It breaks its end of the covenant repeatedly. After this cycle plays out for many years, God finally determines that a major course correction is required. Instead of wiping Israel off the face of the earth and choosing another nation in his plan to save the world, God gives it over to its sin. He allows foreign nations to carry the Israelites off into captivity, and they are exiled from their homeland for many years (2 Kings 17:18-20).
But God is faithful even then, and he later delivers them back to their homeland, setting the stage for Christ’s birth. Never does God forget his covenant with Abraham.
Israel in the End Times
After Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection, God still is not done with his chosen people. They still have his hand of protection and a glorious, glorious inheritance. Jesus promised to return to earth one day, and he will reign out of Israel for a thousand years, as well as later establish a New Heaven and a New Earth, of which the New Jerusalem will be the crown jewel.
Satan, as you might imagine, is not happy about this. He has tried to destroy Israel for thousands of years, and in the future, this will not change.
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
Revelation 12:1-4a
Let’s pause here. The identity of the pregnant woman in question is none other than the nation of Israel, as evidenced by the twelve stars in her crown, which contains one star for each of Israel’s tribe. The baby she is about to give birth to represents Jesus, as Israel is the nation in which he was born.
As for the identity of the dragon, it is Satan. Not only is he referred to as such later on in the passage, there is also the detail of his tail sweeping a third of the stars from the heavens and sending them cascading to earth, just as Satan brought a third of the angels down with him in his rebellion.
The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
Revelation 12:4b-5
In this passage, we see Satan attempt to destroy Jesus so his mission to save mankind and rule from Jerusalem as our King cannot be completed. If this sounds familiar, it should be—we read about this in the Gospels!
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.
Revelation 12:13-14
This passage details events that will happen near the end of days. A vengeful, spiteful Satan, knowing that Jesus is now out of his reach, will pursue Israel with all his might in hopes of utterly destroying it. He wants God’s chosen people gone.
God does not let that happen, though. His hand of protection is over the Israelites, and he is with them as they escape (possibly via aircraft, as the woman’s wings would seem to suggest) to the place he prepared for them in the wilderness for the last 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation. All those years in the future, he is still going to see them through. Israel is the nation from which Jesus will rule in the New Heaven and New Earth—they aren’t going anywhere.
The Here and Now
As we wait for Jesus to come back, Israel’s very existence in the present-day is a source for much hope. It is an example of God’s faithfulness, serving as a reminder that he will never abandon or forsake us. Why? Because by all rights, Israel should not be here.
In 70 AD, the Roman empire completely conquered Israel, laying waste to Jerusalem and destroying the temple. The Israelites were scattered across the globe, forced to live among other cultures for over a thousand years.
Historically, when a society’s country is conquered and it is forced to disperse across the world, the society dies. The culture fades away. The people naturally assimilate to the practices and beliefs of their new homelands.
However, in a sociological miracle, the Jewish people kept their identity, and that is part of why they were able to join together and reestablish themselves as a nation in 1948. Israel just won’t go away, no matter the odds, no matter the time period, no matter the enemy (and there have been many enemies).
Speaking of enemies, Israel’s reestablishment is also miraculous because of the surrounding situation in which they returned. The surrounding Arab states were not willing to recognize Israeli independence. Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, and others swiftly set out to invade and destroy them. The Israelites were massively outnumbered and surrounded at all sides of their border.
And yet, despite these odds, Israel miraculously (and I mean miraculously) thwarted every single attempt to take them down. This is a miracle on par with Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt or the Israelites claiming the Promised Land from pagan influence in Joshua.
Furthermore, today Israel is thriving! It has a robust economy, booming agriculture, and a technological industry to rival that of Silicon Valley! Talk about God’s provision! Clearly, he has a plan for them that will outlast the end of the world.
Now What?
- Take Heart in God’s Faithfulness
One thing that will stand out to you if you read about Israel for any length of time is how many times God stuck with them when it would have been far easier to dump them. It is quite a marvel how many times Israel was willing to stray away from the God who had been so good to them, and even more so a marvel that God was never willing to abandon them to destruction.
This principle applies in our lives, too. We mess up a lot. Often times, we don’t feel good enough. We feel weak. We feel too wicked for God to use. But guess what? God is faithful and just even when you are not. God loves you even when you are at your lowest, most sinful point. God is there with you even in the midst of your greatest struggle.
2. Take Heart in Your Inheritance
Throughout history, no nation has suffered as Israel has. No people has suffered quite like the Israelites. It is likely, amidst their constant attacks, punishments, and roadblocks, they wondered if they truly were God’s chosen people. He said he had a plan for them, but there were plenty of times where that was probably pretty hard to believe.
Nevertheless, God delivered them through each of their hardships. They remain his people, and he still has big plans for Israel.
This is encouraging for us too, even if we are Gentiles. Because of this, we can know life’s storms cannot rob us of the joy that is to come. Whatever you are dealing with right now, whether it be a difficult-to-overcome sin, a family conflict, a roadblock in your ministry, a sick loved one, or anything else…never forget the joy that is to come in the New Heaven and the New Earth. God has an awesome plan for you, greater than you could ever imagine or hope.
Story of Grace 