“...telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
and his strength and his wonderful works that he has done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob..."
Psalm 78:4-5
"...he established a testimony in Jacob..."
Jacob is Israel:
"And God said to him, 'Your name is Jacob;
your name shall not be called Jacob anymore,
but ISRAEL shall be your name.' So he called his name ISRAEL. "
Genesis 35:10
If ever I had doubts in my faith, the Israel story would be enough to make me believe, because it is miraculous from beginning to end and continues as such to this day. God has set the Israel story as a testimony, INDISPUTABLE EVIDENCE DEMONSTRATING THE CREDIBILITY OF GOD.
When peoples are conquered by another nation, those peoples are assimilated into the conquering nation and after a few generations no more will be heard about them. When was the last time you heard about the Amorites or the Perizzites, or the Jebusites? These have all disappeared from history because they were conquered by others and then assimilated into the conquering countries. I am of French descent, but there is nothing of France left in me. I don't speak French and I have no desire to go to France. The French among us in America, as well as the descendants of most other countries, by the third or fourth generation have all been assimilated into America. By the fourth generation, usually there's no more resemblance or affiliation with the country of their forefathers' origins. They lose the language, and they lose the culture as they become assimilated.
But that's not so with Israel. In 70 AD Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome and the survivors were taken captive and dispersed throughout the world. There is no country on earth where there aren't Jews, so great was the dispersion. There are Spanish Jews, French Jews, African Jews, Indian Jews, South American Jews, even Chinese and Japanese Jews. They were disbursed everywhere, and there they remained for more than 2,000 years. For more than two THOUSAND years! The fact that they remained a people in spite of their dispersion can only be accredited to the God of Israel who scattered them among the nations in judgment for their rebellion against him.
“So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries;
I judged them according to their ways and their deeds." Ezekiel 36:19
During the time of their dispersion, the land of Israel laid desolate. It dried up. An interesting well-documented phenomenon is that it didn't rain during the time the Jews weren't there. Several empires took over the Middle East; in Jesus's time it was under the Roman Empire; in the 20th century it was under the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Regardless which empire ruled the Middle East, none was able to make the land of Israel flourish, due to the lack of rain. Samuel Clemons, known also as Mark Twain, visited the area in the 1860's. He described a desolate country – devoid of both vegetation and human population:
“…a silent mournful expanse… a desolation…
We never saw a human being on the whole route…
hardly a tree or shrub anywhere.
Even the olive tree and the cactus,
those fast friends of a worthless soil,
had almost deserted the country.”
-from "Innocents Abroad," by Mark Twain
The God of Israel spoke through the prophets of old that his people Israel would be scattered for a very long time, scattered throughout the nations, but that he would bring them back to the land of their fathers "in the last days." Think of it: how could the Perizzites or the Amorites be regathered today? They were the contemporaries of Israel from its beginning. To think of the Girgashites being brought back - well that would be impossible because they don't exist as a people anymore. But although Israel was scattered throughout the world, the God of Israel has brought them back to the very place they left 2,000 years ago, that tiny sliver of land, a dot on the map of the Middle East, surrounded by Arab countries who hate her.
They are back speaking the same language which was all but lost during the diaspora, and the number of them is now more than seven million Jews in the land of their fathers. The north was swampland, infested with malaria, the south was desert. But today the rains have returned and Israel has blossomed, producing the best of fruits and vegetables in all the world - even exporting tulips to Holland!
Bible teachers a hundred years ago didn't know what to do with the many prophecies concerning the return of the Jews to the land of their fathers. The Jews were scattered far and wide and that desolate land was surrounded by Muslim countries, so the old Bible teachers concluded that those passages of restoration must be allegorical because a literal fulfillment would be impossible.
Well God has done the impossible. He has fulfilled his Word literally. The rebirth of the nation of Israel took place on May 14, 1948, "a nation born in a day," as foretold. Today they are back, more than 7 million strong and that number is growing daily as Jews from all over the world stream back to their ancient land.
In ancient times Pharaoh tried to destroy the Jews by having all the baby boys slaughtered. In Jesus's generation Herod tried destroying the Jews by having all the baby boys slaughtered. Haman tried to destroy the Jews, the Inquisitions tried to destroy the Jews, Hitler tried to destroy the Jews, and today Islam is trying to destroy the Jews. The world wants to destroy the Jews. The story of Israel has always been a David vs Goliath story. But none of these "giants" were able - because the God of Israel has restored them and their existence is absolutely guaranteed - no matter what Satan tries to assault them with.
The ancient prophecies concerning the restoration of Israel all give the timing: the prophecies said it will happen "in the last days" - and that's where we are today. The re-establishment of Israel is God's signal that we are in the last days. The blood moons and solar eclipses have born witness, signposts meant to inform us that we are approaching the end.
Terrible times are coming as Satan, "knowing his time is short," will bring upon this generation his greatest effort ever to destroy not only Israel but all believers in the God of Israel, both Jew and Christian. This explains all of the above, and this explains Islam, which is Satan's great "last days" program of destruction of both Jew and Christian. Great devastation and terrible times are coming as we march forward into the fulfillment of all that has been prophesied about these days.
God has "established a testimony in Jacob" - in order to make himself known to all who will believe. The Israel story which began in Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, will end in the Book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible, and that is almost upon us. Surrender yourself and your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, Israel's coming Messiah, or you will be swallowed up in the terrible things soon to come. Jesus Christ said that those who are his are "not appointed to wrath." He will remove the church before the Apocalypse, the Great Tribulation, plays out upon the earth. Turn to him for safety, turn to him for salvation. Don't be left behind.
More on God's covenant with Israel:
Israel's Covenant
God showed this to us at the very beginning – with the sin of Adam and Eve. Most people have no idea the scope of what happened when Adam and his wife rebelled against God and trusted Satan who convinced them to sin. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together AND MADE THEMSELVES COVERINGS.” Genesis 3:7 When Adam and Eve sinned before God by partaking of the fruit of the one tree forbidden to them, their eyes were opened and they were no longer innocent. They realized a change had taken place in them and in fear, they took large fig leaves and made coverings for themselves. But a covering of leaves, the works of their hands, would not justify them. God alone would "cover" them. “Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21 When people sin, they try to cover themselves. They try to justify themselves by their “goodness” and cover themselves by good deeds, but their goodness and the works of their hands are totally insufficient before God. One can never be good enough. The covering for sin can only be provided by God himself, and he does not cover them with the works of their hands …blood has to be shed. “…without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22 God did not allow them to be covered with coverings they made from the leaves of a tree - that is, a covering made from their own efforts. No, God himself covered them with animal skins – and this was a foreshadowing of the fact that only blood can cover sin, only the blood of the chosen sacrifice is able to do it. In the Old Testament God prescribed the lamb sacrifice to cover sin, and there were many details that had to be followed in order to carry this out perfectly, all of which pointed to the One who would come and BE the perfect Lamb sacrifice for all time. Watch the unfolding revelation: THE LAMB – watch the progression: 1. In Genesis God provided A LAMB sacrifice for a man. 2. Later, when God delivered the Jewish people out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, God instituted Passover. Every one who had THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB on their doorpost was “passed over” when the judgment of death went through the land. A LAMB for each family. 3. And then, in the days of Israel, God established the Levitical priesthood wherein the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple and bring THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB SACRIFICE for the forgiveness of the sins of the nation of Israel. A LAMB for a nation. 4. And finally, God sent his Son to take away the sin of the world. John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan river one day, and when he looked up and saw Jesus coming. listen to what he said. “…John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD who takes away the sin of the world!’” John 1:29 THE LAMB – watch the progressive revelation: 1. A lamb for a man. 2. A lamb for a family. 3. A lamb for a nation. 4. The Lamb for the world. The only way you can receive forgiveness, is by receiving Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God whose shed blood covers all the sin of the believer. If there were any other way, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ would have been unnecessary. Come to him. Acknowledge before him that you are a sinner. Don’t try to cover your sin with anything other than the Blood of the Lamb. Confess your sin to him and ask him in all humility to become your Savior and the Lord of your life. Then surrender yourself and your life to him. He who made you is ready to receive you, to grant you forgiveness and to give you a new life when you come to him under the Blood of the Lamb. That's why he had to die - to spare your life.
"And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. Then they said, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' And they struck him with their hands." John 19:2 Humiliation. What is harder to bear than humiliation? The soldiers put a crown on his head, a crown they wove from thorns, mocking the crown of a King. Then they laughed at him and slapped him and shamed him. Have you been humiliated? Has someone mocked you, laughed at you, used hateful words against you? Then you know how it feels even though you aren't the King of the universe. Consider the humility of Jesus Christ. He allowed them to humiliate him this way, men whom he actually had created. And why did he remain silent before them? Because it was planned. The Father sent his Son to bear our iniquities and carry our sorrows. In our place. "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities..." Isaiah 53:4-5 This is the ultimate example of love, that a King would submit to abuse and then forfeit his life for the likes of us. Jesus didn't need to do that, he lacks nothing, he doesn't need us, he could have left us to our fate. Think on this deeply until you get a true picture in your mind of the extent Jesus went to in order to secure our salvation. What it cost him. And yet today, after all that he did, he is still mocked and scorned. Why is that? It's because there is another being ruling over the minds and hearts of men. Jesus himself told us about this enemy whose entire mindset is to destroy us: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10 As long as the believer walks with Jesus Christ, the enemy will seek to destroy the believer and if he's not able to do that, he'll persecute him. Persecution comes in many ways and humiliation is a prime one. Satan delights to see a believer suffer rejection and shame. Let us therefore follow the example of Jesus and not fight back. Who knows but that some of those soldiers who so mistreated Jesus may have ended up becoming believers when Jesus rose from the dead? Who knows what your good example in the face of rejection might produce in an unbeliever watching you? There is ALWAYS a reward for obedience. Be willing therefore, to take up your cross and follow him. "Then he said to them all, 'If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23 What is a cross? It's where a person dies. It's what we bear as we are hated because we walk with Christ. It's what we accept, knowing it's what all believers experience. Be willing to follow Jesus's example. Be willing to suffer whatever comes against you no matter how stinging it is, or how humiliating the words against you. Do not resist, knowing that as you follow Jesus, your life will also end up in victory. Jesus lost nothing by submitting to the Cross, but received great gain in the multitudes who are saved now because of it. And we will also lose nothing by taking up our cross and following him. ..." rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." 1st Peter 4:13-14