Do You Believe In God's Integrity?

"For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his special treasure." Psalm 135:4 And that has never changed. God uses Israel to establish his integrity. God made a covenant with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, and then he confirmed it to Abraham's son Isaac, and then again confirmed it to Isaac's son Jacob. God stated that is is an EVERLASTING covenant. "And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an EVERLASTING covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an EVERLASTING possession; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:7-8 Satan absolutely delights in his efforts to get men to hate and come against Israel and the Jewish people. But if you look at a current map of the Middle East - it is astonishing that this tiny - very tiny - piece of land is of any concern to ANYONE. It would make absolutely no sense were this story just a history lesson. The countries surrounding Israel are huge. Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt - all well-established - they certainly don't need tiny Israel, just a sliver on a map. Yet Israel is hated and Jerusalem is in our news every day. Why? This is a story that makes absolutely no sense - yet is true.

It has been the object of Satanic hatred from the very beginning. Why is that? Because God is using this story to reveal things about himself to us. First of all, he makes it clear that when he has established a covenant, there is no power in hell or on earth that can destroy it. The Jewish people have been the target of persecution from the get go, and that will always be the case until the Messiah comes because this is not a conflict between Israel and the Palestinians; it started with the conflict between Ishmael, the father of the Arabs, and Isaac to whom the covenant was made. Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn, and ordinarily the firstborn is the inheritor, but God who is Lord of all, chose to establish his covenant with Isaac, and he made that very clear and uncontestable. God is demonstrating that he alone is Lord, he alone is righteous, and what he establishes will stand. He shows through the efforts of Satan that no one can destroy his plan. This is going to be played out until the final battle, called the battle of Armageddon, where Satan's end will come. Satan will succeed in bringing all the armies of the earth against Israel, and they will be destroyed - but Israel will remain. Because of the covenant. Bible stories separate believers from unbelievers. Jesus made a statement one day that no one could understand. He said that unless one eats his flesh and drinks his blood one will not have life within him. He could have, but he did not, explain what he meant by that. The reason he didn't explain it was to separate those who trusted him completely from those who only believed in him as far as they could understand everything he said. And it is the same today. He does NOT explain everything to us, and that separates those who trust totally in his INTEGRITY versus those who demand to understand, and if they don't, they will leave him. And many left: "From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more." John 6:66 To the rational mind, he should have run after them and said, "wait a minute, don't go, let me explain, you'll understand when I explain it to you, stay with me." But he didn't say a word to them, he just let them go. Why? Because this is the fundamental question every human being is going to be confronted with: "Do you believe in the integrity of God?" He demands that we accept all he says just as a child blindly accepts what his father says. The child doesn't choose to love his father based on having to understand what his father says. He just innately trusts his father. "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3 Many people today have a very small concept of God. They make him a human in their minds, and should he go beyond what a human thinks, they reject him. People need to have their concept of God established in reality. He is the creator of the entire universe. If the day comes when you can create a planet, just one, perhaps then you might be justified in questioning God. Throughout God's Word he reveals himself to us as righteous, just, faithful, and loving. If anyone has a problem believing any of this, the problem is on their end, not on God's. Start resisting the lies Satan whispers to you about God, for every accusation against God comes from his enemy, and your enemy, Satan. Think hard on this one. The following is the best presentation on the greatness of God that I've ever seen: